Chapter 569

The failure of last year's Sea-Praying Ceremony caused an abnormality in that sea area? After reading the content on the paper, such an interpretation naturally formed in Lumian's mind.

He looked at the note in his hand and faintly smelled a familiar fragrance.

After a brief recollection, Lumian remembered the source of this scent; it was the perfume of Lady Georgia of the Paco family.

"Inexperience, or deliberately not covering it up, in order to tell me that this is information passed on by the Paco family?" While Lumian muttered to himself silently, he thought of the humanoid lizard that had appeared out of nowhere in the Paco family, thought of Rubio Paco's seriously injured mother Marta, and thought of their abnormality in related matters.

Is the core problem brought about by the sea's abnormality? Did the sea's abnormality cause the Beyonders of the Paco family to become very weak, and lead to an ordinary person without sea bloodline becoming a humanoid lizard? They didn't want other Sea Kin to know about this, and they lacked the strength to handle that humanoid lizard themselves, so they had to invite the outside adventurer Louis Berry to handle it? Lumian had a new understanding of the contradictions in the Paco family's commission.

And the sea's abnormality was a point that neither Lato Giallo nor Juan Oro had mentioned.

They only said that without the appeasement of the Sea-Praying Ceremony, that sea area was much more violent than usual, the "Death Navigator" left his territory more frequently, and the strength of the "Children of the Sea" had declined.

In their view, this was a normal, reasonable, and predictable situation, clearly unrelated to any abnormality.

"Did the abnormality only happen to the Paco family, or did Juan Oro and Lato Giallo deliberately conceal this matter, and not even tell each other, guarding against each other?" While Lumian made guesses, he watched the note be swallowed by crimson flames in his palm.

He was definitely more inclined to the second possibility—unless the Paco family had something special, the impact brought by the sea's abnormality should be widespread and universal, not just targeting them.

Based on this, Lumian could also roughly understand Rubio Paco's disgusted emotions when mentioning matters like "Handmaiden of the Sea":

From the moment he knew what a "Handmaiden of the Sea" was and who his true "parents" were, he should have fallen into self-loathing and hatred for the entire Sea-Praying Ceremony, preferring to lose his inheritance rights rather than marry a "Handmaiden of the Sea." After the sea's abnormality caused an impact on the entire Paco family, this emotion reached its peak.

This made Lumian suspect whether Norfi's hidden collaborator would be Rubio Paco.

Anyway, with the resources and status the Paco family now possessed, even without the Sea-Praying Ceremony, they could still have a very good life.

Lugano stood by, watching his employer fall into a state of deep thought after reading the note, and suddenly felt a bit nervous and flustered.

Is something going to happen again?

Lumian raised his head, looked at Lugano, and said thoughtfully:

"Although my Highland language hasn't reached the level of 'mastery,' I have basically mastered the words needed for daily use. Combined with body language, I can live normally in Santa Harbor. Besides, the few people I really need to contact and communicate with all understand Intis.

"I can pay you the balance now, and include a free 'teleportation' opportunity back to Trier."

Lugano shook his head instinctively:

"You can't take Ludwig when you do things. If I leave now, who will look after him?"

Who is looking after whom, who knows... Lumian stared at Lugano for two seconds, and for the first time, he truly felt that this translator had a problem:

In a situation where he had already been attacked, facing possible risks, he actually subconsciously refused the proposal to terminate the employment contract now and send him to a safe place!

This wouldn't cost him a single gold fer!

Judging from Lugano's usual performance and personality, Lumian thought the possibility of him accepting the balance and leaving Santa Harbor was quite high, but reality wasn't like that.

Perhaps, he didn't even know why he wanted to do this himself, just "instinctively" made the decision... Lumian nodded imperceptibly and stopped mentioning the matter of paying the balance and ending the employment.

…………

Milo Village, inside the Oro family's ancestral house, which has been renovated many times.

Juan Oro sat by the window, smoking a water pipe, looking at the orange-red sun gradually falling below the sea level, thinking about the Sea-Praying Ceremony that was coming in more than a week.

Suddenly, he turned his head and cast his gaze toward the shadow near the door.

The darkness there squirmed, and a green-eyed man wearing a golden straw hat, a white shirt, and a black vest grew out. It was precisely the great adventurer Louis Berry.

"Why are you here again?" Juan Oro sighed and said in Intis.

Lumian laughed and pulled up a chair to sit at the edge of the sunset glow shining into the room:

"I have some things I want to ask you again, and I'm informing you in advance about a certain action."

Juan's eyes narrowed slightly:

"What do you want to do again?"

"I want to sneak into the 'Sea Viceroy's' mansion tonight. If I'm not discovered, I'll take a look at the rooms where the Vigil Ceremony is held. If I am discovered, I'll force my way out. This fits my radical image and the purpose I've shown, doesn't it? It won't make others suspect that we are cooperating in secret." Lumian recounted his plan with a smile.

Juan Oro inexplicably had the feeling that the other party was threatening him, but couldn't find evidence, because what Louis Berry said made a lot of sense.

He took a puff of his water pipe and was silent for a few seconds:

"What exactly do you want to ask?"

