"Add restrictions to the guards' chips?"
Ronald wiped his mouth after vomiting, staring in disbelief. "But they aren't criminals!"
"What makes you think only criminals' chips can be restricted?" Harvey sneered. "Or that regular people's chips are somehow immune to control?"
"The Register of Sinners—"
"You were under multiple restrictions back when you were detained in the Sinner's Hall," Harvey interrupted. "At that point, you hadn't signed your name in the Register. You were no different from a regular person. The Register merely formalizes and locks in our restrictions."
Ronald mumbled, "I thought the hunters had used some kind of miracle on me..."
Ash felt a chill run down his spine.
This meant that in the Blood Moon Kingdom, everyone—from ordinary citizens to high-ranking mages—carried an invisible shackle that could strangle them at any moment. If the processor received the command, it could force anyone in its range to obey, even to the point of stabbing themselves in the throat.
What kind of twisted society is this?
Ash's mind swirled with fragments of what he knew about the Blood Moon Kingdom: multi-species coexistence, the Human Rights Association, orphanages, the Sinner's Hall, churches, memory mages, the Blood Moon Trials, the Woodpecker Gang... These scattered pieces painted a surreal world that was simultaneously democratic and authoritarian, prosperous yet destitute, championing human rights while violating privacy, a harmonious yet grotesque spectacle.
It was like a blood lotus blossoming in filth, stunningly beautiful but reeking of decay.
Perhaps Ash's view was skewed, shaped by his incarceration and exposure to the darkest elements of society. Maybe once I get out, I'll grow to like it, reclining on a couch to watch the Blood Moon Trials every month.
"This isn't the kind of intel a mere janitor should have access to," Igula suddenly said, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you, really? And how did you fool the Sinner's Hall?"
"I'm just a janitor," Harvey said calmly. "My job is simple: deal with corpses. Specifically, make sure they don't scream, resist, or try to escape."
"Controller!" Ronald exclaimed, a flash of recognition crossing his face. "A few years ago, there were some infamous cases. Victims were murdered in their homes without a trace of struggle, and their bodies disappeared completely. Some of these victims were even two-wing mages! People started calling the killer the 'Controller,' thinking he had some powerful miracle to completely suppress his targets."
"Flattering, but I was just exploiting existing loopholes," Harvey said, shaking his head. "As for how I fooled the Sinner's Hall, it was simple—delete my memories first, then find a way to recover them later."
Ash was confused. "If you could delete your memories, why not just erase all incriminating ones? That way, you'd walk out of court scot-free."
"He couldn't," Igula explained. "His primary focus is necromancy, so most of his memories are tied to that. If he erased those, it'd be no different from wiping his mind clean. On the other hand, if he kept the necromancy memories but erased the illegal ones, the Sinner's Hall would instantly know he'd tampered with his mind—since there's no way to learn necromancy without access to corpses."
"This was likely the best outcome he could calculate."
"Oh," Ash said, nodding. Then he paused. "Wait. If you planned your memories ahead of time, does that mean you got arrested on purpose? Did you have some specific reason for coming to Lakebreak? Maybe… for Narbel?"
An icy wind swept through the confined space.
As Harvey raised his chin and scanned the room with cold, piercing eyes, Longard immediately pulled Ronald behind him. Igula stepped in front of Ash.
Ash felt the hairs on his neck rise. The chilling wind seemed to suffocate him, leaving his mind blank. A miracle? Or perhaps a spirit?
Just as quickly as it had come, the oppressive atmosphere dissipated.
Harvey lowered his gaze. "I can add restrictions to the guards' chips. They won't be able to move or even send out an alert.
"Does this ability earn me your cooperation?"
Igula nodded warily. "State your terms."
"After we escape," Harvey said, his voice calm but unyielding, "you help me kill someone."
"Who?"
"Alandor Fennanshire," Harvey replied, naming a well-known figure. "The current mayor of Caymon City."
Elsewhere: The Knowledge Sea of the Void.
"So you signed an unbreakable contract to assassinate a high-ranking mayor as part of your escape plan?"
"Yep. And thanks to the contract mage in our group, we couldn't even agree verbally and back out later."
"Typical. Didn't even consider renegotiating after the escape?"
"Why not?"
"You could've teamed up with others to take out the necromancer after escaping. The contract doesn't say you can't hurt each other, does it?"
"Wow, your brain's twisted. You're the one who belongs in jail."
Amidst their banter, a battered and tattered Umbrella Bird Dragon suddenly retracted its wings, spinning like a collapsing parasol as it bolted into the mist. At the same time, it flung a spellcore in the opposite direction.
"Get it, Sword Maiden!"
"On it!"
Ash lunged to grab the spellcore while Sonia intercepted the fleeing creature. Her stance shifted into a graceful blade-sheathing pose, threads of water-like moonlight swirling around her.
Clang!
As the Umbrella Bird Dragon collided with the moonlit threads, Sonia coiled like a taut spring. With a perfect arc of her wooden blade, she unleashed a scarlet wave of sword energy—a new miracle she had integrated into her style: Killing Intent Water Moon.
"Krrr—!"
The dragon let out a mournful cry as its body split apart, dissolving into mist and leaving behind two spellcores.
"No experience pearls again," Ash sighed. "At this rate, when will you ever reach two-wing status?"
Sonia reclined on the boat, propping her feet lazily against the edge. "It's not something to rush. They say the Void listens to our desires. The more we want something, the less it gives us. Once we stop caring, it'll come to us on its own."
"That Void sounds petty."
"Keep talking like that, and you'll never see another pearl."
With the Expulsion Toxin and their improved Void map, Ash and Sonia efficiently hunted down knowledge beasts. Yet despite targeting those likely to drop sword pearls, luck wasn't on their side tonight.
"We've taken down two species that should drop sword pearls, but nothing. At this rate, it'll take forever to get you to two-wing status," Ash muttered.
"Most mages don't rely on pearls to advance," Sonia said, stretching out on the boat. "They study and navigate the Void to grow stronger. Finding a pearl is a rare delight, and finding one aligned with their specialty is a lifetime achievement."
"Doesn't mean I can't dream of brute-forcing it with pearls," Ash replied, eyeing her legs, clad in black tights, resting lazily on the boat's edge. "You seem a lot more relaxed around me lately. Wasn't it just a while ago that you were all proper and reserved?"
"I'm just tired," Sonia replied, yawning. "And lying down is so much better than sitting."
"You're going to ruin your stockings doing that."
"Aw, worried about me? Fine, you can massage my feet if you're that concerned."
"Don't push your luck, Sword Maiden!"