I Transmigrated Into A Goddess Body In Another World: But I'm a Man Chapter 59: The Activated Symbol

The next morning began with shouting, not exactly screaming...it was just the particular kind of shouting that happened whenever politicians discovered sothing they didn’t understand.

Mason knew the difference.

After months inside the palace, he had unfortunately beco an expert.

He was still halfway through breakfast when a servant hurried into the dining chamber.

"My Goddess."

Mason imdiately regretted making eye contact.

The servant bowed.

"The council has convened an ergency eting."

"Of course they have."

The young man blinked.

Mason sighed. "Let guess. Nobody knows what’s happening, everyone is blaming each other, and sohow I am expected to fix it."

The servant looked genuinely surprised.

"How did you know?"

"Experience."

Athlian laughed inside his mind.

Mason ignored her.

Mostly because she was enjoying this.

Draca arrived several minutes later.

The commander already looked tired.

That wasn’t encouraging.

"You’ve heard."

"I’ve heard enough."

They walked together toward the council chambers.

The palace atmosphere felt different today.

Not frightened...but alert like a hunting dog catching a scent.

Sothing had changed overnight.

Nobody knew exactly what. Yet everyone felt it.

By the ti they arrived, the eting had already begun.

Temple officials argued with ministers.

Coalition representatives argued with temple officials.

Archivists argued with everybody.

The usual.

Zereth stood near the center of the room.

Unlike everyone else, he wasn’t speaking.

He was observing.

That worried Mason considerably more.

When Zereth stopped talking, it usually ant he was learning sothing.

The immortal noticed their arrival.

"We found another connection."

Mason imdiately sat down. "Please tell it’s an actual connection this ti."

"Possibly."

That wasn’t reassuring. Nothing lately has been reassuring.

Several docunts were spread across the table.

Maps.

Sketches.

Archive copies.

One page displayed the symbol discovered beside the recovered Witness entry.

A simple design.

At least it looked simple.

Several interlocking circles surrounding a vertical line. And sohow important enough for soone to attempt theft.

Zereth tapped the drawing.

"This symbol appears elsewhere."

Mason leaned forward. "Where?"

"A restricted construction ledger."

The room beca quiet.

Construction records weren’t exciting.

Which ant they were usually ignored.

Exactly the sort of place soone would hide information.

The immortal unfolded another docunt.

"According to this record, the symbol was used by a group operating during the late First Temple period."

Several ministers exchanged confused looks.

One finally spoke.

"Who were they?"

Zereth’s expression darkened. "We don’t know."

Mason would have been disappointed by an actual answer at this point.

The universe clearly had standards.

Another archivist stepped forward.

"We found references to them under multiple nas."

"Such as?"

The elderly scholar hesitated.

"The Keepers."

Murmurs spread throughout the room.

"Archivists."

More whispers.

"The Rembered."

Silence followed.

That one carried weight.

Nobody knew why.

Yet the title felt significant.

Athlian stirred uneasily.

Mason felt the reaction imdiately.

’What?’

A pause followed.

Then:

’I think I’ve heard that before.’

His pulse quickened.

’Where?’

’I don’t know.’

The answer frustrated both of them.

More fragnts.

More uncertainty.

More half-mories.

The eting continued for another hour.

By the end, they had learned almost nothing useful. Which sohow felt like progress.

Eventually Draca escorted Mason from the chamber before another political debate could begin.

The commander clearly valued his sanity.

A quality Mason appreciated.

They walked through one of the quieter corridors.

For several minutes neither spoke.

The silence felt comfortable.

Then Draca broke it. "You didn’t sleep well."

Mason groaned. "Is it that obvious?"

"Very."

Wonderful.

His dignity continued abandoning him.

Draca’s expression softened slightly.

"You should rest more."

"There it is."

"What?"

"The lecture."

"I wasn’t lecturing."

"You absolutely were."

The commander actually smiled.

A rare sight lately.

