Flamel left the room with the medical staff, the crisp sound of her high heels echoing in the corridor outside.
Ms. Marian pushed open the door.
"Little Haida, you're finally awake."
Marian's gait was as graceful and light as ever, but Haida clearly saw wrinkles had already crept to the corners of her eyes.
She slowly took a seat in the chair by the bed and reached out to gently stroke Haida's face.
"I could never control myself every time I came to see you, often sitting here for a very long time. Even though I knew you couldn't hear, I would still talk to you a lot... Finally, today you can respond to me."
Seeing Marian's gentle, serene, almost motherly expression, Haida felt somewhat unaccustomed.
Although she had been largely raised by Marian since childhood, this was the first time she had seen signs of aging on this veteran doctor of the Medical Division. This feeling of "family" moved her more than she could suppress.
"Ms. Marian, what is the current status of the Secrets-Hunter Cult?"
"The Secrets-Hunter Cult? I know, you mentioned it often in your dreams. But..."
Marian pursed her lips, seeming somewhat hesitant. She gathered her thoughts for a moment before speaking again.
"But that was an organization you fictionalized in your own diaries; it doesn't actually exist. Please forgive me for reading the things you wrote during your illness, but those chaotic writings were the only way for me to understand you..."
"Are you saying... secret cults have never appeared in Norlington?"
Haida narrowed her eyes, beginning to search for loopholes in Marian's words.
"Norlington has always been managed by the City Hall; there has never been any religion."
"My collapse in the North District wasn't from being severely wounded by evil spawn and a heterodox sub-deacon?"
"Haida, there was a sudden blizzard that day. You weren't familiar with District 09. After failing to get help, you collapsed in the snow due to hypothermia. Although you were found not long after, you fell into shock from brain damage..."
"How did I break free from the restraint straps earlier?"
Haida pondered for a moment before asking the question towards the mirror on the side.
"The orderly didn't fasten them tightly. Two buckles were loose. I could break free too if it were me."
Sigrid's voice came unhurriedly from a speaker somewhere in the room. Clearly, that wall was one-way glass.
Several members of the medical team were listening in on their conversation.
Haida nodded, then began examining her reflection in the one-way glass.
She was not wearing the standard-issue nun's robe of a Secrets-Hunter, but a white restraint garment covered in nylon buckles.
The power sword "Nirvana" was nowhere to be found. Even the traces of physical training on her body had vanished completely. Her originally firm, muscular arms had become slender and weak.
The Haida in the mirror now was like an ordinary young girl suffering from a mental illness, gazing with disbelief at a familiar yet alien real world.
---
Haida narrowed her eyes and raised her arm, carefully examining her hand.
It was a hand so slender it could almost be called delicate, clearly showing pale skin with almost bluish veins. The calluses from training seemed as if they had never existed.
This gave Haida a sense of powerlessness, deep and distant, as if she had returned to the childhood she was unwilling to recall...
Haida only felt a chaotic mess in her mind, thoughts sluggish and indistinct, hard to separate.
Memories. She saw a large number of memories that did not belong to her. Those were the dark, cold days of convalescence in the psychiatric hospital.
Long, silent sitting on the hospital bed, frenzied graffiti scrawled on the walls, and uncontrollable retching and convulsions when medication surged up the throat... The protagonist of all these scenes was that familiar, frail figure, which was... herself.
"Since I have 'awakened', can you take me away from here? Ms. Marian."
"Of course, my child... we're going home."
Marian placed her hand on Haida's back, giving her a gentle embrace. Her expression was kind and warm, like a mother comforting a bewildered and frightened child. Even though she herself was utterly exhausted.
"Mhm."
Haida obediently agreed.
She was not accepting the identity of a psychiatric patient, nor was she experiencing self-displacement due to unfamiliar memories... She was merely seeking an opportunity to break through the current situation.
For Secrets-Hunters, renowned for their mental fortitude, endurance, waiting, and lying low were all commonplace.
Besides, there was another point.
Haida did not believe in this psychiatric worldview at all. Even though the memories surfaced undeniably, she did not consider them real.
A hunter's stubbornness could sometimes lead them into the quagmire of despair, but at other times, it could become their bulwark against madness.
That's precisely why, although everyone knew the hunters and sisters of the Burial Court had unusual ways of thinking, no one ever tried to correct them...
---
Signing, stamping, sealing the records. With Marian accompanying her, Haida's discharge procedures were completed very smoothly.
After all, Hisham Psychiatric Hospital was not some unlicensed medical institution. All of Dr. Flamel's research on patients was within legal regulations... Now that the guardian had agreed, she naturally had no reason to obstruct.
The rolling sound of carriage wheels rumbled.
Haida looked out the carriage window. Flamel's figure, teary-eyed and waving a handkerchief, gradually receded into the distance.
Feeling the irregular jolts of the carriage, Haida inexplicably felt a wave of dizziness... She was getting carsick.
For a Burial Attendant skilled in horsemanship and proficient in operating most vehicles, this sensation was too distant, even somewhat absurd.
"Not feeling well? Haida. Bear with it a little, we'll be home soon."
Marian skillfully massaged Haida's temples, alleviating her discomfort.
"I'm fine."
Haida bit her lip lightly, trying to steady her ragged breathing.
The body's influence on the mind was strong and subtle. Although she had been striving to resist this tendency, she was still gradually, unavoidably assimilated by the girl's frail physique.
Under the combined effect of dizziness and exhaustion, Haida finally closed her eyes amidst drowsiness and quietly fell asleep in Marian's arms.
---
Ms. Marian's residence.
Haida's hazel eyes slowly opened and closed as she woke up in the large bed. She supported her forehead and let out a long sigh; the fogginess in her head had eased somewhat.
