Chapter 564 : Token of Allegiance

In the nighttime of Moncarlo, Dorothy sat on the sofa of her hotel suite. Having fully perceived what the little fox saw in Laurent’s dream, she was now stroking her chin with interest, deep in thought.

“Edward’s honored guest… holder of a token from Edward’s pirate days… secret meetings yet kept in confinement… how interesting…”

A stream of intel acquired from Laurent ran through her mind, countless threads of thought surfacing within Dorothy’s mind. She then relayed a message through the information channel to the little fox still within the dream.

“All right, that’s enough. Exit the dream now—we need to head somewhere else.”

At the entrance of the spacious audience chamber in Laurent’s dream, the little fox, having just memorized the location mentioned by Laurent, blinked in confusion before speaking up again.

“But we haven’t asked where that object ended up yet. Leaving now?”

“Edward’s caution exceeded our expectations. Continuing to press him now won’t yield anything more. We’ll need to shift our approach… Let’s head straight to where that so-called honored guest is being held.”

Dorothy replied using Ed’s voice and tone.

“Hmm… so we’re switching locations, huh? Fine then. You ride ahead in the carriage, I’ll catch up nearby…”

The little fox replied somewhat grumblingly. Unlike Ed, she didn’t have a carriage waiting nearby, so moving around would take more effort. However, Dorothy’s reaction was not what she expected.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Don’t split up. Let’s ride together. The midnight window is short—we shouldn’t waste it.”

“Ride with you? That would mean revealing myself to you directly! That’s not—”

“I’ve already seen your true body. You’re on the rooftop of that three-story building with the grilled fish vendor, to the left of the flowerbed where Laurent was seated. You’re wearing a cloak, and you’ve brought a cat.”

Dorothy replied calmly, reporting the findings of her micro corpse marionettes. This startled the little fox so much that she jumped on the spot in Laurent’s dream, exclaiming while looking around in shock.

“Ah! H-How did you find me?!”

“Just a few small puppets. A basic surveillance method. All right, let’s not waste time. Come down and get in—I won’t do anything to you.”

Those words echoed in the little fox’s mind. After hearing them, her ears drooped, and her whole fox demeanor turned rather dejected.

“Mmm…”

...

On the dark streets of Moncarlo, under dim streetlights, a seasoned coachman drove a pitch-black carriage swiftly across the cobblestone road. Inside the gently rocking carriage, cloaked in a hooded robe with the lower half of her face wrapped in a scarf, the little fox—Saria—sat tensely with her hands in front of her, vigilantly watching the well-dressed man seated across from her. At her side, a black cat with the same wary gaze stared intently at Ed.

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Ed sat at ease, smiling at Saria from his seat as he raised a hand casually.

“Relax a little, Miss Fox. We’re partners here—no one’s going to harm you. You and your pet have no need to be so on edge.”

Ed seemed to want to reassure Saria, but his words did little to lower her guard. Instead, she responded rather sternly.

“You asked me to infiltrate dreams, but then went looking for my whereabouts at the rendezvous point. That’s not very sincere cooperation, is it?”

“Ah, Miss Fox, I think you may have misunderstood. I wasn’t specifically trying to find your whereabouts. I simply deployed standard puppets to monitor the surroundings of the dream-infiltration site, as a precaution against suspicious individuals. Finding you was purely accidental. If it displeased you, I’m willing to apologize now.”

Facing Saria, Ed maintained the courtesy and demeanor expected of a gentleman, speaking neither hastily nor slowly. Saria, however, remained doubtful and continued questioning.

“And you think… I’d just trust your words so easily?”

“Miss Fox, you’ve been in contact with us for a while. We’ve never done anything to harm you. And in the end, you still got in this carriage, didn’t you? Isn’t that also a sign of trust? Heh… Besides, given that you’re acquainted with Lord Paarthurnax, and can converse with him regularly, we wouldn’t dare treat you lightly. If you complained to him about us, it wouldn’t end well for those of us below.”

As Ed continued, Saria perked up noticeably upon hearing his words.

“Oh? So speaking with Lord Dragon is… actually considered a rare honor?”

She looked to Ed for confirmation, and he replied with a smile.

“Of course. That’s the Dream Dragon we’re talking about. Even I have to go to great lengths just to receive guidance from him.”

Hearing Ed say that even regular members of the Rose Cross Order had a hard time meeting Paarthurnax, Saria’s previous tension and displeasure melted away. She lit up with pride, just as she often did in her dreams.

“Hah… So it’s that hard for you all to see Lord Dragon? Honestly, he’s quite easy to talk to. You don’t need to be so nervous around him. Oh right, do you have any golden syrup candy on you? The kind sold at street stalls? If you give me some, I might tell you a bit about Lord Dragon…”

“Meow!”

“Ow! Ahh, Little Black! What’re you doing?!”

Just as Saria turned around in excitement to speak to Ed, the black cat beside her seemed displeased and suddenly pounced onto her lap, clawing at her hand. Saria struggled to shove the cat aside.

Watching the girl tussling with her cat, Ed kept smiling calmly.

“But that aside… I really didn’t expect this. The one capable of invading dreams to steal memories, toying with the Blackdream Hunting Pack inside a dream, and being a key figure tied to the remnants of the Dream Knight’s faith… turns out to be such a young girl. To possess such extraordinary accomplishments at such a young age—it’s truly rare. I think I may have glimpsed one of the reasons why Lord Paarthurnax values you…”

Hearing Ed’s praise, Saria couldn’t help but feel deeply satisfied, and her expression grew more smug.

“Hah, but of course. After all, I—ow, Little Black, stop it! Argh! That hurts…”

Watching the girl and her black cat wrestle in a heap, Ed smiled silently and nodded to himself. Through his gaze, Dorothy’s attention also shifted momentarily to the black cat entangled with Saria. A thoughtful expression flickered across her face, as if she were contemplating something.

…

After a period of travel, the carriage controlled by Dorothy gradually arrived at the outskirts of Moncarlo’s urban area. Inside the hotel suite, Dorothy glanced at the city map of Moncarlo laid out on the coffee table and confirmed they were near the target location.

Next, Dorothy drove the carriage into a narrow alley and brought it to a slow stop. She then had Ed escort Saria and her black cat down from the vehicle. The dream puppet originally controlled by Saria had already been moved to a safe distance and released, and Dorothy also synchronized Laurent’s return to his residence.

Although Dorothy could have continued controlling Laurent to make the guards of the secret prison grant them entry, doing so might lead Edward to confront Laurent the next day, which could cause Laurent to realize he’d been manipulated during the night. Hence, Dorothy decided to infiltrate the secret prison herself.

“That secret prison the Tenth Young Master spoke of, the one holding the so-called honored guest, is nearby… Are we going to knock out the guards and sneak in?”

In the dark alley, Saria clutched the red scratch marks left by her cat, whispering toward Ed, who replied in a low voice.

“No need to provoke the guards. We just need to get close. By the way, what’s the range of your dream-entering ability?”

“Hmm… Let me think. It’s about 250 meters centered on myself. As long as I can sense where the target is within that range, I can hypnotize or enter their dream.”

Saria explained after a moment of thought. As she spoke, the black cat beside her let out a soft sigh. Upon hearing the radius of Saria’s ability, Dorothy immediately marked a circle on the map and located a suitable position on its perimeter.

“Let’s go. We’re heading that way…”

Ed then led Saria through the desolate, quiet alley. After a short while, they stopped at a corner.

“This should be it… We’ll hide here and stay put.”

Hiding together in the corner with Saria, Ed gave the instruction, and Dorothy dispatched her micro corpse marionettes to stealthily fly toward the secret prison not far ahead.

The so-called secret prison outwardly appeared to be just an ordinary residence. After Dorothy’s marionettes entered through the window, they saw a brightly lit room with several plainclothes guards inside—some posted as sentries, others gathered together drinking and playing cards. The place was loud and lively.

Avoiding the guards, Dorothy’s marionettes flew toward the basement. There, she sensed the glow of an Illuminating Beacon, but fortunately, she had used the shared effect of the Concealment Ring to help conceal the marionettes. She continued directing them deeper into the basement. After passing through an iron-barred gate, they entered a passage. A short distance in, Dorothy saw a cell at the side of the tunnel.