For so reason, seeing it made Mason feel better, that realization annoyed him imdiately.

Athlian noticed.

Of course she did.

’You’re smiling too.’

"I’m not."

’You are.’

He ignored her.

The tactic remained ineffective.

A familiar voice interrupted before Athlian could continue.

"My Goddess."

Mason imdiately knew who it was.

Zereth approached with a folded docunt.

He looked as composed as ever.

Unfortunately, he also stood slightly too close again.

Mason noticed imdiately.

So did Athlian.

The difference was that they reacted very differently.

Zereth handed over the docunt.

Their fingers brushed briefly.

The contact lasted less than a second.

Yet the immortal’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

He noticed everything.

That was becoming a problem.

"You seem distracted."

"I’m surrounded by politicians."

"A fair point."

His amusent faded quickly.

"There’s sothing else."

Mason frowned.

"What?"

Zereth lowered his voice.

"The Tribunal envoy has requested access to the underground prison."

Draca stopped walking imdiately.

The temperature of the conversation changed.

"Denied."

The commander’s response ca instantly.

Zereth nodded. "I expected that."

"Then why ntion it?"

"Because she already knew sections existed."

Silence.

That wasn’t public knowledge.

That wasn’t information outsiders should possess.

Draca’s expression hardened.

"How?"

"We don’t know."

There it was again.

The answer haunts every conversation.

Mason hated it.

The immortal’s gaze shifted toward him.

For a mont, sothing unreadable crossed his expression.

Concern and curiosity.

Perhaps both.

Then it disappeared.

"I thought you should know."

Before Mason could respond, Zereth stepped away a little...thinking.

The rest of the afternoon passed beneath growing tension.

ssages moved through the palace constantly.

etings multiplied.

Rumors spread.

And beneath everything sat one unavoidable fact.

Soone was searching for the sa answers they were.

That evening, Mason finally escaped to his chambers.

For nearly thirty whole minutes, nobody interrupted him.

A new personal record.

Athlian remained unusually quiet.

The silence lasted so long that Mason eventually noticed.

"You’re thinking."

’I usually do.’

"You know what I an."

’I don’t like this symbol.’

Mason frowned.

"Because it’s familiar?"

’Because it feels connected.’

"To what?"

No answer ca imdiately.

When she finally spoke, her voice sounded distant.

’Almost every mory fragnt lately ends near it.’

That got his attention.

"What?"

’I don’t know if that’s a coincidence.’

Neither did he.

And that worried him.

Night eventually arrived.

Sleep followed.

Then ca another dream.

Mason stood inside a circular chamber.

Stone walls surrounded him.

Hundreds of symbols covered the floor.

The sa symbol.

Again and again.

Lanterns illuminated rows of desks.

Books.

Scrolls.

Records.

People moved between them.

Working.

Writing.

Preserving.

A voice echoed sowhere beyond sight.

"History survives because soone rembers."

Another voice answered.

"Then we beco the mory."

The dream shifted violently.

Darkness swallowed the chamber.

The desks vanished.

The books burned.

The voices scread.

Then everything disappeared.

Only one figure remained.

Standing alone...watching him.

Its face is hidden.

Its identity is impossible to see.

Yet one sentence reached him clearly.

"The last witness was never the last."

The dream shattered.

Mason woke instantly.

His heart hamred.

Moonlight filled the room.

Athlian was awake too.

Neither spoke...neither needed to.

Because they both felt it that sothing had changed.

Then a sharp knock echoed against the chamber door.

Draca entered monts later.

His expression alone erased any remaining exhaustion.

Sothing was wrong.

The commander held a sealed report.

"What happened?"

He handed it over.

Mason broke the seal.

Read the first line...then froze.

According to the report, guards investigating a sealed corridor beneath the damaged archives had discovered a hidden chamber.

Not empty this tii...rather occupied.

And whoever had been inside... Had vanished only minutes before they arrived.

Leaving behind a single object.

A book.

Marked with the exact sa symbol.