027 The Dice

"Suffering" is a mysterious phenomenon within the Tawny Ruins.

Through years of observation, the "Secret Society of Suffering" discovered that after entering the ruins, one person would inexplicably disappear at regular intervals. This disappearance is absolute, a complete erasure at a conceptual level. Everything related to the vanished individual is forgotten by the world. The moment they disappear, their past, present, and future cease to exist. People forget them, as if they had never been part of the group at all. After someone vanishes, no one else will disappear for a set period. Thus, the Secret Society of Suffering named this phenomenon "Suffering."

No one knows the exact time interval of this Suffering. However, the destination within the underground ruins is still a long way off. No one knows how far these eight people will make it.

"Catherine, I’ve always had a question. Why, for such a significant matter, are there only us? Why were so few people summoned? Based on my personality, I should have many, many friends... but why is it that, in my memory, I only know you?"

Baron Hall’s words left Catherine silent for a long time.

After a moment, she looked at the surrounding air and said with a complicated expression, "Hall, perhaps we have already summoned many, many people... all your friends, as well as the wizards from my family and many professors from the academy, have all come."

Baron Hall turned pale. "Impossible, Catherine! That’s impossible! We’ve only been walking for seven hours. If hundreds of people had already disappeared within seven hours, wouldn't that mean the interval of Suffering occurs every few minutes?"

The Baron’s logic was sound. If Suffering occurred every few minutes, then in the time it took for them to speak, all eight of them would have already vanished!

Regarding this, Catherine offered a logic that was profoundly unsettling.

"Hall, their past, present, and future no longer exist! We don't remember them because the past of all these people has..."

Before Catherine could finish, the Baron interrupted her. "Don't lecture me with complex theories; I don't understand them. I only know how to swing a blade—keep it simple! Don't talk to me about logic!"

Catherine felt a headache coming on. She offered an analogy: "You can think of it as these hundreds of people still being by our side, just turned into 'ghosts' that we can neither see nor touch."

The Baron frowned. "You mean there is a group of ghosts around us?"

Catherine replied, "Fine... let's just call them ghosts. Hall, entering the Tawny Fern Forest requires a 'ticket,' which demands a price. Our companions have already paid that price for us. We eight are the lucky ones... the toll has been paid, and no one else among us will disappear from here on out."

The Baron’s expression darkened. "The price, is it..."

The price was incredibly heavy. They did not know how many friends and relatives had vanished—they had been completely forgotten. The Baron didn't know whom he had brought, but they were already gone.

Catherine said, "Don't be sad, Hall. I’m sure I brought many people too... my people have also disappeared."

Baron Hall shook his head in regret. "Catherine, I shouldn't have dragged you into this. The wizards who were willing to follow you must have been your closest friends... and they have all suffered."

Catherine laughed. "Friends? Heh, I have no friends in the wizarding world... though I suppose I’ve lost quite a few dogs. Those loyal to me in the Alexandra family and the academy must have all come. Now, I really do have to start over."

Baron Hall sighed. "I'm sorry... you’ve suffered too great a loss for our sake this time."

Catherine shook her head. "Hall, I didn't come for you. The entire kingdom where Valeria lies is land under the rule of the Black Abyss Wizards of Alexandra. All Muggles are our property! We will never let the bastard mongrels of the Abyss crawl out of our territory! If 'Ibu' were still alive, he would have decided the same."

Ibu was Catherine’s younger brother—a hundred years her junior. Her brother was also her student and the founder of the Black Abyss Academy.

After a pause, Catherine looked at the entrance to the ruins (a dry well) beside the Flesh Saint Tree and said, "Hall, it isn't just our friends who are suffering. I often wonder why, for such a monumental event, only you, the Baroness, and Anthony know about it in the entire world? The Secret Society of Suffering is capable of sealing an avatar of a god-level demon; it should be a very powerful organization... so why is it that in this generation, there is only Julie? Is it truly that Julie is the only one left in this generation of the Society, or have all the others entered the Fern Forest to maintain the seal and suffered, only to be forgotten by all of us?"

"Stop thinking about it, Catherine, stop!" Baron Hall shook his head. "Do not try to unravel all of this, Catherine. You will end up like Anthony—insane!"

Catherine dropped the topic. She said, "Hall, my academy has suffered such great losses this time; I must take the Holy Grail! Of course, whether you return alive or not, I will use the Holy Grail to cure your wife's illness."

Baron Hall replied, "If we can truly resolve the problems here, I will have fulfilled the wishes that Julie, Anthony, and all the others who might have come here before could not complete."

Thinking of Anthony, the Baron felt a pang of sorrow. After meeting him, Anthony had gradually become the Baron’s best friend. Anthony treated Julie like a younger sister and Baron Hall like an older brother. The Baron, in turn, treated Anthony like a brother and his child, Roland, like his own nephew.

But this time, he had to set a trap for his nephew. The Baron knew it was despicable to conspire with Catherine to deceive Roland, but if the lingering obsession of the Evil God was not completely eradicated, it would soon summon the true deity, leading to a catastrophic disaster for the entire world.

I hope Roland won't hate me later...

After a silence, the Baron said, "The obsession of that Abyssal Lord has been sealed for many, many years. For so long, so many people have come to continuously drain it; it is at the end of its rope. I only worry about one thing now—if it weakens to a certain point, it can crawl out of the seal. Although its obsession cannot stray too far from the seal, it can hide. Catherine, I am old, old enough that I can only burn bright one last time. And you, after that terrible incident, you have become too young... if it hides, neither of us will be able to find it."

Catherine said, "You don't need to worry about the Evil God. Anthony could see it, so Roland certainly can too. Besides, as a two-hundred-and-something... ahem, as a twenty-year-old witch, I am indeed very young."

The Baron pulled out a book and said, "Catherine, I believe I will not suffer, but I have a premonition. I feel as though the God of Death is watching me... Catherine, this time, we are facing an Evil God. No matter how fragile it is, it will be a difficult struggle. This book contains my..."

Catherine frowned and interrupted him. "Hall, your own belongings should be passed to your own heirs by yourself... as for whom you pass your swordsmanship to, I don't think Roland is suited for it! I will find you a student at the academy more suitable than Roland."

She paused, then added, "You promised Ibu back then that you would join the Black Abyss and help him protect his academy. But you broke your word later. Now that I have taken over the mess that is the Black Abyss Academy, you must fulfill your original promise."

"You siblings really know how to cause me trouble. I was only being polite back then... after clearing up the mess in the Tawny Fern Forest, I was planning to travel the world with Julie."

The Baron continued, "However, we can stay for a few years. Julie has been nagging for three months; she hopes Alice can attend school with you and Roland."

Catherine: "..."

The Baron looked at Catherine. "I had originally planned to send Alice to a normal White Wizard academy. The wizards of the Black Abyss Academy... sigh, you must help her find a normal wizard as a mentor."

Catherine: "I will teach your daughter myself."

The Baron sighed. "I think I’ll send my daughter to another academy, and I’ll go to the Black Abyss Academy myself."

Catherine frowned. "What do you mean? Do you think I can't teach your daughter?"

The Baron said wistfully, "Catherine, I didn't want to bring this up again—those loyal to you in the academy have likely all come. Would you let Wallace go find those unreliable academy wizards to do things for you?"

Catherine: "Of course not!"

The Baron continued, "Exactly. When you go back, you must be even more low-key. You won't dare to find people to open backdoors for you anymore. You must act like a normal Alexandra heir: write your papers honestly, take your certification exams honestly, and work hard to earn the good opinion of the academy wizards. And until you manage to become a professor, you will have to sit in the same classroom as Roland!"

Catherine: "..."