Notes

Chapter 41: Notes

In the dense forest, Iris pushed aside a cluster of branches and looked ahead.

Before her still stretched an endless sea of trees, with no end in sight.

"Where are we going?"

"To find where the merchant lives."

"But how do you know where he lives?"

Linton turned back and said calmly, "Iris, I carefully observed the surrounding terrain just now—towering mountains encircle this place, while only the area where the village stands is relatively flat. Geographically speaking, it's a basin."

"...What's the problem?"

"Let's set that aside for now." Linton lowered his voice. "Tell me, if someone could strip away part of a person's emotions, what kind of ability do you think they would have?"

"A Mind Mage," Iris answered without hesitation. "Their abilities allow them to manipulate people's emotions through various means, thereby controlling their thoughts. If you make an enemy of one, even a brief conversation could put you under their control. It's no exaggeration to say that they're the most terrifying kind of mage."

"As for stripping away emotions... only someone with extremely profound mastery of mind magic could do that, right?"

"Very good. Now we've preliminarily identified some of the traits of the person who created this bizarre village." Linton continued, "I remember that man telling us the village hadn't had outsiders enter for many years, and the only outsider who did was a mage—possibly an exceptionally powerful one."

"Do you remember what we discussed before? A mage needs to absorb vast amounts of knowledge to improve their strength. But what if the path they walk differs from those before them? Or rather, what if no one has ever reached farther ahead, and they need to blaze the trail themselves?"

"What do you think those mages would do?"

"—The clash between good and evil is a very interesting subject. And this place is a natural testing ground with more than enough material, isn't it?"

Iris suddenly fell silent.

She raised her head and looked around.

The mountains no longer looked like mountains. They were like enormous bars, intertwined with one another to form a massive cage.

The villagers no longer looked like people. They were lab rats. They could have thoughts of their own and move about within their small cages, but one day, they would have to fulfill the "mission" assigned to them.

"Of course, this is only my guess."

Linton suddenly smiled. "If we want to know the truth, we first need to find where the 'merchant' lives. Perhaps we'll find clues there."

"But we only know the general direction, and this place is so huge. How are we supposed to find it?"

"Iris, do you know?" Linton said softly. "When we were still in the village, I looked west."

"There's a mountain there. It's the shortest mountain nearby, but its vegetation is much sparser than the surrounding area. I could even count the trees on it with the naked eye."

"Think about it the other way around. From up there, wouldn't you be able to see everything exposed in that small village?"

Iris said in admiration, "I understand."

"To observe an experiment, you always need to choose a good spot, right?"

"Then let's go."

The facts proved that Linton's guess had not been wrong.

On that mountain, they found a simply constructed campsite.

The campsite consisted of several tents. They looked brand-new and spotless, clearly special items enhanced by magic.

When they lifted the flap and entered, the interior was bare and simple, containing only a portable folding table and chairs.

On the table lay an open notebook. Other than that, there was nothing.

"Too strange."

The moment Iris saw the notebook, a powerful sense of unease suddenly rose within her.

She felt as though that thing had been deliberately placed there, waiting for them to uncover its answers.

Linton looked around but found no other abnormalities.

So, remaining vigilant, he walked to the table, picked it up, and carefully flipped through it.

"July 13: After searching through more than half of the Kingdom of Blossoms, I finally found a place where those stupid knights won't bother me. Hah, good and evil—the innate nature of humanity. What kind of sparks will they create without interference from other factors? I'm really looking forward to it!"

"August 7: These ordinary people are far too slow. They took so long just to walk this little distance, and their physical condition is terrible too. I brainwashed several hundred people and made them come here, but so many died climbing a mountain that only a little over a hundred remain. Still, that's fine. Next, I'll unlock their memories and let them become suspicious of one another in hardship. Then this will become the finest breeding ground for evil."

"March 21: Not bad. These people truly haven't disappointed me. They've fought and excluded one another enough. It's time to harvest."

"March 30: Miscalculated. Malice filled with such impurities truly isn't easy to mold into form. Sigh, I'll find more people."

"September 17: After changing batches a few times, I finally found the balance point. I gave this collective of evil thoughts a name: Bella. It doesn't have any special meaning; it just sounds nice. Next, I need to fabricate an identity and background that fits a human living environment. Another huge project."

"October 2: Implanting the idea that everyone moved here from outside is largely complete. That gives them a simple background. They're only disposable tools anyway, so there's no need to make it too complicated. Next, I'll place Bella with some family. Hehe, a collective of human evil living with 'good people' who have lost all malicious thoughts. Just thinking about it is incredibly amusing!"

"February 7: Interesting, interesting. The collective of evil thoughts has actually developed other emotions such as regret and guilt, and is transforming into a real person. A product born from human thought will ultimately never escape its nature. No matter how pure it was originally, will it always develop toward a true personality? Or is it because humans are inherently an impure species, so I failed to extract the cleanest malice? Or perhaps pure kindness is simply too infectious? I'll need to observe further."

"January 29: Damn it. I forgot to come back for too long, and Bella's various emotions are already nearing a state of balance. I need to deal with this. Hm? These 'good people' have actually developed a little malice too? As expected, emotions can infect one another."

"."

"April 4: Damn it, I interfered too many times. Bella's balance has been destroyed. After she caused her 'parents' deaths, guilt devoured all her other emotions and instantly crushed her malice. Forget it. What's broken is broken. At least I gained something from it."

The notes ended there.

Linton had been wrong.

The key to the mission was not pursuit, but—

—Illusion!