Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 343: Bernadette
Odysseus, strolling along the street as usual, asked Bernadette, who had suddenly appeared beside him, "How long have you been here?"

The Mysterious Queen said, "After leaving the Argo a few days ago, I came to Azshara."

She pointed ahead and said, "The desserts in the cafe over there are really good. How about we go eat and chat?"

"Okay." Odysseus continued the previous topic and asked, "Why did you suddenly decide to leave Backlund and come to Lunburg?"

He remembered that Bernadette should have stayed in Backlund for some time to come.

"Didn't I tell you? This is the opportunity I've been waiting for." Bernadette said vaguely.

In fact, after her previous interactions with Odysseus, Bernadette felt quite bored being alone in Backlund.

She didn't know when the opportunity she was waiting for would come. When she said goodbye to Odysseus last week, she heard that he was coming to Lenburg, so Bernadette decided to go to Lenburg first, and that's when they met on the street.

For Bernadette, this trip to Lunburg was more like a place to relax. She suddenly realized that after working hard for so long, she still hadn't found an opportunity for promotion, so she might as well wait and see.

Since I feel happy when I am with Odysseus, I will spend more time with him.

Arriving at the cafe Bernadette pointed out, she skillfully ordered coffee and desserts. Soon, what they ordered was served. Odysseus took a bite and felt that the cherry cake here was indeed quite good.

The two began to chat, and Odysseus said, "You seem quite familiar with this place."

"For a while, I suddenly missed my student days, so I studied for two bachelor's degrees here," Bernadette said casually. "The academic atmosphere at the University of Lenburg is the best."

Odysseus was stunned: "Why read two?"

"Because one person can only read two at the same time." Bernadette said casually.

Odysseus was stunned again: "You don't seem to understand what I mean. I didn't expect you... You can study for two degrees in one go. It feels very impressive."

Bernadette said calmly, "By that time, I was already a 'Master of Prophecy'."

What she meant was that Feifan had given her a stronger ability to understand, so having two degrees was not a big deal for her.

Odysseus sighed in his heart, "Don't explain, you are just a nerd," and then changed the subject and talked about the fact that renting a carriage actually cost gold pounds.

"Lenburg has close commercial ties with Loen, and the gold pound fluctuates relatively little. In a big city like Azshara, the gold pound is the second currency here." Bernadette explained.

"The local currency is called Sasen Gold. I remember that a few decades ago, 2 Sasens could be exchanged for 1 gold pound, but now it takes 5 Sasens to exchange for 1 gold pound.

“However, the currency system designed by the Church of Knowledge is much more reasonable than the gold pound. It is divided into three types: gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins. The gold coins are what we previously called Sassen gold.

"Or the entire currency system is called 'Sasen', just like the gold pound of Loen, it's a name.

“Gold coins are called Sassen gold, and silver coins are called Sassen silver. However, the locals call one gold coin one Sassen, and there is no other name for silver and copper coins.

"All three currencies are decimalized."

Odysseus immediately compared it with the gold pound he was most familiar with. 1 sarsen was approximately equal to 4 soles, 1 silver coin was approximately equal to 5 pence, and 1 copper coin was approximately equal to half a penny.

This decimal currency does save a lot of thought when converting.

Odysseus took a sip of coffee and asked, "How can I get to know this city as quickly as possible?"

Bernadette thought for a moment before saying, "How about we go shopping?"

In fact, she didn't know much about this city. When she came to school, she just came to school.

"Okay." While paying for coffee and dessert, Odysseus asked the waiter about the location of the market and commercial street.

In his opinion, these two places are the easiest to reflect the characteristics of a city.

Originally, Odysseus thought that Bernadette would be unfamiliar with places like commercial streets. She would rarely go to such ready-made stores, but would go to custom-made stores instead.

But when they arrived at the commercial street, the "Mysterious Queen" suddenly pointed to a small three-story building and said, "That seems to be one of my houses."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment, and Bernadette explained, "I bought them when I was in school. There was a plague in Azshara at the time, and the housing prices were cheap, so I bought a few houses."

