Chapter 926: The Herald’s ‘Inquiry’
’Sky god’s Trickery’.
Some of Zeus’s subordinates, especially those related to him by blood, could also use this transformation ability, and they were often dispatched to infiltrate other territories to gather information.
’Well, if Dad’s the only one who knows I’m in Olympus, then there wouldn’t be any issue of news leaking out.’
Arthur pushed aside all thoughts about Zeus’ information network with that single conclusion, then lifted his gaze to meet that of the woman who was just about to call out to him.
"Hello there."
She spoke with a small wave, the light tone of her voice clear like a bell.
Her short ginger hair framed a warm, charming face, and she looked at Arthur with very curious hazel eyes. The dress she wore was a knee-length black A-line dress paired with brown flat sandals, simple in design but fitting her perfectly.
Because of his Authorities of Space, Time, and Gravity, Arthur was always aware of movements around him, even through layers of concealment. If an existence ’occupied space’, ’experienced the flow of time’, or was ’affected by gravity’, Arthur’s passive Authorities alerted him to it.
That was what constituted his passive perception field, and if he applied magic power or cosmic energy, he could expand both the range and level of detail of what he detected within that field, even generating a 3D map of the target area inside his mind.
So even though he hadn’t been paying attention, the moment the woman began walking toward him, his senses registered it, which was why he turned to look at her at the right moment.
As for why she approached him, he didn’t know that for now.
"Hello. Can I help you?"
"Help? Yeah, I think you can," she replied, then gestured to herself as she continued with an introduction.
"I’m Lithy, and as for what I need your help for..."
Just as her words tapered off, the ambient music shifted to a waltz, and she blinked before gesturing toward the dance floor as she extended a hand.
"Can we talk about it on the floor?"
Arthur glanced toward the dance floor, then shrugged, setting his glass down and getting to his feet.
’I’ve got nothing better to do right now anyway.’
And just like that, the two of them headed toward the dance floor, blending into the crowd of couples as she spoke again.
"I didn’t get your name earlier."
"Arthur," he replied, casting a brief side glance at a cocktail someone at the bar was ordering before turning his attention back to her.
"Arthur, huh? Nice name. Mind if I ask what it is you do? A profession, I mean."
At her question, Arthur blinked, then quietly shook his head as he answered, "I dunno about that. Don’t really have one thing I can point to and call a profession."
"Is that so? Well, you’re not exactly unusual. Many don’t really have active professions," she said, then leaned in a little closer as she continued.
"But I do. I’m a Herald of the ’Memory Palace’, servants of the ’Memoria Dragon’ Frago, who’s responsible for Draco Sirus’ aspects of Time and Knowledge."
"Time and Knowledge?" Arthur asked, blinking in surprise. "That’s a combo I’ve never seen before."
"Haha. People from other universes usually say that the first time they hear it, so your reaction isn’t all that surprising, Mr Arthur."
Lithy spoke with a calm smile, and Arthur mirrored the expression, giving nothing away about the rise in suspicion her words had stirred in him.
Arthur couldn’t quite tell when she’d first approached him, but since they’d inevitably had to hold hands while dancing, he’d been able to glean a few things about the woman beside him.
For one, she was a High Tier Deity and also a Cosmic Superior.
"So, Miss Lithy. How exactly can I help you?"
He asked as they shifted slightly to the side to avoid colliding with another dancing couple, and in response, Lithy answered him.
"Well, you might be able to help me with my job."
"Your job?" Arthur asked, one eyebrow lifting slightly as Lithy nodded in reply.
"Indeed," she said. "The Memory Palace’s purpose is the preservation of memories. The Memoria Dragon believes that learning from past mistakes isn’t limited to individuals or organisations, but also applies to planets, galaxies, and the universe as a whole.
Because of that belief, he created the Memory Palace to keep records of events that occur across the universe, from major incidents, both positive and negative, to the appearances of powerful existences and similar matters."
"Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate. Should you really be out here dancing?"
Lithy chuckled softly at his question and nodded lightly as she replied, "Don’t worry about that, Mr Arthur. I’m doing my job right now."
As she said that, she drew closer, and her fingers brushed across his shoulder, faint blue sparkles of light shimmering beneath each fingertip.
"We go around extracting information from planets and similar places to record them, and we also keep track of especially dangerous individuals who tend to cause unwarranted damage."
Lithy spoke as she spun beneath Arthur’s raised hand, and as the tempo of the music picked up, she continued speaking.
"The most recent task on my list was keeping track of a rather arrogant dragon, a pirate who harvests the lives of entire planets for his own selfish goals, and who’s considered a fugitive across several galaxies."
When she said that, Arthur’s expression turned strange.
"He sounds like a serious problem, so why hasn’t he been dealt with already? Is it outside your jurisdiction?"
"There’s the issue of jurisdiction, and also the fact that he has ties to a particularly troublesome group," Lithy replied.
"He’s a member of the Palace of the End."
Hearing that, Arthur raised an eyebrow in question.
"Another palace?"
"Yes," Lithy replied with a chuckle. "Another Palace.
The organisations led by Draco Sirus’ Main Entities are called ’Palaces’. With the Memory Palace being led by the Memoria Dragon, it’s not difficult to figure out that the one who leads the ’Palace of the End’ is the ’Destruction Dragon’ Karianem."
The mention of the Destruction Dragon brought Raikis, the one that title was based on, to Arthur’s mind.
’Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him in quite a while. Where the hell is he?’
Arthur made a side note to ask the next Levite he came across about Raikis, purely out of curiosity, since he didn’t actually have anything specific he wanted to discuss with him.
"For this year’s Grand Festival, a lot more people were invited than before, including visitors from nearby universes, even Candidates for the currently open Seats among the Eternals."
Lithy’s words pulled Arthur from his thoughts, and he refocused on her as she continued.
"The Memory Palace handled the distribution of invitations, and among those invited was a certain pirate dragon from the Palace of the End, who also doubled as a Candidate for the Seat of Destruction, a status that contributed significantly to why he was allowed to go unpunished."
The song gradually built toward its peak, their dancing quickening, and just as the violin solo ended, Lithy, her fingers tapping Arthur’s shoulders, looked him straight in the eyes with her usual calm smile and spoke.
"But he, the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, Baruuk, is dead.
He and his small pirate gang won’t be attending this Grand Festival.
And yet, months after his death, a foreign Candidate of Destruction from another universe appears at the festival using the invitation that belonged to Baruuk—an invitation I personally delivered to him, with a tracker embedded inside.
I wonder," she continued as the song’s tempo began to slow and she leaned back slightly, "how did you get your hands on that invitation, Mr Arthur?"
As she spoke, her eyes glowed faintly, threads of cosmic energy swirling within them.
She stared directly into Arthur’s eyes, using them as a window into his soul, and activated her Unique Authority over the law of Knowledge.
