Lord of the Mysteries

She looked at her parents who had a complicated expression and asked hesitantly, “Okay, what questions do you have?”

The female policeman with the rank of superintendent pointed at the door and said, “Let’s talk inside.”

She didn’t get Jasmine’s parents to leave. She only ordered the two police officers with her to guard by the door.

After closing the door, she pulled a crude round stool over and sat down without standing on ceremony, looking very relaxed.

This immediately made Jasmine and her parents less tense.

“You may call me Ma’am Grey.” The officer introduced herself and pointed at another chair and the bed. “Have a seat.”

When everyone in the room found their seats, she smiled at Jasmine and said, “I received a report saying that there were some incomprehensible things happening around you. For example, a male’s desire for committing sexual assault had far exceeded normal standards. This doesn’t mean that there are no bad people or criminals among them, but the ratio is too high, so high that it’s strange.”

At this point, she swept her gaze across Jasmine’s face.

“From what I know, you were seriously injured during the fire and was permanently disfigured. But now, I can’t tell any of that. What do you have to say about this?”

Jasmine’s heart tensed up again. She didn’t dare hide anything and said in a panic, “I went out tonight to the municipal square to attend the carnival. While I was passing by a particular street, I encountered a wandering magician who called himself Merlin Hermes. He said that he had invented a machine called ‘the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.’ All I had to do was insert a penny, softly state my wish, and turn the wrench, then my wish would be granted.

“He said that I was the first user, so I could experience it for free once. Th-then, I was restored to my original state, having all my injuries healed.

“Officer, that’s what happened. You must believe me.”

With that, she glanced at Mrs. Grey and her assistant before looking at her parents, trying to get their approval.

However, her parents clearly said:

“How is this possible?

“How can there be a machine that can automatically grant the wishes of others?

“How can there be something as good as granting a wish cost only a penny?

“Besides, the first user experienced it for free!”

Grey and her assistant didn’t show any obvious expressions, making Jasmine unsure if they believed her or not.

“Continue.” Seeing her pause, Grey nodded encouragingly.

Jasmine hurriedly mentioned how she returned home to get some coins before recounting in full how she wished for her parents to regain their health and how she wanted to become beautiful. Finally, she said, “I was indeed very beautiful. Even I couldn’t move my eyes away. This made me experience a lot of kindness, but later on, the surrounding men started to frighten me...

“In addition, Daddy and Mommy didn’t recognize me and chased me out of the house. I was scared, very scared. I returned to the machine and made a third wish. Yes, that Mr. Merlin Hermes said that the first wish was free, and wasn’t part of the three wishes. In short, I returned to my original appearance and met you.”

Upon hearing these words, Jasmine’s parents instantly thought of the beautiful “burglar” from before.

Then, they realized that their bodies were indeed much healthier than before. Their vision had recovered and their arms had sufficient strength. Everything seemed different.

They began to believe Jasmine’s description, but they felt even more terrified. It was as if they had encountered a demon, exactly the same as those stories in folklore.

Grey nodded gently.

“I’ve seen many matters that are beyond your imagination, but this is the first time I’ve heard of something like a Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

“Compared to a wishing lamp or wishing pool in folklore, this is too modern.”

After a pause, her expression turned serious.

“As an experienced law enforcer, I’ll give you three suggestions.

“First, don’t believe in such things again from now on. Under most circumstances, the easy granting of wishes brings about a huge disaster. There’s nothing wrong with describing it as the temptation of demons.”

Jasmine nodded heavily, indicating that she wouldn’t dare to do it again—that final experience still left her feeling afraid.

“Secondly, go to the cathedral as soon as possible and repent to the bishop. Get him to purify you.” Grey looked around and said, “Your entire family must go.”

Seeing that Jasmine and her parents were about to say that they already had this in mind, Grey turned to Jasmine.

“My department still lacks some staff. You can consider joining us. This way, I can monitor your situation at any time and deal with any abnormalities in time. As for the salary, trust me, it’s about the same as a civil servant.”

The salary is about the same as a civil servant’s... I can be protected... There’s something that nice? Jasmine asked in disbelief, “What department is it?”

Grey smiled and said, “I’ll give you an address. Come to my office tomorrow, and I’ll fill you in on the details.”

