Part 5. The Red Priestess Chapter I. A Visit to the Clinic

　　BECKLAND, EAST SIDE, a two-bedroom room.

　　Several police officers in black and white checkered uniforms followed the landlord, who opened the door, inside, each reaching up to cover their mouths.

　　The strong odor of blood permeated the interior!

　　”Officer, I’m not sure what’s going on, it’s the other tenants who say there seems to be a lot of blood coming out of here, they can smell it through the walls and the door to the room.” The landlord in the silk bowler hat looked from side to side rather timidly, unwilling to linger in the room for another second.

　　The black-sideburned, blue-eyed officer with the inspector’s shoulder patch waved his hand and said:

　　”Wait by the door, there’s something else to ask you.”

　　As he spoke, he put on his white gloves and set his eyes on the wooden door of the bedroom.

　　He didn’t rush in, however, and looked around slowly, taking in his surroundings:

　　A pile of coals, cupboards for storing utensils and ingredients, a small stove, well-cleaned iron pots, a slightly greasy table, two round stools that had fallen to the floor, two reclining chairs placed crookedly, a couple of glass vials filled with unidentifiable powders, and a stack of scattered tarot cards.

　　”Occult enthusiast of average means?” The black-tempered, blue-eyed inspector nodded softly in judgment before signaling one of his subordinates to open the bedroom door.

　　There was a creak, and the smell of more blood poured out.

　　The police officer who opened the door glanced inside and steeply let out a short shriek, stomping back a few steps.

　　The inspector at the head of the room frowned slightly and pressed down on the retreating officer’s shoulder, crossing over this obstacle and approaching the bedroom.

　　With a sweep of his eyes, his face immediately changed.

　　In the bedroom, on top of the wooden bed, a man was lying there, his hands tied to the guardrail at the top of his head.

　　He had no clothes on, and his body was covered in thin, deep cracks, and his blood had long since dried up, coloring the sheets below and the quilt next to him a dark red.

　　At a cursory glance, the dead man looked as if he had been tightly wrapped in a wire, strangling through skin and flesh and into bone.

　　Such an image, to the police officers who had seen multiple murder scenes, still had a powerful impact and carried a certain ritualistic sense of evil.

　　Just as the head inspector was about to open his mouth to say something, two men suddenly rushed into the room, one attempting to take a picture and the other flinging out a barrage of questions:

　　”Another murder?

　　”Have there been a number of murders in the East End recently?

　　”Inspector, do you think it’s a serial murder?”

　　The black-sideburned, blue-eyed inspector’s frown deepened as he waved his hand and said:

　　”Don’t destroy the scene, or I will regard you as accomplices of the criminals.”

　　He whirled around and said to the police officer from before:

　　”Kalis, ask the two reporters to go out and tell them to approach the press office of the West Velas Field if they have any questions.”

　　When the reporters had been asked to leave the scene of the murder, the inspector said with a long sigh:

　　”It’s going to be in the papers again, dammit!”

　　……

　　Queens, inside the luxurious villa of Earl Hall’s family.

　　”There was another murder in the East End, and the victim was suspected to have been abused before her death ……” Audrey, who had already finished her dinner, casually flipped through the Birkeland Evening News in the sitting room.

　　Hearing his daughter’s whisper to herself, Earl Hall shook his head and sighed:

　　”It’s not exactly news in the East End, statistics show that people die there every day, more than one.”

　　Audrey didn’t pay too much attention to this matter, and after chatting with her father, mother, and brother for a while, she brought her big golden furred dog, Susie, back to her room.

　　One person and one dog have a very good understanding, no words to communicate, the latter guarded the door, act as a guard, while Audrey unlocked the door of the room, sat on the edge of the bed, silently chanting the name of Mr. “Fool”.

　　After a few seconds of waiting, a crimson light came out in front of her eyes, drowning everything.

　　Audrey was on top of the gray mist, inside the magnificent, ancient palace.

　　She then saw an additional small room to the side, the mottled door lightly covered and unclosed.

　　”It’s a lot better than that ancient confessional room from the last treatment …… However, it doesn’t quite fit the character of Mr. ‘World’ ah, his mental state appears to be alienated?” Audrey thoughtfully entered that room and closed the mottled door.

　　She had already done a follow-up examination for Mr. ‘World’ Germaine Sparrow, and gave the conclusion that he had been cured, but who would have known that today she would suddenly receive a message from him requesting another treatment.

　　This makes her a little surprised, but also has a little bit of curiosity.

　　Quite spacious dark room, Audrey back against the wall behind the obvious people, the body slowly descending, legs slanting kneeling and sitting.

　　In the calm and peaceful atmosphere, she adjusted her self state and spoke in a light tone:

　　”Good evening, Mr. ‘World’~”

　　Before the words left her mouth, Audrey’s psychic intuition had already sensed the surface level condition of the other party’s mental body, which was also known as emotion, or rather, mood, in the common sense.

