HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

"Uh…"

Edward genuinely hadn't expected this guy—who hadn't even met Klein yet—to already be this eager to play the loyal lapdog.

"Yes."

The surface of Arrodes' mirror shimmered brightly, as if overjoyed.

"It's your turn to ask, Mr. Edward."

"I want to know where that Desire Apostle went."

"He went to seek an opportunity to become a demigod."

Edward frowned.

"Isn't that answer a little too vague? It's basically saying nothing at all."

New words appeared on the silvery surface of the mirror:

"Beria intends to go to sea to search for the inheritance of the Beria or Andariel families. He might also go to the Nois family in search of opportunity. But at present, I cannot determine where he will ultimately end up.

I only know what has happened or is currently happening, not what might happen in the future."

After a pause, Arrodes posed another question:

"According to the law of equivalence, it's now my turn again."

"Can you bring me to my future great Master?"

Damn, that's a bit much to ask, isn't it?

Don't be fooled by Arrodes' relatively low seal designation—just 2-111. The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery still valued it highly. In the original timeline, after the Church backed the wrong side and got kicked out of Backlund, it was Bornova himself who personally came to retrieve Arrodes.

Edward thought for a moment before answering:

"Not for now…but I can create an opportunity for you to meet him."

The mirror instantly burst with fireworks and even flashed a cheering emoji with pom-poms.

"Thank you, Mr. Edward. How about today?"

"Don't be hasty. It's my turn now."

Edward raised a hand, signalling a pause.

"Why did you give the Machinery Hivemind false information last night?"

Arrodes suddenly began flickering like a short-circuited television. After about thirty seconds, he finally replied:

"I don't know."

"I did locate Beria's position, but when they went there, they only found the Devil Dog."

"I suspect someone interfered with me, and I got scared…so I lied and said I was too tired and needed to rest."

So that's what happened.

Then…who could have interfered with Arrodes?

The Russian priest again? But to what end?

"All right, your turn to ask, Arrodes."

"When can you take me to meet my Master?"

Edward chuckled.

"I'll need to speak with the Church of Steam and Machinery first."

"Very well, I leave it in your hands, sir. Do you have any other questions?"

"Hmm, just one last thing…Do you know where the formulas for the Apprentice pathway Sequence 3 and above are?"

Edward quickly added, "Uh, aside from the Abraham family."

The mirror shimmered and then dimmed. The outline of a massive wooden object began to appear. As the image zoomed in, a few words emerged:

Laurel—an ancient ship from the Fourth Epoch.

"The Laurel again?"

Edward's eyes gleamed.

"I see. Thank you."

The Laurel faded from view, replaced by a line of text:

"You're sure you have no more questions?"

Oh, so I get to enjoy Arrodes' famous "bonus questions" too, huh? Looks like basking in Klein's glory has its perks.

"Nope."

"I look forward to the day I can meet my future great Master. Thank you, sir."

As the text disappeared, Arrodes returned to its dull, ordinary appearance.

Having watched all this quietly, Lilith finally couldn't resist.

"Edward, I want to ask him something too."

"Go ahead."

Lilith nudged Arrodes' mirror with her little paw so it turned to face her.

"After advancing to Sequence 7, will Miss Lilith really turn into a humanoid?"

Waves of silvery light rippled across the mirror's surface.

"Yes."

Lilith lifted her chin with a look of gracious pride.

"Your turn to ask me now."

"What is eighty-six plus forty-five minus twenty-one?"

"???"

Lilith's eyes widened in shock. She lifted her paw and tried to count, but there simply weren't enough toes. Frustrated, she started circling in place, scratching her head in confusion.

Edward looked on, completely speechless, unsure how to help.

Arrodes didn't offer assistance either—just waited patiently.

Two minutes later, Lilith finally said in a hesitant voice, "One hundred…one hundred…one hundred and one?"

"Correct."

Lilith exhaled in relief, then beamed with pride.

"Hehe, Miss Lilith is so smart, there's no way a little math problem could stump me!"

"Any more questions, Miss who shares a name with a great god?"

That's…a pretty unique way to address her.

"Nope."

Lilith shook her head and hopped into Edward's arms.

"Let's go, Edward."

"All right. See you later, Arrodes."

As they exited the room, Dirac was waiting not far off.

"How did it go, Mr. Edward?"

"I got the answers I needed."

"That's good to hear. Anything else I can help with?"

"No, you go ahead. Thanks again."

Just as Edward stepped out of the cathedral's front doors, Lilith suddenly panicked.

"Oh no! My pendant!"

She lowered her head and clawed at her neck—sure enough, the little pendant was missing.

"It must have fallen in that room while I was doing the math! I'll go get it!"

With that, she leapt down and dashed back at full speed.

"Sigh…"

Edward shook his head, half amused, half helpless.

"This little rascal…"

Just as he was about to follow, a boundless, grayish-white mist appeared before him—

It was Mr. Fool.

