Any speculation lacking concrete proof will inevitably carry personal subjective bias.
Mr. Gandiro certainly had other choices, and his path could be explained in other directions, but only this line of logic could bring Madame Gandiro... the greatest comfort inside.
Naturally, Karen felt it all held together; his deduction was most likely correct. He had merely glossed over a few other factors and possibilities in his telling.
He treated Madame Gandiro as his "client." The essence of therapy was to alleviate a client's suffering and help them feel more comfortable and at ease.
He was neither a detective nor a judge; there was no need to obsess over a flawless, unvarnished truth.
Madame Gandiro walked dazed to the crystal coffin, resting her hands against its edge, and murmured, "You mean... he's truly dead?"
"This was your husband's way of protecting you."
"But I didn't want this kind of protection. To me, it has felt more like torture."
"Your husband was undeniably a genius, but he was not a god after all. He was simply loving you with everything he had."
"Heh. Perhaps I shouldn't have let you speak."
"From how you acted toward my subordinates earlier, it was clear that you aren't an apostate in the true sense. You letting me speak was merely you seeking an excuse, a reason for yourself.
Because you knew very well why I spoke—so that I and my team members could survive, wasn't it?"
"Karen Inmerlese?"
"Yes, Madame."
"You said one thing very true: if my husband could see you, he would probably be thrilled."
"Though it is a pity I never met the respected Mr. Gandiro, through you, Madame, we have already perceived each other."
"I want to know what happened to my husband after he left here, how he lived. Compared to what you said, I actually hoped he might still be alive—even though I know the chances are slim."
"I will help you trace the path Piston took after leaving here. Though many years have passed and many who could have offered clues are no longer among the living... as a priest of the Church of Order, I can still make them speak."
"Yet I haven't said I'd let you leave, have I?" Madame Gandiro looked at Karen. "Deciding for me already? Isn't that being a bit too hasty?"
"I believe those are minor matters."
"Minor matters?"
"Compared to whether I am trapped here or whether my teammates can leave safely, what interests me far more is the research your husband left behind here.
I suspect your husband's apostate thinking only emerged as he went deeper into this research, didn't it?"
"Yes."
"That is only natural. The closer one gets to God, the less one believes in God's existence."
"Are you referring to that person?"
"Yes, the Church of Light's Last Mad Pope."
"My husband was no madman."
"Nor do I believe he was an apostate in the true sense. His thinking simply reached heights beyond what ordinary people could comprehend. When everyone believes the sun brings cold, the person who says the sun is warm becomes a heretic.
Your husband was merely an apostate of his era, yet a truly devout believer on the path of Order faith.
I am honored to walk the same path as your husband."
"This is hardly fair," Madame Gandiro laughed. "I haven't spoken to a soul here in over a century, and the first person I meet turns out to be such a silver-tongued talker."
"In my home, there is also an elder... who has been shut away for over a century. It rarely interacted with people either, yet today it is still cheerful, lively, and full of confidence, pondering every day what to eat, drink, and play."
"It is very cheerful."
"Yes, it is."
Karen paused, then continued, "I have a request."
"Speak."
"Earlier, I guessed that chains of Order would branch out beneath the ground. I would like you to show me what that most special chain actually looks like."
"The most special chain?"
"Yes."
Madame Gandiro raised a hand. Cracks spread through the crystal beneath their feet, and promptly, a chain radiating an archaic aura extended outward.
Its form made Karen somewhat uneasy, because it was not natural, but forged artificially.
That discomfort felt a bit like being offended, desecrated.
Karen did not know where this emotion came from; all he could do for now was suppress these negative feelings as much as possible.
The chain was thick. When Karen reached out to touch it, he suddenly noticed dynamic purple markings in the crevices along its inner side.
One of his own chains was also stained with purple—the tiny trace he had "stolen" while clashing with the seal of the Throne of Order; that was all he had.
Karen reached out to touch the purple markings, but as his hand drew near, the purple vanished, as though deliberately evading him.
The chain retracted, sinking into the ground.
Karen clapped his hands and turned to look at Madame Gandiro, wanting more.
"You really know how to savor your food," Madame Gandiro remarked.
Hmm, was that a folk saying from her era?
Though he had never heard it phrased quite like that, the general meaning was likely that he truly knew his stuff.
"Madame, I can help you leave this place."
"You mean you would voluntarily drive this crystal into your own head?"
"No, I wouldn't."
"Heh, still afraid to die."
Karen nodded, tacitly conceding.
Though he knew very well that if Madame Gandiro wanted to "invade" his body, things here would have been simple.
However, even though the lady had kept talking about "killing and driving mad," she had never actually made a real move.
In her, Karen saw shades of Purr.
Before this, Karen had never believed someone could retain their original nature after being "imprisoned" for so long; now, he believed it.
"I am pursuing the same research as your husband. I can help your physical body leave here."
"Just the body is meaningless."
"I can help you maintain this state, but I still need some time. So you can choose to stay here a little longer, and once I can achieve that, I will come back to arrange your departure."
"Why should I trust you?"
"I don't know, but I think you will agree to this plan." Saying so, Karen spread his palm, and a chain of Order shot out from it, the mottled purple swirling across its surface.
Compared to the chain Madame Gandiro had summoned earlier, Karen's chain was more natural and brimming with vitality.
Madame Gandiro stared at Karen in shock. "Now I admit, you truly are very much like my husband."
"Then I can make good on my promise to you. Of course, if I can continue to enter this place myself or send people here in the future, I should be able to shorten that timeline."
"This place holds my husband's life's work, after all."
"Of course I know that, but the person who least wants this research buried forever should be you, Madame."
The "Awakening" here had immense limitations. Such a massive cost could only keep Madame Gandiro in an "awakened" state here; her body could not actually leave this place.
As for her earlier idea of loading her memories into a crystal to carry them out, that was extremely perilous, because she was dead, lacking a soul.
Furthermore, Karen even suspected that the subterranean crystal array had been custom-designed specifically for Madame Gandiro.
In short, nothing here was universally applicable.
Yet even extracting a single point, a single mechanic, a concept, or an inspiration carried tremendous, undeniable value for Karen.
He had always dreamed of one day providing an infusion for Old Saman and Count Rekar, so they would not have to worry about ending once their spiritual power dissipated, allowing them to move about this world with greater freedom.
"Can I trust you?" Madame Gandiro rested both hands on the edge of the coffin, her voluptuous figure fully accentuated.
Karen averted his eyes and said, "You still have choices right now."
Madame Gandiro shifted her posture. She had lived alone for too long and was no longer used to dealing with the living. Besides, as a dead widow, there seemed little need to be particularly self-conscious.
Yet while she didn't mind, this young man before her went out of his way to mind. For a moment, Madame Gandiro felt both annoyed and amused.
"I don't want to become your slave."
Karen simply sat down and asked, "Do you have any more of that red wine?"
With a wave of Madame Gandiro's hand, a small crystal rod flew before Karen.
Karen picked up the crystal rod and struck it against the Sword of Arius at his side, like using the edge of a table to pry open a beer bottle.
*Pop!*
Karen took his cup and filled it to the brim with red wine. The thermos that held ice earlier had been left uncovered, and much of it had melted. Karen hesitated, then opened his palm; channeling Ancestor Allen's ice attribute power, he condensed cubes of ice and dropped them into the cup.
Ancestor Allen's dual attributes were truly convenient. When out on an adventure, one could eat barbecue on one side while drinking ice water on the other.
Naturally, he couldn't mention this to Purr, or that cat would surely fly into a rage.
"I consider this a partnership. You represent your husband, and I represent myself..."
"What about your family?"
"The fact is, due to some special circumstances, my family cannot offer me much help. Of course, before I ventured out, my family—especially my grandfather—had already laid a great deal of groundwork for me.
Currently, on my end, I am the shot-caller. You saw my team members just now; they are either exceptionally talented or hail from distinguished backgrounds. This is a small circle I built myself, and I have a few other small circles..."
"Are you telling me all this to use your future prospects as bargaining chips?"
"No, I am merely introducing my basic background to my partner. What I want to use as my bargaining chip is my 'character.'"
"Character?"
"Yes. I believe you need only trust my character."
"Yet I haven't seen any sign of your character. From the moment I first saw you, from our very first exchange, I could feel that the rhythm of the conversation was always under your control.
How can you bring yourself to use so much scheming and technique on a widow imprisoned for over a century?"
"It's a habit." Karen took a helpless, deep gulp of wine. "But on this point, you truly can trust me. I am not representing my corporation to acquire you and your husband's enterprise. We are negotiating a partnership, and you can be my partner."
"Karen."
"Yes?"
"Are you married?"
"No." Karen pointed to his own face. "This is my real age."
Though my soul's age is considerably older than the body's, compared to someone like you who casually spans one or two centuries, I am still very young.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"I have a fiancée."
"From which family?"
"The Allen family."
"The pirate family from Wien?"
"Yes."
"That family is renowned, but given your identity, marrying into them is still somewhat of a slight to you."
"In truth, the Allen family has completely declined now. When I first arrived in Wien six months ago, their entire family had only three people in Rank Three of the belief system; even their communication array and teleportation array had fallen into disrepair because they couldn't afford maintenance."
"Then will you still honor your marriage contract?"
"Of course. It was an engagement arranged by my grandfather while he was still lucid."
"Don't you feel slighted? Or resentful? Or have you ever thought that you could obtain far greater backing? I'm sure many prominent families within the church would gladly take you as their son-in-law, and the young ladies offered up for political marriage wouldn't give you any talk about resisting political alliances in pursuit of independent personal liberation.
