878 Arrodess Question (1/2)
With Klein finishing his final stroke, the lights in Billiard Room 3 dimmed.
On the dainty makeup mirror, aqueous patterns rippled out before turning into a dark scene.
Immediately, one bloody word after another appeared:
”Raise your questions.”
This scene was filled with a sense of supernatural horror. Even though standing there was a Wraith and a Zombie, they couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as they momentarily didn't dare say a word.
Only Klein continued wearing a smile as though he was accustomed to all of this.
He had previously exhorted Arrodes to not raise questions that were too difficult or private, and also to not act like a servant. If it wasn't because Sharron and Maric could ask much more targeted questions as a result of understanding the situation better, Klein was more inclined to handling it himself and not exposing the reality of having such a ”helper.”
After a few seconds of silence, Maric took two steps forward, came to the billiard table, and opened his mouth.
At this moment, Sharron gentle but emotionless voice sounded:
”I'll ask the questions.”
Without waiting for Maric to answer, she floated up into a standing position and looked at the mirror.
”Is the Tutanssess II mummy a trap that the Loen military set up to target the Rose School of Thought?”
The mirror's blood-red words melted away and slid down, dragging away the stains, barely leaving two words behind which wriggled to form:
”That's right.”
It is indeed a trap the Loen military set up for the Rose School of Thought. We can preliminary eliminate the situation that it's a plot the Rose School of Thought has to target Miss Sharron and Maric. After all, the risk involved exceeds the value of a Sequence 5 and 6 combined. Even if the Rose School of Thought can't curb their desire for revenge, they wouldn't be this crazy; unless, they were already planning on dealing with the Loen military and decided to involve this matter as well. If that's the case, the best place to have such a matter unfold would be in the Southern Continent or at sea, and not somewhere in the vicinity of Backlund. Who knows what kind of terrifying fellows are hidden here… Amidst his thoughts, Klein saw the surface of the mirror turn dark again as new blood-colored words appeared:
”Based on the principle of reciprocity, it's my turn to ask a question.
”If you answer wrong or lie, you will be punished.”
Rather obedient. He didn't make the request of doing artistic actions… Looking at the billiard table, Klein nodded indiscernibly.
At this moment, the words from before slowly vanished, presenting new words:
”You…”
As the bloody word froze for a full three seconds, it followed up:
”…are to answer with the relationship between the Chained God and the Mother Tree of Desire.”
For some reason, Klein felt that the remaining parts of the sentence had its blood-colored text darken significantly. Thankfully, the question wasn't too out of place, and it was something he would like to know.
Sharron looked at the mirror and replied in a deadpan manner, ”Since the Fifth Epoch, after the perishing of Death, the Eggers family gradually lost control over the Star Highlands and Paz Valley, allowing those places to have their own Beyonder organization, the Rose School of Thought.
”In the beginning, there wasn't the Mother Tree of Desire, only the Chained God. The Rose School of Thought advocated temperance and established a religious ritual system, including laws. Formal members led ascetic lives to deal with the repercussions of receiving powers.
”One day, a divine revelation added terms about indulgence. Many people slowly changed and restored ancient but bloody primitive sacrificial traditions. Later, the School of Thought's upper echelons began secretly calling the Chained God the manifestation of the Mother Tree of Desire.”
By the sound of it, the Chained God was corrupted by the Mother Tree of Desire bit by bit or replaced… If this entity was once a Sequence 0, then the Mother Tree of Desire is truly terrifying. It's no wonder it's viewed as an enemy by all the other deities… However, the Chained God might not be a Sequence 0. There's a small possibility of being a Uniqueness that has fully come to life, or a King of Angels with two Sequence 1 characteristics, or even someone weaker. There's currently not enough information to verify the matter… Klein frowned slightly as he began thinking about the matters regarding the Mother Tree of Desire.
At this moment, Sharron had switched to asking, ”What problems does the Tutanssess II mummy possess?”
On the mirror's surface, the blood-red text squirmed and changed into a complete sentence:
”It's filled with hexes, a manifestation of hexes. It has the possibility of automatically becoming a Zombie.”
This mummy is comprised of hexes? As expected of a corpse left behind by a High-Sequence Beyonder… How should this be resolved? Klein turned to look at Sharron and Maric and discovered that they were sufficiently calm without any hint of surprise, as though they already knew that. And this also meant that they had the means to resolve the matter. Of course, Sharron didn't have much of an expression regardless of the matter. She was as calm as she always was.
After Arrodes answered, it followed the principle of reciprocity and raised its question:
”You…”