NOVPUBThe West and South Districts of Tivian are densely populated areas where the common folk gather. Due to the industrial zone located in the southern suburbs, the South District is home to a large number of industrial workers, especially in the Filth Ditch District, which has become the most polluted and impoverished community in Tivian.
In the northern part of the South District, on the south bank of the Moonflow River, lies a triangular area called the Basket Neighborhood, sandwiched between the West and East Districts. This area is home to many small workshops and individual craftsmen. Although life here is tough, it is still better than the lives of the workers and poor in the southernmost areas. The main source of pollution here is the coal ash blown in from the Coal Ash District to the west.
On the wide south bank of the Moonflow River, the corpse marionette Ed stands, dressed in his usual gray-black trench coat. He gazes at the river flowing toward the sea, watching the busy cargo ships and the various pieces of garbage floating on the water. The pungent smell of the river wafts into his nose.
Through Ed’s perspective, Dorothy looks across the river to the north bank, where the faint outline of the Tivian Royal Palace and its surrounding towering buildings can be seen through the mist. Turning her gaze back, Dorothy directs Ed to look at the streets of the neighborhood. Rows of low-rise houses stretch out before her, with stalls and storefronts crowding the sidewalks. The streets are packed with shops selling all kinds of goods, making the area feel chaotic and crowded.
"So... where should I start?"
Sitting in a carriage parked by the riverside, Dorothy observes the streets of the Basket Neighborhood through Ed’s eyes, pondering how to proceed in her search for Davic. After a moment of thought, she comes up with an answer.
Dorothy takes out her magic box and directs Ed to approach her carriage. She hands the box to Ed, who quickly moves away and disappears into an alley. Shortly after, a group of people of various appearances emerges from the alley.
These are, of course, Dorothy’s corpse marionettes. She has summoned seven or eight of them from the magic box. After exiting the alley, they scatter in different directions, infiltrating the Basket Neighborhood.
Ed is the last to leave the alley. After adjusting his hat, he returns to the bustling streets. Glancing at the hawkers calling out to customers, he walks up to a stall selling glass ornaments and crouches down to examine a glass necklace.
"Hey, sir, what are you looking for? If you don’t see anything you like here, I have more styles in the back."
The stall owner, a thin man wearing a headscarf, immediately puts on a friendly smile as Ed picks up the necklace. Ed, in no hurry, continues to examine the glass ornaments while casually asking.
"No need, I’ll just look at these... By the way, boss, the weather hasn’t been great lately. Does that affect your business?"
Ed asks, and the stall owner quickly responds.
"Of course it does! But we have to make a living, so we have to keep going even when the weather’s bad... As long as there’s no strange wind that might blow away the stall, we can still manage. We can still make a little money, even if it’s not much."
The stall owner half-complains, and Ed’s eyes shift as he continues to ask.
"Oh... Have you encountered any strange winds recently?"
"Hmm... Let me think. There have been some strange winds recently, but not around here. I heard it was over in East Street..."
The stall owner recalls, while Ed continues to chat with him, mainly about the weather and the strange winds. In Tivian, this is a very common topic, so the stall owner doesn’t find anything unusual about the conversation.
Finally, after the conversation ends, Ed buys a glass necklace and walks away. Similar scenes are playing out in various parts of the Basket Neighborhood. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
Under Dorothy’s control, her several corpse marionettes are scattered throughout the area, posing as ordinary customers and passersby, engaging the residents in conversations about the weather, with a particular focus on the strange winds.
The strange winds are a local legend in Tivian, referring to sudden, unpredictable gusts of wind that appear and disappear without warning. Some people in Tivian claim to have experienced them, while most dismiss them as mere rumors. Some even say it’s the work of mischievous fairies, warning children that if they misbehave, the strange winds will carry them away.
Dorothy knows that these strange winds are not just rumors. They are real, and their true nature is none other than the Hunters of the Tivian Serenity Bureau. When these wind spell casters carry out missions against secret societies, their abilities can create these strange winds, affecting ordinary people, just like what Edmond did in the Coal Ash District.
