Lord of the Mysteries
Chapter Summary
“I end this summoning in my name!” The chilling air around him instantly vanished as the swirling cold wind died down and the candle flames returned to their normal color. He asked in a serious manner, “Are you willing to sign a contract and become my messenger?” The headless woman’s dress fluttered slightly, and her four heads with blonde hair and red eyes nodded at the same time. The headless lady held the head with golden hair and red eyes, let it bite down on the fountain pen and wrote her n...
That’s way too fast... Did it already circle the planet several times... Or maybe it’s still there, but it’s too fast for my vision to keep up... Klein’s mouth twitched, deciding to wait a few seconds to see if the “creature whose speed surpasses imagination” would appear again.
He wasn’t worried that the summoned spirit world creature would harm the innocent, as one of the descriptions was of a friendly creature. Besides, as long as he forcefully ended the summoning and stopped the ritual, the creature would be immediately sent back to the spirit world, no matter where the “creature whose speed surpasses imagination” went.
A few seconds later, Klein inhaled after failing to see any response from him waiting. He said with ancient Hermes, “I!
“I end this summoning in my name!”
The chilling air around him instantly vanished as the swirling cold wind died down and the candle flames returned to their normal color.
Klein stepped forward and extinguished the candle, intending to revise the last sentence and try again.
As for the two phrases “the spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly creature that can be subordinated,” he had no intention of changing them. The first sentence was directed at the spirit world, and it could only be replaced with synonyms, so it didn’t matter if he changed it or not. The second sentence was a prerequisite for Klein to ensure his own safety; otherwise, it would’ve been a horror story instead of a hilarious one.
Hmm... I don’t need to use “surpasses imagination” as an adjective. But others might not meet my needs. Perhaps... I can change my train of thought. A messenger doesn’t have to run that fast. A normal speed is fine. There are other ways to ensure safety. I just need to get malicious beings to ignore it and neglect it... I’ll try a spirit world creature that’s easily neglected... After two or three minutes of deliberation, Klein held a ritual again.
When he was done with the preparations, he chanted a new incantation, “I!
“I summon in my name:
“The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly creature that can be subordinated, the being who is easily neglected.’”
The interior of the warehouse became abnormally quiet. There was no wind, nor did it turn cold within the wall of spirituality. Even the color of the candle remained unchanged.
Klein waited, watching, hoping for a good messenger.
After about ten seconds, he sighed and looked around.
There’s nothing. The description was of no effect this time.
He didn’t wait any longer and followed the procedure of ending the summoning and extinguishing the candle.
To his puzzlement, the candle flame even shook a few times in the end.
Did I miss something... Klein frowned, and then he relaxed, throwing the matter to the back of his mind.
He reconsidered the question of how to modify the description and continued targeting the third sentence.
I’ll switch to another train of thought. If a messenger is especially good at enduring scuffles and has great survivability, it’s still okay. No matter what, a messenger that can deliver the letter to the target is a good messenger... Klein pondered for a moment, then he held the summoning ritual for the third time.
Amidst the fragrance of herbs and essential oils, and under the dim light of the candlelight, the shadows on his face darted about as his mouth gaped open and closed.
“I!
“I summon in my name:
“The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly creature that can be subordinated, an extraordinary creature who has extremely high survivability.”
The flame of the candle flared and stretched, illuminating the bright red interior of the altar.
In Klein’s Spirit Vision, white bones drilled out from the ground, overlapping to form what looked like a safe.
I’ve finally summoned something I can see. Furthermore, it’s a creature with extremely high survivability... It looks very much like a safe. Just one look is enough to tell that it’s good at taking a beating... Klein breathed a sigh of relief and spoke in the ancient Hermes, “Are you willing to be my messenger?”
The skeletal creature that looked like a safe quickly indicated its willingness.
Then it wriggled the bones beneath it and crawled toward Klein slowly, very slowly.
It took ten seconds to crawl a centimeter.
... This is way too slow... Klein’s smile froze on his face.
Although messengers completed their mission by traveling through the spirit world, that didn’t mean that they didn’t need speed.
Within the spirit world, distance and orientation were chaotic. The most important thing was to find and lock onto a location.
As long as an accurate, clear, immediate coordinates were provided, such as the summoning ritual just now or a simplified ritual that involved blowing a whistle, then no matter where the messenger was in the spirit world, it would immediately appear within the altar.
When the location wasn’t that immediate and only had a contractual connection or a previous anchor point, the messenger needed to spend time to distinguish the location, roam the spirit world, and search for the target. This required a certain amount of speed.
If it were to deliver the letter, the recipient might not even receive it by the time they die... Klein helplessly thought as he looked at the slowly crawling skeletal creature.
He let the smile reappear on his face.
“After some careful consideration, I think it’s best I don’t trouble you.
“Thank you for your willingness.”
The creature made of illusory white bones stopped. Compared to before, it appeared as though it hadn’t moved at all.
Klein quickly canceled the summoning and rubbed his forehead.
He was a little depressed and had decided to abandon himself to despair. He decided to use a less troublesome method to find messengers, which was “public recruitment, an interview selection!”
After taking a deep breath, Klein calmed his mind and began the ritual seriously.
Looking at the candle flame that was quietly burning, he took a step back and said, “I!
“I summon in my name:
“The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly creature that can be subordinated, a unique being that is willing to be my messenger.”
Whoosh!
The wind blew fiercely inside the wall of spirituality, and Klein’s half top hat almost flew off of his head.
The candle flame shook and expanded to the size of a human head. It was so pale that it seemed to have lost its body temperature.