　　Gray, low, confused, depressed, not interested in anything …… Mr. “World” this time the problem is completely different from the last time …… What has happened to him? Audrey lightly bit her lower lip, calmly make a judgment, timely use of a “appeasement”.

　　This is the “psychiatrist” one of the most useful ability, in ancient times called “psychoanalysis”.

　　The “dark clouds” that had built up behind the walls cleared away, and Germaine Sparrow finally spoke hoarsely:

　　”Good evening, Ms. Justice.”

　　Audrey, who was leaning against the wall, thought better of it and canceled her scheduled program, keeping her light tone from earlier:

　　”I’m curious as to what you’ve been through lately, there seems to be too much going on.

　　”Don’t think about anything else, let’s just talk for a minute, talk like friends.

　　”If you’re interested in my life, I’d like to share something interesting too.”

　　Germaine Sparrow, on the other side of the wall, fell silent and asked without answering:

　　”What are your expectations for the future?”

　　Audrey’s eyes rolled slightly as she answered seriously:

　　”Improve myself and try to become a demigod to better protect my father, mother and brothers.

　　”Well, during this period of time, I have followed the foundation’s staff to visit a few applicants of the scholarship fund, their living condition is really beyond my imagination, although I have read some reports and have some psychological preparation for this, but when I really faced it, I still received a strong shock, there is a girl who is only a few years younger than me, but she is very skinny and short, she doesn’t have enough to eat every day, and she only has two very tattered dresses, when she talked about her desire to study, those eyes were very pure and full of pleading, I can’t forget it to this day ……”

　　While speaking, Audrey was keenly aware that Germaine Sparrow’s mental state had changed a little, no longer like a completely static lake, with some ripples and ups and downs.

　　After a moment’s deliberation, the “psychiatrist” said to himself as if he had not noticed anything:

　　”I used to look forward to a good marriage, hoping that my ‘prince’ would come as described in those popular novels, but after I became a ‘spectator’, I found that I was afraid that it would be difficult for me to fulfill this dream. can always read those men’s true thoughts and recognize their lies one after another, confirming that many of them are not as wonderful as I imagined them to be, which makes me a bit disappointed… Well, wait for a few more years, maybe I’ll know how to appreciate other people’s shortcomings, but it’s really hard to do so now… ……”

　　Seeing that Germaine Sparrow, who was only separated from herself by a wall and was spending time back to back, finally had the mood to laugh a little, Audrey promptly released another “appeasement”, and then she heard the other woman ask:

　　”You used to get information about the dragons from the ‘Sun’, so you should have some knowledge about the ‘Dragons of the Imagination’.

　　”If, I mean if, you found out that your father, mother, and brothers were all imagined by the King of Angels of the ‘Audience’ Pathway, and did not actually exist, how would you react?”

　　Definitely a breakdown on the spot, even out of control …… Mr. “World” is having psychological problems because he found out that his main expectation or ultimate goal, will never be achieved? Audrey was first inexplicably alarmed by Germaine Sparrow’s question, and then sensed where the essence of the problem lay.

　　Without making an answer, she asked leadingly:

　　”You seem to have witnessed a dashed hope.”

　　”Heh.” A self-deprecating laugh filtered out from the wall behind Audrey, “Indeed, I once thought I still had a family, and then I realized that it was just my extravagant hope.”

　　”Why do you say that?” Audrey asked in what appeared to be casual conversation.

　　Germaine Sparrow said after a few seconds of silence:

　　”You’ve heard those enlightening fairy tales that Roselle the Great used as a tutor, haven’t you?”

　　”It’s a childhood memory of mine.” Audrey let out a “hmmm”.

　　At the same time, she noticed that Mr. World on the other side of the wall had a significant mood swing, and suppressed pain surged out.

　　This time, Audrey didn’t use “soothing”, her psychic intuition and expertise told her that the other person needed some catharsis.

　　”Then you should know the story of Sleeping Beauty and the Prince.” Germaine Sparrow said in a low, husky voice, “There was this man who also went into a deep sleep until he suddenly woke up one day …… He thought that his family was still alive, and he worked hard to improve himself in the hope that one day he would be able to find them, and that became his main point of living, and eventually, he realized that he had been asleep before for at least three hundred years, or even thousands of years, or longer, and everything he originally had could never be recovered ……”

　　The intense pain and confusion was so vivid in Audrey’s senses that it gave her a moment of clarity:

　　The gloomy, depressing, sophisticated and ruthless Mr. World also has his own purpose and meaning of existence!

　　This is consistent with his gentle heart …… It’s really pitiful …… Although he just gave an example based on a fairy tale, his emotional reaction when he said certain words is real …… He He mentioned “sleeping”, “family”, “three hundred years”, “thousands of years”, “longer”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”, “more”. “longer”, “never to be recovered”, his pain is obviously greater …… Does this mean that he is an ancient man who has survived an encounter to the present? This is consistent with Mr. “Fool” is a revived ancient god, no wonder he can become a family member …… Audrey quickly grasped the key to the matter.

　　She pursed her lips and mused:

　　”Did his family leave any words? Any words about what they want him to do when he wakes up?”