Odysseus twitched his lips and said, "You don't even know how much real estate you own, do you?"

Bernadette paused noticeably before continuing, "I have assigned people to take care of all the properties in various locations."

"Don't skip my question." Odysseus then sighed, "Is this the difference between nobles and ordinary people?"

Originally, he thought that he was very impressive as he had raised nearly 10 pounds to build Cruz Island, but now it seems that he is still far behind this "Princess Intis".

Then Odysseus suddenly remembered: There is a treasure in Lunburg! It is said that there are a lot of valuables in it. If he needs money in the future, he can take people to dig it up.

Speaking of which, the location of the treasure was left by Rossel. Odysseus got the treasure map from a "Roselle relic". Because he was not short of money too much, he did not go digging.

"Don't be discouraged," Bernadette comforted.

"Thank you." Odysseus smiled bitterly. The other party's words did not comfort him.

However, Odysseus quickly adjusted his mindset and began to observe the lives of the people in this city. He also inquired about the local prices. Compared to Backlund, the prices here were slightly higher.

This is probably because Lenburg's industry is not as developed as Loen's, or it is not perfect enough.

After observing for a while, Odysseus heard that when the locals were choosing goods, some used Loen, some used the local language, and some used Intis.

Bernadette, who was standing by, seemed to have noticed Odysseus's confusion and explained, "Lenburg has three official languages: Loenese, Intis, and Zaun.

"Well, the so-called Zaun language is more like a dialect of Feynapotent."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment: "That must be very inconvenient, right?"

Bernadette said, "This is the sorrow of a small country."

Odysseus immediately understood the words of the "Mysterious Queen". This was a manifestation of survival in the cracks between big countries.

The two of them strolled around slowly, and the more Odysseus looked around, the more he felt that the biggest feature of this city should be the people reading seriously in the streets and alleys.

It's so exaggerated that even a homeless person would take out a dirty book from his tattered pocket under the sun and read it with relish.

Not far from the commercial street, Bernadette brought Odysseus to a small classical villa and said, "Let's stay here for the next few days."

This villa is built with red bricks, but it must have been repaired regularly and does not show any signs of disrepair.

The villa has a small yard and a large terrace on the second floor.

Odysseus didn't even ask whether it was rented or bought, and just followed him in.

There was a housekeeper and two maids in the villa. Bernadette introduced them, "I basically stayed here when I came to Azshara."

So the housekeepers and maids here all knew Bernadette, but they couldn't help but look at Odysseus because this was the first time the hostess brought a guest.

The two of them sat down on the sofa in the living room. The maid immediately served tea. Then Bernadette asked, "How did the talks with the Church of Knowledge go?"

Odysseus briefly described the process of the conversation and the results of the negotiations.

Bernadette nodded: "These nerds are quite knowledgeable.

"So, you're going to the west of Lunburg? I heard it's very chaotic there."

"It's more than just chaos." Odysseus laughed, "It's said that several governors have died."

Bernadette tapped the armrest of the sofa with one hand and seemed to think for a moment before saying, "I'll go with you."

"I don't need protection." Odysseus said, "Let them come and assassinate this governor!"

The more you come, the more you earn.

Bernadette laughed and said, "Why didn't I see you say something like this when you were almost buried alive by the earthquake cracks last week?"

Odysseus suddenly felt short of breath. "No...it's different. There won't be enemies of too high a level in the West."

"I'm not your bodyguard, why should I protect you?" Bernadette raised her chin and said, "I heard a long time ago that the snow-capped mountains there are very beautiful.

"That's great. I'll go back and take a look."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment before asking, "Aren't you busy lately?"

Bernadette frowned. "What does my busyness have to do with you? Even if you don't go to those western states, I'm planning to take a vacation."

"Of course it would be best if we could go together." Odysseus said honestly, "I'd feel at ease if you were by my side."

