"He killed himself? What happened..."
Silas Londor was slightly surprised.
"Let them explain. I'm tired." Antia gracefully yawned, then suddenly accelerated and shot toward him.
"Thud!"
The angel lady hit with considerable force, knocking Silas back a step. Just as he was about to say something, she transformed into a streak of light and slipped into the anchor on his arm.
Fine...
Silas could only sigh helplessly and walk over to Fors with the equally astonished Klein. After their last meeting, three members of the Tarot Club had finally gathered together again.
"It happened like this..."
Fors knew what was expected of her and immediately began explaining.
"...Botis was driven into a corner. He went mad and tried to open the third level of the jewelry box to destroy everything."
"But not only did he fail to open it, but he also seemed to see something incredibly terrifying. He became completely terrified... and then, for some inexplicable reason, his body just collapsed."
Fors gave them a general account of what had happened. As someone who made her living with words, her description was concise yet vivid.
Silas and Klein could almost see the absurd and bizarre scene with their own eyes, and both became even more wary of the exquisite jewelry box.
As expected of a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
The three of them fell silent for a moment.
"Ah, right, Teacher. Let me introduce you."
Fors suddenly remembered there was still someone else present and hurriedly introduced Silas and Klein to Dorian. "These are the two companions I told you about before. They helped me this time."
"You two..."
Dorian stared at them, his expression somewhat dazed.
Far too much had happened to him today, one shock after another battering his mind. He had twice come within a hair's breadth of death because of Botis and the Sealed Artifact's side effects.
His curse had been effortlessly dispelled by some great existence. His own student had connections to a mysterious True God and was even acquainted with a king of the seas and the Craziest Hunter...
Could this all be a dream?
In his confusion, Dorian even began to doubt his own senses.
Then he saw the cold-faced Craziest Hunter suddenly toss something round toward him. Dorian caught it on instinct, and when he saw what it was, his eyes widened.
It was an ugly, hideous human head, covered in bloody cracks as though it had been pieced together from countless fragments.
The face on the head seemed strangely familiar.
"This is..."
Dorian quickly recognized it. The head belonged to his former student, the man who later became a traitor, Lewis Wien!
As he stared at that face, complicated emotions flashed through Dorian's eyes.
Once, that face had been filled with a thirst for knowledge and passionate enthusiasm. It had also worn arrogant, malicious mockery... Now, all that remained upon it was pain and death.
But those complicated feelings were soon replaced by joy.
Another enemy of the family had been killed!
"Thank you very much."
Dorian bowed deeply to the two of them, his tone respectful and cautious. "The Abraham family will remember this kindness forever."
The heavy head in his hands finally dispelled that lingering sense of unreality.
The gentle breeze, the riverbank, the terrifyingly powerful individuals, Botis's eyes frozen in fear... Everything was right before him. None of it could be fake.
So he's Fors's teacher.
Silas glanced at him, then pointed directly at the jewelry box on the ground.
"What's inside its third level?"
Just what could be inside it that had caused a Saint to die on the spot?
"Inside it... Hmm, please give me a moment."
Dorian had been about to answer, but after thinking for a moment, he suddenly stopped.
He quickly pulled a notebook from his pocket, opened it, and began rapidly writing and sketching across the page. Then he tore it out and handed it over.
Silas took it and looked down. To his surprise, it contained detailed information about the jewelry box, including its origins, how to use it, how to store it, and more.
"What's this?"
"Payment for that lady protecting us," Dorian replied.
Silas paused for a moment before understanding.
He's implying that he intends to give us the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact!
That's incredibly generous!
What Silas didn't know was that, at least from Dorian's perspective, this was an extremely sensible choice. A Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was simply too valuable. It was difficult for anyone not to covet it.
If he didn't voluntarily hand it over, was he supposed to use his meager strength to declare ownership of such a treasure in front of so many powerful figures?
That sounded like a good way to get himself killed.
Although the Box of the Great Old Ones had originally belonged to the Abraham family, Dorian didn't dare overestimate the moral restraint of these powerful individuals.
Rather than have it forcibly taken from him, it was better to be generous and hand over both the methods for storing and using it. At least then, he could turn it into a tangible favor that they would remember.
Besides, they really had saved his life. He ought to show his gratitude somehow.
Silas glanced at Klein.
What do you think?
Klein gave him a subtle look that seemed to say, "It's your messenger's spoils. You decide. I have no objections."
Truthfully, of course he desperately wanted a mystical item on the level of Sequence 0. But he was even more aware that his contribution this time had not been enough. He had no grounds whatsoever to claim it.
"Then I'll accept it."
Silas turned to Dorian. "If you run into any trouble in the future, you can contact me through Fors."
As a king of the seas, a favor from him was worth something.
"All right."
Only then did Dorian finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Silas unfolded the paper and carefully read the description written on it.
The Box of the Great Old Ones... Grade 0 Sealed Artifact... It came from an angel of the Abraham family who suddenly died after traveling through the cosmos... The cause of death seemed related to the cosmos...
Is there some kind of danger out there...? A three-level box, with different effects on each level...
He quickly skimmed through the information on the page.
The side effects of the Box of the Great Old Ones could cause its holder to randomly disappear, die suddenly, or undergo a mutation.
If no one was holding it, the living creatures in the surrounding area would suffer those horrifying fates one after another, determined by their distance from the box and their individual size.
Fortunately, the method of sealing it was relatively simple. The box merely had to be placed inside a distorted, concealed space within the spirit world, after which ordinary water had to be poured into it at regular intervals.
The microorganisms in the water would become toys for the Box of the Great Old Ones, causing it to transfer the disasters that would otherwise afflict its holder onto those microorganisms instead.
Botis's discarded robe contained just such a space. Silas cut off the relevant pocket, lifted the Box of the Great Old Ones, and placed it inside.
After the sound of sloshing water came from within, he closed the pocket and tucked it into his clothes.
I guess I finally have a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact of my own... Wait, that's not right. Antia, the ship spirit of my flagship, is a Sequence 2 angel. From a certain perspective, couldn't the Black King itself also count as a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact?
With that thought, he gathered up the insects and Beyonder characteristics scattered across the ground.