บท 178: Harvest and Report

"Beatrice?!"

Ebner screamed in his heart. He did not expect to meet this friend here. And from the looks of it, she should be the "tough bone" that the bald man had mentioned before, who failed to assassinate and was caught instead.

At this moment, Beatrice looked extremely miserable. Her clothes were torn and tattered, and her entire body was covered in deep black marks. Even her limbs were broken!

Hearing the noise, Beatrice raised her head with difficulty. Through her blurred vision, she barely understood what was going on in the basement. She nodded at Ebner, who had already revealed himself, and tried to squeeze out a smile. In a hoarse voice, she said, "Friend, although I don't know who you are, I'm very grateful that you saved me… I'll repay you later."

She did her best to show her worth and emphasized that she did not know the man, lest she is silenced.

You're thinking too much. I originally came here to 'create something out of nothing' and find out some information…

Ebner, who was wearing a clown mask and had a female face, cursed silently. However, he was not in a hurry to untie Beatrice. Instead, he first used his "physician" ability to treat her injuries.

Although the "treatment" he simulated was much less effective than the original version, it was enough for emergency treatment. At the very least, it stabilized the other party's condition temporarily and did not worsen.

And the injuries were no longer worsening. It was enough for a strong "hunter."

"Thank you," said Beatrice, relieved to see that he meant no harm. If he had, he would not have been so unnecessary.

Ebner nodded and didn't say a word. Instead, he turned around and went to the three dead Beyonders. After carefully identifying them, he wanted to put away the Beyonder characteristics that they had extracted.

Corpse Collector characteristic. This was produced by the brownish-yellow-skinned man who opened the closet… I remember seeing him back when I was recalling Morella's memories. He should be called Godotpos… Yes, according to the three people, it was this Godotpos who protected the so-called Mr. Aubrey. That's how Beatrice was captured? Heh heh, forget the fact that Hunter can't beat Corpse Collector, he was even captured… How embarrassing…

"Uh, alright. This Godotpos have a Beyonder item? That makes sense."

Ebner grumbled to himself as he searched Godotpos for another jet-black revolver.

After analyzing it with the Eye of Pure White, he realized that it only had the ability of Silent Shooting. Although it wasn't very powerful, it was still quite useful.

After stowing away the characteristics and revolvers, Ebner looked at the other brown-skinned man beside Godotpos.

They were both from the Southern Continent's Balam race, but this person's clothes were more exquisite, and he maintained his skin better than Godotpos. Ebner even analyzed several types of skincare products from his face…

This should be the 'Lord Lima' mentioned by those ordinary people, right? His status should be above Godotpos…

As expected, this is a Gravedigger… Tsk tsk, thankfully, a Witch's invisibility can hide from wandering spirits. Otherwise, I would've had to do more…

There's actually no Beyonder item? That's right. He doesn't seem to be a combatant, so there's no need for him to carry a dangerous Sealed Artifact with him… Yes, the Sealed Artifact of the Everlasting Society shouldn't be in this stronghold either. It probably has other places to store it.

"Eh? He has a letter on him?"

After Ebner put away the characteristic, he unfolded the letter and found only one sentence:

"It has been confirmed that Earl Wolf has a mask that he brought out from the Eggers family mausoleum."

The Eggers family's mask… This was lost by Mr. Azik, wasn't it? The Eternal life Society is already planning on it? However, I can imitate this handwriting. When the time comes, I'll hand this letter and the forged intelligence to the military…

As his thoughts raced, Ebner turned his attention back to the last man poisoned to death.

It was an elder in his sixties. He had a big nose, grayish-blue eyes, and his facial skin was loose. He didn't have a beard, and his hair was very thin. And on his body was a dark red object that resembled jelly. It was the Beyonder characteristic of a Provoker.

"That person is Donald Aubrey. On the surface, he's the boss of a bar in East Borough, but in fact, he's a pirate who disguised himself after he came ashore! His nickname at sea is Laughter Longman, with a bounty of 1,000 pounds."

At this moment, Beatrice finally regained some strength. She introduced to Ebner with a complicated look in her eyes.

Provoker… From the looks of it, the hunting mission Anderson gave him wasn't just to train Beatrice. It also had the intention of allowing her to "act" and obtain the ingredients for her advancement…

Unfortunately, Beatrice had screwed up.

Ebner nodded slightly but had no intention of replying. It would be awkward if she knew who he was.

He placed the Provoker characteristic into the tin box and left the basement through the entrance of the closet. He found a large bag in the house above before returning to store the so-called Grinning Man's corpse inside.

After carrying the bag on his back, Ebner untied the ropes binding Beatrice. Then, ignoring her gratitude, he left the stronghold of the Everlasting Society.

