Eldritch Horror Theatre

The local Church was incredibly cooperative!

He definitely needed to pay the Celestial Sphere Cult a visit, and an academic exchange served as the perfect excuse.

Faced with Olinter’s gracious invitation, Fu Qian felt deeply gratified.

Of course, that wasn’t the best part.

”You didn’t quite finish, did you, Mr. Quack? Your exact words were that the ’voice’ sensed danger, so it whispered in Jane’s ear and told her to close her eyes.”

That was the best part.

Just as the situation was looking up and the professional exchange had turned perfectly harmonious, Nathalie coldly voiced her doubts.

At first glance, it looked like she was backing up Olinter, whose momentum had just been dampened by his shock at Fu Qian’s easygoing attitude.

Since she was the one who had called Olinter here and clearly disliked Fu Qian, her intervention could just about pass as reasonable.

Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t nearly reasonable enough for Mister Winslow, a man who excelled at reading people.Mister Winslow, who had been on the verge of speaking, snapped his mouth shut instead, studying his family’s tutor with a mild expression.

He would have had to be incredibly dense not to realize her intentions were far from pure.

If Nathalie truly cared about her student’s safety, why would she volunteer such suspicious information right now... just to spite this doctor?

It was hard to imagine what kind of deep-seated grudge could drive her to this, especially since Nathalie didn’t even seem to know the man. Wait a minute—

Struck by a sudden realization, Mister Winslow discreetly glanced at Fu Qian.

The doctor had been the one to call Nathalie over in the first place. In fact, the moment he saw her, he had boldly called out her name without hesitation.

Had he been dropping a hint even then?

Did he know Nathalie harbored ulterior motives and purposely acted that way to expose her?

Once the thought took root, he couldn’t shake it. The realization battered against Mister Winslow’s mind.

”Miracle doctor” wasn’t nearly enough to describe this man anymore.

He hadn’t just used the facade of a jianghu charlatan to hint at the truth of his daughter’s condition; he had casually exposed the hidden threat lurking within their own home.

Mister Winslow had always been supremely confident in his own judgment, but even he found this outrageous conclusion hard to believe.

”What voice?”

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to marvel. Nathalie’s words were clearly news to Olinter as well.

Taking in the immediate reactions of everyone present, the emissary from The Order finally dropped his gentle demeanor, looking directly at Jane as he asked the question.

...

Having experienced a rollercoaster of emotions in just a few minutes, Jane looked entirely lost. Her first instinct was to look at her father again.

He remained completely unruffled, offering her a slight nod.

”...It’s a very faint voice. It always appears out of nowhere and tells me what to do. I follow its instructions unconsciously, and it’s incredibly hard to even realize I’ve done it.”

Finding her courage, Jane openly confessed.

”Before this, all I noticed was that it occasionally made me want to be left alone.”

”But just now, with the doctor’s help, I thought back carefully. I realized that when I was looking at that painting, I did hear a voice.”

”It told me my vision was going black, and to close my eyes and not look.”

Her brief explanation clearly reflected the quality of her upbringing.

Despite her innocent and naive appearance, Jane had cleverly concealed a crucial piece of information while seemingly confessing everything at her father’s behest.

Specifically, the two brief moments she had spent entirely alone under the voice’s influence just a short while ago.

She had only realized this detail thanks to the ”doctor’s” prompting.

Though she didn’t yet grasp the full implications, the doctor’s attitude suggested it wasn’t good news for her.

Most importantly, her tutor, Nathalie, knew nothing about it.

Even if she was a little slow on the uptake, Jane spent more time with Nathalie than anyone else. By now, it was impossible for her not to notice how abnormally her tutor was acting.

Therefore, Jane refused to give her any ammunition. She proactively confessed to the desire to ”be alone”—the only part Nathalie actually knew about—and cleverly glossed over the rest.

”A voice that warned you not to look at the painting...”

Just as expected, Olinter didn’t fixate on the mention of her wanting to be alone. Instead, he furrowed his brow, pondering the details about the painting. He no longer blindly attributed every strange occurrence to the Star Law.

Having somewhat achieved her goal of escalating the tension again, Nathalie stood off to the side with a blank expression. She didn’t seem to notice any inconsistencies in Jane’s story.

It was obvious she no longer expected the Winslow Family to remain oblivious to her behavior, so she didn’t waste any more effort masking her expressions.

”I cannot currently determine whether this situation has anything to do with her contact with the thick Mist.”

It turned out Nathalie had made the right choice. Olinter’s next words made the Winslow Family look at her with growing suspicion.

”At least in the cases I’ve handled so far, none have involved a voice like this—especially one that seems to bear good intentions.”

Olinter shook his head in bewilderment, looking at the Winslow Family’s once-again ashen faces.

”I can understand why you tried to hide this. But you must also realize that it no longer matters—as long as we can prove what I said earlier.”

He then turned to Jane and issued a cold command.

”Do exactly as I say next. I believe we all hope my judgment is correct.”

His implication was perfectly clear. Mister and Missus Winslow loved their daughter dearly, so any dangerous actions they took could be understood. However, whether The Order would hold them accountable now depended entirely on the nature of the changes in Jane.

If she truly was a genius blessed by the Boon of the Stars, then those transgressions meant nothing.

But if it was genuinely tied to the Mist and classified as a unique form of corruption, the Winslow Family would absolutely not escape punishment.

”Okay.”

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Jane clearly felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. Despite her nervousness, she didn’t back down.

”Everyone receives enlightenment differently. I’m not sure if my methods will work for you, but regardless, the primary prerequisite is that you must let the starry sky reflect within your will.”

Olinter nodded in satisfaction.

”I imagine that shouldn’t be too difficult for an art enthusiast like yourself.”

”Then, carry that starry sky in your mind and observe the patterns within your leg. Rely on your intuition to find the most natural way to overlap them—”

Olinter never even finished his sentence.

Because the very next moment, Jane—who had just lowered her head to follow his instructions—actually floated into the air and began to ”fall” all the way toward the ceiling.

It was as if, for her, gravity had completely reversed its pull.