"Just some experience from handling cases, nothing to boast about." Haida shook her head quite modestly.
Her initial suspicion of Marian stemmed partly from intuition and partly from exhaustive reasoning.
If one spouse in a middle-aged couple is harmed, the other becomes the primary suspect... because you start eliminating suspects from those closest in relationship.
If that hadn't worked, Haida wouldn't have been discouraged. She would have used the most direct means to eliminate targets one by one until encountering the only "real person." That was the "exhaustive" approach.
Marian pursed her lips slightly. Already no longer young, she now looked even more tired and aged.
"[Memory Retrieval] is just a minor art embedded within the overall ritual array. What truly constructs this place is the White Cup Cult's first-category ritual, [Construct Dream Slumber]."
"The White Cup Cult? Why would they use a first-category ritual to trap me here?" Haida was puzzled.
A first-category ritual capable of fabricating a mental domain required incredibly rare materials, extremely obscure arrays, and often had exacting preparation conditions... Why waste it on her?
"It wasn't them. It was me. Grantham fell in battle, the White Cup Cult is no more. I took their final legacy from the ruins of the Central Academy."
"This..."
Haida was momentarily speechless. Even though she had prepared for the worst, Marian's answer still took her by surprise.
"And why would I do this? I know you're still confused, my child. Because the Secrets-Hunter Cult has also perished... the real 'outside world' you yearn for has lost its meaning, leaving only pain and despair."
Marian lowered her head, walked up to Haida, and almost pleadingly grasped her hands.
"Though false, here at least everyone is still alive, and everything remains as it was when hope still existed."
"Stay here. Haida, don't leave, don't die meaninglessly. I'm begging you..."
Marian's tears fell on Haida's hands, bringing a bone-deep chill.
With just these few sketched-out words, Haida already had a clear basic understanding of the "outside world" at this time. She also understood the reason Marian fabricated this illusion... it was to protect her.
Like a mother weaving a soft swaddle to shield an infant from wind and frost.
"You can be free from the General Affairs Division's endless assignments, no longer harassed by evil spawn and heretics. Live quietly, become the self you never were..."
"Become Haida Moira. Not the 'Burial Attendant' or 'Ahern's daughter'."
Haida did not respond to Marian immediately. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke with some difficulty.
"A hunter of heretics may die, may fall into confusion, but will never choose self-destruction. Ms. Marian, you know my choice."
"Yes, precisely because I know..."
Marian let out a heavy sigh, yet it also seemed like a release.
"Wake up."
The surrounding scenery began to blur and collapse. Haida felt as if she were falling from the clouds; the intense sensation of falling made her close her eyes involuntarily.
When she opened them again, she found herself in the top-floor room of the Sun-Forging Spire.
Looking down from the window, all she could see was a desert-like expanse of ruins and broken walls. Red sand blew, scattering like smoke, like a post-apocalyptic, doomsday scroll.
Marian was now sitting in a tall, square-backed chair before Haida. Life-support tubes, like ancient tree roots, were connected to her body. At the same time, a massive ritual array was inscribed beneath her seat.
Prayer texts, arranged like marching ants, spread downward from her forehead as the center, eventually covering the entire room.
Haida's pupils involuntarily contracted sharply.
"Ms. Marian... what happened to you?"
The Marian before her had aged beyond recognition. The tall, elegant, beautiful woman in her memory now looked as if she had entered extreme old age, on the verge of death.
"[Construct Dream Slumber] used my spirit as its framework. Once released, my spirit will naturally dissipate as well."
Marian's voice sounded slowly, thin as a mosquito's hum.
"Don't grieve for me. I should have died fifty years ago. I've only survived this long relying on these alchemical organs covering my body."
"Don't go near Norlington's center, my child. Flee. Don't feel ashamed. Survive at all costs. You are the last ember of the Secrets-Hunters..."
Her breathing grew faint, and her voice faded away along with her spirit. Haida remained silent. She gently kissed Marian's forehead, giving her final farewell.
Arriving in the "real" outside world, she didn't feel the expected clarity of clouds parting to reveal the sun, only growing more confused.
