Sitting in her room, Dorothy flipped through a few pages of mystical knowledge extracted from “The Gospel of Radiance” and began to read. With her speed-reading ability as a Cognizer, it took less than a minute for her to finish the pages.
“There’s really not much…” Dorothy muttered, looking at the pages in her hands.
“It seems like that guy is afraid I’ll read too much at once and go mad from the cognitive poison.”
Truthfully, she was a little dissatisfied with the small amount of content from this mysticism pages. But upon reflection, it made sense. The Crimson Eucharist wanted controllable puppets, not lunatic girls. Giving an ordinary thirteen-year-old the entirety of a mystic book in one go would have been unthinkable.
The knowledge Dorothy had just read was titled “The Taste of Crimson.” It described the story of an ordinary person who, after accidentally coming into contact with knowledge of the ‘Chalice,’ became increasingly obsessed with its spirituality, spiraling deeper into depravity. The author was unknown, and the book took the form of a novel.
Unfortunately, with the limited pages given by Clifford, Dorothy could only read the beginning. Just as the atmosphere was building, the story abruptly ended. The spirituality she gained amounted to roughly one point in ‘Chalice,’ while her progress in ‘Revelation’ was so negligible it didn’t even register—a complete lack of even a single point.
“ Sigh… it seems that guy wants to take things slow. Every time I return a book and borrow another, he’ll probably give me just a bit more. If I want to finish this, I’ll need to make multiple trips. ”
Dorothy mused, her thoughts beginning to take shape.
“ If that’s the case, I’ll have to interact with him often in the future. Gregor might not always be by my side, so I’ll need to be cautious during those encounters. ”
“ Moreover, as I continue reading the mystic books he gives me, I’ll need to feign being affected by the cognitive poison. That way, when the time comes, I can’t bring Gregor along anymore. Eventually, if he wants to speed things up, he’ll likely try to make me take some kind of drug. ”As Dorothy pondered, her plans became clearer.
“ Right now, in his eyes, I’ve only just started consuming the cognitive poison. His guard should be down. After borrowing books a few more times, even if I go alone, as long as I show signs of being influenced, he probably won’t use force against me. ”
“ If… if I can resist the effects of the drugs while pretending to drink willingly, he might fully believe I’m under his control. Then, not only would I infiltrate his inner circle, but I could also gather intel and possibly gain access to more mystic books. ”
“ The key is… how to resist the ‘Chalice’-related drugs. ”
She sighed as she touched her wallet, noting the recent bulge from her earnings, only to let out another helpless sigh.
It seemed it was time to visit Aldrich again.
Shaking her head, Dorothy put the book away, pulled out her school uniform from the wardrobe, and prepared herself.
…
The next day, at St. Amanda’s School in the western suburbs of Igwynt.
During the day, students were in their classrooms, attending lessons. Dorothy, however, ignored the sound of lectures and quickly walked through the school gardens.
Having taken leave excessively, Dorothy hadn’t attended a class in weeks. By now, her classmates had probably forgotten she even existed.
While Gregor paid for tuition, Dorothy paid for her absences. At this point, she was essentially a student in name only. Back in her previous life, this would’ve guaranteed a call to her parents, followed by disciplinary action involving both verbal and physical correction.
But in this era, teachers didn’t bother notifying parents. Schooling was a privilege, and whether students chose to take it seriously or not was their own problem. This indifference suited Dorothy perfectly. To Gregor, it still appeared as though his sister was diligently attending school every day.
Quickening her pace, Dorothy entered a small chapel from the garden and made her way to a crypt housing the remains of the school’s distinguished alumni. She triggered a hidden mechanism on an intricately carved sarcophagus, causing its heavy lid to open with a rumble, revealing a secret passage beneath.
Dorothy stepped into the passage and descended the staircase, entering the underground chamber of St. Amanda’s School. Upon arrival, she sneezed heavily from the dust wafting through the air.
“Achoo!”
“Oh, Miss Mayschoss! It’s rare for you to come looking for me. What’s the occasion?”
At the center of the underground chamber, Aldrich, dressed in janitor’s attire, was carving a stone knight. Seeing Dorothy at the entrance, he greeted her warmly. Dorothy, while wiping her nose with a handkerchief, couldn’t help but mentally comment.
“ You’re always carving stone down here. Aren’t you worried about getting lung disease? ”
Putting away her handkerchief, Dorothy looked directly at Aldrich and spoke.
“I’m here to follow up on our last discussion. Regarding methods to resist corruption, especially from the ‘Chalice’ cult. Do you have any advice?”
She got straight to the point, pulling out ten pounds from her wallet and placing it on a nearby table before Aldrich could respond.
“Haha, looks like you’ve had some success recently, Miss Mayschoss. That’s good news…”
Aldrich put down his tools and clapped his hands, continuing with a smile.
“Resisting corruption… As for the cognitive poison, there’s no secret—it’s just about following the process to mitigate its effects. I’m sure you’re already aware of this. But when it comes to drug-related corruption, there’s a method—using poison to counteract poison.”
“Using poison to counteract poison?” Dorothy’s expression showed a hint of doubt at his words.
“Yes. Although it’s not entirely accurate to call it that. A better term would be spiritual neutralization. Hmm… what I’m about to explain slightly exceeds the scope of your original question, so there’ll be an additional fee…”
Smack!
Before Aldrich could finish, Dorothy, expressionless, slapped another ten pounds onto the table. Aldrich chuckled and continued.
“Ah, straightforward as always. Well then, here’s the deal: You might not know this, but the six spiritualities have corresponding relationships. For example, ‘Lantern’ corresponds to ‘Shadow,’ ‘Chalice’ corresponds to ‘Stone,’ and ‘Revelation’ corresponds to ‘Silence.’”
“There’s an inherent antagonism between corresponding spiritualities. The most obvious example is the opposition between ‘Lantern’ and ‘Shadow,’ which fiercely counter each other in many domains. While the antagonism between ‘Chalice’ and ‘Stone’ isn’t as pronounced, it still exists.”
“In many cases, ‘Chalice’ and ‘Stone’ can neutralize each other. Drugs made with the spirituality of ‘Chalice’ induce addiction by amplifying intense desires rooted in biological instincts. Once exposed, people become hopelessly dependent on them.”
“On the other hand, ‘Stone,’ in its spiritual manifestation, represents stubbornness, restraint, conservatism, rigidity, and rejection. Thus, drugs crafted with the spirituality of ‘Stone’ can neutralize the effects of ‘Chalice’-based drugs.”