Mystery: From Celestial Venerable's Backup to Red Priest

After lunch, Evan returned to his bedroom, which was about 100 square meters, and went into the small study connected to the bedroom. He took down a map of the Kingdom of Rune from the wall and laid it on the large and exquisite desk made of precious red ebony. Then he found a compass and began to trace on the map.

Evan first located Backlund, and using its city center as the center, he adjusted the pencil on his compass and drew a circle that encompassed all the districts of Backlund.

Then, using the adjusted compass, they drew another circle of the same size with the center of Tingen as the center point, and finally, following the railway markings on the map, they found the location where the mail train had an accident.

Looking at the train accident site, which was far from the circle drawn with Tingen City as the center, Evan breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that the accident on the mail train was Adam's "intention".

The original text of Lord of Mysteries clearly states that the limit of 008's interference range is Backlund, the largest city on the northern continent, and even on both the northern and southern continents.

Evan was certain that during this time, Ince Zangwell was focused on Tingen, using 008's scriptwriting abilities to orchestrate a conspiracy behind the scenes to obtain Saint Selena's ashes. Therefore, 008's interference would not extend beyond the circle centered on Tingen that Evan had drawn.

The train accident site was far away from that circle, even closer to Backlund. Therefore, it can be confirmed that Adam was the one who made the move. Moreover, Adam's purpose was not to intercept Evan's letter requesting to go to Backlund, but rather to intercept the letter from the butler Buck that might lead Robert Horn to Tingen.

This conclusion brought Evan a long sigh of relief. Relatively speaking, he was now safer with Adam's script than with 008's script.

However, this also reflects Robert Horn's influence. He is a character who can influence the 008 script and, consequently, Adam's script. He is someone Adam has no choice but to stop in order to prevent him from causing trouble.

Sitting in the chair behind his desk, Evan kept recalling the information about Robert Horn that he had learned from the original owner's memories.

Robert Horn, 33, was almost a generation older than Evan. When he was 17 and Evan was 6, their parents died in a carriage accident, and Robert Horn was forced to support the whole family and take on the responsibility of caring for Evan.

When Robert Horn was 18, he was admitted to the most famous military academy in the Kingdom of Loen—Backlund Military Academy. However, he hesitated to enroll because he had Evan, who was still young and had lost his parents. Evan was not used to the change of environment.

Just then, the Earl of Arhova County came to him, offering to help him by letting Evan live in his house in Tingen, the house Evan is currently living in, and allowing Evan to receive the best education in Tingen. The Earl's reason for helping them was that he was willing to sponsor and help outstanding members of the Horn family.

Thus, Evan moved into Count Akhova’s mansion in Tingen and was taken care of by the Count’s butler and servants, while Robert Horn went to Backlund and enrolled in the Backlund Military Academy.

Robert Horn excelled at the military academy, leaving his classmates far behind. He graduated early with top honors after just two years and joined the First Cavalry Regiment of the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Rune.

He continued to perform exceptionally well in the military, and was promoted one after another, rising from lieutenant to colonel in just eight years.

His most famous feat was when Rune and Intis were fighting for a fertile colony in the southern continent. Facing an enemy force twice his size, he had his deputy take over command of the battle, while he himself led less than a hundred men, lying in ambush in a pre-scouted position.

After the battle began, at the critical moment when both sides had poured all their forces into a desperate struggle, he led his troops to suddenly raid the enemy's command post from a blind spot not far away, ending the battle in just ten minutes.

He then ordered the Rune flag to be raised above the enemy's command post and to be set on fire, which caused the morale of the Intis army to collapse and be wiped out. This, in turn, affected the entire battle between Rune and Intis and laid the foundation for Rune's final victory.

After this battle, Intis lost the most fertile land it had occupied since the reign of Roselle and the capital of the Byron Empire in the Fourth Age of the Southern Continent—Byron City. From then on, the crown of the Byron Empire officially fell to Rune.

After this battle, Robert Horn's name was ranked seventeenth on the list of meritorious officials in the Kingdom of Rune. He was awarded the rank of Major General and was the only meritorious official under the age of thirty among the top thirty on the list.

Just when everyone thought they were about to witness the rise of a new military star, Robert Horn unexpectedly retired from the military and instead chose to enter politics, becoming one of the members of the House of Commons representing Awawa County.

When he regained fame in Rue, it was last year that he betrayed his own party—the Conservative Party's bigwig, the Duke of Negan—and joined others in repealing the Grain Act.

The repeal of the Grain Act nearly split the entire Loen Conservative Party, bankrupted many nobles, and caused even more nobles to owe huge debts to bankers, shaking the foundation of the Loen noble class, whose main source of income was land revenue.

