Eldritch Horror Theatre

Blood bloomed wildly, and battle cries shook the air.

In the pre-dawn hours of this long night, following the belated arrival and self-introduction of the special guest, the medical consultation for Miss Jane Winslow finally got underway in earnest.

As the second expert on the case, the vampire Jacques was the first invited to speak.

But it was obvious that skipping the leader’s opening remarks had left him feeling a little out of his element.

Pondering his words, Jacques subconsciously glanced around. Unfortunately, aside from the puddle of minced flesh at the special guest’s feet, not a single person was willing to take charge.

Even a few normally highly respected clan elders subconsciously averted their eyes.

”I don’t have many clues at the moment, but by process of elimination, I suspect it has to do with whatever is in the fog outside the city.”

Seeing everyone’s reaction, Jacques inexplicably gained a sliver of confidence, offering a brief and somewhat weak answer.

At least he had proposed a theory.

Suspecting it was related to the discarded pieces was a fairly normal and logical conclusion.Fu Qian didn’t judge him too harshly for it. Instead, he gestured to the other gathered experts.

”Share the details of the case in full, and let’s hear everyone’s thoughts.”

...

As with many meetings, it was clear these experts had little interest in the actual agenda, vastly preferring to use the occasion to manage interpersonal politics.

Seeing the man in the guest of honor’s seat pushing the agenda forward so gently and efficiently, the atmosphere inevitably plunged into an unspeakable awkwardness.

Every face present bore the stunned beauty of having been thoroughly violated by the world’s absurdity.

Ultimately, however, no one rose up in defiance.

In the prolonged silence, most attendees subconsciously broke eye contact with one another. Eventually, the first person cooled their rising temper and compromised with reality.

”Let’s hear it.”

Madam Pali, who was still admiring her manicure, was clearly attuned to this shift. Letting out a very unladylike laugh, she gestured for Jacques to continue.

She evidently held considerable prestige within the clan; the moment she spoke, more than one person let out a sigh of relief and dropped their combat stance.

For a moment, the vibrancy within the Rotunda experienced a significant color loss.

Highly efficient.

Fu Qian nodded, fairly satisfied by this shift.

As a special guest who had come with genuine sincerity and a keen interest in the meeting’s topic, he was quite pleased to see things get on track so efficiently.

After his consecutive maneuvers just moments ago, it was all too easy to imagine what the famously arrogant Blood Clan thought of him.

Quickly eradicating their prejudice was of the utmost importance to someone like him, who had no desire to waste time.

The difficulty had spiked significantly when he arrived and discovered that this race possessed a rather impolite person in charge.

But as everyone knew, everything had two sides.

A group with a leader would indeed be more united and resolute, but the trade-off was that losing that leader could easily paralyze them completely.

Therefore, following Shafal’s impolite behavior, Fu Qian had decisively gone all out and borrowed the head off the man’s shoulders.

Looking at the situation now, the elder’s sacrifice had been well worth it.

...

”The origin of this was very simple. Regarding that ordinary family mentioned earlier, I drank their daughter’s blood and left behind a small blessing as an equivalent exchange.”

Encouraged by Madam Pali, Jacques finally spoke up again, frankly detailing the medical case.

”However, for some incomprehensible reason, that blessing was twisted.”

”It was supposed to amplify her beauty, but instead, her eyes began to enlarge without limit.”

”When I discovered this, I found it impossible to understand and immediately set out to find the cause. As of now, the only suspicious lead is that she once got lost in the fog outside the city.”

”As for this Mr. Herbert, he was the doctor the family invited to treat her.”

The blessing was twisted?

Padded by the earlier shocks, Madam Pali didn’t appear overly surprised, though she still frowned as she listened.

”And then, in order to uphold your principles, you directly shared the Blood Clan’s boon with her to help her shake off its influence?”

”That was a bit overly generous. What else did you try before resorting to that?”

It was clear she was well-acquainted with Jacques’s usual style.

”The situation had already grown severe. I figured it would quickly attract those annoying Order Hunters. So, even though I couldn’t understand the cause, I decided to revert her body from the blessing first.”

Jacques made no attempt to hide his first treatment attempt.

”But even that attempt was twisted... The target’s entire existence entered a peculiar state of regression. For example, even her voice rapidly reverted to that of a child.”

”And then, unable to tolerate repeated failures, you directly shared the glory of the Blood Clan with her.”

Madam Pali seemed to have pieced the logic together and gave a slight nod.

”Utterly foolish!”

Clearly, not everyone felt the same. Madam No. 2, who had finally put away her Spear of Fatal Death, made no effort to restrain her desire to speak.

”Just to resolve such a trivial matter? Just for your ridiculous principles?”

”It wasn’t solved.”

Jacques’s momentum was already rising. Not only did he refuse to back down, he even corrected her misunderstanding.

”The boon was twisted as well. The state the target exhibited bordered on out-of-control pollution.”

...

Although the successive shocks had nearly driven the Blood Clan to fatigue, one could still see their sanity teetering on the edge of collapse following that final sentence.

Even the Blood Clan’s boon had been twisted?

”I see. And then, the twisted boon was shattered.”

For a moment, even Madam No. 2 fell silent. Madam Pali immediately looked over at Fu Qian, wearing an odd expression.

”I’d like to know what this invited doctor did prior to that.”

”He examined her and concluded her condition was fine—that any abnormalities would disappear by dawn...”

It was obvious that even now, Jacques still found the whole thing deeply absurd.

”And then, when I tried to take her away to find someone to help confirm the cause, he found me.”

”...While you were in an untouchable state?”

Madam Pali was visibly shocked by this, but she quickly came to terms with it.

”I suppose it isn’t too strange. He even managed to shatter the boon, after all.”

”So, Excellency Herbert, might we know how you reached such a diagnosis? Did you claim she would fully recover by dawn because you were confident you would cure her before then?”

Sizing Fu Qian up with a meaningful look, she asked a question that didn’t quite seem to be the main point.

”To be precise, it was because I already knew the outcome.”

Fu Qian paused in thought for a moment, wording his response rigorously.

The mission target was right there; if Jacques could solve the problem himself, Fu Qian theoretically wouldn’t need to lift a finger.

”Are you saying... divination?”

Madam Pali frowned, trying to make sense of it.

”How could it be something as imprecise as that?”

Fu Qian shook his head, his expression instantly shifting into that of an enigmatic mystic.

”The final destination of a dream is always waking up.”