Chapter 347

"It requires excellent endurance to resist the decline in self-control and the stronger fluctuations of various desires and emotions brought about by carrying 'Torture' with me... 'Ascetic' is very good at this kind of thing..." Lu Mian thought quickly about whether he could meet the conditions for using that magical artifact while reading Ms. Magician's letter.

Of course, he didn't have to carry the 'Torture' gauntlets with him to use them. Lu Mian could completely place the gauntlets somewhere in advance, lure the enemy into an ambush, and then take them out. He could also save up some money to buy a steam robot and let a tool without emotions and desires carry them for him. But since the ability of an 'Ascetic' could help him control the negative effects very well, he didn't need to adopt such troublesome methods.

Thinking to this point, Lu Mian associated it with the negative effects brought about by the various contracts of a "Contractee."

A large part of them seemed to be similarly weakened by the endurance and restraint of an "Ascetic."

"First obtain the 'Ascetic' Gift, and only then become a 'Contractee'—is it because one must first improve their endurance to be able to bear the contracts? Otherwise, like the parish priest who carried more than a dozen negative effects, he would have 'exploded' on his own long ago...

"Hmm, Guillaume Bénet's application of the abilities of an 'Ascetic' and 'Monk' wasn't too good either. Is this because he was already used to indulging his desires and couldn't change back, or did he belong to the type who jumped straight to 'Contractee' and then became a 'Fate Appropriator,' not having enough mastery of the 'Ascetic' and 'Monk' Gifts, and using them more instinctively?" Lu Mian muttered silently to himself.

Recalling the parish priest in the dream turning from an ordinary person into a "Fate Appropriator" in one day, he leaned more toward the latter possibility, believing that the performance in the dream was a sign that Guillaume Bénet had only used two or three Gifts to advance to "Fate Appropriator."

Lu Mian turned his gaze back to the letter in his hand and read the rest of the content in one breath.

Regarding the fact that using the "Torture" gauntlets would attract dangerous creatures, he planned to find an opportunity and a suitable place to invite Franca to help confirm the specific situation.

If it were really dangerous, he would have to consider reserving one "Spirit World Travel" to get rid of the influence or attack.

Crimson flames rose silently, igniting the letter paper filled with words.

Amidst the falling ashes, Lu Mian reached out toward the iron-black gauntlets.

They didn't have the texture of metal or the feeling of coldness, but they were very hard.

Almost at the same time, among all the sounds Lu Mian heard, two were naturally amplified in his mind:

One was the sound of the eloping couple mixed with curses, and the other was the noise of a drunkard on the street dropping a wine bottle and shouting.

The former caused Lu Mian to have some romantic thoughts, and the latter brought the impulse to pull out his revolver and shoot downward.

Neither of them was too intense, falling within the category that could be endured and restrained.

After confirming that the size of the gauntlets was suitable, Lu Mian placed them beside his pillow.

…………

Late at night, in a daze.

Lu Mian seemed to have arrived at an ancient beige castle. Its surface had many black-tinged red marks, as if it had been stained with a large amount of fresh blood.

Hysterical laughter and shouting came from inside the castle. Lu Mian raised his head subconsciously and saw a face with dark red hair looking at him from a narrow window on the third floor.

As soon as their gazes met, the person raised their right hand and violently gouged out their own reddish-brown eye.

Tiny blood vessels detached from the eye socket, leaving behind a pair of bloody, pitch-black holes.

"Hahaha! Hahaha!" The person who had lost their eyes laughed crazily.

Lu Mian's thoughts were blurred, and he walked into the ancient castle like a conditioned reflex.

What came into his view were scenes of bloody carnage:

A maid cut open her own stomach with a table knife and pulled out pale small intestines stained with fresh blood; manservants kept climbing from the stairs to the second floor and jumping back to the hall, throwing themselves down again and again; a person suspected to be the butler held a beautiful woman's head, but he himself had no lower body, supporting himself with his elbows and crawling with difficulty, leaving behind a thick and long bloodstain; a headless lady sat on an armchair, picked up coffee, and poured it into the crack at her neck...

The thick smell of blood and the atmosphere of madness pierced Lu Mian's spirit, making him open his eyes abruptly.

He saw the familiar, dirty ceiling and heard the constant noise of the night in the Chaos Street.

"Was that just a dream?" Lu Mian could clearly recall the scenes in the dream, and a lingering sense of fear remained in his heart.

As a Beyonder who had officially entered the occult world, he did not underestimate such a dream.

It was very likely an inspiration given to him by his astral projection, or some kind of influence from the outside world.

After quickly reviewing the events of the day, Lu Mian locked onto two "suspects":

"Is it the aftereffect of the King Cake game during the day, or the influence of the 'Torture' gauntlets?"

He looked at the iron-black spiked gauntlets that he hadn't carried with him but had placed beside his pillow, feeling that it should be a problem with the game.

