Are You Satisfied?

Due to the high-magic environment of the ancient civilization, along with the coincidental existence of a species called "Giant Dragons," Ivette had begun to harbor some doubts about the Radiant Continent where Rosaline lived. But those doubts were quickly dismissed—if that were truly the case, then where had the first Mutants come from? That was still a mystery.

Over the next few days, Ivette did not continue studying those free materials on mythology and historical research. For one thing, there was simply too much information, an ocean of it that she could never finish reading. For another, she was only curious about the root cause of the Origin Civilization's apocalypse; she had no need to get to the bottom of it.

By comparison, she preferred observing Doctor Regal's treatment process and serving as a "very young" intern—after all, the money had already been paid in advance.

Those days continued for quite a while. Thanks to rumors that "Hoffman Clinic has an incredibly beautiful silver-haired, red-eyed girl," the clinic received far more patients than usual, and there was often a line at the entrance.

This left the Hoffmans exhausted but happy every day, because it seemed they might be able to pay off their children's student loans sooner.

But after roughly a month, those days came to an abrupt end.

That morning, three police officers arrived at their door with news that struck like a bolt from the blue, shattering the Hoffman family's peace—someone had reported Regal Hoffman for practicing medicine without a license, and the police had come to take him away for investigation.

Thus, when Hans and Mary returned from school that evening and learned what had happened, the entire Hoffman family fell into immense pain and grief.

"How could something like this happen..." After returning home from next door, Rosaline was at a loss. It had all come so suddenly that there had been no time to prepare.

Just yesterday, she had been happily chatting and playing with Hans and Mary, having dinner with Regal and Mrs. Susan. Today, that life was over. With the family's pillar gone, there was no way Mrs. Susan alone could handle Hans and Mary's expensive student loans. The best possible outcome was for them to transfer to an ordinary middle school, or perhaps simply drop out and find work.

You never knew whether tomorrow or disaster would come first... Ivette thought, not responding to her student.

There was nothing she could do about this either. It would have been one thing if Mr. Regal had been falsely accused, but he was guilty. Worse still, he had bought and studied pirated rune knowledge, an even more dangerous offense. With one crime piled atop another, unless he paid an enormous sum of money, he would face at least ten years in prison.

And those ten years would be enough for Hans and Mary to miss the most important stage of their lives, cutting off any possibility of rising above their class and condemning them to sink forever in the Blackwater District.

"Teacher, is there any way we can help them?" Rosaline asked pleadingly. She truly could not bear to watch her only two friends be dragged into such a whirlpool of suffering.

"It would be difficult. It's not completely impossible, but..." Ivette said. "There's no need, because this is only a dream."

She put it bluntly, and it was indeed the truth. She could spend money to get Regal out, but she did not know when the dream would suddenly end. She could not use the money she had set aside to buy important materials on something like this. That would be far too extravagant.

"Ah, right, it's a dream..." Rosaline froze for a moment before remembering that she was not in the real world, but in a dream existing in the spacetime of the past. No matter what she did in the dream, she could not change the established facts of what had already happened.

She fell silent and did not make any more unreasonable requests of her teacher, but she kept her head lowered, as if she could not pull herself out of her dejection.

The next afternoon, standing in the corridor on the eighteenth floor of Wright Apartment, Rosaline saw Hans and Mary emerging from their room with blank expressions, carrying cardboard boxes and placing them onto a small cart outside.

She walked over and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Mom discussed it with the apartment manager and transferred our lease to an empty room fifteen floors below. That way, we can get a little of the rent back..." Mary said in a low voice. Judging from her reddened eyes, she had probably cried many times since last night.

"So... don't worry. We're still living in the same apartment building." Hans tried to comfort her instead, forcing out a smile uglier than crying.

Rosaline did not know how to respond, so she could only take the initiative to help them move some things. As she carried the boxes, she suddenly remembered something and lowered her voice. "Um... have you ever thought about... who... reported him?"

"We don't know. The informant was anonymous. And now..." Hans sighed, his face full of exhaustion and helplessness. "What would be the point of finding out who it was?"

Rosaline said nothing more. She knew that even if they found the informant now, it would be useless. Everything was already too late. It was essentially an emotional impulse. She was curious whether the informant understood what consequences such a small action would bring, and whether he regretted what he had done.

A week passed.

As the last patient left with a sigh, the electronic sign representing "Hoffman Clinic" dimmed for the final time. This little clinic, which had quietly shone for so long, officially declared bankruptcy with the bleakness of a funeral. The news quickly spread through the neighborhood, and many people realized in shock for the first time that Doctor Hoffman, who had been so skilled and charged so little, had never possessed a medical license.

Yet because of his past performance and reputation, most of them still offered their condolences to the Hoffman family. Quite a few even brought gifts to visit them.

Another week passed. Unable to afford a lawyer, Regal stood trial in court.

But perhaps because he had shown a good attitude in pleading guilty, or perhaps because his reputation had earned the jury's sympathy, he received a relatively light sentence. What had been expected to be at least ten years became six.

It was still a long time, but it could barely be considered a blessing amid misfortune.

On the night they returned after the sentencing, Rosaline learned during a conversation with Hans and Mary that they had already applied to transfer schools.

Unable to afford a top-tier school like Black Tower Middle School any longer, they had transferred to Blackwater Middle School, a school so third-rate it could not possibly be more third-rate.

As for Mrs. Susan, she had set up a roadside stall on a noisy, filthy street corner, selling simple food to support the family and pay off the crushing interest on the student loans with her meager earnings.

This was the first time Rosaline had seen so clearly how a family could be destroyed.

