Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 342: Lunburg Characteristics
At this time, inside the "Source Castle", in the magnificent hall that Klein materialized.

Odysseus was a little uncomfortable with the absence of other members, including the Fool.

At this time, Klein, who was sitting at the bottom, said, "Thank you for your help today."

Odysseus spread his hands and smiled, "We are just cooperating. After all, you didn't ask for any spoils."

"Those spoils are nothing compared to the help you provided today," Klein said.

Then he changed the subject: "I really want to know what kind of person helped me today?"

"He is a person with profound knowledge." Odysseus said, "But you can rest assured that I have not told anyone about the Tarot Club."

Klein asked respectfully, "What is His honorific title?"

Odysseus was stunned for a moment before he said, "Lord of Mysteries."

Klein nodded slowly: No wonder Mr. Gar calls himself the "Admiral of Mysteries". It turns out that he is actually loyal to the "Lord of Mysteries".

Klein never dreamed that he was called "Admiral of Mysteries" not because he was loyal to the "Lord of Mysteries", but because of the name "Admiral of Mysteries" that Odysseus, in a desperate situation, changed his name to "Lord of Mysteries".

Then Klein asked, "Why haven't I heard of this deity's deeds before?"

Odysseus replied vaguely: "Because He is 'Mystery'."

He had originally thought Klein would ask if this deity was the "Hidden Sage." He hadn't expected Klein to ask in this direction, so he wasn't prepared for the moment.

At this moment, Klein thought to himself: How wonderful! The Lord of Mysteries actually gave his subordinate such a high-level staff, and The Fool... Alas, The Fool didn't have anything to reward his followers. Even if he did, he would give it to other followers, not to me, because I am The Fool.

After taking a deep breath and calming himself down, Klein noticed that Odysseus was hesitant in his answers, so he began to ask about the results of today's battle.

After learning about the Rose School's losses, Klein felt a surge of envy.

After chatting for a while, Odysseus said goodbye and returned to the real world. Klein sat in the magnificent hall and was silent for a few seconds: Why can't I divine anything about the "Lord of Mysteries"? Why is it that when I divine the "Staff of Gus", the newsboy from Backlund appears before me?

Previously in Backlund, some members of the "Moss Ascetic Order" performed a ceremony to invite the Outer Gods to descend.

While the ceremony was going on, many extraordinary cases occurred in Backlund. Klein encountered one of them. There was a newspaper boy who followed him strangely, and he had to keep buying his newspapers to keep him calm.

It was Mr. Gal who helped him solve the problem at that time.

Just now, when Klein was divining the origin of the "Staff of Gus" above the gray fog, the boy's appearance strangely appeared, leaving Klein puzzled.

……

After Odysseus returned to the real world, he wandered around Cruz Island. After the crew came back, he held a short meeting with everyone, telling them about his recent plans and asking them to be prepared to provide support to Lenburg at any time.

On Wednesday morning, Odysseus arrived on the Golden Dream and met Edwina in the captain's study.

Edwina has changed into a dress in the style of Lenburg. The biggest feature of this country's clothing is that people like to wear red and white clothes, or blue and white clothes.

Women's attire often consists of a white top with a red skirt, or a white dress with an eye-catching sky blue belt.

Although the style is not very distinctive, it is still highly recognizable because of the distinctive colors.

Edwina glanced at Odysseus and said, "In Lenburg, people don't wear tuxedos unless they're attending a very formal banquet or are members of the nobility. Your attire will easily attract the attention of the locals."

As she spoke, she threw a cloth bag to Odysseus and said, "I have prepared a set of clothes for you. Go to the bathroom and change into them."

Odysseus smiled and said, "Thank you."

He took the cloth bag and went out to the bathroom to change. The clothing of the men in Lenburg was also mainly red and white, usually a red jacket and a white shirt with black pants.

Another thing is that men in Lümberg like to wear bowler hats, and not many people wear top hats on a regular basis.

Edwina looked at Odysseus, who was still cheerful and cheerful after changing his clothes: "This suits you very well."

Odysseus smiled and said, “Thank you.

"Can we set off now?"

"Wait a moment." Edwina took out a yellow talisman: "This is one of the official languages of Lunburg, it might be useful.

"The mantra is the ancient Hermetic word for 'knowledge'."

Odysseus took it and said, "Thank you."

After he used the brass talisman, he suddenly felt a new pronunciation and a new text in his mind.

The two of them then set off, and after a few minutes of "travel", they left the spiritual world and came to a city with a long history and unique style.

The city has many old buildings with ancient styles and monochrome colors, as well as many modern buildings with bright colors.

But Odysseus' attention was on the street. There were many benches or small tables on the roadside. Many people were sitting on the benches reading, and some were sitting at the small tables reading and writing something.

Odysseus sighed, "What a city that loves learning."

At this moment, his gaze froze, because he actually saw Bernadette on the bench!

With a little disbelief, Odysseus came to the bench and said, "'Queen', it's really you.

"You... why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Bernadette closed the book in her hand and smiled: "I have received a new 'prophecy'. The opportunity I have been waiting for is in Azshara."

……

The God-forsaken Land, in the mountainous area south of Silver City.

Chief Colin, with his gray hair, led a team of five people, including Derrick, to search the mountains.

Their target was the "Staff of Gus" that had emitted light before.

However, at present, only Derrick knew what the glowing object looked like.

This place is not too far from Silver City, and everyone is familiar with the terrain here. The residents of Silver City are also familiar with the types of monsters here, so this search operation went very quickly.

Suddenly, the "chief" Colin, who was walking in the front, raised his hand, and Derrick and other team members immediately became highly alert.

At this time, Colin suddenly said: "It's too quiet."

After being reminded by the "Chief", everyone realized that this was indeed the case. There was no sign of any monster activity around.

The patrol teams outside the city of Silver City cannot patrol here at all, so the monsters here are not cleared out regularly.

However, after entering the mountains, the exploration team encountered almost no monsters, which was very unusual.

Derrick pondered for a moment before speculating, "Could it be that the light attracted all the monsters around?"

Colin glanced at Derrick, then looked at the mountains ahead. "That guess makes sense."

Then he ordered: "Rest for a while before continuing the exploration."

……

Odysseus was somewhat surprised to meet the "mysterious queen" Bernadette in Azshara, the capital of Lunburg.

At this time, Bernadette was wearing the local costume of Lenburg, a white dress with a brightly colored belt.

In Odysseus's eyes, perhaps because the sunlight was too bright, he always felt that Bernadette, who was holding the book, seemed to be glowing.

Edwina on the side was very alert. This place was not only the capital of Lenburg, but also the headquarters of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Although the headquarters is not in the city, as the leader of the secret organization "Dawn of the Elements", the "Mysterious Queen" is too arrogant to be walking on the street so openly, reading a book leisurely.

Bernadette glanced at Edwina, then said, "You guys go ahead and do your work. When you're done, come find me on College Avenue."

After saying "Mysterious Queen", the queen continued reading, as if she was enjoying her leisure time reading.

Odysseus had a lot of questions he wanted to ask Bernadette, but because Edwina was there, it was not appropriate for the two of them to talk about too private topics.

So he and Edwina continued forward. After leaving the street, Edwina whispered, "What is the purpose of the 'Mysterious Queen'?"

"I don't know either." Odysseus smiled helplessly: "Even if she has any plans, she won't discuss them with me."

Edwina thought about it and agreed. After all, he was a big shot in the extraordinary world and would not report her thoughts to Odysseus.

Just as Vice Admiral Iceberg was thinking about how to report this matter to the church, Odysseus seemed to see through her thoughts and said, "In my opinion, the fact that Bernadette appeared in front of you proves that she is not here to cause trouble, so you don't have to worry.

"Besides, even if we report it to the church, it's meaningless. Even if we send out angels, they may not be able to find her. Instead, it will make you very nervous."

Edwina was stunned for a moment and said nothing more. She still planned to report to the church and explain Odysseus's views on this. As for how the church would react, that was the church's business.

Odysseus looked at the readers filling the streets and asked, "Do people in Lunburg like reading so much?"

Edwina said: "In this country, many opportunities can only be obtained through examinations, so everyone has the habit of studying hard.

"For example, if two people are competing for a management position, they would usually ask the local bishop and professors proficient in management to create a test based on the actual situation. The one with the higher score would get the position."

Odysseus was stunned. He didn't expect that the Church of Knowledge had turned the entire society into a university!

So he asked, "What about the civil servants in this society? Do they also get their positions through exams?"

"In the past, civil servant positions, like in other countries, were inherited from their fathers," Edwina explained. "And each official had a corresponding group of staff, who were the grassroots civil servants of a department.

“But after the civil service examination was implemented in Loen, Lunburg immediately realized the benefits of this method and quickly introduced this civil servant selection method.

"Although this exam was initiated by Rune, Lunburg had already completed the corresponding examination process before them, and the first batch of civil servants who took the exam have already taken up their posts."

Odysseus smiled and said, "Every country has its own strengths."

Apparently, the people of Lemburg are very good at taking exams and do not feel any resistance to the process of using exams to obtain civil service positions.

