Chapter 119 Someone to Chat With

Hearing that the Warlock was about to resolve his troubles, Viscount Verde rose from his chair, listening attentively to the other’s words.

“Seal Bishop’s room immediately!” Odis declared, “Keep it sealed for at least a week. During this week, no one is to mention or write his name, nor do anything related to him. Act as though none of you ever knew him!”

From Viscount Verde down to the servants, everyone was stunned. Yet, remembering they had never encountered a so-called ‘evil mysterious existence’ before, they had no experience resolving such matters and had no idea how they should be handled.

As for Beavis, the only one among them with some worldly experience, he was currently plunged into deep self-doubt, leaving him unable to raise any objections for the moment.

Viscount Verde, who believed the Warlock implicitly, nodded, “Very well, we will seal it at once.”

Earlier, Odis had used the Vision Extension Array to guide the viscount’s vision alongside his own to search for which family member’s room was troubled, all to deepen the other’s trust in him.

If he had brought Viscount Verde along in person, it would not have produced nearly as great an effect.

As for the handful of will-o’-the-wisp he drew from Bishop’s room, it was actually a modification of the Flame spell. Odis had mixed the powder of the Emerald Skull Flower into the required powder, causing the resulting flame to turn green and closely resemble ghostly fire…

Then, Viscount Verde asked again, “Um… excuse me, does searching for Bishop’s murderer count as something related to him?”

The viscount also suspected that the person who set the fire last night and the one who slipped the laxative this morning were likely the murderer’s accomplices!

It was just that the Mandated Punishers did not seem to take the matter seriously.

“Those outside the Verde family may do such things, but you must not interfere.” This was Odis’s true objective, “Act as though you know nothing of it.”

At that moment, Beavis voiced the question lingering in everyone’s minds: “Why do we need do this?”

Odis had been waiting for someone to ask that, so he replied calmly, “Because the Underworld and the real world are often linked together only through a particular concept. For instance, ordinary evil spirits exist because they are sustained by a specific thought. In truth, that very thought temporarily connects the Underworld to the real world, creating an environment that allows the evil spirit to exist here…”

“…Bishop’s situation is slightly more complicated. But as long as you do not mention him for a week and act as though he never existed, the concept bridging the two worlds will vanish. That evil mysterious existence will no longer be able to gaze upon this place through the lingering concept of Bishop.”

Beavis listened in a daze, feeling as though what this Warlock described was extraordinarily advanced Beyonder knowledge, but he also sensed that something was not quite right.

Viscount Verde, however, placed complete trust in Odis’s words and immediately ordered Bishop’s room sealed off, forbidding anyone from mentioning his name for the coming week.

As for pressing the police and the Mandated Punishers to hunt down the murderer, and taking revenge on that abominable reporter, all of that could wait until a week had passed…

Odis added, “The misfortune brought by that entity has not yet run its course. Tread carefully for the time being.”

Viscount Verde quickly replied, “I understand.”

After watching the servants finish cleaning up the magic circle on the floor, Odis bade farewell to the viscount and his family.

Viscount Verde tried his best to persuade him to stay, hoping the Warlock would remain until the family had weathered their current misfortune.

Odis, however, claimed to have pressing matters to attend to and insisted on departing.

The viscount promptly instructed his butler to fetch a stack of gold pounds, begging the Warlock to accept them no matter what.

Odis took five notes from the pile, saying, “It was fate that ordained I lend you a hand, and I ought not accept your money. Yet seeing your sincerity, I shall take a few, regarding them as a gift from fate.”

With that, he leaned on his walking stick and strode outside.

Viscount Verde hurried after him and asked, “May I ask how I should address you?”

“Gandalf.” Odis casually tossed out a wizard’s name.

The viscount asked again, “If I ever need your assistance, where might I find you?”

“Leave it to fate!” With that, Odis scattered his Flight powder before soaring away from the villa in the blink of an eye.

Only after the Warlock had traveled far into the distance did Viscount Verde turn to Beavis and ask, “Have you ever heard of that name?”

“No,” Beavis replied.

“Which Pathway’s Beyonder is he?” The viscount asked again.

“He seems somewhat like a Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer Pathway, yet not entirely,” Beavis replied, “He kept referencing ‘fate’ at every turn… could he belong to the Life School of Thought?”

“Truly a mysterious Warlock,” Viscount Verde murmured with emotion, “Utterly enigmatic.”

Beavis parted his lips, wanting to say something, but in the end, he decided to remain silent. He also felt that this Warlock named Gandalf harbored a great many secrets…

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After Flying out of Viscount Verde’s residence, Odis briskly walked a fair distance. Once he was certain no one was tailing him, he boarded a rented carriage.

