Lord of Mysteries: Yao Guang

After the few people returned to the city, they went to another hotel some distance away.

The first thing Aaron did was to lock himself in his room and write a letter. He needed to contact the "Queen of Mystery" as soon as possible, tell her all the events of the past few days, and then complete the previous transaction as soon as possible.

When Esther followed Alexander and Aaron to have dinner at the hotel, she seemed a little absent-minded and showed little interest in the Intis-style red wine lamb chops on the plate. She had always been very enthusiastic about food, and her abnormal behavior at this time was easy. Alexander noticed this.

Alexander took a sip of champagne: "You haven't completely made up your mind to leave yet."

"Huh? Ah, it's a bit..." Esther responded vaguely, then realized that she was a little rude, and quickly adjusted her attitude, "I sometimes show my emotions unconsciously, but I didn't continue to follow you. The reason for our companionship.”

Thomas bared his teeth and said, "You can follow Alexander to Trier and continue visiting the library. You like learning anyway, so why not follow him and let him continue teaching you."

Alexander rarely frowned and glanced at Thomas disapprovingly: "This has nothing to do with learning. I am not a believer in the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. I don't have a 'hobby' to find students to teach."

Thomas shrugged and bit the bread in his hand: "They are all the same in my eyes, which is very annoying."

Alexander turned to Esther expressionlessly: "I wonder if you have heard of the legendary story of the first mate of the 'Clover' robbing the Church of Knowledge?"

"Why do you choose the most annoying stories to tell? That happened so many years ago!" Thomas protested irritably.

Esther couldn't help but chuckle and asked curiously: "So Mr. Thomas, do you like or hate studying?"

Thomas sighed heavily, his eyes showing memories:

"Sigh... I used to be a believer in the Church of Knowledge, but I could never like that kind of atmosphere. My test scores were actually very good. I have been like that since I was a child. I was quite proud at first, but the longer I stayed, the more I became more and more confident. bother!

"Everyone, I mean everyone! They are trying to teach you how to do things and how to learn! This doesn't work, that doesn't work, it's like they are hanging their lives on heavy books and learning, and everyone will 'guide others' 'Take it as a matter of course!

"I couldn't stand this kind of atmosphere, so I started my own business after I left the church. When I made my first pot of gold, I was still complacent. I even got mad and took magic potions under the inducement of others to become a 'Peeper of Secrets'. '. It wasn't until that moment that I realized there was a big problem with my life plan..."

Alexander tapped his temple with his hand: "It feels uncomfortable to be instilled with knowledge, not to mention that those nonsense words are deliberately confusing him."

Esther's eyes showed a little pity: "I can probably imagine that I have also experienced other 'babbles', which is a pain that people absolutely don't want to repeat a second time."

Thomas drank all the champagne in his glass during the narration, smacked his lips, and continued: "There is nothing painful anymore, haha, I am used to it now, and I often hear about some unexpected gains.

"However, I did sneak into the library of the local Church of Knowledge because I wanted to verify the identity of the 'Hidden Sage', thus angering the Church. You can imagine how angry a group of people who value knowledge more than their lives would be. After this incident, I went straight to Intis and wandered around in the streets of Trier, and there is nothing to say after that."

Alexander smiled and wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief: "Yes, and then you accidentally bumped into me and became an informant of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, and then you were almost regarded as a member of the 'Moss Trappist Order' by Aaron. He was chased and killed, and in the end he was 'brought aboard the pirate ship' with us."

"Haha, you actually still remember my exact words at that time, what a disgusting memory." The slight gloom on Thomas's face was cleared by Alexander's words, and he raised his chin at Esther, "So follow the princess There are enough weirdos traveling with you that you don’t have to worry about being special, Miss Hamel.”

Esther was suddenly stunned. She was just listening to other people's stories, but she didn't expect to be so directly involved in her story. She should be moved by Thomas's words, but apart from a touch of warmth, Esther found it difficult to have a more intense mood.

