A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 285 To live a normal life, one must learn to ignore the abnormal.

The three hurried toward the subway station. No, now they added Little Coal and a huge burlap sack. The sack was carried by the dwarf, but not to make Singleev a human slave; Rorschach also helped, casting a levitation spell on the easygoing, portly Mr. Crawford.

This group was incredibly eye-catching, no less so than the Journey to the West. Leading the way was Freddy, looking completely relaxed; few could laugh like him in the Shadow City. Followed closely by Sootball, then a few bats swarming around, and finally the wizard and the dwarf, who were already quite inconspicuous.

"Pretty efficient." The missing person posters were plastered all over the streets, or rather, the pipes. Some people glanced at them indifferently for a while, then tore them down right in front of Luo Xia and his group. Of course, they weren't really posting notices; they were just used to wrap things or thrown into the fire, the rising smoke carrying the smell of cheap ink.

"Will these notices be of any use?" The dwarf realized once he reached the semi-submerged area that not many people could read the entire contents of the notices, and they didn't care who was looking for whom.

"It wasn't meant for these people to see anyway. All we need to do is let the news get out and tell everyone in the Shadowlands that someone is looking for Teacher Caroline." Since she came here first, now that the teacher is in the shadows and Rorschach is in the open, it should be more efficient for the other party to come looking for her than for her to go through the trouble of searching for the teacher herself.

"What if it doesn't come?"

"Then let's investigate and wait in other districts." Rorschach had obtained clues about the Order, and he needed to figure out why the Order of the Return of the Holy Mother needed to develop in this godforsaken place and why it had to travel between El Isle and Shadowlands.

Finally, they arrived at the subway station. A train screeched to a halt, and many passengers disembarked. A young woman seemed to notice Rorschach and his group. She paused, her gaze lingering on Little Coal's head, and asked in a high-pitched voice, "Excuse me... is that a bat?"

The little coal ball looked at the other person with fear and confusion, clearly not expecting that someone "on the ground" could discover her. The poet answered for her, "Yes, madam."

"Oh my god, I'm going to complain! How could someone bring bats in like that?" She then abruptly changed the subject: "Which pet store did you buy them from? And the fur on your child looks pretty good."

"Pet shops? No, no, no, these are all underground, original goods! Madam, please, please stay away from alleys and gloomy places in the future, and it's best not to travel alone."

The woman glanced at the poet as if he were a monster, then quickly left.

Freddie shook his head: "There are always people who take kindness for granted. That lady is exceptionally gifted; either she'll one day find that one of her friends has disappeared and she'll be treated like a madwoman, or she'll fall into the shadows herself."

"Are there many people like this?" Rorschach couldn't understand. If so many people could actually access the Shadow City and at least sense its existence, why were they completely oblivious to it on the ground, as if everyone was ignoring the "elephant in the room"?

Freddy smiled: "You're a mage, after all. If you stay in Istani long enough, you'll find that people here tend to ignore spellcasters."

"To put it bluntly, they are very busy, so engrossed in their lives that they are exhausted. Anything that disrupts the lives they have worked so hard for will cause their fragile nerves to break down."

"So most people's indifference is a form of self-protection, ignoring everything that is abnormal, unknown, and dangerous, carefully maintaining a distance, and ideally staying within a safe and comfortable circle for their entire lives. In my view, the rules and forces of the shadow world are merely amplification of this self-hypnotic effect."

The count's train was late in arriving, and the poet continued, "Of course, the kingdom is so big, there are always people like that lady who can't contain their curiosity, and there are always people who feel that most people's lives are not worth living."

"Take you for example." Luo Xia felt that the poet had said so much, but in the end he was just bragging, after all, he was a weirdo who claimed that he was willing to retire in this godforsaken place.

"No, it's not just me, nor is it just someone who chose the Shadow Cities and was passively brought to the Shadowlands. The vast majority are people who couldn't be accepted by society and were ruthlessly 'thrown' out. Those with both talent and ambition become mages, like you, who dare to live and run around even though you don't understand the Shadowlands; others are unwilling to be bound by the land of a few islands and venture out to the boundless sea."

The poet's words were indeed inspiring, stirring Singrev's emotions and resonating with his "adventurer's initial intention," which suited the dwarf's taste perfectly.

"Therefore, most of the ambitious people in the kingdom, those who were unwilling to let time stand still day after day, left Istani in the upper realm, while those who lived honestly stayed. Thus, in the larger environment, especially among ordinary people, this process was like the final step in brewing wine. It's called..."

"Distillation".

"Yes, that's the name. Oh, and you should also be dabbling in alchemy." The poet finished his long-winded speech, earning the dwarf's approval and the little soot sprite's admiring gaze. Although he didn't understand what "Freddy" was saying, anyway, someone who could speak so much in one breath was impressive!

So, are the rule-makers of the Shadow City masters of psychoanalysis? They can use the general emotions of society to achieve the "concealment" of the Shadow City. Rorschach increasingly feels that the situation here is not simply the result of gradual accumulation, but rather something orchestrated by a will behind the scenes.

"Whoosh—" The old-fashioned train made a lot of noise as it entered the station, as if the wheels, tracks and all the parts that came into contact with each other were really fighting. It finally stopped after a long time.

"Please get in!" The old driver coughed as he opened the car door. Rorschach remembered that it used to be automatic.

As if he could hear what Rorschach was thinking, the old coachman kicked the door: "Last time we passed through the sewers, the running water damaged the door!"

He glanced at the little soot sprite: "Little girl, please stop here. The rest of you gentlemen, please proceed to the right. The Earl is waiting for you."

The carriage responsible for "opening the doors to welcome guests" also housed the Earl's guards. The young men scanned back and forth over Little Cotton Ball and her bat, some friendly, some curious, and some disgusted. Little Cotton Ball felt particularly uncomfortable under their gazes and gently tugged at the poet's sleeve.

Freddy sighed, "Alright, I'll wait for you here with Coalball. Once you've finished talking, hurry up and leave."

So only Rorschach and Singerev met with the Count again.

"Your efficiency is astonishing!" This time, the count did not lounge lazily in his chair. Behind him stood the captain of the guard. He put down his wine glass and applauded the mage and the dwarf.

"Mr. Elgin, your information network is quite impressive," Rorschach retorted. "The leader of the Order is right here, and I presume you've also detained his men, if they're not all dead yet."

Thump! The dwarf threw the sack onto the floor of the carriage, as if waking the person inside. Singrev calmly grabbed a handful of the hypnotic drug that Klop had personally prepared and threw it into the opening of the sack, then tied it tightly and shook it vigorously to restore the person inside to peace.

(End of this chapter)