Chapter 73: Meeting Up

Chapter 73: Meeting Up

Inside the building housing the Loen Antiquities Collection and Preservation Foundation, Audrey, whose thoughts were surging, blinked. Paying careful attention to the minute changes in her expression and body language, she traced a half-genuine, half-affected crimson moon across her chest and sighed.

“This is truly a tragedy. May their spirits rest in peace.”

The reason she had guessed just now that the members of the archaeological team were part of the Psychology Alchemists was because she had once accepted a mission from that organization, helping them obtain from Associate Professor Michel a notebook dating back to the Twenty Years’ War. That notebook had belonged to Lindyra, a former knight of Hedrak village.

At that time, Audrey had asked Mr. Fool for help and, through “magic mirror divination,” confirmed the notebook’s origins. She had discovered that it had close ties to a village that worshiped dragons. Since she had known beforehand that a mind dragon capable of hiding inside the sea of collective subconscious existed there, and considering her Sequence and strength at the time, she had ultimately chosen to hand the notebook over to the Psychology Alchemists.

In other words, there was a high probability that the secret organization known as the Psychology Alchemists had located Hedrak village through that notebook and gone there in search of their target.

Another basis for Audrey’s judgment was the strange mental illness suffered by the archaeological team. It had spread like a plague, causing the people around them to go mad one after another.

In the field of reality, mental illnesses had a chance of being hereditary, but they almost never infected others. Yet in mysticism, in the world of spirits and consciousness, chaotic and mad minds could indeed infect targets through methods resembling spirit channeling, dream intrusion, or subconscious influence!

And hidden in Hedrak village was a mind dragon that no one knew how long had lived!

The Psychology Alchemists followed the notebook to Hedrak village and were cleverly contaminated one after another by that threatened mind dragon? Perhaps it accomplished this through the sea of collective subconscious… The extraordinary world really is dangerous. Such a “team,” several carefully selected Beyonders, ended their own lives so easily in such an absurd way…

As Audrey thought this, she felt fortunate that she had made a rational enough decision back then and had not willfully taken that knight’s notebook to Hedrak village to explore. Otherwise, her name would very likely have appeared on the list of those who lost control and went mad.

Thank you, Mr. Fool. Thank you, members of the Tarot Club. Thank you, Qilangos, who once disguised himself and infiltrated. Although I still do not have much practical experience in mysticism, I clearly understand that there are too many dangers hidden in this field, and that one must be sufficiently cautious and careful…

Audrey silently expressed her thanks.

At that moment, recalling how she had behaved when she had first joined the Tarot Club, she almost wanted to bury her face in a pillow and shout at herself inwardly:

“Audrey, how could you have been so naive and childish back then!

“It was only because you met Mr. Fool. If it had been some other secret existence, you would have become either a lunatic or a monster long ago!

“Mr. Fool truly is a good person! No, a very good orthodox deity!”

Beside her, Associate Professor Michel saw that Miss Audrey had remained silent for quite some time. Gravely, he nodded.

“Yes. It was a frightening tragedy.

“I only hope the government has already handled the matter properly, so that the contagious mental illness does not become a plague.”

Do not worry. Unless that mind dragon loses control and intends to challenge the three great Churches, that mental illness will not gain any more infected victims… Audrey silently replied.

In her view, official Beyonders should already have taken over the matter. After all, a contagious mental illness would naturally be handed over to them.

Therefore, the dragon coat of arms inside the glass display case had definitely been donated to the foundation only after they had confirmed there was no problem. The police department itself did not have the authority to make that decision!

While Audrey felt strong sympathy for the dead archaeological team members who were suspected Psychology Alchemists, as if she had personally experienced that tragedy, she was also extremely curious about whether that mind dragon remained in Hedrak and the surrounding villages.

If it hides its physical body in the sea of collective subconscious, it should be very difficult to discover and find… However, the three great Churches all possess long histories. In the Fourth Epoch, or even earlier, they must have crossed paths with mind dragons and may have corresponding records left behind… Moreover, the Psychology Alchemists control the Spectator pathway and have high-Sequence existences. Their understanding of the sea of collective subconscious should not be much worse than that mind dragon’s. After suffering such a disastrous failure due to insufficient intelligence during their first exploration, the next team they send will definitely be very powerful…

Mm. Although that mind dragon was stronger than the Psychology Alchemists expected, it surely will not remain in place and wait for others to find it. It should have already left…

Audrey made deductions based on the information she possessed.

She had no intention of going to Hedrak village to investigate the truth, because she had long known that her current strength was insufficient to deal with that mind dragon.

Her only plan was to bring up this matter at the Tarot Gathering next week and see whether the other members could provide sufficiently valuable knowledge. For instance, was it because the place had customs of dragon worship that the mind dragon could directly enter and live in the sea of collective subconscious? Or had the mind dragon lived there in the local sea of collective subconscious first, causing the surrounding villagers to sometimes dream of it and subconsciously receive its influence, thereby creating the custom of worshiping dragons?

