In her private office, the mistress of the Arclore family started her work again. The pile of letters and documents placed aside on her desk slowly began to decrease.
Tok! tok!
"My lady, there's distant news."
"Come in."
Placing her fountain pen aside, Isadora gazed at the door.
The old butler came in with a letter in his hand, which was tied to a pigeon.
"Neravan letter, it's quite surprising for them to write to us."
Taking the letter in her hand, Isadora started to read it.
"A trinity gathering of the sanctuary. Well now, what happened to those peace seekers to call out a gathering this time of the year?"
"Guest of Wind said that it's an omen from that prophet in the holy sanctuary," the butler informed her what he knew.
"Hmm, they're fortunate to have her with them... Did Mordred come back?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid."
"Inform me when he doe..."
At that moment, the two heard the sound of a horse arriving at the Arclore residence.
After the butler halted the horse, Mordred got down and walked back to his residence. On his way, he met an acquaintance of old Mordred.
"Young master, it's quite hard to get hold of you these days... you look unwell. Did you perhaps stay too much... outside?"
The man was a minor lord under the Arclore family. If it were someone else, they would never think of talking to Mordred the way he did, but for this man, Mordred made exceptions.
"Come, this is not a place for business."
Silently, the man followed Mordred until they came to Mordred's residence.
"Sit. For what purpose have you visited me today? If I remember correctly, I have more time by my side."
Leaning in his seat, Mordred gazed at the man with his cold, piercing eyes.
"But lord, you only have time until the full moon."
"So... why are you here?"
"Tomorrow is the full moon."
"Oh... Is it now"
Mordred fell into silent upon hearing that. The man stayed obedient until Mordred spoke again.
According to his memory, this man was the reason Mordred managed to bond with the hellhounds. Well, not the man himself, but through the people the man had connections with. With those connections, the man borrowed a valuable item that helped Mordred connect with the spirit realm without being detected, but it was unfortunate that as soon as the contract was made with the two hellhounds, the item crumbled to dust as a payment.
With his authority and the fear the man had for him, Mordred managed to buy more time to return the item to them. Now, it seems time is running out for me.
"From whom did you actually receive this item?"
The man slowly responded.
"Young master, those are trade secrets."
"I'm someone involved in this trade. Shouldn't I be knowing who I'm dealing with?"
In response to Mordred, the man fell into thought.
"Depending on your answer, this could be our last trade, or worse... This could be your last trade."
Hearing those words, the man felt like his heart was pierced through.
"It's... It's the White Pirates. They had the pearl of a dead Leviathan, but they suffered near extinction from the battle to retrieve it, so they've been looking for money to rebuild.
You, my sire, needed the pearl at the moment, so, with harsher conditions of money and the return of the pearl to their hands after six full moons, they agreed to trade. But now they want it. If... we don't give it back to them, sire... there's sure to be bad luck between us."
"Bad luck? Every human has bad luck, man. Just look at me. I've been hunted by ghosts a moment ago. And White Pirates? What are they doing? What's the use of the Leviathan pearl to them?"
"Just like any other pirates, sire. To reach the Land Beyond," the man's voice echoed in the air like a whisper.
Interesting, among the White Pirates, there's a heroic woman who indeed is a hero character in the Destiny Quest. But there's never been a mention of crossing the sea.
The real world... going astray from the game.
"... Ask for another month. I'll compensate for time with this."
Mordred placed the dead egg he found in the passage upon the table.
"Sire, the pearl is highly valuable to their plans. Something like this isn't going to make them calm."
"Do you know what this is? This is an egg of a mystical creature. Not even the king owned something like this. I plan on using it for my... certain things. Now, I give this as an item of promise. After one month, I'll give back the pearl and retrieve this from the pirates."
The room fell into silence as the man fell into thought.
"Well, sire, I'll be putting my head at risk..."
"I won't forget about your efforts."
Mordred took out a checkbook from his locker, wrote a high number, and handed it to the man.
Looking at the long numbers with gleaming eyes, the man put the check close to his chest, through his clothes.
"From one month then, sire, we will meet again."
. . . . . . .
After a long time of thinking, Mordred, who was still in his chair, stood up.
"Prepare my bath."
In his large bathroom, Mordred lay in the giant water tub. Maids were around him, pouring water and medicine into the tub with utmost care. A few were massaging Mordred's shoulders with delicate movements of their hands.
Word of the world, White Pirates' movement, Holy Saintess, Desire Ashbron, Forbidden Seal.
All of these changed and started their own stories. The usefulness of my knowledge of the game became extremely limited with the changing world.
"However, above all else, what bothers me the most... is the Word of the World."
If someone else other than me gets hold of that item, it'll be all over.
With Mordred's command, the item panel appeared in his vision. The maids stayed usual, as none were able to see it.
