Chapter 814: A Small Game
When Freud was looking, Angor took out their magical pact and applied an addendum to it.
Their agreement mentioned a special clause that either of them could add more requests to the deal accordingly, should any unexpected âforce majeure eventâ impede a successful fulfillment. While drafting the covenant, both Angor and Freud swore in the name of the worldâs consciousness, and now was the time to put this special clause to use.
âIf Iâm to use extra labor to retrieve the item, then youâll automatically owe me a favor. In the future, I can ask you to fulfill this favor on condition that I do not endanger your personal safety, your freedom, or ask for anything beyond your power.â
Freud pondered and had no problem agreeing since the request seemed easy enough. He knew he was of little use in Angorâs view, which meant the âfavorâ wouldnât be anything too hard.
After settling their new agreement, Angor moved to one side of the room to give Freud some time to talk with Sunny and Alda.
He had no idea what to ask from Freud yet. He made the extra condition just because he could, plus that he didnât feel pleased when Freudâs promise didnât go as planned.
As of now, Freud could neither help him fight or work for him as his assistant because they didnât fully trust each other.
In the end, Angor shook his head to get rid of this concern. Heâd like to get the Dream Whelk first before tending to other matters.
Freud soon finished talking about his old days with Alda and Sunny, and Tulu also came to.
Taking the chance when Tulu was too confused to get scared again, Freud said his apology and briefly introduced himself.
âA talent, you say?â Freud looked at the materialized water elements that surrounded Tulu and silently admired Tuluâs great potential.
Meanwhile, Tulu was feeling VERY anxious that Angor would be disappointed with him. Similar things had happened so many times before, and each time Angor would lecture him on his cowardice. But this time, he blacked out without even seeing Freudâs face.
Tulu gathered some courage and whispered, âIâm sorryâ.
Angor maintained a poker face as he spoke, âDonât worry too much. One needs time to train their mind. Nothingâs wrong about that.â
Tulu thought he had been forgiven. However, what Angor said next immediately depressed him even further.
âI need to leave and deal with some other business with Freud. Meanwhile, you wait for me in this orphanage.â Angor grinned at Tulu. âOf course, youâre free to leave if you canât take it. On condition that you can find a way out, that is.â
Tulu shivered. âSir-sir, what-what do you mean by âI canât take itâ? Thereâs something else in here?â
âYouâll know soon enough. You have enough food, right? And you can create water with your new ability. Just try not to die.â
Try what??!
Tulu felt his heart growing colder.
As Tulu stumbled away to look for a phantom he couldnât see, Freud joined Angor with a smile. âI think you like him, Mister Padt.â
âOf course I do. Iâm expecting him to become a future backbone for Brute Cavern. Are you done with the kids, by the way? We are leaving.â
Freud nodded. âOf course. But Mister Padt, you see, Sunny isâŠâ He glanced at the âblood prisonâ with a hesitant look.
Meanwhile, Tulu also looked at Angor with a similar expression but with a completely different intention. As someone who was going to spend more time in the orphanage, he sure wished that the little murderer stayed trapped rather than roaming freely.
Angor ignored Tulu and nodded to Freud. âSure.â
He then moved to Sunny, who was not as hostile to him as before. âIâll set you free later. But I also need you to play a small game with that big lubber over there. What do you say?â
âBig lubber?â Sunny tilted her head.
Angor pointed to Tulu, who was still trembling like a frightened kitten at the corner of the room.
âWhat game?â Sunny knew she couldnât oppose Angor now. And besides, she believed Angor and Freud were friends.
âLet me seeâŠâ Angor stroked his chin. âYou two shall play âDead by Daylight: The Nightmare Orphanageâ.â
As Angor explained the ârulesâ of the game, Tulu was giving Freud pleading looks, for he thought Freud could help him deal with Sunny.
âChill it. Sunnyâs not going to kill you,â said Freud.
And this only made Tulu more frightened.
Tulu then looked at his only hopeâAldaâand hid behind the boyâs back.