A sturdy iron-barred door separated the tunnel from the cell, which was comfortably furnished with a bed, wardrobe, bookshelf, table, and chairs—a deluxe private room. Inside lay a robed figure fast asleep without a blanket. At a glance, Dorothy recognized him: the "honored guest" from Laurent’s memory.

“Good… he’s asleep at this hour…”

Upon seeing the scene inside the prison, Dorothy murmured to herself and then had Ed speak to Saria beside him.

“My puppet has found the man. He’s asleep. I’ll now share the visual data from my puppet with you through Aka—use that to enter his dream.”

“Eh… share?”

Hearing Ed’s words, Saria was momentarily confused until she felt a slight headache—and then a stream of unfamiliar information suddenly surged into her mind. Suddenly, it felt as if she had another pair of eyes besides her own. Through this vision, she saw a vividly clear—though oddly colored—scene of the prison and the sleeping man inside. Dorothy had processed the visual data from her arthropod-type micro corpse marionettes and converted it into a form intelligible to human senses.

“Ah… I see it… So this is… shared vision? Aka can do something like this too?”

Saria muttered curiously, staring at the scene, and Ed followed up.

“Aka has many mysterious and wondrous capabilities. But now’s not the time—enter his dream. Let’s see why he came to Moncarlo.”

“Mm…”

Saria nodded, then closed her eyes and began remotely entering the dream via the marionette’s information channel—despite the many physical barriers.

…

After a burst of brilliant, multicolored light, Saria reappeared in the dream realm in her form as a small white fox. Once she stepped foot into the distorted and dazzling dream realm, the surroundings quickly stabilized. The vibrant swirl transformed into a boundless sea, with the little fox standing aboard a ship sailing across its surface.

Under the gloomy skies, waves rolled across the sea. Amid the churning waters, a massive black-and-red vessel sailed forward. On board, countless sailors busied themselves. Strange sea beasts and giant fish—many dissected—were hoisted on the masts alongside numerous naked human corpses with similarly split bellies. Thick blood flowed across the deck, and all manner of entrails piled up by the railings—indistinguishable whether human or fish—emitting an overwhelming stench.

Frowning at the scene around her, the little fox resisted the urge to vomit. She floated into the air and flew toward the dream’s host—a muscular, bald man, shirtless, sitting amid the bloody piles, drinking and gnawing on a slab of raw ribs from some unknown creature.

“What is your name? Where are you from? Why did you come to Moncarlo?”

She asked directly. The man looked up from his drink and meat and replied.

“Well now, a talking fox? And a white one too? Rare… interesting. Wonder what your meat tastes like…”

“I’m not for eating! Just answer my questions.”

“All right, all right. No need to be so loud—what a noisy ingredient. Name’s Tonic… Raised an orphan by the Church, so I’ve got no surname. Came to Moncarlo from Filthy Blood Bay, under secret orders from the Church to negotiate with the old pirate in Moncarlo.”

“The Church you speak of… is it the Abyssal Church?”

“Of course. The Church of the Abyssal Lord—the great Eternal Thirster.”

Tonic replied candidly, and the little fox continued questioning.

“Why are you looking for Edward? What does the Abyssal Church want with him?”

“The Church wants that despicable old pirate to return to the righteous path of serving the Abyssal Lord. As long as this great traitor repents, the Church is willing to forgive his sins!”

Tonic slurred, drunk, while guzzling wine. Upon hearing this, Dorothy frowned deeply.

“Edward was once a follower of the Abyssal Church… and now they want him back? What for?”

The little fox asked in disbelief, and Tonic replied.

“Because of the Fountain of Youth! That old bastard’s at death’s door—half a foot in the grave already! If he wants to extend his life, only the Waters of Youth can save him! If he repents and offers the Church a token of loyalty, they’ll graciously grant him another fifty years of life!”

With a trace of madness, Tonic shouted, while the little fox’s expression turned grim.

“A token of loyalty… what kind?”

Tonic drunkenly shook his head at her question, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

“Ah… the token is… that so-called Saintly Sister making waves lately… Vania Chafferon…”