Chapter 43

Chapter 43: The Ceremony

“Interface?”

Sitting at the table, Dorothy felt a wave of confusion as the system in her mind responded like this. She rubbed her temples, beginning to contemplate.

‘Interface? Is the essence of this system an interface? What does that mean? What kind of connection is this interface linking? Hey, system, could you explain a bit more clearly what this so-called interface is all about?’

Dorothy continued to inquire about the system, but this time there was no response. She realized she was asking into the void.

After trying several different ways to question the system without success, Dorothy temporarily abandoned her pursuit of the system’s essence, redirecting her attention to the immediate priority—the promotion ceremony.

Having learned about the system’s capacity to convey prayers and guide blessings, an idea began to bubble up in her mind.

“Perhaps… I should give it a try. Tomorrow is the weekend after all…”

Muttering to herself, Dorothy concluded her mysterious research for the night, packed away the contraband items from the table into her backpack, changed into her pajamas, and turned off the lights to sleep.

After a deep night’s sleep, Dorothy awoke to the bright morning sunlight, got out of bed, rubbed her eyes, opened the door, and noticed that Gregor was not in the living room. Since she didn’t have classes, she had woken up two hours later than usual, so Gregor had already gone to work.

In this world at this time, the concept of weekends barely existed. Many professions worked year-round, and taking a day off was nearly impossible unless it coincided with religious holidays. Gregor’s work hours were not fixed due to the nature of his job; sometimes he left late and returned early, other times he might be away for several nights, and at other times he could have an entire day free. Dorothy understood that his work schedule mainly depended on when tasks arose.

Many schools, influenced by religion, offered one day off on the weekend based on the myth of the Savior of Radiance who saved the world for six days and rested on the seventh.

At St. Amanda School, however, because Audric himself was a reformist in education, he not only admitted female students but also introduced various STEM and arts courses into this traditional grammar school. Furthermore, justifying this by increasing students’ extracurricular practice time and family visiting opportunities, he granted an additional day off on the weekend, allowing Dorothy to fully enjoy her weekend.

Thus, Dorothy decided she wouldn’t let down the principal’s expectations and planned to take full advantage of Saturday to engage in “extracurricular practical activities.”

After freshening up, Dorothy finished the breakfast that had been sitting on the coffee table for a while, changed into casual clothes, grabbed her bag, and left the house. She caught a carriage downstairs and headed straight to the market.

Once she arrived at the market, Dorothy followed the prepared shopping list to purchase her materials. With some leftovers, she then caught a ride to a luxury goods store on Commercial Street to replenish her supplies. After spending 15 pounds, Dorothy took her purchased items and rode the carriage to the western suburbs of Igewent, arriving at a small grove.

This grove had once been very large but had been extensively deforested due to the city’s expansion; it was now reduced to a small area which had lost its hunting value long ago. However, remnants of logging cabins still remained, and a year ago, a murderer had hidden a corpse inside one such cabin. The police had apprehended the perpetrator based on evidence and subsequently located the body through identification.

Dorothy’s route to and from school happened to pass by this place, and she learned all this information during casual conversations with the coachman along the way. Now, Dorothy needed a concealed location.

She got off the carriage at a fishing spot by the river, a kilometer outside the grove. Dressed in her cloak, she walked into the grove and ventured deeper, soon finding the logging cabin hidden in the woods.

That’s right; Dorothy planned to conduct her promotion here. Due to Gregor’s identity issues, she couldn’t hold a secret ceremony at home, and she was also afraid of running into the Crimson Eucharist in other secluded areas of the city. With the history of a corpse being hidden here recently, if the Eucharist was around, there would be no corpse… or even a murderer.

Stepping on the fallen leaves, Dorothy entered the small cabin. The interior was dim and spacious like a wild clearing, filled with a decaying odor. Dorothy didn’t care what had been hidden in this place before; she immediately began to set up the ceremony.

“Phosphoric lime… red sandalwood shavings… vine leaves…”

Opening her backpack, Dorothy mixed the purchased mineral powder with the wood shavings and grass clippings, then used the blended powder to draw a simple circular magical array according to the patterns on the torn pages. She placed six candles around it, and three small copper incense burners filled with precious incense bought from the luxury goods store, imported from the New World, outside the candle perimeter.

As the swirling fragrance began to fill the cabin, Dorothy started the final step of her ceremonial preparations by drawing the symbol of her connection to spirituality in the center of the array.

After pricking her finger with a needle, Dorothy dripped a drop of bl**d into the remaining powder, mixed it, and began drawing the spiritual symbol.

In the Secret Transmission imparted by Audric, all spiritual symbols were recorded.

The symbol for “Lamp” was a vertically erected scepter, with eight evenly arranged lines radiating light from its top like a lamp illuminating the darkness, resembling the sun perched atop the scepter.

The symbol for “Shadow” was a curved dagger, the blade bent perfectly like a new moon in the night sky.

The symbol for “Cup” was self-explanatory—a chalice with a wide top, narrowed waist, and small base, inscribed with an inverted triangle.

The symbol for “Stone” was not some gemstone or mining tool, but a coin marked with an upright triangle.

The symbol for “Silence” was simple—a closed eye.

The symbol for “Enlightenment” was also simple—an opened eye.

Dorothy was to perform the “Enlightenment” ceremony, so she carefully drew an opened eye, the symbol of “Enlightenment,” in the center of the array.

Once everything was prepared, Dorothy set aside what she had in her hands and knelt before the symbol of “Enlightenment” in the array.

Then, Dorothy began to recite the incantation.

“I vow to pursue this path… to worship this principle… to explore the ocean… to seek the truths… I shall be the compass… for the voyage…”

Dorothy whispered softly, her murmurs echoing in the small space as if stirring something, causing the drifting white smoke to swirl around the magical array, making the candles flicker.

Slowly, as Dorothy finished reciting the incantation, she began her prayer.

“I wish to tread the path of ‘Enlightenment’ though the way forward is murky. Here I pray, beseeching all the great deities of the world to dispel the clouds for me and illuminate the path…”

After completing her prayer, however, an echo of her own words resonated in her mind.

“Beseeching all the great deities of the world to dispel the clouds for me and illuminate the path…”

After the echo faded, suddenly a dialogue box popped up in front of Dorothy.

“Received request for basic guidance. Do you accept the guidance?”

Looking at the dialogue box before her, Dorothy’s mouth twitched slightly, then she confirmed with a thought.