But then again, she had to wake up early tomorrow for business, but what was that business? The goal of Freya's simulation this time was to obtain the Rank One to Rank Four Mind potions, and she had already basically achieved this. From here on, she only needed to wait for Thorne to acquire all the potions as agreed.
Subsequently, Euphemia told Freya about what had happened today, especially the situation regarding the rampaging extraordinary. Euphemia said, “Why is it the Devil Pathway again? Do you think General Jerome isn't actually dead and came here to cause destruction again?”
“Uh.” Freya was stunned. As far as she knew, General Jerome really wasn't dead. Furthermore, after Life Freya's persuasion back then, it wasn't impossible for General Jerome to have fled abroad to continue trying to advance from Rank Five to Rank Six.
But could it really be such a coincidence?
Freya said, “It... it's possible?”
Euphemia said, “No, I have to ask my grandfather. Maybe he knows something.”
No sooner said than done. Euphemia summoned her messenger on the spot and wrote a letter, while Freya pondered whether she should get involved in this rampaging extraordinary incident.
But after thinking it over, she felt this matter didn't seem to have much to do with her. After all, her goal was the potions. Once she got them, she could immediately exit the simulation and return to her home country in reality, so what happened here had nothing to do with Freya.
And don't forget, it was Life Freya who had personally instigated General Jerome to go to other countries' cities to cause destruction. If she went and stopped him now, wouldn't that be a bit too absurd?
Although it seemed a bit cruel to the people of this city, this matter was essentially a conflict between nations, so there was nothing she could do about it.
But when she thought of this, Freya suddenly realized, “Wait, it's not like the Empire is attacking the Kingdom. Even if General Jerome wants to cause trouble to seek advancement, he should choose the Pentagram Alliance, not the completely unrelated Empire, right?”
Euphemia said, “Who can say for sure? Maybe because the Pentagram Alliance is planning to attack the Kingdom, their security is very tight right now. In comparison, it might be much easier to carry out his plan in the Empire?”
Freya nodded, accepting this explanation. She said, “Anyway, I don't think there's any need for us to get involved in this mess again. Let's just wait quietly for Thorne to get the remaining Mind potions, and then we'll leave the Empire immediately.”
But Euphemia was stunned for a moment, apparently not expecting Freya to say this. “But, just like before, Fufu, can't you use your magical little ability to directly find evidence of General Jerome's misdeeds and the location of his crime? Then we can contact the local official organization, have them call the Mobile Squad, and carry out another suppression?”
“Oh, wait, maybe we don't even need to call the Mobile Squad. That pink-haired lolita seems to be the captain of one of the Empire's Mobile Squads.”
Freya didn't quite know how to explain. “But the problem is, I can't use that magical little ability for a while.”
Euphemia asked, “How long is 'a while'?”
Freya said, “Probably not until we return home?”
Hearing this, Euphemia didn't have any good solutions either. Without Freya's magical little ability, trying to find a deliberately hiding General in a vast city among a sea of people was simply too difficult. There was no telling where his eyes and ears might be. Not to mention, Jerome had already failed once, so he would definitely be much more cautious this time.
Just like that, the next day quickly arrived. Freya did indeed wake up very early, but then she found she had nothing to do. So after eating breakfast, she went back to bed to take a nap.
Euphemia also stayed home to read. During this time, Victor came to find her, begging Euphy to accompany him to the Mind Research Association again. He really didn't want to face that branch president alone, but Euphemia refused.
“I've already bought all the books I wanted. There's no reason for me to go out again.”
Just like that, Victor left sadly by himself. But before long, he returned happily. “Woohoo! That guy still has to help the officials today. He still has no time for a date today!”
Time slowly passed. Nothing happened on the third or fourth day. It is worth mentioning that on the fifth day, Euphemia brought a newspaper to Freya and pointed to a section. The headline was: Suspected Severe Military Unrest in the Pentagram Alliance; Will Its Ambition for External Expansion Be Curbed as a Result?
As for the specific details, it was basically that due to this internal conflict, a tier-one city was almost completely destroyed. The entire nation was putting all its effort into disaster relief, so other matters were naturally put on hold.
Euphemia said, “There's no need to even think about it; this is definitely an extraordinary incident. I don't believe that with the Pentagram Alliance's discipline, their military would actually have internal unrest.”
“However, the latter half of the claim is highly credible. After all, it's an imperial newspaper, written from a pure third-party perspective, so the judgment shouldn't be wrong. Thus, for some time to come, the Pentagram Alliance probably won't be able to expand externally.”
“This...” Freya frowned slightly. The first thing she thought of was that the biggest beneficiary of this event was the Kingdom of Tarapaca. Naturally, she couldn't help but wonder: could this have been General Jerome's doing?
Then, by a very neat coincidence, that very afternoon, Euphemia's grandfather sent a reply. It clearly stated that General Jerome was dead. But as for how he died, the letter explicitly wrote the words 'undisclosed.'
The second they learned of this information, Freya and Euphemia looked at each other. They both realized something simultaneously: this meant that the rampaging extraordinary incident happening in this city they were currently in was absolutely not General Jerome's doing!
In other words, there was another villain plotting who knows what?
And so, Freya fell into a dilemma of whether she should help or not. Before this, she could convince herself with the excuse that 'it's for the Kingdom of Tarapaca.' Although Freya didn't feel much of a sense of belonging to either the Kingdom or the Empire, she still had a better impression of the Kingdom, since many of her acquaintances and friends were there.
