Mysterious: The Innate Sacred Body of Destiny

Chapter 380 Conversation with Benson

"Is this the wedding of the Church of the Night?"

"It's quite similar to the Western-style wedding I've always imagined—"

Lorne stood in the crowd, raised his camera, and snapped a few photos in the direction of the altar.

Melissa, standing to the side, gazed longingly at Dunn and Daly, who were embracing tightly not far away, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"That's so nice—" she murmured softly, a hint of envy in her voice.

Seeing such a happy and sacred scene, anyone would feel a longing in their heart.

"Meow~"

The orange tabby cat, Rachi, perched on her shoulder, seemed to sense the girl's subtle emotions and gently rubbed its fluffy head against her cheek.

"Hehe, it tickles." Melissa couldn't help but shrink her neck, a bright smile spreading across her face.

She turned around, wanting to share her joy with Lorne, only to find him also staring intently at the newlyweds, his eyes deep, lost in thought.

"Uh—" Noticing Melissa's gaze, Lorne snapped out of his reverie and explained, "What an enviable newlywed couple."

"They had a pretty good ending."

This sounded a bit abrupt, but Melissa nodded in agreement. A happy ending is always comforting.

"I suddenly have a question," Lorne said abruptly, breaking the silence.

"Oh? What's the problem?" Melissa asked curiously.

"If two people of different faiths were to get married, what would the wedding ceremony look like?"

"ah?"

Melissa was taken aback by the sudden question, then subconsciously touched her chin with her finger, lost in thought.

Although she had attended a few weddings, most were unions between believers of the goddess of night, and she wasn't very familiar with cross-faith situations. She could only try to analyze based on her existing knowledge: "Hmm—I think if that's the case—the normal process shouldn't change much. After all, the essence of a wedding is the union of two people."

"However, there will certainly be differences in religious rituals. For example, there may not be a step of swearing an oath before a specific deity, or asking the deity to witness and bless the person."

"Furthermore, the vows exchanged may change, no longer mentioning specific divine names, but instead emphasizing commitment and responsibility to each other—the exchange of rings and kissing should remain the same, but the subsequent blessing ceremony may no longer include a standardized prayer like 'Praise the Goddess.'"

After she finished speaking, she looked at Lorne with some uncertainty: "That's probably it—I'm just guessing. By the way, why did you suddenly think of asking such a question?"

"Um----"

Lorne glanced at the deep, serene black emblem of night hanging in the distance, then smiled and said casually, "Because—I am a follower of the 'God of Steam and Machinery.'"

"Steam and Machinery—"

Melissa was stunned for a moment, and then, two blushes instantly rose on her fair cheeks.

He is a follower of the god of steam and machinery—and I am a follower of the goddess of night—

For some reason, Melissa's cheeks suddenly felt hot as she thought of Lorne's question about "marriage between people of different faiths." She quickly lowered her head, pretending to be focused on petting the cat.

"Meow~"

"Melissa, so you've been here."

Just then, Benson Moretti walked over from a short distance away. He immediately spotted his sister, who was holding an orange cat and had rosy cheeks.

"Who is this?"

Then, he noticed the strange man in a well-tailored suit standing next to his sister.

As the older brother, he has a natural wariness of any strange man who appears near his sister.

"He—he's my friend," Melissa introduced him somewhat flusteredly.

"Hello, I'm Lorne Disenk." Lorne extended his hand, a polite smile on his face.

"Benson Moretti." Benson reached out and shook hands with him. He looked Lorne up and down. He was young, several years younger than himself, but his eyes were calm and his demeanor composed, unlike those impetuous young men.

"How did you two meet?" Benson asked curiously, still wary of his sister's familiar manner with the other person.

"Yes—yes—" Melissa hesitated. Her encounter with Lorne was indeed somewhat dramatic. She felt a little embarrassed to say it in front of her brother.

"Actually, it's like this." Seeing this, Lorne took the initiative to continue the conversation and briefly recounted the story of his chance encounter with Melissa on the street.

This includes how Rachi staged the accident and how he eventually helped Melissa call a horse-drawn carriage to take her to school.

"I see." Benson nodded after listening.

The other person's demeanor and speech were very polite, and they had even helped Melissa before; at least they didn't seem like a bad person. His wariness lessened slightly.

