novelraw Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Observer Effect
The cognition of the vampires had become distorted. The world they saw was different, so naturally they would perceive things that others could not!
Perhaps… both sides had overlooked this “common sense” loophole during their investigations!
The maid seemed to suddenly realize something as well, nodding with a hint of understanding: “What you said… is not without reason. Neither milady nor I had considered it from this angle… but it’s strange—why would such an obvious piece of common sense be overlooked?”
“It’s precisely because you think of it as ‘common sense’ that it’s easy to overlook unintentionally,” Lina did not seem particularly surprised. “Just like how we don’t think about whether to step with our left or right foot every time we walk.”
“But if… that’s really the case, how are we supposed to investigate this?” Annie looked somewhat discouraged. “We have no way to perceive those ‘anomalies’…”
“That does seem to be the case…” Seriel also fell into thought.
“No, I actually do have a way,” Lina’s voice drew both the maid’s and Annie’s attention. The black-haired witch’s lips curled slightly upward. “If it’s just temporarily ‘borrowing’ the vampires’ perspective… it’s not difficult.”
“Big Sister Lina, what method do you have?” Annie couldn’t help but ask.
“Isn’t it simple?” Lina spread her hands. “The reason the vampires experience ‘cognitive distortion’ is because their souls are in a ‘gap between worlds’ that is relatively stationary compared to the real world, while their consciousness remains in the real dimension. So in principle, as long as we can replicate this relative state between soul and consciousness, we can obtain the same perspective as them.”
Now it was Seriel’s turn to be shocked. She couldn’t help asking, “What you said makes sense… but how exactly can that be achieved?”
Lina smiled slightly and took out the bread stick with Physical Attack +5 from her storage ring. “Annie, do you still remember the physical hypnosis method I taught you?”
“…Huh?” Annie was stunned.
“Seriel, I’ll need some cooperation from you and Annie shortly,” Lina said in a serious tone. “Annie, in a moment, give me a round of physical hypnosis…”
“B-but… I haven’t practiced it yet…” Annie held the divine bread sword with both hands, looking extremely hesitant. “If I get the strength wrong…”
“It’s fine. The first time is unfamiliar, the second time comes naturally—just treat it as practice,” Lina looked completely at ease. She continued speaking to Seriel, “When I fall asleep, immediately cast any low-power mental-type spell on me.”
“Th-this… but in a fainted state, the effect of mental-type magic would be very weak…” Seriel was puzzled. “What are you trying to do?”
“It’s very simple,” Lina lifted her chin. “When I fall unconscious, my soul and consciousness will briefly separate, because unconsciousness is essentially a kind of sleep—a dreamless sleep.”
“At that moment, when your mental magic makes contact with me, it will trigger my spiritual intuition’s self-protection. My subconscious will then leave a very clear imprint corresponding to it—dreamless sleep is a blank slate that can be freely marked upon.”
“After that, once I wake up, I can perform divination on my own memory to trace back to the source of the attack.”
“But the essence of my magic doesn’t actually come from the real dimension, but rather… from that special world fissure!” Seriel’s eyes widened. “You’re trying to use this method to locate the true position of our souls?!”
“Yes, exactly,” Lina nodded. “As long as I know the position of your souls, I can use a summoning ritual to let the soul temporarily leave the body in the same way, and observe the world from your perspective.”
“S-so amazing!” Annie couldn’t help covering her mouth.
“But summoning rituals are a very complex form of ritual magic,” Seriel was still somewhat uneasy. She carefully observed the black-haired girl again and said frankly, “I’ve heard that only witches of A-rank or above, with precise control over magic power, can complete this kind of ritual magic…”
“That’s not difficult,” Lina said in a relaxed tone. “As long as it’s not magic with strict requirements on sheer magic power, it’s not a problem for me.”
After everything was prepared, Lina sat cross-legged in the center of the sofa, while Annie held the stick with both hands and walked toward her step by step.
When the shadow of that black bread stick fell over her delicate face, she couldn’t help swallowing. “Um… Annie, th-this… it’s too big… I might die… how about we… change to something else?”
