Firefly Journey

During his trip to Torreg, besides taking in a wild student, Cassius's biggest encounter was with that cicada-shaped pattern.

It's easy to guess that it's the symbol of some evil organization called "The Forgotten Ones" that still harbors wicked intentions. The exact symbol is unclear, which is why Cassius came to St. Phileun Cathedral. The Vatican's intelligence network is all over the world, so they should be able to identify it.

While the High Priest of Judgment has information about Cassius Strog's trip, there are bound to be discrepancies in the details, so it would be more reliable to ask him directly.

It implies a two-way journey.

"You should know why I called you here."

The High Priest of Judgment, facing the halo, slowly turned around, his eyes gleaming, with flames flickering in his pupils, as if he could see through people's hearts. Ordinary people would not be able to meet his gaze, and even a glance from him would cause them to involuntarily lower their heads and tremble all over.

Cassius Bello was no ordinary person, so he dared to meet his gaze without any effect.

"I'm not very smart, I can't guess it."

The Papacy was also involved in the deal with the "fraudster," and the Papacy tacitly approved of the Duchy's refusal to give him a low-ranking councilor position. Cassius now harbors no goodwill towards the Papacy.

“Then let me tell you.” The High Priest of Judgment took a few steps toward Cassius. “One should not be narrow-minded. One should occupy a position according to one’s abilities, and not dabble in things that are not one’s responsibility.”

This means that even if you have a good reputation and have reached a certain level on the path of the extraordinary, do not be complacent. In the political arena of the duchy, there has never been a high-ranking official from a humble background.

Cassius understood his warning, but instead of feeling disappointed or resentful, a different emotion arose within him.

sorrow.

He never intended to wield power in the duchy; he simply wanted to do something meaningful for the poor. However, those old fogies who had been sitting atop the tower for too long viewed this as a provocation and imposed restrictions on him in various ways.

Disappointed with the Duchy both physically and mentally, Cassius Bello didn't pick up on the topic and instead asked about the origin of the pattern.

Does the Vatican have any information about this cicada-shaped pattern?

Flames rose in the eyes of the High Priest of Judgment. After looking at him for about three seconds, he said, "Yes."

Cassius gave an "I knew it" look.

The High Priest continued, "That organization is called 'Higurashi,' and they rarely appear in the public eye. There are two documented large-scale events."

Coincidentally, the previous two times were related to the ancient god's ruins; this is the third time.

“When there are too many coincidences, they are no longer coincidences, but premeditated,” Cassius said.

What do the ancient god ruins have in common?

It's definitely not a relic, because each deity possesses different extraordinary items during their lifetime, so there's no commonality.

Regardless of the species, unless they become undead, they will always leave behind one thing: bones.

Therefore, the purpose of "Higurashi" is the remains of an ancient god.

Within the remains of the gods, some divinity that has not yet dissipated is preserved, which has many uses. It is not hard to imagine what they intend to do with the remains of the gods.

The identity of the evil god worshipped by Higurashi is still unknown. What is certain is that He is in some kind of sealed or weakened state, unable to exert His full power, or even not in this space.

Using the remains of a deity as a vessel, coupled with secret methods and evil rituals, might just be the way to truly awaken it.

"I will tell missionaries around the world to keep an eye on this organization's movements and contact other ancestral god churches. Once they discover any trace of it, we will do everything in our power to eradicate it," said the High Priest of Judgment.

Cassius had no doubt about the truth of this statement. Although neither the Duchy nor the Papacy allowed anyone else to share in the power, those lackeys who secretly served the evil god posed a real threat to the people. If they wanted long-term peace and stability without any trouble, they could not be let go.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

There was no point in saying more when there was no common ground. After finding out about the existence of the "Cicada" organization, Cassius had no reason to stay any longer. In any case, the Ancestral God Church would take care of things, and he was just one person, so he was powerless to do anything about it.

The High Priest didn't speak, but raised his hand and waved it gently, making a gesture to disperse.

Cassius didn't go straight back to school; instead, he went to the cathedral, where he mingled with the crowd and prayed with the believers.

May the light be with you.

……

……

Upon returning to Harry's house, Lin Yuanran was assigned to stay in a guest room.

After locking the door, he began to speculate based on his observations and the information provided by Sheila.

He read all the threatening letters; the handwriting was from the same person, very neat, only slightly inferior to machine-printed text.

This shows that the other person has a high level of education, and it would be impossible to reach this level without long-term practice.

Based on this, it's highly likely that the other person is a fellow traveler. Climbing to the top of Ibiza requires a certain level of education.

The letter did not specify what Mr. Harry should do, so there was little element of conflict of interest involved, or perhaps the other party didn't care about that and simply wanted Mr. Harry dead.

Lin Yuanran felt that the boy who only sent letters and never took action was like the boy who cried wolf.

The purpose of making promises but not keeping them was to break down Mr. Harry's psychological defenses and create a sense of "it's okay anyway."

But then again, if they said they wouldn't do it from the beginning, wouldn't it have been better to just suddenly take action? Why bother giving prior notice or a warning?

Looking at it this way, it doesn't seem like a revenge killing.

Lin Yuanran felt his head was in a mess, guessing at all sorts of possibilities. His brain felt like it was about to explode, but not a single idea was without flaws.

"It seems that only by understanding the truth of what happened three years ago can we proceed with the next step..."

Under the bright moonlight, Lin Yuanran gradually fell asleep.

The next day, Lin Yuanran and his colleagues had breakfast and, after calculating the time, went to the mailbox located on the open-air balcony on the second floor to collect the mail.

I arranged with Sabrina last night that she would go to that relative to pick up the newspaper this morning and then send it to the Brown family's villa.

In the principality, household mailboxes come in two types: one is placed at the doorway, and the other is placed in a high place, such as a window, balcony, or roof.

The mailbox at the entrance is for regular mail, while the mailbox on higher up is for urgent mail.

The postal company's mail carriers are divided into several types. One type is the ground-based type, which consists mostly of orcs who are gifted in speed.

Mail carriers at high-rise mailboxes are flying creatures; traveling in a straight line in the sky is much faster than on the ground. While ensuring speed, their delivery costs are also higher, making them suitable for high-income individuals.

Families like Mr. Harry's would naturally use a mailbox placed high up.

This was one of the strange things Lin Yuanran saw in Yicheng: very few humans served as postmen, as they were not competitive in terms of speed.

Reaching out, Lin Yuanran touched a heavy bag. Taking it out, he saw that it contained neatly folded newspapers.

Besides Sabrina's same-city delivery, there were other letters in the mailbox. Thinking it was a small favor, Lin Yuanran decided to take them all out and give them to Mr. Harry—knowing that he had a habit of reading newspapers, which is a habit for every banker.

However, the moment he took it out, his expression changed instantly.

One of the envelopes was a deep red, like blood. It depicted a white skull bisected by crossed swords.

A new threatening letter has arrived.

……

……

P.S.: Thank you Huainan Haoyue Leng for sending the message.