Lord of the Mysteries (Web Novel)

Admiral of Stars Cattleya thought before answering, “Tonight at 8. Dock 6.”

Not bad. There’s no delay at all… Klein nodded slightly.

“Okay.”

Just as he said that, the light inside the crystal ball suddenly converged as the figure dressed in a black, classic robe darkened and blurred before quickly vanishing.

Holding the crystal ball which had turned very ordinary, Klein turned around, pulled open the door, and walked out.

Glancing at the boss who was guzzling alcohol while leaning against a wall, he threw the crystal ball at him.

The boss fumbled to catch it as Klein unhurriedly walked down the stairs and left the warehouse.

Once he was out of Hot Whale Dance, he took out his golden pocket watch and snapped it open to check the time.

It’s almost noon. Most bars will be open… Klein stopped a rental carriage and used Feysac to tell the driver to head to the Lærdal Bar. It meant Dawn Bar in the local language. It was a place where adventurers would gather in the Gargas Archipelago.

To Klein, the gathering of different intel and news was meaningful. This might aid him in making the best judgment at critical points in time, allowing him to escape the misfortune of losing his life. Therefore, even if he didn’t like bars, he often went there. He would get a cup of thick malt beer and silently sit in the corner of the bar counter and listen to any matters of interest which people mentioned at sea.

In addition, he wanted to know about Roy King, who had been imprisoned in Bayam’s governor-general’s office. Over the past two months, Snake of Mercury Will Auceptin hadn’t sent him any dreams. Similarly, Fate Councilor Ricciardo didn’t summon his messenger to provide him any clues to a powerful mystical item.

About twenty minutes later, the carriage came to a halt. A huge vertical signboard with the words Lærdal Bar appeared before Klein’s eyes.

He habitually took out two soli in notes and handed them to the carriage driver.

It was only when he saw the worn face of the carriage driver did he suddenly realize something.

He was overseas and this was a colony of Feysac. It had its own currency!

The smallest denomination was the kopek, followed by the feysilver, and then the gold hoorn. They maintained the very intuitive base-ten denomination, making conversions very simple.

I forgot to visit the bank to exchange for kopek and feysilver… I used it all at the inn and restaurant… Klein was just about to look around to see if there were any banks around when the carriage driver happily received the two one-soli notes. After repeatedly checking it, he beamed with his wrinkled face.

“Thank you, thank you for your generosity!”

Klein got off the carriage. While walking towards the Lærdal Bar, he was recalling the carriage driver’s delighted look. Gold pounds, soli, and pence can be used here as well? Yes, Gargas Archipelago isn’t that far from Toscarter and Oravi. Many items would be sold here, and many Loen adventurers like to visit the Sea of Beluga Whales. To have Loen Kingdom’s currency being used in private is rather common… Heh heh. Loen’s industry and economic strength is greater than the Feysac Empire. It can even be said to be much stronger. The gold pound is worth a lot more than the gold hoorn… Wait!

Suddenly, he recalled something. One gold pound could be used to exchange for 5.5 gold hoorn.

This also meant that two soli was equal to 5.5 feysilver.

And in the City of White, a rental carriage cost four feysilver an hour. There wasn’t any prorated discounts.

It was no wonder the carriage driver was so happy! Klein turned back and realized that the carriage had long disappeared.

Sigh… Gently exhaling, Klein pressed down on his hat and pushed open the heavy wooden door before entering the Lærdal Bar.

In this world, bars near the dock and factory districts often sold lunch and dinner. Therefore, they opened around eleven in the morning. At that moment, there were quite a number of adventurers, who had nothing better to do, gathered in front of the bar counter. They ordered liquor and smoked fish or vegetable soup with oil floating on the surface. They had a great time eating all of that with bread.

Drinking Lanti Proof and Nepos at noon? Are they planning to be drunk the entire day? The customs of Feysac are really unacceptable… Klein mumbled as he walked to the bar counter with a deadpan expression. He sat in a corner and rapped the wooden counter.

“Two toasted bread with red sausage, a set of smoked whale meat, a bowl of thick vegetable soup, and a cup of Golas beer.”

Golas beer was rather popular along the eastern seaboard of Feysac. It was rather rare in Sonia Island and the Gargas Archipelago.

“New here?” The bartender glanced at Klein. “A total of 4 feysilver and 6 kopek.”

I’m new because I don’t drink liquor? Klein ignored the bartender’s question and threw 2 soli in notes.

It was equivalent to 5 feysilver and 5 kopek.

Considering how he was Gehrman Sparrow, Klein held back the urge to get the bartender to give him change as he treated it as a tip.

Of course, in a Backlund bar, that amount of food would’ve cost him about two soli.

Having received a tip, the bartender didn’t ask further. He skillfully poured a cup of Golas beer and pushed it towards Klein.