But she smiled the next moment, and her smile was very sincere: "Thank you for being willing to give me a position on the 'Clover'. Although setting foot on this ship was completely unplanned, I am also very happy to meet you. "

"Don't say it like a farewell," Alexander shook the empty glass in his hand. He didn't look like he could drink much, and his face quickly turned crimson. "Before Aaron brings the queen's reply, , you can change your mind at any time.”

Thomas smiled brightly: "It's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe when you leave, we can see Aaron hugging his head and crying!"

"What disgusting bullshit are you talking about?" Aaron's voice rang.

He walked over and glared at Toma with a look of disgust on his face. Aaron didn't hear the chat of the previous people, but heard Toma's annoying statement at the end. If he hadn't been too lazy to fight with Toma in public, Aaron would have definitely taken the opportunity to give Toma a slap on the back of the head.

After Aaron sat down at the table, he nodded to the only lady at the table: "I have already sent the letter. We will stay in the hotel until my teacher replies. If you want to go shopping, you can go to town. Go, don’t leave too far.”

Esther shook her head. She also wanted to go back to the room later and write a letter to Klein: "I will probably take a rest in the past two days and won't run around."

Alexander's eyes turned to Aaron: "Did you also tell me about yourself?"

"Yes, now that I have digested the potion, I have also asked the teacher to be promoted to the 'Mage of Doom'. I don't know if she will agree... After that, it's the same old routine, collecting materials, preparing rituals, and waiting for the opportunity." Lun stretched, his face full of anticipation.

"It should go very smoothly." Esther said with a smile, "Believe me, you will have good luck."

Aaron looked at her smile with a very serious expression: "I believe it."

Thomas suddenly interjected: "But judging from the sequence name, it should be suitable for playing if you have bad luck, right?"

"No one will think you are mute if you don't speak!"

——

Late at night, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.

Esther still lived in a single room. She was sitting on the only easy chair in the room, playing with the silver night badge between her fingers.

If you carefully explore the lines in this way, you will find that a few lines on the badge are similar to the background of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Darkness. This is why Esther suddenly remembered and turned this thing out.

She always felt that the goddess of the night knew many things, but she had never prayed to her. Especially after leaving Tingen, Esther deliberately kept a distance from the Nighthawks who belonged to the Church of the Night. She didn't know why, but she subconsciously resisted returning to Chanis Gate.

The crimson moonlight spilled from the window and illuminated most of the room. Esther did not light a candle. She originally had a whim before going to bed and wanted to try if she could use this holy symbol to contact the god.

This is Intis, not Loen. Even the Church of Night cannot cross the mountains to capture people. If it communicates with the Night Goddess here, it does not have local people to mobilize... No, if this goddess wants to mobilize the angel level What about the extraordinary ones? That can be quite dangerous.

But the goddess of the night has never shown any malice, and has even been willing to help her, including leaving this badge. She is firmly showing her favor to me, who is also a "traveler"... Esther recalled in court Gen's experience turned the Holy Emblem of Darkness over and over again.

Esther struggled in her heart for a long time, and finally stuffed the badge under her pillow. She always wanted to try, but she couldn't find a way to get rid of "Zoya" completely for the time being. It would be great if she could learn more information from that goddess. .

Like Amon himself, the goddess of the night seems to know "Zoya", so seeking more information from her is tens of thousands of times safer than facing Amon directly.

Within a few minutes, Esther's slightly nervous breathing calmed down, and her consciousness sank into darkness.

After such a long time, she had a dream for the first time in a long time.

Just as Esther thought, the scene around her was hazy and dim, like a faded oil painting. Esther couldn't identify where this place was, at least it wasn't any street in her memory. The style of the houses was more simple and rough, out of touch with the current Black Iron Age.

Only the gentle red full moon overhead was clearer.