…

Friday afternoon. Klein held the guest list for tomorrow night’s ball, whose invitations had been accepted, and carefully memorized what topics he should discuss with each guest.

“When meeting Councilman Macht, I should praise Backlund’s recent air quality. When making small talk with Professor Portland Moment, I can crack a few jokes related to the Royal Academy…”

As Klein memorized item after item, an illusory, layered prayer suddenly sounded by his ear.

A man… Judging from the time, most likely Mr. Hanged Man…

Thoughtfully, Klein set down the paper in his hand, gulped down a mouthful of black tea, rose, left the semi-open room with the large balcony, and returned to the washroom of the master bedroom.

He took four steps counterclockwise and arrived above the gray fog. He discovered that the one praying was indeed the Hanged Man.

This gentleman asked the great Fool to inform the World that he had already arrived in Bayam, the capital of the Rorsted Archipelago—the City of Generosity. After another two days, once he had replenished his supplies, he would be able to head to that primitive island.

He asked the World to prepare in advance so that they would not miss the chance to meet. He also indicated that if the other party had no good way of reaching that primitive island, he could arrange for the World to secretly board the Blue Avenger.

Board the Blue Avenger and bring a group of sailors from the Church of Storms near the primitive island? How long can the Sanguine anesthetic gas bought from Emlyn last? Would there be enough time to explore?

Klein thought briefly, manifested the World, Gehrman Sparrow, and had him pray piously:

“…There is no need for such trouble.

“You should be free to move around Bayam. Tonight at twelve, meet at the cemetery outside the city.

“Before then, replenish your supplies.”

…

Inside a hotel in Bayam.

Alger frowned slightly as he listened to the World, Gehrman Sparrow’s words.

Within the City of Generosity, he was indeed able to move about freely, because the sailors had all impatiently gone to places like the Red Theater and certainly would not return tonight. After they woke up in the daytime, they would inevitably go gamble a few rounds and indulge themselves fully, venting the repression and misery of drifting at sea for so long.

In other words, even if Alger disappeared for a night and a day, no one would discover it.

…The World means to make use of this gap? This is indeed better than using the Sanguine anesthetic gas. That method has already been used twice. Perhaps someone has grown suspicious and is waiting to verify it… But without a ship, how do we reach that primitive island? Ah, Leymano’s Travels? Miss Magician mentioned that the notebook contains the Beyonder ability Teleportation, but only one page. That certainly isn’t enough for a round trip…

Relying on his powerful associative ability, Alger vaguely guessed what the World, Gehrman Sparrow, planned to do. Yet he also believed it lacked the necessary conditions.

With this doubt in mind, he found a Resistance contact and replenished a batch of white-tin charms from the Storm domain.

When eleven o’clock arrived, Alger quietly left the hotel, followed the shadows along the streets, and made his way outside the city.

He did not worry that the sailors might return and discover his absence. After all, he also had physical needs. It was entirely possible that he had slept in the bed of some lady at the Red Theater and was reluctant to come back. And Bayam had many similar brothels, along with no small number of streetwalkers. Confirming that no one was at the Red Theater did not mean they could know something had happened to him.

Leaving Bayam, Alger walked along a narrow road inaccessible to carriages, heading toward the mountainside of the coastal range.

Suddenly, his gaze froze. He discovered a problem.

Beneath the crimson moonlight, a mountain peak that should have existed was gone!

Below its original location, stones were piled up, the grass and trees had vanished, and the terrain had changed almost completely.

This… Alger had come earlier through a secret harbor used by the Resistance and had had no chance to pay attention to the peaks here. Only now did he notice the abnormality.

The peak collapsed? It actually collapsed? Right. There were indeed newspapers saying that Bayam had suffered a shallow-source earthquake, with the power concentrated in the mountains outside the city… Also, the Church deacon said that Gehrman Sparrow nearly destroyed Bayam, and that a demigod had been involved in that incident… The timing of the two events was very close… Could it be—could this have been caused by Gehrman Sparrow? He triggered a demigod-level battle, successfully escaped, and casually killed Admiral of Blood?

Alger’s pupils widened. His pace slowed, then stopped.

He suddenly understood why the Church of Storms took Gehrman Sparrow so seriously, and why they had issued a bounty as high as fifty thousand pounds!

From the cemetery ahead, which had not suffered much damage, a cold wind blew out, flowing toward Alger through the silent night and making him tremble involuntarily.

Just then, Alger’s heart stirred. He turned sideways and looked behind him.

Within the shadows beneath a giant tree, a figure swiftly outlined itself.

This person pressed a hand to his hat and slowly raised his head, revealing a thin face, sharply defined features, and dark-brown eyes that contained no emotion whatsoever. It was none other than Gehrman Sparrow.