Bernadette smiled and nodded: "That's about right."

She paused and said, "I'll ask someone to buy lamb chops this afternoon."

Odysseus immediately understood what the other party meant: "No problem, I'll make grilled lamb chops."

He had made grilled lamb chops once before, and Bernadette was very satisfied with his craftsmanship.

Then Bernadette asked the maid to take Odysseus to see the room prepared for him. It was quite nice and fully furnished.

Odysseus lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze. At this moment, he himself seemed a little uncomfortable as he was about to start a new journey.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Odysseus met Edwina near St. Chester's Church as agreed with her.

As soon as they met, Edwina said, "Bishop Douglas asked me to tell you to go to the administrative hall at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning to take the exam."

"Thank you." Odysseus then asked, "What will the test cover?"

Edwina thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the test will be about how to govern and how to solve some people's livelihood problems. You have experience in managing Cruz Island, so most of the questions will not be difficult for you."

This is also the reason why Bishop Douglas did not arrange tutoring for Odysseus.

Hearing that these questions were the test, Odysseus breathed a sigh of relief, chatted for a while, and then used "travel" to send Edwina back to the ship.

Then Odysseus returned to Cruz Island and checked the construction progress of several construction sites.

For a period of time afterwards, he could only come once or twice a week.

Finally, he checked the progress of the port town's renovation at the dock. Just as he was about to leave, Tim, a crew member sent by the navy, happened to see Odysseus and quickly called out to him, "Captain, the admiral has something urgent to discuss with you."

Odysseus was stunned: "What's the matter?"

"I don't know." Tim quickly ran to the dock and said, "The letter said it's urgent. Let's go to Bayam now."

Odysseus was stunned again. Although the Loen Navy's headquarters in the Raging Sea was in Bayam, Admiral Amyrius's defense zone was not there, so he rarely appeared in Bayam.

The sudden meeting in Bayam might be due to some urgent matter.

Just as the two were about to enter the spirit world, Rupert, the second mate stationed on Cruz Island, called out to Odysseus again: "Captain, I have something urgent to discuss with you!"

Odysseus was stunned. Why was everything so urgent?

He waited until Rupert came running up onto the dock before asking, "What's going on?"

Rupert didn't speak immediately, but looked around. At the dock during the day, some workers were doing the final construction work on the port.

The three of them came to a deserted place, and Rupert said, "We caught two suspicious people today.

“They didn’t know our workers had rosters and work numbers, so they tried to sneak into the construction site, but were caught by the staff.

"But when I received the notification and rushed there, the two men were already dead. The initial diagnosis was suicide, and the poison might have been hidden in their mouths."

Odysseus frowned. This was the first time a spy had been caught on Cruz Island, and a deadly spy at that. "What do you think?"

"I think they are most likely sent by the Feynaporte Navy." Rupert said.

Having previously humiliated the Fenaport Navy and inflicted some losses on them recently, they may very well consider resorting to tough measures and retaliate on Cruz Island.

Odysseus thought for a moment before saying, "Investigate to see if there are any other spies."

He planned to talk to Groselle and the others after meeting with Admiral Amyrius, and ask them to provide some support when needed.

With Groselle and others around, Odysseus is relatively confident about Cruz Island unless Feynaporte sends out a demigod.

After talking to Rupert for a few more words, Odysseus came to Bayam with Tim.

And in the villa belonging to Admiral Amyrius, he met the demigod of the navy.

After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Admiral Amyrius suddenly said, "I will be transferred back to Backlund."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment: "Why so sudden?"

He did remember that Amyrius had been transferred back to Backlund, and that not long after returning, he began to take charge of the Ministry of Defense, but he did not expect it to be so sudden.

Amyrius smiled, a rare gesture, and said, "It's not unexpected."

He had anticipated this after his brother, the Governor, was suddenly dismissed from his post. Admiral Amyrius had called Odysseus over this time for another matter: "Are you interested in going to Backlund with me?"

