As the slightly muffled doorbell rang, Alger, the Hanged Man, pinched his earlobe with his right hand hidden under his hood, carefully listening to the sounds carried on the wind.
The faint clanging sounds of hammering echoed through the door crack, yet they were eerily, mechanically repetitive.
Amidst a series of rustling, strange noises, the door automatically swung inward, revealing a slightly dim interior.
Alger's heart sank slightly, and he instantly recalled some of the 'Craftsman's' previous abnormalities, but he wasn't overly flustered.
After all, this was Bayam, the City of Generosity, and Sea King Jahn Kottman was in the City's Cathedral of Waves.
Although he was still pondering whether to use the Church's power to investigate the anomaly here and cut his losses in time, Alger had already pretended to be nonchalant and retreated backward, yet the corner of his eye caught sight of green pea vines dangling from high above.
In an instant, they intertwined behind him, forming a lush, dense aerial forest whose top could not be seen, with vines twisting and spiraling into pathways, unashamedly hanging before him.
Looking at this incredible spectacle, fine beads of sweat seeped from Alger's rugged, deeply etched face, and his rapid heartbeat pounded like a drum.
He did not try to resist, nor did he cry out for help.
To dare to act directly in Bayam, without even attracting the attention of Lord Kottman, was beyond what a demigod could achieve.
"A demigod wielding a Sealed Artifact of Sequence 0, or… a true Angel!"
Alger pursed his slightly bitter lips, took a deep breath, and with a gust of wind generated beneath his feet, he leaped into the aerial forest.
Using the cover of the wind, he recited the honorific name of the Fool at the fastest speed in a voice only he could hear.
The melodious whistle drifted away, and Klein, whose appearance had changed, withdrew his gaze from the tranquil Tingen City outside the window, adjusted his top hat, and sat down by the window of the steam train.
His experiences in Foggy Town and the scorching battlefield in the Amantha Mountains had completely digested his Bizzaro Sorcerer potion. Considering the secret about King George III he obtained by communing with Panatiya, the Despairing Nightingale, he decided to return to Backlund.
Leaning against the not-so-comfortable seat back, Klein had just unfolded the newspaper in his hand when a short, muffled prayer suddenly reached his ears.
"Mr. Hanged Man…"
Klein paused, observed his surroundings to locate the washroom, then got up and walked over.
Closing the door, Klein used a paper figurine substitute to conceal his true form, then directly walked four steps counter-clockwise, arriving above the gray fog, and sat in the position belonging to the Fool.
"Bernadette!"
After clearly seeing the prayer scene and recognizing one of the figures within, his expression instantly turned strange.
Backlund, St. George's District, the Backlund headquarters of the God of Steam and Machinery Church, St. Serene Cathedral.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Twelve chimes rang out in succession, and white steam spewed from the chimneys at the top of St. Serene Cathedral. Praising hymns, accompanied by the rotation of giant gears and levers, echoed both inside and out.
In the square in front of the cathedral, everyone stopped their steps. At this sacred moment, they either closed their eyes in prayer or listened quietly, regardless of whether they were followers of the God of Steam and Machinery. Only the fed white pigeons simultaneously flapped their wings and soared into the sky.
And in the underground area of the cathedral, within the exclusive laboratory, Archbishop Horamick Haydn, dressed in a white priest's robe and wearing a clergyman's soft cap, looked solemnly at the unfamiliar man standing before the triangular holy emblem, his gaze lingering more on the other party's wrist.
It was a special symbol, composed of numerous illusory and complex pieces of information, with a strange structure!
As a member of the Divine Council, Horamick naturally knew what this symbol represented within the Church, so even though he had never seen the other party before, he still spoke in a gentle tone:
"Your Excellency the Blessed, what do you need on this visit?"
Aaron, who had altered his appearance and concealed his aura, glanced at Horamick Haydn, who was scrutinizing him, smiled, and succinctly said:
"I want to take Arrodes, the Magic Mirror."
Noticing the change in the Archbishop's expression, he calmly added:
"You can pray to the God of Steam and Machinery for confirmation…"
Listening to the casual tone, Horamick's eye twitched slightly, somewhat doubting the identity of the other party as a Blessed, but he said nothing, clasped his hands together, and prayed devoutly in a low voice.
He didn't wait long before Horamick suddenly looked up, gave Aaron a deep look, and the creaking sound of gears turning emanated from underground.
Soon, another "Horamick" came up from deeper underground, holding a mirror in his hand.
It was entirely silver, with ancient and mysterious patterns on its back, and an eye-like decoration on each side of its front.
It was none other than Arrodes, the Magic Mirror!
Several silver-white electric arcs escaped from the mirror's surface, carving cracks on "Horamick," revealing the unusually complex mechanical structure inside; this was merely a mechanical puppet.
With a slight curl of his lips, Aaron's right hand made a grasping motion, and the ancient silver mirror came into his hand.
The garbled code on the mirror's surface instantly solidified, only to tremble and continue to appear after Aaron tapped the mirror's surface:
"Humble, tiny Arrodes greets you, trembling at your gradually recovering aura…"
Horamick stood not far away, and naturally saw the intermittently appearing words. From the font alone, he could feel Arrodes's nervousness and flattery.
It seemed to be the first time this ill-tempered magic mirror had behaved in such a way, and the usually stern Archbishop's expression was somewhat peculiar at this moment.
Flipping his hand to block the swaying illusory ripples on the mirror's surface, Aaron nodded to Horamick, then symbolically drew a triangular holy emblem on his chest before his figure abruptly vanished.
Southern Backlund region, north bank of the surging Tussock River.
Aaron's figure emerged from the Spirit World, released the restriction on Arrodes, and looking at the somewhat "apprehensive" magic mirror, he smiled and said:
"How come I feel you're not very happy to see me?"
The mirror surface trembled slightly, and silver words appeared one by one:
"Respected, great Lord of Order, it is my honor, humble Arrodes, to receive your favor and escape the ignorant Steam Church."
Seeing that Aaron did not refute, after a few seconds, the silver words on the surface of the "Magic Mirror" wriggled and recombined, forming a new sentence, tentatively asking:
"So, are you preparing to send me back to my Lord's side?"
Looking at Arrodes's unusual thought process, Aaron tapped the mirror's surface and added with a playful tone:
"Amon and Zaratul are both searching for Sefirah Castle. Are you sure you want me to send you there now?"