East Borough, No. 8 Howstin Street.
Silas nestled into the living room sofa, flipping through a stack of manuscripts in his hands.
This stack of manuscripts was written entirely in Japanese, arranged in chronological order. It was precisely the Roselle diary that Klein had given him.
Due to the effects of his mental problems, the expressions on his face kept changing, but his eyes remained focused on the diary, reading through one entry after another.
"Roselle was of the Savant pathway and had connections with several big shots in mysticism, such as Zaratul, the leader of the Secret Order, the 'Mr. Door' trapped outside the world, and the archbishop of the Steam Church..."
"He also joined a mysterious organization whose name cannot even be mentioned.
That organization actually possessed the second Blasphemy Slate..."
"The Forsaken Land of the Gods... the War of the Four Emperors, some hidden history..."
"High-sequence interchange, indestructibility of Beyonder characteristics, laws like the conservation of similar sequences..."
"His three children, the Blasphemy Cards he made himself..."
After finishing all the diary entries, Silas had to admit that Emperor Roselle had indeed lived a spectacular life.
Besides Roselle's own records in the diary, there were also some notes written by Klein.
He had thoughtfully annotated some content for Silas and added reminders for others.
For example, he had added his own understanding to the history Roselle recorded, while warning Silas to be careful of "Mr. Door" and that organization whose name couldn't even be mentioned, and to try not to reference them in reality.
This colleague of his was truly honest. The Roselle diary he gave him contained a tremendous amount of precious information.
After reading it, he now had some understanding of much of the high-end knowledge of the Beyonder world.
"Klein really is cautious... But he's right. My condition is already terrible.
If I establish contact with other mysterious existences, I might go completely insane."
Silas thought to himself, holding the diary.
That's right, his condition was still very serious and even showed signs of worsening.
Even at this moment, countless illusions surrounded him. Twisted limbs, mad sounds, despairing faces appeared endlessly.
In his mind, several voices were speaking simultaneously, cursing him incessantly, giving him suggestions, commanding him to act.
But Silas pretended not to see or hear them. Only the tightly clenched edges of the paper pages showed that his heart was not calm.
Fortunately, this problem would soon be resolved.
"Dong, dong."
A melodious, magnificent bell sound came from the distance, echoing through the streets of East Borough, reminding people of the arrival of the hour.
"Silas, is it about time?"
The bell drowned out the ravings in his head. Silas saw his sister's figure pass through the chaotic illusions and come before him.
"Yeah."
He answered, calmly folding the diary in his hands and tucking it away in his coat.
The Psychology Alchemists had already accepted his request and agreed to send an expert in treating mental problems.
As payment, he needed to pay a hefty fee of 1,500 pounds.
Fortunately, after arriving in Backlund, Silas had experienced a series of events and obtained quite a bit of cash, enough to pay this fee.
He had first paid one-tenth as a deposit, and the remaining cash was handed over to Miss Audrey, whom both parties trusted, for her to keep temporarily.
After that, the Psychology Alchemists provided an address, informing him that at four o'clock this afternoon, the expert would arrive on time.
The clock had just chimed twice, meaning it was already two in the afternoon, with two hours left until the appointed time.
"Let's go. We'll head to Queens first, meet up with Miss Audrey, then go there."
Silas stood up from the sofa and said to his sister.
"Okay, that's great, Silas."
The black-haired girl looked very happy and stepped forward to support Silas's arm.
The hope of curing Silas's madness was right before them, so no wonder she was so happy.
Seeing her happy face, Silas also smiled slightly.
Hopefully, the Psychology Alchemists' expert is professional enough to treat my mental madness... Even just alleviating it would be good.
He thought with full hope.
The landlord was still at school, so they locked the door after leaving. The two walked to the street corner, preparing to hire a carriage.
Backlund's weather was getting more damp and cold. The overcast sky showed no trace of the sun.
Just a few steps after leaving the room, one could feel the damp, icy air slowly seeping through clothes, clinging to the skin in a cold and clammy way, stealing away body heat.
Silas walked side by side with his sister, stepping unevenly on East Borough's muddy streets.
"Are you cold?"
He asked.
"I'm okay."
The delicate face and small ears of the girl beside him were slightly flushed.
As she spoke, white vapor came from her mouth. That white vapor quickly dissipated, merging into the surrounding gray fog.
She supported Silas's arm, looking down at the road, helping him avoid the difficult parts.
Her serious expression with her little face taut and red was very cute, making Silas unable to resist the urge to play a prank and shift more of his body weight onto her.
But he forgot that his sister was already a Sequence 8 Beyonder.
After Silas's body tilted and his center of gravity shifted, she only adjusted slightly and steadied herself.
"Stop fooling around, Silas."
"Okay, okay."
Silas said perfunctorily.
At this moment, the girl suddenly turned her head, her azure eyes looking seriously at Silas through the white vapor.
"Brother, after this treatment, you'll be better, right?"
She seemed to want confirmation.
"Probably."
Silas smiled.
Although deep down he wasn't sure if it would be effective, he still used such words to comfort his sister.
"You'll definitely get better!"
The girl said with clenched fists, as if to encourage herself.
Little sister, I'll take you at your word then...
Silas couldn't help but smile.
He was about to say something when suddenly he felt something cool on his face, as if something had fallen on it. It quickly melted, leaving behind a slightly damp and cold sensation.
He instinctively looked up, and his expression changed slightly.
"It's snowing... Black?"
He saw countless black flakes falling from the sky like fluttering cotton, filling his vision.
What should have been pure white snowflakes had been saturated with pollution discharged from factories, ultimately turning into such a filthy appearance.
It was as if after a fire, countless ashes were swept up into the sky by hot air, then drifted down, landing on people's shoulders, landing on already dirty streets.
"There really is black snow... Cecilia, let's walk faster. This stuff is really dirty."
Silas sighed and quickened his pace with his sister, arriving at the street corner and hiring a carriage.
"To Queens."
He said to the coachman.
The latter, perhaps too frozen to want to talk, lacked the usual enthusiastic attitude of ordinary coachmen. He just nodded once, then drove the carriage forward.
The carriage carrying the two swayed and disappeared into the curtain of black snow.