Arrest

After dinner, Franca and Jenna returned to Apartment 702 at 9 Orosei Street.

"Finally, we succeeded." Franca raised her hands and stretched. "Next, should we find Palia, this ' Person in the Mirror,' and then report to the ' Black Witch,' or should we tell the ' Black Witch ' tomorrow morning that I've become the 'Witch of Witch of Pain '? She said that once I advance to ' Pain,' she'll tell me some secrets of the Witch Sect."

Franca wanted to know the latter, but was also a little afraid to know. At the same time, she felt that she was digesting the "Pleasure" Potion much faster than expected, which might arouse the suspicion of the "Black Witch," and she did not want to report the matter related to the "Deep Sea Admiral."

That involves the secret of how the "Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society" Transmigration!

So far, Franca and Lumian have only mentioned the "Deep Sea Admiral" being a possible Elf to their respective Major Arcana, and have not yet received a reply.

Jenna thought for a moment and said, "I think even if you don't go to see the ' Black Witch ' tomorrow, you still need to do this soon. The sooner we understand the secrets of the Witch Sect, the better it will help us plan and arrange our subsequent actions and avoid potential hidden dangers."

She could probably understand Franca's concerns, and said with a smile, "Just tell the ' Black Witch ' that Lumian has become the ' Reaper,' and that he helped you digest the ' Pleasure ' Potion."

"Uh..." Franca paused for a moment, "These are all true, but the way they're being expressed doesn't quite feel right..."

"That's exactly the kind of misunderstanding we need," Jenna replied with a slight smile.

She then glanced at the night view outside the window:

"Finding Palia should be enough for you and Anthony. I'd like to go to Leucer Harbor in the next few days to see Julian. We haven't seen each other for almost two months, and I want to test his attitude to see if he really has to go back to Trier."

"Yes, that's fine." Franca understood Jenna's concerns.

Jenna nodded and said, "Then I'll go home tonight to pack some things for him to take with Past, and try to leave tomorrow morning so I can get back as soon as possible."

There are plenty of Steam trains and riverboats to Leucer Harbor, so she doesn't need to worry about not being able to buy tickets on-site.

After chatting for a few minutes, Jenna packed her luggage, picked up her suitcase, and left the Apartment.

She did not follow Julian's instructions to cancel the Rented Apartment on Rue Pasteur while he was away studying in Leucer Harbor to save money; instead, she would occasionally go back to stay there for a few days, as if she had never left.

Watching Jenna leave, Franca suddenly felt a little disappointed and muttered, "I was hoping to celebrate tonight..."

She slowly walked back to her bedroom and saw that some of Jenna's clothes and belongings, which had been placed there, had been taken away.

Looking at the bedroom, which was now cleaner and tidier, Franca suddenly seemed to understand something.

She fell silent.

She felt as if some of her "Pain" Potion had been digested.

Clang, clang, clang.

A Ivory Steam train painted with Brass-Colored patterns sped along the tracks, heading towards Isla Lenburg, the capital of Aisala, nestled among the mountains.

Lumian sat in the second-class carriage, seemingly leisurely looking around.

He didn't have Aisala's coordinates and was too lazy to summon the Messenger again, so he chose to "Teleportation" back to Leston Province, took Steam train to the border, and then crossed the mountains to smuggle himself across.

With the help of Sasson Gold, the fiat currency of Lenburg that he had exchanged in advance, and his familiarity with black market merchants and Broker, Lumian easily obtained new Identity Documents and bought a ticket to Aisala.

Lenburg is a small to medium-sized country, not too big, and he should be able to reach his destination before this evening.

As Lumian's gaze swept across the scene, he noticed that the people of Lenburg favored light-colored clothing and brass ornaments, and that each person carried a book, quietly flipping through it as the train traveled. Those who did talk were careful to keep their voices down.

When passengers encounter elderly people or people dressed as scholars at the stops along the way, they are always very helpful and show genuine respect.

"Truly worthy of being the kingdom of the Church, the ' God of Knowledge and Wisdom '," Lumian murmured silently.

Lenburg is a monofaith country with no royal family, and the Church of Knowledge has a very strong control over the country and influence over the people.

Perhaps noticing his scrutiny, the young man sitting next to him, holding a book, glanced at the Lenburg Travel Guide in his hand and chuckled softly, "Are you a foreigner?"

He asked again in Lenburgian, then switched to Highland Language, Loen, Intis language, and Feysac.

Lumian was a little surprised:

How could an Lenburg resident, traveling in second class, understand so many languages?

Moreover, he sensed that the other person was showing off a bit.

"Yes, I am Intis, and I understand Lenburgian," Lumian replied cooperatively. "What's your name? You've mastered the languages of every country in the Northern Continent."

The young man adjusted his light-rimmed glasses and smiled, saying, "My name is Salent, I'm a junior employee at a company."