From the information Dorothy obtained from Gregor, Davic was secretly captured by the Hunters. This means there is a possibility of conflict between the Hunters and Davic. If the Hunters and Davic had clashed or even engaged in a Beyonder battle, the Hunters’ abilities could have caused the strange winds. Therefore, if Dorothy can locate where the strange winds occurred, she can at least find the site of the conflict between Davic and the Hunters.
Sure enough, after questioning various people through her marionettes, Dorothy obtains information about the strange winds. Many people claim to have experienced strange winds near East Bottle Alley two or three days ago.
Without delay, Dorothy sends Ed to the vicinity of East Bottle Alley. There, sitting in her carriage, Dorothy uses Ed’s and the crow marionette’s perspectives to carefully scan the area, trying to find something.
Dorothy’s marionettes move through the long, narrow alleys, while the crow flies overhead. However, after searching for a long time, she still finds nothing.
"Hmm... It’s been two or three days since the incident. It’s really difficult to find any traces now..."
Sitting in the carriage, Dorothy mutters with a frustrated expression. After some thought, she takes out a sigil—the last of the three Scent-Tracking Sigils that Adèle gave her at the theater.
"This thing is really useful. Once I use this one... I wonder if I can buy more from Beverly or Adèle."
Looking at the sigil, Dorothy speaks, then takes out the Chalice storage item—dried meat—that Adèle also gave her. She uses the sigil along with the dried meat, consuming two points of Chalice from the meat to activate the sigil.
Suddenly, Dorothy gains the enhanced sense of smell of a Chalice Beyonder. She closes her eyes and transmits this buff to Ed, who is in East Bottle Alley.
With the enhanced sense of smell, Dorothy has Ed take a deep breath, carefully sensing the surrounding air, only to be overwhelmed by the pungent, irritating smell.
"Cough... Is this the air of the South District? The sigil’s enhancement makes it so strong..."
Shaking her head, Dorothy endures the strong smell and tries to discern other useful scents in the air of East Bottle Alley.
As she sniffs, Dorothy controls Ed to wander through the alleys. Finally, amidst the stench of garbage and sewage, she detects a clue—the smell of blood.
"This is... the smell of blood? And it’s quite strong..."
Following the scent of blood, Dorothy directs Ed through the dirty, narrow alleys. Soon, he turns into a dark, deserted alley where the smell of blood suddenly intensifies.
Dorothy has Ed stand in the middle of the alley. From his perspective, the dark alley appears normal, with nothing unusual. However, Dorothy can smell that this place was once drenched in blood.
Ed’s gaze sweeps over the walls, the ground, and the gutters... These places, though seemingly normal, were once splattered with large amounts of blood. In the cracks of the walls, Dorothy can still detect the scent of blood.
"The amount of blood loss is huge... There was a conflict here, a fierce one, but the bloodstains were later cleaned up..."
Looking at the scene through Ed’s eyes, Dorothy mutters. She then directs Ed to inspect the walls and ground, finding many linear cuts and claw marks. She has seen such cuts before—when Edmond’s wind blades missed their target and struck the ground.
“These cuts are much smaller than those caused by Edmond. They were likely left by a Black Earth-rank Aeromancer. They clashed with a Beyonder who could fight with claws here, and the Aeromancers clearly won.”
“This claw-wielding Beyonder is a Beastman. Judging by the scene, he was ambushed by the Aeromancers. The battle was one-sided, with the Beastman suffering many wounds and losing a lot of blood. A normal person would have died from such blood loss, but a Black Earth-rank Chalice Beyonder like a Beastman wouldn’t die so easily.”
Examining the scene in the dark alley through Ed, Dorothy deduces in her mind. She is almost certain that the ambushed Beastman was Davic, and the Aeromancers were the Hunters.
Continuing to observe the scene in the dark alley, Dorothy keeps thinking. She wants to determine where Davic was taken based on the scene.
