This question left Haida momentarily unable to answer. Her personal belongings were few.
Namely, the power sword "Nirvana," two wooden-handled folding knives, two standard-issue firearms, and several spare magazines... For a Secrets-Hunter, the only necessity when going out was sufficient martial prowess.
"What do you want?"
Asking this would put her in a passive position in the conversation, but Haida seemed to have no better reply at the moment.
"Give me the lantern in your hand."
"No."
Haida refused the other's request decisively.
Dr. Fran was not in good condition now; handing her over rashly might be dangerous. Moreover, this trip was precisely to retrieve her limbs; how could they possibly exchange the most important head?
"Eh, stingy. I just want to borrow it for a while. I'll return it to you intact afterward."
While Haida was considering, Fran's fingers extended from the crack of the medical case and tapped her.
Fran's intention was easy to understand—she was signaling her to agree to this deal.
"If it's just borrowing... alright."
Since Dr. Fran herself expressed her opinion, Haida no longer had reservations.
The fortune-teller brought the lantern close to the mirror's surface, which rippled like water. A hand reached out from it, lightly took the lantern, and retracted into the mirror.
Haida drew the power sword "Nirvana," placed both hands on its crossguard, held it upright before her, and began to wait.
---
Only inside the mirror could one see the fortune-telling hut's full appearance.
The furniture and floor here were wooden structures. Various small ornaments, crystal balls, tarot cards, and dreamcatchers were placed on the tables and cabinets.
The fortune-teller placed the lantern containing Fran's head on a small table, opened the lampshade, then sat down beside it, facing her.
"My name is Dorothy. How should I address you, guest?"
"Fran Herschel, a doctor."
Out of basic courtesy, Fran also gave her name.
Dorothy took off her hood, revealing silk-like black hair. She looked at Fran seriously and solemnly.
"I need you to answer two questions for me. As payment for those two limbs."
"You'd better consider your answers carefully. Otherwise... I might keep you here forever."
Compared to the business-like, amused tone used with Haida, Dorothy's attitude toward Fran was much colder.
Fran's expression remained normal; she didn't care about the other's threat at all.
"Although I doubt you have that ability... you can ask first. I personally prefer to complete this transaction through non-violent means."
Dorothy nodded slightly and asked her first question.
"Why are you traveling with Haida? She should have died in that catastrophe countless years ago..."
Hearing the fortune-teller's question, Fran became interested.
"So, you lied to Haida. If you had truly forgotten everything from that time, you obviously shouldn't remember her face."
"Answer my question." The fortune-teller lifted the lantern, bringing it half an inch closer to the quietly burning candle flame beside her.
"Alright, because neither of us belongs here."
"We arrived in a certain future through the remnants of the Temporal Banyan... that is, the present. And some minor problems occurred during this process, which is why I ended up like this."
After a moment's thought, Fran gave a half-true, half-false answer that the other could roughly accept. As a doctor, sometimes speech requires some cunning and worldliness...
She certainly couldn't honestly say she was here on a routine house call, could she?
"...Second question."
The Temporal Banyan was an ancient deity hidden for several eras. Regarding its information, Dorothy could neither verify nor disprove it.
"Since neither of you belongs here, why does the thread of her fate's direction follow a normal path, while yours is only a mass of fog?"
Fran looked at Dorothy with some surprise. Her amber eyes flickered slightly as she re-examined this fortune-teller.
"Being able to substantially glimpse fate indicates you have already achieved a High Priest-level mastery in the field of prophecy... But even for a Lamp High Priest, this is a taboo. I think you should understand."
"This question invades my privacy; I will not answer it. If City Hall hadn't already collapsed, you would receive a court summons the next day..."
Dorothy's gaze sharpened, somewhat taken aback by the other's firmness.
"You only answered one question for me, and its truth cannot be verified. According to the basic principle of equivalent exchange, I can only give you one of the two limbs."
This self-proclaimed doctor girl before her carried too many oddities and mysteries. She had no relic enhancements, no implanted alchemical organs, not a trace of the aberrant vitality of evil spawn...
Everything seemed normal, but that was precisely the most abnormal part.
Why could she remain alive in a state of near-dismemberment? Perhaps she was an apostle of some deity, or a devil from the Abyss... just waiting for her own release.
Dorothy needed to observe for a while longer before making a final decision.
Until then, she planned to give half.
But Fran couldn't give up retrieving her limbs, nor could she leave one behind... She was extremely patient, but she didn't like wasting time on meaningless matters.
"This means our negotiation has broken down, Miss Dorothy. I understand your thoughts and concerns... but I do not intend to accept your observations and tests."
"Testing others is a bad habit in itself."
Dorothy keenly sensed a change in the surrounding atmosphere. Just as she wanted to retreat, she suddenly discovered her legs had lost sensation and wouldn't obey her.
"When..."
Slick black tendrils had, at some point, crept up along her ankles, spreading like spiderwebs, coiling around every joint of her limbs.
"The biological toxin on [Far Caress] has already paralyzed most of your nerves. Don't try to struggle."
Fran's voice, light and crisp, sounded beside her ear, almost like a gentle breath.
"Actually, I don't necessarily have to use my own body. Taking off your head and replacing it with mine is also possible... Although a non-original body has many problems, it can still work, you know?"
"You devil!"
Dorothy couldn't turn her neck, but she could smell the scent of mint and myrrh from Fran's hair, right next to her.
How did a mere head come behind her? Probably relying on these black tendrils for support... Just imagining this scene sent a chilling shudder through Dorothy.
"Ready? Don't worry, it won't hurt... because I've already cut halfway through your neck. It really doesn't hurt, right?"