However, he was stopped by a young man the moment he stepped out of the door at 79 Durham Street.

White shirt, black vest, black pants, medium build, blue-eyed youth with blond hair… This person was undoubtedly the Strongest Hunter, Anderson.

Isn't he going to the sea area of the ruins of the battle of gods? Why is he in Backlund? Could he be secretly protecting Beatrice?

Ebner immediately became alert, ready to "fly" away at any moment.

"Don't be nervous, Ma'am. I just want to make a deal with you." Anderson touched his earlobe and smiled.

"What do you want to trade?" Even though Ebner already had a guess, he still deliberately squeezed his throat and asked.

"The Provoker's Beyonder characteristic should be on you, right? I want to buy it," Anderson said seriously.

As expected… Ebner thought to himself and pretended to think for a moment before bidding. "700 pounds."

"That's a fair price, but I don't have that much cash. Can I use this to exchange with you?" As Anderson spoke, he took out an eyeball-like item from his pocket.

Ebner carefully identified it and immediately recognized it. This was because he had just put away a… Gravedigger Beyonder characteristic.

After some thought, Ebner, who didn't wish to be entangled with Anderson, immediately agreed.

After the two cautiously made an exchange, Ebner no longer hesitated. Carrying the bag, he "flew" out of the stronghold.

Anderson watched him leave before walking to the Eternal life Society's stronghold. He kicked open the door and walked in.

When he saw Beatrice still standing in the basement, he smiled and said,

"Dear Beatrice, I believe that this unforgettable practice has made you realize that the profession of Hunter requires brains, right?

"If you haven't recognized it, I'll assign you another mission that will leave a deeper impression on you."

…

Since he was carrying a sack containing a corpse, Ebner didn't fly back to his teacher's office. Instead, he came to the one-bedroom apartment he rented in East Borough.

After taking off the Clown Mask and returning to his original appearance, Ebner looked at the sky and realized that it was already beginning to brighten—although this light couldn't penetrate the thick fog in Backlund.

It's almost five… It shouldn't be a problem for Mr. Fool to wake up early, right?

With this thought in mind, Ebner had already clasped his hands and placed them in front of his nose and mouth as though he was praying. He sincerely began to recite in a low voice,

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era…"

…

Tingen, in a terrace house at 2 Daffodil Street.

Klein, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly opened his eyes and woke up. This was because he heard layers of illusory pleas echoing in the air…

"Who is it this time? Is it Tower? Or The Hanged Man?" Klein mumbled a few times and rolled around on the bed a few times before getting out of bed in resignation.

He picked up the silver dagger and constructed a wall of spirituality, sealing the room. Then, he took four steps counterclockwise and arrived above the gray fog. Following that, he saw the crimson star corresponding to the "tower" constantly expanding and contracting.

Indeed… Klein sat down and leaned against the back of the chair, spreading his spirituality.

Tower's voice became clear.

"Honorable Mr. Fool, I received a piece of news regarding Admiral Hell Ludwell. The news says that the Black Tulip will pass through Pritz Harbor's outer sea at dawn on the sixteenth day…

"I wish to use the 'contributions' I've accumulated to confirm the authenticity of this news… If it's true, I hope that you can pass the news to Mr. Hanged Man and get him to report it to the Church of Storms as soon as possible.

"Yes, I know that it will make him take a certain risk, so I'm willing to pay a certain amount… The payment will be handed over via 'sacrifice' later."

In the towering palace, Klein tapped his fingers rhythmically on the edge of the long bronze table as he focused on thinking about how he should deal with the Tower's request.

The information regarding the Black Tulip and Admiral Hell is complete. The prerequisite should be enough… Perhaps I can divine it?

With this in mind, Klein raised the fountain pen he conjured and wrote seriously,

"The information that 'Tower' obtained is accurate."

Putting down the fountain pen, he removed the silver chain that was wrapped around his sleeve until the topaz pendant hung steadily above the divination statement and the mysterious vertical eye. It no longer swayed.

Klein closed his eyes and calmly recited the sentence.

After seven times, he opened his eyes and saw the topaz pendant spinning clockwise with the silver chain.

That meant yes.

He nodded in satisfaction before using his spirituality to touch the crimson star in the Tower. He informed the results of the divination and carefully added, "This is the result of his observations. It doesn't guarantee that other existences will interfere in the future."

After doing all of this, Klein was just about to spread his spirituality to The Hanged Man's crimson star to complete the subsequent part of the Tower's request when he received another prayer for the Tower to hold a sacrificial ritual.

Soon, as the "door of the kingdom" opened, a large, tattered bag was "sacrificed" in.

"What's this?" Klein picked up the note on the bag with one hand and habitually untied the string at the mouth of the bag with the other.