The smell of blood is strongest in the middle of the alley, where the wind blade and claw marks are most concentrated. This indicates that this was the main battlefield. After searching, Dorothy finds a faint trail of blood leading from the main battlefield toward the alley’s exit. Unlike the large bloodstains at the main battlefield, this trail consists of small, scattered drops of blood.
Following the scent of blood, Dorothy continues forward. She can tell from the smell that the trail of blood was likely left when the injured Beastman was carried or dragged away. The trail ends at the alley’s exit, where the bloodstains spread out again, and a new claw mark appears on the wall.
“Davic... was ambushed in this alley and severely injured. He was then loaded into something and taken away. Judging by the scene, he was probably put into a carriage. During this process, he resisted, leaving more blood and claw marks at the alley’s exit. It seems he was definitely still alive.”
After examining the scene, Dorothy thinks to herself and begins her analysis.
“Davic was ambushed by the Hunters in this dark alley and severely injured. Although he lost a lot of blood, as a Chalice Beyonder, he didn’t die. After injuring Davic, the Hunters took him to the alley’s exit and left by carriage. During this process, he resisted…”
Having sorted out her thoughts, Dorothy quickly figures out where Davic might be now. Although Beastmen are resilient, without the support of mystical items, they don’t have the same level of regeneration as Werewolves. Losing so much blood, while not immediately fatal, would certainly be dangerous if left untreated. Since the Hunters wanted to capture him alive, they wouldn’t let Davic die so easily.
Having figured this out, Dorothy takes out her Literary Sea Logbook and quickly flips to Vania’s communication page. After a moment of thought, she writes.
"Hey, are you there? By the way, are you still working at the hospital?"
…
Tivian North District, Aphro Grace Hospital.
Aphro Grace Hospital is the largest public hospital in Tivian. Located near the Cathedral District in the North District, like many city hospitals, Aphro Grace Hospital has deep ties to the Radiance Church.
In Pritt, just as every moderately large city has a Serenity Bureau, every public hospital established by the government and the church has a dedicated Mystical Injury Department. These departments are hidden among the hospital’s regular departments and are specifically used to treat ordinary people, hunters, and even valuable members of secret societies who have been injured in mystical incidents. Aphro Grace Hospital is no exception.
On the edge of a park in the North District, several white buildings of Aphro Grace Hospital stand. In the hospital’s main hall, countless ailing commoners crowd together, waiting in despair for the extremely limited public medical resources to alleviate their pain.
Many of them are injured workers, their bodies wrapped in blood-stained bandages. Others sit in their seats, coughing incessantly.
In a ward located in a building far from the main hospital area, Vania, dressed in her white nun’s habit and wearing her glasses, stands inside. In front of her is a hospital bed, on which lies a man in a hospital gown. He has one arm extended, with bandages removed, revealing a horrifying wound. The man’s face is slightly contorted, as if enduring pain.
"Please bear with it a little longer."
Vania says to the man on the bed, then reaches out her hand and places it on the wound. She closes her eyes, and a faint yellow glow appears in her hand. Under this glow, the wound on the man’s arm heals at a visible rate. The man grits his teeth, seemingly resisting the pain of the healing process.
Soon, the yellow glow in Vania’s hand fades, and she removes her hand. The wound on the man’s arm is now completely healed, with no trace left. Seeing this, the man’s face breaks into a joyful smile.
"It’s healed... completely healed! I don’t feel any pain at all! It healed so quickly! Praise the Holy Mother, thank you, Sister Vania!"
"By the grace of the Holy Mother, it is my duty. Mr. Jack, please be more careful on your missions in the future."
"Ah... There’s no helping it. With all the secret societies in Tivian becoming more restless lately, our workload has been increasing day by day."
Vania smiles and responds to the patient. After exchanging a few more words and giving him some advice, she picks up her medical kit and leaves the ward.
As Vania steps out of the ward and closes the door, she sees a familiar figure approaching from the corridor—an elderly nun in formal nun’s attire.
"Sister Anlei! What brings you here?"
Seeing the elderly nun, Vania quickly walks up to her and greets her with a bow. This is the nun who guided her during her promotion to the Black Earth rank.
"I came here to handle some matters. After finishing, I thought I’d check on you, Sister Vania. Hehe... Dr. Cade was just praising you in front of me."
"What? Dr. Cade was here too?"
"Yes, he was just saying that your mastery of the Healing Prayer is surprisingly fast. In less than a month, you’ve been able to heal many wounds effectively and efficiently. Your devotion is truly remarkable."
With her usual kind smile, Sister Anlei speaks to Vania. Hearing this, Vania is slightly taken aback but quickly responds.
"Ah... It’s nothing... I’m just doing my best."
"Hehe, no need to be modest. The human body is complex, and only the divine can fully understand and control it. For you to master the Healing Prayer so quickly, and for the Holy Mother to respond to your prayers so precisely, your devotion is truly admirable. The Holy Mother is fortunate to have a servant like you."
Sister Anlei continues with a proud smile, while Vania slightly bows and assumes a prayerful posture.
"By the grace of the Holy Mother, I am merely doing my duty..."
With a devout expression, Vania responds to Sister Anlei. However, in her heart, she is extremely nervous, hoping that Sister Anlei doesn’t notice anything unusual.
The reason for her nervousness is simple: Vania hasn’t actually been praying to the Holy Mother during her healing sessions.
Healing Prayer Priests possess the ability to rapidly heal injuries and regenerate flesh. However, the regeneration process guided by this ability is not the body’s natural healing process but a miracle guided by an external force—the will of the priest’s prayer, not the body itself. And since humans have limited understanding of the complexity of their own bodies, sometimes they don’t know how the flesh should grow to heal properly.
In short, Healing Prayer Priests can’t simply activate their regeneration ability on an injured person and expect the wound to heal correctly. There’s a risk that skin and flesh might grow haphazardly without properly connecting, failing to close the wound. Therefore, for a Healing Prayer Priest to correctly heal a wound, proper guidance is needed. In the Radiance Church’s system, this guidance comes from the Holy Mother.
The key to being a Healing Prayer Priest lies in the word "prayer." Healing Prayer Priests pray to the Holy Mother to guide their spirituality in correctly performing the healing process. As long as the prayer is sincere and the priest has mastered the specific healing prayers, the Holy Mother will provide guidance. This has been the practice of the Grace Path in the Radiance Church for hundreds, if not thousands, of years—relying on the Holy Mother to guide the healing of the complex human body to avoid mistakes.
However... things are a bit different for Vania. Due to certain reasons, Vania’s subconscious faith is no longer in the Holy Mother. Although she appears devout and believes herself to be devout, when she truly prays, her prayers are directed toward Akasha.
Despite her inner conflict, for Vania, her "Lord" is now Akasha, not the Holy Mother. Therefore, her prayers do not receive guidance from the Holy Mother.
At first, Vania panicked when she realized that her prayers weren’t receiving guidance from the Holy Mother. Without the Holy Mother’s guidance, she couldn’t properly heal injuries. So, she prayed to Akasha for a solution.
After hearing Vania’s concerns, Dorothy thought for a moment and then said it wasn’t a problem. Dorothy went to the library and borrowed several anatomy books, quickly reading them. After finishing, she exchanged the knowledge for various theories about the human body from another world. Dorothy then compiled this knowledge along with some medical knowledge she had previously learned and sent it all to Vania, imprinting it on the additional pages of her Soul Codex that appeared after her promotion to Black Earth rank. This made Vania a theoretical expert in surgery overnight.
Dorothy’s reasoning was simple: the human body is indeed complex, but one can learn about it and understand it! Once you’ve learned it all, you can guide your own power. Why rely on divine guidance?
Thus, after receiving the bundle of knowledge from Dorothy, Vania spent a day feeling dizzy, then began practicing the theories in the hospital. At first, she was a bit clumsy, but once she got used to it, her proficiency grew rapidly, and she became unstoppable.
Now, Vania’s efficiency in healing injuries by guiding her own healing prayer has gradually surpassed that of normal Healing Prayer Priests who rely on the Holy Mother’s guidance.