But now, the nature of this case had become purely about a bad guy doing bad things. Although it might not be as outrageous as Jerome's attempt to destroy an entire city, many innocent people would still lose their lives because of it. So... should she help these innocent people?
If she could uncover the culprit in the simulation, she could arrest them immediately upon returning to reality, saving dozens, hundreds, or even more people.
In the end, Freya convinced herself with the reasons of 'I've got nothing else to do anyway' and 'I'll treat it as helping Life Freya digest her potion.' She said to Euphemia, “Euphy, let's investigate this case.”
Euphy was slightly taken aback, then her lips curled into a smile. “Sure!”
Pausing, she added, “But, Fufu, can't you not use that magical little ability of yours right now?”
Freya nodded. “Yeah, but... we can't rely on my ability for everything. If you want something done right, do it yourself! We'll investigate it on our own!”
But having said that, as for how exactly to investigate, the two of them didn't have any good ideas. After thinking for a moment, they decided to visit the Mind Research Association first. Branch President Thorne had helped them so many times, so he would surely know a lot of information. Exchanging thoughts with him couldn't go wrong; they just didn't know if Thorne was at the Mind Research Association right now.
Before setting off, Euphemia went to the room next door to look for Victor. Victor had asked Euphy to accompany him before, so it was only reasonable for her to ask him this time, right?
But unfortunately, Victor didn't seem to be in his room, and they didn't know what he was up to. Left with no choice, the two of them set off for the Mind Research Association on their own.
A moment later, at the Mind Research Association, their luck wasn't very good; Branch President Thorne wasn't there either. With no other choice, they had to wait around for a bit to see if Thorne would return.
Bored, Freya and Euphemia wandered around the Mind Research Association. The place was quite large, with three floors in total. The first floor had a spacious lobby and individual private rooms, which were likely used for consultations.
The third floor consisted of offices, a lounge, and storage rooms. When the psychologists of the Research Association had no work, they usually stayed there. In the lounge, there was even a table specifically for playing cards, some chess-like pieces of a game Freya didn't recognize, and she even saw something that closely resembled billiards.
As for the second floor, they had always passed right by it whenever they used the stairs, so Freya had never been there. This time, she specifically went to take a look. It was also a long corridor with individual rooms on both sides.
However, these doors had no windows; they were completely sealed without leaving a single crack, and the soundproofing was excellent. The entire second floor was dead quiet, without any strange noises. The moment she saw this, Freya realized that this must be what Thorne had previously called the “place to safely release one's desires.”
Among the tightly shut rooms, the door to one was actually open. Out of curiosity, Freya walked over. Since the door wasn't closed, it meant the person inside didn't care if others saw their desire, right?
As soon as they reached the doorway, Freya and Euphemia saw an old acquaintance, Doctor Ansel. He was currently holding a chicken drumstick in one hand, eating ravenously. On the table in front of him, several empty plates were already piled high.
Ansel also saw them. He even waved his half-eaten drumstick with a smile and greeted them, “Hello there! Do you want to join me and have some?”
Freya was silent for a moment, then waved her hand. “No, thank you. I'm not hungry right now.”
After all, her appetite wasn't large to begin with, and her activity level over the past few days had been practically zero, so she really wasn't hungry at all.
Ansel said, “That's a pity. This is really delicious!”
Euphemia then said, “So... you are satisfying your desire right now? Your desire is... eating?”
Ansel didn't hide it either, saying bluntly, “Yeah, is there a problem with that?”
This desire... really didn't need to be hidden. Ansel's reason for having such a desire was also very simple: he had lived too hard in the past, where even eating was a struggle. He had personally experienced the despair of a starving stomach, so now that his life had improved, perhaps as a rebound, he began to overeat.
When he first joined the association, Ansel was as thin as a bamboo pole, but still a handsome guy. Now, however, he was starting to resemble a ball.
After chatting a bit more with Ansel, Freya and Euphemia said goodbye and went up to the third-floor lounge. When they arrived, they found someone sitting on the sofa, reading a book.
This person wore a dark sweater, with long blonde hair tied in a low ponytail draped over one shoulder—a very classic “housewife hairstyle.” The moment Freya saw them, her first reaction was how beautiful they were. Her second reaction was... wasn't this the cross-dresser who was beside Thorne the first time she met him?!
Seeing the two of them arrive, this cross-dresser showed a serene smile. “Hello there~”
Of course, the voice was a somewhat gruff male voice.
“Hello~” Freya and Euphy greeted him back, then found a place to sit. Since they had nothing to do anyway, Freya asked tentatively, “Um... senior, if you don't mind me asking, is your deepest desire... to cross-dress?”
“No need to call me senior. Just call me Luna.” Pausing, Luna said, “Yeah, why can only girls wear such beautiful clothes while guys can't? I also want to dress up and make myself look better.”
Speaking of which, because of the open-mindedness in Freya's previous life, guys cross-dressing wasn't particularly rare. Although some still couldn't accept it, from a societal perspective, it was actually quite tolerant.
However, this world and era were far from being as open as Freya's previous life. For this Mr. Luna to dare to dress like this every day, he was truly bold and had incredibly strong mental fortitude.
...
Rate on N.U.
