Sorcerer’s Handbook

At 8 p.m., Annan returned home and entered the living room to find it deserted and dark, save for several cleaning robotic spiders scurrying about. At the sound of footsteps, they quickly retreated to their nests to recharge.

“Banjeet?”

Annan called out, but there was no response.

From her birth, Banjeet had always taken care of her. Aside from his eternally youthful and delicate face, which was enough to make anyone envious, he had always impeccably fulfilled his duties as a butler, never neglecting his responsibilities.

She had instructed Banjeet to stay home and watch over the new staff members. Where could he have gone?

A sense of caution began to rise within Annan—could it be that these people had found a way to negate the Contract Fabric and secretly freed themselves from its control, catching Banjeet off guard and harming him?

She took off her Boots and, wearing silk stockings, silently stepped on the wooden floor, clutching the Miracle Procedure in her hand, searching for traces around the house.

Soon, she noticed light coming from the novelty game room and heard voices of the new residents:

“We’re almost there, it’s almost ready!” Ashe’s voice sounded.

“Me too…” Harvey’s voice, as if a Corpse were speaking, unexpectedly held a tinge of passion.

“Grr… Come on, I’m ready! Let’s combine our efforts!”

Banjeet was in there too!

And what was this conversation about!

What were they planning to combine together!

They were all men; how could they possibly combine!

They mustn’t take advantage of Banjeet’s cuteness and ravage him!

“What are you doing—”

Annan tightened her grip on the Procedure, pushed the door open, and prepared herself to rescue the defiled Banjeet.

Then she saw four adults and a child assembling a dark-colored, meter-tall Lego castle.

Banjeet, Harvey, Igor, Ashe, and Lise all turned to look at Annan, blinking. Banjeet, who had been working on the middle section, immediately stood up: “You’re back so early?”

“Seriously, what are you all doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ashe spread his hands. “We’re assembling ‘Sky Canopy City’.”

Annan recognized the Lego castle, of course.

As a child, her father had bought many of these complex, high-end Lego toys, wanting to assemble Sky Canopy City with Annan, but she had little interest in such toys. As a result, they were left gathering dust in the novelty game room. After Annan became the head of the Funeral Firm at the age of twelve, she never set foot in the game room again.

“…What suddenly made you interested in playing with Legos?”

Ashe glanced at Igor: “I saw Igor, young at heart, playing with Legos with Lise, so I dragged everyone to join in. I didn’t expect the Bewitcher to be so soft-hearted…”

Igor’s face turned red: “I just couldn’t stand seeing Lise struggle with it for so long, I had to teach her! Actually, I was about to leave, but Ashe, you brought everyone here and got so engrossed, I stayed to look after your experience…”

Ashe retorted: “Bullshit, you were so hard on me when I made a mistake earlier, is that what you call looking after my experience?”

“All of you who can barely understand the instructions shouldn’t be criticizing each other, you’re all trash.” Harvey said unabashedly: “If it weren’t for you guys holding me back, I would have finished this castle by now. I’ve done a lot of work assembling ‘broken parts’ into ‘complete wholes’; this Lego is child’s play. Back in my day—”

Ashe covered Lise’s ears: “Nobody here wants to hear about your glorious past!”

Annan was confused and asked, “So… you’ve just been playing with Legos until now?”

“Yes.” Banjeet nodded slightly, pulling out his pocket watch: “I should also… what, it’s already 8 o’clock!?”

“It seems to have gotten dark outside…”

“No wonder I’m a bit hungry, I thought I just digested breakfast quickly.”

“Daddy, I’m so hungry I can’t walk.”

“Let Aunt Bukin carry you.” Ashe quipped, then turned to look at the ‘Sky Canopy City’ behind him: “Should we take a photo to commemorate this, considering it took us an entire day…”

Igor spoke in a cold voice, “I’m not in the habit of keeping visual records—”

Ashe thought Igor was about to refuse and was about to mock him for being the most enthusiastic player when he heard the latter change his tune: “However, I have a clean slate in the Kingdom of Gospel, so taking a photo should be fine.”

The Cult Leader blinked in surprise, looking at the Con Artist who was turning away, muttering an explanation to someone: “Plus, this castle is quite spectacular…”

“Miss Annan, could you help us out?” Harvey asked, taking out a Catnip Cigarette and placing it between his lips unlit.

“Of course, no problem.” Purple Moth summoned her own Gospel, then stretched out her index fingers and thumbs to form a frame, capturing the five of them and Sky Canopy City within it.

The next second, the scene appeared in her Gospel. She turned the Gospel around to show them, “This way, the photo will also appear in your Gospels. I recommend you create a photo album in your Gospel and put important photos into it…”

“This kind of photo hardly counts as important.” Igor walked away quickly, with Ashe leading Lise to find something to eat, Harvey went to the balcony to light his cigarette, and Banjeet lingered last, asking: “Annan, should I prepare dinner for you?”

“I’ve eaten; just take care of their dinner.”

Banjeet nodded, opened his Gospel to order takeout.

Indeed, the Gospel Rings they provided to Ashe and the others were actually a ‘collector’s edition’ or a castrated version.

The real Gospel Items had long since integrated multimedia functions, including Curtain (streaming), instant messaging, video viewing, forum discussions, and ordering takeout, to name a few. The Gospel Rings that only opened the Gospel, ornate accessories, were actually luxury items that showcased one’s status.

Just as some people still buy watches even though they could simply open their Gospel to tell the time—Banjeet was one of those people, thinking pocket watches were stylish—there were many wealthy individuals who enjoyed purchasing Gospel Rings, Gospel Bracelets, and even Gospel Glasses that only had the function of opening the Gospel.

As for why only Ashe and his companions were allowed to open the Gospel… That was, of course, to prevent them from contacting the outside world while still allowing them to experience the allure of the Gospel.

Humans are social animals, and communication is an extension of boundaries. When you see news from a thousand miles away, you are a thousand miles away; when you communicate with others on the Curtain, you are not alone; when you see the tens of thousands of real human information streams in the Gospel Kingdom, your room becomes the entire nation.

Conversely, when they cannot leave, when they cannot communicate with the outside world, then this house becomes their entire world.

With their vision confined within four walls, their ambitions cannot reach the wider world, so naturally, they can only turn their attention inward.

Just as ancient courts often bred conspiracies and banquets were filled with deceit and trickery, Annan had long anticipated that Ashe and the others would plot to rebel against her—or rather, this was the outcome she had hoped for.

The more they stirred in the shadows, the more compliant they appeared in the open.

Bound by Contract Fabric, Annan had no fear of their rebellion. On the contrary, the more they obsessed over how to deal with her, the happier she was, because it meant they were wasting their energy on futile things.

Conspiracy and suspicion are twins, and the shadow of revenge is called shortsightedness.

When each of them became occupied with negative emotions, Annan could easily sow discord, favor some, suppress others, and thus easily divide them, strengthening her control and using palace intrigue to drain their vitality.

Although they had initially seen through her ploys, Annan had never given up on dominating these People from the Exotic Lands. She had simply made her plans longer, more covert, and more resistant.

But no matter what, the first step was to fill their hearts with negative energy.

Today, Annan’s visit to the Mermaid Palace was also a deliberate move to give them space to act freely. She had thought that when she returned home, these new employees might give her the cold shoulder, or perhaps greet her with smiles, or even someone might pledge loyalty to her.

She had prepared for every contingency but was still stunned by this group of people.

Why are you all playing with building blocks so happily together!

The five of you together are over a hundred years old!

Aren’t you worried about your futures? Don’t you long for the Divine Master’s Wish? Don’t you want to resist the constraints of Contract Fabric? I gave you the opportunity to band together, and you’re actually playing with building blocks, even dragging Banjeet into it!

Annan looked down at the photo in the Gospel, where the five stood before Sky Canopy City. Banjeet stood with proper posture, Harvey had a cigarette dangling from his lips, Igor fidgeted awkwardly, Ashe squatted down and flashed a V-sign, and Lise, though not quite understanding, copied him with a V-sign of her own…

Who had brought life to this stagnant pool?

Purple Moth’s gaze swept over the new employees’ faces, finally resting on Ashe and Lise.

The delivery arrived promptly, and the drone thoughtfully placed the steaming Redflame Lala Fatty on the table. Ashe had just sat down when he stood up again: “Save some Redflame Lala Fatty for me, I’m going to—”

“Stop, don’t say it, just go, no one’s competing with you,” Igor cut off Ashe’s incantation decisively.

Lise, ravenous, couldn’t wait to stuff a piece of cake into her mouth, ending up with cream all over her face. “Lise, desserts are for after the meal,” Igor said gently, “Come on, eat the Lala Fatty first.”

Igor took the initiative to carve up the most succulent food, serving Harvey, himself, Banjeet, and Lise, and then there was none left.

“You’re targeting Dad again, Aunt Bukin…”

“If you’re not eating it, give it to me, I’ll take the hit,” Igor said, looking around with a threatening glare at Harvey and Banjeet.

Harvey didn’t seem to care and started eating heartily.

Banjeet appeared to have little appetite but, to be polite, licked the Lala Fatty.

After pondering for a moment, Lise decided it was better to eat it herself than give it to Igor, so she dug in with gusto.

“Having fun?”

Lise blinked, turning her head to see the Observer sitting in Ashe’s seat, and was about to speak when the Observer raised a finger to his lips: “Say it in your heart, I can hear you.”

“Fun!” Lise thought: “Observer brother, you’re amazing, can no one else see you?”

“Just like Deya, no one else can see me,” said the Observer, leaning in to sniff the aroma of the Lala Fatty, “Speaking of which, where is the Witch?”

“The Princess? She’s inside, fussing about changing places,” Lise replied: “But I want to finish eating first.”

“Hmm, it is indeed time to change, especially since the next activity is rather violent and gory, not suitable for you, Lise.”

“What activity?”

“Before that, let’s settle your entertainment results for today!”

The Observer flipped his hand and pulled out a D20.

He tossed it lightly, and the die rolled several times on the dining table before settling on an 8.

“Today’s Entertainment evaluation is extraordinary, +7 Points; Lise, you’re in a good mood, +5 Points; Lise, you have a Luck Check +10, so you get to roll an extra D10 for additional Points…”

With a light tap from the Observer, the D20 instantly turned into a D10, which after a gentle roll, came to rest on a 3.

“Your total Points for today are 7+5+3=15 Points. The Debauched Prince only scored 8 Points, so Lise, today you’ve earned the Debauched Prince’s admiration and also gained 150% Fist and Claw Faction experience.”

As soon as the Observer finished speaking, Lise felt as if ice cream had melted in her mind, and the sweet knowledge flowed ceaselessly into her consciousness.

She paused, suddenly picking up a stainless steel spoon and staring at her reflection on it.

Then, with a serious expression, she looked straight at the Observer: “Why do I feel like I’m absorbing knowledge in the Virtual Realm? Observer, who exactly are you?”

“Is it the witch? Actually, I prefer chatting with the Little Witch,” the Observer said leisurely. “In any case, I arranged for you to play for your own good, since you can’t practice normally with that posture. It’s not just about toying with you—at least not entirely.”

“Not entirely, so what proportion is it?”

“Roughly 76.85%… but that’s beside the point.” The Observer clapped his hands. “Entertainment is over, now for the main event, which just so happens to be a task suitable for a witch like you to complete.”

Deya was somewhat nervous: “What task?”

“Battle,” the Observer uttered a cruel word.

“Observer, you should know that in my current posture I have no combat ability—”

“But I want you to fight,” the Observer said coldly. “You know, this isn’t an order, but you can’t refuse.”

Deya took a deep breath, suppressing the desire to argue: “Who’s the target?”

“The target is…”

The Observer raised his hand.

Pointing towards the Restroom in use.

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