Dorothy wanted to look down to check her neck's condition, but she had completely lost control of her body now; she couldn't even open her mouth to chant prayers.
So sleepy... Is it blood loss, or some other symptom? No, will I die here like this? Die, in my own dwelling?
She felt her mind beginning to drift and float; drowsiness surged like a wave...
Finally, her vision inevitably plunged into darkness.
"Phew, finally asleep. The fortune-teller's mental resilience needs more training."
Fran now lightly pursed her lips, somewhat laboriously holding the chain of a brass pocket watch between them.
She had just fired a psychic beam, stealing information about the limbs from Dorothy's memory.
Although her earlier head-swapping theory was also feasible, Fran herself had a slight cleanliness obsession and an innate aversion to non-original things.
"In the second box in the storage room... no prayer texts or secret phrases set up, can be opened directly."
She came to a set of standing cabinets inscribed with ritual arrays, used the tendrils of [Far Caress] to open the cabinet door, and retrieved the pair of legs placed inside.
"Finally almost complete."
Fran, lifted by the black tendrils, holding the newly acquired legs, was about to leave the mirror hut when she considered that her current appearance was somewhat bizarre... not very convenient to be seen.
She looked at Dorothy, sound asleep on the table, and suddenly had an idea.
---
Haida, who had been waiting, saw ripples appear on the mirror's surface and immediately perked up.
The person arriving wore the fortune-teller's gossamer robe, the patterns along the hem mottled and bizarre like night moths, carrying a strange beauty.
Beneath her robe were bare feet, delicate and pale, with a silver bell tied at the ankle.
Although the wide sleeves almost completely concealed her figure, one could still vaguely make out a slender, graceful contour.
Haida examined the fortune-teller whose face was hidden in the shadow of the hood and couldn't help but frown.
There's no lantern in her hand... Where is Dr. Fran?
"Do you intend to break your word, fortune-teller?"
Before Haida even gripped her sword hilt, the power sword "Nirvana" in her hand was already emitting a faint, restless hum in the wind.
"Sister Haida, it's me. No need to worry."
Fran then removed the fortune-teller's silk hood, revealing her face and a few strands of pale, frosty hair.
"Dr. Fran, you found the torso... but how did you assemble it? And these clothes, what happened to that astrologer?"
Haida was puzzled. Fran should still be missing one limb; why could she move freely now? And... why was she wearing the fortune-teller's clothes?
"Have you seen puppet shows?"
Fran smiled cleverly, came to Haida's side, took her medical case, and put the hands into the robe's sleeves.
"A hand puppet can move without a torso, you know..."
She lifted one side of her skirt as if performing a curtsy, revealing the empty interior beneath the robe. Only a few black tendrils of [Far Caress] served as a supporting frame, connecting the four limbs.
….
The weakness from nerve paralysis gradually faded. Dorothy's eyelids twitched slightly as she opened her eyes, groggy and exhausted.
"Mmm... is my head still on?"
She fearfully touched her neck, confirming her head hadn't been relocated. Then, still uneasy, she examined her body all over.
No wounds or suture lines. Probably no missing parts? Probably...
"Was that doctor just intimidating me? Or... is her method of tampering difficult to detect?"
Although nothing seemed particularly strange upon basic inspection, she still couldn't let her guard down since she had lost consciousness in front of Fran.
Dorothy took several bottles of potions and metal powder from a cabinet behind her, mixed and refined them, and dripped them into the mirror. The second-category secret art [Retrospective Scrying] then showed the previous scenes inside the room...
Only after thoroughly reviewing what happened after she lost consciousness did she relax slightly and let out a sigh of relief.
"She said when she was cutting my neck, she was just holding a pocket watch, performing hypnosis?"
Dorothy's expression was complicated. She pondered for a moment, ultimately accepting the present reality.
Those two limbs were originally Fran's things; forcibly taking them wasn't entirely unjustified. Moreover, after she lost her ability to resist, the other didn't act... perhaps she wasn't a bad person?
Of course, Dorothy also noticed her own current condition...
"Compared to one's life, having some keepsakes taken isn't such an important matter. Hmm, but..."
Dorothy narrowed her eyes, looking at the thin white undergarments she wore, which faintly revealed her skin tone. She couldn't help but clench her teeth, an inexplicable blush of shame rising on her cheeks.
"She went to the storage cabinet to get her own limbs... My spare robe was right in the closet next to it. Why did she have to take the one I was wearing?"
---
Fran, wrapped in the fortune-teller's wide, moth-patterned gossamer robe, walked slowly and lightly.
She had to walk slowly, firstly because her body, lacking a torso, was top-heavy and unstable, making balance difficult.
Secondly, Dorothy hadn't worn shoes, and Fran hadn't brought spare ones... This meant she had to constantly watch her step to avoid treading on thorns or gravel on the ground.
Although being able to move freely felt much more comfortable, sparing her from having to trouble Sister Haida even for things like rubbing her eyes... troubles came along with it. Now she couldn't curl up comfortably inside the lantern as an accessory; she had to walk herself...
"The evil spawn and fully converted heretics on the road are increasing."
As she spoke, a withered black shadow leaped out from a pile of dust and gravel.
It waved dozens of branch-like, proliferating arms in a frenzy, pouncing toward the two.
Haida's eyes sharpened. She immediately grabbed its neck.
She drew a wooden-handled folding knife from a pouch under her coat, severed all the blood vessels and fleshy tissue connecting to its neck, then slammed it heavily to the ground and stomped on its neck, breaking the cervical bone.
The head, disconnected from the body, uttered several "keh keh" moans of sorrow before gradually falling silent.
+++
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