When mentioning "the patient," Fran pursed her lips slightly and glanced at Haida imperceptibly. A hint of amused interest sparkled in her amber-colored, deep golden eyes.
---
White Cup Cult Ruins.
The once-prosperous academy halls had turned into ruins and rubble. The hurried figures of students and professors had vanished completely, leaving only a deathly silence.
Even carrion crows were unwilling to linger here, for the dead had long since become indistinguishable from the dust, no longer even possessing the value of being consumed.
"Ms. Marian said she had come to the academy and took away the White Cup Cult's 'legacy'. This place might be safer than the Sun-Forging Spire..."
Although Haida wore leather boots, her steps made no sound. She passed silently through the academy's main hall and, under Fran's guidance, headed towards a deep room.
Fran, inside the lantern, closed her long lashes slightly, seeming somewhat drowsy. With just a head, it was inevitable to lack energy, especially after maintaining [Drive Away Dust and Filth] for so long.
"Ah~" She let out a long yawn.
"I hope what's hidden in the Central Academy is the torso. Otherwise, having limbs or not doesn't make much difference..."
They encountered no obstacles along the way, which went suspiciously smoothly.
The vast academy was dead silent; all imaginable living creatures had vanished. Even the tenacious trees and vines had withered and died, making the mosquitoes and insects that depended on plants unable to survive either.
"It should be right here."
At Fran's signal, Haida stopped in front of a rather ordinary office door.
As the long-neglected wooden door slowly opened, Haida could glimpse the situation inside the room.
A pale left arm was placed on the desk's ceremonial stand. And in the corner of the room were two lifeless corpses.
One corpse slumped limply in a seated position, the other knelt semi-upright beside it.
The dead were not uncommon here. Haida didn't overly focus on their identities, but first approached the desk to help Fran retrieve her left arm.
"Good, both hands are collected now. But still not very convenient to use..."
Although this was expected, Fran still seemed somewhat troubled. Without a torso, finely controlling two hands was somewhat difficult for her.
Imagine, what would a creature with only arms and a head look like? Oh, damn, it would be a Geodude...
For the sake of her image, Fran decided to maintain her current lamp state for now.
Meanwhile, Haida, having completed the limb retrieval, began investigating the two strangely deceased corpses according to her professional habits.
"Dr. Fran. This person sitting on the ground... seems somewhat familiar?"
Fran raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing the slumped corpse.
He was decayed and weathered beyond recognition, with sunken eye sockets and skin covered in dry, crisscrossing cracks, the texture almost like leather. But through recognizing the bone structure, Fran quickly confirmed his identity.
"Hmm. It's indeed an acquaintance. Professor Terence, the archaeologist of ancient relics."
This answer matched Haida's conjecture. She then turned her gaze to the other person.
"And the one beside him... should be Mr. Child, then."
She lifted the wind cloak covering the body beside him, and a flicker of surprise passed through her eyes.
Compared to the decayed and putrid Terence, Child's body was almost perfectly preserved, his features still young, carrying a certain youthful clarity and vitality. Time seemed to have stopped on him; everything was frozen at the moment he closed his eyes in sleep.
"Mr. Child's body hasn't aged or decayed? Is it some secret art of the White Cup Cult, or an effect of the disaster?"
Haida cautiously rested her hand on her sword hilt, guarding against any sudden changes.
"It's not very related to those things. The reason he hasn't changed is more due to his own special nature."
Fran raised an eyebrow lightly, her expression relaxed and calm, as if she had expected this.
"I don't think I've mentioned this to you... Child is actually a golem-type relic with an unknown serial number. Although his degree of mimicry is very high, there are still subtle physiological differences from humans."
Haida frowned slightly, recalling her interactions with Child.
He gave the impression of a normal young man, aside from being a bit more cheerful, with no abnormal sensations differing from ordinary people.
"Was he always a golem, or was he transformed in the future?"
"He was always one, you know." Fran answered with a smile.
"I actually didn't notice..." Haida raised a hand to her forehead, feeling a flicker of doubt about her own professionalism.
"Child's spirit originates from a normal human. It's normal not to notice without using secret arts."
Actually, Fran could try to wake him up.
But due to issues like aging and damaged circuits, it would probably take some time... In comparison, the energy problem is easy to solve; bottled Philosopher's Stone powder would suffice.
But her energy is limited now, and she doesn't plan to spend too much time on it.
"Let's not disturb him. Let's go."
Haida gave a slight nod, and the two left the room. As the door closed, everything returned to dark seclusion once more.
---
The closer one got to the center of Norlington Central Academy, the more horrifying the extent of damage became.
Although the outer areas were ruined, they at least retained the basic structure of buildings. But the central part was empty and open, nearly leveled to the ground.
"In [Construct Dream Slumber], Ms. Marian said Grantham fell in battle. This might be the site of his fight..."
Compared to the alert and energetic Haida, Fran kept her eyes lowered as if dozing and did not respond.
Entering the very center of the vast crater, the ground was covered with huge, rip-like claw marks. Frost, burning, and lightning strike scars were everywhere.
Deep within this horrific battlefield, Haida saw Grantham's still-standing body.
This old man's expression was serene and composed. His meticulously trimmed beard was perfectly neat, and his classical wizard's pointed hat sat straight and proper. It was as if he wasn't engaged in a death struggle with something, but attending an evening banquet.
But his entire person, including his clothes and walking stick, had completely crystallized. The crystal surface shimmered with a dazzling, profound light, like jade or emerald.
An abnormally vigorous "spirit" still surrounded Grantham's remains; even death had not dissipated its influence.
"Hmm~ Although the White Cup scholars deeply despised Red Cup devotees, they couldn't deny their essential similarity..."