“O-okay…” Annie nodded obediently and walked behind Lina.
Just as Lina let out a sigh of relief, she suddenly felt a gust of cold wind by her ear!
“—Bang!”
Lina’s eyes rolled back as she collapsed onto the sofa, an expression of disbelief still lingering on her face.
Annie put down the bread stick, clasped her hands together, and bowed in apology. “I’m sorry, Big Sister Lina! You taught me… that I must strike when the target is off guard! That way, the pain can be minimized…”
At the side, Seriel’s eyelids twitched at the sight. Regardless, the goal had been achieved.
“Miss Annie, please step back a little.”
She raised her right hand. A blood-colored vortex spiraled around her forearm, rapidly gathering into a rotating magic array in her palm.
Annie’s mouth fell open in a perfect “O.” She had never seen such a strange kind of magic before.
“Spiritual Interference!” Seriel’s magic array trembled slightly, and invisible ripples spread outward, sweeping across the peacefully sleeping Lina.
Annie still looked a bit uneasy. Holding the bread stick, she cautiously moved behind Lina. “Big Sister Seriel, is this really okay?”
Seriel shook her head. “In theory, it should be feasible, but whether this succeeds or not depends almost entirely on… whether Miss Lina’s ritual magic succeeds.”
“But… Big Sister Lina didn’t say when she would wake up?” Annie suddenly realized a serious problem.
“……” After a moment of silence, Seriel stood up. “Please wait a moment, Miss Annie. I’ll go request a guest room from milady. After that, Miss Lina can rest there.”
---
Lina’s vision was dim.
She could vaguely feel her own existence, yet lacked clear awareness.
In her hazy state, it seemed as though something briefly “touched” her, then abruptly dissipated.
After an unknown amount of time, her consciousness gradually became clear, and color returned to the world before her eyes.
She slowly opened her eyes, and immediately saw Annie holding that black “murder weapon.”
She kicked off the blanket and shrank into the corner of the wall at incredible speed, taking a defensive stance toward Annie. “Y-you… don’t come any closer!”
“It’s already over, Big Sister Lina.” Annie took a step forward, still holding the bread stick.
“Talk is fine, but put the weapon down!” Lina screamed.
Annie had never seen this reliable senior show such an expression before, but she still obediently set down the bread stick in her hands. “Big Sister Lina, this is the guest room Miss Seriel arranged for us. She said that after you wake up, you can go next door to find milady.”
“Oh, I see.” Lina rubbed the back of her head, which still felt somewhat torn, quickly put away the black bread into her storage ring, and sighed:
“Annie, your stick technique is pretty impressive—it’s just that the aim was a bit too high.”
“W-will that cause any problems?”
“If the force is off, you might knock someone into becoming an idiot.”
“Big Sister Lina… what is 1+1?”
“2.”
“And 2+2?”
“4.”
“Wow, Big Sister Lina isn’t dumb!” Annie raised both hands, looking extremely happy.
“Wow, I’m not dumb!” Lina also raised both hands reflexively—only to run straight into Seriel, who was pushing the door open as she entered.
“You…” Seriel hesitated, then revealed a solemn and deeply sympathetic expression. “I’m sorry, Miss Lina… the cause of this lies with us… we will take responsibility for you…”
“Take responsibility my ass! I’m really not dumb!” Lina jumped up on the spot.
After quite a bit of commotion, and confirming that Lina’s body and intelligence were both fine, Seriel stepped forward and said, “Miss Lina, before starting the ritual, would you like to meet milady?”
Lina blinked. “Sure, I just happen to have some things to ask her.”
Following Seriel out of the guest room and through a spacious corridor, Lina finally stopped in front of a heavy wooden door at the end of the hallway.
“Um… about that…” Just as she was about to open the door, Seriel’s hand suddenly paused on the handle. She whispered, “Milady might seem… a bit strange, but she’s actually a very kind child. Mm, if she says something you don’t understand, just don’t mind it…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine—what kind of person haven’t I seen before?” Lina waved her hand dismissively. “Go ahead and open the door!”
And then Lina realized—this was exactly the kind of “milady” she had absolutely never seen before!