Amon? Klein's gaze suddenly froze, and in his mind, words related to that being exploded and echoed one after another:
"Blasphemer," Amon, "Angel of Time" Amon, King of Angels Amon, Son of the Creator Amon!
Although he had long received a reminder from Arrodes and knew that one of Amon's avatars had already entered Backlund, he had not expected the other party to be "so close" to him. If not for Mr. "Tower's" reminder, he might have attended that ball!
"What are you afraid of? Don't forget that you've already become a demigod. You can restrain the aura of the gray fog so that Beyonders of Mystery pathways won't detect it. Even if Amon meets you face to face, as long as He doesn't have time to steal your thoughts, He won't see through your background!"
At this point, Ebner glanced at Klein's tense expression and teased with a smile, "Moreover, you still have Mr. Fool's protection."
Hearing this, Klein was instantly speechless and inwardly complained, What kind of 'quality' the Fool really has—others may not know, but don't you know perfectly well?
However, Ebner's teasing diluted Klein's tension. After steadying himself, he asked, "Since you already knew that young lady's background, why didn't you report her?"
"What would be the point? At most, it would make Amon switch to another avatar and move from the open into the shadows… The loss would outweigh the gain." Ebner shook his head.
That made sense… Before exposing any flaws myself, there's no need to rush to eliminate this Amon in the open. As long as I avoid meeting Him as much as possible… Fortunately, aside from MP Macht's side, I don't have much interaction with the other party.
Klein nodded slightly, agreeing with Ebner's reasoning, but still asked in confusion, "Then why are you still attending the coming-of-age ball of the young lady He's possessing?"
"Because I foresaw that something interesting would happen there… And within Backlund, I'm not afraid of Amon." Ebner explained with a smile before asking, "Do you want to join the fun as well?"
"I'll pass…" Klein waved his hands repeatedly. He was trying to avoid Amon as much as possible—why would he rush to meet Him?
"It's probably better that you don't go… You know, whenever I attend a ball or banquet, something unpleasant tends to happen…" Ebner said meaningfully.
...
Sea County, Beldan City.
Night descended. Byles, nearly thirty years old, sat at a small round table with his father and older brother after a long day's work, gulping down Southville beer.
They chatted while listening to the idle talk of drunkards at the neighboring table.
"This morning, hic, the engineering safety rules competition organized by the Lord finally ended. Guess who made the fewest mistakes and was rewarded with the largest Cold Plough Farm in the east?" A bald man shouted loudly after downing a mouthful of beer.
"I only know it definitely wasn't you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here drowning your sorrows!" his companions jeered in unison.
"Of course it wasn't me… I violated thirty-three rules in total… Damn it, I only counted twelve myself! If it weren't for the Lord's personal maid corps supervising the competition, I'd definitely think there was some shady business!" The bald man slammed his cup down gloomily. The bartender glanced over instinctively and only turned back after seeing that the cup wasn't broken.
"Hahaha… Don't you get it? The Lord organized this competition to popularize construction safety codes… Heh, it was probably the accident during the construction of the 'Deep Sea Shipwreck' outdoor set that prompted him to make this decision." Another man with a small braid at the back of his head patted the bald man's shoulder.
Judging from his grammar, he had at least received general education.
But as soon as he finished speaking, a young man at another table who looked only seventeen or eighteen shouted dissatisfiedly, "How can starting work not have accidents? Is it really necessary to follow all those rules and regulations? Back when we mined, we didn't have to pay attention to this and that… Now it's safer, sure, but efficiency's dropped a lot. Not only do we earn less, but we're less free…"
"Hey, you ungrateful bastard! The Lord had his wife draft those rules because he values our lives… In the past, who would care whether you lived or died? You should know yourself—how many families haven't lost someone in the mines!" The bald man's table was clearly full of the Lord's supporters, and they immediately began criticizing him.
Most people in the tavern had earned more income and found new hope in life because of the Lord's arrival, so they naturally joined in the denunciation.
"Right, right… I misspoke! My mistake…" The young man immediately backed down and hurriedly changed the topic. "By the way, you still haven't said—who got Cold Plough Farm?
"That place is worth at least 1,000 pounds!"
The tactic worked. The drunkards were instantly distracted and all looked toward the bald man.
The bald man scratched his shiny scalp and shouted, "It was Weber!
"That quack doctor Weber who only knows how to bleed people!"
"Weber? Damn it, that bastard who never comes drinking…" Jealous and envious curses erupted at once.
Hearing this, Byles's older brother, Benny, smiled and looked at his younger brother curiously. "Is what they're saying true?"
Byles looked no older than thirty. He had once worked in the mines and had been lucky enough not to die there, though his skin had become very dark because of it.
The muscles exposed on his body were not overly exaggerated, but they gave off the feeling of being cast from steel.
He was also one of the ten thousand participants in the competition, so he nodded slightly and lowered his voice. "Although everyone could only see their own number of violations and ranking… That should be a measure taken by the Lord to protect us… But that Weber fellow was dazzled by the Lord's maid corps and deliberately exposed the fact that he ranked first, hoping to attract the attention of one of the maids… Unfortunately, he didn't get his wish."
Benny laughed. "Makes sense. Even if he owns a farm, how could those maids fancy him?"
"But there's no denying that owning a farm is very attractive. Quite a few families are planning to introduce their daughters to Benny." Byles said with a grin.
At this moment, Byles's father, Old Byles, proudly interjected, "That's because they're short-sighted! My son was selected by the Lord to become a guard. Isn't that future brighter than owning a farm?"
"Father, lower your voice… That matter hasn't been finalized yet…" Byles cut in. Then, to cover up his father's slip of the tongue, he quickly stood up, raised his glass, and shouted loudly:
"To Beldan having the Lord it has today—cheers!"
The drunkards echoed in unison. The cry of "cheers" merged together, breaking through the tavern's "restraints" and spreading far into the distance.
And the one they were "blessing" was at this very moment strolling by the river with Xio.
After hearing the shout of "cheers," Xio stopped and joked with a smile, "Seems you're quite popular, Lord Viscount."
"Of course. After all, over a million pounds in real gold have been poured into this place." Ebner smiled faintly. His gaze pierced through space, observing Byles raising his glass for a few moments before continuing, "Besides, in my view, the living standards of the people here are still far from good."
"This isn't good enough? Compared to the East Borough and factory districts of Backlund, where ordinary poor people aren't even treated as human, this place is far better. At least everyone still has hope and can see tomorrow." Xio said with emotion.
"You've also seen that 'Urban Legend World' within the 'Ghost Empire.' In my heart, the quality of life there is the standard."
Ebner lacked the confidence—and perhaps the ambition—to push for transformation of the entire world. But building a cross-era "benchmark" city within his own territory was something he believed he could achieve.
Xio nodded thoughtfully. It was the first time she had heard Ebner speak of aspirations beyond advancing his Sequence. He was no longer like a year ago, when he seemed to carry a sense of detachment from this world.
Shaking her head, Xio stopped dwelling on the topic. Whatever Ebner wanted to accomplish, she would do her utmost to help him achieve it.
The two walked all the way back to the Lord's official residence. Only then did Xio finally speak:
"I've already become a demigod… You should keep your promise and tell me the truth about my father's wrongful execution now, shouldn't you?"
(End of Chapter)