Night at Igwynt, Gemstone Theater.
After the charity show ended, attendees had dispersed, and the venue quickly closed for the night. Inside, aside from a few staff members cleaning up, there was no one else left.
Not far from the theater, Dorothy’s carriage was parked by the roadside. Sitting inside, she used her small corpse marionette to carefully observe the happenings within the theater.
There was no doubt that Bill was the key figure behind this theater, another base for the Eucharist. After failing to track down Field, Dorothy had returned to the theater, hoping to uncover more useful information.
Her small corpse marionette scoured the theater, but no significant discoveries were made. Bill seemed to be absent, and the remaining staff appeared unremarkable.
Just as Dorothy was about to recall her marionette and retreat, her gaze fell upon the broad, empty stage in the auditorium. Looking at it, she couldn’t help but have some thoughts.
“The song those children sang, ‘Song of the Lamb,’ is a mystical knowledge. Although it was diluted several times through adaptation to minimize its poison for ordinary people, it still isn’t completely harmless. Besides ordinary attendees, there were other Beyonders present, especially the Lantern Beyonders. Even if the poison is faint, they should’ve noticed something unusual. If none of them reacted…”
As these thoughts ran through her mind, Dorothy began directing her small corpse marionette toward the stage. Eventually, using a gecko-shaped marionette, she managed to climb beneath the stage. What she discovered there was unsurprising.
Underneath the stage, invisible to ordinary eyes, was a large, complex magic circle inscribed on the underside of the floorboards. Dorothy couldn’t understand most of the intricate patterns, but the spiritual symbols revealed its meaning.
At the center of this hidden magic circle was a gold coin engraved with an equilateral triangle emblem—symbolizing Stone. Thus, this was a magic circle imbued with the power of Stone.Upon seeing this, Dorothy understood immediately. Stone and Chalice are opposites, capable of neutralizing or suppressing each other. Therefore, the poison from the Chalice mystical knowledge was further suppressed by this Stone magic circle, rendering the poison so faint that even Lantern Beyonders couldn’t detect it.
Dorothy had seen such a method of suppression before. Aldrich had used peculiar glasses, incense, and a Stone magic circle to neutralize the poison of the fragment of ‘Art of Sacred Anatomy’ she had given him.
“Ah, so there really was more to this. This might come in handy tomorrow when I report it.”
“I don’t know Field’s motivations for setting this up, but since he did, he must bear the risks.”
As she gazed at the magic circle beneath the stage, Dorothy withdrew her marionettes and began strategizing for tomorrow.
“Sigh… Dealing with Black-rank is still too much for me alone. I’ll need a partner…” Resting her chin in her hand, Dorothy thought, eventually recalling the nun she had met earlier that day.
“It seems like she’s the only one I can turn to for help right now…”
Closing her eyes, Dorothy began pretending to pray as she whispered in her heart.
“Great Akasha… I’ve encountered difficulties in my investigation. I wish to once again seek the aid of a companion. I request direct communication with the nun I met earlier, in the form of a book-letter.”
After her prayer, Dorothy sent her request through the information channel.
…
Inside Igwynt’s Radiance Church.
In her room, just as she was preparing for her usual evening prayer, Vania heard a familiar female voice echoing in her mind, leaving her momentarily at a loss.
“It’s her again. Is this the girl I met in the washroom? What does she want to discuss this time? And in the form of a book-letter…? Book-letter means…?”
Hearing the voice, Vania instinctively untied the holy bible she carried at her waist, placed it on her desk, and flipped through it. On a blank page, she found a new, hastily scrawled message.
“Hello, Sister.”
“Is this from that girl? So, this book can connect with Them and even serve as a tool for communication among Their followers… Wait, no! I’m not Their follower. I’m a nun of the Holy Mother, merely someone who happened to receive Their grace!”
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Vania picked up a pen and replied in the book.
“Hello, is there anything you need help with?”
The words slowly disappeared, and new text appeared.
“You’re a Lantern Beyonder, correct? Do you have the ability to perform long-distance tracking?”
Dorothy’s question came through. She had deduced from the nun’s affiliation with the Radiance Church and her participation in the charity show that she wasn’t of low status. Moreover, the Laurent swordsmanship she had exchanged for required the use of Lantern abilities for many techniques. Dorothy guessed the nun was a Lantern Beyonder, though not of a high rank.
Vania frowned slightly at the question, then wrote back.
“I do, but I’m missing some materials. May I ask… what do you need this ability for?”
The response disappeared, and after a moment, new text appeared.
“Salvation.”
…
Time passed quickly, and the moon sank as the sun rose.
At Dawn, Southern Sunflower Street Apartments.
Gregory sat on the sofa, legs crossed, eating a sausage while flipping through the newspaper he had just retrieved from the door. The headlines prominently covered the success of last night’s charity show.
The door opened, and Dorothy, dressed in a white casual dress, entered the living room. She saw Gregor leaning in close to the newspaper, seemingly searching for something. Curiously, she asked, “Good morning, Gregor. What are you looking at so closely?”
“Good morning, Dorothy. I’m reading about yesterday’s charity show, seeing if any of the photos accidentally caught a glimpse of my sister.”
Turning his head, Gregor smiled. Dorothy had told him she attended the charity show, and Gregor had felt proud, thinking his younger sister was impressive for receiving an invitation to such an upper-class gathering on her own.
So, first thing in the morning, he scoured the photos in the paper to see if he could spot her.
“Give it up. These cameras are so blurry. How could they capture me sitting in the audience?” Dorothy shrugged, grabbing a glass of milk to drink.
“Haha, I’m just looking for fun. By the way, Dorothy, it’s not the weekend. Do you have thing to do today? Why are you up so early?” Gregor asked, to which Dorothy replied directly.
“I’m heading to the Charity Orphanage for a send-off. The child adopted by Viscount Field last night was one of my students when I volunteered as a teacher there.”
Hearing this, Gregor’s eyes lit up.
“The Viscount’s future adopted daughter was your student? That’s quite a connection! Dorothy, you’re really building your network here. You’ve been in Igwynt for such a short time but are already paving the way for your future. You’re so much better than your brother. My first year here, I was stuck in that damn factory…”
Gregor laughed. Dorothy rolled her eyes and responded.
“You should hurry up and finish breakfast. Don’t you have work today?”
“Yeah, yeah… Honestly, times are tough lately. Always working overtime… But today should be the last of it. After this, I can finally take a break.”
Sighing, Gregor finished his breakfast, put on his coat, and left for work after bidding Dorothy farewell.
By the window upstairs, Dorothy watched Gregor walking away down the street. Taking a bite of sausage, she murmured.
“Go on, go on… By the time you’re done with this, your new overtime project will probably have arrived.”