Lina painfully pounded her head.
Her sanity had been worn down by madness until little remained, and matters requiring careful thought truly did not suit her. After barely any hesitation, she asked Theus directly, "Are you a [Named One]?"
"Of course not," Theus immediately denied. "I'm not even a Transcendent. How could I possibly have any transcendent powers?"
Other than being able to purify Pollution.
"And aren't you overthinking this?" Theus found it rather absurd. "How could [Named Ones] be everywhere? Didn't you ask Little Gwen the same thing before? Right, Little Gwen... Little Gwen?"
As he spoke, he turned his head and realized that Little Gwen had somehow already hidden far behind a large boulder. Only her little head peeked out as she watched them nervously.
"Why are you hiding over there?" Theus asked curiously.
"Y-you're not allowed to control me! I read about this scene in one of Nini's books!"
Theus:
Was that book even decent?
Why did Nini write about everything?
And why did Little Gwen read everything Nini wrote?
"You're not allowed to read Nini's books anymore."
"Little Bu's books have it too!"
"Little Bu writes that stuff too?" Theus gaped. "Nini must have led her astray!"
He was beginning to regret it. The Empire had not even fallen yet—could Nini have already ruined Castel Island's moral climate first...?
"You're not allowed to read books!"
"Then the Holy Scripture..."
"H-has even the Holy Scripture been defiled?"
"No, I just meant that if I'm not allowed to read books, wouldn't I become an illiterate like Lina?"
Lina:
Lina took a deep breath:
"...First of all, I'm not illiterate."
Little Gwen's eyes revealed a trace of undisguised disdain. "On Castel Island, someone like you can only be considered illiterate."
"Alright, alright..." Theus rubbed his brow with a headache.