He wanted to train Odysseus to be his own direct descendant.

Odysseus pretended to think it over carefully and declined the invitation.

Then he sighed in his heart: He suddenly felt like "the song is over and everyone is leaving".

The two of them continued talking for over an hour, and it was clear that Admiral Amyrius really wanted Odysseus to go to Backlund with him.

But Odysseus's focus in recent times has been on developing in Lunburg.

Leaving Admiral Amyrius's residence, Tim was already waiting outside: "I've heard that the Admiral has been transferred to Backlund."

Odysseus hummed and said, "Has your mission changed?"

"Not really," Tim said with a smile. "The Admiral has already greeted the new Admiral. My mission and strategy against the Sword of Dawn pirate group will continue."

Then he asked Odysseus, "Do you want to visit the new admiral?"

"No need." Odysseus smiled.

It won't be long before the new admiral sends someone to visit him.

After a brief chat, they each used "travel" to return to Cruz Island.

Odysseus went to the construction site and met Groselle and five other "people in the book". He explained to them his request for their help in times of danger.

Some time ago, they had cut down too many trees and made too many wooden boards, which they could not use up all at once, so now they came to the construction site on Lighthouse Hill to help.

Groselle and the others naturally agreed to Odysseus's request.

Groselle and the others happened to be resting, so Odysseus started chatting with them.

He first asked Snowman: "What role did the Moss Trappist Order play in your time?"

"That is the only organization recognized by the 'Almighty Lord,'" Snowman, the ascetic monk from the Third Age, replied, "but they do not preach or manage worldly affairs.

“They will use all their wealth to build libraries and devote all their efforts to spreading knowledge to everyone in the world. No matter if they are kings, missionaries or beggars, as long as they enter their libraries, they will have equal rights to learn knowledge.

“In addition, they not only practiced asceticism, but also focused on traveling.

“And the way I traveled was to drive a carriage full of books, visiting cities and villages one after another, explaining the knowledge and mysteries contained in the books to people.

"Teach the citizens the laws, teach the farmers about the growth patterns of crops, teach officials and merchants about morality, teach the priests how to have a devout faith in the gods, and teach the Beyonders how to resist the loss of control."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment. "Isn't this the same idea I gave to Rosalind, one of the ten pillars of the current "Moss Ascetic Order"? Great minds think alike!"

Then he felt that this kind of lifestyle was indeed very attractive. He could travel around and see different scenery, and he could also spread knowledge and do something noble.

At this time, Mobet from the Solomon Empire of the Fourth Epoch said, "In the era I lived in, there were also such mobile libraries.

"They have special passes issued by the Empire, and theoretically they can get corresponding assistance anywhere in the Empire.

"I heard that before the establishment of the Solomon Empire, there were people in the Southern Continent doing the same thing, but after the Balam Empire unified the Southern Continent, they actually drove them away."

Odysseus asked, "Why?"

"I heard that there's a conflict between the philosophies of the 'Underworld Emperor' and the 'Moss Ascetic Order.'" Mobet spread his hands, "I'm not sure about the details.

"However, when I was a child, I once heard my ancestors say that after the 'Great Cataclysm', human order almost collapsed. It was the members of the 'Moss Ascetic Order' and their mobile library that always maintained the bottom line of order.

“It is thanks to their efforts and appeals that human civilization has not experienced a significant setback.

"But it was a very chaotic time. It is said that many people died in the Moss Trappist Order."

Odysseus was stunned: "Didn't the 'Sage' protect the members of the 'Moss Ascetic Order'?"

"I don't know." Mobet said, "I've only heard of the name of the 'Sage' in legends, but I've never seen any miracles left by this god...

"Oh, the Fifth Epoch is somewhat different from the Fourth Epoch. In the Fourth Epoch, gods still walked on land, and we often encountered miracles left by gods."

At this time, Snowman, the ascetic monk from the Third Age, said, "In our era, the 'sages' would disappear for a period of time.

