In the black night, within the forest of green vines, Klein closed his eyes and listened to the melody that seemed to come from the horizon.
His body and mind were peaceful and calm, yet he felt a subtle gloom and sadness growing, spreading, and echoing.
After an unknown amount of time, the melodious tune finally faded. In the hanging pea vines, a gentle night breeze blew past.
Klein sighed silently, opened his eyes, and looked up. He saw the "Mystery Queen" Bernadette handing over a "human skull" full of holes to a "servant" with a human upper body and a wind lower body.
"It's done." Bernadette's soft, calm voice sounded.
"Thank you for your help." Klein bowed again and controlled the "Wraith" Senor to walk back to his side.
At that moment, the pea vines began to shrink upward, gradually fading, and the green forest quickly disappeared.
Klein and Senor simultaneously landed at the entrance of the bridge. The surroundings were quiet and empty, with only a squad of bridge guards not far away, their backs to them, exactly as before.
The scene from moments ago seemed like an illusion.
Only now did Klein have the leisure to examine his marionette. He found that it looked more like a corpse than before—pale-faced, chilling, with an eerie and unsettling aura.
This should be the result of a single large-dose erosion… If I were only guarding Chanis Gate once or twice a week for a day each time, it shouldn't be this severe. It's impossible that I wouldn't be able to bear it after two months… If this is how it is, even the orthodox churches couldn't afford such losses. Probably normal inner guards can survive several years, even a dozen years, but they're prone to mutations and loss of control midway… Sigh, they must have known this would be their end when they chose to become inner guards… Klein sighed and let the "Wraith" Senor project himself into the gold coin inside the iron cigarette case.
Then, he continuously used "Travel", first going to the sea to choose food for "Creeping Hunger", then returning to the master bedroom washroom at 160 Berklund Street.
…………
June 5th, Sunday, inside the Hall family castle.
Audrey was sitting at her desk, admiring the mystical item she had just acquired.
It was a black thin veil that reached up to the elbow, as if from a royal household, carrying an air of nobility and elegance.
It originated from the "Chaos Instructor" Beyonder characteristic sold by "The World" Gehrman Sparrow, crafted over a certain period by the "Artisan".
—Audrey had previously consulted her father, Earl Hall, and received the answer: "I'll allow it. You can use it yourself. It's good that you have such thoughts of filial piety." Hence, she specifically instructed Mr. "The Hanged Man" to have the "Artisan" make it into an item that a lady could carry around.
This also made her suspect that her father might have even better mystical items himself, or that the Church of the Goddess of the Night provided high-level protection.
According to Mr. "The Hanged Man"'s relay, this thin veil glove granted the wearer several supernatural effects:
First, it enhanced authority and physique, making creatures around involuntarily lower their stance and want to obey.
Second, it gave the ability to "distort" the target's language, actions, and intentions, thereby constructing rules beneficial to oneself.
Third, through symbolic "bribery", it generated strong goodwill in the target, making it hard for them to develop hostile intent, even making them unwilling to fight the wearer. If conditions were right, the bribed target had a small chance of attacking their companions instead. Audrey heard Mr. "The World" say that this was a kind of 'bribery' Beyonder ability called "Bribery – Charm".
Fourth, it caused "confusion" in the locked target or an area around, making attacks hard to land on the wearer and making enemies prone to "choosing" wrongly.
Audrey was very satisfied with these effects, but what troubled her was that because the "Artisan" wasn't advanced enough, the Sequence 5 mystical item's negative effects were quite significant:
First, it would gradually darken the wearer's psychology, making them always want shortcuts, conspiracies, and unscrupulous means. Second, after wearing it for more than three minutes, the user would also fall into a state of confusion. Audrey had tried it before, and as a result, she unknowingly made mistakes while bathing.
The normal procedure would be to first have the maid pour hot water and adjust the temperature, then undress, get into the bathtub, and finally finish washing. But Audrey got into the bathtub first, then turned on the cold water, and only remembered to take off her clothes when they were soaked.
Her only consolation was that she managed to control herself and didn't call the maid in to witness her embarrassment.
This makes me look like a crested baboon! Audrey thought, half-embarrassed and half-annoyed.
Regarding the first negative effect, she felt it was acceptable because she was a "psychiatrist", able to regularly examine herself and dispel some dark thoughts, and she also had Susie providing help from an outsider's perspective. But the second one seemed hard to bear.
The second negative effect was a big problem. She could only carry it around and wear it at critical moments. Oh right, I also have "Lie", which can amplify my emotions. Combined with this glove, it would make the darkness in my heart very severe—I might not be able to resist it now… Audrey's green eyes darted as she thought of solutions.
Just then, she heard a knocking sound.
Her personal maid, Annie, said outside:
"Miss, the Earl has something to see you about."
Leaving the black thin veil glove on the table, Audrey got up, walked to the door, and opened it.
Earl Hall, who was not wearing a coat at home, only a shirt and vest, stroked his beautiful mustache and chuckled:
"Not ready yet? We'll be returning to Backlund soon.
"Tomorrow night is your eighteenth birthday ball."
As he spoke, Earl Hall glanced at the maid Annie and the others, motioning for them to step back a distance.
"Ah, it's the social season again." Audrey nodded with feigned maturity. (Note 1)
Earl Hall looked at his daughter and asked with a smile: