Mr. A had left,departed as silently as he had arrived,leaving Snow in a state of profound bewilderment.
'So, I've just become the person-in-charge of the Backlund branch of the Aurora Order?'
'When Mr. Fool tries to strike at the Aurora Order and asks me for intelligence, would I have to say, "Sir, we are legal missionaries"?'
Of course, thoughts were just thoughts; Snow still had to do what needed to be done.
What Mr. A had left him,besides the two mystical items and the [Ascetic] potion formula,included his property, £5,000 in funds, and four "lambs."
A middle-aged butler in his forties with deep, soulful eyes; an elegant young steward in his thirties; and two pretty maids around twenty years old, responsible for the kitchen and housework, respectively.
Yes, they were the servants employed in Mr. A's household.
Their appearances went without saying,the type that fit the corporate culture of the Aurora Order. Although they had developed a certain degree of mental distortion due to their prayers to the True Creator, they were not Beyonders.
Under Mr. A's influence, they had become pious believers of the True Creator. However, for practical reasons, Mr. A hadn't given them the Secret Supplicant potion.
After all, they were high-level servants hired through formal channels. If they were lucky enough to become "superficially normal lunatics," that would be one thing. But if they became the common "lunatic-style listeners," they could no longer be used as public-facing servants. Whether they were discovered or simply went missing, it would easily attract the attention of official Beyonders.
Despite not being Beyonders, they were elite servants. According to Backlund's market rates, hiring them would cost nearly £200 a year. Now, Snow only had to pay them £100 annually to enjoy their services.
Yes, he still had to pay.
Faith was faith, and life was life. They were willing to lower their salaries for the sake of their faith, but they couldn't work for free.
Additionally, fanatical servants had another benefit: they would never embezzle or abuse their power. Thus, although Mr. A had previously maintained the persona of a respectable wealthy man, he hadn't needed to hire an additional housekeeper to balance the power of the butler.
Of course, this also related to the fact that he himself didn't need to enter Backlund's social circles.
After replenishing the funds for the butler,who had been without a master for over a month,and instructing him to post a message in the Backlund Daily regarding the launch of a Beyonder gathering tomorrow, Snow finally returned home and began his day's sleep. And then...
"So noisy!"
Feeling somewhat speechless, Snow pulled the [Ascetic] non-characteristic from his shadow. The fluctuating, maddening murmurs were incredibly disruptive noise, even after being filtered by "White Horse is Not a Horse." It was fine while he was awake, but when he tried to sleep, the din,resembling the roar of motorcycle engines on a late-night street,was enough to dispel any natural drowsiness.
Once the characteristic left his body, the noise in his ears instantly cleared. Although this thing could greatly accelerate the digestion of the [Secret Supplicant] acting, he still hoped for some peace and quiet while sleeping at night.
In fact, if not for its acceleration effect, he would have already used his [Concept Swapping] ability to transfer the pollution within it elsewhere.
He found a tin box, stuffed the [Ascetic] characteristic inside, and sealed it with a wall of spirituality. The echoing murmurs finally vanished. In this world without mobile phones, Snow,who had grown used to sleeping early,finally drifted into dreamland.
...
"O traveler from a distant time and space; the contradictory spiral of logic and wisdom; the reflection of knowledge, the reverse side of truth..."
Prayers cascaded down along with the morning light. However, they didn't disrupt Snow's wonderful morning. Compared to Klein's partial understanding, Snow's mastery over his Sefira was undoubtedly much stronger, and his "auto-responder" had been set up long ago.
Nevertheless, he still climbed out of bed after sensing the prayers. After feeding Lily, he began his ritual of providing "morning call service" to Mr. Fool.
...
'A thief?' In her sleep, Fors's ears twitched slightly. Perhaps because her daily life was too "energy-efficient," her sleep wasn't particularly deep. However, as someone in a non-frontline combat profession, she didn't jump up immediately. Instead, she reached out to touch Xio, who should have been sleeping beside her.
Wait, where was Xio?
Fors's hand hit empty space, sending a jolt through her. Xio was gone? Or was... that sound made by Xio?
'That letter she received yesterday?!' Fors immediately recalled the envelope that had abruptly appeared last night and scrambled up.
Looking down through the bedroom window, the visibility on the mist-shrouded street was extremely low. However, because her target was clear, she quickly caught sight of the petite figure at the door.
'Going out so early... she wouldn't be doing something dangerous, would she?'
Fors frowned slightly. After a brief hesitation, she grabbed the clothes by her bedside, threw them on, and used her [Apprentice] ability to phase through the walls and reach the street.
Fingering the bracelet which only had two "stones" left, Fors made up her mind and followed in the direction Xio had left.
Thanks to Backlund's terrible weather, Fors's tailing wasn't noticed by Xio. Regrettably, however, she still lost her trail,because she couldn't keep up with a public carriage.
"Xio has been an [Arbiter] for so long; she should know if something is dangerous or not. At worst, I'll just ask Miss Audrey for help to bail her out!" Fors muttered to herself as she watched the public carriage depart. But this wasn't enough to make her worry disappear. She knew very well how much Xio longed for advancement. Yet now, she was actually giving up on the Qilangos matter to do something else? Or had she received news of Qilangos and, because of Snow's previous warning about the mystical item, decided to charge in alone?
At this thought, the well-known author,who was still considered a "wealthy person",gritted her teeth, hailed a rental carriage, and pursued the path of the public carriage.
...
Although there were quite a few people on the public carriage, by the time it reached the factory district, there were essentially no passengers left. Most workers wouldn't be so extravagant as to take a public carriage or the subway.
Stepping off the carriage alongside a few passengers who were likely union members, Xio followed the address marked in the letter. Just as she reached the door, a familiar figure jumped out, "Xio! You're the [Arbiter] Mr. Lavis mentioned? It's you, that's a relief! You're so just; you definitely won't be bought off by the lackeys of those rich people!"
"You're... Bardelot?" Xio wasn't surprised to meet an acquaintance here. Most workers in the factory district lived in the East District. Aside from working, they occasionally visited bars for a glass of watered-down ale and looked for someone willing to listen to their boasting. As a somewhat famous arbiter in the East District, Xio had clearly dealt with these people before.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
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A/N: "Apprentice" (学徒) - Sequence 9 of the Door pathway, which provides the ability to pass through walls and other obstacles.
A/N: "Arbiter" (仲裁人) - Sequence 9 of the Justiciar pathway, known for its physical strength and aura of authority.
T/N: "Morning Call Service" - A running gag where the protagonist "wakes up" high-level beings with his prayers.
T/N: "Shadow Line" (阴影线团) - The [Ascetic] characteristic mentioned in Ch 67. Note how Snow treats high-level Beyonder traits as "annoying noise" unless he needs them.
T/N: "Bardelot" (博德拉特) - A minor character representing the connection between Xio and the worker class of Backlund.