Eldritch Horror Theatre

”See? I told you there wasn’t a problem.”

Fu Qian didn’t stop Mr. and Mrs. Winslow as they rushed desperately toward him. He simply blasted Olinter away with another beam of moonlight, then immediately ended Quiet Reflection and Wandering.

For his final action, he gave a slight nod to the patient’s family, gesturing to Miss Winslow lying at his feet.

Not a single trace of the anomaly remained on her body, and her complexion was wonderfully lifelike—or so Fu Qian imagined the patient’s family would see it.

The lighting was truly terrible. As mere mortals, the pair obviously couldn’t make out any fine details.

So, as he released her, Fu Qian casually flicked her forehead.

Miss Jane’s body twitched as she slowly woke, instantly melting the icy dread on her parents’ faces.

”Jane is alright? Then what were you doing just now...”

Clearly, their relief hadn’t washed away his confusion; Mister Winslow asked the question with a complicated expression.

”Treating before the illness manifests is the true achievement.”Unfortunately, he obviously didn’t quite understand the expert’s answer, and he never got the chance to ask further.

”Just who are you?”

Battered and bruised but as stubborn as ever, Olinter’s voice arrived before he did.

Regardless, seeing Jane completely unharmed clearly overturned his previous assumptions about the man’s motives.

And that dazzling, overwhelming scene from moments ago was burned into his mind, impossible to erase.

”The moonlight burns like frost, the sole light piercing the veil; but you need not fear the darkness, for it is always there.”

Unfortunately, the response he received was still brimming with the aura of a charlatan.

”And now, unlike you who follow a shepherd, my eyes have opened.”

”You’re coming with me today!”

It was obvious Olinter deeply despised this riddling behavior, not to mention he was still reeling from the crushing blow of his shattered romance.

”Go where?”

Staring at the man’s exposed gums, Fu Qian actually didn’t get angry; he even nodded and asked.

”To the West District Church, of course. Where else?”

”Understood. I’m a bit busy right now, but I’ll pay a visit later.”

”Don’t you even think—”

Olinter’s furious, lisping roar was cut off by the sudden change before him.

A biting chill flooded the air as a radiance even more brilliant than before descended, illuminating the man until he looked almost inhuman.

By the time the light faded, there was no trace of him left.

...

[Quest Evaluation: Good Doctor of Laerdin]

At a crossroads, a pair of fine leather boots stepped lightly out of thin air.

Earlier, when he had taken that step according to the hint in the letter, Fu Qian had arrived inside the carriage.

And after a whole night of medical treatment, he had finally finished the second half of that step.

The street was still silent and deserted. The letter in his hand was gone, replaced by the continuous chimes of the quest summary.

[As members of Laerdin’s high society, the Winslow Family recently suffered from troubles of an even higher order.

Mister Winslow was well aware of the danger involved; the slightest mistake would bring consequences his family could not bear.

But he also knew that no consequence could ever compare to the pain of losing his daughter.

After trying numerous methods, he finally took a massive risk and pinned his hopes on a mysterious traveling doctor.

The traveling doctor gave an unbelievably optimistic prognosis and, amidst heavy skepticism, actually proved it.

Jane Winslow has been restored to health, and she will never again be able to feel the sensation of the Stars reflecting upon her.

Olinter returned to The Order, carrying his disillusioned love.

Nathalie, along with the biological father of the child in her womb, was banished.

Faced with ample evidence of the latter embezzling funds, the magnanimous Mister Winslow did not pursue the matter. Not only did he give up on sending the man to prison, he even provided a handsome severance package.]

[Kills: None]

[Reward: SAN Value +20]

[Special Reward: Fine Vintage]

[Current SAN Value: 115, Current inspiration: 99]

Sure enough, an optimistic mindset was very important for recovering one’s health.

Listening carefully to the quest summary, Fu Qian was quite satisfied with his performance on this trip.

As the attending physician, he had consistently upheld a rigorous medical attitude and an optimistic mindset. He had successively thwarted inappropriate behaviors like treating a tragedy as a celebration and overtreatment, completing this beautiful consultation. He could truly be called a paragon of a healer’s benevolence.

Naturally, the rewards for this persistence were also generous.

The two major factions of Laerdin had both beheld the glory of my identity as the Dark Moon Pope in near-perfect fashion.

He believed that under such shock, neither side would dare to slack off.

Combined with the clues he had left behind, the Painting World would undoubtedly receive unprecedented attention.

What was even more gratifying was that this attention had been born in the past. As of this moment, they had already been working hard at it for several days.

This was the ultimate utilization of time.

Moreover, in the summary, Mister Winslow’s reaction was very interesting.

The man was undoubtedly clear-headed.

Fu Qian believed that even though Miss Jane had recovered her health, when facing two people who had once posed a threat to his daughter, Mister Winslow wouldn’t possess any senseless magnanimity.

Perhaps out of consideration for Olinter’s feelings, he wouldn’t do anything ruthless to Nathalie in the dark. But to completely let off a butler with a dirty record? It seemed the latter’s role in this affair truly wasn’t simple.

Judging from their previous interactions, it seemed quite easy to sort out the ins and outs of the whole matter.

Nathalie, the family tutor whose mind was clearly unwell, became embittered and turned completely malicious when her own charm failed to conquer her employer. She spared no cost to manipulate and drive two pawns, seizing upon the anomaly in her employer’s daughter, vowing to break his heart.

But there was one strange point in all this that had been raised at the time—Olinter had arrived far too quickly.

Even if one guessed that Nathalie possessed an alarm device that could remotely notify Olinter, the time between her storming off after hitting a total wall with him and Olinter’s arrival was simply too short.

As Nathalie’s meticulously prepared trump card, Olinter obviously wouldn’t be revealed so easily.

Therefore, rather than believing that Nathalie laid her cards on the table in a fit of rage after leaving and that Olinter just happened to be nearby, Fu Qian was much more willing to believe another possibility: while Nathalie was still stalling him, someone else had already pressed the alarm for her.

The protective item Olinter had gifted her was very likely handed over to the father of her child.

Once this point was established, the role the butler played in this affair was nowhere near as passive as imagined.

And Mister Winslow’s actions thus became very easy to understand.

If he really sent the butler to prison and left him with nothing, Nathalie, the family tutor, would highly likely draw a clear line between herself and this ”pawn” instantly, thinking up all sorts of ways to continue her life as an intellectual.

It was obvious Mister Winslow didn’t want the butler to shake off this crazy beauty so easily. He chose to use a sum of money to tie the two of them together for the rest of their lives.

Should he have any second thoughts, the only bargaining chip Nathalie could offer would undoubtedly be the child in her womb.

Viewed from this angle, this father, brimming with a thirst for revenge, had actually saved a life.