On the morning of January 3, 1350, at the Naval General Office in Backlund.
Major Lex, dressed in his naval uniform, walked through the main gate with his head held high. Today was monday, but because the New Year had just passed and the holidays were not yet over, there were almost no people in the building.
He arrived at Colonel Sturk's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in," a deep voice sounded from inside, allowing one to imagine a strong, burly figure.
Major Lex adjusted his clothes slightly before pushing open the door. After closing it, he straightened his back, brought his feet together, and saluted the Colonel, who sat behind his desk like a small mountain.
"Good morning, sir!"
The middle-aged Colonel grinned and said, "Good morning, Sublieutenant."
"Don't be so formal; just relax."
Colonel Sturk cleared his throat with a clenched fist and said, "Major Lex, according to orders from above, we hope you can depart and return to the Sea next monday, which is the 10th."
"There is a mission for you from above. The specific details are here."
The Colonel took out a paper bag, pushed it across the table, and handed it to Major Lex.
"Additionally, we have prepared a sailboat for you in Pritz Harbor, staffed with relevant personnel. However, for the core crew, do you want to recruit them yourself, or choose from the personnel we provide?"
Major Lex said in a deep voice, "Please allow me to recruit my own crew, sir."
Colonel Sturk smiled, "It seems you've already made arrangements. In that case, I'll need their relevant information."
"Hmm, nothing complicated, just their names and a general introduction of their identities will suffice. Of course, if they break the Law, as the captain, you will be responsible. Is that clear?"
It seems Black Sail doesn't care about the origins of these crew members, but if anything happens to them, I, as the captain, will be held responsible. This management method is good; it gives the captain a certain degree of freedom and rights, but requires the captain to be responsible for his subordinates.
"Clear!" Major Lex responded loudly.
The Colonel chuckled, "Well, there's nothing else. Remember to bring Lieutenant O'Neill when you depart; he is now your adjutant."
"And also the military's eyes and ears," Major Lex thought to himself.
After leaving the Naval General Office and returning home, Major Lex opened the paper bag and took out the documents and materials inside.
Black Sail had given him a mission: to investigate the Sea legend, the Fountain of Youth!
"Fountain of Youth?" Major Lex was somewhat surprised; he had heard of this legend before when he was on the Sea.
The legend claimed that by drinking from the Fountain of Youth, one could become immortal. This news was released by King of Immortality Agalito, who claimed to have drunk from the Fountain of Youth and thus would never experience death.
Black Sail's documents indicated that Star Admiral Cattleya, one of the Pirate Generals, was suspected of searching for the Fountain of Youth and had already obtained certain clues.
Black Sail requested Major Lex to devise a way to approach Star Admiral, investigate whether the Fountain of Youth truly existed, and provided relevant information about Star Admiral, including where Cattleya could be encountered.
"I'm departing next monday, so this week, I need to see Lyn, and I need to find Kaven and Nafi. Hmm, and I'll stop by to see Mr. Hardy; their family should be returning to Tingen City today."
Major Lex put the documents and materials back into the paper bag: "After the Tarot Club meeting this afternoon, I'll go find Lyn, and tomorrow I'll head to Tingen. Yes, that's decided!"
Afternoon.
On the outskirts of the East District, there was a newly opened cemetery.
Klein , wearing a black woolen overcoat, a black vest over a white shirt, and a semi-tall top hat, found Old Kohler's grave.
Calling it a grave was misleading; it was actually just a cabinet for an urn, with each one placed tightly next to another, so densely packed that it was suffocating.
Almost all of the ashes of those who died in the Great Smog were buried here.
In the past week, Klein had changed his appearance, secretly returned to Backlund, and obtained new identification through his own channels. He planned to use it to buy a ship ticket and temporarily leave Loen.
Through divination, Klein confirmed that Old Kohler's ashes were stored in the cabinet before him.
But there was no epitaph on the cabinet, let alone a photograph.
After all, what lay inside was just an unknown nobody from the lowest strata of the kingdom. Whether he was alive or dead, no one would remember him.
In official statistics, he was merely an insignificant, cold, hard number.
That was all.
Klein closed his eyes for a moment, then pulled out a sticky note, shook it, and the paper turned into an iron sheet.
He carved a single word on the cabinet door: Kohler.
After a moment of thought, he added an epitaph: He was a good worker. He once had a wife and a pair of children. He lived diligently.
"At least, I remember you."
"So, you once lived, lived diligently, and struggled."
"So… rest in peace."
Klein stepped back two paces, raised his head, slowly exhaled a puff of white air, looked around, and then turned to leave the cemetery.
At three o'clock sharp, Major Lex's vision suddenly cleared, and in an instant, he had moved from his room at home to Above the gray fog.
He suddenly noticed that a figure had appeared on his left side.
Due to the presence of the gray mist, Major Lex could not clearly see his appearance, only vaguely discerning that he was a man, not very old, with a proud demeanor.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
Justice Audrey's voice echoed in the ancient palace. Perhaps still affected by the psychological impact of the Backlund Great Smog, the Miss's voice today lacked its usual brightness and lightness.
And her condition last week was even worse.
After the members greeted each other, and excluding the newly joined member, Mr. Fool chuckled and introduced: "This is our new member, Mr. Moon."
"This gathering is called the Tarot Club, and these are..."
While Klein was introducing the new member, Major Lex pondered the meaning of the other party choosing the 'Moon' card, but with too few clues, he decided to give up.
After the introduction, Magician Miss looked towards the head of the long bronze table and said, "Respected Mr. Fool, I have received three pages of Roselle's diary."
"Very good."
As Fors materialized the diary and passed it to Mr. Fool, Major Lex noticed that Mr. Moon seemed somewhat bewildered, as if this new member did not yet know what Roselle's diary was.
So Major Lex kindly explained, "Emperor Roselle created some unique symbols, and the manuscripts composed of those symbols are Roselle's diary."
"Mr. Fool collects these diaries. If we can provide them, we can exchange them for help and knowledge from Him."
"Mr. Fool prefers transactions of equal value."