The doctrine of the Aurora Order?
Snow pondered for a moment. It seemed to be,
'Everyone possesses divinity?'
'Is this supposed to be equality for everyone?' Snow rolled his eyes inwardly, instantly understanding the flexibility of the Aurora Order's teachings. As long as he didn't "court death" by attempting something like a caste system, he would definitely never cross the line.
Mr. A, who had not yet deactivated his Spirit Vision, noticed the change in Snow's emotions. He nodded with satisfaction, then elegantly wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and said, "Don't buy such lavish meals in the future. It's easy to arouse suspicion if you eat so much alone."
"Understood, Mr. A. I'll head to the East District in a bit. As for lunch and dinner..."
"You don't need to concern yourself with that. Do what you ought to do,expand our flock and find Lanevus. Those are your true tasks." Mr. A waved a hand, indicating he would handle those matters himself. Snow nodded and returned to his room to begin his disguise.
Though he possessed a handsome face, disguising himself was remarkably easy. As long as he applied a layer of 'transparency that everyone thinks they can see through' using his ability, he could freely set the impression he left on others.
As for his appearance, a slight change in hairstyle and attire was enough to prevent him from being recognized at a glance. Once his ability triggered, the other party would naturally assume he was "just someone who looked similar."
Following his usual routine, he first went to the Cherwood District to change his clothes. However, he didn't head to the bridge district or the famous slums of the East District to search for "lambs" suitable for proselytizing. Instead, after several twists and turns, he arrived at a somewhat secluded cemetery.
To prevent the emergence of necromantic creatures like water ghosts or wraiths, the seven major churches and the royal families of various countries had established laws and designated land as public cemeteries. However, compared to the Green Cemetery in the West District where the wealthy were buried, the cemeteries in the East District appeared far more desolate and eerie.
After all, for the residents of the East District, simply staying alive was hard enough. As for visiting deceased relatives, that was a luxury that could only be occasionally afforded on specific days.
Although there should only be this one cemetery in the East District, Snow couldn't be certain this was his target. Thus, he began to mobilize his 'Concept Swapping' ability to perform a large-scale interference.
Spirituality belonging to a Sequence 8 began to drain away like floodwaters through an open sluice. Although the power of 'A Foot-long Stick' consistently maintained the stability of his spirituality, the sensation of it being frantically pulled away still left Snow with a strong sense of emptiness.
This continued for about three hours until noon approached, yet Snow still hadn't seen his target.
During those three hours, the amount of spirituality he consumed would have made even a Sequence 5 powerhouse turn pale. Yet he remained leaning against an old tree in the cemetery, waiting quietly.
Suddenly, a shimmer of pale-blue light flashed and vanished. Then, two figures,one tall and one short,appeared within Snow's field of vision.
'They're here!'
...
"What do we do now?" Fors panted, feeling both pained and fearful. But she suddenly noticed that Xio, who had been holding her hand, had abruptly retracted her palm. Out of the corner of her eye, Fors saw her friend had already assumed a defensive stance.
'Guarding?' Startled, Fors followed Xio's gaze. A man wearing jeans, a checkered shirt, and a peaked cap was standing not far away, waving a greeting at them. He seemed to have just said, "Good afternoon, One Meter Five."
"How can this be? I clearly confirmed there was no one here..." Fors's face turned extremely pale. Xio had already pulled out the triangular prism spike hidden in her clothes, looking at the man before them with a grave expression.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
"I don't think anyone comes to a cemetery just for a stroll, do they?" Snow asked, turning the tables on them. Xio was momentarily at a loss for words. Strictly speaking, the teleportation had been an emergency; there was no way the other party could have predicted she and Fors would teleport here. So, were she and Fors just unlucky enough to run into a Beyonder who happened to be visiting a grave?
"Are you... Mr. Snow?" Just as Xio was feeling helpless about her luck,even to the point of ignoring that he had called her 'One Meter Five',Fors suddenly seemed to recognize the man and asked with uncertainty, "Hello, Ms. Fors. It's been a few days. Today's Backlund is again without a glimmer of sunlight." Snow fought back the urge to call her a "salted fish." Fortunately, the comment about "One Meter Five" earlier had already relieved the pressure of the side effect, preventing the word from slipping out.
He also realized that greeting someone by their real name seemed to satisfy the side effect's "requirement." However, in the absence of a preset, the conditioned reflex seemed to prioritize the title he personally identified with most when it triggered.
'This way, as long as I preset the titles, I won't have to worry about accidentally calling someone a "cat" or a "coward" at the Tarot Club...' Snow breathed a sigh of relief. He narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke in a sunny voice, "Though we aren't well-acquainted, Ms. Fors, if you don't wish to lose control, it's best if you stop using that magical item as much as possible. Mmm, this is just a piece of advice,no charge."
Having said that, Snow turned away casually and vanished into the cemetery without a hint of tension.
...
"Phew..." Following the emotional rollercoaster, Fors nearly sat down on someone's tombstone. But just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she found Xio looking at her with a serious gaze.
"Fors, what did that man mean just now? Does your Beyonder item have a massive side effect?"
"It's nothing. I just hear some strange sounds during the full moon. I told you before, it doesn't have any bad influence." Fors gave a hollow laugh, trying to brush over the topic. But Xio had no intention of letting it go.
"But he said you would lose control because of it!"
"That's just a sales tactic! A tactic! Didn't you hear him? He said it was free 'this time', implying he'll charge if we ask him anything else. You wouldn't fall for such a clichéd scam, would you?" Fors's eyes darted around as she quickly found an excuse. Xio stared straight into Fors's eyes for a moment before nodding.
"I understand. But Fors, you must be careful. In the Beyonder world, any whispers or ravings are extremely dangerous. If anything is wrong, you must tell me!"
"Don't worry. So, what should we do next?" Fors breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xio was no longer pressing the issue. Xio frowned slightly.
"We go inform Miss Audrey first, then... we report it to the police!"
"The police?" Fors repeated with surprise. However, to keep Xio from dwelling on the full moon ravings, she immediately nodded.
"Alright, let's do that!"
As Xio watched Fors act as if she couldn't wait to find Miss Audrey, her heart tightened.
'Fors is definitely hiding something from me. Normally, she would have pressed me for a reason why! Moreover, during the full moon, she has never once slept in the same room as me!'
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
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A/N: One Meter Five (一米五) - A recurring joke regarding Xio Derecha's short stature.
T/N: "Salted Fish" (咸鱼) - Chinese slang for someone who is lazy or has no ambition. Snow often thinks of Fors this way.
T/N: "Ms. Fors" (佛尔思女士) - Snow uses her real name here to satisfy his "greeting" side effect without being offensive.
T/N: "One Meter Five" is used as a nickname choice by Snow's conditioned reflex because he internally associates it strongly with Xio.
do you guys need aux chapter? if so ill release it when this reach 100 chapters