He also learned that Lorne was there because he had met Ms. Daly by chance during his last business trip to Tingen, and that's why he was invited to the wedding.

"You said—you came to Tingen for work?" Benson asked, somewhat surprised.

Lorne looks quite young, at least much younger than me. I didn't expect him to already be working, and the kind that involves traveling a lot for work.

"Thanks to a friend, I found this job not long after graduation—" Lorne explained naturally, then sighed, his tone carrying the helplessness and melancholy of a working-class person: "Business has been bad lately, and many of our company's projects have fallen through."

"Otherwise, I, as an engineer, wouldn't have made a special trip all the way from Backlund to here looking for opportunities."

"Yes—the economic situation has been really bad lately." Benson sighed, deeply agreeing. He himself was a victim; his company had gone bankrupt, and he had lost his job as a result.

"I heard that a serious financial crisis broke out in Backlund, affecting all walks of life, which led to the current situation," Benson said.

"That's true. During that period in Backlund, quite a few people jumped off buildings because of bankruptcy."

Lorne was certainly aware of the financial crisis. To be honest, for him, it was indeed an opportunity, allowing him to acquire many high-quality assets at low prices. But for others, it was a disaster.

Economic situation, social environment, employment pressure—these are always topics that men love to talk about when they meet. Lorne and Benson started chatting about the financial crisis, the differences in the job markets of Tingen and Backlund, and the prospects of various industries. The more they talked, the more enthusiastic they became, and they felt as if they had known each other for a long time. For a moment, they even left Melissa, who was holding her cat, aside.

Fortunately, Laki was very sensible and stayed quietly in Melissa's arms with her the whole time.

Through their conversation, Lorne learned that Benson seemed to be in a bad situation and was having a lot of trouble at work.

Although he outwardly said, "Work has been tough lately, and I'm thinking of seeing if I can switch jobs and change environments"—Lorne could tell that this was just a way for him to save face. In reality, he was very likely already unemployed.

In response, Lorne subtly suggested that he had some connections and resources in Backlund. He said he might be able to help Benson if he wanted to change jobs.

But Benson declined.

He first sincerely thanked Lorne for his kindness, and then said that he had already asked the "Tinggen City Employees Protection Association" for help and believed that he would find a new job soon without having to trouble Lorne.

Lorne didn't say much about it, but just looked at the brother and sister and silently made a note of the Tingen City Employment Security Association.

"Old man, are you really not going to leave him alone?"

Leonard hid in a dark corner of the church and talked to Palles.

While Old Neil and the captain were catching up, he secretly slipped away, his eyes fixed on Lorne's direction.

"That Lorne Disenke is really suspicious! Aren't you going to investigate him?"

"Aren't you rushing to catch the earliest steam train back to Backlund?" Pales's aged voice drifted over slowly.

"But—" Leonard recalled his experience of being scared away by the other party in Tingen and quickly came up with a reason: "Back then, didn't Klein also investigate him? Now he's chatting so enthusiastically with Klein's brother and sister."

"Perhaps—they're actually in cahoots?"

Upon hearing this, Pales was speechless.

"Use your brain and think about it. If they were really in cahoots, why did Klein Moretti bother investigating him in the first place? Investigating one's own people?"

"Uh—" Leonard choked.

"I didn't sense any malice from him towards you. He was probably just there to attend the wedding."

"But—this is too much of a coincidence." Leonard was still a little uneasy.

"Didn't your captain say that he met them through a chance encounter and fortune-telling session on the street?"

"Fate is fickle, and coincidence is simply part of how the world works. Perhaps—this is fate's arrangement," Pales sighed.

"If you're really worried, just give your captain a little reminder before you leave."

"These are extraordinary times; let's not create unnecessary trouble."

Backlund, 8 Williams Street.

-

The luxurious villa belonging to Lorne.

A masked figure, meticulously disguised, appeared silently outside the villa's wall.

During the day, Tracy had already sneaked into the offices of the Loggert Arms Factory and taken a look around.

Unfortunately, she didn't find any special clues. Apart from some ordinary business contracts, she couldn't even find a decent ledger.

Not to mention finding the whereabouts of Brando, whom she longed for.

It seems that everything important was taken with him by James Scott, or hidden somewhere else.

Therefore, she had to change her target and came to the other party's private villa to see if there were any clues there.