This time, it was Schmidt's turn—the one who had been hiding in the corner, trembling incessantly. The White Cup teaching assistant was now shaking like a sieve, unable to even speak coherently.
"No, Lady Hermit, don't kill me! I was coerced by them, yes, I was forced. They left those things in my brain; if I didn't obey their orders, I'd end up like those two..."
As he spoke, he pointed at the two who had been sitting at the parliamentary round table without saying a word. Although their eyes were open, they couldn't speak, like two living statues cast from plaster.
Schmidt couldn't see the Hermit lady's expression through that night-like grey gauze, but he keenly noticed Elsa's expression softening for a moment.
He immediately knelt and prostrated himself, then tried to kiss the back of Fran's foot to show submission. But because her legs were almost entirely concealed beneath the grey gauze robe, he had to give up.
"I am willing to confess, I am willing to make amends, please hand me over to the White Cup cult for judgment..."
Fran smiled softly and looked at Elsa beside her.
"Elsa, what is your opinion?"
"Perhaps handing him over to the White Cup cult would be better..."
Elsa looked at Schmidt who was groveling on the ground, her emotions complex. Everything today had been too shocking for her, and she couldn't calm down for a long time. After a long moment of weary thought, she added,
"But please let Ms. Flamel make the final decision. My opinion might be shallow and could potentially lead to disaster..."
"You!"
Hearing the second half of Elsa's words, Schmidt felt a surge of anger for a moment. But before he could stand up... the tailbone of the Chimera Spine pierced his chest.
Fran raised her hand and yawned, shook off the bloodstains, and then retracted the Chimera Spine "Sphinx."
She then looked at Elsa, who had fallen to the ground beside her, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the blood plasma from her cheek.
"Elsa, this is the real world you wanted to understand. Do you have a clear understanding now?"
"I..."
Elsa hesitated, her resolve from before departure now wavering. However, she stubbornly shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I still don't want to give up on my ideals..."
"Elsa, why apologize? You haven't done anything wrong."
Hearing this, Fran curled the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
"Now, let's follow your wish and peel back another layer of these known 'appearances.'"
As she spoke, she raised her wrist. The linked chain of Hand Reaches for the Moon instantly shot out, coiling around Nikolas's corpse and Gunes's shattered skull and dragging them back.
"Look, whether it's the 'Host' here or this 'Doorkeeper.' Their cranial cavities lack brains."
"They died the moment parasites ate their brains."
As Fran quite patiently explained and pointed it out to Elsa, she suddenly realized with a shock... these two people's heads had no contents! After their heads were shattered, there was only blood, no brain matter.
"The parasitized individuals are no longer structurally complete, yet they still maintain 'thought.' Because the Cistanche has reached a symbiotic balance with their bodies... This is why this secret art can be ranked as second-category, upper-tier."
As she spoke, she nudged Schmidt, who appeared to be a corpse on the ground, with her foot, her amber gaze carrying a hint of mockery.
"Schmidt, I've patiently performed this one-man show with your puppets for so long..."
"You didn't think you could get away by playing dead, did you?"
Fran's amber eyes curved slightly like crescents, her smile clear, yet it only made one feel a profound chill.
In fact, when she first heard Elsa talk about the Star Chart Research Society, she only thought it was an ordinary secret gathering. Although it might have been infiltrated by fanatics, those harboring ill intentions were probably only a small part... or a single individual.
If it turned out like the Sun-Forgers Cult, where upon entering, she found almost everyone dead, that would be too unlucky.
It wasn't until Fran stepped into the Mandala Tavern's private room, smelled the faint blood scent on the attendees and host, saw something wriggling within their seemingly normal "spirit"...
That she could confirm this branch organization of the Stellar Abyss Society had now transformed into a puppet theater dominated by parasites.
And the mastermind manipulating everything was also hiding among the puppets, quietly waiting for newcomers not yet infected by the Cistanche to step into the trap.
The only person without any trace of Cistanche parasitism in their brain was actually the seemingly weak White Cup teaching assistant, Schmidt.
Thus, the true identity of the culprit was also laid bare.
"Afraid you'd be too bored with your one-man show, so I also offered an impromptu performance. Although there was no thunderous applause... but perhaps the effect was okay?"
As she spoke, the black linked chain of Reach for the Moon on Fran's wrist began to squirm and activate again. Clearly, if Schmidt didn't stop playing dead... she wouldn't mind making it real.
Schmidt, with his pierced chest, slowly stood up. Although viscous blood plasma oozed from the wound, it quickly sealed shut.
Of course, this was only an emergency measure to prevent the injury from worsening further; it didn't mean he was healed.
"Truly terrifying."
His gaze dark, he stared intently at Fran, muttering in a low voice.
"Rumors say Lamp Prophets can gradually learn everything about their opponents during battle. Now it seems, it's true to its name..."
"Thanks for the undeserved praise."
Fran accepted this praise without any psychological burden, then extended the steel limb of the Chimera Spine from her back again. She didn't plan to waste any more time. If Schmidt didn't have any surprises for her... then this farce should end.
Schmidt stared fixedly at the sharp tip of the Chimera Spine "Sphinx," forcibly suppressing the urge to retreat.
It resembled Sun-Forgers' crafting, but more precise and clever. Besides metal, it also contained some kind of bone material, possessing an agility akin to a real living creature.
"Lady Hermit, are you the Prophet sent by the Veiled Assembly to investigate the 'Nightmare Guest'?"
Clearly, Fran had no intention of answering this question.
The tailbone of the Chimera Spine "Sphinx" swept out as usual, looking like it would shatter Schmidt's upper body into pieces just like Gunes.
Although Cup Phase spirit can grant flesh far greater vitality than the mundane, it's ultimately still composed of fragile protein... Physical damage, once accumulated to a certain degree, can still take life.
"Please wait, perhaps we still have room for a deal..."
The sweeping forged tailbone didn't hesitate in the slightest; Schmidt could even hear the tearing sound of wind being ripped apart.
"I know the whereabouts of the Nightmare Guest!"
At the critical moment, the sharp tip of the tailbone stopped like a suspended needle just before his forehead, an inch away from piercing his skull.
Fran stopped driving the Chimera Spine, clearly quite interested in this topic.
"You know where that kid is?"
"Lady Hermit, I know I have no right to set conditions. But as long as you are willing to let me go... I will openly and honestly tell you everything I know."
Seeing that this monstrous woman finally showed a tendency to talk, Schmidt couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. For a moment there, he even felt he had already died...
Without much deliberation, Fran nodded slightly, agreeing to his request.
"Alright."
Not hesitating much meant the Hermit considered the Nightmare Guest more important than me. Or perhaps... she never intended to let me go in the first place.
Schmidt licked his lips. Although the threat to his life was still imminent, he finally had a moment to catch his breath.
"Please swear by the deity you worship."
Fran nodded, not refusing the other's reasonable request.
But finding pen and paper at this moment would obviously be too cumbersome, so she began dictating the contract.
"Condition: Inform me of the whereabouts of the 'Nightmare Guest.'"
"Contract Content: By the radiant light of the enduring Lamp and the ceaseless whispers of the grey moths, I, Flamel, swear tonight I will not take the life of the White Cup teaching assistant Schmidt. Nor will I harm you in any way, or restrict your actions."
Although only verbal, such contracts, with one's own spirit as the wedge, also had sufficient validity.
After completing this, Fran looked at Schmidt, who had already breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Alright, speak quickly. Any longer and the Secrets-Hunters will arrive. Or are you... just stalling for time, waiting for the hunters to come?"
"Lady Hermit, you jest."
Schmidt waved his hand.
"If I fell into the hands of those fanatics, I'd rather be killed by you here."
The banter to ease tension soon ended, and he began to recount what he knew.
"That guy the Secrets-Hunters call 'Nightmare Guest' actually comes from the Six-Eyed Crow cult. He had been lurking in Norlington until last year, but only today did he make preparations to take action against the Lamp cult's priests."