"According to some records, he would disappear for decades to hundreds of years at a time. Many people speculated that this was probably the 'sage's' penance.

"Oh, right, the Sage likes people to call him 'he', but we still call him 'him' unconsciously."

Mobet sighed, "What a gentle deity!"

Odysseus had a rough idea of what was going on: during the Third Age, the Sage's condition had been poor, often falling into deep sleep and battling against the divine. It seemed that as time went on, his sleep periods had become longer and longer.

By the Quaternary period, the situation may have been even worse and had become rare.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief: This god is truly unique.

At this time, Mobet said again: "If Siatas hadn't also known about the 'Sage', I would have doubted whether the 'Sage' was really as famous as the 'Ancient Sun God'."

Siatas glared at him, and when she saw the Fifth Epoch noble shrink his neck, she said, "The Sage often visits the elves, and the Elf King and Queen always greet him warmly.

“It was He who popularized the method of potion advancement among the elves, and preached the use of asceticism to combat madness and rage.

"The Elf King doesn't seem to agree with this, but he still welcomes the Sage to visit. In fact, one prince accepted the Sage's views and joined the Moss Ascetic Order."

Odysseus nodded. This matched the information he had previously obtained from "Vice Admiral Deep Sea".

"Not only elves." Xiata said without hiding anything: "The founders of the 'Moss Ascetic Order' are creatures who are willing to follow the 'Sage' and have read the 'Profane Slate'.

"They are willing to actively fight against the madness and distortion among the Extraordinary, but most of their members are humans. They hope to use this to control the Extraordinary and gain more rights for their own group."

Odysseus nodded slowly: At that time, this was also an organization that tended to protect humans.

Then he pulled out the "Staff of Gus" from the leather bag hanging at his waist and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

Siatas glanced at Odysseus and said, "This is the 'Staff of Gus'!"

She recognized Odysseus the first time she saw him, and even thought that he had stolen it from somewhere, because only important figures of the "Moss Ascetic Order" were qualified to hold such a staff.

At this time, Odysseus asked, and Siatas said: "At your level, it seems that you are not yet able to master such a weapon. Where did you get it?"

Odysseus explained: "You may not know, but something happened to the 'Moss Ascetic Order', and most of the 'Gus Staffs' were lost."

Siatas was visibly stunned. "Will the Ten Pillars lose the Staff of Guth?"

"It is said that it was lost in the battle with the Outer Gods," Odysseus said. "The one in my hand was given to me by one of the Ten Pillars in the Fourth Epoch."

Siatas sighed, "Yes, fighting against the Outer Gods is too dangerous."

Mobet, standing by, was a little surprised: "Did the Moss Ascetic Order ever fight against the Outer Gods?"

Odysseus explained: “As far as I know, during the Second and Fourth Ages, the power of the Outer Gods infiltrated the real world.

"However, in the Third and Fifth Ages, the infiltration of the Outer Gods was not that serious."

Mo Beite nodded and said, "This reminds me that in our education, we were indeed taught how to guard against believers of foreign gods.

"And Snowman and Longzel clearly don't have this knowledge."

Snowman nodded slowly, indicating that Mobet was right.

Odysseus then asked, "I heard that these staffs were made by the elves?"

"That's right." Siatas said, "It's the work of a high-ranking elf. During the production process, the 'Elf King' once sent me to inquire about the progress.

"I almost ran into the scene where the flesh and blood of the Outer Gods were being processed. If it weren't for the protection of that high-level elf, I would have lost control on the spot."

She paused and continued, "This is a very advanced weapon. Those below the level of Demigod may not be able to fully utilize its 'one hundredth' effect."

Odysseus was stunned for a moment, but soon realized that the other party meant "one percent", but in ancient times it was obviously not described using the percentage system.

He sighed, "This is really good stuff."

This made him determined to recover as many "Gus Staffs" as possible whenever he had the time or opportunity.

Then Odysseus asked: "Why was it handed over to the elves to make it?"

