These past few days, Aiven had been lingering between Theosophy Order, Demoness Sect, and Aurora Order, cautiously dealing with the cunning Demoness, and actively organizing the knowledge of Lord of the Mysteries in his mind.
He constantly fantasized about receiving his brother's reply and quickly heading to Backlund, fantasized about how he would quickly advance his Sequence after entering the City of All, how he would obtain the subsequent magic potion formula from the two major Demoness organizations, and even thought about how to further obtain the subsequent materials. Yet, he never thought about doing anything regarding Ince Zangwill's plot for advancement, which was the beginning of all stories at the end of the Fifth Epoch.
Although Aiven did not know the subsequent plot due to the missing memories about Lord of the Mysteries, the known plot alone showed how important the events in Tingen were.
This involved whether Evernight Goddess could obtain the legacy of Death, a similar Pathway, whether 'Adam', the King of Angels of the Spectator Pathway and the son of the Creator of City of Silver, could obtain the last material for becoming a god, and it also involved the arrival and growth of the absolute protagonist, Klein.
The events in Tingen were intricate and complex, and Aiven was actually not very willing to meddle in them for benefits. Rashly entering the game could easily lead to utter disaster.
But what truly made Aiven feel horrified was that he had completely disregarded the idea of anything related to Tingen before, and he hadn't even noticed that when he re-read the content of Lord of the Mysteries in his mind, he had already muttered the name 'Adam' several times without any reservations. These things should have made Aiven vigilant, but Aiven himself hadn't produced the proper sense of alarm.
This couldn't help but make Aiven feel a chill down his spine, and he tried his best to recall if he had any abnormal actions in the past few days.
Aiven's silence also made the butler beside him notice. Looking at the frighteningly silent Aiven, Butler Buck suggested:
"Tingen Post Office has temporarily suspended its outgoing mail service, and it is expected to resume in at least a week. If you have anything important, I can have someone send an urgent telegram to Backlund."
In fact, when Aiven sent a letter to Backlund before, the butler also sent a letter to Backlund. In his letter, he described Aiven's recent situation in detail to Aiven's brother, expressing his concerns about Aiven.
In the letter, the butler enumerated Aiven's recent peculiarities, including but not limited to Aiven's obsession with communicating with shady occult enthusiasts, his growing enthusiasm for attending socialite banquets, his ambiguous behavior with socialites, and even a recent suicide attempt.
Although Aiven explained that he was writing a detective novel recently and was experimenting with hanging as a method of Death, which led to an accidental mishap, the butler did not believe this explanation at all. Instead, he believed that Aiven must have developed mental problems recently.
Old Butler Buck had looked after Aiven for ten years and had no children, so he had always treated Aiven as his own child, essentially serving as Aiven's guardian in Tingen.
Aiven's changes during this period could not be hidden from him, which made him feel deeply guilty, believing that he had not looked after Aiven well. At the same time, he also realized the seriousness of the matter and wrote to Aiven's brother, Robert Horn, hoping that he would come as soon as possible to deal with Aiven's affairs.
The butler's letter and Aiven's letter were sent at the same time, which also indicated that the butler's letter had not reached Backlund either, so he was also eager to inform Robert about Aiven's situation.
Aiven initially wanted to refuse, but on second thought, he nodded and instructed:
"I have already graduated from university, and it's time to find something to do. Send a telegram to brother and tell him that I want to go to Backlund in the City of All. He must agree!"
Butler Buck continued to refill Aiven's glass with a little juice and said:
"I'll send someone to the telegraph office in a moment."
Aiven, preoccupied, finished his breakfast as if chewing wax, declined the butler's offer to send a car, and left the luxurious villa alone with his cane, walking in Tingen City's Golden Banyan District.
Walking on the wide avenues of the Golden Banyan District, ignoring the tall carriages coming and going, Aiven continuously recalled the events in Tingen, pondering whether he had been drawn into 'Adam''s sight, or Evernight Goddess's sight.
Finally, Aiven confirmed through Klein's experiences in Lord of the Mysteries that his existence could absolutely not be hidden from Evernight Goddess and the King of Angels 'Adam'.
From Klein's revenge on Ince Zangwill in Lord of the Mysteries, it could be seen that Klein had never left the sight of these two powerful figures from beginning to end.
Through the limited information, Aiven could easily determine that Klein's golden finger was the ultimate goal of the three adjacent Pathways: Seer, Marauder, and Apprentice.
Even such a top-tier golden finger could not allow the protagonist, Klein, to escape the gaze of the two powerful figures. Aiven did not think he could be an exception.
