71. Sequence 7
"Welcome back," Tear greeted me at the entrance while cleaning the front hall.
I had originally planned to meet with Emlyn, but since I knew he had already been caught by the Church of the Earth Mother, I decided against seeking him out.
There was no real need for me to involve myself in this matter, and besides, it was wiser to avoid Klein—he was practically a magnet for trouble.
"Thank you for your hard work as always, Tear. Have Mother and Father returned?"
"Madam is in her usual gallery, while Master has not yet come back," she answered politely.
"I see. Thank you. Don't forget to take a break if you grow tired," I replied, acknowledging her slight bow before making my way toward Mother's gallery.
I had already grown accustomed to this life. Human adaptability truly is a frightening thing.
"Mom, I'm back. Do you need any help?" I called out as I stepped into her gallery. The room was lined with mannequins draped in elaborate dresses, each radiating its own distinct charm.
"Welcome back~ Is it already time for dinner?" she answered lightly, her eyes still fixed on the gown she was adjusting. It was a piece of quiet elegance—deep midnight blue with delicate frills along the hem. The subdued fabric only served to enhance the brilliance of the large, resplendent gem adorning the chest, drawing all attention to its glow.
"Not yet. Father still hasn't returned," I said, already familiar with her habits as I began sorting through the leftover materials she no longer needed.
"What do you think?" she asked, gesturing toward the dress.
"It looks wonderful—especially if it were worn by someone like you, Mom," I replied honestly. 'Only if you stayed quiet and calm', I added inwardly, leaving the sharper words wisely unspoken.
"You jest. I'm far too old for this kind of striking dress," she replied with a lighthearted air, clearly assuming I was only flattering her—a thought that was only half untrue.
"Don't ever say that in front of your friends, Mom. They'll cut ties with you," I teased. Despite having a son my age, she still looked remarkably youthful.
"I know business has been good lately, but don't overwork yourself," I added, finishing the small bit of reorganizing before moving behind her to gently massage her shoulders.
"Mhm." She relaxed into the massage for a moment before speaking. "So, how much do you want?"
"Nah, I was just helping. But of course, I wouldn't refuse if Mom decided to give me something," I replied with a bright smile. After all, this ankle still felt heavy with debt.
Mother rolled her eyes. "You've gotten cheeky," she muttered, feigning dissatisfaction.
"By the way, Mom, where did you get that gem?" My gaze lingered on the jewel, strangely captivating—so much so that it was hard to look away.
"Oh, pretty, isn't it? I thought so too. Someone commissioned me to design a dress that would match this gem," she explained. It was one of her special orders—one she had received directly during a tea party attended by company heads and members of the nobility.
"So it's a custom-made order? You'll be delivering the dress tomorrow?" I asked for confirmation, my eyes still drawn irresistibly to the gem.
"Mm, I'll send it to Baroness Evergreen's mansion. It's so beautiful I almost want to keep it for myself." She reached out and brushed her fingers lightly across the gem.
"Mom?"
"Hehe, just joking." With a playful smile, she gave the dress one final inspection before carefully wrapping it, ready to be delivered the next day.
…Yet it was difficult to take her words as a mere joke. Behind the curtain of my mind, Occlumency stirred faintly in response. She seemed fine, and that was a relief, but still…
'Should I tell them about the Beyonders?'
***
The next day,
I felt a sense of relief as I watched Mother send off the dress along with the gem.
Today seemed destined to be yet another uneventful day—or so I thought. Suddenly, our professor announced with great excitement that his request had been approved: we would be visiting Roselle's museum next week.
But as I suspected, my interest remained absent. That sort of thing simply didn't appeal to me.
After class ended, I decided to take a walk around Backlund. There were two simple goals I hoped to achieve with this.
First, despite relying on Old Chris's memories, I wasn't truly familiar with the sprawling capital city of Dusk, Backlund. I knew the area around my mansion like the back of my hand—the East Borough, a shallow district where I occasionally hunted small-time thugs—but beyond that, my knowledge was limited.
The second reason was to familiarize myself with my new Evil Eye. It wasn't visible to the naked eye, so I could practice using it without anyone noticing and integrated my current battle style with it.
I said there were two reasons, but in truth, there was a third. I wanted to figure out more about this sequence—specifically, what I could do to accelerate the rate at which I digested its powers.
Sequence 7 ??? : Zoa Ele
Even by the system's standards, I was no longer a Taratect.
I knew I had said something similar before, but I'll still say it. What the hell was Zoa Ele? How was I even supposed to act like one?
With no other choice, I could only dive deeper into understanding my new abilities. The Evil Eye was familiar, but Spatial Maneuvering and Dark Bullet awakened a new level of spiritual awareness, forcing me to learn from scratch all over again.
Emlyn had been my best source of guidance, but with him kidnapped, that avenue was gone. The others weren't particularly helpful in matters of spiritualism either.
Should I pray to the Fool? But Klein was as much a novice as I was at the current moment.
The churches were out of the question.
Should I go to the library and look for information on Zoa Ele?
"Uriel, do you know anything about Zoa Ele?" I muttered, just in case she had some insight. I didn't hold out much hope.
'The Demon-like Judge of Fire says she doesn't know, but will ask the Scribe of Heaven.'