Turns Out What They Said Was True

"I really don't know how to treat living people," Harvey said, quickly blocking Yaxiu. Lisi slipped behind Harvey in a flash. "Fine. If—if what you say is true, and you've suddenly become popular with women... then what are you trying to figure out?" "I want to know why I'm suddenly so popular with women." "And then?" "And then?" Yaxiu paused. "Just... keep it up, and strive to find Lisi a stepmother sooner rather than later?" "There you go." Harvey threw up his hands. "You don't need to know why at all. Just enjoy this hard-won happiness. Besides, once we leave Fanmula, you should be cured of whatever poison you took..." "Harvey, your Alice isn't around. I advise you to think about your ass before you speak." After a chaotic scuffle, the three sat down once more. Harvey said, "Let's move straight to the next topic—Yaxiu, you said Annan's been fond of hitting you lately?" Though the word "hitting" felt odd, Yaxiu still nodded. "That's right." Harvey: "I think this might be a hint." "A hint of what?" "A hint of dissatisfaction. What have you been doing these past few days?" "I haven't done anything," Yaxiu said, scratching his head. "Every day I just play games and eat, steadily improving my commanding skills. When I occasionally have free time, I take Lisi to practice gunmanship with Banjie. I haven't done anything out of line." Lisi nodded along. Practicing gunmanship with the butler was actually something she had dragged Yaxiu into doing; after all, Yaxiu had promised her earlier and promptly forgotten, but Lisi certainly hadn't. "That's exactly it," Harvey said. "It's because you haven't done anything." "What do you mean?" "Even though Annan said she didn't demand performance results from you, deep down she hopes you'll take the initiative to date and strive to make it onto the second list. Just like how I have no demands for a corpse, yet I still hope the corpse can sprout undead spirit on its own and turn itself into an undead creature." "I get it. The young lady says she's giving me a vacation, but secretly expects me to work unpaid overtime!" Corporate drone and necromancer, employing completely different analogies, arrived at the same consensus—Annan was a tsundere streetlight. "Now, on to you." Yaxiu turned to Lisi. "Speak. What did you take my Substitutes for?" Lisi's eyes darted around. "Nothing much, really. Just had him help out as an artist's model... Oh right, I have a question too! Does falling in love really change a person's personality? I recently got to know a few older sisters. Some are stern, some wicked, some aloof, and some even stupider than me. But after falling in love, every single one of them became gentle. They often zone out and giggle to themselves out of nowhere. Is love really that powerful?" "Alas, excellent question. Unfortunately, I can't answer it," Yaxiu said deadpan. "It can," Harvey said, chewing on cake tobacco shreds. "For example, recently, because of someone, I've started quitting smoking." Yaxiu: (o_o;) Lisi: Σ(°Д°;) Facing their shocked stares, Harvey felt a bit puzzled. "Is it really that surprising?" "Because in my eyes, Harvey, you've always been the type who 'wants to light a cigarette before dying, but can't get it lit no matter what, and ends up dying with regret,'" Yaxiu said, while Lisi nodded vigorously in agreement. Harvey: "Arranging death scripts for people is a necromancer's job. From what I see, Yaxiu, you've got quite the talent for necromancy. Why not join me as a lackey under Haagen-Dazs?" Yaxiu waved his hand. "No thanks. So, which graveyard did you meet her in?" Harvey shook his head. "Not a graveyard. I was just following Annan's instructions to find someone to date in the dreamscape. Though I didn't actually expect anything—after all, very few people in reality can match my aesthetic. But..." He turned to look out the window, avoiding the gaze of the "father and daughter." "I met a girl who looks a lot like Na'erbeier." Yaxiu's memory wasn't particularly great, and he only faintly recognized the name, but piecing together the context and the present mood, this was probably the necromancer's white moonlight. However, compared to the white moonlight, the fact that Harvey was so calm about the "looking for a partner in a graveyard" joke, lacking even the slightest urge to retort, only deepened Yaxiu's dread of him. Necromancers were truly like blind boxes of nesting fetishes—every one you opened shattered your perception of a sorcerer's rock bottom. "It's not that I like that girl in the dreamscape. In fact, you couldn't really say Na'erbeier and I liked each other either. We were just colleagues." Harvey