"As for officials, they are basically all nobles." Edwina said: "During the civil service examination, some departments also implemented a test-based recruitment method for officials, but in the end they found that nobles were more suitable for official positions.

“So, the upper-level officials of Lunburg still use the inheritance system, where all members of a family are tested, and whoever performs well in the test gets the position.

“For example, the Contis family has been managing agriculture in Lundburg since ancient times. After the government reforms, all successive Ministers of Agriculture have been members of the Contis family.

“The middle and lower levels are open to civilians, businessmen and other classes, and civil servants are selected through examinations.

"But this is limited to Azshara and the eastern region. It will take some time to be promoted in the western region."

Odysseus nodded. Generally speaking, this was similar to other countries. Officials in various departments in Loen were basically members of the nobility.

The corresponding channels in their families and the education they received through words and deeds since childhood did make the nobles more competent officials.

Although the Intis parliament was very powerful and had a complete electoral system, what Roselle might not have expected was that the parliamentarians had become the new nobility.

The process of electing a president has gradually become a game of money and politics.

Although both Feynaport and the Feysac Empire had carried out corresponding government reforms and claimed that they would no longer use the inheritance system, in essence, the corresponding government positions had never been out of the control of the corresponding families.

Since the topic had come to this, Odysseus asked, "The supreme ruler of Lenburg is the king. Does he have a parliament?"

"No," Edwina said, "but there is a Senate, which functions similarly to the parliament. The members of the Senate are basically professors from various industries."

Odysseus nodded, and roughly understood that the general direction of the country's development is decided by the Church of Knowledge!

Although he had no previous knowledge of the Senate of Lenburg, he was certain that those professors must have a church background.

Otherwise, the members of the Senate would not be professors, but the best in various fields, with professors only accounting for a very small proportion.

As the two chatted, they arrived at their destination, St. Chester's Cathedral, a huge Gothic cathedral that looked very ancient. Although it was a weekday, there were people praying in and out of the church.

The status of Saint Chester Cathedral is equivalent to that of Saint Samuel Cathedral in Backlund to the Church of the Evernight Goddess, and it is the second headquarters of the Church of Knowledge.

The two did not go through the main gate. Edwina took Odysseus to the back door and told the guard there that she wanted to see her mentor Douglas.

Douglas was the Privy Bishop of Azshara and the chief officer of the Eastern Diocese of Lenburg. The guards didn't dare to delay and hurried to report.

A few minutes later, a bishop wearing the robes of the Church of Knowledge came out and said, "I am Pine, assistant to Archbishop Douglas. Please follow me."

He took Odysseus and Edwina into the backyard of St. Chester's Church. The huge courtyard was made up of houses built of dark bricks and stones. The ground in the courtyard was paved with stone slabs, and there were many corridors connecting the surrounding buildings.

Pine first led the two people to a reception room, then smiled and said, "The Archbishop will have to wait a little longer before he can see you. Before that, let's wait here for a while."

After the three of them sat down, he looked at Odysseus and said, "I heard from Edwina that your research in mysticism is very advanced, and you hope to cooperate with the Church of Knowledge."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment before nodding and saying, "Yes."

He realized that Archbishop Douglas might not have been too busy to meet with them immediately, but rather wanted his assistant to talk to him first.

Pine asked, "Are you interested in joining the School of Knowledge?"

Edwina, who was beside Odysseus, took a deep breath, because the Academy of Knowledge was a holy place for every believer of the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom".

The dean of the Academy of Knowledge has the same status as the Pope within the church.

Odysseus recalled the relevant information he had learned. Every orthodox church has such an institution. For example, the Church of the Goddess of Night has the Monastery of Night.

Odysseus's understanding was that the church was filled with church members who were not very good at management work but were very talented in extraordinary aspects.

The other party's invitation made Odysseus feel the sincerity of the Church of Knowledge, which was equivalent to directly entering their core institution.

But Odysseus thought about it for a while before saying, "I don't actually want to do full-time research."

Edwina really wanted to remind Odysseus what the "School of Knowledge" represented.
However, she couldn't interrupt the conversation and could only worry about Odysseus.

Pine smiled and asked, "So what kind of job do you want to do?"

"Administrative work," Odysseus said, "preferably government administration."

"That's easy," Pine said readily. "The church has the power to recommend officials to the royal family. We can talk to them and arrange for you to take the governor's exam."

Odysseus was stunned. He didn't expect that his request would be met so easily.

In fact, the main purpose of his visit this time was simply to hope that the Church of Knowledge could protect his interests in Lenburg in the future and provide sufficient extraordinary protection.

