As for smearing Roselle's reputation? Did Roselle's own amorous deeds need anyone else to slander them?
--------------------------------
For example, that classic line: "The taste of a witch is really not bad."
It came from Roselle's personal experience. The allure of Intis, the absurdity among nobles, all were vividly embodied in Roselle.
If given the chance in the future, Hastur even planned to write a diary page dedicated solely to this famous saying, "The taste of a witch is really not bad."
He figured it could bring quite a shock to young Mr. Fool's heart.
Just the thought made Hastur's lips curl into a smile, he could already picture Klein's expression of distaste mixed with helplessness.
But that was something for later. For now, it was best to stop here, and continue the imitation work only when needed.
Hastur thought for a moment, blew the ink dry on the page he had forged in Roselle's style, then pulled out Roselle's original manuscript and placed it on the desk for comparison.
Hmm, his handwriting was much prettier than Roselle's, easy to tell it was a forgery.
But for Miss Audrey, the difference wouldn't matter much. As long as the page was filled with content, it was enough.
When she went to the Sefirah Castle for meetings, she only needed to memorize the shapes of the words, then write them down, nothing to do with him.
After confirming there were no mistakes, Hastur placed the forged page of Roselle's diary on top and locked them all together in the drawer.
Having finished such an important task, Hastur checked the time, went to the washroom to take a bath, and only then returned to his room to rest.
The next day, even by eight in the evening, Audrey still hadn't come to exchange insights on Roselle's diary. This left Hastur a little disappointed.
Instead, it was Sharon who appeared in his study, instantly lifting his mood.
This time, Sharon was still hiding within the mirror, and Hastur could only sit on the sofa opposite to converse with her.
Hastur regretted having placed a sofa in front of the mirror.
If he hadn't prepared things so thoroughly, Miss Sharon might have chatted with him face-to-face instead of hiding in the mirror, where only her voice could be heard.
"The people of the Rose School of Thought have already left Backlund. After a while, Maric and I will need to go out."
"If something happens, how should I contact you two?"
"You can contact me by letter."
Hastur pretended not to quite understand and asked curiously, "I don't know where you are, so how would I send the letter to you?"
In the mirror, Sharon revealed her figure, her blue eyes staring at Hastur, not exposing his half-hearted acting.
She reached out and tossed a copper whistle from the mirror to him, saying calmly, "You're already a Sequence 8 Barbarian and have mastered Spirit Vision. As long as you blow this copper whistle, you can summon a spirit world messenger unique to me. Write the letter and hand it over, it will bring it to me."
It had been a long time since she had spoken so many words in one go.
Sharon glanced at Hastur. He coughed guiltily and pretended he fully understood.
Acting required a complete performance, after all.
"How convenient. I want to summon a messenger of my own, too."
Sharon could see through Hastur's obvious thoughts, he was waiting for her to offer to teach him how to summon one.
"There will be an opportunity in the future."
"..." Hastur froze, blinking. Was he not making himself clear enough?
Sharon ignored his signals and said lightly, "Your Sequence is too low now. Wait until you advance to Sequence 7."
"Sharon, you've learned to be sly now."
"Learned from you."
"..." Hastur sighed, serves him right for acting so halfheartedly earlier.
"Before attempting to summon a messenger, it's best to study the relevant knowledge. Be careful, don't make mistakes," Sharon still offered a kind reminder.
Although summoning a spirit world messenger wasn't complicated, there were always unlucky ones who ran into uncontrollable accidents, leading to tragedy.
"I'm not very familiar with this. I'd need an Beyonder proficient in it to teach me."
"You can ask Maric."
After saying that, Sharon's figure faded from the mirror.
"..." Hastur opened his Spirit Vision and scanned around, realizing Sharon had truly left.
"Serves me right for not being honest from the start." He smiled helplessly.
He did understand summoning messengers, but simply didn't want to attempt it now.
First, among the people he knew, only Sharon required contact, so a messenger wasn't very useful.
Second, he feared causing unnecessary changes.
Klein, with the Sefirah Castle, could attract an angel to act as his messenger.
He himself possessed the Hall of Stars, whose rank was by no means lower than the Sefirah Castle. If he performed a summoning ritual, who knew what might appear?
With his current Sequence 8 strength, he couldn't suppress possible accidents.
If he summoned a malicious spirit world messenger, just one punch from it could send him out of this world.
Better to wait until advancing to the mid-Sequences before attempting, besides, he didn't want to scare Miss Sharon with an overly powerful messenger.
In this regard, he considered himself quite thoughtful.
Thinking all this to himself, Hastur stood and walked to the window, opening it to let in the breeze.
Tonight, Backlund was once again bathed in the glow of the crimson moon, the sky dotted with countless faint yet dense starlight.
Gazing at the stars, Hastur couldn't help but think of the Hall of Stars.
If the gaze of the outer gods could pierce directly through the primal barrier, then was the gaze of the King in Yellow fixed on him at this very moment?
From above, with an overlooking perspective, watching him step by step into the script written for him.
Just like he himself, sitting in the Hall of Stars, gazing down upon the Son of Chaos.
"Every star represents an outer god…"
Hastur began to understand what Luo Ji felt upon grasping the Dark Forest principle* and looking up at the starry sky.
Fear and powerlessness.
Like an ant raising its head, staring at giants utterly beyond reach.
Their situation might be even worse than the ant's.
At least an ant might climb onto a giant's body, while they were separated from the stars by a vast, dazzling sky.
Impossible to cross.
"If only I could find the star representing the King in Yellow."
"Then I could also observe His daily life from a lofty perspective."
"Unfortunately, each time I advance, the star that lights up in the Hall of Stars is never chosen by me."
After thinking for a while, Hastur closed the window.
Even though this was the Empress Borough, he still had to beware of Mr. A knocking on his window in the middle of the night.
Especially since Mr. A had become active again lately.
…
In the morning, after breakfast, Hastur took a carriage to a club.
The Club recommended by Greg, was like a modern fighting club, focused on training in combat skills.
Although he had advanced to Barbarian some time ago, he hadn't systematically learned fighting techniques, relying purely on brute strength.
This suited a Barbarian's role-play, but against truly skilled opponents, he needed to know how to protect himself.
Such as which body parts were most fatal, how to dodge a punch, how to counter when ambushed from behind… There was still much to learn.
Proper training could also further unlock the Barbarian's physical potential.
The only drawback: this club charged 100 gold pounds annually and required a recommendation to join, essentially a noble-only circle.
Its instructors were all retired front-line officers of the kingdom, highly skilled.
After paying the fee, Hastur entered the club and immediately drew attention.
Thin, with barely any flesh on his arms, a handsome but fragile-looking figure.
That was most people's first impression of him.
'I've clearly improved a lot lately…' Hastur silently protested in his heart.
A tall, muscular instructor with a buzz cut approached, introducing the basics of the club.
Members enjoyed considerable privileges, they could freely choose any instructor and switch if unsatisfied.
Training was always one-on-one, no instructor would handle multiple members at once.
Besides combat courses, there were firearms courses. Virtually all firearms in the Loen Kingdom were available here, with unlimited ammunition at no extra cost.
Food and drinks were also complimentary.
There were many other conveniences, but Hastur didn't delve into them.
He directly signed up for two courses: combat and firearms.
As for building muscle with equipment training, he had no interest.
He was very satisfied with his body as it was, no need to become a muscle-bound hulk.
His assigned instructor was called Instructor Hyman, codename "Moray Eel."
He explained that he was like an eel in the sea, appearing like an ordinary tasty eel, but actually an electric eel with powerful attacks.
The eel, cough, Instructor Hyman, taught with military precision, clearly forged by years in the army.
Since Hastur's foundation was weak, this basic teaching suited him well.
After half an hour of training, Instructor Hyman had him stop and rest.
Looking him over, surprised, he said, "Didn't expect you to look so frail, but your basic fitness is pretty good."
"I just don't put on muscle easily, the naturally lean type."
Hastur casually made up an excuse, hiding his Barbarian physique.
In the end, to avoid drawing attention, he only trained for an hour before moving on to firearms practice.
----------------------------------
T/N Notes~
*Luo Ji's Dark Forest principle is a central concept from the novel The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, which describes the universe as a hostile, dangerous "dark forest" where every civilization is a hunter trying to remain undetected.
It asserts that any civilization that reveals its location to the universe will likely be destroyed by another civilization out of fear, making silence and stealth essential for survival, as all civilizations are driven by self-preservation and the need to acquire limited resources.