In her eyes, the Hoffmans had done nothing wrong. They were all good people. Though Mr. Regal lacked a license, his abilities were genuine. He had saved patient after patient while charging low fees. He deserved flowers, not handcuffs. Yet now, a single anonymous report had destroyed them, entirely legally and by the rules, beyond any reproach. It was far too abnormal. It completely contradicted her imagination of the Origin Civilization as an advanced, beautiful, and prosperous world.

"Teacher," Rosaline said softly before the window of Room 1809, gazing down at Mrs. Susan's bent figure as she busied herself at the stall on the street corner below. Her voice was filled with deep confusion and bewilderment. "Why is it like this?"

"That's just how the world is," Ivette said without looking up. "At first, you simply didn't see all of it."

Rosaline fell silent. As a twelve-year-old girl from a backward civilization, her beautiful fantasies about the Origin Civilization had always remained firmly intact. Even witnessing gang shootouts had failed to shatter that filter.

But now, she had to admit that she felt a little disgust toward this world.

"Groni Clinic," Ivette said, looking at the holographic screen.

"What, Teacher?" Rosaline had not heard clearly.

"Groni Clinic. The attending physician is Gos Groni, the sender of the anonymous report. If you want to know what he thinks, you can go ask him now." Ivette lowered her eyes and spoke calmly.

As night deepened, autumn rain that chilled one to the bone began to drift down from the black sky. At first, it was only fine, nearly soundless threads of rain, but they soon began to patter against the metal walls and cold glass curtain walls. Beneath the murky streetlights, they wove together into a curtain of rain gleaming with a bleak silver light.

There were few people at the clinic on that rainy night. Only Gos Groni sat behind the counter inside. He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, lounging with his legs on the desk as he scrolled through videos on a holographic display. Only when Rosaline pushed open the door did he lower his feet and ask, "Little girl, are you buying medicine or here for a consultation?"

"You're Doctor Gos?"

"Yes. You know me?" Gos smiled.

"No. I want to ask why you reported Mr. Hoffman." Rosaline went straight to the point.

The smile vanished from Gos's face, replaced by astonishment and wariness. He rose from his stool and stood up, saying coldly, "What report? What nonsense are you talking about?! Who told you that? Did those poor bastards from the Hoffman family send you here to make trouble?"

"I know it was you. I just want to know why you did it." Rosaline raised her head to look at him. Though she appeared slender and small, she did not seem weak in the slightest.

"Why did I do it?" Gos sneered. After thinking for a moment, he answered, "Naturally... justice."

"Justice?" Rosaline stared at him in disbelief, feeling an indescribable absurdity.

"A fraud with no qualifications whatsoever, pretending to be a doctor and deceiving people! I stopped him. If that isn't justice, what is?"

"You shameless liar! You're lying! You were just jealous because Mr. Hoffman's business was better than yours, and so was his reputation!" Rosaline said through gritted teeth. She had already figured it out on the way here, but she still wanted to hear him admit it himself.

The night rain outside grew heavier, and lightning flashed within the black clouds. Gos wore a disdainful smile. "Even if you say that, I still did it for justice."

Then, looking at the girl's furious gaze, he continued, "If it wasn't justice, then why was my report accepted without issue? Why were the police able to arrest him 'legally and by the rules'? Why did a solemn national court convict him, in all seriousness, based on conclusive evidence?"

"That was obviously because... because..." For a twelve-year-old girl, it was too difficult to sort through the logic and counterattack in an instant. Rosaline only instinctively sensed that he was twisting words, but she could not say where the flaw lay.

"So the answer is obvious. Regal Hoffman is an evil criminal, and his wife and children are accomplices who benefited from a criminal." Gos shook his head and silently used the cybernetic implants on his body to issue a command, activating the store's defense program.

"They aren't, and you only reported him to steal his customers and make money!"

"What's wrong with doing it for money? A useless fraud like him belongs behind bars. I'm upholding justice and earning a little hard-earned money on the side. Is that not allowed?" He spoke without the slightest concern. "From beginning to end, this has been a very simple matter. Black is black, white is white. And you, cute little girl, what exactly did you want me to answer? What did you want to hear?"

"You..."

"And even if I said what you wanted to hear, what would that change? He was the one who confessed in court, not me. If you've got the ability, go report me too. But I have a medical license."

Hearing this, Rosaline finally fell silent. Her fists clenched and loosened several times. She nearly lost control and sent a spell flying at him. She still could not believe that someone could be so utterly shameless. She wanted nothing more than to dispose of him as Filth Demon on the spot. Otherwise, she felt as though she herself might soon mutate.

Don't do it, Rosaline, don't do it... Think of Teacher's instructions. Consider the consequences... She took deep breaths, her pupils trembling. Then she forcibly suppressed her emotions, turned around beneath Gos's mocking gaze, and headed for the door like a defeated puppy, miserable and disheveled.

The rain outside poured down in sheets, and the whole world seemed submerged in an inverted, freezing black sea. The moment she stepped out of the clinic, cold, damp air rushed into her face, clearing her mind considerably.

Then her gaze passed through the dense curtain of rain and caught an unexpected figure—her teacher.

Ivette stood several meters away on the sidewalk outside the clinic, dressed in a black gown and holding a black umbrella. She stood alone, keeping just the right distance from the roaring rain, like a god detached from the mortal world. When she saw Rosaline's bewildered eyes, the corner of her cool lips slowly curved upward, an exceptionally rare sight.

"Teacher, I'm sorry, I..." Rosaline walked over through the rain, lowering her head in shame.

But Ivette had no intention of criticizing her.

"Just now, you restrained yourself and didn't directly tear down his clinic. Teacher is very satisfied." She held the umbrella over her student's head and said gently, "As a reward, Teacher reported Gos for you. Are you satisfied?"