(1907, Unknown Season. Society Facility)
"Well, Golden King."
The voice that spoke to him was extremely difficult to hear, but it smoothly echoed around him.
This was a room of tranquil knowledge. Here, even an infant's whispers could reach another's ear. It was a dark, locked room made with only the small part of a great society that permits multiple conversations simultaneously as demonstrated by a saint from the Far East. Perhaps it could even be called an altar?
All knowledge that one speaks is transmitted to the great abyssal leader of the Society, Althotas Thoth Hermes.
There was a man's figure.
His name was Adam Weishaupt.
He was one of the Top Executives of the Society, a giant organization lurking in the shadows of Western Europe and the Northern Continent of Kadath. In this Society, it is one where it has manipulated all kinds of crimes and consists of many great scholars. He himself reigned as the last of the Three Wise Men, having been granted executive authority by the leader.
This man had an eerily pale face and was donned in dark blue clothes.
He had somewhat distinctive high cheekbones, and though he was tall and had a lean physique, the reason the viewer would notice he was in his prime was perhaps due to the deep shadows falling into the hollows of his cheek.
"After 40 years, you, Golden King, have come back to our Society. Truly, it is a joy. Naturally, we or I welcome you and you alone back to us."
"We thank you for your hard work, Weishaupt."
A man's voice could often be heard in the halls of knowledge.
This voice, different from Weishaupt's and difficult to hear while the latter was cooped up inside, echoed through the darkness casted by the dark pillar towering in the center of the hall of knowledge that served as a kind of alter. It was quiet, a voice which doesn't disturb the tranquility of knowledge, bringing comfort to those who hear it.
Some might even take it as being that of a noble sound.
Fittingly, the owner's voice was that of a "King".
A King of Gold who disappeared about 40 years ago. Furthermore, he was rumored to have been someone who reigned the darkness in the Middle East, let alone Europe, in a past when science was still alchemy. This man. Yes, their voice sounded like that of a man. But with its supernatural resonance, it sounded far more than a man that it was absurd to think of anything but that.
"Not at all, Lord Christian Brocken Rosenkreuz."
"You've served your master well for so long. Your loyalty is admirable."
"How delightful."
"Haha. Don't be foolish."
Despite his laughter being inorganic, Weishaupt simply replied calmly with little expression on his face.
"Compared to you and you alone, I am nothing."
"That's very honest of you. However, the organization needs people like you."
"I am aware of that."
"However..."
Without stepping out from the shadows--
Without even revealing himself to Weishaupt, his voice continues.
"It's a shame, really. You yourself is now the only one of the Three Wise Men left. One of the other Top Executives died in a distant desert while the other couldn't even live up to their master's expectations. Truly, this can only spoken of as a disgrace."
"Naturally."
Weishaupt nods cooly.
He wasn't bluffing.
He was truly unwavering.
True to the Golden King's words, they've lost the other Three Wise Men that were equal to him, lost two other Top Executives, and even the Highness Agent, who was granted the highest level of authority by the leader, left. They had even lost a pillar on the Aegean Sea they captured using the organization's best technology, and the same for the pawns they sent to Kadath. Naturally, it was a disgrace. But for Adam Weishaupt, he remained unfaltered.
For the West India Company, the Society, which seeks the most highest and radiant, even he was just one of many cogs and gears despite being a Top Executive. That what was lost had to be compensated. Particularly, the loss of two Top Executives was completely meaningless to Weishaupt. All that mattered for them was the "power" they held within, which can be replaced by any number of circuits.
The question was whether or it not it would affect the Core Plan.
The Zothique Plan. The Desert Steel City Plan. And even the Sharnoth Plan were nothing more than mere branches of the Society's Core Plan. True, the setbacks caused in each plan's will force some adjustments to the Core Plan, but that was it. The Core Plan will not stop. Even now, it still moves on.
The Core Plan--
"I'll make up for the disgrace with the outcomes after this, Golden King. Aside from you and you alone, I fear no one but my master."
"Hmm. Strange man. You would serve this Gold one?"
"By all means."
The pale, ghostly man nodded.
Although he could not shake off the foolishness of misjudging his capability, he acknowledged that the one in the darkness before him possessed an intellect far beyond that of his own. Delusion, Knowledge, Madness, all of that which were prescribed to the three Erudite Scholars and Majins, including himself, were all possessed by the Gold.
Thus, Weishaupt was defeated. Here and now, at this moment.
"You and only you are the leader of the Core Plan, Golden One."
"Then--"
The voice--
With some madness of gold in his voice.
With some delusions of gold in his voice.
With some knowledge of gold in his voice.
"In the name of our Master, let us vow to promote the Core Plan."
"Then this calls for a celebration," Weishaupt said in a high voice, "The Illuminati have already started operating autonomously in the German Empire. There won't be any more retrospections. It's time I make contact with Lord Haushofer."
The research on Tesla is nearly completion. Wagner will likely accept the invitation with a melody. The insatiable Mister Shiny will be gone to resume further experiments with Phenomena Equation Experiments. A time of celebration was announced, and then we must encounter him.
"Yo, Rosenkreuz!"
"Cease your laughter!"
"Okay then!"
"In the name of Gold, the Marseille Experiment shall resume."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
--We seek it.
--We desire it.
--For the sake of the great leader, for the sake of being closer to the great leader.
--We will create a Circuit.
--May the Great One, Thoth, radiate.
--May the Radiant One, Thoth, be blessed.
--We will create the Circuit.
--We will create the Ultimate.
--We will create the Eternity.
--We will sacrifice the sky, the sea, countless people, and history itself.
--More to come for that despicable fruit!
--The despicable Golden Eye of the Void!
--The radiant, despicable Tick Tock Man (Time Man)!
--Die!
--Die!
~ ~ ~
"This is so exciting, Donna! Exciting!"
"Honey, you're being impatient."
"Boo..."
"Welcome, Lady Angelica. As to you, Mister Howard."
A corner of the city area. A conversation took place in the giant hall of a mansion.
Donna Wagman, who was taking care of her mistress, Miss Charlotte Bronte, greeted the guests in her absence, who rang the doorbell with an air of panic and a quiet expression no different than usual.
She had spoken the same words smoothly that they've heard for the past two months.
"How are you today, Lady Angelica?"
"Yes. That's why it's so exciting!"
"Honey, you shouldn't put Miss Donna in trouble."
"But it's exciting!"
"I know. I understand it, but still..."
"Boo."
"Don't puff your cheeks out in public. I wouldn't mind it, but for you as a lady..."
"It's alright. Ehrm, Donna."
"Yes?"
"Ehrm...er....um...uh...Howard?"
"Let's get everything sorted out before we start talking, Angelica. Things need to be more organized and polite, not making everything a hindrance. But I understand how you feel. Actually, Miss Donna--"
"Yes?"
"I just so happened to have received a call from at Scholar Academy's Super-long-distance communication room from Kadath. It seems Miss Mary will be returning to London as early as next Monday."
"Oh, she's coming back? Mary!"
"This is..."
Donna's expression changed instantly.
She, whose expression rarely changed, never losing her composure even when her mistress fell into a coma with no signs of awakening, was visibly shifted when she heard Howard's words. Some people may see it that way, but the two guests clearly understood it well along with the feelings in her heart.
All that came to mind was a bright, gentle smile.
Next Monday.
And strangely enough, her mistress was--
"This is..."
"Yes."
"Yes, I'm sure you're happy about it as well, young lady."
"That's right!! That's what I want to tell Donna Charlie is coming back here from Kadath next week as well!"
"Yes. Quite a joyful coincidence."
"Indeed. Guess even God has been kind to me as well."
"Don't make jokes like that, Angelica."
"I was kidding?"
Donna nodded at the girl, Angelica, with a bright smile.
She couldn't help but think of her fate, which was nothing but a series of joyful coincidences.
She'll work as hard as she could with full joy.
Next Monday. By then, the mansion will be perfectly arranged.
--I'll put on my best smile.
--I'll use it to greet Charlotte and the others when they return.
(To be continued)
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