Although he hadn't gotten any news about the Sequence 3 potion formula, Silas had still gained something.
"Rose Saint," that sounded like it should be one of the Aurora Order's higher-ups. This shitty organization had a total of five Saints and twenty-two Divine Envoys.
He'd only killed one Saint and two Envoys so far; he was still a long way from wiping them out completely.
Once things at sea were settled, he'd go back to Backlund and deal with that "Sir" first... Silas thought to himself. For now, though, it was better to focus his attention on that ship.
"Your Majesty, what else do you know about the Black King?"
he asked again.
Before setting out to find Roselle's flagship, he wanted to gather as much relevant knowledge as possible, to raise his odds of success.
Bernadette glanced at him, and spoke slowly.
"I once saw the Black King with my own eyes. It took the shape of a massive sailing ship, similar in appearance to the Black Emperor, the flagship of Nast, the King of the Five Seas."
That made sense; both were Beyonder creations from the era of the Solomon Empire.
Silas thought.
"Back then, he hadn't yet declared himself emperor. As Chief Consul, he was leading the nation to ever greater strength..."
the Queen said softly, as though afraid of waking herself from some beautiful dream. "He took me aboard the Black King and told me he was going to use the ship to force his way through the Berserk Sea, to chart a safe route and reconnect the northern and southern continents that had been physically cut off from each other."
Roselle had indeed succeeded; the ships now crossing the Berserk Sea in a constant stream were the best proof of that.
"Later still, he became Emperor and did many things, some I couldn't understand, some I couldn't make sense of... The Black King was one of them.
I once watched him gather a great many Beyonder materials onto that ship and personally make all sorts of modifications to it... But not long after, the ship vanished completely."
Bernadette continued, "After that, I would sometimes see him gripping that key with a heavy expression, as though lost in thought."
Hm?
As Silas listened, he instinctively sensed something was off.
The Black King, it seemed, wasn't simply Roselle's flagship. And the key he'd left behind was probably not simply meant to take care of a fellow transmigrator who'd come after him!
According to historical records, after Roselle declared himself emperor, he was betrayed in his lonely old age and died within his palace, and the empire collapsed soon after.
What he'd left behind on the ship was truly hard to say... a vast fortune for raising a new army, a Beyonder item of tremendous power, or perhaps something even more mysterious, a hidden move held in reserve?
He couldn't help but glance at the Queen.
If that were really the case, would Bernadette really be willing to hand the ship over to him?
"Don't worry. I already promised you before that I wouldn't contest ownership of the Black King with you."
Bernadette saw through his thoughts and said calmly, "My only request is to go aboard and see for myself what he left inside the Black King."
"In the end, this is just an obsession of mine."
The Queen probably wanted to know just what reason had turned her father from a hero who had guided the age through change into a proud, cold-hearted emperor... It seemed Roselle's ascension to the throne had left a real mark on her.
Silas nodded, choosing to believe Queen Mystic's reasoning for the time being.
"I can't help with your request for the Sequence 3 potion formula. Other than that, is there anything else?"
Bernadette asked.
She was probably hoping to help raise Silas's chances of success as well.
Since she was being so sincere, Silas naturally wouldn't refuse. He thought carefully and recalled something he'd already been planning to ask her for.
"Your Majesty, do you know any reliable, powerful Artisans?"
He still carried a Beyonder characteristic that had crystallized out after Gluttony's death.
To avoid any unnecessary danger, he hadn't dealt with it yet. "The kind who could handle demigod-tier materials."
Bernadette's father had been a powerful Beyonder on the Artisan Pathway; it seemed quite likely he'd left his daughter some corresponding connections.
"I do."
The Queen nodded, just as he'd expected, but then added, "But crafting a demigod-tier marvel takes a great deal of time. It certainly won't be ready in time for this trip of yours."
"That brings me to the second thing I wanted to ask."
Silas smiled. "Your Majesty, do you happen to have any powerful item here that would suit me? If you do, I'm willing to pay a fair price for it."
The Queen thought for a moment, her deep blue eyes flickering with something unreadable.
"There is, in fact, one."
she said, and signaled her invisible servants to open the doors of the treasure vault. Then, amid a howling wind of spirituality, she drew out a peculiar object, which was carried over to Silas on a servant's tray.
Silas took it and examined it carefully.
The object was shaped much like the head of a staff, inlaid with long, slender, transparent gemstones, and etched all over with one intricate, mysterious symbol after another, along with indescribable magical markings.
It was clearly a product of ritual magic, one likely meant for only a single use... Examining it with a professional's eye, he quickly picked out a few telling details.
The good news was, with these symbols, he could essentially reproduce it and use it multiple times. But who exactly was this ritual invoking power from?
Silas turned the staff head over to face him, carefully noting down every rune inscribed on it.
His gaze suddenly froze.
Wait! This symbol was...
He recognized the two symbols that dominated the design: one was an incomplete Pupilless Eye, the other an incomplete Twisted Line.
The Fool's emblem!
The last time he'd seen this symbol was in an oracle passed down from the True Creator, and it had left a deep impression on him.
Especially since, afterward, he'd even joined the Tarot Club, presided over by that Mr. Fool himself.
Could it be that this single-use ritual object drew its power from Mr. Fool himself?
"Meow~"
Luna suddenly mewed in his ear, her paw pressing down a little harder on his shoulder.
Silas immediately caught himself.
He was standing right in front of Bernadette; he couldn't afford to show anything too out of the ordinary. Fortunately, he'd been looking down while examining the object, so she hadn't noticed... probably.
"This item is single-use, isn't it?"
he asked, keeping his expression steady as he looked up.
"Yes."
The Queen looked at him quietly, her eyes deep and unreadable. "What this item does is let you borrow power from your past self, restoring a certain amount of strength for a short time."
His past self?
His past self hadn't even been that strong, if anything he'd been weaker... wait, no!
"Is this meant for the evil spirit inside me?"
Silas realized, and asked.