In the carriage

Compared with the "time loop" and "people turning into sheep," the scene before him was every bit as shocking. Worse, it left Lumian feeling as though his eyes, heart, and mind had been severely contaminated.

Had he known beforehand that he would witness something like this, he would definitely have abandoned the operation.

"What the fuck is going on?

"Louis Lund is clearly still a man!

"Whose child was he carrying-the Administrator's, or Madame Pualis's?

"Is this what the world of mysticism is like?

"Aurora really was keeping me away from it for my own good..."

For a moment, Lumian's thoughts were in disarray, his mind a tangled mess. He wanted nothing more than to gouge out his eyes and forcibly forget what he had seen.

"Waa! Waa! Waa!"

The baby Louis Lund had delivered began crying, instantly lending a touch of sanctity to the filthy "delivery room."

It was the beauty of a new life entering the world. Even Lumian, hiding outside the window, could directly feel that joy rooted in humanity's very nature.

Of course, alongside it, the sense of strangeness, absurdity, filth, and discord grew even more pronounced.

Lumian finally came to his senses and instinctively glanced into the room again.

The woman in the grayish-white dress had placed the baby on the white silk laid beside Louis Lund. He was a boy, with more blood than milky-white grease on his skin, but apart from that, nothing seemed abnormal. He looked like an ordinary newborn.

Lumian watched for another two seconds and noticed that the boy's ten fingers were curled, their long nails resembling a bird's claws.

He had just used those hands to tear open Louis Lund's belly!

Louis Lund lay there, already semiconscious.

The gash in his belly had yet to be stitched up, and blood kept seeping out. Lumian could vaguely see intestines pushed to one side and a strange, nest-like object covered in a flesh-colored membrane.

After wrapping the baby in silk, the woman removed the nest-like object, picked up a sewing needle and catgut, and began treating Louis Lund's wound.

Amid Louis Lund's agonized groans, she muttered as she stitched:

"You had it relatively easy. When I gave birth to quadruplets last time, that was real agony..."

The muscles in Lumian's face twitched. After his eyes, brain, heart, and mind, he felt that his ears had now been contaminated as well.

He withdrew his gaze and decided to leave immediately.

With another light leap, Lumian reached the window he had come through and climbed into the room.

He closed the window, left the room, and headed straight for the stairs.

Avoiding a male servant coming upstairs, Lumian returned to the hall swiftly and quietly.

"Where did you go?"

Suddenly, a soft, slightly husky voice sounded beside his ear.

Even Lumian's Hunter senses had failed to alert him that someone was standing beside the stairway entrance.

He spun toward the voice and saw Madame Pualis, wearing a blue dress cinched at the waist, her hair half pinned up and half hanging loose.

The smile had vanished from her face, and her bright brown eyes clearly reflected Lumian's figure.

Lumian instantly tensed, preparing to fight even as fear gripped him.

Just then, Aurora emerged from a room to the side and looked at him. "Where did you go? The carriage is already waiting outside."

Experienced in such situations, Lumian offered a mixture of truth and lies. "Didn't Madame Pualis say Mr. Lund was sick?

"I've had drinks with him a few times, so I thought I'd visit him. But this castle is so big, and I didn't know where his room was. I spent ages looking without finding it."

Aurora nodded and reminded him, "You could have asked Madame Pualis directly. There's no need to hide it from us. It's not as if you were doing anything wrong."

"It was my fault. I'm sorry." Lumian looked sincerely at Madame Pualis.

After witnessing the scene upstairs, his fear of her outweighed his disgust.

Madame Pualis finally smiled, her expression no longer so stern.

"I thank you on Lund's behalf for your kindness, but he's in rather poor condition this time. He doesn't want anyone seeing him in such an undignified state."

Undignified indeed... Lumian silently "agreed."

Aurora then said to Madame Pualis, "Shall we get into the carriage, then? Thank you so much."

Lumian discreetly watched Madame Pualis, worried that she would find an excuse to keep him and his sister there a little longer.

That would mean she might have noticed something amiss and needed to check whether anything was wrong with Louis Lund!

Although reuniting with his sister made Lumian feel that the two of them might stand a chance against Madame Pualis, this was still her castle, surrounded by her servants. For a Hunter, it was the worst possible hunting ground.

Madame Pualis nodded gently and smiled at Aurora. "I look forward to the gifts you bring back from Trier. I've always longed for its latest fashions."

"I hope I can surprise you." Although Aurora had no idea whether she would ever return to Cordou Village in her lifetime, she still had to say the appropriate things.

Accompanied by her personal maid, Cassie, Madame Pualis escorted the siblings to the entrance and watched them board the enclosed four-seater carriage.

The burly coachman, who had a dark brown beard, wore dark red clothes, yellow trousers, and a waxed hat. Apart from his lack of a tie, he looked almost exactly like a professional city coachman.

Administrator Beaost had made this mandatory.

"Sorry for the trouble," Aurora politely told the coachman before closing the carriage door.

The coachman was named Sever, and he had the blue eyes most common in the Republic of Intis.

Delighted by the respect this beautiful lady showed him and looking forward to the tip he was certain to receive upon reaching Dalege, he said enthusiastically, "Ladies and gentlemen, sit tight."

He raised his whip, urging the horses into motion, slowly at first, then faster.

As the carriage passed through Cordou Village, it suddenly stopped.

Although Lumian knew their departure could never be smooth or easy, his heart still lurched.

"What's wrong?" he asked the coachman outside through the carriage wall.

Sever said, "Madame promised yesterday to take Naroka to Junak Village. I was worried I wouldn't get back in time after going to Dalege, so I thought I'd pick her up on the way. Don't worry, it won't delay you."

Junak Village was closer to Dalege than Cordou Village was. Going there first would indeed barely affect when Aurora and Lumian reached their destination.

Since the carriage belonged to someone else and she had no right to object, Aurora raised no protest.

Lumian was more concerned about Naroka herself-in the previous loop, she had died suddenly, apparently murdered by her relatives, with the Parish Priest's group involved.

Sever got down from the carriage, entered Naroka's home, and led her outside.

Unlike usual, Naroka had changed into a black dress with intricate patterns and wore the dark bonnet favored by elderly women. Her sparse white hair had clearly been carefully combed.

"Oh, my little cabbage, where are you off to?" Naroka was delighted to see Aurora when she boarded the carriage.

Her face, covered in age spots and wrinkles, shone with unconcealed joy, and her usually somewhat clouded eyes seemed much livelier.

"I'm going to Trier for a Writers' Salon, and taking Lumian to look at the universities there while we're at it," Aurora said, speaking the absolute truth.

She then asked, "Naroka, are you visiting someone?"

Although wearing black was perfectly normal for a widow like Naroka, she only wore this dress for festivals, banquets, and the anniversary of her late husband's death.

Naroka looked expectant.

"Yes, I'm going to see some people."

Lumian said nothing, quietly studying Naroka to see whether he could spot anything unusual.

The carriage started moving again, heading out of Cordou Village.

Aurora chatted intermittently with Naroka, keeping most of her attention on what lay outside.

She still worried that her and her brother's hasty departure would arouse certain people's suspicions.

As the carriage continued on, Lumian suddenly noticed a change in Naroka's condition.

Compared with earlier, her face had become much paler, with a bluish tinge. Her eyes were no longer as lively, and she had fallen completely silent, only offering a brief reply or two when Aurora asked her something.

She looked very much like the Naroka Lumian had seen in the middle of the night during the previous loop!

Lumian discreetly tugged at Aurora's hand.

Aurora quickly turned to him, her eyes asking what was wrong.

Lumian subtly pointed at Naroka, then traced a cross on his sister's palm.

A cross was the mark Aurora often used to indicate wrong answers when grading his papers. Lumian was using it now to tell her that something was wrong with Naroka.

Aurora froze for a second, then quickly understood what Lumian meant.

She shifted her attention back to Naroka and clearly sensed something abnormal.

She immediately raised her right hand and pressed her temples.

Her pale blue eyes instantly grew deeper, taking on a hint of darkness.

After just one look, Aurora's lovely golden eyebrows knitted together, and she leaned back slightly as though struck by something.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with a faintly pained expression, as if exhausted.

After opening her eyes again, Aurora turned to Lumian and said, "Once we reach Dalege, stay close to me. No matter what happens, stay right by my side."

Her tone was very serious.

Lumian understood at once. His sister meant that if anything happened next, he had to stick close to her, and she would handle it.

He nodded solemnly, deciding to confess to his sister shortly that he had become a Beyonder.

Aurora looked away from him and deliberately asked Naroka, "Naroka, are you really going to Junak Village, or somewhere else?"

She worried that things would become even harder to resolve if they waited for the carriage to stop on its own. In that case, it was better to trigger events early rather than fight in an environment their opponent expected.

With a somewhat vacant gaze, Naroka replied in a low voice, "No, I'm not going to Junak Village.

"I'm going to the Otherworld."

The moment she finished speaking, Lumian sensed the world outside the carriage windows grow unnaturally dark.