- Detective Mode

*SMACK!*

"Argh! This is child abuse! Stop hitting me! What would you do if you accidentally scar my beautiful face?" I rubbed the back of my head, although the slap did not hurt much, it still shocked me.

"Then stop staring at the air like an idiot! I just told you to repeat the rain repelling charm!" Muriel retorted.

Oh shit I forgot. Who has time to memorize stupid gibberish anyway?

I decide to lie, "Bah! The chant doesn't work! I've tried it last week during the heavy storm and the rain did not subside!"

Muriel cocked her eye in doubt, "Oh yeah? You managed to chant the hour long ritual without mispronouncing a single word? Because mispronouncing some phrases could lead to summoning some evil spirits to haunt you and I see none around you..."

Wait? Summon evil spirits?

"Then why would you teach me something so scary?!?! You know I can't memorize shit to save my ass..." I shouted then closed my mouth with my hands.

Muriel smiled.

Uhh... She caught my lie so quickly...

*SMACK*

"Arg!"

Ok. Maybe I deserved that...

***

After a torturous session of me arguing against learning such a scary ritual for such minimal benefits and Muriel trying to convince me otherwise, she finally relented and decided to just orally teach me more knowledge about some taboos and cautionary tales.

Honestly, the more I learn from her, the more paranoid I become.

This does not seem healthy, at least mentally...

Deciding to change the topic, I interrupted her lesson by asking some questions. The good thing about Muriel was that she encouraged inquiries. At least about non divine topics...

"So... Big sis Muriel, why don't the prisoners in the root cellar be given promotion potions? Then they will be more useful right?"

Muriel rubbed her chin, "The fact that they have to be put in the root cellar is the problem in the first place. This means that even at sequence 9, they are still unsuitable enough to stay sane without intervention. Imagine the likelihood of them losing control at higher sequence. Promotion would actually doom them instead of helping. This is also the reason why we have so little sequence 8 warriors; if you've stayed in the root cellar, you'll be banned for life from promotion."

Huh. How practical...

Pretending not to know about the name of the next sequence of Prisoner, I lifted Pillar to face level and asked, "What comes after Prisoner?"

Arthur and Pillar cast 'puppy dog eyes'!

It's very effective!

Muriel harrumphed, and petted Pillar, "As if I don't know what you're trying to do. You shouldn't let Don know about this. That foolish boy is too unrestrained and honestly in my opinion, would be a future tenant of the root cellar if he became a beyonder. Stop giving him false hopes. He will never be a sequence 8 Lunatic."

Ahh. Too bad. I wanted to show off a little to Don but I guess he will stay ignorant...

I shrugged, "Fair enough. I'll keep this information to myself. I guess part of the reason the sequence 8 name is hidden is cause being known as a 'Lunatic' will be bad for the night dwellers reputation. Such a label will only bring discomfort and be looked down by the more narrow minded amongst the villagers huh?"

"Pretty much." Muriel agreed. "I'm glad I'm proven right by your demeanor. I've shared with others that you wouldn't judge too harshly and some were actually doubtful. Happy to prove them wrong."

I pushed my chest forward, "BAH! Of course! I'm such a magnanimous and kind soul! How dare they think that I would be judgeful!"

Muriel deadpanned, "I take back my compliments..."

With my highly charismatic and genius personality, I segwayed into the next topic, "Anyway, just out of curiosity and not out of any wierd reasons, anybody I know who is a sequence 8 Lunatic?"

Muriel raised an eyebrow and stared at me.

Dang! Persuasion failed. Must have rolled a one or something...

I tried to push my luck further, "Hey, you never know, Jacob might escape and try to go after me. I just want to know more for my safety. Knowing one or a few sequence 8 that can act as protection in the event of emergency wouldn't hurt. Right?"

Muriel frowned, "Seriously, how did you provoke Jacob? He was always quite restrained before meeting you. Hmm. I can't remember. How did you two meet anyway?"

Ooh yeah no one remembers about Bell. That's what you get for rejecting my love!

"Just me exploring and looking around the root cellar, you know..." I decide to spin a different story to prevent Muriel thinking further about the gaps in her memory. "What did you say about Jacob? Did he do something wierd recently?"

Muriel pondered aloud, "I hope its just me being paranoid due to the prison warden looking for a replacement, but we've found Jason collecting scraps and leftovers. I hope he isn't fashioning tools and weapons out of them.

Not to mention the candidates Listeners we have are all currently unstable. Feels like a perfect storm of trouble is brewing and danger is around the corner...

Hmm...

You should ask Rosa about protection. She might be willing to divulge some information..."

I decide to rip the band-aid out in one go and managed to surprise Muriel with my words, "They're gonna kill the prison warden to pass on his sequence no? And his successor would need time to practice with their new abilities. Sounds like an opportunity to escape in my opinion."

Muriel quieted for a while.

She sighed and finally replied, "I'm not going to confirm your guess about killing the warden, but you're not wrong about the time in between his retirement and his successor's readiness. I'll have to arrange a meeting and bring up this problem to the rest. We'll need increased security for some time..."

I wonder if I can join the meeting... Might have useful information that could aid in my promotion...