âDonât worry, mister!â Alda comforted. âSunnyâs very nice. If anything bad happens, you can come to my home.â
âYour-your home?â
âYeah. This building is supposed to be Sunnyâs turf, while mine is the playground in the backyard. Sunny wonât go there.â
âThe playground is your home? You sleep there?â
Alda didnât seem to mind Tuluâs sympathetic look. âItâs a pretty good place. I can ride the horsies, the slides, and talk to the kitties! There used to be a lot of people traveling outside the fence, but not anymore.â
Ouch. This kidâs impressive. He was murdered by someone, then he spent such a long time in total loneliness and has not fallen yetâŠ
Tulu thought.
Away from them, Angor had easily broken the key nodes of the blood array and freed Sunny. Also, he kept a small trace of the blood and used Nardaâs Vision to identify it.
While the cantrip was still âcalculatingâ the result in his mind, he went to Tulu and said, âIâve told Sunny. From now on, she would act as a good old killer and hunt you down, while you do your best to stay alive. As Alda said, the playground is your âsafe zoneâ. Sunny will not go there.â
Tulu quickly perked up as he planned to stay at Aldaâs playground until Angor came back.
Angor gave Tulu a devilish smile. âEach day, the playground only opens up to you during the six hours before dawn. You canât enter that area at the remaining times.â
While explaining, Angor began deploying illusion nodes in the area, turning the entire orphanage into a giant illusion that showed a theme park with a somber atmosphere.
Next, Angor put a hand on Tuluâs shoulder. âI left some tools and âEaster eggsâ in the illusion that might come in handy. Stay strong, my friend.â
He then left the place with Freud, leaving Tulu to stare at him helplessly.
A moment later, Tulu looked back only to see Sunny giving him a really bloodthirsty smile.
âTen minutes before the game begins, mister. Be preparedâŠâ
âŠ
Freud left the grounds of the orphanage while glancing back occasionally.
In his view, the building was now hidden behind a thick mist, and he could hear the childish giggles of many children coming from it. He was sure that anyone unfortunate to wander inside that place would end up in a ghost-haunted nightmare instead of the usual orphanage.
Also, as he observed, some of the âEaster eggsâ left by Angor werenât helpful. Instead, they were deadly traps.
âAre you sure about this, Mister Padt?â
âNo biggie. As you said, Sunny will not actually go for his life.â Angor shrugged.
The illusion was both a âlessonâ for Tulu as well as a test to show whether such games could be used in place of other recruitment tests such as Sundersâ deathmatches.
Freud didnât ask further. He knew Angor meant to train Tuluâs mentality, which was essential for Tulu to stay at the wizarding world.
But that gameâŠ
Freud shook his head and sighed. He wasnât sure if he could endure that kind of mental stress if he were in Tuluâs boots.
Angor summoned Gondola. He then called Freud over and began heading to the capital city of the Central Empire, Saint Sem.
Like everyone else who saw the amazing vehicle for the first time, Freud expressed his utmost appreciation about the ingenious design, and when he saw no response from Angor, he changed the subject.
âMister Padt, as I said in my theories, you can create a âdream worldâ using the Dream Whelk together with an illusion like that one, which we can use as a long-lasting testing ground for new recruits, like games they can join and quit at any time.â
As he listened, Angor wondered if he accidentally gave Freud any fictions from Earth that were about âvirtual reality gamesâ. But as far as he could remember, he only placed simple âcrossover novelsâ and traditional literature in Freudâs room. There wasnât anything that could have told Freud about these ideas that highly resembled a certain technology from Earth.
âVR games⊠tsk. This is getting advanced pretty fast.â
âPardon me, Mister Padt?â
âItâs nothing. Again, I think your idea sounds fascinating. But it all relies upon whether we can actually combine illusions and the effect of Dream Whelk, which is⊠unlikely, Iâm afraid. Above all, we have to get the whelk back first.â
âYouâre rightâŠâ Freud sat back and gazed at the flourishing Saint Sem City in the distance. âI know the whelk is still there. I can feel it.â
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