In other words, Odysseus handed over the "Gal Rune" to the Church of Knowledge in exchange for the Church of Knowledge allowing him to develop his own power in Lenburg.

What he had never expected was that the other party would be so willing to let him compete for the position of governor.

Of course, the value of the "Gal Rune" is higher than that of a governor, but in such negotiations, the Orthodox Church has an absolute advantage, so Odysseus does not have too high hopes for the negotiation process.

But the result far exceeded Odysseus's expectations.

This made Odysseus smile and said, "It would be my honor."

Paine said, "Don't be too happy too soon, because you have to pass an exam to see if you have the ability to serve as a ruling official.

"If you fail the exam, we will arrange for you to study accordingly. You can only take up your post after you pass the exam."

Odysseus nodded and said, "I respect the way that Lunburg selects talents."

Pine hummed, took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and then said, "I'll go see if the Archbishop has time now."

After the Archbishop's assistant left the reception room, Edwina whispered, "The examination for officials is very difficult. Even among nobles who have received relevant education since childhood, the vast majority of them cannot pass the examination.

"Also, don't think the church will help you cheat. After learning about your situation, they might even make the exam more difficult."

This was a reminder to Odysseus that his choice might get him stuck at this stage of the exam.

Odysseus smiled and said, "Then I will study in Azshara for a while."

Since they've already established a cooperative intention, wouldn't it be unreasonable for him to bring a few of his subordinates to Azshara? Wouldn't it be unreasonable for his subordinates to open a few shops here?
By then, he can study while building up his own power in Azshara. Odysseus himself also plans to return to his old job and open an astrologer's shop, working as a charlatan and making potions.

Edwina didn't say anything else and began to tell Odysseus about the general process of the official examination. When a vacancy occurred in a local official position, the royal family and corresponding scholars usually set the questions.

The candidates first pass a written test and then go through an interview.

An important step in the interview is to express loyalty to the king and swear not to take any separatist actions or commit any acts of treason.

After just a few minutes of chatting, Pine came back quickly and said that Archbishop Douglas now had time to meet with Odysseus.

So the three of them came to Douglas' office. He was a man in his forties, wearing glasses, with a gentle smile and a scholarly demeanor.

If he wasn't wearing a bishop's robe, Odysseus would have thought he was a professor at a university.

Douglas stood up and shook hands with Odysseus. He said with a gentle smile, "People in later generations will surely remember your contribution to mysticism."

Odysseus said politely, "You're too kind."

Then Douglas asked Odysseus to sit on the sofa in the reception area, and his assistant Pine poured them tea.

Douglas said to Odysseus, "I heard from Pine that you hope to go into politics?"

"Yes," Odysseus said, "I built an island in the sea, and under my management, the island is thriving."

In fact, the main reason for such vigorous development is that there is sufficient funding.

Douglas nodded slowly and said, "You came at the right time. There's a governor position in the eastern region that's been vacant recently, but you have to be prepared. You might have more than a dozen competitors.

“There is no competition for the two governorships in the West, but the conditions there are too dangerous and no one wants to go.

"And you must understand one thing: the church only has the power to nominate candidates, but it does not have the authority to help you pass the exam. I can only use my personal influence to avoid making the exam more difficult for you."

Odysseus smiled and said, "Thank you for your help."

As he spoke, he took out a booklet that he had prepared in advance, which contained explanations and comparison tables of the meanings of the "Gal Runes", as well as knowledge on the algorithms used, the rules of characters and geometry, and other knowledge.

Odysseus said sincerely, "The moment I invented the 'Gal Runes', I was the one who most hoped that they could be popularized in the Extraordinary World, but there had never been a suitable opportunity before."

At this point, he took a deep breath and said, "The Knowledge Church is its best choice."

Douglas took the booklet with both hands: "Don't worry, we will treat it seriously."

Watching the archbishop solemnly put the pamphlet away, Odysseus said, "You just said that there are no contests for the governorships of two western states?"

"Yes." Douglas said, "You...are you interested in that place?"

Without waiting for Odysseus's answer, he continued, "Are you familiar with the national conditions and geography of Lunburg?"

"I've done some research," Odysseus said. "Lenburg has two powerful neighbors: the Republic of Intis to the north and the Kingdom of Feynaport to the south. They surround the entire western part of Lenburg."

"In addition, there are two small countries in the northwest, each with a population of only a few hundred thousand.

“There are two neighboring countries in the east, the Kingdom of Loen and Ma Xi.

"In the southeast, there are also two small countries with small areas and small populations.

