Chapter 26: Informing

The lady was eating a croissant and only spoke to Lu Mi after a while:

"I know."

She really knew... Lu Mi felt a surge of joy and weighed his words:

"Can I pay a certain price to ask for your help in solving the problem in Cordu?"

He used the honorific again.

In his view, this mysterious lady was definitely stronger than the three of them—Lyra, Ryan, and Valentine—and by a lot. If she were willing to provide help, the problem in Cordu village would no longer be a problem, and he and his sister wouldn't have to risk escaping. The only problem was that he might not be able to afford the corresponding price.

As for whether she would agree, Lu Mi had no confidence at all; he was even quite pessimistic. He just felt it was necessary to try once under the current circumstances. Even if rejected, he would only lose a bit of face, and he didn't care about that.

The lady tilted her head to look at Lu Mi and said in a calm tone:

"I can indeed solve the problem here, but the corresponding price is that everything will be destroyed, including you."

"To get a better result, you can only rely on yourselves."

Is the problem that serious? Lu Mi's pupils dilated instantly, wanting to see her subtle expressions clearly to see if she was joking.

He wasn't surprised or disappointed that she refused to help; what shocked him was that the problem in Cordu village she spoke of was many times more serious than he had anticipated, potentially leading to the destruction of the entire village!

Since she can solve it, why would the whole village die, while we ordinary people and Beyonders who aren't strong enough can strive for a better result? Lu Mi was both confused and terrified.

He decided that if he didn't receive a reply from the "Novel Weekly" by the day after tomorrow, he would urge his sister to leave Cordu village immediately. Even if it meant taking a huge risk, he couldn't delay any longer!

"What exactly is the problem?" Lu Mi had never cared about decorum and continued to press.

The lady smiled:

"The result will be completely different if I say it versus if you investigate it yourself."

Lu Mi instinctively ground his teeth. He really disliked this behavior of "only saying a little and never being willing to explain clearly."

For some reason, he felt that the strange emotion in her eyes had become more obvious.

"Fine." Lu Mi thought for a moment and turned to ask, "Do you know Lady Pualis? Is she also a witch, uh, a Beyonder?"

"Yes." The lady picked up her coffee cup and took a sip.

She really is... Lu Mi asked further:

"What pathway, what sequence?"

The next second, he saw the lady's expression become a bit more serious:

"Not a normal pathway."

"What do you mean by not a normal pathway?" Lu Mi pressed.

The lady smiled:

"You will know later."

I want to know now... Lu Mi tried hard to control his expression.

He was already standing and about to leave when he suddenly thought of a question, a very critical question:

"Lady, how should those supplementary ingredients be brought into the dream?"

Given the state of the dream ruin, he could at most find red wine and basil—spices that wealthy families would keep—in his home. Red chestnut flowers and poplar leaves would need to be collected in reality.

Although neither was hard to find, and Lu Mi had even thought about where to "borrow" them, it was useless once obtained; they couldn't be transferred into the dream at all.

The lady smiled and said:

"I'll provide one more small bit of help for free."

"Find those materials in reality and place them on the table in your bedroom before you sleep. I will send them to the dream for you."

She can send those things into my dream? Lu Mi was first startled, then relieved that the problem was solved.

He hadn't expected that there would be a second person who could "enter" his dream, which he considered very special.

Thinking that his ability to enter the dream ruin likely stemmed from the strange symbols on his chest, he suspected that the lady before him also had some connection to those symbols, or to that eerie, terrifying voice.

After leaving the old tavern, Lu Mi planned to immediately collect red chestnut flowers and poplar leaves.

Just then, he saw Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine emerging from the path leading to the tavern's back door, still wearing their previous clothes and dressed similarly.

Lu Mi's heart stirred, and he smiled as he walked over:

"Good morning, my cabbages."

Lyra tilted her head and laughed amidst the sound of tinkling bells:

"You're also very early."

Lu Mi immediately put on a sneaky look, glanced left and right, and lowered his voice:

"I discovered something abnormal yesterday."

Ryan's expression turned serious. After exchanging glances with Valentine and Lyra, he said:

"What is it?"

Lu Mi said with a look of slight fear:

"I suspect Naroka's death is abnormal. That's the one whose funeral you observed yesterday."

Ryan gave an encouraging look for him to continue.

Lu Mi exhaled and said:

"Didn't I tell you about the funeral customs in the Dariège region? Later, after everyone went to the cemetery, Pons Bene entered Naroka's house, and the owner didn't object."

"Isn't this destroying their family's constellation influence and taking away the corresponding good luck?"

"There must be a problem!"

"Pons Bene is the brother of the parish priest?" Ryan thought for a few seconds before asking.

Lu Mi nodded heavily.

Thinking of the anomalies of the parish priest's group, and thinking that he and his sister were about to leave Cordu village and didn't need to worry about possible silencing or subsequent retaliation, he said directly:

"The parish priest is not a good person!"

"Why do you say that?" Lyra asked with a smile.

She wasn't surprised at all that Lu Mi accused the parish priest like this.

Lu Mi didn't hold back and recounted the story of a villager who went to Dariège to inform and then disappeared, focusing on the accusations against the parish priest.

He concluded:

"I really doubt if he is a member of the church's clergy."

"Once, because I told a story that was too realistic and caused some people discomfort, I had to hide in the church temporarily."

