Chapter 37: Change

Chapter 37: Change

Hearing the captain’s instruction, Nina curled her lips, pointed out the window, and said, “Has Frank ever conducted an experiment that wasn’t strange?”

…For a moment, Cattleya found herself unable to refute that at all. She could only sigh and say, “If there are signs of danger, write to me immediately.”

As a Mysticologist, she now had her own messenger as well.

“All right.” Nina puffed out her chest. “Who asked me to be the most mature and reliable one aboard the Future?”

At this point, she asked with a touch of curiosity, “Captain, what are you going to Loen for? Did you accept some mission? Are you going behind enemy lines to cause sabotage?”

Nina had Feysac blood, while Cattleya counted as half Intisian. In the current war, they naturally had certain leanings. That was why Nina guessed that her captain might have established contact with Intis’s intelligence department.

“…You could say that.” Admiral of Stars Cattleya answered with a very tight mouth.

In a certain sense, Nina’s guess was not wrong. Cattleya truly had accepted a mission and was going to Loen’s capital, Backlund, to conduct sabotage. It was just that the target was not the official authorities, but cultists.

Besides, there is also the chance to see the Queen. She probably hasn’t left Backlund yet. At the earliest, she’ll only leave after the New Year… At that thought, Cattleya suddenly felt somewhat excited.

Ever since leaving the Dawn, she had not truly met the Queen of Mysteries again. They had only exchanged letters, or been on the same ship without any communication due to various reasons.

Nina did not dare press further. She pointed toward the door and asked, “Captain, is there anything else? If not, we’ll head out.”

Admiral of Stars Cattleya nodded, signaling that the Future’s boatswain could leave with her subordinates.

Just as Nina grasped the handle and gently turned it, Cattleya suddenly remembered something and hurriedly called out, “Nina.”

“Mm?” Nina, her blond hair tied into a high ponytail, turned back with an expression of “confusion.”

“Do not drink excessively!” Admiral of Stars Cattleya emphasized earnestly. “When I return to the ship, I will let you drink properly.”

Nina immediately revealed a charming smile.

“Deal!”

Cattleya thought for a moment, then added, “Aside from Frank, you also need to pay attention to Heath’s condition. Don’t let him become curious about unknown voices. Don’t let him grow too exhausted. Also, often drag Ottolov out of his room, control the frequency and number of times he comes into contact with mysticism knowledge, and…”

“I know, I know. Don’t I understand them well enough?” Nina waved her hand and agreed.

After the boatswain and her subordinates left the captain’s cabin and closed the door behind them, Cattleya turned her gaze out the window, looking toward Backlund, which still could not be seen from here.

Several minutes later, she drew a card from the tarot deck in her hand.

The card depicted an old man carrying a glass lantern, leaning on a cane, and groping forward alone.

The Hermit card.

…

Late at night, Backlund, Queens Borough, Earl Hall’s manor.

Audrey, wearing a white gauze nightgown, suddenly opened her eyes. She took a blue cloak, draped it over herself, and got out of bed. She walked to the full-length mirror in the room, and by the crimson moonlight filtering through the curtains, carefully examined herself.

Her emerald-green eyes seemed to shine on their own, limpid and clear, allowing every detail to be seen distinctly.

Audrey closed her eyes, then opened them again. All abnormalities had vanished.

The corners of her mouth slowly lifted. Shallow dimples appeared on her cheeks. Her brows and eyes curved faintly, her gaze turning lightly as she praised herself softly in her heart:

“Audrey, you have finally reached this step~!”

She had completely digested the Dreamwalker potion.

According to Audrey’s own grasp and predictions, she had believed she would only finish digesting the potion after February. Who would have thought that, during this period, she would encounter so many strange and completely different dreams one after another?

These included layered dreams, dreams caused by mental illness, lucid dreams, dreams influenced by evil spirits and vengeful souls, and the dreams of several demigods.

Under normal circumstances, as a Dreamwalker, Audrey could roughly judge what level of creature the dream she was about to enter belonged to, thereby avoiding danger. Yet those demigods had hidden themselves so well that Audrey only discovered something was wrong after entering their dreams, giving her quite a fright.

Fortunately, she had not been discovered in any of those instances. Instead, she accumulated experience, and through cautiously traveling, wandering, observing, and analyzing the dreams of demigods, she greatly digested her potion.

In addition, the other special dreams also gave her entirely different experiences. Afterward, she tried constructing layered dreams herself, tried hiding behind the scenes in dreams, cleverly guiding developments, interfering with the subconscious in reverse, treating the dream owner’s mental illness, or expelling the pollution brought by evil spirits and vengeful souls.

To a certain extent, this violated her self-imposed rule of only observing and recording without interfering, but strangely, it accelerated her potion’s digestion.

This allowed her to summarize a new rule:

“…If interference is truly necessary, then be a hidden planner, a hidden guide. Even when the objective has been achieved, let no one notice.”

