Chapter 10: The Whistleblower Letter
To be fair, he and Ince Zangwill don't really have many conflicting interests; they simply occupy opposing positions on the event "The True Creator's Descent."
Ince Zangwill wants to use the Aurora Order to gain demi‑god level Beyonder characteristics, while Ning Lu doesn't want to become a sacrificial pawn in Zangwill's narrative… But Ning Lu has many ways to evade Zangwill; as someone protected by Sefirah Castle, a "Error Person" whose fate even the True God cannot detect, escaping Tingen is a relatively simple matter for him.
However, adding Klein Moretti to the other side of the scale changes everything.
In the original work, the "True Creator's Descent" orchestrated by Ince Zangwill and Adam caused the awakened Klein to lose everything, becoming one of the biggest forces driving Klein toward demi‑godhood—and also the main impetus for the final Fool, who stands alone with only a few remaining anchors.
The legend of the Fool may sound beautiful, but the suffering the Fool endures is painfully real and borne solely by him.
Before Klein faced all this, he never imagined he would become the lonely "Fool" watching over Earth.
—Yet, the Fool is destined never to return home; can a being of equal rank to a Celestial, hailing from another universe, finally go home after becoming the Lord of the Mysteries?
So, whether out of a desire to contact Klein or for his own ulterior motives, Ning Lu feels he must eliminate Ince Zangwill.
"…Spectator."
The Dark Saint Karsma pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded at Ning Lu: "I understand. For now we'll set this aside; later I'll discuss it with The Saint of Secrets, with the help of the Keeper of Secrets."
Hearing The Dark Saint's words, Ning Lu knew his hint had been understood, but The Dark Saint continued:
"The information you provided is valuable. Besides the treatment due to a Gods Favored, what else do you need?"
When the question was raised, Ning Lu roughly guessed that any hint The Dark Saint grasped would be rewarded handsomely—one of the perks of being a devotee of the True Creator.
How could an ordinary sequence 7 Beyonder even realize that a high‑path "Spectator" Pathway Beyonder was behind this?
It's simple: in the eyes of the True Creator's fanatics, nothing cannot be explained by "divine devotion."
"—I need a new identity, Your Holiness."
After hearing Karsma's words, Ning Lu considered and said:
"After the affairs in the Tingen parish are settled, I wish to go to Backlund to continue proclaiming the Lord's glory. For me, I truly need a higher status, preferably one that lets me mingle with the nobility."
"…Hmm, I understand."
The Dark Saint nodded, his tone heavy:
"If you ever need to communicate with me, you can contact me directly through Mr. Z."
"…Also, Mr. Z."
The shadow‑formed Dark Saint lifted his head the next instant and addressed the Mr. Z before him:
"Your next task is to assist Mr. L in the Lord's Divine Descent operation; during this period, all actions must follow Mr. L's orders."
Mr. Z trembled, his whole shadow quivering, yet he spoke with utmost devotion:
"Yes."
Seeing Mr. Z's devout demeanor, The Dark Saint Karsma smiled, closed his eyes, and let the projection created by Mr. Z's shadow collapse of its own accord.
Ning Lu helped the panting Mr. Z to his feet, then sat on a chair beside the basement. Mr. Z took a few seconds to steady himself before, with fervent urgency, asking Ning Lu:
"Mr. L, what shall we do next?—With you, we have finally received the Lord's grace! Even if I must sacrifice myself for the Lord now, I will not shirk my duty…"
"Well…"
Ning Lu deliberately paused, then smiled and said:
"I'll write a whistleblower letter first."
"A whistleblower letter…?"
Mr. Z was momentarily confused… "...Huh? What does it mean that Old Neil was reported?"
Old Neil was reported last night, captured by Dunn Smith and others, and sent to the sanctuary for further processing. When Klein Moretti learned of this this morning, he was completely bewildered.
You see, just the day before, Old Neil taught him a few tricks about pendulum divination and reimbursement—how could he be reported today?
Wait… could it be that Old Neil was reported because he falsified a bill? He won't think I reported him, will he?
Klein felt a pang of guilt, since he had also submitted a request for funds to purchase items (pure‑silver pendulums) to the captain.
"No, it's not Old Neil's usual behavior. If it's about that, we don't need to be this nervous."
Just as Klein was thinking this, Dunn suddenly spoke calmly to Klein:
"What truly worries us is that the whistleblower letter mentions Old Neil being contaminated by the evil god called the Hidden Sage and on the brink of losing control. The letter arrived just in time; during last night's investigation, I indeed noticed signs of Old Neil's latent instability…"
Dunn sighed:
"In the coming period, Old Neil will likely be sent to the sanctuary for treatment—he has contributed much to the Church, and even though he was swayed by the evil god, he didn't harm anyone. However, he probably won't be able to serve as a Nighthawk anymore."
Isn't that a good thing? Klein thought, recalling the cold eye he saw after activating Spirit Vision—could that be the mark of Hidden Sage contamination?
But the next moment, Dunn's words pierced Klein's mind directly:
"From the results, the whistleblower letter looks more like a friendly reminder. The problem lies in the sign‑off…"
Dunn sighed again, sounding a bit troubled:
"The sign‑off is 'Mr. L' of the Aurora Order."
Dunn couldn't understand why the Aurora Order's envoy would use such a method to "remind" him about Old Neil, even though he knows that the flamboyant announcements are the Aurora Order's usual style… yet he still can't grasp why they would kindly remind him of recent events.
He was momentarily uncertain whether this matter concealed a hidden conspiracy.