Dr. Fran said they were on a "quarterly house call," but where exactly had she brought her?
She reached into the pocket where Fran's hand had been, suddenly realizing she was no longer wearing the girl's thin nightgown, but the form-fitting nun's robe of a Burial Attendant, embedded with ceramic armor.
What she retrieved from her pocket was not a soft hand, but that ash-covered tome with its eight corner guards—the Aphoristic Silence.
In any case, she should leave this place first... Haida cleared her scattered thoughts. After tidying Marian's remains, she walked out of the spacious ritual chamber.
She descended the Sun-Forging Spire's long, spiraling staircase, step by step entering the ruins swept by red sand.
Suddenly, Haida saw a streetlamp of a strange design standing by the half-ruined roadside.
It was preserved too perfectly, with not even a trace of wear on the paint. Its presence here felt quite jarring.
The lamp post was rather short, reachable with an outstretched hand. Driven by a strong intuition, she removed the lampshade, wiped the dust from the glass cover, and a familiar face was revealed.
A few braids were woven into her hair; her locks and lashes were pale as frost... Without a doubt, placed within the lampshade was Fran's head.
Just as Haida was at a loss, Fran opened her amber eyes and offered today's greeting with a hint of a smile.
"Good day, Sister Haida."
She seemed to want to bend her arm in a salute, but being just a head, she obviously couldn't.
"You broke through the dream on your own in less than a day. You did very well. Hmm... good thing I left a 'hand' with you, otherwise this house call would have been even more troublesome."
Fran blinked slightly and nimbly stuck out her pink tongue, as if expressing an apology.
"Although it's just a head... it's good to see you, Dr. Fran."
"Likewise." Fran half-closed her eyes, seeming somewhat embarrassed.
"Hmm~ In the dream, one hand was enough, but in reality, I'll need Sister Haida's help to find the rest of me, alright?"
Haida placed the lampshade containing Fran's head into the crook of her arm and leaned back against the lamp post, slowly sitting down.
Witnessing Marian's aging and death firsthand had given her an unprecedented shock. The final moment of the other's fading life replayed constantly in her mind, each time bringing a bone-deep sorrow and horror.
She needed to rest for a while, to calm her agitated emotions.
Fran clearly understood Haida needed time to recompose herself, so she remained quiet in her arms, closing her eyes and waiting patiently.
After about five minutes, Haida felt her thoughts gradually regaining their calm. She then began asking Fran about the specifics of this quarterly house call.
"Dr. Fran... where exactly are we now? And what is all this really about?"
"That's not hard to explain."
Fran had clearly prepared the corresponding answer long ago and began recounting it fluently once Haida asked.
"We are currently in a certain 'future' of Norlington."
Hearing this, Haida nodded without surprise.
She had considered this answer, of course, but merely knowing this wasn't enough. She still needed to understand the reasons and causes behind Norlington becoming this way.
"I had guessed as much about that point. But what caused our world to be destroyed in the future? And... was this occurrence inevitable?"
"Inevitable? Of course not, dear Sister Haida."
Fran very much wanted to wag her index finger, but being just a head, she could only raise her eyebrows slightly as a gesture.
"Fate and the future are in a state of endless flux; every possibility leads the branches of history elsewhere. What's shown here is likely one of the 'worst developments.'"
"...I see." Haida let out a soft sigh.
Though she never believed in so-called inevitability, Fran's clear and precise answer did bring her a measure of calm.
"Actually, I'm not very familiar with this place either. What I'm saying now is just speculation based on experience. While you were unconscious for most of the day, I was stuck inside this lampshade, almost suffocated."
Fran casually complained and even yawned.
Haida narrowed her eyes slightly, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't speak.
Surviving as just a head was strange enough, and Fran currently didn't even have lungs... being suffocated wouldn't be much different now...
Also, vocal cords shouldn't be able to vibrate without lungs to push air, so theoretically, she shouldn't even be able to speak.
Just as Haida picked up the lampshade to stand and leave, Fran signaled her to sit a little longer and stay patient.
