Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Hello, Doctor."

After quietly observing Fu Qian for two seconds, Nathalie offered an elegant greeting, acting as though this were their first meeting.

Her pale, clean face was entirely devoid of makeup, and her gaze even seemed slightly unfocused—the very picture of someone just roused from sleep.

Not a single trace of her earlier ferocity as a vengeful spirit remained.

She clearly didn't want anyone to know about their late-night chat from earlier.

And Fu Qian was certain that on her way here, this intellectual woman had thought long and hard about why she had been summoned.

She just hadn't figured it out yet.

...

Naturally, Fu Qian hadn't dragged her in to watch a family drama simply because he was bored by the long night.

After realizing that the changes in her possessed some excessively human characteristics, he had tried using Lucid Dream to help him think, only for a certain "person" to directly appear.

Fu Qian didn't arbitrarily define it as a hallucination. Its invisible and intangible nature was simply too reminiscent of the discarded piece Nathalie had just mentioned.

Combined with Jane's experience coming into contact with the dense fog outside the city, it was impossible to ignore the possibility that the anomaly occurring within her originated from the Outcast of the Stars—the very thing even The Order feared.

That sentence hadn't been a hallucination either. It was truly that special entity "speaking" right by her ear.

When she made her return trip, it had followed her back.

Such a seamless progression successfully piqued Fu Qian's interest.

If this hypothesis was true, it meant two things. First, the stealth capabilities of the discarded piece were even more exaggerated than Nathalie had described.

Outside the thick fog, even at such close proximity, his own inspiration of ninety-nine hadn't been able to detect it.

Second, based on the previous series of verifications, its method of influence clearly wasn't simple destructive contamination, but rather something akin to a commandment.

To a certain extent, this seemed to match Nathalie's description of how it could ignore the protective effects of Star Law.

Such a unique existence seemed even more incredible than the world loophole he had originally planned to search for.

From any perspective, it was impossible to ignore.

Fu Qian certainly didn't ignore it. He chose to drag the family tutor directly into the mix, triggering a collective brainstorm in the most intense way possible to unearth new findings.

...

"Nathalie?"

The next moment, facing the tutor's greeting, Fu Qian showed a perfectly natural trace of surprise, calling her directly by her first name.

Time was precious, and he didn't have the leisure to play pretend with her. Turbocharging the situation to help everyone push themselves to the limit was the right way to go.

Sure enough, the moment he uttered her name, the entire room fell dead silent. The air grew instantly dense, like an engine cylinder compressed to its absolute limit and ready to combust at any second.

Fu Qian even heard the whispered conversation in the room behind him come to an abrupt halt.

This wasn't surprising. He had deliberately controlled his volume just now to ensure the fact that he knew the tutor was cleanly broadcast to everyone at once.

As it turned out, Nathalie hadn't wasted his painstaking efforts. Under Mister Winslow's shocked, back-and-forth scrutiny, her expression shifted rapidly several times before she finally managed to rein in her emotions.

"You know me?"

The next moment, her mouth fell open slightly as she asked in return, using an even more natural tone of shock. She didn't even forget to glance at Mister Winslow, a faint hint of shame coloring her face.

She seemed extremely apologetic that having her name called out might have compromised confidentiality.

"We met not too long ago, though you probably don't know my name."

Fu Qian waved his hand with a half-smile. After offering that vague explanation, he gestured directly behind him.

"Now isn't the time to chat about this. I just thought it was too much of a coincidence just now. Shall we begin?"

This last sentence was directed at Mister Winslow.

"Alright."

The man's gaze flickered as countless thoughts clearly swirled in his mind, but he ultimately nodded at Fu Qian's suggestion.

...

In this slightly bizarre atmosphere, the group inside Miss Winslow's bedroom expanded once more.

Nathalie, who seemed to have already adjusted her mindset, greeted Mrs. Winslow and Jane in turn, her expression entirely flawless.

Even when she noticed that Jane's eyes had returned to normal, the pleasant surprise on her face looked incredibly natural.

"Doctor, if there's anything you wish to know, you may ask now."

Mister Winslow made no effort to conceal his inner anxiety. Having waited patiently for the greetings to conclude, he immediately urged him on.

"It's actually quite simple. I want to know if you noticed anything unusual during the event you attended?"

Fu Qian naturally didn't mind the rush, looking directly at the three involved parties as he asked.

Unusual...

For a moment, the three women simply looked at one another.

"Could you be a bit more specific?"

True to form, Nathalie didn't disappoint, proving to be the most proactive of the trio.

"In any aspect. People, objects, conversations..."

Without rushing to activate Lucid Dream, Fu Qian chose to use verbal guidance, allowing the group to brainstorm freely first.

Of course, for Nathalie's part, Fu Qian believed this wouldn't diminish the intensity of her thinking in the slightest.

"It was a very ordinary social gathering. Almost everyone in attendance was a familiar face, and the conversation topics were completely normal."

A moment later, she frowned in recollection.

"As for objects... in the latter half of the gathering, we viewed the organizer's private collection. That included paintings and sculptures; there were quite a lot of them, and we spent a fair amount of time there. Oh, right—"

As if she had suddenly remembered something, Nathalie looked toward Jane on the bed.

"The young miss's eyes seemed to be bothering her at one point."

"How could that be? When did this happen?"

The first to respond was actually Mrs. Winslow. She stared at her daughter in shock, clearly completely unaware of this.

"It was rather late, and many people were already resting on their own. But the young miss seemed particularly interested in a painting in the corner, and she stood there looking at it alone for a long time."

Under her mother's scrutiny, Jane's face turned a bit pale, and she seemed to have no desire to speak. Seeing this, Nathalie continued explaining on her behalf.

"However, when I went to look for her again, I noticed that although she was standing there, her eyes were closed. Thinking it strange, I asked what was wrong... She said her eyes were just a little uncomfortable but that she was already feeling much better, and she asked me not to tell anyone."

"Later, seeing that she really seemed fine, I just..."

You two...

Mrs. Winslow was clearly very displeased that this had been kept from her, but she didn't lash out at Nathalie. Instead, she looked at her daughter nervously.

"Exactly how were you uncomfortable?"

"My vision just suddenly went dark. My first reaction at the time was that the lighting might be a bit dim. I wasn't too scared, so I just closed my eyes and rested for a moment."

Obviously not wanting her mother to worry, Jane grasped her hand and explained carefully.

Was it really that seamless?

However, what she described made Fu Qian sigh internally as he activated Lucid Dream once more.

"Just like how you wanted to be left alone earlier, you just wanted to close your eyes and rest?"

He asked directly in the very next moment.

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