Upon hearing the captain's instructions, Nina pouted and pointed out the window.
"Are any of Frank's experiments not strange?"
"..." Cattleya was momentarily at a loss for words. All she could do was sigh and say, "If there are any signs of danger, write to me immediately."
As a Mysticologist, she also had her own messenger.
"Alright." Nina puffed her chest out and said, "If there's anything to blame, it's solely because I'm the most mature and reliable person on the Future."
Having said that, she asked curiously, "Captain, what are you doing in Loen? What mission did you take on? Are you going to engage in some sabotage raids behind enemy lines?"
Nina was of Feysacian descent, and she was considered half-Intis. She naturally had some inclinations in the recent war; therefore, she guessed that her captain had established contact with Intis's intelligence department.
"...You could say that," Cattleya replied sternly.
In a sense, Nina's guess wasn't wrong. She had indeed taken on a mission and was dealing damage in Loen's capital, Backlund. However, her target wasn't an official faction, but a cultist.
Furthermore, there's still a chance to meet the Queen. She probably hasn't left Backlund yet, and the earliest she'll leave is probably after the new year... Upon thinking of this, Cattleya suddenly felt a little excited.
Ever since she left the Dawn, she hadn't really met Queen Mystic. She only had letters to communicate with her, or despite being on the same boat, they didn't communicate with one another for some reason.
Nina didn't dare to press further as she pointed to the door and said, "Captain, is there anything else? If not, we'll leave."
Cattleya nodded, indicating that this Future boatswain could leave with her subordinates.
Just as Nina held the handle and gently twisted it, Cattleya suddenly recalled something and hurriedly shouted, "Nina."
"Hmm?" Nina, whose blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail, turned around with a confused expression.
"Don't drink!" Cattleya emphasized seriously. "When I return to the ship, you'll be allowed to have your fill."
Nina immediately revealed a charming smile.
"Deal!"
Cattleya thought for a moment before exhorting,
"Apart from Frank, you have to take note of Heath's condition. Don't let him generate curiosity towards unknown voices, and don't let him be overly exhausted. Also, pull Ottolov out of his room frequently, and control the frequency and times he interacts with mysticism knowledge. Also..."
"I know, I know. Don't I know them all too well?" Nina waved her hand and agreed.
After the boatswain and her subordinates left the captain's cabin and closed the door behind them, Cattleya cast her gaze out the window to look at the currently invisible Backlund.
After a few minutes, she took out a tarot card from the deck in her hand.
It depicted a lonely old man with a glass lantern and a staff: The Hermit card.
...
Late at night, Backlund, Empress Borough, Earl Hall's house.
Audrey, who was wearing a white silk nightgown, suddenly opened her eyes. She took a blue cloak and draped it over her body.
She then got out of bed and walked to the full-body mirror in the room. Through the crimson moonlight shining through the curtains, she carefully observed herself.
Her pair of emerald-green eyes seemed to glow brightly and limpid. It was so clear that one could clearly see every detail.
Audrey closed her eyes. By the time she opened them again, all the abnormalities had vanished.
The corners of her mouth curled up bit by bit, and a small depression appeared on her face. Her eyes curved slightly as she silently praised herself.
Audrey, you've finally come this far!
She had completely digested the Dreamwalker potion.
According to her confidence in herself, and her predictions, she had originally believed that it would take until February for her to digest the potion. To her surprise, she had encountered many strange and completely different dreams recently.
This included many dreams within dreams, dreams that were a result of a mental illness, lucid dreams, dreams caused by the influence of evil spirits and wraiths, and the dreams of a few demigods.
Under normal circumstances, as a Dreamwalker, Audrey could generally determine the creature's level when entering a dream, thus avoiding danger. However, those demigods had hidden themselves very well. Only when she entered their dreams did she realize that something was amiss and nearly jumped in fright.
Fortunately, she wasn't discovered all those times. She ended up accumulating experience, and she began carefully touring, traveling, observing, and analyzing in the demigods' dreams, allowing her to greatly digest her potion.
In addition, the other special dreams gave her a completely different experience. After that, she attempted creating multiple dreams within dreams. Some attempted to hide behind the scenes in her dreams and guide them in an ingenious manner to develop and interfere with the subconscious in a reverse manner. She treated the mental illness of the owners of the dreams, or the corruption caused by an evil spirit or wraith.
To a certain extent, she had gone against the requirements of only observing, recording, and not making any interference. Yet, this strangely accelerated the digestion of the potion.
This made her conclude a new principle:
...If you really want to interfere, then be the mastermind and conductor behind the scenes. It's so that even if the goal succeeds, no one will notice it.
This was something that Audrey had done very well. The few people with serious mental illnesses had unknowingly recovered after having five or six strange dreams.
And it was very normal for a dream to appear strange and incomprehensible.
