With her chestnut hair, Bernadette glanced coldly at Odysseus after hearing his question. She said nothing, and the two of them were once again enveloped by the illusory feathers.
When they reappeared, they were on the rooftop opposite Gal's Herbal Shop on Henry Street.
Odysseus sat on the ground for another ten or so minutes, until the nausea-like dizziness finally subsided.
Bernadette, who had been standing silently by his side, suddenly said: "Get up and see for yourself."
It was then that Odysseus noticed that the space around him and Bernadette had again turned ephemeral, as if they were about to vanish from this world.
He stood and saw two masked figures in black swiftly approaching the herbal shop, light spilling from its windows.
After ensuring no one was around, they violently pushed the door open. Seeing the shop empty, they paused for a second or two, then immediately turned and left.
At that moment, Bernadette held two pea seeds in her hand. She casually tossed them, and as the peas hit the street, they instantly sprouted vines that entangled the two black-clad men who clearly were not thieves.
Bernadette did not kill them; instead, she pointed at the ground with her index finger, and immediately a pair of red high-heeled shoes appeared on their feet.
The two men, entwined by the vines, began dancing in terror, though they seemed to have forgotten to scream and could only display fearful expressions.
Odysseus was reminded of the fairy tale The Red Shoes. He had read it only once, but he vividly remembered the red shoes that compelled anyone who wore them to dance uncontrollably.
After dancing for over half a minute, the fear on their faces and the red shoes disappeared. The vines loosened, they tipped their hats to Bernadette, and swiftly vanished into the night.
Odysseus stared in astonishment. Clearly, what had left were two pairs of red shoes, along with their bearers: the two black-clad men.
He realized that Bernadette could clearly know where these two went and whom they met afterward.
Then he thought of their earlier behavior: "I don't recall having any recent enemies."
Since arriving in this world, Odysseus had kept a low profile, developing his gray-market operations and even consolidating a minor gang using his abilities and connections, using them as a shield whenever necessary.
"You haven't made enemies," Bernadette said, producing again the small wooden box containing the extraordinary weapon, "but you do possess something that can stir their hearts."
The weapon was unique; everyone who had seen it had already been reduced to ashes. Odysseus paused before saying, "Peter is dead."
"Yes," Bernadette said. "He died at the hands of an extraordinary who had succumbed to madness. Your invention couldn't save him.
"A member of a mysterious organization happened to pass by, witnessed the weapon in Peter's hands, and took it after Peter's death.
"Local members of this organization, upon learning that the weapon originated from you, planned to send someone to take you away to further investigate its origin."
This "mysterious organization" was actually members of the Moss Ascetic Society in Beckland. Bernadette had already targeted the member who took the weapon, but when she came to secure him, she encountered Peter's weapon and decided to come first, intending to take Odysseus and extract the truth.
As for witnessing Klein stealing the bookmarks, that was an emergency, a sheer coincidence.
Odysseus sincerely said: "That weapon, I indeed acquired from the Steam Church…"
Suddenly, he felt weight in the center of his face and saw his nose visibly lengthening.
Bernadette, beside him, displayed a beautiful smile: "Deception… is that how you treat the one who saved your life?"
Recalling how the "Mysterious Queen" had once manipulated him like a puppet, Odysseus immediately understood: "If I lie, my nose will grow?"
Bernadette did not answer directly, only saying: "I want to see if your nose can stretch across the Tassock River."
Odysseus sighed helplessly: "Let's go inside, I'll tell you the origin of this weapon."
With that, his nose returned to its normal length.
Odysseus knew well that in the mysterious world, meeting such a figure, concealment would only make matters worse. He prepared to explain the weapon's origin.
The "Mysterious Queen" nodded in satisfaction: "Good."
The two returned to Gal's Herbal Shop, and Odysseus closed the door behind them: "Want a drink?"
"No need," she said.
Odysseus poured himself a glass of wine, took a sip, and then stepped behind the counter. They positioned themselves as before, one inside, one outside.
"I suppose you understand the function of the magic array," Odysseus said while drawing on a piece of paper: a large circle, two isosceles triangles centered on it, one upright, one inverted, and finally a small circle centered on the triangles.
This formed a classic hexagram array. By filling the gaps with symbols, it can generate different effects:
Increasing success rates of minor spells, temporarily boosting or stabilizing spiritual energy, or simply for decorative purposes. Such auxiliary methods are common in the extraordinary world, even among occult enthusiasts.
Due to limited effect, only lower-tier extraordinary individuals, especially those poor at direct combat, tend to use them.
Odysseus continued, filling the symbols with skill: "In recent years, I've discovered that the greatest use of arrays is not their magical effect, but creating a channel for spiritual energy to extend externally.
"For example, if I inject spiritual energy here, it will flow to the center of the hexagram without any loss.
"If one places a required extraordinary material for advancing a Pyromaniac—like the Fire Salamander's gland—into the center, the array will ignite a large fire, with a chance of producing a fireball.
"But if you use the salamander's blood…"
Odysseus took a small glass vial from the cabinet, half-filled with bright red Fire Salamander blood, a Level 7 spiritual material of high value.
He dripped some into the array's center while continuing to infuse it with spiritual energy.
A small, stable flame ignited at the center.
He explained further: "This is a high-level fire attribute spiritual material, so under the influence of spiritual energy, it can ignite flames."
Bernadette realized the truth, pointing at the wooden box: "So this weapon contains a delicate array inside?"
"Yes," Odysseus replied.
She asked again: "Do you know what this weapon implies?"
Odysseus blinked: "Implies what?"
Bernadette said seriously: "All Level 9 extraordinary individuals can now use 'Fireball.'"
Though a lower-grade version, she could see the breakthrough research behind it.
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