"Miss Sharron, are you sure you're acting as a puppet and not acting as a ghost?"
The moment Hastur returned from the Hall of Stars and opened his eyes, he was met with Sharron's bright, clear gaze, which genuinely surprised him a little.
Sharron only looked at him without speaking. After confirming that nothing seemed wrong with him, she slowly withdrew her gaze and turned to look out the window.
About twenty minutes earlier, Hastur had been holding Ariella while openly discussing, right in front of her, how to interfere with her puppet acting.
Then his expression suddenly changed slightly. He said he had something to take care of, placed Ariella on her shoulder, and returned to his room.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, she brought Ariella to Hastur's room, only to find him sleeping soundly on the bed.
Though she didn't understand what was happening, she quietly stayed there, preventing anyone from disturbing him.
Hastur remained lying on his side and didn't get up immediately. Only when Ariella climbed onto the bed and tried to curl up on his chest to sleep did he pick her up, get out of bed, put on his shoes, and walk over to Sharron.
"Recently, Maric has been writing letters to me constantly, complaining that he wants to leave Backlund and come here. He even said he wants to become a naval captain."
Sharron didn't speak, still maintaining her puppet act. Hastur had already grown accustomed to her current state and continued:
"In a while, I plan to go out to sea and train troops. There are quite a few pirates operating around here. It's time to establish some authority. With the situation becoming increasingly unstable, they'll eventually start raiding coastal fishing villages and ports. We need to scare them first."
"The Red Gloves team from the Church of the Evernight Goddess has already returned to Backlund. Only two people remain here, still trying to investigate something. They may continue looking into your affairs."
"While I'm away, I'll leave this little one in your care. Give her at most two dried fish a day. A diet that's too monotonous isn't good for her growth and development. It's best to add some vegetables."
"Meow?!" Ariella, who had been listening obediently, immediately bolted from Hastur's arms upon hearing that her dried fish supply was being restricted.
"Want to play a little treasure hunt game?" A flicker appeared in Sharron's eyes. She followed Hastur outside, and together they silently observed Ariella secretly hiding dried fish.
Afraid of going hungry, Ariella was hiding leftover dried fish in various concealed corners, treating them as emergency reserves.
"While I'm gone, remember to confiscate them."
"Mm." Sharron's eyes brightened slightly.
...
As May approached, the sea constantly carried waves of damp ocean wind. Thunder rumbled across the sky, and countless raindrops fell from above as if unable to endure the skies' harsh scolding.
The heavy rain washed away the dust that usually filled the streets. The muddy roads made many people prefer staying indoors.
After being drenched by the rain for half a day, with mud covering the hems of their trousers, Crestet Cesimir and Klein finally returned to their rented residence.
Looking at each other's soaked and miserable appearance, they smiled knowingly. After changing into clean, comfortable clothes, they entered a vacant study, shut the doors and windows, and took precautions against possible eavesdropping.
"How's your progress?"
"Much more troublesome than expected."
"Same here."
Crestet Cesimir and Klein exchanged glances before both falling silent.
They had originally thought that using elimination would lead them to the correct answer, but the process had turned out to be far more complicated than expected.
There were thirty-five people on the investigation list. Excluding Earl Hastur Campbell, thirty-four remained. Each of them had been assigned seventeen targets.
Half a week had already passed, yet each of them had only managed to investigate three people.
Every person on the list had a rich and colorful background, and all of them possessed quite a few suspicious traits.
As a result, they had no choice but to investigate thoroughly. Yet after spending several days on an individual, they would often discover that the issue was merely a minor one.
It gave Klein the feeling of playing a game where the developers deliberately stuffed the world with a huge amount of seemingly useful but ultimately meaningless content just to extend playtime.
The world looked rich and detailed, but actually playing through it was incredibly tedious, greatly increasing the time required to reach the final boss.
For example, among the two people he had already finished investigating, one was rumored to be a cultist. His behavior was always strange, and when Ince Zangwill arrived at Puning Port, he conveniently disappeared. His family had even reported him missing.
The second was a captain of a deep-sea fishing vessel. He happened to return from sea when Ince Zangwill arrived. Rumor had it that he had brought back a precious treasure from the ocean depths, and everyone who saw it became utterly captivated.
Both seemed suspicious, so Klein naturally investigated them thoroughly.
The result?
The first man really was a member of a mysterious organization, but it wasn't an evil Beyonder group. It was the "Organization Dedicated to Assisting Wildlife Reproduction."