Lumian laughed:

"I want to see what the ring used to marry the sea looks like, and what patterns are engraved on it.

"I know, you have only made the ring blank now and haven't completed the corresponding ceremony to attach special traits to it, but I believe that you, who have served as a vice-deacon eleven times and as a deacon many more times, definitely remember those patterns, symbols, and structures."

Juan Oro's back gradually straightened, and his tone became stern:

"What do you want to do?"

The sunset glow in the room suddenly dimmed, as if it had been pulled into another space.

Lumian said as if he hadn't noticed at all:

"What's there to keep secret about this? Don't you know that the design, patterns, and structure of that ring have long been leaked?"

Juan Oro's eyes narrowed:

"When did this happen?"

Lumian raised his eyebrows:

"Didn't that companion of mine tell you the real reason for the failure of the Sea-Praying Ceremony?"

"He only helped us confirm that the Iru on the ship was fake." Juan Oro had a vague guess.

Lumian shook his head with a smile, starting from the fake ring ordered in Tolier and the lamb offerings sent to the ship after bribery, and talked about their speculation on the fake Iru's abilities and the restoration of the whole matter.

Juan Oro didn't interrupt, his expression gradually becoming gloomy.

After a while, he said in a somewhat hoarse voice:

"There aren't many people who know the details of the 'Sea Queen's Ring' and know that the Sea Kin rarely check the inside of the offerings. Every one of them is a 'Child of the Sea' who has truly participated in core ceremonies many times. They are all still alive now... Iru and Sara didn't know..."

Hearing Juan Oro's near-gnashing words, a flash of inspiration struck Lumian's mind, and he suddenly had a guess:

"Ultraman" is someone inside the Fishermen's Guild, a "Child of the Sea" who has received power bestowals many times, or even a member with a certain status!

Of course, it's also possible that he controlled such a person in advance and has a close "cooperation" with the other party.

If it weren't for this, why would the "April Fool's Day" know the specific appearance of that sacrificial ring and precisely utilize the "supervision" loophole of the Sea-Praying Ceremony?

Hmm, although "I have a friend" said that "Ultraman" is a Beyonder of the "Sun" pathway, this doesn't contradict him also being a "Child of the Sea." Even if he became a "Child of the Sea" first and then took the potion of the "Sun" pathway, there shouldn't be any problem. The power of the "Children of the Sea" points to the starry sky, and the sun and the starry sky always go very well together... Is the true purpose of the "April Fool's Day" destroying the Sea-Praying Ceremony to prepare for "Ultraman" or his "collaborator" to completely control that power and that palace at the bottom of the sea? Lumian's train of thought gradually became clear.

He looked at Juan Oro and smiled in a relaxed posture:

"If there wasn't an inside traitor, how could the Sea-Praying Ceremony be so easily destroyed?"

Juan Oro had similar suspicions over the past year, and now he couldn't refute Lumian's statement at all.

He thought with an ugly face, and it was only after a long while that he returned to normal:

"Must ferret out that traitor before the official sea sacrifice..."

Speaking of this, Juan Oro looked at Lumian:

"By then, there might be some things that need your cooperation."

Yo, you've started fishing too? Lumian responded with a smile:

"No problem."

Juan Oro put down the water pipe and left his seat.

He walked to the desk, took out paper and pen, and drew quickly.

Nearly ten minutes later, the old man walked to Lumian with a stumbling gait and handed over the paper in his hand.

Lumian took a look and found that there were six patterns on it, representing the front, left, right, back, front inside, and back inside of the "Sea Queen's Ring," each with multiple complex and mysterious symbols and patterns surrounding them.

"It's actually useless for you to get it, it won't have any effect." Juan Oro said in a low, hoarse voice, "It must be engraved on the ring by several corresponding kinds of Sea Kin using their special traits, and eroded for six hours, in order to please the sea and obtain her approval."

Lumian nodded:

"I didn't think about replicating one."

Just to give it to Lady "Magician" to interpret.

He turned to ask:

"Is this the ring-making part of the Vigil Ceremony? Are there no other steps?"

"There is one more step, which is for a deacon to take the finished ring to the basement, place it in front of the patterns and symbols representing our ancestors, and let it sit for an hour. This is a tribute to the ancestors, just like greeting the elders before a wedding." Juan Oro introduced simply.

Lumian thought for a moment and said:

"Can you also draw the patterns and symbols representing your ancestors?"

Juan Oro returned to the desk again.

This time, he only used two minutes to finish drawing.

Lumian took it and looked, finding that they were some scattered lines and arcs, with a lot of things missing in the middle, unable to see the original appearance.

"Seeing it on the spot might make it easier to generate associations." Juan Oro sighed again.

Lumian nodded:

"Then I'll still sneak into the 'Sea Viceroy's' mansion tonight."

Juan Oro said "Hmm":

"Be careful of the Sea Kin there, they each have their own special traits, not necessarily very strong, but they can restrain some of your abilities."

…………

Late at night, under the illumination of the crimson moonlight.

Lumian appeared near that church-like building.

(End of chapter)