"When I was about to fall asleep behind the altar, the parish priest brought Lady Pualis in, and the two of them started doing some dirty things under the gaze of the gods."

"In the small talk after they finished, the parish priest even sighed to Lady Pualis, saying, 'Why can't a man marry his own sister?'"

"This sentence made even Lady Pualis unable to accept it, thinking it was extremely sinful, and told the parish priest to repent quickly."

"The parish priest said: 'Many good families have lost a large amount of property and eventually declined because daughters married out and other sons went out to start families. If a son could marry his sister, these problems would no longer be problems. Unfortunately, neither the law nor morality allows it'..."

Hearing this, the cold Valentine's face turned livid:

"Is he a servant of God, or a servant of the devil?"

Ryan nodded as if in thought:

"No wonder Pons Bene hasn't been allowed to establish a separate family for so many years after getting married..."

Lyra looked Lu Mi up and down and laughed softly:

"You really knew beforehand that Lady Pualis was having an affair with the parish priest, and you wanted to use us that day."

Lu Mi first gave an awkward smile, then said righteously:

"As a believer in the 'Eternal Blazing Sun,' I cannot tolerate such a person standing inside the church."

The cold Valentine's expression softened, and he nodded approvingly:

"It would be good if Cordu village had a few more people like you."

A few more like me? Lu Mi didn't dare imagine what Cordu village would become in that situation.

He added:

"That time, I also heard the parish priest tell Lady Pualis that he was planning some things and might be watched by the Inquisition, telling Lady Pualis to be careful and not let anything slip."

Ryan's expression became serious:

"Did he mention specifically what things?"

"No." Lu Mi didn't make anything up.

It was enough to talk to this extent. If he said any more, the problem might explode completely tonight, and he hadn't even had a chance to become a Beyonder yet.

After saying goodbye to the three outsiders, Lu Mi spent quite some time collecting red chestnut flowers and poplar leaves.

Near noon, he arrived at the square and came before the two-story building where the Magistrate handled official business.

At this time, the vast majority of villagers had gathered here, waiting to elect the "Spring Elf."

Tomorrow, part of the Lenten festival celebrations would begin.

Lu Mi found Raymond, Ava, and the others and squeezed over.

"Is Ava on the list?" he asked.

Ava didn't speak, her mood clearly very unsettled, while Raymond shook his head:

"I don't know."

"Ava must be on it. Among the unmarried women in the village, aside from your sister, she is the most beautiful, and your sister doesn't meet the age requirement." Guillaume Bery, standing nearby, chimed in.

He was the "Little Guillaume" that Lu Mi and the others often talked about, one of their regular playmates. He had curly brown hair, obvious freckles on his face, and blue eyes that seemed to be always squinting because they weren't big enough.

Ava's cousin Azema was also here; she looked like a smaller, more mediocre version of Ava.

At this moment, she didn't speak.

Lu Mi understood her mood, because she also wanted to be the "Spring Elf."

In the Dariège region, being elected as the "Spring Elf" was not only a recognition of your appearance and character by everyone, but also brought some implicit benefits.

Hearing Little Guillaume's words, Lu Mi laughed:

"If she isn't, after the Magistrate finishes reading the list, I'll shout loudly: 'I choose Ava!'"

Ava was suddenly a bit embarrassed:

"No need."

This was actually a normal process. After the Magistrate finished reading the candidate list for the "Spring Elf," if the villagers had their own candidates, they could shout them out on the spot to join the voting ranks. However, not many people had thick enough skin to do so, and Lu Mi was one of them.

He was very calm about this:

Anyway, it's Ava who would be embarrassed, not me.

Not long after, a window on the second floor opened, and Magistrate Baurist appeared there.

From his appearance, he was much better than the parish priest. His neatly combed, powdered brown hair, light blue eyes traced with black lines, straight nose bridge, thin lips, and well-groomed mustache made him look quite good, and his double-breasted flannel coat further highlighted his status.

Baurist looked down at the crowd for a few seconds:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. Those who are late will no longer have the right to vote."

"Below, I will read the candidate list for the 'Spring Elf':"

"Ava Lizier..."

Hearing this, Ava clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

Without any surprises, in the show-of-hands vote, she received recognition from over eighty percent of the villagers.

After the voting ended, Lu Mi didn't go to celebrate with his four friends. Using the excuse of having things to do at home, he left the square directly.

As soon as he got home, he asked his sister:

"Is there a reply?"

If there was a reply, the telegraph operator would deliver it to the house and collect a bit of a fee.

"Not yet." Aurora shook her head.

She turned to say:

"There are undercurrents recently. You cannot relax in your combat practice at all. Um, I'll spar with you this afternoon."

Lu Mi was already aching all over, and hearing this, he secretly hissed.

Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he deliberately put on a bitter face:

"I don't know if it's because I've been practicing too diligently lately, but I'm aching all over today. Aurora, uh, sister, can you massage me? You're the most professional!"

"That's fine." Aurora nodded gently.

By night, his sister's stretching massage and sufficient rest had basically restored Lu Mi's body.

Before sleeping, he placed the three red chestnut flowers and the poplar leaf powder in a bottle on the table by the window.

After taking a deep look at them, Lu Mi climbed into bed, both expectant and a bit nervous.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 27 =====