During the days he disappeared, he had simply gone into remote forests with fellow members to observe the reproductive habits of wild animals.
As for the second person, the mysterious treasure he brought back was neither a Sealed Artifact nor a Beyonder item with unusual powers. It was simply a pink pearl slightly larger than ordinary pearls.
Klein had even taken a closer look himself. It really was quite attractive.
The third person he was currently investigating was an outsider of unknown origin. He had clashed with Viscount Staden and had even publicly declared that he would use some mysterious power to kill him.
Based on Klein's current investigation, that so-called mysterious power was most likely something along the lines of curse dolls or voodoo dolls.
But until the investigation was fully completed, their suspicions couldn't be completely ruled out.
The earlier cases were relatively easy to investigate. Many of the remaining individuals had already left Puning Port, requiring additional time just to track them down.
Overall, the game experience was extremely unfriendly.
Klein poured a cup of hot tea for Crestet Cesimir, who was resting with his eyes closed on the sofa.
"What did the Church say?"
Crestet Cesimir opened his eyes, rubbed the corners gently, took the tea, drank a sip, and replied slowly: "They told us to act according to circumstances. No need to rush. Safety comes first. Unless we discover something truly significant, the Church won't send additional personnel. Beyonder incidents have been occurring frequently in many places lately, and manpower is desperately needed."
Klein remained silent.
The Church's attitude clearly indicated that they did not wish to solve the potential problem here through force unless it posed an enormous threat.
Yet Puning Port appeared prosperous and peaceful. Everything seemed completely normal.
Crestet Cesimir glanced at him.
"The Church is in a difficult position as well. They can't devote all their limited resources to investigations, nor can they ensure every problem is resolved perfectly. As long as no major disaster occurs, some things can be overlooked."
Klein frowned.
"Given the importance of Sealed Artifact 008, isn't that enough for the Church to take this seriously?"
Crestet Cesimir sighed, set the tea on his knee, and smiled bitterly.
"Do you know what Sequence the Eye of the Goddess, Ms. Illya, who led Leonard and the others here last time, is?"
Klein shook his head. He didn't know much about Ms. Illya.
"Sequence 3: Horror Bishop."
Klein opened his mouth but said nothing. He merely sipped his tea silently.
The game experience suddenly felt even worse. Even a Sequence 3 had failed to resolve the matter.
What could they possibly do? Even if they found the final boss, they wouldn't be able to defeat it. They might be crushed to death at any moment.
How was anyone supposed to play this broken game if the boss wasn't nerfed?
...
Above the gray fog, the weekly Tarot Gathering convened once again.
Seated at the head of the long bronze table and surveying the Tarot Club members gathered below, Klein was in quite a good mood.
Only here, while appearing as Mr. Fool, could he enjoy a complete and comfortable gaming experience.
After reading the single page of Roselle's diary submitted today, Klein's gaze swept toward Miss Justice, whose eyes seemed somewhat evasive.
If he remembered correctly, Miss Justice had submitted only one page of Roselle's diary over the past three weeks.
That output was seriously insufficient.
Although the diaries she submitted in the past were heavily padded with filler, at least there had been plenty of them. Reading through them usually yielded something useful.
Now, there wasn't even any entertainment value left.
But as Mr. Fool, it wouldn't be appropriate to specifically reprimand Miss Justice over such a matter. He could only give her a meaningful glance and let her figure it out herself.
Ah, is Mr. Fool blaming me for not submitting enough Roselle diaries lately?
Feeling the special attention in Mr. Fool's gaze, Miss Justice panicked slightly.
It wasn't that she didn't want to submit diaries. She simply hadn't been able to find any new ones recently.
As for Mr. Hastur, he was now far away in Southville County. She truly felt embarrassed about disturbing him over such a matter.
To avoid exposing her identity, she couldn't secretly ask Xio and Fors to help collect them either. She could only continue searching on her own.
After the Roselle diary segment concluded, it was time for free trade and discussion.
Little Sun continued recounting his experiences and gains from the ruined temple, then promptly began arguing with Mr. Moon, who was clearly missing a corner of his intellect.
The others transformed into eager spectators, occasionally tossing out topics to keep the argument going.
One side possessed the historical legacy of Silver City, while the other came from a long-lived vampire family. Their debates about historical events and mythological legends always left the audience richly rewarded.
When they had argued enough, the others would step in and smoothly move the conversation along.
Regarding this blatant information-gathering operation, Mr. Fool felt that it wasn't bad at all.
He also enjoyed hearing Little Sun recount distant historical secrets.