After listening to Miss «Justice«, «The Sun« Derrick replied rather eagerly: «In the warehouses of our Silver City there should be a complete brain of an adult Spirit Dragon. I'll confirm it when I get back and let you know.« He had been about to add that, even if there was a complete brain of an adult Spirit Dragon, it would mostly be steeped in mad, distorted spiritual pollution; but when he glanced at the copper-green cross, he felt that this was not really a problem.
As simple as that? «Justice« Audrey's eyes brightened, and the low mood that had begun the previous evening cleared a fair bit.
It really did make sense: compared with the outside world where dragons were ever fewer in number, Silver City, with its inheritance from the Second Era, was much more likely to hold the corresponding materials. Their problem was that they did not have higher-Sequence potion formulas of the «Audience« pathway; even if they had the material, they couldn't use it, and they also lacked «Artisans« to refashion such Beyonder materials into the magical items they needed, so sometimes it was better simply to keep things in storage… A multitude of thoughts struck Audrey at once, and she smilingly asked: «If you have it, what would you want in exchange?« «I haven't thought it through yet…« «The Sun« Derrick at once felt a touch of embarrassment, almost lifting his hand to scratch the back of his head.
His greatest goal and his chief motivation now was to obtain the Creator's relic from Mr. Fool, but he had no item of equal value.
Had it been the past, he would simply have fretted; but now, while still distressed, he soon found a line of thought: He could try asking the Chief — his Excellency was bound to be very interested in the Creator's relic too.
On this basis he honestly did not know what he should ask Miss «Justice« to pay, and decided to settle the other matter first.
«Mm, then make your confirmation first, and it would be best to check whether there's also adult Spirit Dragon blood.« «Justice« Audrey did not press further, just gave a light nod.
That was the hardest auxiliary ingredient to obtain among those in the «Dream Walker« potion formula.
Audrey then looked around once, signalling that her side of the trade was complete.
No need to look at me — though I do have a fair amount saved up, there's nothing I want to buy at the moment. Mainly it's that my mentor has not yet given me the «Traveller« potion formula… Of the five Sequences below «Apprentice«, my favourite is the «Traveller«. I have always longed for the sights and food of different places, but have been kept where I am by long roads, by either crowded or shabby means of transport, by wayside inns whose cleanliness one cannot be sure of, by the bulging suitcases one would always have to take… Once I become a «Traveller«, none of this will be a problem any more… «Magician« Forsi's thoughts drifted further and further, and she began to fantasise about her future life.
«Judgement« Xio, on her side, mulled it over a moment and said: «Everyone, please keep an eye out for me for the potion formulas of the 'Arbitrator' pathway — Sequence 6 'Judge' and Sequence 5 'Knight of Punishment'.« She did have the chance to obtain the «Judge« formula from her
Moreover, Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 could already be counted as mid-level within MI9; for outer intelligence personnel to apply for the potion formulas would, in all likelihood, require a fresh round of vetting, and that was something even the liaison who was so friendly to her could not save her.
For Xio, who urgently wished to advance in Sequence and uncover the King's secret, it was certainly out of the question to pin all her hopes on the military side.
«Right.« «Hanged Man« Alger was the first to respond.
Given the influence over the royal family and the military, the Church of Storms most likely had some «Arbitrator« potion formulas in its keeping; but, of course, this was not something a captain who played the part of a pirate at Sequence 6 could know. Only when the «Hanged Man« had openly become Sequence 5 and was recalled to the Church or entrusted with weightier matters would the chance come.
Right after that, «Hermit«
As for her method of obtaining potion formulas, it was actually quite simple: she would actively listen to the murmurings of the «Concealed
Nonetheless, the «Concealed Sage« was by no means a being devoid of intellect. He was quite likely to attach unwholesome influences to those murmurings, even directly to project His power across space and contaminate the listener; so this sort of thing remained dangerous, and Cattleya's courage to try it was not recklessness or arrogance — it was because she herself was a member of the Mors Ascetic Order.
As an ancient organisation that worshipped the «Concealed Sage«, the senior members of the Mors Ascetic Order, while being affected by this Being, had also gradually worked out a comparatively safe set of methods for «listening«. By the same token, the malice the «Concealed Sage« bore toward members of the Mors Ascetic Order was not too exaggerated; He rarely sought actively to harm them, and most of the time merely poured knowledge into them with frenzied insistence and let it run after His followers.
For «Hermit« Cattleya, as long as she kept the frequency and number under control, she could fairly reliably draw knowledge from the «Concealed Sage«. As for whatever influence and contamination came with it, she suspected that every time she attended the Tarot meeting and ascended Above the Grey Fog, it would naturally and easily be cleansed.
The only problem was that she could not control what knowledge she received each time. It depended purely on the mood and whim of the «Concealed Sage« at that moment.
In a sense this was a passive, irresistible mystical ritual.