"Could the Theophat Psychic Order be a bunch of frauds?"
Arthur rubbed his chin, a teasing smile spreading across his face.
Rumor had it that the Theophat Psychic Order was another successor to the Tower of Mist's traditions. Some even claimed it was White Robe's direct lineage.
And everyone knew that White Robe leaned toward the "light," the kindest of the Tower of Mist's four Wizards.
Previously, Arthur had simply read such rumors and moved on.
After all, although rumors differed somewhat from outright lies, in some ways they were far more potent. Especially as time passed, rumors fermented just like lies, growing increasingly exaggerated and unreliable until they became utterly unrecognizable.
It was just like this-
In ancient times, there was a divine bird, clad in seven colors, capable of human speech.
Some time later, another phrase was appended: it could discern fortune and misfortune.
After another stretch of time, yet another phrase was added: it knew good from evil.
Still later, one more phrase was tacked on: eating it granted eternal youth.
Put together, it became: in ancient times, there was a divine bird, clad in seven colors, capable of human speech, able to discern fortune and misfortune and know good from evil; eating it granted eternal youth.
Taken as a whole, it almost sounded plausible.
A bird that could speak like a human-impressive, right?
If it could also judge people's morality and destiny, that was even more impressive.
Then eating it to gain eternal youth sounded reasonable enough.
As the claims piled up, the parrot was left utterly bewildered.
Even when it died, the parrot had no idea it possessed such powers.
It could not even rest in peace.
But the people around it did not know that. They kept eating parrots, believing they would gain eternal