He rode the carriage to the Backlund Bridge District and alighted. Inside an abandoned factory building, he took off the fake beard, peeled off the Warlock robe and pointed hat, and placed them into the Knowledge Moor alongside the staff.

Afterward, he donned a flat cap with an elongated brim, then caught a public carriage before transferring to another rented carriage.

‘With this, Mike should be safe for the coming week, so there’s no need to worry about this matter any further…’ Odis thought.

At the same time, it occurred to him that once Mike returned to work at the Daily Observer, he could mail him the Outline of Combat under the name Lelouch and ask the reporter to recommend it to a publisher.

That, however, would be a matter for next week at the earliest, and only after the radicals in Loen politics began using Bishop’s case to attack the conservatives, leaving Viscount Verde with no leisure to trouble Mike…

Instead of heading to the herbal shop, Odis went straight home. He had the carriage stop at the end of the street, stepped down to purchase a portion of Feynapotter seafood noodles, and bought a copy of the Loen Evening Post from a newsboy…

…

Upon returning home, Odis ate his meal while perusing the paper.

Today’s edition was already dedicating massive coverage to the fighting arena and Bishop. Moreover, the reporters seemed to have caught wind that Lelouch was a pivotal figure in the incident, and reports concerning him had already begun appearing in the Loen Evening Post.

Odis quickly finished his noodles. He skimmed the newspaper briefly, feeling that Lelouch was portrayed in a relatively positive light.

Just as he was about to get up and wash the dishes, he suddenly glanced toward the living room.

The house was fairly bright under the illumination of the gas lamps. Yet it was far too quiet; the furniture sat there in dead silence, devoid of any lively warmth.

Odis took a deep breath. When he was busy, he always wished for a break. Now that he finally had some time to rest, he found himself lamenting his loneliness.

He gave a slight self-deprecating smile, washed the dishes, and sat down at the desk in his bedroom to review today’s acting.

However, he found it difficult to settle his mind, so he pulled over a sheet of paper and wrote:

After waiting for 3 minutes or so without receiving a reply from Bernadette, Odis casually picked up a book and began flipping through it.

About half an hour later, a short sentence finally appeared on the page he was reading:

Odis didn’t speak immediately, instead writing on the paper:

“It is not ‘might’, someone is indeed watching you from a rooftop two streets away,” Bernadette’s voice echoed through the air, “He is utilizing a Sealed Artifact in the shape of a telescope. However, with the curtains drawn, he can only see blurry silhouettes, not your specific actions, nor can he hear our conversation.”

Still, Odis remained vigilant, “Is there any gaze from higher existences here?”

Bernadette paused briefly before saying, “No.”

Odis had considerable trust in Queen Mystic’s judgment. The Mystery Pryer Pathway possessed exceedingly high spirituality. At Bernadette’s level, if a deity were paying attention to this place, she would undoubtedly sense it, even if she did not know who it was.

Only after hearing her reply did Odis breathe a sigh of relief, confirming his prior suspicion.

The God of Steam and Machinery could not possibly be watching him every second of the day. He must have left a special mark on him, one that would draw His attention only upon Odis’s advancement or when he entered special locations.

This was somewhat similar to the mark the Evernight Goddess had left on Klein, which had zero effect on him under normal circumstances, yet triggered a divine descent the moment Klein entered the mausoleum containing the Death Pathway’s Uniqueness.

“The person watching you appears to be a member of the Machinery Hivemind. What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?” Bernadette asked.

“It might be that my research has drawn the attention of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery,” Odis said, feigning uncertainty, “They probably find it hard to believe that the research came from me.”

Bernadette nodded slowly. In her view, unless the people of the Church of Steam were blind, it was only a matter of time before they took notice of Odis’s research.

Odis did not pursue the topic further. He changed the subject, “I wrote a letter to Aelia a week ago asking her to complete our transaction, but she hasn’t shown up.”

Bernadette replied, “We have been rather busy lately. We will complete the transaction by next week at the latest.”

“I just received word that a Beyonder battle took place on Rice Street last Saturday, and abilities belonging to a Constellations Master seemed to be involved,” Odis added.

“That was an internal dispute within the Moses Ascetic Order; they quarreled over a certain matter,” Bernadette said, “I did not expect them to return so soon…”

Odis recalled the Roselle diary pages he read before. Some members of the Moses Ascetic Order were suspected of being influenced by an evil god.

He pressed further, “Over what matter?”

“I’m not entirely sure at the moment. All I know roughly is that one faction wants to snatch an item from the Nighthawks’ hands, while the other faction is unwilling to take such a risk.” Bernadette was currently looking into this matter as well.

“They actually dare to snatch–” Odis suddenly had an epiphany, “Wait a moment, could it be them who are investigating the Nighthawks?”

*Knock, knock, knock~*

Just then, urgent knocks sounded from the downstairs door…