Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 54: From the Heart 0-08

In the morning, outside the Backlund steam train station, Cyril stood at the end of the street where pedestrians came and went, a stack of tarot cards fluttering between his hands, but he could not get them out of his palms.

He was dressed in a long black tuxedo, a top hat, and a red bow tie around his neck. He was flipping cards at will, looking every bit the elegant magician.

A large crowd had gathered around him. Some were migrant workers who had just gotten off the steam train, some were passersby, and some were shop assistants, rickshaw pullers, newsboys, and even hoodlums who happened to work nearby...

He gathered the tarot cards that were fluttering between his hands and then threw them upwards with force.

slap~

With a crisp snap of the fingers, the cards that were spinning in the air and falling down all turned into red petals in the blink of an eye, scattering among the onlookers.

Some people reached out and caught the petals that floated down in front of them, brought them to their noses and smelled them. After discovering that they were real petals, they cheered enthusiastically.

Hearing the cheers and applause around him, Sirion removed his top hat and pressed it to his chest, giving a graceful bow.

Then he tossed his top hat high into the air, and several white doves flapped their wings and flew out of it.

"Wow!"

"pretty!"

"One more!"

When the cheering crowd looked away, they found that the magician had disappeared from the open space in front of them.

Then the crowd cheered again.

.....

In an inconspicuous corner outside the crowd, Cyril raised his hand to adjust his top hat, watching the crowd gradually disperse after their cheers, and a smile played on his lips in a rather pleasant mood.

At that moment, he heard the sound of illusory things shattering in his ears, and countless illusory and dazzling stars appeared before his eyes.

At this moment, his "Master of Tricks" potion was completely digested.

Five days have passed since he helped Emlyn stay at Harvest Church as a volunteer. Thanks to his skillful performance, his injuries have largely healed, and he no longer needs anyone to take care of him.

The servant Beth sent to take care of him was called back at his insistence and with Haven's agreement. Beth herself stopped visiting him from time to time, and even the Mechanical Heart's covert protection and observation of him decreased. He finally had the opportunity to go out and digest the last bit of the potion.

"It's really not easy... Well, it seems quite easy. From becoming an Extraordinary to now, it's still a few days away from a month, and the Sequence 8 potion has already been completely digested."

"The experience of having someone help you cheat is just different."

He muttered a couple of quiet sighs, then took off his top hat, twirled it in his hand, and strode toward the public carriage parking area outside the steam train station.

Having digested the last bit of the "Master of Tricks" potion, he had achieved his goal for the day. All that remained was to acquire meteorite crystals at the gathering of extraordinary individuals and seize the time to advance to the rank of "astrologer".

He wasn't worried about getting stuck on collecting potion ingredients. Adam needed him to explore the Mirror World, and the prerequisite for that was becoming an "astrologer," otherwise he wouldn't even be able to find his way in the Mirror World.

Under these circumstances, he even suspected that the meteorite crystal would be delivered to his door by itself sometime in the next few days.

In a good mood, he bought a copy of today's Tasok Daily from a passing newsboy. On the first page, he saw a news item that was both unexpected and not entirely unexpected:

A serious gas leak occurred in Tingen, Akhova County, which destroyed a local security company and caused numerous casualties.

"Are we finally coming to Backlund?"

He muttered something to himself, then turned his head to look at the exit of the steam train station on his left, a surge of eager desire for promotion welling up inside him.

For the next Backlund, Sequence 7 alone is not enough.

As his thoughts drifted, his gaze suddenly fell upon a figure emerging from the steam train station with the flow of people, looking somewhat out of place among his surroundings.

He glanced at him curiously, and the person seemed to sense something and looked up at him.

In that brief exchange of glances, his gaze pierced through the other man's disguise, revealing his truest self.

His hair was dark gold, and his features were like those of a classical sculpture, without a single wrinkle. One of his eyes had a pupil so blue it was almost black, while the other eye had no luster at all, as if it were blind.

In a deeper gaze, he saw the other's long, thick, wolf-hair claws extending from its sides, as well as its entire body covered in dark green scales and white feathers growing from between the scales.

An incomplete mythical creature form, and a mixture of features from two mythical creatures!

Cyril looked away, glanced down at the newspaper in his hand, and then looked back at the spot where he had been standing. The figure that stood out from the crowd had disappeared.

"Could it be such a coincidence?"

"While the 'Night Watch' isn't yet a 'Servant of the Secrets,' they should possess some abilities related to secrecy. Why was I able to see right through them?"

"Is it because you were just promoted and your condition is still unstable?"

As he pondered, in a corner to the side of the steam train station, the figure who had just emerged from the darkness—wearing a double-breasted overcoat and with features like a classical sculpture—quietly stepped out.

His dark blue eyes gazed intently in the direction of Sirion, muttering to himself, seemingly talking to someone:

"Who is he? Did he recognize me?"

"He must forget that he just saw me."

As soon as he finished speaking, a classic black quill pen quietly appeared in his hand. The quill pen tip trembled gently, writing words on the wall beside him:

Unlucky Ince Zangwell was recognized as soon as he arrived in Backlund. Despite his thorough disguise before coming, his clumsy attempt to conceal his identity was immediately seen through by that person.

That was a strange and troublesome fellow. Not only did he recognize Ince Zangwill, he also knew of the existence of the Pen of Alszukhod, the world's second greatest writer, and he was a history student at Backlund University, Sir Ryan Gray...

...

At the public carriage parking area, Sirion suddenly stopped, tilting his head slightly as if deep in thought. He seemed to hear someone calling his name.

The sound was very ethereal and intermittent, so he couldn't hear it very clearly.

"What's going on?"

He frowned, then suddenly remembered something: the 0-08 in Ince Zangwell's hands.

"0-08? Or, the Pen of Alshogod?" he murmured the name 0-08.

.....

At the same time, in Ince Zangwell's hand, the 0-08 that was writing words on the wall suddenly stopped, then shook wildly, erasing the name of Sirion at the beginning.

As if that wasn't enough, it simply erased the entire passage.

The classic quill pen in Ince Zangwell's hand trembled slightly; though it was a pen, it seemed to emanate a murmuring, echoing sound from the surroundings.

"You don't want Adam to know you've come to Backlund, do you?"

"If you don't want a third person to know about what happened today, give me some hush money. Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped."

...

After a slight tremor, Ince Zangwell began writing words on the wall again:

Cyril Grey actually dared to threaten the Great Pen of Alshurhord. He was doomed to fail, for the Great Pen of Alshurhord cannot be threatened by anyone, no one!

But Cyril Glenn's repeated requests were so sincere that the Great Pen of Alshogod felt compelled to make a deal with him and grant his small wish.

At this very moment, a spirit being contracted as a messenger has just passed through this part of the spirit world, and another, even more powerful spirit being happens to pass through here as well. For the spirit world, which has no probability of direction or distance, this is quite reasonable.

The unfortunate messenger was targeted by this even more powerful spirit creature, and in its escape, it left behind the extraordinary materials it was meant to deliver to its contractor.

Quite by chance, this material escaped the spirit world and fell into reality, ending up in the hands of Sirion Gray.

Yes, it was all just a coincidence!

As the last word was written, 0-08 suddenly jerked twice, like someone panting after strenuous exercise.

At that moment, Ince Zangwell, who was holding a pen, looked at the words on the wall with a dark expression. It wasn't him writing, but 0-08 controlling him to write.