Esther looked up at it and felt deeply that this moon was completely different from the moon in the real world, which made her feel warm and at ease. What's more important is that there is a bright and gentle ball of light surrounding it, which is emitting a buzzing sound calling Esther.

The ball of light was like a star that kept spinning and wandering, connecting Esther and the moon, providing a channel for communication between the two parties.

Unlike the first time when she knew nothing, Esther now knew that the ball of light contained a part of the same "child body" as in her hair, because the power contained in this badge was not enough to support a stable dream. Therefore, the goddess of the night can only appear through a more insubstantial symbol.

Since she was asking for help, Esther said hello first: "Good evening, my dear goddess of the night."

Her attitude, which was much more awed than last time, also seemed to amuse the other party. There was a smile in the voice from the moon: "Good evening, Esther, you seem to be used to your current life."

When the voice from the moon came, a circle of ripples appeared around Esther, spreading throughout the dream. It seemed that this method of communication could not last long, and this dream could end at any time.

Esther was stunned, but did not open her mouth to explore the deeper meaning of this sentence. Instead, she took the time to ask the question she had thought about for a long time: "I have something to ask you about the past of 'Zoya'. You can choose to tell me what I know, knowing that you may not be able to tell me the whole truth."

As if aware of Esther's worries, Yue Shang responded very quickly: "Of course, you can ask."

"I can't be remembered by others, and I can't have long-term interactions with people. This situation seems to be related to the ability of the 'Trojan Horse of Destiny' in the 'Stealer' Sequence 2. You once reminded me to be careful about that... Angel of Time, so I want to know if my current situation has anything to do with Him?”

When Esther said this long series of words, she was trying her best to inform the other party that she already had a lot of relevant information, hoping to get clearer instructions or answers.

The red moon swayed slightly, casting gentle crimson moonlight on Esther's shoulders, as if to comfort her: "Yes, the information I know is limited, but according to my speculation, He did steal something Something that once belonged to 'Zoya'. It's more of a conceptual association than a physical object."

Esther did not take time to digest the information, but quickly jumped to the next question: "Do you know why Amon is pursuing 'Zoya'?"

"Because He wants to transcend the limitations of the sequence and gain greater power, there are also other high-ranking people behind Him supporting His choice. You need to be careful, because they are likely to have too strong an influence on you and shake your current state."

It was difficult for Esther not to think of the "Utopian Angel" who was also the Creator, but she did not verify her speculation, but further asked: "Does this restriction beyond the sequence refer to the Lord of the Spiritual World?"

"Yes." This time the cold female voice answered very concisely, and Esther immediately realized that the other party could not reveal too much about this matter to her.

The ripples in the dream were getting stronger and stronger, and they were likely to break at any time. Esther had no choice but to speed up her speech: "Is it dangerous if I want to continue to advance in the 'Stealer' sequence? I have Is there no way to switch paths and return to the path of 'destiny' that should belong to Zoya?"

"You need to at least be promoted to Demigod, that is, Sequence Four, before you consider this possibility. If you are lucky, you won't need my reminder by then, and fate will give you the answer. But it's the same for you. It’s also an extremely dangerous thing, and you need to weigh it yourself.”

The dream began to disintegrate and merge into darkness.

Esther didn't know how to prolong this conversation, so she could only try to ask the last question in her mind, the thing that she had been worried about for a long time: "I know that 'Zoya' seems to be with me all the time. Is there any way to completely get me out of this state? Is that danger a threat from Him!"

However, the goddess of the night did not give her an answer, and the voice disappeared along with the red moon:

"Goodbye, Esther, I hope I have a chance to see you next time."

As her consciousness sank and rose again, Esther opened her eyes suddenly.

She just lay on the bed like that, staring at the ceiling in a daze for a long time. A thin layer of morning light had already fallen into the room, and the night passed quietly.

Esther quickly reviewed her conversation with the Night Goddess, remembering every word in her heart, including the final goodbye.

His words of farewell seemed to have a profound meaning.