Chapter 306: Puppet, Sharon

Chapter 306: Puppet, Sharon

Daybreak has come. What can be done now? It seems that nothing can change the current predicament.

The four members of the Red Gloves squad exchanged glances and each fell into deep thought.

After the sun rose higher, they went out as usual to see if they could avoid the eyes watching them in secret.

After the morning passed, they returned to their hotel room to discuss their strategy.

From their morning tests, they didn't notice anything suspicious around them, nor did they encounter any suspicious events.

This led them to wonder if the people watching them had been led away by the old man from last night.

Someone suggested taking this opportunity to try leaving Puning Harbor. If they could leave, they could call for reinforcements.

Others doubted whether the dream from last night was orchestrated by the old man and if nothing had actually happened.

In the end, they split into two teams, each with two members.

One team stayed put, while the other team had one person leave by land and the other by sea.

In the afternoon, they successfully boarded their respective carriages and ships to leave.

At night, the two Red Gloves members who stayed behind waited for their teammates who had left less than five hours ago to return.

The four gathered in the room again.

After a moment of silence, the one who left by carriage cleared his throat and began recounting his experience.

"The carriage I took in the afternoon suddenly had the horses go wild, nearly breaking the carriage apart. The coachman had to let me off to walk. I waited to see if another carriage would leave Puning Harbor, but after an hour, none came."

"Without a carriage, I decided to walk out. I followed the map to a nearby village, avoiding the main road to stay hidden."

"After walking for over an hour, I found myself back where I started. This is definitely not normal, so I returned to the hotel to discuss it with you."

After he finished, the one who left by sea shared his experience.

"Everything was normal at first, but after about two hours, the captain said we might have encountered sea fog. The ship kept circling the nearby waters, unable to find the original route, so we had to return."

"The captain, who has spent years at sea, said someone among us might have angered the sea god, preventing us from leaving."

The captain and crew believed this explanation, so he was sent back to shore.

Coincidence? Chance? These explanations couldn't account for their experiences that night.

"The exalted goddess will not let her followers suffer. If we don't send a letter back on time, the church will know we're in trouble."

"Now, the most important thing is to stay safe and wait for the church's support."

"Let's rest for the night and think about how to break this predicament tomorrow."

...

Around ten at night, under the dim light, Hastur sat at his desk, reading a new book sent by Mrs. Lisa. It was another book praising the great King in Yellow.

The book mainly told stories of the King in Yellow walking the earth in various incarnations, blending fairy tales with a touch of dark reality.

Hastur personally thought it was well-written. Mrs. Lisa seemed to have a talent for this.

After finishing the book, Hastur stretched and was about to take a bath when he saw Aisala excitedly meowing outside the window into the dark night.

Sharon is back?

Hastur smiled and went to the window. He saw a figure appear in the window's reflection.

"Meow."

Aisala scratched at the stained glass, trying to pull Sharon out but couldn't succeed.

Crash!

Aisala's force broke the stained glass, and a large piece fell to the ground.

The remaining shards in the window frame showed Sharon's image in each small piece.

Aisala's blue eyes widened, unable to understand the magical scene.

After a while, it tried to reach out again, but seeing the broken glass, it retracted its paw and meowed sadly.

Soon, Sharon's image in the glass gathered into one and moved to another piece of glass.

"Meow?"

Aisala got closer, almost pressing its eyes against the stained glass.

Sharon's image reached out and picked up Aisala, bringing it into the mirror world.

Entering the glass for the first time, Aisala was excited, happily lying in Sharon's arms with only its small head showing.

Hastur watched this and didn't bother scolding Aisala for breaking the stained glass.

After playing for a while, Sharon moved from the remaining glass to a mirror on the table and then walked out.

Having successfully advanced to Sequence 4 Puppet, Sharon's appearance and demeanor hadn't changed much.

Indeed, she had always resembled an emotionless puppet even before her advancement.

Now, though she played with Aisala, her face remained calm, her eyes clear and emotionless.

It was becoming harder to understand Sharon's true thoughts.

Hastur observed for a while and then smiled, "Welcome back."

Sharon nodded and placed Aisala on the table, saying, "Many people are investigating me."

Hastur raised an eyebrow, unconcerned, "Maybe they're just following protocol."

Sharon didn't speak, her eyes, similar in color to Aisala's, just stared at Hastur.

"They're here because of Ince Zangwill. They recognized the traces you left that night." Hastur explained, smiling playfully at Sharon, "I got dragged into their investigation because of you."

That night, Hastur had hidden himself well and erased all traces after taking 008.

The Red Gloves shouldn't have been able to identify him, even with the Eye of the Goddess.

They must have noticed Sharon and then connected it to him.

In other words, Sharon's recent troubles were caused by her own actions.

Hastur's gaze stayed on Sharon's face, but he couldn't detect any emotion. She was like a real puppet.

Though she could speak, she was like a large, exquisite puppet doll in controlling her emotions.

The only regret was that he couldn't play dress-up games with her... Ahem...

Suppressing those thoughts, Hastur said, "I'm also thinking about how to handle them."

Though Mrs. Lisa was dealing with it, Hastur didn't want Sharon involved too much in the Yellow Robe Monk's affairs.

Sharon calmly said, "008 is an ominous sealed artifact. It's best to stay away from it."

Hastur laughed, "It can be annoying, but it's somewhat useful."

Right now, 008 was quietly lying in a box on the desk.

It didn't jump out to object because Sharon was present.

Seeing Hastur's insistence on keeping 008, Sharon didn't continue the topic.

Hastur had Sharon sit down and said, "Tell me about your recent experiences."

"Very well."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Miss Sharon, you're more sparing with words than before."

"Meow."

Aisala echoed with a meow.

"Have you ever seen a talkative puppet?"

"Yes."

Hastur's firm answer made Sharon's eyes show rare surprise.

"In the novels I wrote for you, the seemingly cold and emotionless puppets have passionate hearts and desire communication."

"..."

"Even though Aisala can't speak human words, it always tries to join our conversations. Communication is a biological instinct."

"Meow!"

Aisala glared at Hastur and ran to Sharon, covering its eyes with its paws as if crying.

"See, even a cat can have such expressive emotions. How can a person be less than a cat?"

Hastur hinted, knowing Sharon's nature made her reluctant to speak or show emotions.

But when playing the role of a puppet, Sharon could easily become one because she was so similar.

Integrating was easy, but coming out wasn't.

He didn't want Sharon to become someone devoid of emotional fluctuations.

A Sharon who could laugh and cry was more endearing.

"Yes."

Sharon nodded, her eyes seeming gentler.

"How about trying to smile?"

Sharon ignored Hastur's selfish suggestion.

After staying for about twenty minutes, Sharon left.

She came tonight to inform Hastur of her successful advancement and to give a slight warning.

As soon as Sharon left, 008, which had been playing dead in the pen box, started jumping around, wanting to come out.

(End of Chapter)