"Actually, once you learn one language from the countries of the Northern Continent, learning others becomes much easier. If you start with Old Feysac, it's even simpler. And we Lenburg have been learning Old Feysac since the Compulsory Education stage."

Salent's tone carried a hint of smugness, as if he looked down on other countries for having such a large illiterate population and so many people who didn't understand foreign languages.

That's how it is in theory, otherwise I wouldn't have mastered the Highland Language so quickly. In comparison, my Dutanian is only barely usable... Lumian didn't pay attention to Salent's hidden arrogance.

This morning, the Lenburg residents he met all had similar problems with books to varying degrees.

Lumian controlled his voice and said with a smile, "You are all so Civilization. You show great respect for the elderly and scholars, and when you're on the train, you don't just chat and play around; you spend most of the time reading."

Salent smiled reservedly, "In the hearts of us Lenburg people, knowledge is the most precious thing, and scholars are those who have mastered more knowledge. The elderly, too, have accumulated a great deal of experiential knowledge throughout their lives."

At this point, Salent gave a self-deprecating laugh:

"Reading is a habit cultivated from childhood, and also a practical necessity. You don't know, our lives are full of exams and assessments. It's like this in school, in the company, and even in Church, we have to do theology-related questions during Grand Mass to show our Devout and respect for Deity and knowledge."

Lumian suddenly realized that this might not be a good thing after all.

No wonder Ludwig refused to return to the Church of Knowledge even in death...

However, Aurora would probably like it here. She herself wouldn't live here, but she would definitely want to send me here to study...

Noticing the foreigner sitting next to him fall silent, Salent sighed and said, "That's why I didn't stay in Aisala after graduation. The pressure there is terrifying: professional qualification exams, annual professional competency reviews, monthly company performance evaluations, on-the-job training exams, and so on and so forth."

Lumian hissed inwardly upon hearing this.

Is this the daily life of the Lenburg people, especially the Aisala people?

Ludwig wasn't very bright; his description was unclear. I thought it was simply that the students were suffering...

Thankfully, it was Aurora who took me in, not some Lenburg native...

When this topic came up, Salent was overcome with a strong sense of melancholy, which created a feeling of urgency. He lowered his head and continued reading the book in his hands.

Judging from the timeline, Lumian realized that the capital city of Lenburg Aisala, was not far away, and turned his attention to the problem of Morola, the "Banishment City."

He considered it for a moment and then asked Salent, who was standing beside him:

Have you ever heard of a city called Morola?

Salent thought carefully for a moment and said, "No, neither in reality nor in local legends."

Lumian hummed in agreement, then turned her gaze back to the mottled mountains rushing past the window, as if what had just happened was merely casual conversation.

"If we couldn't find the ' Magician ' Lady, I probably can't either, unless I can kidnap some Half-God from the Church of Knowledge..."

"Since the Church of Knowledge placed the other two parts of the ' Abscessed Severed Hand ' in Morola, can I use the connections between the different parts of the ' Abscessed Severed Hand ' to find that city?"

"The Church of Knowledge expects and permits me to go to Morola; in fact, they're hoping for my arrival. Will they give me any hints?"

"..."

As Lumian pondered, he gradually became more certain.

As darkness fell, the Steam train pulled up beside the platform paved with Gray-White Stone Slab.

Lumian, carrying a small suitcase with little contents, chatted with Salent as they walked through the station, which was decorated with book sculptures and brass patterns, and headed outside.

The wind howled among the mountains, bringing both chill and refreshing coolness.

As Lumian approached the entrance to the Aisala Steam train station, he saw several Clergy from the Church of Knowledge, dressed in plain white Robe trimmed with brass thread, blocking the way and checking each departing passenger with documents in hand.

"What are you doing?" Lumian asked.

Salent glanced at it and replied nonchalantly, "Routine exit checks are done by Church personnel and government officials on a rotating basis."

"I thought they were randomly stopping passersby and making them do tests to assess their knowledge," Lumian joked.

Salent turned his head to look at him, his eyes filled with fear, as if to say:

"Are you Demon? Even the Bishops of the Church couldn't have come up with such a thing!"

Lumian shrugged and walked towards the exit first, where he was inspected by the Clergy of the Church of Knowledge.

That One elderly man at the head of the group looked him up and down a few times, then glanced at the documents in his hand, and suddenly gave the other Clergy a wink.

Lumian was quickly surrounded by these Clergy, all of whom were poised to attack.

The elderly man at the head of the group looked at him and said in a deep voice, "We've found a wanted criminal."

"Take away!"

Uh... Lumian raised an eyebrow.

After a flurry of thoughts, he gave up resisting, stretched out his hands, and allowed the Clergy of the Church of Knowledge to handcuff his wrists with a pair of Silver-White handcuffs.