After a wish is granted, the Word of the World scroll shatters into thirteen pieces and is scattered across the continent to be found by the next wanderer of the world.
That's what the lore said. With the pieces I possess, I have to find nine pieces more.
After his bath, wearing his sleeping suit, Mordred sat closer to a table, sipping a glass of wine while looking at the night stars in the sky. Placed on the table were the four fragments of the Word of the World he had. Beside the table, Knight Remiar stood with a pile of books in both of his hands.
Mordred tried to read or understand what was in those fragments, but his efforts turned to waste.
"A favorite fiction slowly turning into a mystery. How am I gonna play this thing.."
"You seem distressed."
Suddenly, an alluring voice of a female was heard. Mordred didn't flinch nor was he shocked; in his calm state, he still gazed at the stars beyond the sky.
"Things I know are turning into things I do not know anymore."
With a sigh, Mordred took another sip.
The tall woman that seeped out from Mordred's body like smoke sat on his desk in an enchanting manner.
"What made those things something you knew in the first place?"
Mordred suddenly paused. At the same moment, he heard a knock at the door.
"Come in."
The tall lady turned into dark smoke as she was absorbed back into Mordred. Placing the wine glass on the table and putting the four fragments of the Word of the World back into the item storage, Mordred gazed at Vennese, who had entered.
"Young master, it's a new report. Apparently, the Holy Knights called for a Trinity Gathering."
"Trinity gathering? They sure catch on fast to things."
Releasing those dark beings is the right choice; that should keep that woman busy for a while.
"Yes, with one of the main Sun Sanctuaries burned down by an unknown individual, all the Sanctuaries are tightening their guard."
"…What?"
"You may go now."
With Mordred's order, Vanessa left the room. Picking up the wine glass, Mordred drank what was left in it with one sip.
"Another thing I did not expect."
[What made these things something you knew in the first place?]
The ghostly woman's words echoed in his ears once again.
"That would be the information I had... If the information I now possess is useless, I have to gather new ones. Is that what you're trying to say?"
Mordred's body glowed in a dark color in response.
To gather information, this Trinity Gathering would be the most suitable place, but I doubt any ordinary or noble person could enter the gathering as they please. Only someone with a name for justice, someone blessed by the gods, or someone under a sanctuary could enter. Even if that's the case, that someone needs to be strong enough to be recognized by others.
In the midst of his thoughts, Mordred's eyes directed themselves to the knight Remir standing by the side.
"..."
. . . . . . . .
The head of the Sun Sanctuary Union—
Thud!
"Blast that goddamned bastard! Not only did we lose the Sun Eclipse, our Prestige item, but we also lost our century's worth of effort to gather the World Fragment!"
With a fit of rage, the pope slammed his fist on the table. The letter he was reading flew out of his hand, and the other bishops sitting at the same table had sour expressions.
"Now they're calling the Trinity Gathering. No doubt they'll ask about everything we've lost."
"Those from the Moon Sanctuary would never let this chance slide to dig into our affairs,"
Hearing those words only made the pope even angrier.
"If only we had a prophet like the one in the Holy Sanctuary," remarked one of the bishops with a sigh.
Suddenly, the clouds in the sky parted, and rays of sunlight descended on the sanctuary roof.
A brilliantly bright ray fell upon the pope, illuminating him.
Bathed in the light of the sun, the pope closed his eyes. The bishops fell silent, their mouths shut like the dead, not daring to speak a word.
As time passed, the clouds in the sky gathered again, and the sunlight faded away.
Within the dimming light, the pope opened his eyes. The bishops gazed at him with expectation, and the pope smiled at them with relief.
Rising hurriedly from his seat, the pope knelt before the giant statue of the Sun God in the sanctuary. The fellow bishops followed his movement and knelt before the statue.
"O Almighty God of the Sun, we offer our hearts and souls as gratitude for watching over us from above. With your divine care and guidance, we shall do your bidding without fail."
We will do your bidding without fail...
We will do your bidding without fail...
The bishops' voices resounded through the hall after the pope's prayer.
"Pope, are we allowed to know about the bidding of the god?"
Outside the praying hall, a bishop asked the pope.
"You all most definitely should know, because it's... related to our future Divine Knight. Contact the Draconian family—that's where our future lies."
With the pope's order, the bishops walked out excitedly. Soon, from the foot of the sanctuary, groups of Sun Knights rode their horses in the direction where the Draconians lived.
Through the window of his personal room, the pope gazed at the fading knights in the distance. Holding a book in his hand, he walked away while reading it.
"A sanctuary can only hold one Divine Knight at a time. After a Divine Knight passes away, the god himself appoints the name of the new Divine Knight."
Reading the words aloud, the pope suddenly closed the book.
"A new Divine Knight has been named. Then... what happened to the old one? How did the Weeping One pass away?"
Gazing at the horizon, the pope fell into deep thought. His thoughts slowly led to terrible omens.