Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

Wormtongue Mithor King, once a pirate captain under Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos, had been subdued by Tracy, the "Vice Admiral of Ailment," and subsequently became the third mate of her flagship, the Black Death, with a bounty of 5,400 pounds.

A Loenese by birth, Mithor had unusually short eyebrows, only half the normal length, deeply set eyes, brownish pupils, and sharply defined facial features.

At this moment, the third mate was leading three pirates through the woods, tracking the trail left by Helene during her escape.

Though Helene was a Beyonder of the Hunter pathway, her hurried flight left many clues behind, such as fragments of her skirt snagged on tree branches.

"Third Mate, this must have been left by Miss Helene. She definitely passed through here," one of the pirates said, handing a strip of fabric to Mithor.

Mithor scrutinized the material before saying in a deep voice, "Are you certain? Hunters are cunning; this could be a decoy she planted to mislead us."

"I'm sure! I'm a Hunter too, and an excellent tracker," the pirate retorted indignantly. "Besides, that inexperienced girl is far from being a qualified Hunter. She only got where she is because of her family and the captain's favor."

Thinking of Helene's usual meek demeanor, Mithor nodded, though a strange feeling lingered in his heart.

As a man and a pirate, Mithor often fantasized about both Tracy and Helene falling into his arms, but he knew better than to act on such thoughts—Tracy would undoubtedly render him a mute for life.

As for Tracy's other beautiful maid, the blonde Cecilia, she had tried to rekindle Tracy's attention by flirting with other pirates after Helene gained favor. However, Tracy remained indifferent, leaving Cecilia exploited by many pirates, including Mithor himself, without achieving her goal.

Casting aside these thoughts, Mithor chose to trust his subordinate's judgment and continued pursuing the trail through the forest.

The tracker was correct. They followed a trail of skirt fragments all the way to the outskirts of a manor with a castle on its grounds.

"Helene's skirt is in tatters. She can't keep running like this. She must've sneaked into the manor to steal clothes," the confident Hunter declared.

"Capture everyone in the manor and conduct a thorough search. Kill anyone who resists, except Helene," Mithor ordered coldly.

"Yes, Third Mate." The three subordinates nodded and began scaling the manor's outer walls.

At that moment, the ground beneath their feet softened into a swamp, causing them to sink rapidly, as if into quicksand.

Caught off guard, even Mithor could only helplessly sink into the swamp until it reached his neck. It was only then that he managed to activate his powers, stabilizing himself and slowly rising back up.

This was a distortion effect, one of the Baron of Corruption's abilities. It bent the rules of reality to construct a favorable order—such as reversing the swamp's effect to ascend instead of sink.

However, Mithor's Sequence 6 abilities allowed him to influence only the swamp immediately around himself, leaving his three subordinates to sink helplessly.

His singular thought now was to run!

The enemy was unknown, and the ambush was clearly premeditated. The swamp's effect hinted at a Sequence 5 level of power, far beyond his capacity to handle.

Yet just as Mithor regained mobility, a three-meter-tall giant bear loomed over him, casting an immense shadow.

"A Druid!" Mithor identified the enemy's Sequence immediately. Without hesitation, he threw the fabric scraps from Helene's skirt at the bear.

Seeing this, the bear—Ebner in disguise—let out a deep, mocking laugh. He raised a massive paw and announced in a low voice:

"Bribery is forbidden here."

This was the effect of a Ninth Law talisman Ebner had recently analyzed and synthesized. While much weaker than the original law, it was more than enough to deal with a Sequence 6 opponent.

Hearing the declaration, Mithor's face twisted with horror. Before he could comprehend why a bear was acting as a "judge," the low voice resounded again:

"Violators shall be punished."

With this proclamation, the bear's glowing paw descended, imbued with a sure-hit effect.

Mithor attempted to dodge but realized to his dismay that no matter how he moved, he could not evade the strike. Left with no choice, he braced himself for impact.

"A Disciplinary Paladin?" The term flashed in his mind as he crushed a protective talisman, summoning a phantom of armor over his body.

The talisman granted the defensive effect of the Armor of Dawn.

However, the giant bear's sheer strength, coupled with the "Disciplinary" effect, shattered the illusory armor with a single blow. The force continued through, breaking Mithor's spine and pinning him to the ground.

Mithor let out an agonized scream as he collapsed, blood gushing from his mouth. If not for the extraordinary vitality of a Sequence 6, the blow would have killed him instantly.

Ebner had deliberately held back, knowing Mithor's head was needed to claim the bounty. Otherwise, one strike to the skull would have ended him outright.

With Mithor incapacitated, Ebner reverted to his human form and began using dream divination to interrogate the dying pirate's spirit.

"How many people are tracking Helene?"

"Four, including me..."

"Does Tracy know Helene has escaped?"

"No… Cecilia advised us not to inform the captain yet…"

"Who is Cecilia?"

"The captain's other maid… A harlot… but she's quite enjoyable..."

"Does anyone else know you're following her through the woods?"

"No one..."

With this questioning complete, Ebner breathed a sigh of relief. If no one else knew of Helene's presence at his manor, disposing of these four would ensure that Hero Detective Ebner Braun's cover remained intact.

...

At the Seid Chamber of Commerce, the Storm Church's raid was swift and effective. However, they failed to apprehend anyone significant, and the sole Extraordinary present, a blonde woman, managed to escape right under their noses.

Executor Cordova Royer frowned as he turned to Alger and asked, "Did you share this intelligence with anyone else?"

Alger, having anticipated the question, replied smoothly,

"As soon as I received the information, I reported it directly to Bishop Jogori."

This statement was not entirely false.

Cordova nodded and sighed,

"It seems plenty of people tipped them off.

"What is the military even doing...?"