Tremors of the Storm Ocean

Rain began to fall near the grotto on the southeastern corner of the island. Gradually, all of Castel was shrouded in the downpour. The Storm Ocean is plagued by typhoons year-round, and since the storms bring rain, this place experiences a rainy season all four seasons of the year.

However, the rain today seemed somewhat off.

Sailors on the sea always say that storms will eventually pass. Their ships often sail through them; as long as the sails are fully unfurled, the storm will eventually be left behind.

But today, ships sailing on the Storm Ocean would be surprised to find that no matter how fast they traveled or where they headed, they were always in the storm.

If one were to pull back the perspective and look from a higher vantage point, they would see that across the entire Storm Ocean, dark clouds were slowly gathering around a specific location, unleashing a torrential downpour.

The location of that center... was a bit strange.

It was not the Storm Eye, where thunderstorms rage year-round, but a bit further north and a bit further west.

To its west lay the lands of the Empire, to its northeast was Gem Bay, and to the north was the port of the White Crow Duchy.

It was a small island named Castel, which means fire and light on the Storm Ocean.

At this moment, across the entire ocean, surrounding Castel, storms and lightning descended like divine punishment.

Meanwhile.

In Rhine, at the Underground Tribunal of the Candlelight Society, the seven hooded figures at the long table of the Secret Keeper Council raised their heads in unison.

In the Empire, within the Gear Academy built by the royal family, several massive steam machines suddenly sounded in unison.

In the Storm Ocean, the Fishmen who were migrating as a clan suddenly stopped. After a brief discussion, they turned around and headed back.

In Gem Bay, a man whose skin was covered in tattoos suddenly opened his eyes wide, and then, to the horror of those around him, he dissolved into a puddle of black pus.

In Castel, inside the church of the Candlelight Society, a crack suddenly appeared on the chest of Kaeschi Theus, who was kneeling in prayer.

In Nora's room, a gust of wind blew the window open, knocking the diary on the table onto the floor.

The note pressed under the diary fluttered twice, was caught in the wind, and landed in the mud. The mud gradually obscured the handwriting on it:

"...My successor, there is one more thing you need to pay attention to: you must be careful of Sister Chloe in the church."

"Although I don't know what kind of thing she actually is, I can be certain that she is definitely not a member of the Candlelight Society."

In the manor, Theus had changed into a new set of clothes and was sitting in an armchair, flipping through the report Alexei had just delivered.

He looked up at the overcast sky with a hint of amusement: "It actually started raining. In the novels I read before, there would always be wind and rain whenever a big scene happened. To think I'd encounter it today—what a coincidence."

"Young Master." Connor placed several documents gently on the table.

He was wearing hunting trousers, a white shirt, and a black vest, with that white flintlock tucked into his holster.

After the battle last night, Theus had gifted that gun to Connor, partly to reward his timely assistance, and partly because Theus discovered that the gun worked better in Connor's hands.

In any case, he usually brought Connor with him whenever he went out, so it was essentially the same as carrying the gun himself.

It was clear that Connor liked the gun quite a bit; he even carried it around the manor, which made Theus feel somewhat amused.

Another point was that Connor had started calling him "Young Master" again, but Theus had no heart to dwell on such matters of address; he had too many things on his plate.

"How did it go?"

Connor nodded slightly toward him.

"Miss Nora has already left by boat. I tried to persuade her to stay, but she insisted on bringing the first batch of refugees over first."

"Are her wounds healed?"

"She said... this is a trait of the Burier; no matter how severe the physical trauma, it can recover quickly. You know, she isn't really considered a living person anymore."

Theus nodded.

"Did she say how long she would be gone?"

"About a week."

"What about Monica?"

"Monica was not injured. Ms. Nora checked her body and said there was no residual Pollution, so please rest assured."

"As for the other Banshees, they have been temporarily settled in the cave under the secret passage. They asked me for some tools and are preparing to renovate the place."

The Banshees were not yet suitable to be exposed to the public eye, and besides, they had lived underwater for so long that they might not feel comfortable on land.

Therefore, Theus let them reside temporarily in the coastal waters of Castel. With him acting as the hub, the Pollution from the deep sea would no longer harm him.

"Besides that, Sister Chloe came to the manor this afternoon. Seeing that we weren't here, she stayed for a while and then left."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Theus nodded in realization.

He had indeed arranged for Sister Chloe to meet at the manor as a contingency, to prevent a situation where Nora couldn't or wouldn't help him resolve the Pollution, in which case he would have sought help from the Candlelight Society.

But in the end, this backup plan was not needed.

"She didn't suspect anything, did she?"

"No, the reason we prepared in advance was very logical, and the time she arrived also avoided our conflict with... our battle."

"That's good." Theus nodded in relief; the location of that seaside grotto had been carefully chosen by him, and although the battle had caused quite a stir, it hadn't alerted anyone else.

"I'll pay her a visit when I have time; let's add it to today's schedule."

Hearing about the schedule, Connor took a notebook out of his pocket, glanced at the contents, and spoke after some deliberation.

"Young Master, as per your request, I have divided your to-do list into four major categories."

"Important and urgent, important but not urgent, unimportant but urgent, and unimportant and not urgent."

As he said this, a strange look appeared on Connor's face.

This classification method looked simple and crude, but it was unexpectedly useful. Under Theus's guidance, he used horizontal and vertical axes to determine the priority of tasks, easily sorting a huge pile of matters by order of importance.

"Ahem, based on this, I will come to inform you of the day's arrangements every morning."

"This morning, you need to meet with Alexei in the study; he is coming to report on the progress of the new factory and the recruitment of craftsmen."

"Afterward, you will inspect the territory with him."

"In the afternoon, you will go to the church to see Ms. Chloe."

Theus nodded; organizing daily work this way was much more efficient.

"Change the meeting place with Alexei to my chemistry laboratory, and you come along too; I plan to tell him about the new products for the territory."

"Will you also tell him the truth about the Pollution?"

"Probably not, after all, it concerns his..."

"[Cognitive Barrier]"

Hearing this term, Connor's eyes flickered. The truth about [Pollution], [Cognitive Barrier], and even [Transcendence]—all of these left him feeling deeply shaken, and he felt as if his worldview were teetering on the brink of collapse.

Everything started with the conversation between Theus and Nora after the battle last night.