I want you to tell me the truth."
"The truth?"
"Yes, I want to hear the truth."
"No."
"You've never felt regret or slighted?"
"No."
"Not at all?"
Karen took a sip of wine and replied,
"Not at all, because..."
Smiling, Karen took another sip and said, "My fiancée is truly beautiful. Heh."
"Hehehe..."
Madame Gandiro laughed too.
When Karen stopped laughing, Madame Gandiro's laughter continued; she even crouched down, laughing on and on.
As she laughed, she looked up, her eyes glistening, and tears rolled down.
She took a deep breath and said:
"I once asked him the same question—whether he regretted entering into an engagement with me. He said no. And his reason was exactly the same as what you just said."
"I can sense his love for you, Madame. And just as clearly, I can sense your love for him."
Karen licked his lips. Due to all kinds of unforeseen emergencies, he hadn't managed to find the time to return to Allen Manor to see Eunice.
Looking around at this environment and looking at Madame Gandiro before him, he suddenly felt he had done wrong.
One's career was important, one's goals were important, and faith was important, but by all rights, the most important person named in an oath always ended up routinely pushed to the very back of the line.
Eunice, who had been in a deep slumber for so long, must be just as lonely as Madame Gandiro, right?
Madame Gandiro said, "Deal."
Karen nodded.
"I think even out of basic courtesy, you ought to fake a bit of pleasant surprise. Otherwise, I'll feel as though you've had me wrapped around your finger from start to finish."
"My apologies, Madame. I mean no disrespect. Rather, in my view, I am not taking advantage of you or gaining an easy prize. From this point on, we are companions moving toward a shared goal. The moment you agreed, it meant another responsibility fell upon my shoulders."
Madame Gandiro clapped her hands. Promptly, all the spectators stood up and began applauding.
"Karen, it's truly a waste that you didn't become an orator."
"In truth, I am more accustomed to one-on-one chats."
"You can go reunite with your squad now. As you said, deal with the people fishing outside first. Also, do not lose that crystal rod in your hand. When you want to enter again or send your subordinates in, carrying it will save you a lot of time."
"Thank you, Madame." Karen stood up, then remained standing where he was.
"Hmm? Do you have another request?"
"Here's the thing, Madame: I came here to rob a grave."
"I know. I figured that out long ago."
"Since I came to rob a grave, it means my team is currently a bit short on funds."
"Mm, and then?"
"As my partner, could you... inject a bit of starting capital first, if conditions permit?"
"Do you think I'm a fool?" Madame Gandiro asked, pointing to her face.
"I believe certain things only reflect their true value when they are in circulation. Most importantly, I need to bring something back so my squad knows the trip wasn't in vain. Otherwise, a captain who always leads his people on fruitless wild goose chases will find it very hard to establish authority."
Madame Gandiro pointed to a small altar beside her, where ten large, vibrantly colored array magic stones were set.
"Pick two. Those were leftover materials from constructing the array here back then."
"Thank you, Madame."
Karen walked forward with his backpack and swept every single magic stone into his bag.
Each of these magic stones was worth roughly thirty thousand Order coupons. Keeping two at home and selling the rest on the black market would not only fully cover the costs of this grave-robbing venture, but also yield a massive profit.
"I'm leaving, Madame. It shouldn't take too long. Once conditions on my end are ripe, I will come to take you out."
"Mm."
Karen turned to leave. Just as he stepped off the platform, Madame Gandiro's voice echoed from behind:
"Ah... last time, I also watched my husband's back as he walked away like this."
*Ah, she's being melodramatic again.*
Karen stopped and looked back at Madame Gandiro leaning against the crystal coffin, drinking red wine. He said:
"Madame, if you are willing to endure lying in a coffin doing nothing through a period of dullness and boredom, I can take you out right now—along with this crystal coffin of yours, to temporarily seal the loss of spiritual power within you."
Madame Gandiro immediately said, "Oh no, that would be sheer torture upon torture."
"Yet I cannot bear to leave you here all alone, Madame, to endure more open-ended waiting."
Seeing that Karen was serious, Madame Gandiro hurriedly said:
"I trust you will finish your process quickly and come get me. It just so happens I can hold a few more farewell concerts here."
Madame Gandiro waved her arm. All the spectators stood as one, resting their hands on the shoulders of the person next to them to form a train, while rhythmic, synchronized chanting poured from every mouth—a genuine concert of the dead.
"Whoo-whoo... whoo-whoo-whoo... whooo!"
"Whoo-whoo... whoo-whoo-whoo... whooo!"
Madame Gandiro raised a hand and belted out a soaring high note toward Karen:
"Farewell, my dear friend! I shall await your summons where the crystals bloom~~~!"
Chapter 414