He tried to ask Termiboros, but received no response.

After moving the "Torture" gauntlets into the wooden table drawer, Lu Mian went back to sleep.

That night, he had several nightmares, each time dreaming of that eerie ancient castle.

What made him feel fortunate was that the clarity of the dream was constantly decreasing, and later on, it was no different from a normal nightmare.

…………

The next morning, Lu Mian went for his usual run and boxing practice, searching for a special breakfast in the Market District.

After sitting in the Breeze Dance Hall until nearly twelve o'clock, he rang the doorbell of Apartment 601, 3 White Coat Street, again.

"You're quite proactive," Franca opened the door with a rosy complexion and excellent spirits.

Lu Mian didn't hide his intentions at all:

"Didn't you say you were going to talk about Emperor Roselle?"

"This, this..." Franca's expression became strange again.

She shouted:

"I'm sick!"

"What kind of sickness?" Lu Mian felt that this "Pleasure Witch" was in excellent condition.

Franca muttered while walking toward the living room:

"The sickness of feeling embarrassed for others!"

Lu Mian closed the door, sat on the sofa, and asked thoughtfully:

"Embarrassed for Emperor Roselle?"

"Yeah," Franca, who was sitting cross-legged in the armchair, scratched her flaxen hair. "I'm really afraid that He'll be so embarrassed that He'll crawl out of His coffin and strangle everyone who knows!"

After rambling on without logic for a while, Franca finally sighed:

"Simply put, Emperor Roselle, like us, also came from another world."

"Emperor Roselle is also a 'Transmigrator' like you mentioned?" Lu Mian blurted out in astonishment.

Franca said "Mm":

"Many of his inventions, creations, and viewpoints were originally present in our world. The more critical evidence is that his diary was written in the language of the country where you and your sister came from, which is why no one could decipher it for so many years until we also transmigrated here."

Lu Mian's mind was a mess. He felt it was unbelievable, like a story, yet he also felt the authenticity of Franca's statement from the attitude of his sister, Aurore, toward Emperor Roselle and his diary.

Seeing him silent, Franca added very understandingly:

"But He was indeed a very powerful person. He walked the path of gods step by step from an ordinary person who didn't even have Sequence 9, overthrew the Sauron Dynasty, brought great changes to Intis and this world, and profoundly influenced the history of these two or three hundred years and these generations of humans."

That's true, Emperor Roselle said, "A hero is a hero, regardless of his origin"... Where Emperor Roselle came from doesn't matter... Lu Mian quickly adjusted his mindset and asked curiously:

"Are those famous quotes of Emperor Roselle all things that philosophers from your world once said?"

"Most of them are," Franca helped her "fellow countryman" polish his image. "But some belong to Him. Think about it, a person who has experienced so many things and had so many glories and setbacks must have his own unique insights into all aspects and won't lack famous quotes."

"No wonder Aurore would laugh whenever I mentioned what Emperor Roselle said..." Lu Mian suddenly realized, understanding his sister's feelings at that time, and also understood the mocking attitude of the "Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society" toward the Emperor.

He turned to ask:

"Was *The Secret Records of Emperor Roselle* written by one of you?"

"Yes, but I don't know who it was," Franca was very honest. "The literary talent is actually quite good."

"Is everything in there true?" Lu Mian considered whether he should find an underground bookseller to buy a copy.

Franca laughed:

"Half and half, I guess. Even the true half is just expanding two or three sentences from the Emperor's diary into a chapter, filling it with salacious details. For example, the Emperor once had an extra-friendly relationship with a certain Witch..."

Speaking of this, Franca suddenly stopped.

She remembered that she was also a Witch now.

Worth collecting... Emperor Roselle was indeed as romantic as the legends say... Lu Mian began to look forward to that underground book.

He didn't continue the topic of the Emperor and the Witch, mentioned the King Cake game yesterday and the nightmare at night, and asked Franca, who was good at divination:

"Does that dream hide any inspiration?"

"Can't interpret it," Franca thought for a long time and said. "It contains meanings of danger and staying away. Hmm, those nightmares are more like aftereffects of being stained with some kind of crazy aura."

Lu Mian thought for a few seconds, didn't discuss this issue anymore, and planned to ask the two "psychiatrists" in the afternoon.

…………

At 3:20 PM, Lu Mian arrived at the Mason Café in the Botanical Garden District, sat in booth D, and ordered a cup of rich Intis coffee and two small, fluffy cakes spread with cream.

After the desserts and coffee were delivered, he waited for another minute or two before hearing Su Qian's gentle female voice:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lu Mian Lee."

Lu Mian smiled relaxedly:

"Good afternoon, Ms. Su Qian, good afternoon, Ms. 'Justice'."

PS: Early update, asking for base monthly tickets~

(End of chapter)