continued, "I was the Control Master who manufactured corpses; she was the courier who transported them. We didn't talk much. The last topic we ever discussed was what kind of livor mortis blooms would look prettiest on her." No wonder Harvey had no hope for his romantic prospects. There probably wasn't a single female creature in this world who could follow his train of thought... No, not even a male creature could. "She said she liked blue roses, and I agreed," Harvey said. "Because the human body cannot produce beautiful purplish-blue pigments on its own, I set a poison miracle on her that would trigger upon death, reacting with hemoglobin to blend into a vivid purplish blue." Yaxiu was deeply humbled by the sheer biodiversity of this world, yet at the same time, hope for true love was kindled within him—if even Harvey could have a true love, there was no more compelling proof than that. "The pity is that in the end, I never saw her corpse." Harvey suddenly chuckled. "Those Blood Saints at the institute were truly remarkably efficient. The day after she died, her body was shipped off to who knows which research lab. I couldn't find it no matter how hard I looked." Concealed within the necromancer's laughter were twisted, alienated negative emotions—anger, resentment, loathing, fear—churning and colliding into a pitch-black urge for destruction, half aimed at the world's throat, and half aimed at his own heart. Lisi could almost feel a wave of human malice. Forgetting the possibility of getting her butt spanked by Yaxiu, she quietly shrank beside him, trembling. Yaxiu wasn't particularly surprised by Harvey's mental state. Harvey's coffin had never been prepared for Alice. Arranging death scripts for people was a necromancer's craft; Harvey had been writing his own all along. "Oh." Harvey glanced at him. "I poured out all that, and you brush me off with just an 'oh'?" "Ohhh~~ oh-oh~~~ oh-oh-oh-oh~~" Yaxiu started, and Lisi chimed in. Adult and child sang in a 1-2-4 tempo for a good dozen seconds. Even Harvey, whose face was usually stiff as a corpse, couldn't help his lips twitching—he had originally hoped Yaxiu would take the initiative to discuss livor mortis patterns with him, but that seemed hopeless now. "Stop 'oh'-ing. I deliberately built up some negative emotions to use for spellcasting later, and now you two have completely 'oh'-ed them away—don't you realize how hard it is to accumulate negative emotions in Fanmula?" "Then let's get back to the girl you met in the dreamscape," Yaxiu said. "Did you fall in love with her?" "How could that be..." Harvey stopped midsentence, his eyes fixing on Yaxiu. Yaxiu blinked. "What?" "Nothing. I just realized she looks a bit like you." "Harvey, don't do this, I'm scared." Yaxiu hugged Lisi, both trembling together. Harvey had only said it offhand without thinking much of it. "Of course I didn't fall in love with her. A necromancer's love is 'etched into bone and carved into the heart'—literally carving bones and engraving hearts—it's just..." "Just what?" "I'll just treat it as a dream." Harvey swallowed the last bit of tobacco shreds. "In the dream, she urged me to quit smoking, so I figured I'd give quitting a try." The mood grew somber, so Yaxiu steered the conversation back. "Then on to our final topic: why is there a cake in my room every day?" "Daddy, aren't you happy with that?" Lisi asked in return. "I'd love to wake up every morning and see cake!" "None of you have one, yet I do. Of course I'd find it strange!" Cupping his chin, Yaxiu mused, "It feels like a prelude to some dangerous incident. Could it be a murder notice?" Harvey: "Once the second ranking list comes out, we'll basically be leaving. Why do you care so much?" Yaxiu thought that made sense. "Then come help me eat the cake every morning." "Why?" "I can't finish it alone." "Can't you just leave whatever you can't finish?" "No." Yaxiu shook his head. "I have a strong premonition that if I don't finish the cake, something terrible will happen." "Why do you have so many premonitions..." ..... ... After finishing the cake, the group disbanded. Lisi led a Substitute away, Harvey returned to his room to dress Alice up, and Yaxiu changed into his black robe to go back to serving his sentence in the game—unable to clear the dungeon, constantly getting beaten, trapped inside all day just to improve his mechanics. It was no different from being in prison; in fact, the treatment at Shattered Lake Prison was better than raiding. Stay away from the Supreme Severing Carp Sovereign, or misfortune will follow. Yet while taking the passenger elevator up to the gaming floor, Yaxiu ran