Even with Earl Hall's mediation, Duke Negan gained some benefits and ultimately swallowed the betrayal, refraining from further actions that would have plunged the Loen political arena into chaos.

However, his dissatisfaction with Robert Horn was also well-known. He threatened more than once to teach Robert Horn a lesson, and many resentful nobles echoed his sentiments.

Previously, Evan was preoccupied with dealing with the three forces of the "Spiritual Society," the Witch Cult, and the Aurora Society, so after inheriting the original owner's memories, he did not delve into the original owner's brother's experiences.

But after confirming that Robert Horn was an Extraordinary, and that he had the ability to interfere with Adam and the 008 script, and even to make Adam personally stop his arrival, Evan re-examined Robert Horn's past and felt that there were suspicious points everywhere.

First of all, it was strange that Count Ahova would take the initiative to offer help.

Earl of Ahova – The Horn family has a long history, almost intertwined with the Kingdom of Loen, often intermarrying with the Augustan royal family, and its fiefdom is located in Ahova County, exerting a profound influence on Ahova County, with countless branches and lineages.

The blood ties between the Evan family and the current Earl are not very distant, but not close either; they have not been in contact for at least three generations. In the words of their previous life, "they are only five generations apart and are not very familiar with each other."

Moreover, the mysterious world is not like Evan's previous life on Earth, where the relationships between people are not close. Why would Count Ahova need to act as a confidant patriarch and rush to do favors for Robert Horn?

Although Robert Horn later achieved great success and was declared the future Earl of Akhova after the loss of two heirs, everyone praised the Earl's foresight, but the Earl's investment behavior at the time seemed too aggressive and too eager.

Previously, the original owner of this body did not feel that anything was wrong. He only thought that the count had a discerning eye and had seen his brother's extraordinary talent early on, so he did not think much of it.

But Evan, who possesses memories of Lord of Mysteries and knows of the existence of Extraordinary Beings, doesn't think so.

The underlying rule of any world is violence; whoever has the bigger fist calls the shots. If someone doesn't have the bigger fist, it just means their fist isn't big enough. In this world, that means who is extraordinary and who has a brighter future.

Earl Ahova has a long lineage and is likely one of the few nobles in the Kingdom of Rune who received a potion recipe from the royal family in a distant era. Therefore, Earl Ahova's criteria for choosing a successor must also be extraordinary. Thus, Evan speculates that when Earl Ahova found Robert, Robert must have already become an extraordinary being.

Further reasoning, Evan believed that the vast Horn family would certainly not lack extraordinary individuals, even if their rank might not be very high.

But why did Count Ahova choose Robert Horn, who was probably only a Sequence 9 at the time?

Evan stroked the yellow sapphire ring on his left hand—'Golden Gaze'—his mind flashing through all the possibilities he could think of, including Robert Horn's deeds after joining the army, and his almost two promotions a year. Finally, he determined the most likely answer—'The Act of Role Play'.

Robert Horn may truly be a genius on the extraordinary path, having grasped the secrets of the "playing method" at a very young age. He was eventually discovered by Count Ahova, who may have known the inside story, and after years of testing, Robert Horn was chosen as his successor to the title.

Moreover, the military is generally a self-contained system with very strict promotion requirements and a high regard for seniority. However, Robert Horn was able to break the rules time and again. If it was only due to the influence of Count Akhova, Evan believed that it was probably not enough. There must have been the push from the Augustan royal family.

Because of the system of titles and military ranks, it is almost certain that Evan is a member of the Augustan royal family who possesses the "arbitrator" pathway, and that this is a means of controlling the entire kingdom.

When you accept a title and military rank bestowed by the royal family, it is an act of loyalty to the royal family, an acceptance of the order created by the royal family, and a symbol of your willingness to be bound by it.

The only reason the royal family would go to such lengths to grant Robert Horn such a VIP treatment in his military promotion is that he is a skilled actor and has a significant influence on the royal family. Evan couldn't think of any other explanation.

Considering that Robert Horn's biggest achievement after leaving the military for politics was repealing the Grain Act, which made him almost irreconcilably opposed to his own Conservative Party leader, Duke Negan, and coupled with the unusual actions of King George III of the Kingdom of Loen recorded in Lord of Mysteries, Evan suspects that his brother is George III's front manipulator in stirring up the entire political arena, and a key link in George III's entire conspiracy.

Then consider the Duke of Negan, who was assassinated twice by the Twilight Hermits led by Adam for going against the tide of the times, and Robert Horn, who had sharp political views against the Duke of Negan and wanted to seize control of the Conservative Party.

Evan looked at him strangely, muttering to himself in disbelief:

"Could it be that Adam is reluctant to involve Robert Horn in Tingen because he's too in line with the times and has exceptional abilities, thus preventing him from entering the 008 script?"