To be able to digest the Dreamwalker potion so quickly, it's mainly a result of my good luck recently. Without so many unique experiences, I'd definitely have to wait another month or two. Yes, I might even be caught by a demigod and be thrown into a Beyonder prison or directly be killed... When did my luck become so good? It seems like it started after I sacrificed the ice-cream to that Fate domain's angel, uh—"His" Blessed... Uh... Audrey looked at her reflection and blinked her eyes with a smile.
She quickly retracted her gaze, scanned her bedroom, and walked to the dressing table.
Sitting on it was a deck of cards.
In a room of a girl who enjoyed mysticism, it was normal for her to have a deck of tarot cards.
Audrey stretched out her right hand and touched the card at the top with her fingertip. She slowly took a deep breath and muttered to herself, The fighting at the Amantha mountain range is getting more intense...
Midseashire had already lost a port...
It's said that the defenses of the Hornacis mountain range in Sivellaus County can't last until spring...
If not for the fact that we have gained a significant advantage at sea, our connection with the Southern Continent's East Balam would've surely been severed...
Alfred is still there...
I wonder how this war will develop.
Thankfully, I'm about to become a demigod. Mr. World has already given me the Manipulator's potion formula and main ingredient... The seven drops of tears that were shed from intense human emotions have also been found during my dream experience recently...
The Tree Mentor's golden leaves were obtained via a trade with Little Sun. I'm just short of the blood of an elderly mind dragon...
Phew, I'll tried to trade for it with the Psychology Alchemists. Before Hvin Rambis died, I was already the person-in-charge of a small psychological discussion group... But will this reveal that Hvin Rambis's death has something to do with me?
Or could I get Mr. World to summon the blood of an elderly mind dragon from history? This can last for at least fifteen minutes. When I succeed in advancing, I'll converge my spirituality and complete my cueing. Its disappearance will not affect anything. After all, it's just a supplementary material...
Audrey, you actually learned how to fake things. What's more, it's on such matters!
After a self-deprecating comment, Audrey began to think about the kind of situation to use to complete the advancement ritual of a Manipulator.
The ritual required one to drink the potion while in the midst of an emotional resonance generated during a special occasion with at least ten thousand people.
As her thoughts raced, Audrey came up with a preliminary idea:
The Goddess's Winter Gifts Day?
But no matter how large a Mass is, it can't accommodate 10,000 people... The cathedral can't accommodate so many people...
Yes, it's usually impossible. If there's a chance, I can donate a sum of money. I can suggest we do an extremely large Mass in memorial square so as to placate the souls that passed away during the war.
In the most important square, the family members, relatives, and friends of the deceased are invited. As long as they accommodate a certain proportion of the participants, the emotions that resonate will affect the others who are participating in Mass, allowing the ritual's requirements to be satisfied...
After calmly analyzing the situation, Audrey suddenly bowed her head and looked at the mirror on the dressing table. She saw that the faint smile on her beautiful face had long disappeared, leaving behind only calmness and sadness in her eyes.
She stared at herself, her lips curling up slightly as she whispered, "Audrey, you've become despicable..."
Closing her eyes and opening them again, Audrey had returned to normal.
She reached out to the stack of tarot cards on the dressing table and flipped the card at the top.
The card depicted a goddess of justice sitting on a stone chair with a sword in one hand and a balance in the other, coldly watching everything.
...
Backlund, Hillston Borough, in a house with a fireplace.
"You've finished digesting your Scribe potion?" Xio had just changed into her home clothes when she heard the piece of unbelievable news upon walking back to the living room.
Fors nodded with a haggard expression.
"Yes."
"Do you know what kind of life I've been enduring recently?"
As she was being forced to "travel" to six places in a consecutive manner, she had to experience, admire, and record the sights day and night. In addition, she would be pulled up above the gray fog, recording all kinds of strange or high-level Beyonder powers.
The "Lightning Storm" and the "Historical Void Summoning" powers had been replaced several times. They had finally recovered their original setup today.
"I don't know..." Xio answered honestly.
"I know you don't know." Fors took a deep breath and said, "What about you? How have you been recently?"
"Not too bad. It was arranged for me to preside over a Paranormal Court, and I had some thoughts about the acting principles. The speed at which the potion is being digested has increased," Xio acknowledged.
"I find it hard to imagine you wearing a judge's robe and sitting at the tribunal's seat to judge." Fors sighed from the bottom of her heart.
"Are you trying to say that the prisoners and lawyers won't be able to see me?" Xio added, not minding it at all.
Fors laughed dryly and said, "I'll need to have some rest to prepare my advancement ritual to become a Traveler."
"Don't you need to go deep into the spirit world? Do you have a way?" Xio asked in puzzlement.
Fors nodded and said, "That person asked me to summon his messenger."
