Inside the building of the Loen Relics Collection and Protection Foundation, Audrey, her mind in turmoil, blinked and watched her own subtle expressions and gestures. She half‑genuinely, half‑performatively traced a crimson moon over her chest and sighed.
“This is a tragedy. May their spirits rest in peace.”
She had guessed that the people on the archaeological team were members of the Psychology Alchemists because she had once accepted a job to obtain a notebook from Associate Professor Michel for that organisation. The notebook dated from the period of the Twenty Years War and had belonged to Lindrela, a former knight of Hedrack village.
At the time, Audrey asked Mr. Fool for help. Using a “mirror divination” she confirmed the notebook’s origin and found that it was closely connected to a dragon‑worshipping village. Knowing in advance that a Mind Dragon that could hide itself in the collective subconscious sea lurked there, and considering her own Sequence and lack of strength, she had eventually chosen to turn the notebook over to the Psychology Alchemists.
In other words, it was highly likely that the secret Psychology Alchemist organisation had used the notebook to locate Hedrack village and gone there to find the target.
Another clue that led Audrey to this conclusion was the strange mental illness that had struck the archaeological team. It spread like a plague, driving one person after another mad.
In the ordinary world, mental illness can be inherited but it is almost never contagious. In the mystical world, however — in the realm of the spirit and consciousness — a chaotic, insane mind can indeed infect its target through channeling, dream‑entry, subconscious influence, and similar means.
And in Hedrack village lurked a Mind Dragon that had lived for who knew how many years!
The Psychology Alchemists traced the notebook to Hedrack village, and there the threatened Mind Dragon cleverly contaminated their minds one after another? It might have done so through the collective subconscious sea… The supernatural world is truly dangerous. Such a “team”, several carefully selected Beyonders, ended their lives in such an absurd and simple way… As she thought this, Audrey was glad she had made a rational choice back then. If she had stubbornly taken the knight’s notebook and explored Hedrack village herself, there would almost certainly have been one more name on the list of those driven mad.
Thank you, Mr. Fool, thank you all my fellow Tarot Club members, and thank you, Zilingus, who infiltrated in disguise earlier. Because of you, even though I have little actual experience in mysticism, I clearly understand that too many dangers hide here, and one must be very cautious and careful… Audrey offered her silent thanks.
At this moment, thinking back to how she had acted when she first joined the Tarot Club, she wanted to bury her face in a pillow and shout at herself:
“Audrey, how could you be so naive and so childish back then?
“It was only because you met Mr. Fool. If it had been any other hidden existence, you’d have gone mad or become a monster long ago!
“Mr. Fool really is a good person! No, he’s a very good righteous god!”
Noticing that Miss Audrey had been silent for a long time, Associate Professor Michel nodded gravely.
“Yes, it’s a frightening tragedy.
“I only hope the government has already handled this and hasn’t let that contagious mental illness turn into a plague.”
Don’t worry. Unless that Mind Dragon loses control and decides to challenge the three major churches, there won’t be any more people infected by that mental illness… Audrey silently replied.
In her opinion, the official Beyonders must have already taken over the matter, since a contagious mental illness would be naturally handed over to them.
Therefore, the dragon emblem in the glass display case must have been confirmed as safe before being donated to the foundation — the police department doesn’t have the authority to do that!
Audrey felt a strong sympathy for the deceased members of the archaeological team, who were presumably from the Psychology Alchemists, as if she had experienced the tragedy herself. At the same time, she was curious whether that Mind Dragon was still in Hedrack and the surrounding countryside.
Hiding physically inside the collective subconscious sea of living beings ought to make it very hard to discover or find… Still, the three major churches have long histories. In the Fourth Epoch, even earlier, they must have crossed paths with Mind Dragons, so there might be records that have survived… Moreover, the Psychology Alchemists control the Spectator pathway and have high‑sequence existences. Their understanding of the collective subconscious sea probably isn’t much less than that Mind Dragon’s. After the first disastrous failure caused by insufficient information, the team they send next will surely be very strong… Hmm, although that Mind Dragon is stronger than the Psychology Alchemists expected, it wouldn’t stay put and wait for them to find it. It must have already left… Audrey speculated from what she knew.
She had no intention of going to Hedrack village to uncover the truth; she knew that her current strength was not enough to deal with that Mind Dragon.
Her only plan for now was to bring up the matter at the next Tarot Club gathering and see if the other members could contribute valuable knowledge — for example, whether the local dragon‑worship