Chapter 129: Café (Requesting double monthly votes)

Seeing the "slogan" on the wall, Lu Mian couldn't help but laugh.

This reminded him of some things Aurora had said:

"In Trier, cafés have a very special status. They are the starting point of riots, the holy land of conspiracies, and the source of scandals."

In the history of Intis, no one knows how many disturbances started from exchanges in cafés, nor how many literary works and political struggles fermented in cafés.

Unlike the neighboring Kingdom of Loen, although Intis also has some closed clubs, they are relatively professional or high-end, and few people can participate. Whether it's former nobles, current members of parliament, high government officials, financiers, bankers, industrialists, famous writers, newspaper editors-in-chief, military generals, university professors, etc., they all like to appear in different cafés, enjoying the fun of chatting and showing their approachable side. After all, the Republic's political slogan and the image established internally and externally are "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

Of course, the cafés that people of different classes like to go to are completely different, which is often divided by location, price, and style. Therefore, Lu Mian wasn't surprised or puzzled when he heard Charlie say that Laurent squeezed money from his mother, Mrs. Lacazan, to find opportunities in that kind of expensive café. Many people are doing this, and some even become character prototypes in novelists' pens, but few can succeed.

At the same time, banquets and salons are very popular in Trier. If a high-society person hasn't held a salon for a month, they will be suspected of having family changes or economic crises, or losing their prospects in politics.

The combination of salons and cafés replaced most of the functions of clubs.

In this system, taverns, beer halls, dance halls, and cafés have similar roles, but they are far less important than the latter and are more inclined toward the lower society.

Seeing a guest enter, a female waiter in a gray-white long skirt walked over and asked with a smile:

"Do you have a favorite seat, or have you already made an appointment with a friend?"

Lu Mian nodded:

"Booth D."

That female waiter led him to a position in the corner.

This was right next to a window, where he could see the lush, tree-lined Botanical Garden.

"What would you like to drink?" The female waiter put down a wine list wrapped in a brown cover.

Lu Mian picked it up, unfolded it, and glanced at it, slightly surprised by the dazzling array of choices:

"Felmer coffee, plateau coffee, Lim espresso..."

"Siberian black tea, Marquis black tea, West Baylon black tea..."

"Fruit ice water, egg flower water, ambergris lemon water, 'Venus' holy oil special drink..."

"Chayot wine, light red wine, rose dew wine, walnut shochu, orange lemon wine, cherry shochu..."

"Absinthe, anise absinthe, gin, curacao, apple brandy, grape pomace brandy..."

"Sweet wine: Perfect Love, Barbarian Cream, Little Rose, West Parlo..."

Considering that he would be receiving treatment from a psychologist later, neither alcohol nor caffeine was suitable for intake. Lu Mian thought for a while and said:

"Ambergris lemon water."

"4 Riques." The female waiter asked again, "Do you need cake, bread, or other food?"

"Not for now. I'll decide when my friend arrives." Lu Mian looked around the Mason Café again and found that there were no guests at this time.

Guests who came to the café for lunch left before 2:30, and it was still more than an hour before afternoon tea time.

Before long, the female waiter came over with a tray and placed an open glass cup containing a colorless liquid with a few slices of lemon floating in it on the table.

Lu Mian looked at the empty seat opposite the booth, picked up the cup, and took a sip.

The elegant and sweet fragrance entered his nose, and the refreshing and sweet acidity made his spirit feel refreshed.

Time passed second by second. Seeing the wall clock about to reach the 3:30 position, Lu Mian couldn't help but turn his body and look at the entrance of the café.

There were some green plants there, but no guests entered.

Just when Lu Mian was about to withdraw his gaze in disappointment, a gentle female voice that couldn't distinguish age came from the booth behind him:

"I've arrived."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lu Mian Lee."

Lu Mian guessed that the other party didn't want to communicate face-to-face, so he didn't turn around, lowered his voice, and asked politely:

"Good afternoon. How should I address you? My voice is so low, can you hear me?"

"No problem." The gentle female voice said, "You can call me Su Qian."

"Hello, Ms. Su Qian." For some reason, Lu Mian's emotions became quite peaceful when facing this psychologist, and he didn't have the habit of commenting in his heart as usual.

The next second, he inexplicably felt a bit of familiar unease.

"What's wrong?" Su Qian in the booth behind him asked softly.

Lu Mian thought for two seconds and didn't hide his feeling:

"I feel a bit uneasy, a very strange and familiar experience."

"Hmm, I should have had a similar feeling when I met an intelligence peddler yesterday."

Su Qian's speaking speed became a bit faster, full of apologies:

"Sorry, I habitually read your thoughts. This might be the source of your unease."