“...Alright.” Jasmine was in a state of panic and unease. She would grab a life-saving straw the moment it appeared.

...

A week later, Jasmine officially joined the Nighthawks in Limon City and became a civilian staff member.

“Captain, the telegraph device has broken down,” she said carefully as she knocked on Grey’s door.

Grey put down the documents in her hand and rubbed her temples.

“Report this to the police station and let them handle it.

“Seriously, I could’ve gotten the help of the Machinery Hivemind in the past. It was done in a quick and effective way. Now, sigh...”

By the time Jasmine left, Grey picked up the documents and began to read them carefully.

This was a piece of information that the Nighthawks had gathered regarding the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

After Jasmine, this happened more than once!

After flipping through the documents, Grey spread out a piece of paper, picked up a fountain pen, and began writing the official document for the Constant archbishop and the Holy Cathedral:

“There have been many supernatural incidents in the city in the past week. It involves a special machine called ‘the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.’ According to the intel, it was created by a wandering magician who calls himself Merlin Hermes, but we haven’t ruled out other possibilities. At least, I think that Merlin might be an illusion created by this machine, so as to lure people into making wishes...

“This machine is of a brass color embedded with opaque glass. Its surface has gears, bearings, rivets, metal pipes, and other components exposed on its surface. It seems to be a product of modern industrialization...

“Case 1: A young girl who was disfigured by a fire, had met the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine at the municipal square... Her first wish was to revert back to her original appearance, and it was granted normally... Her second wish was to restore her parents’ health, which was also granted normally... Her third wish was to become, extremely, extremely, extremely beautiful. Then, she no longer looked like herself, and she had an irresistible charm to the men around her...

“She claimed that she was the first user of Fully Automatic Wishing Machine, which allowed her to have one free wish. With that, she canceled her third wish...

“Case 2: A retired soldier who participated in the war to defend Limon was left with serious mental damage. He met the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine by the river... His first wish was to restore his mental state to a state before the war, and it was granted normally... His second wish was to become a little more handsome so as to reach the standards of the male models on magazine covers. He also had it granted normally... His third wish was to obtain 100,000 pounds and become a tycoon. Then, he caught the fancy of the owner of the Limon United Steel Company who wished to marry him—a lady with a wealth of nearly 200,000 pounds...

“This retired soldier didn’t wish to accept her with her having a weight of more than two hundred pounds and her shorter-than-average height. Furthermore, she’s a violent middle-aged woman. He prepared to leave Limon and head south. If there comes a day when he doesn’t want to work hard anymore, he can easily obtain the rights to a wealth of 100,000 pounds... In a sense, his wish was granted, but he’s unwilling to accept it...

“Case 3: ...

“Case 4: ...

“Case 5: A public school teacher met the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine near a Storm cathedral... Her first wish was to make herself look better, and not be ostracized by her students because of her looks or be spurned by her colleagues. This was granted normally... Her second wish was to obtain a better position, which was also granted. As her teaching standards were high enough and she was no longer restricted by her looks, she quickly became the most popular teacher among the students and began taking on the duties as vice principal...

“Her third wish was to have a husband with impeccable looks, family background, personality, and ability. Finally, she got a doll who could speak, move, and have a certain level of intelligence. It had living characteristics and looked rather handsome. It was carved by the best master and could have any personality one wanted. It was very capable in every aspect. Other than not being human, it really had no flaws...

“Case 6: ...

“...

“Summarizing these cases, we have obtained some preliminary guesses.

“The Fully Automatic Wishing Machine can appear anywhere in Limon. It’s extremely random, and there’s temporarily no discovered pattern for it...

“Most of the wishes that are made can be fulfilled normally. However, a small portion will be distorted, and the latter is basically concentrated on the third wish. Of course, it’s also possible that the person will let themselves loose by the time they make the third wish and thus, make excessive demands...

“The wishes it granted were mostly related to appearance, but it covered a wide scope. It was almost omnipotent...

“The frequency of its appearances is also irregular...

“This is a classic example of a mystical item that needs to be sealed. Furthermore, it clearly exceeds the grade of a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact. I hope the archbishop and high-ranking deacons will personally deal with it, or give an effective sealing method...”

...

On the steam locomotive out of Limon, Klein observed his digestion of the Miracle Invoker potion.