Wrapped in a warm, plush comforter, the psychiatric hospital's restraint garment had been changed into a thin, soft nightgown and undergarments. Ms. Marian must have changed her clothes while she was asleep.
"I actually fell asleep?... So negligent."
Haida slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to survey the bedroom's surroundings.
Physical prowess, equipment, secret arts—these were now unreliable. All she had left was her experience as a Burial Attendant.
The bedroom décor was cozy and respectable, indicating Ms. Marian's financial situation was likely comfortable. The bed frame was made of intricately carved wood, surrounded by a gauze-like curtain.
A graffiti-covered suitcase sat beside the nightstand, presumably containing the belongings she had brought from Hisham Psychiatric Hospital.
Hearing the sound of Haida getting out of bed, Marian entered the room.
She held a delicate porcelain tray bearing a sandwich and a cup of steaming milk emitting a misty heat.
The portion wasn't large, likely considering a convalescing patient might not have much appetite.
The cup's style was somehow familiar.
"Feeling better, little Haida? Have something to eat. I hear Dr. Flamel's convalescent meals are quite good, I don't know if you'll still be used to my cooking..."
"I'm much better, thank you, Ms. Marian."
Haida gave a slight nod and began to eat. She indeed needed to replenish her strength now, to make her hunger-slowed thoughts flow more smoothly.
...
Marian, like a kind elder, watched Haida quietly and gently until she had finished all the food on the tray.
As she finished eating, Haida's spirits recovered somewhat.
"Ms. Marian, my memories are still a bit muddled. If possible, I'd like you to tell me more about Norlington..."
"Alright. Just like telling you bedtime stories when you were little... Where to begin? Do you remember Alwin?"
"I have some impressions."
"He's a clerk at City Hall. He's a decent person, but he always has that bureaucrat's habit of giving orders. I remember in the world you described, he was the head of the 'General Affairs Division', ha... that really suits him."
Marian covered her mouth slightly, holding back a smile.
"And who is 'Black Banyan'?"
Haida was now also somewhat curious about the identities corresponding to those in her memories here.
"Black Banyan... Oh, you mean Mr. Jonsen? He lives next door to us. Hmm... Mr. Jonsen is a bit grumpy, probably because he's a war veteran? Sometimes he seems rather neurotic, getting nervous when he sees dense thickets."
Marian parted the bedroom's roller blind. The cool, clear light of the early morning sun filtered onto the windowsill.
Following Marian's pointing finger out the window, Haida indeed saw a huge, gloomy old banyan tree.
A white-haired old man was dozing with narrowed eyes in the shade under the banyan tree, while a youth in a neat shirt was merrily chasing butterflies dancing gracefully in the garden.
"That's Mr. Jonsen's grandson. I even held him once... look how big he's grown now."
So the Black Banyan supervisor, who had become a youth because of "S-923 'Death Banyan'", was simply split into two people here? Haida thought for a moment and continued her questions.
"Then... what about Ms. Silver Wing Locust?"
"Hmm~ On such a lovely morning, perhaps we shouldn't discuss City Hall's socialite."
Marian raised an eyebrow lightly, seeming not to like Silver Wing Locust much, but still patiently clarified her identity.
"And Mr. Solm? What does he do?"
"He's a mechanical craftsman in the East District, on Keyleaf Flower Street. Building 17 or 16, was it? Hmm... He repaired your pocket watch. Solm has excellent skills, is quite helpful, and treats people very kindly."
As Marian answered, the figures of those mentioned gradually surfaced in Haida's memories, unfamiliar yet familiar. Their appearances, while slightly different, were not far off.
These were not Haida's memories, and they were gradually permeating her self-awareness.
She clenched her teeth so hard her inner lip bled... just to maintain clarity of thought.
The mental struggle brought intense pain. An uncontrollable sense of tearing came from within Haida's head, like barbed blades wantonly carving inside her skull.
"And Vivian?"
Haida forced down the churning, swaying discomfort in her mind. She couldn't let Marian notice anything amiss before finishing her questions.
"I knew you'd remember Vivian. After graduation, that child worked as a reporter at a news agency. She even reported on your incident at the time... though recently she seems to be doing part-time work at a detective agency as well."
"When you're a bit better, I'll bring Vivian to see you. She's been very worried about you; she'll be overjoyed to know you've been discharged."
A reporter and detective—that fit the profile of a Confidential Division agent quite well... Haida nodded.
Most of Haida's acquaintances in Norlington had now been matched one by one. But there was one more name she hadn't mentioned to Ms. Marian.
"Ms. Marian, do you know... 'Yvonne'?"
"...Yvonne?"
Marian was visibly taken aback for a moment, then furrowed her brows in deep thought before giving an answer after a pause.
"How do you know that name? You clearly didn't write about her in your writings... Yvonne is the daughter of the City Hall's Chief Executive. She has shown strong political acumen from a young age."
"But she rarely makes public appearances. I only know because Alwin mentioned her by accident once."
Even Yvonne, who was far away in the Lands Between, had a corresponding person here?
It was confirmed: everyone she knew here had their own identity and role. Trying to break the logical consistency of this world through personal relationships likely wouldn't work.
But there was one more thing puzzling Haida.
Why were others referred to by their real names, while Dr. Fran was called "Flamel"? Was there some special meaning to this?
Haida couldn't afford to miss any potential opportunity to break the situation. But currently, her question about Fran's identity couldn't be verified and had to be set aside for now. If she had a chance to encounter her, she would ask then...
"Haida?"
Seeing the girl before her lost in thought, Marian couldn't help but call her name worriedly.
"Ms. Marian, I'd like to go outside for some fresh air. Could you accompany me for a walk?"
"Of course, but you must walk slowly."
Such a normal and reasonable request, Marian naturally wouldn't refuse.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL