What happened? The sudden change left the inexperienced Hibbert momentarily at a loss for how to react. She stood there stunned for several seconds before pushing open the door and rushing inside.
When she reached the charred rat, the self-proclaimed Demigod had already stood up and calmly said:
You forgot to close the door.
"Ah..." Hibbert was initially bewildered, then realized that in her eagerness to figure out the situation, she hadn't closed the door as usual to prevent the maid from peeking inside.
Seeing that the rat seemed to be alright, Hibbert pursed her lips, turned around, and walked back to the door.
During this process, she didn't forget to glance at the full-length mirror, where everything appeared normal and without any problems. The mirror clearly reflected the room's contents, with no extra person and no missing items.
With a click, Hibbert asked:
"Teacher, what exactly happened just now?"
The charred rat, its fur turned to the side, gazed out the window and said:
"In the world of mysticism, any place involving supernatural forces is fraught with danger and should not be taken lightly."
"I just tried to do Divination using a mirror, which attracted the attention of an unknown entity. After a fierce confrontation, we finally resolved the issue and prevented the danger from spreading to the entire block."
The rat spoke fluently, without a single stutter or pause, as if the lightning strike it had just experienced was a trivial matter.
Oh, I see... Why didn't you remind me of this before...? Hibbert frowned uncontrollably, faintly smelling the mixed odor of burnt fur and decomposing oil in the air.
Before she could respond, the mouse turned towards the balcony, almost with its back to her, and said:
"My health has deteriorated as a result, and I am no longer fit to stay here, otherwise the Church of Evernight would easily discover me."
"Yes, find a chance to send me to your family's estate in the suburbs."
Looking at the rat's charred fur and smelling the aroma of roasted meat, Hibbert remained silent for a few seconds, suppressing her doubts, and nodded, saying:
"OK."
160 Böklund Street.
Klein, sitting in his armchair, saw ripples spreading across the surface of the full-length mirror, with streaks of silver light rising from it.
The silver words took shape one after another, forming a sentence:
"Great master, your humble servant Arrodes has done as you commanded, warning the Demigod who was on the path of the ' Marauder ' and giving her a small punishment."
As she, Klein, was chewing on the pronoun Arrodes used, the mirror shimmered, reflecting a scene:
A silvery-white lightning bolt struck fiercely, and the gray rat convulsed and collapsed.
This is... too weak! Klein suddenly realized that this Demigod's condition might be even worse than he had imagined.
"Are you satisfied with my handling?" The silver lines wriggled rapidly, transforming into a question.
"Not bad." Klein nodded slightly.
Considering the Demigod's condition, he paused for a second and tentatively asked:
Why didn't you just kill her?
Arrodes traced one silver word after another on the mirror's surface:
"If we can't be sure we can kill the Demigod target, it's best not to push them into a corner."
"Once they stop suppressing themselves and completely abandon their ego, they will mutate into incomplete, irrational Mythical Creature."
"Often, when they are not in the right state and find it difficult to exert their strength, it is because they are fighting against the tendency to get out of control."
"My true form isn't here, so I can only offer a small punishment."
As the last line of text came into focus, the water on the full-length mirror shimmered twice, and Klein suddenly felt as if some kind of creature was staring intently at him.
He did not respond to that, but nodded and said:
That's all for today. I'll call you again if anything comes up.
"Yes, Master~" A simple line drawing of a waving hand was immediately reflected in the mirror.
After tidying up the room, Klein ended his afternoon nap, Door Opening, and walked out of the master bedroom.
Not long after, Walter, the butler wearing white gloves, came up to the third floor, entered a semi-open room with a large balcony, and said to his employer Dawn Dantès:
"Sir, the church has sent a letter inviting you to serve on the board of directors of the ' Loen Charity Bursary Foundation.' You can choose to serve directly on the board with a decent salary, or simply treat it as an honorary title and participate in discussions and voting only on important matters."
The church is very efficient; they've already set up the framework... Klein thought for a moment and decided that since they had already donated over ten thousand pounds, there was no need to collect a salary. It was better to do things thoroughly, so he carefully spoke up:
"I consider it an honorary title, but I hope to occasionally participate in the actual operation of the foundation and contribute extra effort to its promotion and helping more people."
"I will convey your idea to the church," Walter replied earnestly. "If you have no other questions or business, it would be best to attend the formal establishment of this fund on Wednesday morning."
Klein picked up his bone china cup, took a sip of his black tea, and said:
"Good."
On the Golden Dream," Danitz stood at the front of the deck, gazing melancholically at the undulating blue sea ahead.
After being urged again by Gehrman Sparrow, he felt he couldn't delay any longer, otherwise it might turn into a bounty at any time.
I don't want to fall asleep and turn into a pile of banknotes... So be it if I'm suspected! Danitz grimaced for a while, mustered his courage, and went through the hatch straight to the captain's cabin.
Unable to locate Anderson Hood in a short period, he had no choice but to confront " Vice Admiral Iceberg " Edwina Edwards.
Upon arriving at his destination, Danitz took three deep breaths before raising his right hand to knock on the door.
Just then, the voice of " Vice Admiral Iceberg " came from inside:
"Please come in."
"..." Danitz paused with his right hand, forced a smile, and Door Opening to enter.
He then saw his captain sitting behind his desk, holding a dark red fountain pen, writing something.
"Captain, I have something I'd like to ask you." Danitz leaned closer, bowed slightly, and said with a smile.
Edwina put down her pen, tugged at the cuff of her shirt with its lace bow tie, glanced at Danitz, and said:
"You want to ask about West Balam's situation?"
"Huh?" Danitz's expression froze.
The captain already knows?
It must have been those bastards, those piece of shit, " Iron Sheet Dog Shit," who told the captain what happened!
I knew it; on this ship, no secrets could be kept, especially not the captain's!
After a fit of anger in his heart, Danitz forced a smile back:
"Yes, you know, I'm very interested in history and geography."
Edwina's clear, spring-like eyes shifted slightly as she looked out the window and said:
This is international politics.
Before the suddenly frozen Danitz could find another excuse, she said to herself:
"In West Balam, there are cities ruled by the Loen, valleys belonging to Intis, native generals supported by the Loen, tribes that obey Intis's orders, and relatively independent state-level forces that rely on the need to balance the two great powers. They secretly contact different factions of the Spirituality Religion, vying for power or claiming to be descendants of the Death. In addition, the Rose School of Thought and the Feynapotter Empire also have a strong influence in West Balam. On the surface, no power belongs to them, but in reality, many generals Chieftain are subservient to them."
"In..."
Danitz listened intently, then suddenly chuckled dryly and raised his hand:
"Captain, I... I need to make a note."
Otherwise, you simply won't be able to remember them!
Edwina, who was interrupted, was not angry. She pointed to the pen and paper on the table:
"This is a good habit."
"I don't think Gehrman Sparrow would want to receive Error intelligence either."
"Huh?" Danitz froze once again.
" West Balam is really chaotic. Even a warlord who is not too big or too small is sometimes hard to tell which faction he belongs to or who supports him... The Rose School of Thought has a strong influence here? Then the danger for me has increased dramatically..." Klein took Danitz's letter from the messenger, Reinette Tinekerr, opened it on the spot, and quickly glanced through it.
This made him feel that he shouldn't go to West Balam himself unless he went with Mr. Azik.
P. S.: Updated first, revised later...