Chapter 233

Chapter 225 Manipulation

“Someone is following me!”

Inside the secret room, the words slowly appeared on the book “Navigation of the Literary Sea” in front of Dorothy. Looking at the words, Dorothy murmured.

“As expected… I’m being watched.”

As Dorothy had anticipated, Nephnis was now being followed. The cause of this probably stemmed from her encounter with Moisans at the Golden Contract Bank.

According to Dorothy’s thoughts, the question Moisans asked Nephnis should have been a test to see if she was a seasoned Secret Researcher or just a novice. Based on Nephnis’ description of her reply, she was confirmed as a novice, which led to the group tracking her. This indicated that this group might be specialists in targeting novices.

“I didn’t expect to be watched again while shopping. Does Neph-senpai have some special trait that makes her easy to track?”

Dorothy pondered and then began thinking about how to help Nephnis solve this tracking problem.

“It’s quite simple to get rid of the trackers. Have Nephnis enter the Church District, return to the Golden Contract Bank, or even report them. Although it would be hard to catch them, losing them shouldn’t be a problem. These people started tracking after confirming Nephnis as a novice, so they must be looking for easy targets. In other words, their own strength isn’t great. If that’s the case, perhaps Nephnis can handle this herself.”

With this in mind, Dorothy decided on a method to help Nephnis and picked up the pen again to draw a pattern on “Navigation of the Literary Sea”.

…

On the streets of East Tivyán, Nephnis, riding in a carriage, felt extremely anxious. She never imagined she would be followed. The thought of someone constantly behind her since she left the bank sent chills down her spine.

“Miss Dorothy, what should I do now?”

Nephnis anxiously wrote in her history book, accustomed to seeking Dorothy’s advice in such situations. Soon, Dorothy’s words appeared in the book.

To Nephnis’ surprise, the response wasn’t words but a pattern, a mark.

The pattern was an inverted pentagram inside a circle, with two additional symbols in the center of the inverted pentagram. One was a slightly larger symbol of an open eye, and the other was a simpler, ancient goblet symbol.

“What is this symbol…”

Looking at the unfamiliar symbol, Nephnis thought with confusion. Just as she was puzzled, new text appeared on the page.

“Try drawing this symbol on your hand, then look at it. If you feel anything unusual, don’t resist.”

“Draw this symbol… on my hand?”

Looking at the pattern, Nephnis muttered, though somewhat confused. However, she immediately followed Dorothy’s instructions. She took out her eyeliner from her makeup box and drew the pattern on the back of her left hand.

Due to her professional training, her hands were more skilled, making the drawn pattern neater than Dorothy’s.

After finishing the pattern, Nephnis focused her gaze on it, as instructed by Dorothy. After a moment, she indeed felt an unusual sensation in her mind.

This feeling was similar to when she faced the thistle at the River Ditch Bridge, and she did not resist as Dorothy had instructed.

Once the unusual sensation in her mind passed, Nephnis felt another unusual sensation, but this time it spread throughout her body, causing her some panic.

Despite her unease, Nephnis listened to Dorothy and did not resist this feeling.

After the second unusual sensation passed, everything returned to normal. Nephnis felt no changes in her body and wanted to write something else to ask Dorothy. However, she found herself completely unable to move.

“What’s going on? My body… I can’t control my body!?”

Nephnis thought in terror, but her thoughts could not translate into expressions or words. Instead, her mouth involuntarily whispered.

“Don’t worry, senpai. I’ll take care of those trackers now. It won’t take long.”

“I’m talking myself! And this tone… is Miss Dorothy?!”

Nephnis thought in shock, and at that moment, her body began moving uncontrollably. Nephnis watched as she packed her makeup box and closed the book, putting everything back in her bag.

After packing everything, “Nephnis” loudly called out to the coachman.

“Please stop, I’ll get off here.”

At “Nephnis'” request, the coachman slowly stopped the carriage by the roadside. Then, “Nephnis” got off the carriage and prepared to pay the fare.

However, “Nephnis” couldn’t find the money for a while.

“Senpai, I couldn’t find where you put your money. Pay the fare first, then keep looking at the mark and don’t resist.”

In the impatient eyes of the coachman, “Nephnis” turned around and muttered quietly. Suddenly, Nephnis felt she could control her body again. When control returned, she almost fell over.

“I can control myself again?!”

After stabilizing herself, Nephnis looked at her hand in shock. At that moment, the impatient voice of the coachman came from behind.

“Miss, are you going to pay the fare or not?”

“Oh! Right away.”

Realizing, Nephnis quickly searched for money to pay the fare. After the carriage left, Nephnis stood still.

Nephnis recalled Dorothy’s previous instructions, but hesitated about whether to follow them. Losing control of her body was quite unsettling.

It wasn’t until Nephnis noticed the tracking vehicle parked nearby that she panicked and looked at the symbol on her left hand. Then, the unusual sensation spread through her body again.

Nephnis did not resist the sensation. After it passed, she felt her body controlled again. “Nephnis” walked briskly into a small alley.

At the same time, in a nearby carriage, Moisans and his men witnessed this scene.

“Brother, look! That girl got off and went in there!”

“We follow.”

Moisans commanded sternly. Then he and his men got out of the carriage and headed towards the alley entrance where “Nephnis” had gone.