novelraw Chapter 236: The Story of Lilith
Chapter 236: The Story of Lilith
"Where did you get this thing?"
Loren held the World card, continuously examining it. He had already seen the musical notes on it and felt the power within. He was quite certain this was the genuine World card.
The Unabandoned Casket appeared in Loren's hand, and he hid the World card inside.
"I forgot."
Lilyth's answer didn't disappoint Loren; she truly didn't remember.
Loren pondered. To this day, he still didn't understand why Lilyth's card had become the World. He remembered the World wasn't obtained this way; it should have been the final card.
And where had the Fool's Card gone...
Loren shook his head, deciding to stop thinking about these things for now. He never cared about disrupting the game's plot, and he simply attributed it all to the butterfly effect he had caused.
His help in writing songs for Cecelia had actually caused quite a significant impact on the Uridia Kingdom.
If the Fool was gone, then it was gone. Loren had plenty of opportunities to find it again, and besides, the World was much more useful than the Fool.He hadn't forgotten there was still serious business at hand and continued asking:
"Lilyth, do you know about the Observer?"
Lilyth's eyes had been somewhat vacant, but upon hearing that name, a light suddenly ignited in them:
"I do. Would you like to hear the story of the Observer?"
"Of course, but not right now..."
Loren was well aware this story was dangerous and couldn't be heard by the children. The Perpetual Observer's level was higher than that of the Outer Gods, and its contamination was certainly stronger than theirs.
The previous experience with the Angel was still vivid in his mind, so when mentioning the Perpetual Observer, Loren didn't use its full title either. After all, he hadn't encountered any other entities called "Observer."
Not only that, after living in this world for so long, Loren had never encountered the terms "Songstress" or "Singers." The Orthodox Gods' suppression of this was even more severe than Loren had imagined; even mentioning non-full titles wasn't allowed.
"Alright... This is actually the first time I'm telling these stories to someone else..."
"Miss Lilyth, you told stories back at the orphanage, didn't you?"
Seraphina suddenly corrected Lilyth, once again making Lilyth show a puzzled expression:
"Did I? I forgot. By the way, who are you?"
"My name is Seraphina. I saw you when I was little."
"But you look much older than me. Why are you still calling me 'older sister'?"
Lilyth tilted her head, looking at Seraphina with confusion.
Seraphina rubbed her temples. Communicating with Lilyth gave her a bit of a headache, but she maintained her usual gentleness:
"You and I aren't even the same species. Your lifespan is very, very long..."
"Oh, is that so..."
Only then did Lilyth look as if she had suddenly understood. Loren found this a bit of a headache too.
"By the way, Lilyth, we've all been to your place. Why don't you come to mine for a look?"
"Okay."
Lilyth happily agreed to Loren's invitation, not suspecting for a moment that Loren might be trying to abduct her.
Lilyth carefully closed the fairy tale book, put it back in its place, then put on her shoes, ready to depart.
"Oh, should I change clothes?"
Lilyth opened the wardrobe. There weren't many clothes inside, and most were quite old. The one she was wearing wasn't much better, but it was the newest she had.
These clothes were luxurious, but also very old.
"That's not necessary. Let's just go."
Loren suspected that if Lilyth really did change clothes, she wouldn't mind him being there...
The return trip was much easier than coming. Loren had already memorized the route.
"Lilyth, how did you get into Ofemia's banquet? Didn't they check invitations?"
On the way, since they had nothing better to do, Loren asked Lilyth some questions.
Logically, as a bottom-tier half-vampire, Lilyth shouldn't have been qualified to enter a banquet hosted by Ofemia.
"I snuck in behind you guys. I waited outside the door for a long time."
"..."
Loren had considered many possibilities, but he never expected Lilyth had entered that way.
Loren had no energy to complain about this, so he simply moved on to other questions:
"You don't work, right? Where do you get the money to buy food?"
Someone with Lilyth's intellectual limitations wouldn't be able to find work anywhere, and she didn't seem like a vampire with a family or business.
"Vampires have a basic living allowance. The clan provides a social safety net for those without money, allowing them to live with some dignity."
"The vampire community is that humane...?"
This was something Loren genuinely hadn't expected. He thought only the Nofica Theocracy had such a system.
"No wonder I've rarely seen any destitute vampires..."
It had to be said, this rule indeed maintained the dignity of vampires. The amount probably wasn't small, otherwise Lilyth wouldn't be able to frequent various dessert shops all day.
Looking at it this way, Lilyth was actually quite fortunate. Her mind wasn't sharp, so she didn't have to worry about anything. She had no demands beyond food, and the clan's basic allowance was all spent by her on eating.
However, the price for vampires living with such dignity was having to suck the blood of ordinary people. Who knew how many ordinary people had starved to death tonight.
The group made their way back to the hotel. No one dared to question Loren bringing back an unfamiliar little girl.
Upon returning to the inn, Loren immediately took Lilyth into a small room, tightly closed the door, and cast a Shielding Spell.
Naclis stood outside the door, feeling an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
...
"How do you know about the Perpetual Observer?"
Before listening to Lilyth's story, Loren asked a question.
"I heard it from my teacher."
Loren had expected Lilyth to say she forgot, but surprisingly, she actually remembered. This was an unexpected delight.
"Who was your teacher? Where is he?"
"He died a long time ago. I forgot when, but it seems like it wasn't long ago."
Loren wasn't surprised by this outcome. These matters were absolute taboos. Anyone who dared to investigate wouldn't meet a good end; even just uttering the name could cause an Angel to be crippled.
"How did he die?"
"Killed by his own student. I forgot the rest."
"You've worked hard..."
Being able to remember this much, Loren felt Lilyth had already tried very hard.
She couldn't remember anything, yet she could uniquely remember stories related to the Perpetual Observer. Loren felt this was also a manifestation of the Perpetual Observer's authority, which included concepts like eternity and truth.
Lilyth took off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, and patted the spot beside her, gesturing for Loren to sit there.
Then, Lilyth removed her eyepatch. There were no outsiders here, so she didn't need to hide her identity. She revealed her other eye, which was black. This eye was much more lively than the other one.
"Which part of the story would you like to hear?"
"All of it."
This was Loren's best chance to learn about the Perpetual Observer, perhaps even his only chance.
"Alright, then I'll start from when the Primal Songstress created the world."