Chapter 213
This was a concoction prepared by Adele for Shaer, a mixture of different potions. She uncorked the vial and tilted her head back, downing the liquid in one go.
A wave of pleasant drowsiness washed over her, a comforting sensation that made Shaer squint her eyes slightly.
Bliss...
If only she could sleep like this forever, never to wake again...
Shaer swayed over to the bed, facedown on the mattress, and buried herself in the blankets, slipping into a deep slumber.
Unfortunately, within minutes, the effect of the stored transformation faded. The figure of Shaer, with her long black-blue hair, began to flicker and distort. With a flash of silver light, the Shaer lying on the bed returned to her original form.
She reached out, propped herself up on the mattress, and sat up. The drowsy feeling and her pervasive sense of world-weariness had vanished. Her clothes had reverted to their original state, but the vial of potion she had consumed was gone for good.
Shaer got up and walked down the stairs. The clothes she had discarded on the staircase had also disappeared with the loss of the stored transformation.
When she reached the bottom and opened the cabinet, revealing a body wrapped in cobwebs, Shaer let out a sigh of relief.
Good, the extraordinary abilities of the "Coroner" could still be retained.
Returning to her room, Shaer took out her notebook and meticulously recorded everything that had happened that day.
The next day, the 26th.
From the afternoon of the previous day until today, Shaer had not stepped outside, choosing instead to rest at home.
She had completed all her preliminary work, and now all she needed to do was wait for Tara and the clothes to arrive before she could proceed with her plans.
Uncertain of when Tara would show up, Shaer decided to stay home and wait.
Last night, after the maid delivered dinner, she instructed the maid not to bring any more meals and dismissed her, sending her back to Aivina's estate.
If anything came up, Shaer would go directly to Aivina.
If their protection was seen as "surveillance" by Tara, their lives would be in jeopardy.
Shaer made her way to the living room and prepared a simple breakfast for herself.
Although she had cleaned up the bloodstains in the living room somewhat, the lingering metallic scent of blood still hung in the air, mingling with a faint smell of rust.
Around noon, a knock echoed at her door.
Shaer opened the door to find Tara's petite figure standing there, and to her surprise, Amy had followed along.
Under the "identification" of the "Divine Servant," Tara quickly came to believe that Shaer was the embodiment of the Mother Goddess and immediately pledged her loyalty.
After confirming that Shaer was unharmed, Amy returned home at Shaer's urging, keeping the events that had transpired a secret deep within her heart.
Having gained Tara's trust, Shaer assigned her a task: to bring over the brainwashed second-tier nobles and merchants among her confidants.
These confidants' names were known only to Tara, yet Shaer accurately named several of her second-tier allies, including one noble named "Gema."
This deepened Tara's conviction about Shaer's identity, and she left Boren City that very day, racing towards the secret monastery of the Holy Order.
It wasn't until the evening of June 28 that Tara returned to Boren City with those confidants, and that night, Shaer sent them one by one to Aivina's home.
With the third-tier Nia overseeing things, these cultists, who had received orders from Tara in advance, would not cause any trouble.
On the night of June 30, the old tailor arrived with the finished garments, handing them over to Shaer and collecting the final payment.
However, there was no news from Aivina; it seemed that the past couple of days hadn't been enough for her to complete the resurrection ritual.
Every detail and event from these days had been meticulously recorded by Shaer, including the exact time Tara arrived in Boren City and her initial landing point.
She also noted several "safe times" that had not been affected by misfortune, allowing her to plan her rest in the real world.
During these days of intermittent sleep, she had restored her mental strength to over ninety percent of its peak.
Finally, on the morning of July 1, at 8 AM, just as Shaer was about to set her plan in motion, she received news from Aivina.
She had successfully advanced to "Psychologist," but the cost was that among the cultists from the past, only Gema had not gone mad and had been successfully deprogrammed.
Thus, she arranged a meeting with Aivina for 5 PM that evening.
At 8 PM, it would be the time for her real self to arrive, but she needed to execute her plan beforehand.
This was to determine whether her real self would arrive early and if Aivina had been affected.
If the simulated time was ahead, it would mean she had died prematurely during the execution of the plan, resulting in failure.
After jotting down her thoughts in her notebook, Shaer took it along with the body and the clothes, making her way to the outskirts of Boren City.
At this time, Boren City was still expanding, with many factories under construction at the edges. The place Shaer was headed to was a building site near the Bell Tower District—abandoned for a while due to funding issues, it was sparsely populated and perfect for conducting experiments.
The previous advancement to "Coroner" had also taken place here.
Shaer did not bring Tara along; in fact, if it weren't for Aivina's advancement, she would have preferred to avoid any entanglement with Tara altogether.
However, it seemed that in the need to help Aivina acquire the "materials" for the resurrection ritual, interacting with Tara had become an unavoidable event.
It wasn't raining today, but the weather was somewhat gloomy.
Once inside the factory, Shaer immediately activated the stored transformation, summoning the "Coroner" form.
As "Coroner" Shaer peeled away the hardened silk, the body preserved within was finally revealed, still fresh as if it had just died.
After sending a spider to crawl into the corpse's mouth, the modified and stitched-together body stood up again, its movements stiff as it changed clothes.
Meanwhile, Shaer retreated to a corner of the factory, pulling out her notebook and pen, and began to meticulously record everything that happened next.
[Year 741, July 1, 1:00 PM]
[I have restored the corpse's vitality; it seems to have some issues with its throat, and I am currently adjusting... I hope nothing goes wrong.]
[I specifically asked Aivina to arrive a bit later to avoid her witnessing the spiritual summoning or the otherworld—though I'm not sure if she will arrive early, as she doesn't seem like the type to be late. The possibility of her arriving early is quite high; I will provide you with the exact time then.]
[Year 741, July 1, 2:11 PM]
[The corpse has finally been adjusted; it took quite a bit of time... This is the third transformation into the "Coroner." Honestly, the feeling of being able to use it freely without worrying about point reduction is quite nice.]
[The corpse has changed its clothes.]
[Next, I will attempt to make the corpse speak, drawing out the feather pen.]
[For each line, I will pause slightly; afterward, I will only note the time and the lines spoken, so you can choose the useful lines to save time.]
[2:15 PM]
[The "Touch of Fate's Betrayal" in Ansu and Ancient Ansu, "The Polluted Touch of Fate's Betrayal."]
[No response.]
[2:30 PM]
[I had the corpse recite a short essay in Ancient Ansu, and still no response... I even suspect that the Shadow of the Raven isn't focusing its gaze on me at all.]
[3:20 PM]
[The feather pen has really appeared.]
[You can use the language I heard in the dream directly; if transliterated, it would be "Slaid." You should know which word I'm referring to.]
[The feather pen hovered in front of the corpse... Next, I will have the corpse say the last words it spoke while fleeing in the dream, and then I will press the pocket watch, sacrificing my fingers to capture... After that, I might not be able to leave any more information.]
Click—
Shaer dropped her notebook and swiftly pressed the pocket watch, activating the "Echo of the Silver-white Timebinder."
She drew a carving knife from her pocket and severed four fingers from her left hand. Blood gushed from her hand, spiraling into crimson threads on the ground.
As her fingers fell, they began to burn rapidly, and at the same time, a blood-red vortex appeared before Shaer.
She lifted her gaze, focusing on what lay ahead.
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