A translucent head slowly emerged, as if it had just broken through a thin membrane. Its hair was a light gold color and was smooth. Its eyes were blood-red, and it had an imposing appearance.
Looks a little familiar... Klein silently muttered.
The head had fully shown itself, but what followed wasn’t its neck, but an illusory hand that held the end of the head’s hair.
Behind the palm were complicated patterns, but the color of the cuffs was dark.
The summoned spirit world creature appeared at an increasingly rapid speed, and soon, it was before Klein in its entirety.
It was indeed a familiar “person.” It was the headless woman that Klein had met standing at the top of a castle while he was on his way to Kalvetua’s ruins at the bottom of the sea.
She was no longer as large as a castle like she was before. She was now a tall, “ordinary” woman.
Of course, there were still only cuts on her neck and four identical heads in her hands.
“Did... you... summon... me?” The headless woman in the complicated black dress stood there quietly. Her four drooping heads spoke one after the other in ancient Feysac.
She can directly communicate through words... The level of this spirit world creature isn’t low... I remember you having a castle... You’re already a property owner, so why are you “applying” for the job of a messenger? Klein sighed with emotion and lampooned. Then, he looked down at the candle behind the headless woman. He was disappointed to find that no other spirit had emerged.
He had originally imagined that many spirit world creatures would be willing to be his messenger as they swarmed over, having to form a line to be interviewed. In the end, only one had responded.
It should be a problem with the summoning ritual itself. It’s considered a relatively simple and basic summoning ceremony, so it’s impossible to summon multiple targets at once... Klein looked at the headless lady and solemnly nodded.
“Yes.”
Without waiting for the other party to speak, he added another question.
“Can you roam the spirit world at a relatively fast speed? How good is your survivability?”
The head which the headless lady lifted answered, “Yes. Not... bad.”
As she spoke, she floated upwards and then quickly descended, displaying her speed.
Phew... Klein decided to stop making attempts which led to unknown results. He asked in a serious manner, “Are you willing to sign a contract and become my messenger?”
The headless woman’s dress fluttered slightly, and her four heads with blonde hair and red eyes nodded at the same time.
“Yes. Every time... One... gold coin.”
Ah? A gold coin for each letter sent? Mr. Azik didn’t mention that spirit world creatures have such hobbies... Right, he mentioned that when signing a contract, persuasion and communication are key factors. Does this mean that this is a form of persuasion and communication? Klein was surprised and wanted to cancel the summoning immediately.
Wait a minute, I might not need to be the one paying for it... Whoever summons the messenger pays for it... Heh, maybe when our communication improves, there would be the option of paying on receipt... After some thought, Klein agreed to the other party’s request.
“Okay.
“Let’s sign the contract.”
He picked up a dark red, round fountain pen and yellowish-brown goatskin parchment that he had prepared earlier, and he quickly wrote down the contract in the language which could stir the forces of nature, ancient Hermes.
The format and terms were described in detail in Azik’s letter. They were concise and to the point, and they contained clauses such as the messenger not being allowed to look at the letter, not discarding the letter, or endangering the life of the contractor. Of course, if the contents of the letter were related to the messenger, the messenger had to be informed in advance.
In addition to these, Klein added a clause to send one gold coin for each letter, specifying that it could be borne by the contractor or by the receiver of the letter.
In order to ensure the effectiveness of the contract, the final part used the honorific name of the deity in charge of this domain.
It was an undead contract, and normally it meant using Death’s honorific name, but Death had long perished with no response from “Him.” Hence, Azik mentioned that it could be replaced by using the description of someone high in the undead domain or the Underworld itself, but the binding force wasn’t that strong.
Without a doubt, Klein chose the Underworld, which had a close relationship with the bigshot.
“The home of all death, the hell hidden deep within the spirit world, the witness of the decay of all living things, one that solely belongs to the kingdom of Death.”
After penning these four sentences, the yellowish-brown goatskin parchment began to burn with a green flame, illuminating the gloomy surroundings.
After he was done with the text, Klein took out Azik’s copper whistle, placed it on the goatskin, and wrote his current name: “Gehrman Sparrow.”
This didn’t necessarily require a real name, because his aura would enter the contract. The name was only used for summoning, which was to say, using “the messenger that belongs to Gehrman Sparrow” worked, but “the Contracted Creature of Klein Moretti” wouldn’t.
When Klein finished signing, the goatskin floated up, carrying Azik’s copper whistle and the dark red fountain pen, and flew to the headless lady.
The headless lady held the head with golden hair and red eyes, let it bite down on the fountain pen and wrote her name: “Reinette Tinekerr.”
The green flames quickly gathered together, wrapping around Azik’s copper whistle and the yellowish-brown goatskin parchment.
A few seconds later, the goatskin was reduced to ash, and the copper whistle fell into the palm of Klein’s hand.
The headless woman, Reinette, collectively blinked with the eyes of her four heads, and her body rapidly faded away into the pale candle flame.
After the contract was made, Klein no longer needed to undo the summoning. He could do it with his own will.
Phew, I finally have a messenger. “The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly creature that can be subordinated, the messenger that belongs to Gehrman Sparrow”... Well, when there’s an opportunity, I’ll get an Artisan to create something like the copper whistle, so that I don’t have to summon my messenger every time via a ritual... Klein cleared up the mess in a rather good mood.
Over the next few days, Bayam gradually returned to normal, but Danitz still hadn’t been able to receive any telegrams from Admiral of Blood’s pirate crew.
On Sunday morning, he flipped through the newspaper and suddenly lowered his voice as he said to Klein, “There’s a Beyonder gathering tonight. Want to attend?”