"Sister Haida, are you familiar with the 'Children of the Whiskered Tree' sect?"
Haida had indeed seen descriptions of this sect in some documents and proceeded to recount what she knew.
"A secret cult that worships the 'Temporal Banyan'. Medium-sized, uses family bloodlines as its inheritance system, whereabouts mysterious."
"That's a very obscure topic. Your grades during the preparatory period must have been very good, right? Hmm... as expected of a top student?"
Fran teased, then continued based on Haida's words.
"Every branch and aerial root of the Temporal Banyan represents a trend of the future—perhaps hope remains, perhaps on the brink of destruction. Besides that, there are also some differences among these various branches..."
"After all, no two leaves have identical veins. Snowflakes may look alike, but their crystal patterns are also not the same."
After hearing Fran's explanation, Haida had completely regained her composure. She then thought of a new, very important, and practical problem.
"Right, Dr. Fran... where are your medical case and my sword?"
"Oh, that's why I asked you not to leave just now." Fran glanced at the searing red sand beneath the streetlamp.
"Our personal items are buried under the sand. I'm afraid you'll have to dig them out..."
Bad news: the items are buried deep; there's a lot of sand to move.
Good news: Haida moves sand very quickly.
Her arms were strong, her movements swift, like a human bulldozer. Within a few breaths, a mound of displaced sand had piled high, and a case and a sword were clearly visible in the pit.
"Vmm—"
Haida wiped the sand from the crossguard of the power sword "Nirvana" and sheathed it, eliciting a fine metallic ring.
Although Fran was still avoiding physical labor as usual, this time she seemed perfectly at ease, very much at peace. After all, she truly didn't have the ability... The only help she could offer now was an encouraging look.
"Where do we go next? Since it's a house call, there must be a patient. Like last time in the Lands Between."
"Sister Haida, this time we'll probably have to find my body first and meet the patient last... Looking like this, I'm hardly in a state to treat anyone, right?"
Fran inside the lampshade let out a soft sigh, blowing the hair falling across her cheek to the side—evidently not having hands was quite inconvenient.
"Besides, my 'Secondary Medicine Cabinet,' where I store rare drugs, is mostly placed within my torso and limbs. It wouldn't be good to lose it here and pollute the environment."
Haida glanced at the city ruins covered in red sand all around, her expression momentarily subtle. After a brief silence, she didn't respond.
Sometimes it was hard for her to follow Fran's uniquely angled train of thought. This person's first reaction upon thinking the medicines might be lost wasn't distress over the loss, but worry about environmental pollution...
"Of course, I'm just concerned the treatment might not achieve optimal results. If surgery is necessary, being like this could still work."
Fran moved her remaining half of a neck slightly, relieving some muscle stiffness.
"...Like this?"
Haida had witnessed Fran's almost preternatural medical skills firsthand, so she generally didn't doubt her in this regard.
But right now, she was genuinely curious... how could one perform surgery without limbs.
"Mhm-hmm~ I know, it's hard to believe."
Fran, as if anticipating this, took one of the white braids near her cheek into her mouth.
She pursed her soft lips, then opened them, revealing a complete and complex 'Qijing' knot (a decorative knot).
"Sister Haida, would you like to see a Cassia Knot or a Pipa Knot?" She blinked slightly, looking somewhat proud.
"That's not necessary. I think I understand."
Looking at the knot woven from hair, Haida ultimately didn't ask further. Although she still didn't know how Fran could perform surgery, her tongue-knotting technique was indeed nothing short of divine...
"Sigh, if we were at Fog Street Clinic, switching to a spare 'Prayer Hand' would solve the problem... wouldn't need to go through all this trouble."
Hearing Fran's casual complaint, Haida's gaze sharpened, as if she had thought of something important.
"Dr. Fran, here there's Ms. Marian, Grantham from the Central Academy, and naturally another 'me'... then there should be another 'you' as well? Couldn't she treat you?"
"Good thinking."
The corner of Fran's lips lifted slightly, revealing a hint of a smile.
+++
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