The beer was rather black in color with plenty of foam. It had a pleasant charred taste, and there was slight stimulation in the mellow taste. It made Klein feel as though the alcohol content was rather high as he suspected if some other liquor had been poured in.

While waiting for his food, he sipped his beer and silently listened to the conversations of the surrounding adventurers.

And the group’s conversation was mainly centered around how someone had made a windfall, who was killed by pirates, who finished off a pirate captain without claiming the bounty and instead inherited the deceased pirate captain’s subordinates, which woman in Nas had an illegitimate child, or who became a laughing stock for failing to perform at a brothel.

When the Gargas specialty, thick soup brewed using sweet vegetables, onions, cabbage, carrots, fish, and butter, was served before Klein, he finally heard something interesting.

An adventurer suppressed his voice as he said to his surroundings partners, “Have you heard of this? There’s a Fourth Epoch ruin east of Gargas.”

“No! Who discovered it?” his surprised partner curiously asked.

The adventurer looked to his left and right as he said without much thought, “Gareth discovered it. As you know, he’s a Seafarer who’s good at diving.

“As he was drunk, he was thrown off the deck and sank to the bottom of the sea. Who knew that he ended up discovering remnants of steel buildings. They were definitely steel buildings made from human hands!”

“And then?” his partner pressed.

The adventurer chuckled.

“Gareth followed the ruins and discovered an abandoned sea well of unknown depths. It was already filled with seawater, but it still left him with extreme horror. Holy Lord of Storms, this might even lead to the core of the land.

“He said that there was something summoning him inside, but he didn’t dare explore it. So he floated up in fear.”

A deep sea well… Strange attraction… This might not be a Fourth Epoch ruin. Perhaps it’s from the Third Epoch or Second Epoch. Little Sun had mentioned that during the Dark Epoch, sea monsters were subject to Elf King Soniathrym and helped “Him” rule the bottom of the sea… Sweet, salty, and a little tartish… Klein drank a mouthful of thick vegetable soup as he forked a piece of smoked beluga whale meat.

The adventurers didn’t talk about Gareth’s encounter, as there wasn’t any sight of heart-stirring gold or jewelry, mystical items, or Beyonder ingredients at the moment.

The conversation quickly steered to a few adventurers who they weren’t friendly with. They mocked about how they had married beautiful natives who all turned into stout and fat women a couple of years later. Their strength could even match those of Low-Sequence Beyonders.

Finally, they concluded that it might have to do with how people from Feysac had tiny bits of giant blood running in their veins.

They didn’t say anything of value until Klein finished his lunch and drink his beer, but the number of people inside Lærdal Bar kept increasing.

Suddenly, the heavy door was pushed open as it slammed into the wall.

A top hat-donning young man who was clearly of Loen blood rushed in. He shouted nervously, “Is there anyone from the Adventurer Association?”

Yes, Bilt still owes me the creation of one item… Klein watched as the young men looked around frantically while constantly turning his head back. It appeared as though someone was pursuing him.

Before he could consider whether to render assistance, three adventurers stood up from different corners. One of them was more than two meters tall. He had wide shoulders and firm muscles. His hair was slightly blond, and his eyes were a deep blue; he was rather eye-catching.

The strength he appears to have matches with his substance… This isn’t a Beyonder of quite a significant Sequence… Klein retracted his gaze as he became a spectator once again as he looked out the door.

Soon, a man in a linen shirt and brown jacket appeared. He was of medium build, and his lips were purple. His brown eyes could hardly conceal the intense baneful look he tried to hide.

He… Klein instantly connected the man to a portrait on a bounty!

It was the second mate of the King of Immortality Agalito, Slaughter Kircheis, with a bounty of 9,500 pounds!

This is a notorious pirate… Klein’s nerves tensed up as his gaze locked onto the man. He naturally hung his left hand down as his body prepared to lunge forward.

Kircheis swept his gaze at the two-meter-tall “giant” and saw Klein before retracting his gaze. He turned to leave the Lærdal Bar without stopping at all.

Very decisive, very alert… Klein frowned slightly, confident that he hadn’t revealed any killing intent. He had even controlled his gaze very well.

Was he worried about that “giant,” or is his intuition very sharp to a particular extent? Just like the premonition towards danger like Devils? Klein wondered as he drank the remaining Golas beer without participating in the private conversations of the Adventurer Association members. He left the bar and came onto the streets.

Now, he didn’t wish to give himself new troubles aside from finding mermaids.

After circling the area, Klein discovered that Slaughterer Kircheis had long departed, his whereabouts were unknown. Hence, he silently returned to his inn.

…

City of Silver. Inside the spire.

Derrick Berg once again met the Chief of the six-member council, Colin Iliad.

He clearly remembered that nearly seventy “days” ago, Colin had told him that in two months he should prepare to be sent out on an exploration mission.