into the person he least wanted to see—Qinna! She still wore the standard Red Hat uniform, standing out tall and striking among the crowd. Her expression was aloof, her gaze solemn, dominating whatever little presence remained in the packed elevator. Seeing this, Yaxiu couldn't help marveling once again at how the clan system in Fanmula completely disregarded hierarchy. A person like him, who wouldn't dare share an elevator with the CEO back at work, couldn't fathom why ordinary clansmen had the nerve to ride an elevator with their matriarch. In the Sennheiser District, Matriarch Qinna was virtually a dictator. Aside from the Red Hats she personally oversaw, the other departments were established strictly according to the Gospel Country's system, yet Qinna could directly supervise any department and appoint or dismiss anyone from any post. In fact, that was precisely what she did—except rather than acting on her own whims, she governed the city following the advice of the Book of Gospel. Even if she didn't wield absolute life-or-death authority, Qinna held enough power in Sennheiser to cover the sky with one hand. Yet based on his observations over the past few days, Yaxiu realized that the Sennheiser clansmen didn't seem to fear their matriarch, nor did they show much deference. If anything, in their eyes, Qinna was merely another ordinary member of the clan. The fact that Annan dared to be so unyielding in front of Qinna wasn't just because she relied on her status as her daughter; it might also stem from a sense of equality fostered since childhood. Living in this clan, because material desires were drastically reduced, status and hierarchy in reality had lost their meaning. No one stood in awe of the clan matriarch wielding vast authority, nor did anyone look down on ordinary maidservants engaged in manual labor. Matriarch and maid were simply clanspeople fulfilling their respective duties. So don't be afraid! Yaxiu, you're an ordinary clansman now too—just pretend Qinna doesn't exist! With that thought, Yaxiu hid in the corner of the elevator, eyes glued to the floor buttons. You can't see me, you can't see me... Yet as if she could hear his thoughts, she pushed through the crowd and came to stand right behind him, her tall shadow draping over his back. Yaxiu kept his eyes on his nose and his nose aligned with his heart, not daring to take a loud breath for fear of startling the monster behind him. The elevator doors opened, and several more clanspeople walked in, squeezing out what little space was left. Jostled by the incoming passengers, Qinna's body pressed against Yaxiu. Yaxiu shuddered and glanced back over his shoulder, locking eyes with Qinna's aloof, noble golden pupils. Yaxiu wished he knew a shrinking spell so he could get as far away from this Sanctuary Sorcerer's gaze as possible. But it was peak morning rush hour, and the elevator was packed to bursting. Even though Yaxiu was flattening himself into a two-dimensional sheet, he still couldn't avoid physical contact and clothes rubbing against the matriarch. He could even feel Qinna's breath brushing against his hood. The agonizing elevator ride finally came to an end on the dining hall floor. The others filed out one by one; Qinna, too, appeared to be here for breakfast. Just as Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief, Qinna suddenly tapped his shoulder and said expressionlessly, "The corner of your mouth." Yaxiu froze and touched the right corner of his mouth. Qinna shook her head, reached out, and wiped away the trace of cream from the left corner of his mouth with her finger. "Th-thank you...?" Qinna gave a faint nod and strode out of the elevator, leaving a dumbfounded Yaxiu behind. Their interaction drew zero attention. The desires of the people in this city were completely satisfied by the Beauty Mist, curiosity included—they had no interest in following other people's gossip. Unless it was earth-shattering gossip capable of surpassing the bliss of the Beauty Mist. Hidden behind the crowd, Luxi had been watching the matriarch and Yaxiu all along. Recalling the scandalous secrets Yaxiu had shared with her, watching Yaxiu and Qinna's interaction now made her long-dormant curiosity beat wildly in her chest. She got off on this floor as well, following behind Qinna, and soon witnessed a jaw-dropping scene—the matriarch actually put the cream-stained fingertip into her mouth! After a few days of cooling off, Luxi had begun to wonder if Yaxiu and Igola had tricked her, even contemplating whether to report them. But at this very moment, all her doubts vanished into thin air. So what they said was true all along!