"He attended a Star Chart Research Society gathering once. Very sharp. He neither ingested the Cistanche, nor died in our subsequent ambush. However, like you, he made a deal with us."
"The specific content is not convenient to delve into. What I can tell you is that the Six-Eyed Crow cult's largest secret stronghold is located in Gormouth's capital, 'Moldway.' After completing his task of acquiring spirit-infused materials, he should also return there."
Fran's gaze sharpened slightly, falling silent for a moment.
Although the information Schmidt provided wasn't specific, it was a quite interesting direction. Coincidentally, she was planning to go to Gormouth next quarter; she might as well make pursuing the Nightmare Guest a side activity.
Under Schmidt's nervous gaze, she finally nodded.
"You may leave."
"Thank you for your trustworthiness..."
As he spoke, Schmidt grabbed a coat from the hat rack and put it on, then passed his hand over his face, his appearance instantly changing. After doing all this, he prepared to leave this now unsafe place of trouble.
Elsa, who had been observing the whole process, couldn't help but purse her lips.
Ms. Flamel seems to really intend to let him go...
Even someone at the level of a High Priest of the Four Major Orthodox Cults could actually tolerate a fanatic bearing countless blood crimes and make deals with them without any qualms?
Just as this thought surfaced in her mind, a one-handed ceremonial sword carrying dazzling, scorching light shot out, cutting Schmidt in half at the waist as he reached the door.
The radiance wrapped around the sword blade was so brilliant, like the blooming auroras under a solar storm.
"Cough!"
Schmidt, having lost his lower body, crashed heavily to the ground. He then stared fixedly at Fran, eyes wide with fury.
"You intend to break your word? Hah, do you plan to betray your faith in the deity? Or are you simply not a Lamp-Moth disciple at all... But that's impossible..."
"In fact, I did nothing."
Fran spread her hands quite innocently, as if trying to convince the other she truly did nothing.
"It's my maid acting on her own, it has nothing to do with me, you see?"
Before the words finished, Sigrid had already severed Schmidt's remaining arms, reducing him to a limbless torso. Although sprouts of flesh could be seen at the severed ends, because the wounds were highly carbonized, they were completely unable to heal.
"You bitch..."
Schmidt's curses lasted only an instant before stopping abruptly. He saw that sun-like blade approaching his face. It seemed if he said one more word, his throat and tongue would be cut out.
"In fact, I gave you a 'fair' chance. You just didn't seize it."
Fran tilted her head slightly, as if lamenting his failure.
"The downside of the academic faction is easily falling into rigid dogma. Although I said in the contract I wouldn't harm you in any way, I could completely leave this matter to other self-aware individuals... Oh, expecting a Moth disciple to show you honesty is inherently a foolish display."
"Actually, I was just trying it out casually; I just didn't expect you to be so easily fooled."
"You..."
Veins bulged on Schmidt's forehead; he very much wanted to abandon the decorum of an educator and utter the most vicious insults. But seeing the blazing ceremonial sword suspended to the side, he restrained the urge.
"Don't hand me over to the Secrets-Hunters, I still have things to tell you! Don't you want to know why the Star Chart Research Society fell?"
"Hmm... I am indeed interested in that."
Quite honestly, Fran admitted this.
However, she didn't bring up another contract. Instead, she recalled Sigrid and placed her sword hilt into Elsa's hand.
"Elsa, go end this farce."
Elsa felt the scorching heat from the sword hilt and was momentarily at a loss. Originally, she thought Ms. Flamel would say something more, but she actually planned to kill Schmidt directly... and entrusted this task to her.
Seeing her hesitate, Fran glanced sideways and asked beside her.
"You wanted to understand this world more deeply, to step out of the cradle and ignorance. Isn't that your wish?"
"Without personally taking a life, you'll probably never feel the weight of 'reality.'"
Although Schmidt was once her teacher, with a shallow teacher-student bond, he had now become an irredeemable fanatic, committing countless killings... undoubtedly deserving death.
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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