"You have severe corruption sealed in your body, and you are in a very balanced state. Even a slight disturbance will cause you to have a certain reaction, which means you are quite sensitive to hidden and invisible influences, surpassing Beyonders of the same sequence or even higher sequences."

"I see..." Lu Mian wasn't angry.

In his view, if the psychologist didn't read his thoughts, how could she treat him? Just rely on rhetoric?

He frowned slightly:

"Anthony Reid was also reading my thoughts at the time? I'm talking about that intelligence peddler."

"I know." Su Qian expressed understanding, "Where is Anthony Reid from, and what did he do before becoming an intelligence peddler?"

"He has an accent from the West Coast of the Sea of Contentment and is a retired soldier." Lu Mian recalled.

Su Qian was silent for a long time before saying:

"If he really is from the West Coast of the Sea of Contentment, he might indeed be a Beyonder of the 'Spectator' path."

"Spectator" path... Lu Mian had read about this divine path in Aurora's witchcraft notes, but Aurora only knew that the corresponding sequence 9 was called "Spectator," possessing a very strong observation ability, able to interpret the true thoughts contained in various subtle expressions and body language.

So a certain sequence above the "Spectator" path is "Psychologist"... Lu Mian just had such a thought flash through his mind when he heard Su Qian make a correction:

"It's 'Psychiatrist'."

"That sounds more reassuring." Lu Mian smiled, "What sequence would Anthony Reid have?"

Knowing the other party's path, he believed Anthony Reid should have recognized him at the time and noticed the tension, worry, and attempts at deterrence in his heart.

"According to your description, he has at least sequence 8." Su Qian gave her judgment.

Lu Mian laughed:

"If he really is a 'Psychiatrist,' it would be fun. He didn't even cure his own post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Very normal. If a 'Psychiatrist' really suffers from severe psychological trauma, it's very difficult to walk out on their own. This often requires the help of another 'Psychiatrist,' and treatment for a 'Psychiatrist' is much more dangerous than normal. Once there is an oversight, it's easy to be infected with the kind of mental illness he suffers from." Su Qian explained briefly.

As the topic drifted, as the other party adopted a posture of chatting, Lu Mian's heart gradually became peaceful, and he no longer felt uneasy or nervous.

He took the initiative to say:

"Shall we start the treatment?"

"Chatting is also part of the treatment." Su Qian's gentle voice carried a few smiles.

Seeing that the first stage of treatment was pure chatting, Lu Mian became more relaxed. He leaned back against the booth partition and asked suspiciously:

"I already know it was a dream, but there are many details I can't understand."

"Since it's my dream, why do I know the various abilities of those three official investigators, and why am I so clear about what unique abilities the parish priest and the shepherds each possess?"

Su Qian said in a warm tone:

"Those three official investigators were forcibly pulled into your dream, which is equivalent to letting their own subconscious approach your subconscious, presenting a semi-open state."

"They will actively participate in the dream and display various information they know, and even if they just thought about it in their minds, your subconscious can sense it."

In other words, it was because of the participation of Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine that certain parts of the dream were produced due to "interaction"? The reply they received was manufactured by my subconscious and their subconscious together, so it completely conformed to the rules of the cipher? Lu Mian thought while listening, pondering some questions he hadn't understood before.

Su Qian continued in a voice that didn't change:

"Why do you understand the abilities of the evil god followers? You should already have a certain guess, right? Just not very willing to face it?"

Hearing this, Lu Mian's eyelids couldn't help but jump.

"According to the intelligence given to me by 'Magician' lady, most of the abilities of Guillaume Bénet and Pierre Béry come from the 'Contracted' evil god sequence. Therefore, the abilities they possess cannot be predicted in advance, depending on which creature they have signed a contract with." Su Qian helped analyze, her voice gentle, "In other words, we can rule out the possibility that your subconscious obtained corresponding knowledge from the sealed corruption. And without a knowledge base, you couldn't have imagined those abilities out of thin air. They aren't fictional."

This lady's tone suddenly became a bit serious:

"Obviously, at some point in time before the destruction of Cordu Village, you saw Guillaume Bénet, Pierre Béry, and others use their abilities, and you weren't harmed or left with a shadow because of it, otherwise there would be a corresponding presentation in the dream."

"From that dream analysis, what really left you with a shadow was the performance of Pualis and her group."

"How do you think you saw those evil god followers display their abilities?"

Su Qian's words were like sharp arrows, piercing the surface of Lu Mian's memory, causing the solid barrier to shake to a certain extent.

Lu Mian's face twisted slightly.

In the pain that couldn't be hidden, he felt several scenes float up from the depths of his memory:

That was the third floor of the administrative castle, that was the wall covered with blue-white transparent faces, but the ones fighting were no longer Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine, but Guillaume Bénet, Pierre Béry, and Sybil Béry!

PS: Requesting double monthly votes~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 130 =====

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