Bernadette said, "Could it be... that his disappearance was actually him going to one of those other worlds?"
"No idea." Vincent shook his head. "All I can say is, there are still way too many unanswered questions here."
At that, something suddenly occurred to him. "Oh, right — almost forgot about the Wishing Lamp!"
"I noticed earlier that it's been quietly absorbing the golden mist's power from inside the Nation of Disorder this whole time. You think the 'Lamp Spirit' might actually be hiding inside it, waiting to screw me over?"
Bernadette said, decisive at once, "Whether it's him or not, if we don't understand what's going on, the smart move is to get it out of there as soon as possible."
"Right!"
Vincent immediately opened the sacrifice/bestowal gate by praying to himself and having himself respond, slipped quickly into the Nation of Disorder, and tossed the Wishing Lamp out into reality.
Throughout the entire process, he stayed on edge, braced for anything.
Nothing happened.
Half a minute later, he returned to reality, holding the golden kettle in his hands, and rubbed it firmly a few more times. Still, no response.
"Compared to before, its color really has brightened noticeably, and there does seem to be a bit more of that faint golden light inside it now."
Bernadette examined it for a moment. "Could just be the kettle's own 'behavior.' Or it could be..."
Vincent finished for her, "Could be my future self's own doing?"
"Mm."
He laid out his earlier theory. "Like — he drove the Lamp Spirit out, and took its place himself?"
"???"
Bernadette had trouble following. "Why would you think that?"
"Isn't the Wishing Lamp supposed to be tough enough that even a god can't destroy it? What safer hiding spot could there be?"
"...You really don't need to go there."
Her tone turned strange again. "Wait — now that you've said it out loud, I actually can't rule it out entirely. After all... future-you is still you. Same person. Not exactly shocking that his thinking might not be entirely normal, either."
"..."
"Either way, we probably shouldn't bring it back into the Nation of Disorder again."
"Understood. So the question now is how to actually untangle all these mysteries."
Vincent said, "If anyone in this world actually knows the answers, the only two people I can think of are the Ancient Sun God, and the Goddess of the Evernight."
The Ancient Sun God had died thousands of years ago, though — but the backup copy of itself it had left behind, Adam, might know something too, which was probably why it had stepped in to help him earlier. Since it hadn't said anything at the time, though, that meant it didn't want to.
"Hm?"
Something suddenly occurred to him — not long ago, when the True Creator had briefly regained its sanity, it had invited him to the god-forsaken land. At the time, he'd suspected that brief return to sanity was really just a lingering trace of the Ancient Sun God's own consciousness resurfacing.
So — could that invitation have actually been meant to tell him something important?
Bernadette asked, "Who is the Ancient Sun God, exactly?"
"The very deity Mr. Sun's Silver City worships. Back in the Second Epoch, it led its Angels and demigods to defeat the Old Gods who ruled the world at the time, letting humanity take center stage — and for the entirety of the Third Epoch, it held dominion over the world."
Vincent, without much hesitation, pulled back the curtain on the Seven Gods' own origins. "Back then, most of the Seven Gods were Angels and demigods under the Ancient Sun God's own command, serving it directly."
"..."
Bernadette was stunned.
She'd already known gods were ascended from ordinary Beyonders, but the idea that the Seven Gods had a history like this was still genuinely hard for her to wrap her head around.
No wonder every church's "official history" never mentioned this "Ancient Sun God" at all — the credit for defeating the Old Gods and elevating humanity had simply been reassigned entirely to the Seven Gods themselves.
To reinforce their own "legitimacy," in the version of the world's origin most people understood, the Seven Gods had each granted themselves some kind of "special role" in the very birth of the world.
"Heh. That's not even close to everything."
Having already come this far, Vincent felt he might as well go all in. "I've got even more juicy details about them. Want to hear it?"
"No."
Bernadette answered without hesitation — then immediately added, "Though, given my Mystery Pryer Pathway's own hunger for hidden knowledge, I suppose I'll listen anyway."
"???"
Vincent's face went blank with confusion.
"Go on. I'm listening."
She urged him on.
Vincent had a strong suspicion that if Bernadette were the one in control of the body right now, she'd already have a bowl of sunflower seeds and peanuts ready to snack on while she listened. Gossip — especially gossip about the rich and powerful — really is something nobody can resist, huh.
...
Deep in the night.
On a quiet, out-of-the-way road outside Backlund, a carriage sped along at breakneck speed, hooves and wheels churning up a dust trail stretching several meters behind it.
Driving the carriage was a middle-aged gentleman in a coat and a silk top hat, snapping the reins with a skill far beyond that of an ordinary coachman.
This was Backlund's finest butler — beyond his exceptional service skills, a man like this typically had an entire arsenal of other talents besides.
"You can stop here."
A cool, distant voice sounded from inside the carriage.
The butler immediately gave the reins a gentle pull, easing the galloping horses into a steady, gradual slowdown. Within a dozen or so seconds, the frantic pace had settled into a calm walk, and finally, the carriage came to a smooth stop by the roadside.
The butler swung down from his seat at once, opening the carriage door. "Your Highness Edsac."
But it wasn't Edsac who answered. Instead, a woman in a dress stepped out lightly — a doll-like face paired with striking beauty — and, without a word, made to walk off on her own.
"Trellis."
Edsac hurried after her. "Where are you going?"
"Not Backlund, that's for sure."
Trellis said, not bothering to look back, her tone cold. "And my advice would be, don't go back there either. George III is clearly trying to pin all of this on you. Going back means walking straight into your own death."
"..."
Edsac clenched his fists. He wasn't a fool — sure, he'd done a string of seemingly foolish things before, but all of that had been the result of losing control under an extraordinary influence.
He'd actually suspected, for a while now, that his father George III was up to something — which was exactly why he'd dragged his sister back and confined her to the estate. What he hadn't expected was that George III had apparently written him off from the very start.
"Thank you."
After a long silence, Edsac said, sincere, "If it weren't for you, I — and my sister — would probably both be dead by now."
"Heh. I could only save you two this once. Once George III learns you're both still alive, he won't let it go."
"I know."
Edsac lowered his head, hesitating for a moment. "What about you, then? Won't the Witch cult come after you too?"
Trellis shot him a glare. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself for once."
She turned and walked off quickly, her figure vanishing suddenly, slipping into invisibility.
"Brother Edsac."
Ellie poked her head out of the carriage doorway, her face full of confusion and helplessness — everything she'd learned that night had come close to shattering the worldview she'd built up over years.
"It's all right."
Edsac patted his sister's head. "Get some rest for now. Once morning comes, all of this will be behind us."
"Okay..."
"Walter."
"Your Highness."
The middle-aged butler stepped forward.
"You may have to keep working hard for me over the next few days."
"It's no trouble at all."
Walter shook his head, earnest. "I'll be sure to get you somewhere safe."
"Safe? I recall Emperor Roselle once said the most dangerous place is often the safest one."
"You mean... returning to Backlund?"
"Of course not."
A faint smile crossed Edsac's pale face. "Let's head for the Intis Republic."
To be continued…
Guys, do support me on Patreon; It helps me a lot!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus