Chapter 505

Franca tried five times, changing to five different Spirit World creatures, and successfully summoned all of them, but not a single Spirit World creature was willing to sign a contract with her to become her messenger.

This dealt her a "huge" blow, leaving her a bit dazed and showing her disappointment and frustration without hiding it.

However, she still had some reason and didn't insist on trying to summon the remaining twenty-four Spirit World creatures.

The current situation already explained the problem well:

Those who can succeed will succeed in the first two or three tries!

Jenna glanced at the disappointed Franca:

"Try again when you're a higher sequence."

"By the time I'm a higher sequence, I might be able to use mirrors and the Mirror World to pass messages; what would I need a messenger for?" Franca muttered, "Why aren't there any Spirit World creatures that would be seduced by a 'Witch's' charm and voluntarily become a messenger?"

Lu Mian smiled:

"I saw something similar in the previous Spirit World creature data; do you want to try?"

Franca was only refusing to admit defeat with her mouth, but she was actually very clear-headed. Hearing this, she cursed:

"Forget it, forget it. That kind of Spirit World creature must be very dangerous. All it would think about is dragging a 'Witch' into the Spirit World, and even delivering a letter would help me turn friends into enemies."

Seeing that she had calmed down, Anthony Reid, who was also a novice at ritual magic, began his attempt.

He also tried five times, failing twice and failing to sign a contract three times.

"It seems I can't have a messenger for the time being either." Anthony smiled with a hint of bitterness.

This eased Franca's mood quite a bit:

She wasn't the only one who had failed.

"Which one do you want to summon?" She asked Lu Mian curiously.

"The coolest one." Lu Mian re-sanctified the ritual silver dagger with an indifferent expression, creating the "Wall of Spirituality" once again.

Looking at the burning candlelight, he took two steps back and used Ancient Hermes and Hermes alternately:

"I!

"I summon in my name:

"A creature wandering in the Upper Realm, a penitent waking from the flames of pain, a friendly person polluted by darkness."

This summoning incantation was the most unique one in the data provided by Ms. Magician this time. First, it wasn't "a spirit wandering in the Upper Realm," but "a creature wandering in the Upper Realm," which meant the target wasn't limited to spirits. Second, the latter two descriptions combined both encounters and characteristics.

Lu Mian felt its temperament and style were quite good and planned to try it first. Anyway, all he wanted was a creature that could deliver letters and shuttle through the Spirit World; he didn't care about other circumstances. Since that was the case, why not choose the coolest one?

As the incantation was chanted, the candlelight suddenly expanded and turned a deep green, almost black.

The firelight grew larger and larger, and a figure emerged.

It was a "human" with a tall stature, wearing clothing similar to the robes of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church's clergy, but deep black in color.

His exposed face, neck, and arms seemed to have been burned by flames for a long time, leaving only bone and a thin layer of charred flesh clinging to the bone. His eye sockets were completely hollow, pitch-black, with dark flames acting as pupils. Residual viscous, water-like strange black flames remained in multiple places on his body, burning quietly and keeping the spirit in constant pain.

Lu Mian looked at this "penitent" and asked in Ancient Hermes:

"Are you willing to become my messenger?"

The "penitent" replied in Ancient Fusa, the source of the languages of the Northern Continent nations:

"If you aren't worried about being implicated by me and slowly sliding into the depths of darkness, then I can help you deliver letters."

No reward requested, but there are hidden dangers? Since Ms. Magician provided the "penitent's" data, it meant it was something he could bear... Lu Mian, who had too many occult "debts" to bother worrying, smiled and said:

"That depends on whether you and that darkness can win in a tug-of-war.

"No problem, I made psychological preparations for this before summoning you."

This time, he switched to Ancient Fusa to communicate with the other party; after all, it was quite troublesome to say such a long string of words in Ancient Hermes, which could leverage the power of nature.

Soon, he drafted the contract and wrote down the four occult descriptions representing the Netherworld and the witness.

Under the reflection of the Ancient Hermes words burning with pale green flames, Lu Mian fixed the summoning incantation in the form of a clause:

"A creature wandering in the Upper Realm, a penitent waking from the flames of pain, the messenger belonging solely to Lu Mian Lee."

Lu Mian didn't use a code name like Jenna and "Knight of Swords"; after all, those who knew his messenger didn't necessarily need to know he was a Minor Arcana of the Tarot Club—this was the self-cultivation of a veteran undercover agent, and it didn't matter if the name Lu Mian Lee and his corresponding background were known.

After signing his name, he saw the brownish parchment fly in front of the "penitent" wearing the black robe.

The "penitent" signed his name:

Bayinfeier.

The pale green flames immediately connected into one, turning the contract into ashes and merging it into the Spirit World.

"What exactly are you repenting for?" Lu Mian asked his messenger, the "penitent" Bayinfeier, curiously.

Bayinfeier didn't answer, watching silently as a viscous, water-like black flame fell from his body and burrowed into the soil.

Lu Mian asked several more questions in a row, but the other party remained silent throughout.

"Very good, all barbers should learn from you." Lu Mian laughed and ended the summoning.

After he dissolved the "Wall of Spirituality," Franca looked over with a mournful expression:

"It succeeded on the first try?"

"It succeeded on the first try." Lu Mian didn't show any joy, as if he were talking about a very ordinary matter.

"Why, why aren't Anthony and I popular with Spirit World creatures? Why?" Franca sighed while finding it hard to let go.

It had to be said that the charm of a "Pleasure Witch" was quite significant. Seeing Franca like this, "Ascetic" Lu Mian even wanted to walk up to her, raise his right hand, and flick her forehead.

It made people want to bully her!

He thought for a moment and said:

"I think I understand the reason. Becoming a Minor Arcana of the Tarot Club only increased our success probability of summoning special Spirit World creatures. Even Anthony, a 'Psychiatrist' who held a ritual magic ceremony for the first time, succeeded several times, didn't he?

"But to make special Spirit World creatures favor, recognize, or obey you, you either need a higher rank, a special pathway, or substantial items related to Mr. Fool—for example, Jenna's lucky gold coin or the power of Mr. Fool on me."

Speaking of this, Lu Mian suddenly had an association:

If this was the reason, did the "Knight of Swords," who also possessed a messenger, have something similar?

"So that's it!" Franca swept away her decadence and regained her confidence.

It wasn't that she had a problem; she just lacked a few "props"!

She immediately looked at Jenna, hesitating whether to borrow the lucky gold coin to complete the messenger contract.

In the end, Franca gave up this idea because the difference between "belonging to oneself" and "borrowed" was quite significant in occult terms, and if she asked Jenna to give it to her directly and then return it later, she was afraid she would lack the opportunity and couldn't afford it.

*Huu*... Franca let out a breath and was about to ask Lu Mian when he planned to leave Trier and how he would leave, but she found that this companion was inexplicably silent, his expression slightly downcast.

"What's wrong?" Franca asked with concern.

"Nothing." Lu Mian shook his head.

He just suddenly thought that Aurora had also once longed to possess a messenger.

Anthony glanced at him without saying much, while Jenna brought up the request of "Purifier" Deacon Angouleme, asking Lu Mian if he wanted to sell the "Armor of Arrogance" to the official authorities.

Lu Mian was silent for two seconds, then laughed in a low voice:

"Let's wait a while."

Although the "Armor of Arrogance" was dangerous, it was also extremely powerful and could threaten any Beyonder who hadn't pushed open the door to demigodhood. If he needed to wear it to have a chance to kill core members of the "April Fools" like "Loki," Lu Mian would wear it without hesitation and be willing to bear all the consequences for it.

Before killing all those bastards, or until his own strength reached a point where he didn't need the "Armor of Arrogance," Lu Mian wouldn't give up this sealed artifact just because it was dangerous.

"Alright." Franca asked, "Are you leaving Trier tomorrow? By boat, by steam train, or are you going to ask Ms. Magician for Spirit World coordinates and 'teleport' directly?"

Lu Mian smiled:

"Both are possible; I'll decide tomorrow.

"Let's see what fate has in store."

"Why have you become so mysterious..." Franca muttered.

…………

After waving goodbye to his three companions, Lu Mian put on the silver-white "Lie" earring, adjusted his hair color and appearance, entered the Sijie along the Market Avenue, and arrived at the underground bar of the Golden Rooster Hotel.

It seemed that this place hadn't been affected by last night's disaster. Those guests who often came to drink were still sitting in their familiar spots, either singing loudly, dancing wildly around small round tables, or playing some gambling games with alcohol as prizes.

Charlie, who had changed into a black coat, stood on one of the small round tables, waving a beer bottle while saying excitedly:

"You might not know, but Charles Dubois and I are friends—not the kind of friends who have had a few drinks together, but friends who have experienced life and death together!

"Look, look, his current bounty has been updated to 60,000 Vergold! What a huge sum!"

You're quite proud of me, aren't you... Lu Mian gave a "heh" and sat at the bar, ordering a glass of absinthe.

He listened to the clamor here, felt the liveliness here, and quietly sipped the bitter, strong liquor.

The owner, Paval Nisen, who was wiping a glass, saw that it was a new face and asked with a smile:

"Just arrived in the Market District?"

"Yes." Lu Mian answered in a low voice.

Paval Nisen said gently:

"You look like you have a story."

Lu Mian sighed, took a sip of the dreamy "Green Fairy," and laughed self-deprecatingly:

"I am a failure..."

(End of chapter)