Any Spare Funds?

"Help me ask the school for leave."

Zhou Yun bowed slightly as he spoke to Tita.

"I'm still feeling a little unwell today..."

Tita's brows immediately furrowed, and suspicion crept into her gaze as she looked at Zhou Yun.

She took a step back, her expression turning wary as she pointed at him.

"You're not going gambling again, are you?"

"How could I? I just punched Cicero in the face, how could I still—" Before Zhou Yun could finish, Tita raised a hand to interrupt him.

"You think I've never read Cicero's On the Soul?"

Zhou Yun put on a suitably confused expression—at least, in his current memories, Scholar truly did not seem to have read anything written by that disreputable friend of his.

"Has alcohol really fried your brain...? Then again, the old you would never have read this sort of crooked nonsense."

Tita waved a hand at him in disgust.

"He's a madman, a pervert. He claims that the human body is merely a tool the soul uses to pursue experiences, and that human souls descend from the metaphysical world into the material world solely to gain sensory experiences."

"He believes that a person's soul must gain enough varied sensory experiences, must pursue stimulation without restraint, and personally experience everything in this world—whether joy, happiness, pain, or torment. Only then can the soul truly attain wisdom, embark upon the path of transcendence, and achieve liberation after returning to the metaphysical world."

"That lunatic would only see those two punches you gave him as a novel experience... From the look on his face just now, I'd say he was even pretty happy about it."

"..." Listening to Tita, Zhou Yun found himself missing Inquisitor Greyfax.

Inquisitor, get over here already! There's a fucking heretic here—get him onto the pyre!

Zhou Yun had actually thought something was off about Cicero earlier.

Looking at him now... Cicero, why are you so purple?

Those red leather shoes alone made Zhou Yun uneasy.

That hunter in the woods had been skilled at processing all kinds of animal hides, and Zhou Yun had personally skinned more than a dozen pelts during his time in the forest.

But Cicero's red leather shoes were unlike any animal Zhou Yun knew. If he had to say, they somewhat resembled monkey skin... but monkeys did not have this many pores.

Could it be human skin...? Zhou Yun grew increasingly suspicious that Cicero served the Warp god whose name began with "S" and ended with "e."

Yet in Zhou Yun's memories of his previous life, Macragge had never suffered a Chaos invasion, nor had there been any signs of cult activity.

Moreover, the Veil around Macragge was astonishingly thick.

Zhou Yun had felt last night that this Veil was far denser than the one around the Hive City. When the four moons had sunk and the sun rose, its thickness increased further, reaching an almost abnormal level. It could only be said that there was a reason Macragge had survived Old Night.

Yet even with so much evidence mitigating his suspicions, Zhou Yun did not relax.

He still remembered Greyfax's teachings—suspicion was stronger than evidence.

One suspicion could outweigh a thousand pieces of evidence.

Signs of cult activity meant the foolish heretics had exposed themselves.

No signs of cult activity meant those damned heretics were trying to evade punishment.

The reason he wanted Tita to help him take leave was that he intended to conduct a little investigation.

"I really won't go to the casino again." Zhou Yun rubbed his temples and assured Tita, "I swear it as your uncle."

After he said that, the suspicion on Tita's face only deepened.

After all, Scholar had previously elbowed Tita in the face just to shake her off and go to the casino.

And in Zhou Yun's memories, the bastard had done it more than once—this was actually another reason Zhou Yun was suspicious. Scholar's personality had changed far too quickly.

But in the end, Tita still sighed. She seemed to remember the good things about her uncle in the past, and finally squeezed out a little trust.

"I'll help you ask for leave. But if I find out you went to the casino..." Tita viciously shook her fist at Zhou Yun several times.

"I promise you. I swear in the name of the War King—if I'm lying, may I descend into the Eightfold Hell... Hiss..." Having just sworn according to Macragge's traditional method, Zhou Yun immediately felt that something was wrong again.

War King was a title held by Macragge's governors, passed down since the first governor of Macragge. It was also part of Macragge's religious faith.

After death, governors bearing the title of War King would be deified and collectively receive worship and priests under the name of the War King. Those who betrayed or defied the War King's will would descend into the Eightfold Hell.

That title, along with the Eightfold Hell... Was that Mister K on the Brass Throne in the Warp?

"Fine. Even though you sounded terribly guilty while swearing, I'll help you ask for leave." Tita nodded, sounding both helpless and indulgent.

Zhou Yun smiled a little, and then...

"Do you have any spare funds?"

"Could you lend me a little more money?"

Tita's expression froze. The flesh in her cheeks twitched uncontrollably, and her fists clenched sharply.

"Wait, wait, wait. Just lend me a little." Zhou Yun waved his hands. "I didn't bring any money when I went out. I want to buy some things..."

Hearing that, Tita slowly lowered the hand she had already raised.

She took several copper coins from her pocket and stuffed them into Zhou Yun's hand.

"I'm giving you six Asses. While you're out, buy dinner too. Get two loaves of bread, and something to make soup with."

"If you're not back at the apartment tonight, I'll shove an entire loaf of bread down your throat..." As she said this, Tita put on a vicious expression.

Only after Zhou Yun repeatedly promised that he would absolutely be home on time did Tita let him go.

Tita watched Zhou Yun's back disappear around the street corner before letting out a deep sigh. Then...

Then she raised her hand and violently slapped herself across the face several times, startling the people around her into hastily backing away.

"Tita and her uncle are actually pretty good people. They're just both not quite right in the head."

"Yeah... Her uncle was pretty normal before he got addicted to gambling..."

"Tita always seemed a little... violent, didn't she?"

Listening to the murmured discussions around her, Tita's expression twisted even further.

"Tita, Tita, what the hell were you thinking? Why did you offer to use Father's pension to help him pay off his debts... That was your dowry."

Tita muttered bitterly to herself.

"What if he takes the money and gambles again? What if he..."

But in the end, Tita only gave a bitter smile. She had originally been wavering, hesitating.

But when that madman Cicero had reached for her, when she had been afraid—

Zhou Yun had punched Cicero in the face...

At that moment, Tita remembered how Zhou Yun had protected her like this when she was young. She remembered her uncle standing in front of her and driving away the relatives from her mother's side who had coveted her father's pension.

He seemed to have swept away the depravity of the past few months and become once more the uncle she could trust, even admire.

At that moment, Tita had even experienced an illusion.

It seemed as though some kind of golden radiance had burst forth from her uncle's body, like... like the marble statues of gods in a church.

So Tita chose to believe him—to believe Zhou Yun.

At that moment, as Zhou Yun walked toward the market, his psychic power rose slightly. His reflection in the Warp also grew a little brighter, as though some force was flowing into his body.

But because this body had not yet crossed the "Realm," and because Macragge's Veil was too thick, he failed to notice the change.

"I wonder whether I can buy papyrus or parchment in the city..." Zhou Yun muttered as he headed toward the market.

He had no intention of putting himself in danger to investigate Cicero when he knew nothing.

What he intended to do was... ask the Emperor directly.