"Lenburg's basic foreign policy is to ally with the Kingdom of Loen, maintain normal diplomatic relations with the Republic of Intis, and be hostile to the Kingdom of Feynaport."

Douglas smiled and nodded: "It seems that you have done some research."

In fact, when he learned that Odysseus wanted to go into politics, he was worried about it. He was afraid that a pirate knew nothing and would fail the exam after several years, which would be troublesome.

Odysseus continued, “In terms of geography and population, western Lunburg is part of the central plateau of the northern continent, which is said to be an area where bandits gather.

“Many bandits from the Intis Republic and Feynaport Kingdom were also driven to the west of Lenburg.

"I can even think that it was an infiltration of the two countries into Lundberg."

Douglas hummed, and commented in his mind: The political sensitivity is very high.

"So the West has always been a region where Lunburg and the other two countries have been secretly competing, and the situation is very complicated." Odysseus continued, "Perhaps this is also the reason why there is no competition for the governor there."

Douglas sighed and said, “The situation is worse than you can imagine.

"The local people are tough and the bandits take advantage of the mountainous terrain to engage in guerrilla warfare against government forces.

"At the same time, they are funded by Intis and Fenet, and the weapons they have are better than those of the state guards. Many places are actually ruled by bandits, and government troops can only be stationed in a few major cities.

“Moreover, the military supplies there are often plundered, and the loyalty of the government forces is not very high.

"Also, the governor is often targeted, and the key is that they have succeeded several times, so no one dares to become governor anymore."

The situation was indeed more serious than Odysseus had imagined: "In other words, many places there are already in a state of anarchy?"

Then he asked, "When did this situation start?"

"It started a few years ago when relations between the nations of the Northern Continent gradually became strained," Douglas patiently explained. "Now, many in the royal family and the Senate are advocating for the transformation of several chaotic western states into autonomous states."

Odysseus thought for a few seconds and then smiled and said, "I still hope to go to a state in the West."

The more chaotic the situation is, the easier it is for him to establish his own power. In this case, if he encounters anyone who is disobedient, he can just open fire.

In a relatively stable state like the East, Odysseus simply couldn't use tough measures at will.

However, such a chaotic state requires a lot of investment in the early stages, mainly in money and armed forces.

Douglas looked at Odysseus carefully and saw that he was not joking, so he said, "I respect your choice."

He paused and continued, "You can take the test tomorrow. If everything goes well, you might be able to have an interview the day after tomorrow."

Because there were no competitors, exams and interviews could be arranged specifically for Odysseus.

Odysseus breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay."

At this point, the conversation was basically over. Odysseus stood up to say goodbye, and Douglas saw him off to the door.

After that, Edwina had to report on her work, so she planned to find a priest to arrange for Odysseus to stay in Azshara.

However, Odysseus refused and said that he wanted to go around on his own. "Admiral Iceberg" knew that Odysseus was going to find the "Mysterious Queen", so he just made an appointment to meet again in the afternoon.

When he came to the street and saw the exotic buildings and pedestrians, Odysseus was stunned for a moment before realizing that he had come to a foreign country.

He smiled and lamented, "Sometimes using the word 'travel' to visit a new place is rather boring."

If he had come to Lenburg by train, he would have been mentally prepared, but arriving directly in the capital of Lenburg made Odysseus feel as if he had been disconnected: he had breakfast on the boat, but he was already in a strange country at nine in the morning.

Odysseus waved his hand and a hired carriage stopped.

Lunburg's rental carriage was slightly smaller than Backlund's, with softer lines and a luggage rack at the back.

After getting on the carriage, Odysseus said in the official language he had "just learned": "College Avenue!"

When the carriage started moving, Odysseus remembered that there were only gold pounds in his wallet, and no local currency.

So Odysseus asked the coachman to go to the bank first. After learning that Odysseus was going to the bank to exchange currency, the coachman said that he could also accept gold pounds.

Odysseus was stunned for a moment, and without asking the reason in detail, he paid the gold pounds when he got off the car.

College Avenue is the home of the University of Munich. There are many groups of students on the street, and occasionally students will give impromptu speeches, which makes people feel the campus atmosphere immediately.

After getting off the car, Odysseus didn't know where to find Bernadette, so he just walked aimlessly on the avenue.

After walking a few steps, Odysseus's spirit seemed to sense something and saw the "mysterious queen" appear beside him, while the pedestrians around him seemed unaware of the sudden appearance of a person.

Soon, many students' attention was attracted by Bernadette.

Compared with the students here, she is a mature, intellectual and beautiful woman. The "Mysterious Queen" is enough to conquer this group of young people with her unique temperament alone.

(End of this chapter)