"I've heard from Mobet and Longzel about your impressions of the elves." Siatas explained, "The majority of the elves are indeed Beyonders of the Sailor Path.

"But we also have Beyonders from the 'Reader' and 'Educator' pathways, especially the High Elf from the 'Educator' pathway, who were both relatively unique at the time.

"Even when the Moss Ascetic Order was first established, there were no extraordinary individuals with this path."

Odysseus thought about it and found that his impression of the elves was indeed somewhat contradictory. While they were violent, they seemed to be holding very sophisticated weapons.

"It is said that the Sage can also craft very sophisticated weapons." Siatas said, "But I don't know why He would entrust this task to us."

Odysseus said "Oh", realizing that this might involve some high-level transactions.

If you have the chance, you should learn about this kind of problem. If you don’t have the chance, it doesn’t matter if you don’t learn about it.

After chatting here, Odysseus spoke with Longzel Edward alone again. Seeing that the other party was ready to go to Backlund to find his relatives, he used "Travel" to take Longzel to Backlund and handed him over to Xio.

After meeting, Xio and Fors looked Longzel up and down, as if asking with their eyes: Is this the soldier who has been missing for over a hundred years?

After briefly introducing them to each other, Odysseus warned Longzel, "Be careful, and try not to be targeted by the official Beyonders."

Longzel nodded: "Okay."

At this time, he was somewhat excited and a little confused. He might suddenly not know how to face the descendants of his family.

Afterwards, Odysseus used "travel" to return to Azshara, the room that Bernadette had prepared for him, and then smiled helplessly: I felt as if I had traveled around the world this afternoon.

Around six o'clock in the afternoon, Odysseus went to the kitchen to make lamb chops.

Just like in Backlund, Odysseus was busy in the kitchen while Bernadette chatted with him, which made the chefs and kitchen helpers feel a little overwhelmed.

The main course of this meal was prepared by Odysseus, while the side dishes were still prepared by the chef.

After making the grilled lamb chops, Odysseus and Bernadette went to the restaurant for dinner first.

The maid had already poured the aperitif. Odysseus sat down and took a sip before saying, "Now that we're in the West, we may not have such good conditions for a long time."

Bernadette smiled and said, "Do you think I have high expectations for life?"

Odysseus glanced at the gold cutlery on the table and said unwillingly, "No!"

"Lying makes your nose grow longer!"

Odysseus couldn't help but touch his nose and smiled, "I'm just afraid that the conditions in the west will be too harsh."

Bernadette said, "I have a 'little dining table'. If you don't have food, you can come to me."

Odysseus thought back to the mysterious Queen's magical "little dining table" that provided unlimited food. He cut a lamb chop with his knife, tasted it, and said, "I'll try to make sure you have a good meal."

"You don't understand me?"

"You mean what you mean." Odysseus smiled. "It is an honor to travel with the 'Queen'. Of course, I will try my best to ensure that your quality of life does not decline too much."

Bernadette smiled and said, "You should follow Amyrius to Backlund. With your conversational skills, you might even become a general in the future."

Odysseus also laughed: "If you give me a king, I might consider it."

"Ha! If you brag, your nose will get longer too."

The atmosphere at the table became more harmonious.

After dinner, Odysseus returned to his room, took a short rest, and used "meditation" to enter the "wilderness of knowledge".

He has been preparing to write his new book in recent days. Two "intelligent puppets" are responsible for organizing information for him. Odysseus just needs to integrate these materials and start writing.

Odysseus plans to name the new book "Book of Astrology", which mainly consists of three parts. The first part is how to interpret astrology, which is divided into active interpretation and passive interpretation.

The so-called "active interpretation" refers to the use of "astrology".

"Passive interpretation" is to quickly interpret the revelations of the stars after suddenly seeing them in the sky.

The difference between the two is that "astrology" is an active divination, interpreting the stars in the night sky, and the results obtained tend to be revelatory.

(End of this chapter)