I Loaded the Mysticism Panel

Richard looked up. ”So for the twenty-three workers that night, it was their shadows that were eaten?”

”The Lovers card pointed to that possibility.” Mr. Hutton didn’t deny it.

Next, he pushed the third card in front of Richard.

”The last one. You turn it over.”

Richard reached out and turned the card over.

The Moon, upright.

The card depicted a full moon hanging in the night sky. Beneath the moonlight was a winding path, flanked by a dog on each side, with two towers in the distance.

The entire scene was filled with a hazy, ambiguous atmosphere.

”Tell me your interpretation.”

Richard stared at the card for a moment.

His foundational knowledge of Divination wasn’t particularly strong, but his analytical instincts as a Scholar wouldn’t let him just stare blankly at the card.

”The Moon... represents illusion, uncertainty, things hidden beneath the surface.”

He frowned and analyzed,

”If the first two cards pointed to the event itself and the root cause of the event, then the third should be the current state.”

”Is the Seal’s current state unstable?”

Mr. Hutton’s lips twitched.

Richard’s interpretation just now was almost identical to the explanation he himself had prepared.

It seemed he no longer needed to go to the trouble of guiding him; this student had found the right path on his own.

”This mission is necessary because the Seal, which requires regular maintenance, is weakening.”

He took several thin, crudely bound reports from a drawer.

”The first reports were about abnormal shadows at night. Farmers said their shadows would move on their own under the moonlight.”

”Next were the livestock. Sheep and calves were dying. Their hides were intact, but their skin felt hot to the touch, and their internal organs were dried out.”

”Ether burns.” Richard recognized it at a glance.

”Correct.”

”The two most recent incidents are the most severe.”

The old man pushed the second report over.

”Two children have gone missing, one eleven and one nine. Both disappeared at night.”

”The search party looked for them in the wilderness for half a month but found no trace.”

”The thing inside the Seal is now seeping out.”

”We’re going this time to push her back in.”

”That’s it for the Divination part. Now, let’s talk business.”

He took out a small, palm-sized iron box from the drawer.

The black lacquer on the outside of the box was peeling, and there was a shallow carving on the lid, inlaid with a sliver of dark red.

He pushed the iron box to the center of the desk.

”Your practical proof.”

”Practical proof?”

”You still need to fulfill the last condition for your accreditation.”

Mr. Hutton repeated what he had said last time.

”Independently decipher a previously undeciphered encrypted text.”

The old man tapped the desk with the tip of his pencil.

”This last one is up to you.”

”On the inner side of the Boundary Stones of the Whitcomb Seal, there is an undeciphered text.”

”If you can decipher it during this mission, it will count as your practical proof.”

Richard looked up.

”Will there definitely be time to access the Boundary Stones during the mission?”

”The team leader will arrange it,” said Mr. Hutton.

”She will be in charge of reinforcing the Seal itself. You just need to find time to work on the Boundary Stones, provided you ensure your own safety.”

”Whether you succeed in deciphering it or not won’t affect the mission itself.”

Richard nodded.

”What’s in the iron box?”

”Supplementary materials,” said Mr. Hutton.

”The basic Inscription style of Ancient Celtic Boundary Stone Arrays, and a supplementary comparison chart for late-period variations of the Alexandrian School that your aunt copied from the Imperial University Library.”

Richard raised an eyebrow.

”My aunt knows about this?”

”She’s providing remote support,” said Mr. Hutton.

Richard opened the iron box.

The inside of the box was lined with a layer of moisture-proof wax paper. Wrapped inside the paper were several neatly folded documents.

The topmost one was a handwritten note, the handwriting familiar.

Isabella’s handwriting.

The note began:

”For Richard: Below is the supplementary comparison chart for late-period variations of the Alexandrian School, with my personal annotated translations of several Boundary Stone examples I encountered during fieldwork three years ago.”

”The rules for reading the Inscriptions on the inner side of the Boundary Stones differ from ordinary Inscriptions. Pay attention to the stroke order and direction.”

The note was four pages long, filled with dense, tiny characters and several diagrams of Inscriptions.

In the corner of the last page, Isabella had left a single sentence: ”Stay safe.”

Richard refolded the note and put it back in the iron box.

”How many people are on the team?”

”Including the two of us, there are eight people. Four veterans, four Newcomers.”

”The team leader is Mrs. MacNeil, a Secretive One of the Minor Mastery Tier.”

Mrs. MacNeil was the team leader. Richard was both surprised and not surprised by this choice.

”I will be accompanying the team as the Scholar consultant.”

”As for the others, you’ll find out when we get to the meeting point.”

Richard stood up, tucking the iron box under his arm.

He walked to the door and glanced back at Mr. Hutton.

”Sir,” he said, ”that trace Divination you did just now... do you use that method often?”

Mr. Hutton was folding the photocopies and putting them back in the drawer. He didn’t even look up.

”Occasionally.”

”I always thought you only followed the Scholar path.”

”The path of a Scholar requires more than just reading books.”

Mr. Hutton sounded a little impatient. ”Go back and prepare. Don’t forget to read the materials.”

Richard nodded and walked out the door.

After the office door closed, the sound of footsteps in the hallway gradually faded.

The old man leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

The Tarot Cards were still spread out on the desk. He reached out, gathered them together, and casually stuffed them into the drawer.

The cards knocked against the junk in the drawer, making a rather undignified CLATTER.

”The Lovers card,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

’Of all seventy-eight cards, he had to draw one that was completely unrelated to the topic.’