novelraw Chapter 185: The Location of the Fool's Card
Chapter 185: The Location of the Fool's Card
"What's the situation outside now?"
Naclis pretended not to care, standing between Loren and Movila, separating them.
"Our neighbors are all dead, the Church people are most likely dead too, and at least fifty Scarecrows from the Royal Capital's Church have died as well."
Unlike Loren's indifference, hearing about these grievous losses made the others feel a degree of sorrow.
So many vibrant lives, gone just like that, so suddenly. Anyone hearing this would feel terrible.
"Look on the bright side, this is perfectly normal in this world.
"Ordinary people are like stalks of wheat in a field, they'll fall over with just a gentle breeze. Even Mages, even Divine Envoys, are merely sturdier stalks that will still fall when the rain comes.
"The world is a river. After the gods stole the authority, this river has grown increasingly turbulent. It never slows down because someone drowned, it only smashes everything blocking its path."
These words were just Loren's spontaneous thoughts, but he dared to say them, while Corolla didn't even dare to listen, silently crouching in the corner covering her ears.
She originally thought she'd at most hear some dirty secrets about the King or nobles, never expecting Loren would even dare to slander the gods."Perhaps in the eyes of the Primal Gods, life is the most precious thing, which is why no one can be resurrected.
"But now, life is the cheapest thing, the cheapest material in rituals, so cheap that even the God of Greed isn't particularly fond of it."
This disaster killed many people, and Loren knew many of them.
The minor noble among Loren's neighbors was a bit snobbish, looking down on commoners while being extremely obsequious to nobles with higher ranks than them. But snobbishness aside, they were still somewhat kind, willing to share food with those who couldn't eat their fill. So even though they looked down on commoners, those commoners still respected them quite a bit.
The Auntie who sold clothes had a daughter. Her daughter was already pregnant, which was why she risked being attacked by those infected with the Rainbow Plague to earn money, all to give her daughter a better life.
The old man who sold vegetables had a son and daughter-in-law who were honest farmers, but his grandson was very promising. The whole family worked hard to support his grandson's studies, and his grandson was very ambitious, about to become a Priest in the Church. The old man would tell everyone he met how promising his grandson was, even Loren had heard it many times.
But now they were all dead, died silently, without even leaving a last word.
Like fallen leaves, soundless and unnoticed.
Loren wouldn't feel too much either, because this is this world. If Loren had to grieve every time someone died, would there even be time to do proper work?
"Let's go home. Life must go on."
Loren led the way out of the basement, then sat on the sofa reading his Magic Book as if nothing had happened, even though there were still a few corpses by the door.
No need to worry about the corpses, they'll dissipate after a while. The threat of the Pseudohumans has vanished. What Loren needs to do is wait for the Church to discover all this, then see what compensation the Church will give him. If the compensation isn't satisfactory, Loren thinks the Church of Night and Thunder might be a good alternative.
The Witches were still immersed in sorrow, but the Maids other than Corolla had already snapped into action and started working.
Among the Witches, Anna had the best mindset. She ate snacks while reading the Magic Book Loren gave her. After witnessing the true nature of this world, Anna's mindset changed significantly. She would no longer grieve for the suffering of all living beings;
she would only think about becoming stronger, then change all this.
"Mirrorheart, come here. I need to ask you something."
"Yes, Master."
Hearing Loren's words, Mirrorheart, who was cleaning, suddenly knelt on the ground and crawled over.
"..."
After crawling in front of Loren, Mirrorheart straightened her upper body, still kneeling perfectly properly, so much so that Loren rubbed his temples before speaking. The others were already used to this:
"Do you know about Gabriel?"
Loren's knowledge about Gabriel truly isn't extensive. Asking Mirrorheart at a time like this might yield unexpected gains, just like with the matter of the Observer before.
"I know!"
Before Mirrorheart could speak, Seraphina spoke up:
"I heard legends about Gabriel a long time ago!"
"What?"
Loren sat up. This was a pleasant surprise. Seraphina knowing about Gabriel was something Loren hadn't expected.
"Elaborate."
"Gabriel is an Angel, but not an Angel of the Orthodox Gods. She is synonymous with perfection, with the ultimate goal of stealing divine authority... That's all I know."
"An Angel of a certain god, but not an Orthodox God?"
Outer Gods don't have Angels, and Gabriel has the power of an Orthodox God, so she couldn't be an Angel of those small-fry evil gods either. That narrows the scope significantly.
The Primal Songstress, The Perpetual Observer, The Final Singer. Only these three are worthy of Gabriel's status.
However, Loren was somewhat doubtful of Seraphina's words, so he looked at Mirrorheart. Mirrorheart nodded, indicating Seraphina's words were correct.
"Then what do you know about these three deities: the Songstress, the Observer, and the Singer?"
Seraphina rested her chin on her hand, seemingly recalling. After a while, she answered Loren:
"The three of Them represent composing, writing lyrics, and singing respectively. Legend says The Primal Songstress created this world, then it was observed by The Perpetual Observer and managed by The Final Singer. They are the Primal Gods, the gods with the highest status, but I've never heard anything about Them anywhere else.
"If you hadn't asked about this, I probably wouldn't have remembered."
Loren wasn't aware of these things, and Mirrorheart hadn't mentioned them either. Remember, Mirrorheart was the original Master Mentor. How could Seraphina possibly know these things? Moreover, Loren has no memories related to Seraphina. If she knew this much, she wouldn't be unknown.
"How do you know this?"
This knowledge belongs to the most secretive kind. The Orthodox Gods have been deliberately suppressing information about these Primal Gods. Loren suspects the Orthodox Gods' authority was stolen from Them.
"I used to live in the Kingdom of Uridia (which worships the God of Night and Thunder) and met a half-vampire sister. She told me."
"Half-vampire?"
The characteristic of a half-vampire is having only one red eye representing a vampire. Loren suddenly remembered someone, just wasn't very sure, and continued asking:
"Was it silver-white hair, with a somewhat vacant look?"
"Yes, yes, yes! You know her?"
"I suppose I do..."
Loren knew that girl, and the reason Loren knew her was because of the Observer's Tarot cards. The Fool's Card was in her possession.
Originally, Loren thought she was just a little girl with some intellectual issues. Such a precious Fool's Card was traded for a single lollipop. Looking at it now, she truly isn't simple.