Part 6 The Light-Exporter Chapter 78: Wishes
Without waiting for a response from Germaine “The World” Sparrow, Audrey, who remained seated in an upright position, slowly uttered a few more words:
”Heavy ……
”Stinging ……
”Shame ……”
Klein listened quietly, not commenting on Ms. “Justice’s” words, and asked in a gentle tone closer to the image of Dawn Dantes:
”Why the sudden desire for such a test?”
”Not a test.” “Justice,” Audrey shook her head, “just presenting some of the details I usually deliberately cover up and deliberately avoid to see what the real me looks like to others.”
After a pause, she moved the corners of her mouth without a smile and said:
”After the last conversation, I was really trying to formulate a plan, intending to do some maneuvering in secret so that the nobles, merchants, the royal family, and the church could come up with enough food.
”It’s something that is easy to do simply by just talking about it, and when I actually go about doing it, I realize that I can’t be as resolute and decisive as I thought I could be.
”Some of them are my aunts and uncles, some of them are my cousins and cousins, some of them are friends I’ve known since I was a child, some of them are elders who take very good care of me, and some of them are people who I often meet at various banquets and charity events and are quite friendly, and they make up my childhood and give me so much, and are part of my upbringing and hold good memories of my past ……
”Also, none of the food they accumulated was looted, and their explanation actually has some validity.
”For me to just target them and try to deprive them of some of their wealth, I can’t really lay my hands on it, at least for now.”
As she said these words, Audrey’s voice unconsciously became a bit louder, as if she was arguing with someone.
She whirled around and realized her little outburst, and fell silent for two seconds before continuing:
”So I want to recognize myself more deeply, to strip away the illusion of warmth, to ask myself what I really want under different gazes, whether my past thoughts were impulsive, hypocritical, naïve, or whether they were strong intentions from the heart.”
At this point, Audrey “Justice” suddenly smiled:
”This has not yet come to fruition, but the attempt itself has brought some additional rewards.
”I used to think I was strictly adhering to that ‘you’re just playing’ code, but now I realize that I was almost addicted to playing.
”Unlike the other pathways, which involve playing different personas with different professions, part of the ‘audience’ pathway is playing in complete conjunction with one’s usual day-to-day life, and it’s hard to tell the difference at times.
”For the simplest example, who doesn’t want to be loved by everyone? So I would put on different personality masks when facing different people, using the ability of the ‘audience’ pathway to portray an image that best matches the other person’s wishes, and when this happens more and more, when you do this with everyone you face, you’ve actually become obsessed with the ‘playing ‘ and on the verge of losing yourself.”
Klein nodded softly:
”That’s a very good takeaway.”
He did not comment on Ms. Justice’s earlier remark.
Audrey was silent for a while and slowly added:
”I’ve been re-reading the report on the investigation of the Eastern Region that my father had gotten someone to do before, and I’ve had a different experience of many things than I had in the past.
”Before the war, in fact, many poor people, laborers and farmers lived a difficult life similar to today’s, in chronic hunger and pain. Changes in the law on relief of poverty, mandatory regulations on labor time and environment, and the control of air pollution did bring some improvements, but only some ……
”By the time the war is over, if, if we defeat Doomsday, won’t something like this be repeated?”
Saying that, Audrey pursed her lips tightly and fell into silence.
Klein could sense Ms. “Justice’s” perplexity and confusion, and after a moment of deliberation, unsaying the answer he had in mind, spoke in a low voice:
”These questions of yours, including what you just said about your truest thoughts, all need to find the answers on your own, and no one else can replace you.
”I can only give you some advice, go to the fields to see the farmers who are laboring, go to the factories to see the hard workers, go to the East End to experience it in depth, and go to the library to carefully look through the past newspapers and various related writings.”
Audrey listened intently and nodded her head thoughtfully:
”I will try to do that.”
She then stood up and bowed at the top of the long, mottled table – although Mr. Fool had left, Audrey was sure that K was watching.
As she waited for Mr. Fool to return her to the real world, Germaine Sparrow, “The World”, suddenly spoke up:
”Wait a minute.”
”Huh?” “Justice,” Audrey questioned in a nasal voice.
Klein looked at her and materialized a piece of paper:
”This is a description of a mythical creature’s personality and behavior, and I’d like your help in analyzing how k would react in different situations accordingly.”
”Okay.” Audrey didn’t push and agreed.
When she took the paper and finished reading the contents, Klein added with deliberation:
”I have one more suggestion for those words you just said:
”Your doubts and questions are actually divided into two kinds, some are really urgent, while others are not so urgent, you can wait for things to calm down, and then do an in-depth investigation, well, when people are in a hurry, they are prone to make mistakes, you’d better separate them clearly.”
