Purpose (Happy Children's Day!)

At night in the hospital, Harven, who had just returned from the gathering, took over for Beth, who still needed to look after Little Thomas.

"You... forget it. Get some rest. You had a pretty bad day too."

With a sigh, Harven sat down in the chair beside the hospital bed, lowered his head, and sank into thought, though no one knew what he was thinking.

It was not until Owen returned to the hospital with the healing potion that the silence in the room was broken.

As he handed over the potion, he complained to Cyril, "You never told me Harvest Cathedral was like that, did you?"

"At first, I thought I had gone to the wrong cathedral. Then I thought that priest had some strange hobby. In the end, I even had to persuade that special 'Apothecary' locked in the basement to prepare a healing potion for your injuries."

"Oh, right. There's nothing wrong with the potion. I already divined it."

Cyril glanced at Harven. Seeing no reaction from him, he accepted the potion Owen handed over.

"What did he ask for?"

Owen curled his lip. "Afterward, you have to find a way to make that incredibly intimidating priest let him out from behind that door."

"And you can't drag it out. Once your injuries have healed, you have to get it done as soon as possible. I already swore on your behalf beneath Mother Earth's holy emblem."

"Can that be done in someone else's place?" Cyril looked at him in slight astonishment.

Owen shrugged. "Anyway, the priest knows what the situation is."

After a pause, he turned to glance at Harven, who was sitting in the chair and apparently deep in thought, before saying,

"Since someone's looking after you, I'll head home and study. The graduation exams start in a few days, so I need to revise extra hard."

"I still think throwing an eraser to guess answers during exams suits you better."

He muttered softly, then nodded slightly and watched Owen leave.

After Owen left, Harven, who had remained silent the whole time, suddenly spoke. "Is that a Beyonder potion in your hand?"

"Is the request from that special 'Apothecary' your friend mentioned troublesome?"

"If fulfilling his request is too troublesome, you can give up on that potion. Mr. Portland hinted to me about the mysterious world before. He might be able to produce this kind of Beyonder potion too."

Cyril instinctively asked, "So you were spacing out just now because you were considering asking Mr. Portland to get me a Beyonder potion that could heal my injuries?"

Harven nodded lightly. "More or less. Before Beth left, she quietly told me that the wound on your side might leave lasting complications."

After a brief silence, he said earnestly, "Thank you."

Harven frowned, seemingly unaccustomed to Cyril suddenly being so polite.

Pressing his lips together slightly, he changed the subject. "Mr. Portland said that the world of Beyonders is dangerous. That danger doesn't only come from the outside. It also comes from Beyonders themselves, and it can even affect the people around them."

"So when he told me to think it over carefully, I hesitated. I still haven't given him an answer."

Cyril suddenly fell silent. He thought of old Fells. If Fells had not known him and had not been relatively directly connected to him, he would not have become Zoila's tool for approaching Cyril, dying at her hands for no clear reason.

Although Zoila had killed old Fells, Cyril felt that he bore half the responsibility. If Fells had not known him, he might have enjoyed a peaceful old age.

I used to think the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence was pretty cool when I read about it, but now that it was really happening to me, I finally understood how fucking awful it felt. There was no avoiding it, no escaping it. No one could stay uninvolved.

As those thoughts swirled through his mind, he suddenly felt a calm rise from within. His turbulent emotions were soothed, and his taut mind relaxed.

Coming back to his senses, he quickly looked around. A "Spectator" had clearly used "Soothing" on him just now, calming his state of mind and emotions.

Although he would not lose control merely from thinking too much, an accumulation of negative emotions truly had a considerable impact on a Beyonder's mental state.

As he looked around, a gentle, aged voice suddenly sounded in his heart. "No need to search. I am merely a traveler who happened to pass through your Mind World. I saw a little tide and casually smoothed it over."

"As a Beyonder, the greatest taboo is falling into self-doubt."

The voice echoing in his heart gradually faded, as though its speaker were rapidly moving away from him.

...It wasn't Adam?

...Still, happening to pass through my Mind World at exactly this moment was a coincidence so deliberate it wasn't even trying to hide it.

As he pondered, a well-defined hand waved back and forth before his eyes. "Cyril, what are you thinking about? I called you several times, but you didn't respond."

"Uh, I was thinking that you could actually resist the temptation of becoming a Beyonder."

Cyril hesitated slightly before casually making up an excuse.

Harven chuckled and shook his head. "If it's really as dangerous as Mr. Portland says, then it doesn't count as much of a temptation."

"I'm not a mysticism enthusiast like you. Compared to mysticism, I prefer technology and machinery."

"Besides, Mr. Portland mentioned that while most Beyonder abilities are miraculous, they aren't particularly powerful. They can still be killed by blades and bullets."

Cyril tilted his head. There did not seem to be anything wrong with that, but...

"Then didn't Mr. Portland tell you that the Pathway he recommended belongs to the God of Steam and Machinery, and that it can greatly improve a Beyonder's talent in the mechanical field?"

Harven's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. "Re... really?"

Cyril shrugged. "Otherwise, why do you think all technical professionals are in the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Harven had already risen from his chair and headed toward the ward door.

"Stay in the ward and rest properly. I'm going to find Mr. Portland."

Cyril watched Harven's hurried retreating figure in speechless disbelief. Wait, where did your composure go?

Retracting his gaze, he opened the potion Owen had brought, drank half of it, and poured the remaining half over his wound.

Very soon, he felt a slight heat and itch from the wounds on his body. Curious, he lifted the bandage on his shoulder and saw the flesh at the wound wriggling and growing at a visible speed.

"This potion Emlyn prepared is something else. Its effect is incredibly good."

"To show sincerity? No, more likely so that I could fulfill my promise quickly and rescue him from Harvest Cathedral's basement."

"Working as a volunteer under Father Utravsky counted as rescuing him too, right? He would indeed be out of the basement, and he could stay in his Progenitor's cathedral every day."

After muttering a few words under his breath, he pulled over the blanket, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, he was awakened by the sound of the door opening as Owen rushed excitedly into the ward.

Cyril looked at him curiously. "You don't have class today either?"

Owen casually pulled over a chair and sat down, then said with an extremely serious expression,

"I think you were right. As a qualified Seer, I should use divination to obtain answers during exams instead of spending this little bit of time before them studying hard."

"Oh, right. How much longer are you staying in the hospital?"

Cyril: ...

A qualified Seer would not be troubled by exams. They were knowledgeable people by nature.

After silently mocking him, Cyril sat up in bed, moved his body a little, and said,

"I'm being discharged today."

Owen asked hesitantly, "You were hospitalized with serious injuries yesterday, and you're leaving today. Won't that arouse suspicion?"

Cyril shook his head. "There has always been suspicion, but nothing will happen."

"The Machinery Hivemind people definitely already know that you brought me a potion from Harvest Cathedral, but the Church of Mother Earth is also an orthodox deity church. It's a legitimate channel."

"I met Archbishop Horamick yesterday. My identity as a Beyonder probably can't be hidden, but I'm a believer of the God of Steam and Machinery to begin with. Together with the connection to Harvest Cathedral that you exposed, at the very least, I won't be locked underground in a cathedral."

"At most, I'll be monitored to a certain degree, or they might simply recruit me into a Machinery Hivemind team."

Owen shot to his feet from the chair. A glint of belated understanding flashed through his wide eyes.

"I... you, so yesterday, when you so openly had me go to Harvest Cathedral to buy a potion from Father Utravsky, you were actually having me put on a show for the people secretly moni... protecting you?"

"The goal was to reveal that you have close ties with an orthodox deity church and aren't some dangerous wild Beyonder?"