Chapter 138 Gandalf Goes Online

On Tuesday morning, Odis arrived at Gale’s Herbal Shop sporting two dark circles under his eyes.

He had been so excited the previous night that he barely slept; even resorting to Cogitation failed to bring slumber, or rather, his sheer excitement made it impossible to enter Cogitation.

Yesterday’s discovery was simply too exhilarating. It did not just provide a material capable of storing Spirituality; it allowed many of Odis’ long-held concepts to finally be realized.

For instance, combining this material with the arrays he had been researching would immediately open up infinite possibilities.

Who had ever seen an array that required no real-time infusion of Spirituality? Who had ever seen a fully automated array? The potential applications were far too numerous.

For example, the Mystical Chariot Odis had designed over a year ago had always lacked a stable power source. But now, these crystals solved that conundrum perfectly.

That was precisely why he was so thrilled. His research had taken another solid step toward practical application.

Originally, he had planned to let Gandalf open the shop for business today, but ‘business’ could wait; catching up on sleep came first…

Arriving at the herbal shop, Odis saw Kain showing his younger sister, Pasha, around to familiarize her with the place.

The girl bore some resemblance to Kain and had a decent complexion; after all, the latter’s seemingly modest salary was already enough to keep the entire family from going hungry.

Pasha was a year or two younger than Kain, but she had already worked in a textile mill for a time, only to be dismissed due to illness…

Upon seeing Odis, she seemed rather nervous, constantly smoothing down the hem of her clothes.

Odis greeted her briefly, exchanged a few words with Kain, and then headed to the backyard. Lounging on the easy chair, he pondered how to leave Backlund safely, because no matter how formidable yesterday’s breakthrough was, there was simply no room to put it into practice within Backlund.

As his thoughts drifted, he actually fell asleep.

It was an exceptionally comfortable rest. Odis dreamed that he had landed on an island, where he built his own Extraordinary kingdom and reached the very pinnacle of his life.

But a dream was, in the end, only a dream; he was eventually awoken by hunger.

Odis glanced at his pocket watch and saw it was already past two in the afternoon. Rubbing his belly, he walked into the front shop, where, as usual, Kain had already bought lunch for him.

He chatted idly with the other until he finished his lunch. Just as he was about to head back to the backyard, a postman arrived with a telegram.

He opened it and had a look. Apparently, over an hour ago, Detective Sherlock had stopped by the Rosewood Pavilion, telling Mandy that he had completed Mr. Gale’s first commission and requested that he come verify the results tomorrow.

Odis had previously assigned this great detective two tasks, the first of which was to locate Bernie’s residence.

This Bernie was the name of the puppet belonging to the Constellations Master from Moses Ascetic Order, who had once tipped Odis off to the address of the Rose School of Thought’s Werewolf.

‘Klein only claimed to have found Bernie’s address just now, clearly to avoid exposing his method of using divination to solve cases, and also to conceal his abilities.’ Odis thought to himself.

‘Since that’s the case, my schedule for the next two days will have to be adjusted again. Tomorrow might not leave me any free time, so I might as well head to Unit 77 Rose Street this afternoon and let Gandalf officially open for business…’ {T/N: The raw frequently changes Gandalf’s address between Unit 66 and 77. Since 77 was the first to be mentioned, I’ll naturally be sticking to it.

FYI, this has been a common occurrence when it comes to addresses in this fic, and I always choose to go with the first mention in this translation…}

With that, Odis said his farewell to Kain, returned first to Unit 77 Hilton Avenue, changed into his Warlock attire in the basement, and used the teleportation array to arrive in the basement of Unit 77 Rose Street.

He strolled around the room, and after confirming that nothing was amiss, he turned on the gas lamp, brightening the dim space.

This was tantamount to hanging an ‘open for business’ sign.

Then, he read a book while waiting for his first client to arrive… yet by the time evening arrived, no one had come..

Odis was in no rush. He knew that the charlatan business was even harder to get off the ground in the beginning than running a detective agency.

Moreover, advertising in the newspapers was obviously ill-advised, because doing so might mean his first client would be an official Beyonder.

Therefore, a Warlock’s business could only rely on word of mouth; only after someone consulted him and learned firsthand how reliable he was would their friends seek him out when facing similar troubles.

Although Odis had been utilizing the Rosewood Pavilion’s intelligence network to help spread the word, the lack of sufficient real-world cases kept many people taking a wait-and-see approach.

Putting away his book, he prepared to buy dinner; after all, even a warlock had to eat…

*Ding-a-ling~*

The doorbell suddenly chimed.

Odis paused for a moment, then picked up his wooden staff, walked to the entrance with measured, unhurried steps, and opened the door with an aloof expression.

Standing outside was an elderly gentleman in his fifties. The silk on his top hat, the gold chain of his pocket watch, and the personal valet following behind him all indicated that he was likely a wealthy man.

The reason Odis judged him not to be an aristocrat was that the man wore neither cuff pins nor a collar pin.

That was a custom of the nobility… They favored wearing small trinkets set with gems and diamonds, or gold accessories engraved with their family crests.

Because such items were diminutive yet exquisitely crafted, they were usually quite expensive, with certain bespoke styles even requiring months of advance reservations.

Nobles loved using these small accessories to distinguish themselves from the nouveau riche, and even the King would occasionally bestow such items as gifts, making certain unique collar pins symbols of honor.

This was very much in keeping with the disposition of the Loen nobility: reserved, understated, yet fully capable of projecting their distinction…

“Hello,” Odis greeted coolly, “Is there something you need?”

The elderly gentleman stared blankly for a moment at Odis’ attire. After all, it was rare in Backlund to see someone donning a warlock robe and a pointed warlock hat, complete with such a long beard.

As for that staff, it was far longer than any walking stick.

Only upon hearing the ‘warlock’s’ question did the elderly gentleman seem to come back to his senses, “Excuse me, are you the Grand Warlock Gandalf?”

Odis simply replied, “I am Gandalf.”

“I have come to ask for your help.” The elderly gentleman said with a smile.

“Please come in.”

Turning first to the valet behind him, the gentleman instructed, “Wait for me in the carriage.”

He then followed Odis through the front door.

Odis took a seat on the dark-colored sofa opposite the elderly man and said, “My apologies, but I have neither tea nor coffee here, and my beverages are lethally poisonous to you, so I shall not offer you any.”

The man bowed slightly in unease and said, “It’s alright, it’s alright, I’m not thirsty.” Inwardly, he thought: ‘How terrifying! A warlock who actually drinks poison as a beverage…’

Then, he felt somewhat at a loss, having no idea how one ought to interact with a Warlock.

And so, silence fell over the living room.

‘Uh-oh, seems I laid it on a bit too thick.’ Odis thought to himself.

Pondering for a brief moment, he raised a hand to pinch his temples and activated the Eyes of Mystery Prying.

Judging from the aura, apart from minor issues with his lungs, the elderly gentleman’s organs were quite healthy.

The lung issue was nothing severe either. In Backlund, many people had problems with their lungs.

Finally, Odis looked at the man’s fortune. At the top of his Spirit Body’s head, there was a faint glow, which indicated that his fortune over the next three days would be exceptionally good.

The man noticed a change in the gaze of the Warlock opposite him. Immediately after, he felt as though his very soul were being scrutinized.

This was no illusion.

Deactivating the Eyes of Mystery Prying, Odis said, “You will recently encounter some fortunate events.”

The elderly gentleman froze momentarily, “Th-thank you.”

“Where did you hear that I had arrived in Backlund?” Odis followed up with another question, smoothly steering the conversation forward.

“From a friend,” the elderly gentleman replied, “Two days ago at a ball, I also heard from Viscount Verde– ah, no, he is a baron now… I heard from Baron Verde that you are a very capable warlock. So I inquired about your address through that friend. Today, I happened to be passing by. It was rather presumptuous of me to pay such a hasty visit, and I hope you can forgive me.”

Gentlemen in Backlund typically arranged an appointment days in advance before visiting within the agreed-upon time. That was the courtesy expected of a proper visit.

However, when visiting a Warlock, there was no need to adhere to such mundane habits.

Odis roughly grasped the situation now. The ‘friend’ mentioned by the man was likely one of the people hired to spread the word for him, or someone who had heard the rumors.

By coincidence, this old man had recently crossed paths with Baron Verde, learning from the baron that Gandalf was a capable Warlock.

‘It seems that old chap Baron Verde didn’t doubt Gandalf’s previous words and actions in the slightest, and is even working hard to spread my fame.’ Odis thought to himself.

The corners of his lips curved up slightly as he asked, “What brings you to me?”

The man hesitated a moment before saying, “Please, keep this strictly confidential.”

Odis nodded slowly.

The man took a deep breath before continuing, “I desperately want to know whether my eldest son, Bichir, is truly my flesh and blood.”

Odis froze for a moment: ‘The troubles of the wealthy…’

This undoubtedly involved inheritance or property division disputes, making it imperative to clarify blood ties.

The man hurriedly began to explain, “When I first met Bichir’s mother–”

Odis raised a hand, “I don’t need the details. I only need a few strands of Bichir’s hair, and your presence in person, to give you an answer.”

Beyonders of the Mystery Pryer Pathway could also perform divination, though they couldn’t handle anything too complex.

The only divination method they had that roughly approximated the results of a Seer was Astrolabe Divination; other methods like Dowsing Rod Seeking and Dream Divination were unique abilities belonging solely to Beyonders of the Seer Pathway. {T/N: Contextually, Spirit Pendulum Divination is more accurate here, but the author used the characters for ‘Dowsing Rod’ in the raw, so I’ll keep it as is. Also, I’ll blissfully ignore the ‘Seer unique’ abilities claim…}

However, simply divining whether the man before him had been cuckolded was relatively easy. If Odis were to divine who had cuckolded him, though, he could only attempt to use Astrolabe Divination.

The man blinked in surprise, “Alright, alright. I’ll get the hair in the next few days and visit again.” As he spoke, he handed a business card to the Warlock.

Odis glanced at the name: York Elton.

The elderly gentleman then politely took his leave…

…

Back inside his carriage, thinking of the somewhat terrifying decor in that Warlock’s residence and the other’s bizarre remarks, York suddenly felt a bit hesitant about whether he should actually deliver the hair.

Harboring these worries all the way home, he saw the manager he had hired coming out from the house to greet him the moment the carriage came to a halt: “Mr. Elton, our contract with the Oster Ocean Company has finally been signed!”

This highly lucrative partnership had been under negotiation for more than half a year, yet they had never been able to seal the deal.

Upon hearing the news, York hopped down from the carriage in delight, “That truly is wonderful news–”

Right then, he suddenly remembered that the Warlock had said he would be very fortunate recently!

York froze where he stood, his face blank with astonishment: ‘He knew… He knew this would happen…’

Then, his gaze shifted toward the hair of his eldest son…