Audrey thought about it and nodded solemnly:
”I understand.”
After responding, she suddenly let out a laugh:
”I thought you called out to me at the end to bless me, may I still love this world after seeing all the realities clearly.”
Klein froze at first, then smiled and asked rhetorically:
”You seem to have read a lot of Rossel the Great’s novels?”
”He was an outstanding novelist and a very complex and contradictory person.” “Justice,” Audrey said with a light smile.
Klein nodded imperceptibly and spoke more slowly:
”If I were to wish you well, I would not say that.
”I would say, may you still love your family and friends after you see all that is true.”
Audrey was stunned for a moment, her lips moving slightly as if repeating those two words.
After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and said in a slightly husky voice:
”Thank you. ……”
……
Sunia Sea, Rothschild Islands waters.
The “Blue Avenger” led a fleet of pirates through the smoke-filled battlefield.
Suddenly, a huge ball of fire flew over from nowhere, and a tangle of silver-white rays parted the sea surface, creating a channel that originally did not exist, and surrounded by the majestic waves on both sides, it pointed directly at the “Phantom Blue Avenger”.
Seeing this scene, Alger Wilson, who was standing at the bow of the ship, raised his right hand with an unchanged expression.
A violent tornado suddenly appeared, swept up the blue sea water, swept up the silver-white sharp awns, made them seem like a long snake, rushed straight to the sky, and collided with the huge fireball.
Rumble!
The water exploded and fell with a crash like rain.
Alger then locked onto a battleship, opened his mouth, and let out a roar.
With a roar, the vessel was lifted into midair by the suddenly ferocious waves.
Seizing this opportunity, the “Phantom Blue Avenger’s” side guns fired on their own, and the sound of rumbling continued.
Seeing that the extraordinary person on the other ship was still trying to utilize the recoil of the fireball to move the ship sideways, Alger’s right hand violently pulled down.
A thick silver-white lightning bolt then struck down, causing the extraordinary’s body to scorch and tremble.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
A cannonball hit, and that vessel directly disintegrated in mid-air.
In this instant, Alger was in a trance and couldn’t help but look down at his right hand.
Is this the power of the “Disaster Priest”, is this what it feels like to be half-god, half-human? He sighed in his heart with a slightly intoxicated feeling, then quickly came to his senses and let the “Blue Avenger” chase after the enemy.
An hour later, the fierce sea battle was over, and Rune’s side once again held the Rothschild Islands.
Alger was in a good mood, and upon the return of the Blue Avenger to the port, he disembarked the sailors and headed for one of the few bars that were still open for drinking.
–Ruon has issued a wartime ban on alcohol to save food, but to the sailors, alcohol is indispensable, so in the Storm Church dominated places, this aspect of the ban is not too strict, and the Rothschild Islands are rich in produce, and the population is not too large, and the sea transportation lines are also under control, food can still be supplied at present.
After walking for some distance, Alger’s gaze suddenly froze.
The street in front of him had been bombarded, and many houses had collapsed, among them, a huge pothole appeared in a concrete playground, and the four-story building next to it was only left with wreckage.
The smile on Alger’s face disappeared a little.
……
Monday afternoon, three o’clock exactly, Birkeland time.
A deep red glow rose up on both sides of the bronze table, solidifying into a blur of figures.
Once all the members had bowed to Mr. Fool, and since there was no Roselle’s diary and no accumulated questions, the flow of the party went straight to the transaction.
”Moon” Emlyn immediately sat up straight and looked around the room:
”Ladies and gentlemen, I have a commission.”
”Which ‘Witch King’ do you wish to hunt?” “The Hidden One” Gadelia asked straight to the heart of the matter, based on her knowledge of Mr. Moon.
”……” Emlyn took a couple seconds to digest the other’s question, maintaining a graceful smile as he said, “You guessed well.”
”The Hidden One,” Gadelia said with a slight nod:
”And what kind of payment can you make?”
Emlyn was once again speechless, a bit shy to say the prepared words.
Just at this time, Germaine “The World” Sparrow, who was at the bottom of the long bronze table, suddenly spoke:
”You sought the cooperation of someone from the Rose School of Temperance?”
”Moon,” Emlyn said with dark relief:
”Right.”
”Then I can take the commission.” Since this was a matter between Ms. Messenger and Ms. Sharon, Marich and the others, Klein manipulated the dummy “World” and took the initiative to take the order, “Of course, it requires a certain medium.”
Not waiting for Emlyn to give a response, he had Germaine Sparrow look over at Ms. “Magician” and say:
”Prepare yourself in advance.”
What? The “Magician” Voorhees, who had been watching the whole drama, was dumbfounded.