At the same time, correspondingly, to be able to become a Beyonder of both the Assassin and Hunter Pathways without risk, Aiven felt that his own golden finger must also be a top-tier item corresponding to these two adjacent Pathways: Assassin and Hunter.
Since he had always been under the watchful eyes of the two powerful figures, then he probably had no secrets to speak of. Instead of being apprehensive, it was better to face it calmly, come what may.
Having figured this out, Aiven's mental exhaustion significantly decreased, and his taut nerves slowly relaxed. However, Aiven did not give up on contemplating the entire matter.
From Lord of the Mysteries, it could be seen that the two powerful figures generally would not easily interfere with Klein's affairs.
Even though Klein, due to the existence of the gray fog, repeatedly disrupted Ince Zangwill's third-rate script, which in essence disrupted 'Adam''s deeper script, the two powerful figures never further intervened in Klein's actions.
Of course, not directly interfering might also be because the commotion Klein caused did not substantially disrupt Ince Zangwill's acquisition of the ashes from Saint Selena Cathedral; at most, it only caused some delay.
Evernight Goddess's goal was the Death legacy behind Azik, and Adam's goal was his last material for becoming a god, the Sealed Artifact of Sequence 0—008.
At the same time, if Adam wanted 008 to come into his hands without risk, he would first have to give Azik and the Death legacy he controlled to Evernight Goddess. At the same time, 008 also had to be unaware that it was within the script Adam had fabricated, allowing 008 to come to him without any defenses, ultimately following Adam's script.
From Klein's final battle against Ince Zangwill, it could be seen that 008 was not entirely powerless against Adam.
Therefore, in the Tingen story, Adam could not act too obviously, lest 008 detect traces of Adam's intervention and thus perceive the danger.
Therefore... this gave Aiven the opportunity to verify his conjecture. At the same time, Aiven still had doubts about whether his letter being interfered with and not reaching Backlund was part of 008's script or Adam's script.
"If my letter was intercepted by Adam, then it means this letter of mine affected Adam's script for obtaining 008.
If my letter was intercepted by 008, then it means I, a character not originally in the Lord of the Mysteries, have officially entered 008's script. The letter I sent affected Ince Zangwill's plan and 008's script.
What was so special about that letter I wrote, wanting to go to Backlund, that it could affect the top-tier 'Spectator'? It was just an ordinary letter wanting to go to the capital!" Aiven was utterly puzzled.
If it affected Adam, and Adam intercepted Aiven's letter outside of Tingen, Aiven wouldn't care, because he was under Adam's gaze, and whatever he did was useless. It was better to lie flat, leave Tingen as soon as possible, run far away, and not hinder others' affairs. Adam would not delve deeper.
"But if I've fallen into 008's script, affecting 008's script and Ince Zangwill's plan, then my current situation could be very dangerous," Aiven thought, his eyes narrowing slightly, sparkling with a sharp glint.
From the book Lord of the Mysteries, it is known that whenever Klein, due to the existence of the gray fog, disrupted 008's script, 008 would erase what was previously written, making it abnormally conspicuous in the entire script. This was also why Ince Zangwill absolutely had to kill Klein in the end, but let Leonard Mitchell, who was unconscious beside him, go.
In Ince Zangwill's eyes, Klein was a mysterious and dangerous individual who could repeatedly break through 008's arrangements. As long as he was alive, he would certainly fill his plans with variables. Killing Klein could eliminate future troubles.
"So, in his writing, in his eyes, am I also a similar trouble?"
Therefore, for Aiven now, the top priority was to determine whether he had officially entered the sight of Ince Zangwill and 008, and what their attitude towards Aiven was.
Would Ince Zangwill, while continuing to implement his plan, conveniently arrange for official forces like the Nighthawks, Punishers, or Machinery Hivemind to eliminate what he considered unstable factors?
Aiven was deeply concerned about this, as many things about him could not withstand scrutiny. For example, his close association with Aurora Order members who had possessed the antigonus family notebook, and being a target for their development; for example, his close relationship with the Demoness, and his connection to two secret organizations closely related to the Demoness, and so on.
Putting himself in Ince Zangwill's shoes, Aiven asked himself if he would do the same if he were in the same position.
Thinking of this, Aiven's recently relaxed nerves tightened again, and he felt an inexplicable malice all around him, with his sense of insecurity sharply increasing.
Just as Aiven was walking with his head down, deep in thought, he suddenly heard singing from not far away.
Aiven looked up and found that he had unknowingly arrived at Saint Selena Cathedral in Tingen City North District, which belonged to the Church of the Night Goddess.
Listening to the choir's singing emanating from the cathedral, which brought peace to one's heart, Aiven's heart stirred. Then, with a slight smile, he held his cane and walked towards the cathedral.