Friendly? Upon hearing "The World" Gehrman Sparrow's question, "The Magician" Fors nearly suspected her own ears.
Instantly, the pieced-together head of Mr. X, riddled with cracks, gaps, and bloodstains, surfaced in her mind.
Just as Fors was pondering a suitable explanation, "Justice" Audrey glanced at her, then looked towards "The World" Gehrman Sparrow with a faint smile: "What's important for making the Abraham family feel your friendliness isn't what you did, but what 'The Magician' young lady wrote in the letter."
Right. Unless I appear directly before her teacher, his knowledge of me will be limited to rumors and whatever 'The Magician' tells him... As long as she spins a good story, it doesn't matter if it matches reality... Klein suddenly realized he had been overthinking the matter.
"Huh?" "The Magician" Fors had a partial understanding of "Justice" young lady's words, but it wasn't completely clear.
"Justice" Audrey looked at "The Hermit", "The Star" and the others, then said to Fors: "You need to convey Mr. World's goodwill to your teacher. To do that, you can weave a few stories instead of telling the literal truth."
"So how should I put it?" "The Magician" Fors asked earnestly.
This wasn't because she was bad at making up stories—on the contrary, it was her specialty. The problem was, writing a novel people enjoy and crafting a story people believe are not the same thing. For the latter, getting advice from an "experienced" psychologist would undoubtedly make it much easier.
"Justice" Audrey had already thought through the details of the letter before speaking, and now answered at an unhurried pace: "Obviously, your teacher must have already noticed your rapid advancement. And because of Mr. X's death and various sensitive issues, he's wary and vigilant about the Beyonder circles you're involved in."
"Mm." Fors nodded almost imperceptibly, agreeing with young lady Audrey's assessment.
If her teacher, Dorien
"Justice" Audrey continued: "Despite this, he's still keeping in touch with you, teaching you knowledge, giving you formulas, and providing materials. This shows that on one hand, he recognizes your character and integrity, and on the other, he holds some expectation for you becoming a Sequence 4 demigod, and for you gathering important intelligence from those mysterious and dangerous Beyonder circles.
"What we need to... is to use this psychology."
Audrey had originally intended to use the more neutral term "grasp" instead of "use," but after a brief pause, she chose to be direct with herself and face the matter head-on.
Seeing "The Magician" Fors adopt a posture of attentive listening, and noting that "Judgment", "The Star", and "The Hermit" were also quite expectant of what she would say next, "Justice" Audrey pressed her lips together slightly: "After you return, you can write to him, saying you've become a 'Traveler'. This will make him both delighted by your growth and suspicious of such an exaggerated advancement speed. Then, answer the question he previously posed: the gentleman seeking to buy the 'Star Bug' mentioned something—that the ancient curse in the Abraham family's bloodline seems to come from a hidden entity known as 'Mr. Door'.
"This is a question your teacher never told you about but absolutely cares about.
"Undoubtedly, he'll feel fear towards the gentleman who appears to know about your connection with the Abraham family and want to evade him. However, he will also inevitably crave to learn more, to understand what secrets the curse that has tormented generation after generation of the Abraham family hides, and whether there is any solution.
"At the same time, exchanging letters rather than meeting in person will give him a certain sense of security. He might change his residence, alter his identity, and adopt more roundabout methods to send and receive letters, but he is highly unlikely to cut off contact.
"Maintain this contact. Step by step, reveal more valuable information, awaken your teacher's desire, and through this, shape the image of 'Mr. World', allowing your teacher to sense a certain... goodwill."
At this point, Audrey stopped and once again looked towards "The World" Gehrman Sparrow.
She could more or tell that "Mr. World" was expressing goodwill towards the Abraham family because he needed something from them, but what exactly he wanted, she wasn't a Prophecy Master and she hadn't read Gehrman Sparrow's mind, so naturally she couldn't guess, and thus couldn't elaborate further.
Klein nodded and gave "Miss Magician" a hoarse smile: "Once this indirect contact is established, I may propose a transaction to your teacher — offering a promise to lift the curse in exchange for some valuable items."
Through the witch Triss, he had actually already obtained the method to resolve the Abraham family's curse, but he had no intention of using it to trade for the "Pathway of the Wanderer" potion formula and a Grade "0" sealed artefact.
On one hand, the values were far from equivalent — the gap was too great, and Klein would feel guilty. On the other hand, he didn't want to simply release the dangerous existence known as "Mr. Door" back into the real world. That would be irresponsible towards himself and all the innocent citizens.
What he was considering was finding an alternative approach — one that would make the Abraham family's curse disappear to some degree. In other words, it might still exist, but it would no longer interfere with the Abrahams' normal lives or their advancement within a certain range.
*So that's how it is... A high- to mid-tier Beyonder in the domain of the mind is truly formidable — making people do what she wants without them even realizing it... Compared to when I first met her, "Miss Justice" is like a completely different person. She's both terrifying and admirable...* "Miss Magician" Florence glanced at Xio and seemed to read a similar sentiment in the other woman's eyes.
She thought for a moment, then mustered her courage and said to "The World" Gehrman Sparrow: