After bidding farewell to Granny Kaili, Syl put her silver beak mask back on and left the bakery.
In the end, Kaili did not accept Syl's 5 currency.
However, this visit to the bakery brought Syl an unexpected harvest.
That Kaili, who looked like an ordinary Old Granny, was actually an old mage?
Although she didn't know her specific strength or why Kaili, a mage, would open a bakery, Syl fortunately obtained a clue about mages—a card.
Syl originally didn't know where to start investigating mages, but now, an opportunity to break directly into the mage circle had arrived.
And from Kaili's appearance, she seemed to treat Syl as a new talent to be recommended to the person or organization at the address on the card.
So the question was, should she go now?
It was unlikely that anything would go wrong; even if the physician card "died," her main body could still rely on summoning Aishala for protection.
The most important thing was... magic!
Although she didn't know the specific system, just hearing the word "magic" made her think it must be much more powerful than her auxiliary divine arts!
Most importantly, the physician card's extraordinary constitution gave Syl a bit more confidence.
At least she was tough to kill.
Having made up her mind, and with plenty of time left, Syl planned to head over and take a look tonight.
Before going, however, Syl found a quiet restaurant and had a hearty meal.
Although the restaurant's decor looked exquisite and she had ordered quite a bit, it only cost Syl less than 1 currency in total.
"Please come again, beautiful lady."
Accompanied by the clerk's attentive send-off, Syl returned to the street, took out her silver pocket watch, and checked the time.
"Hmm... seven o'clock."
There were still three hours before she had to return; counting half an hour for travel, she still had two and a half hours for herself.
The timing was a bit tight; it might be better to go back and prepare thoroughly before visiting the address on the card the next day, which would also give her enough time to deal with any emergencies.
However, when she went back, it would be best to ask Archbishop Aishala about that Andaman person.
It felt like Archbishop Aishala, being older, should be more knowledgeable.
It's just that listening to Archbishop Aishala speak might be a bit of a torment.
It was quite hard to translate.
Having made up her mind, Syl didn't head back toward the Holy See but instead dove into another street, looking for any secluded alleys.
Finally having some time today, she decided to see what the reward she got that day, the Stardust Flying Blade, actually looked like.
After all, it was a hidden reward; it couldn't be too underwhelming, could it?
However, this street didn't seem very peaceful; the further Syl walked in, the more crowded it became.
Most of the storefronts had painted signs hanging outside to attract passersby, and nearly half were taverns.
Many passersby carried a strong scent of alcohol.
The further Syl walked, the more she felt like she had entered a place prone to trouble; after all, it wasn't surprising for drunk people to do anything.
"Let's find another place," Syl thought, immediately turning around to leave instead of going deeper.
Just then, a commotion from behind made Syl's right eyelid twitch.
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
Not far behind Syl, a scream and a cry rang out; it was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl.
"You dare steal Baron Magee Hardy's wallet? Cutting off both your hands today is considered sparing your life; be grateful in prison, you piece of trash."
What? Severed hands?
Syl's heart skipped a beat.
No, the situation isn't right, retreat immediately, or else... Syl thought this, but her body had already turned back and was walking toward the scene.
The crowd only dared to stand at a distance and watch; even the drunkards knew not to try and reason with an angry noble.
"Ugh... I... I didn't..." The thin figure lying in a pool of blood struggled to explain something.
"You didn't? If you didn't, did my wallet just find its way into your hands on its own?" The noble named Magee wiped the blood off his short sword with a handkerchief, his expression full of disdain.
"I... just wanted to return it to... Aaaaahhh!!!"
It seemed the dirty child's explanation made the noble lose his patience, or perhaps letting her continue would damage his reputation, so Magee raised his boot and stomped hard on the child's severed wrist where the bone was visible.
"Go rot in prison and feed the dogs, you lying brat." After withdrawing his foot, as if still finding it dirty, he rubbed the sole of his boot—stained with reddish-black blood—against the ground, leaving behind streaks of blood.
Just then, while everyone else was afraid to approach, a weirdo wearing a silver beak mask appeared beside the thin child at some unknown moment.
"Ho... the cut is quite clean, nice blade..." The weirdo skillfully flipped open their trench coat, revealing a tool kit inside, and quickly took out tools to perform a simple disinfection.
Before the noble could even react to what was happening, the beak-masked weirdo had already picked up the two severed hands from the ground and was washing the stumps with wine.
"Hmm? And who are you?" Magee, coming to his senses, placed his hand on the short sword at his waist. "Answer my question, freak."
But the silver beak-masked weirdo seemed too bothered to even acknowledge him, focusing solely on suturing the wounds of the person beneath them.
The child, who had been wailing and moaning on the ground, now lay there with vacant eyes, as quiet as if dead, as if they had truly been anesthetized on an operating table.
"You dare ignore me?" The masked weirdo's indifference made the noble feel he was losing face.
Although no one around him was thinking it, a sentence echoed in his mind: "Baron Magee Hardy has lost all dignity."
To these minor nobles who were neither here nor there, "face" was more important than anything else.
"You're an accomplice of the thief too! Go to prison with her!" As if to bolster his own courage, Magee shouted this out, one hand flicking open a hidden compartment on the short sword's hilt. A transparent liquid flowed out, running down and covering the entire blade.
This was a Potent Hallucinogen. Magee often used it when torturing slaves; it would make the victims burst into wild laughter amidst their pain, a sight Magee enjoyed seeing.
Having done all this, Magee held the short sword with both hands and thrust it straight toward the black-clothed weirdo's shoulder.
*Puchi—*
Thick, blackish-red plasma splattered out.
But the splashing blood instantly vaporized and vanished in the air, and not another drop of blood flowed from the black-clothed person's shoulder.
The surrounding air was deathly silent.
After an unknown amount of time.
"Heh... heh-ha... wooo..." Magee's face suddenly contorted, letting out a strange, sickly laugh.
The commoners surrounding the scene in a circle were also silent.
Finally, someone grinned and started it; manic laughter began to spread to everyone. Their bodies twitched morbidly. Standing in a circle, they just laughed, though they didn't even know what they were laughing at.
From the outside, it looked as if some wonderful performance was taking place, or perhaps... a sinister ritual.
"[Calamitous Fate] successfully absorbed [Potent Hallucinogen] and acquired its properties."
"[Calamitous Fate] reinforcement successful."
"Releasing[Calamitous Fate]"
...