Fran examined this emerald-like crystal statue and sighed.
Once, the priestess-dancer named Mr. Sines engraved [Summon the Drinker] into the texture of his own skin and flesh. And Grantham... engraved an unnamed first-category ritual into the folds of his brain.
"Sister Haida, staring at him too long will affect your mind. We should leave."
Seeing Haida somewhat lost in thought, Fran reminded her with concern.
"Mhm." Haida withdrew her gaze. She then passed by Grantham's remains, gradually heading towards the academy exit.
After their figures completely disappeared, a mass of shadow stirred within Grantham's translucent body.
Its form was viscous and swollen, slowly pressing against the emerald-green crystal wall that imprisoned and isolated it… It was made of countless fleshy eyeballs with vertical-slit pupils.
---
West District, Green Maple Street.
Haida walked forward quietly, carrying the lantern containing Fran's head.
Compared to the other districts turned to ruins, the streets here remained basically intact. As night deepened, the dim street lamps on both sides of the road gradually brightened from darkness.
The unnamed catastrophe had pushed almost all of Norlington to the brink of destruction; the West District certainly couldn't escape unscathed.
The reason the streets remained intact was that after crossing a certain boundary line through the ruins... this was no longer reality, but a certain "secret realm."
The dim, long street seemed endless... The shops on both sides all had their lights off, and the wooden signs hanging on the door handles were flipped to the "Closed" side.
"The street is so quiet. No wind, sand, or noise. It would be nice to have a bed at a time like this."
[Far Caress] Black tendrils wriggled out from between Fran's moist lips, crawling up her cheeks to help rub her somewhat weary eyes.
"I have a feeling that the limbs stored here with the Lamp and Moth should be the legs. My torso is probably at the Secrets-Hunter headquarters in the city center..."
"Sigh, what a hassle."
She chuckled and sighed, then pursed her lips, swallowing the black tendrils back into her mouth.
---
Although artificially created through rituals and secret arts, the completion level of this secret realm was very high. The air was filled with the damp scent of soil after rain, and the streets were sparsely dotted with shallow puddles.
In the nearly world-ending event, the Lamp and Moth sects also reunited from their long division and opposition.
Although intimate contact would burn each other, separation in such dire straits meant certain destruction.
Emotion and reason, dim light and murky darkness, things that repel each other yet depend on each other. Just like the two sides of a contradiction.
"There's a light ahead, Dr. Fran."
Haida lightly patted Fran's cheek to wake her, as she had already fallen asleep.
"Ah~ Sorry, the environment here is just too suitable for sleeping."
Fran opened her eyes with considerable difficulty. Only after the drowsiness faded somewhat did she turn her gaze towards the lit-up shop by the street.
It was a fortune-telling hut.
Silk curtains tied on both sides of the hut had black and white mottled patterns, like moth scales. Dots of light shone through from inside.
"Sigh~ Those who worship the 'Lamp' all like to play these tricks of divining fate."
Fran curled her lip slightly disdainfully.
For her, nothing was more boring than a predetermined future. If the outcome cannot be changed, then "prophecy" and "curse" have no essential difference, and perhaps both originate from the same source.
Just like King Oedipus trying to defy fate... no matter how hard he resisted, he ultimately fell unavoidably into the trap fate wove for him, patricide and incest, ending in ruin.
"Honored guest, welcome."
A pleasant and ethereal female voice sounded softly.
"Hello, excuse the intrusion."
Haida looked towards the source of the voice but found no person. There was only a faintly glowing candle lamp and a mirror reflecting her own image.
"What would you like to divine? Career, love, or perhaps your recent fortune?"
The image of herself in the mirror interlocked her fingers, leaning back in a chair, skillfully inquiring about the fortune-telling services.
"I've come to find two things. I know... they are here."
Haida stated her purpose for coming to the West District directly, without concealment or pretense.
Most of the Secrets-Hunter's interactions with other secret cults were straightforward. If cooperation was possible, they would discuss terms in detail; if not... they would prepare for a violent assault.
"Heh..." A chuckle full of pleasure sounded, and the person in the mirror covered their lips with a hand.
"Many guests come here because they've lost something precious. It seems you are no exception, Sister. What do you wish to find? A lover, passion, or perhaps the beautiful memories before destruction arrived?"
"..."
Haida's hazel eyes grew slightly serious.
She roughly understood why Dr. Fran disliked these fortune-tellers. That riddle-like attitude really made one want to empty a magazine into the mirror.
However, one point mentioned by the person in the mirror did pique her interest.
"Then, please tell me... what exactly caused Norlington's destruction?"
"That question isn't difficult to answer. But... you are a Burial Attendant of the Secrets-Hunters. You should understand this better than anyone. Why ask me instead?"
The person in the mirror pinched their chin, seeming somewhat puzzled.
At this distance, adding the [Tear the Secret Rite] to the sword blade should be able to directly pierce through this person's illusion. But that might also kill them outright. Should she try it...
Haida seriously considered this question.
The person in the mirror keenly sensed that the other's mood wasn't very good and that their patience was nearing its limit.
"Alright, alright. I feel like you're thinking about something scary. I'd like to answer you, but I have already forgotten that disaster. I can no longer describe what happened then."
"You erased the memory? ...I understand."
This situation wasn't beyond Haida's expectations.
For certain existences, their visage cannot be spoken, their name cannot be mentioned, and even memories cannot be retained... Although the fortune-teller didn't answer Haida's question directly, they indirectly provided some hints.
"Sister, let's return to the initial question."
The figure in the mirror gradually became illusory, changing from Haida's appearance to a woman wearing a mottled gossamer robe.
"I know what you are seeking. But what can you offer in exchange for them? What price are you willing to pay for those two nameless limbs?"
+++
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