—

Meanwhile—

Lilith quickly retraced her steps and reopened the door to the room. She spotted the pendant on the floor, picked it up, and then—rather than leave—leapt back onto the table.

She looked seriously at Arrodes.

"I want to know…Does Krismona really harbour goodwill toward me? And if so, why?"

——

In the endless grey sea of fog, the figure of The Hanged Man, Alger, emerged. Maintaining a devout and respectful posture, he said:

"Honourable Mr. Fool, may I trouble you to pass on a message to Mr. Tower. I'll obtain that extraordinary item capable of withstanding fatal damage by tonight. However, I currently don't have enough money on hand—may I request an advance payment? I'll also charge only half the usual commission."

"The final price I negotiated is 7,200 pounds, with an additional 300 pounds as a reduced fee. That's a total of 7,500 pounds."

The image of Alger ended there.

Despite The Hanged Man being one of the more cautious members of the Tarot Club, Edward still trusted him completely. He replied, "That's acceptable. I'll offer the money as a sacrifice once I return home. Praise The Fool."

Mr. Fool's silhouette flickered in the grey mist, leaving behind only a plain "Mm."

Edward's vision returned to normal. He clicked his tongue.

"Good thing I was outside the church, or else you'd be hopping around right in front of an orthodox god again, you cheeky evil deity."

"Edward! I'm back!"

Lilith came dashing toward him, leapt up, and landed perfectly in Edward's arms. She dropped the pendant into his palm.

"Tie it back on for Miss Lilith, please!"

"Sure~"

He helped her re-tie the pendant and even added a neat bow.

"All done. Looks beautiful!"

"Of course!"

Lilith nodded happily.

"So, where are we going next?"

"Home first."

———

15 Minsk Street.

Klein descended from the grey fog and still couldn't stop thinking about the thick stack of banknotes he'd just passed to The Hanged Man. His eyes reddened.

7,500 pounds!

How long would it take him to earn that much?

If not for maintaining The Fool's prestige, he would've definitely charged everyone a platform fee every time they transacted through his fog!

People always said running a platform was the most profitable business. Look at Amazon!

Klein had indeed "earned" plenty of occult knowledge this way—but money? Not so much.

"Ugh…"

Klein sighed. Lately, his cases had only included things like finding lost dogs, investigating unfaithful lovers, or accompanying journalists to the docks in East Borough. After several days of effort, he'd barely made 50 pounds total.

He did have one commission that offered a staggering 1,000 pounds: helping Prince Edessak find his missing maid and uncover the truth behind Talim's death.

But that involved the royals and the nobility. Worse still, Klein later found out from Captain Dunn that the person who initially commissioned him to investigate Prince Edsak was a witch—the same one responsible for the Alfafa tragedy back in Tingen.

There was no doubt this job was riddled with danger.

Klein once again took out the yellow crystal for divination. The result was the same as it had been in the grey fog: dangerous, but not overwhelmingly so.

"Maybe...I should try it? If things go south, I'll bolt immediately! Otherwise, who knows how long it'll take to gather the materials for Faceless…"

After struggling for a while, Klein finally made a decision.

"Still, 1,000 pounds is 1,000 pounds."

———

Desire Apostle Jason Beria had already left Backlund for the sea. With his 'Devil's intuition' toward danger, he'd likely sensed something and fled preemptively. So for now, the matter had to be shelved.

But once Beria successfully advanced to Sequence 4 as a Demon, things would get very troublesome.

The only thing Edward could do was report him in advance and hope that when Beria eventually returned to Backlund, the churches would be prepared enough to take him down.

At noon, Edward picked a roadside bistro in the Cherwood Borough, ordered a stew, and ate it with roasted bread. During the meal, Lilith repeatedly tried to toss her dried mouse into the pot, but Edward stopped her each time.

"Lilith, this is someone's business. Don't throw rats in their stew."

"Oh."

Lilith blinked.

"Then will you stew it for me tonight? With lamb!"

"…Don't you think it's more satisfying to cook it yourself?"

She looked down at her little paws.

"I can't."

"Try using magic?"

"Haven't learned that yet."

"You silly cat."

She instantly puffed up.

"Miss Lilith is not silly!"

Her whiskers twitched as if she'd made up her mind.

"I must digest my potion quickly and advance to Sequence 7!"

"Go for it~"

"Hmph!"

Just then, a beautiful woman approached—she wore a laced blouse with floral trims, a grey skirt that fell below the knees, tall leather boots, and a soft hat with sheer black veils. Her long chestnut hair draped over her shoulders.

She sat down beside Edward without invitation, removing her hat.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"…You're already sitting."

"Thanks."

Today, Bernadette's attire was relatively "normal." Under the influence of Emperor Roselle, her fashion choices had always been a little…eccentric. Or perhaps the term was "avant-garde"?

She asked the owner for a set of utensils, then casually forked out a tender piece of lamb from Edward's stew and tasted it.

"Mm, not bad."

Tsk, Queen Mystic is getting awfully familiar with me now.

———

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