Audrey had done this very well. Those few people with rather severe mental illnesses had unknowingly recovered after having five or six slightly strange dreams.

And it was perfectly normal for a dream to appear unusual and difficult to understand.

“To digest the Dreamwalker potion so quickly, luck was the main factor during this period. Without so many unique experiences, I would definitely have had to wait another month or two. Mm, perhaps I might even have been caught by a demigod and thrown into a Beyonder prison, or simply killed… When did my luck become this good? From the moment I sacrificed ice cream to the blessed—blessed?—of that angel from the Fate domain… Hmm…” Audrey looked at herself in the mirror, smiling lightly as she blinked.

She quickly withdrew her gaze, swept her eyes around the bedroom, and walked to the dressing table.

A deck of tarot cards lay there.

In the room of a young lady who liked mysticism, having a deck of tarot cards was quite normal.

Audrey extended her right hand, touched the top card with her fingertip, slowly inhaled, and silently said to herself:

“The battle in the Amanda Mountains is becoming more and more intense…

“One port in Midsea County has already fallen…

“The Hornacis mountain-range defensive line in Sivellaus County is said to be unable to hold until spring…

“If not for the maritime war maintaining a certain advantage, our connection with East Balam on the Southern Continent would definitely be severed…

“Alfred is still there…

“I wonder what this war will develop into.

“Fortunately, I will soon become a demigod. Mr. World has already given me the Manipulator potion formula and the main ingredient… The tears produced from seven different humans under intense emotions have also been collected through my dream experiences during this period…

“The Treefolk Mentor’s golden leaves have been traded from Little Sun. I am only missing the blood of an elderly mind dragon…

“Whew. I can try exchanging for it from the Psychology Alchemists. Before Hvin Rambis died, I had already become the head of a psychological discussion group… But would that expose that Hvin Rambis’s death was related to me?

“Or I could ask Mr. World to summon a portion of blood from an elderly mind dragon from history? That could last at least a quarter hour. As long as I succeed in advancing, rein in my spirituality, and complete self-suggestion, it disappearing afterward shouldn’t have any effect. After all, it is only a supplementary ingredient…

“Audrey, you have actually learned to cheat—and on something like this!”

After mocking herself, Audrey began thinking about what sort of occasion she should use to complete the Manipulator advancement ritual.

It required consuming the potion during a specific occasion with at least ten thousand people, amid a vast resonance of their emotions.

As her thoughts raced, Audrey formed a preliminary idea:

“The Goddess’s Winter Gifts Day?

“But even a large-scale Mass can’t accommodate ten thousand people… A church simply can’t fit that many…

“Mm, normally, it would be impossible, but this time there is a chance. I can donate a sum of money and propose an enormous outdoor Mass at places like Memorial Day Square, to soothe the souls who have passed away in the war.

“At the main square, invite the families, relatives, and friends of the dead and wounded. As long as they make up a certain proportion, the emotional resonance they produce can affect the other participants in the Mass, satisfying the ritual’s requirements…”

After calmly analyzing everything, Audrey suddenly lowered her head and looked toward the mirror on the dressing table. She saw that the faint smile on her beautiful face had long since vanished. What remained was surface calm, and grief flowing deep in her eyes.

She gazed at herself. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she said in a low voice:

“Audrey, you have also become despicable…”

She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Audrey had returned to normal.

She extended her hand toward the deck of tarot cards on the dressing table and flipped over the top card.

The card depicted a goddess of justice seated upon a stone chair, holding a sword in one hand and a scale in the other, watching everything with cold detachment.

…

Backlund, Hillston Borough, inside a house with a fireplace.

“Your Scribe potion is digested?” Xio had just changed into home clothes and returned to the living room when she heard this unbelievable news.

Forsi nodded with a haggard face.

“Mm.

“Do you know what kind of life I have been living lately?”

On one hand, she had been forced to “Travel” to six consecutive places, experiencing, appreciating, and recording day and night. On the other hand, from time to time she was pulled above the gray fog to Record all sorts of strange or high-level Beyonder powers.

Her original Lightning Storm and Historical Projection Summoning had been swapped out many times. Only today had they returned to that initial configuration.

“I don’t know…” Xio answered honestly.

“I know you don’t know.” Forsi took a deep breath. “What about you? How have you been recently?”

“Pretty good. I was assigned to the Extraordinary Affairs Tribunal, and I’ve gained some ideas for acting. My potion digestion has started accelerating,” Xio said with a soft “Mm.”

“It’s very hard for me to imagine you wearing a judge’s robe, sitting above everyone to preside over a trial.” Forsi sighed sincerely.

“Are you trying to say the defendants and lawyers might not be able to see me?” Xio helped her friend complete the sentence without minding it at all.

Forsi dryly laughed twice.

“I’ll rest a bit, then prepare the Traveler advancement ritual.”

“Doesn’t that require going into the depths of the spirit world? Do you have a way?” Xio asked in considerable confusion.

Forsi nodded.

“The one who told me to summon his messenger.”