### Chapter 458 Message
“Thief K… Enough about Thief K, Miss Dorothy…” Nephnis frowned as she continued speaking after hearing Dorothy’s dismissive words at the table by the window in the lakeside restaurant.
“Why does stealing have to be so ostentatious? Can’t it just be done quietly? It feels really bad to have everyone know about it every single time…”
Nephnis’s tone revealed her clear anxiety. It was evident that, upon seeing the people around her discussing the rumors about Thief K, and noticing Thief K’s growing reputation, she felt panicked. She thought to herself that being low-key as a thief should be fundamental, and this high-profile approach was akin to being a robber!
“Indeed… For ordinary thieves, the more low-key and unnoticed, the better. But for Thief K, her fame is where her power lies. Letting people know that something is going to be stolen is the purpose of Thief K’s name. It was the case on the Shining White Pearl before, and it’s the same now in Adria.
“Although Thief K’s name has become even more prominent, Senior Neph, you really don’t need to worry about encountering trouble. As long as you don’t make a fuss, no one will connect you, a fragile female college student, with the legendary thief. Don’t worry, I have everything under control.”
With a smile, Dorothy casually took a sip of her coffee. Hearing her words, Nephnis had nothing more to say. Although she was still somewhat afraid that Thief K’s identity might bring her danger and trouble, she thought about all the dangers she had already faced which Dorothy had solved for her, and her initial panic began to calm down.
Yes, Miss Dorothy, a high-ranking official of the Rosy Cross and a seasoned extraordinary being, wasn’t panicking, so why should I? If there was something that even Dorothy started to panic about, what good would it do for me to be worried?
Realizing this, Nephnis’s tense feelings began to ease a bit. After experiencing all these incidents, when she looked at the composed demeanor of the girl before her, she couldn’t help but feel much more at ease.
‘To put it simply, Thief K is not just me, but both me and Miss Dorothy. She formulates the plan, and I carry it out. If I can’t trust myself, how could I not trust Miss Dorothy? Even if I lack ability, as long as Miss Dorothy is more than capable, everything will be fine.’
Nephnis thought this way in her heart. Initially, her panic stemmed from feeling that her level wouldn’t match the fame of Thief K, but now that she had shifted her logic, she completely stopped worrying about her inadequacies and felt much more relaxed. She then picked up a piece of bread from the table and started eating.
“By the way, you’ve been in Adria for a while now, how’s the study abroad situation going? Where’s the next stop?” Dorothy asked as she looked at Nephnis eating the bread, to which Nephnis directly responded.
“In the past few days, our professor took us to visit the historical sites of Adria, we’ve seen quite a few archaeological sites and attended many classes. I think we should be heading to other places soon, but we haven’t finalized where to go next. It seems like there are some disagreements among the professors. Some believe we should head inland to the capital Peji of Iwig to further understand Iwig culture, while others think we should continue by boat to other countries to learn more about their cultures and histories for a wider range of topics when we write our papers later.”
While eating the bread, Nephnis explained to Dorothy. Hearing this, Dorothy took another sip of her coffee and continued.
“If I remember correctly… your original plan was to go to Northern Ufeiga after visiting Adria, right? Has the plan changed?”
“That was merely a potential plan, but recently it seems there have been some issues in Northern Ufeiga; the political situation is a bit unstable. Out of safety considerations, some of the leading professors have different opinions on whether to go or not, and there hasn’t been a definite conclusion yet.”
Nephnis replied like this, and as she spoke, Dorothy pondered over the recent news in the paper, which indeed mentioned political turmoil in Northern Ufeiga. Several countries controlled by the main continent’s colonizers were experiencing unrest to varying degrees, seemingly due to ethnic and religious issues. Under such unstable circumstances, pursuing academic endeavors was certainly not a wise choice.
“Yeah… indeed, safety needs to be the priority. After you all reach a conclusion there, do let me know…” Dorothy said, cutting off a piece of pastry to eat while continuing to ask Nephnis.
“By the way, have you finished reading those secret transmissions I gave you last time? How is the accumulation of spirituality going?”
“Oh, I’ve already finished! And I had Akka help clear my poison recognition. I can now feel that my main spirituality of ‘Silence’ is completely full, and more than half of my auxiliary spirituality of ‘Cup’ is also accumulated. I have fully met your requirements, Miss Dorothy.”
Upon hearing this, Nephnis sat up straight and responded, resembling a student eagerly answering their teacher’s questions.
After listening to her, Dorothy nodded. Since she had been the one helping Nephnis with poison recognition, she was already clear about Nephnis’s current spirituality situation. This question was merely to segue into the next topic.
“Is it full already? That’s great! Now you just need the ceremony to advance to White Chalk, right? Has that butler of yours decided to give you the remaining notes yet?”
“Are you talking about Uncle Nunut… well, he probably still can’t accept my progress. He always tells me to slow down and be steady, so he hasn’t been willing to give me the remaining notes…”
Nephnis continued in her response to Dorothy. The extraordinary soul binder advancement ceremony was found in her grandfather’s notes, and the latter half of those notes was still with their old butler, Nunut. It seemed he believed that the first half of the notes was enough for Nephnis to digest for a while, so out of caution, he still kept the second half.
“Ah… he still hasn’t agreed to give them to you? Haven’t you told him you’ve already advanced to Black Earth, and now you just need the White Chalk ceremony?”
“I did say so, but Uncle Nunut didn’t seem happy that I became Black Earth. Instead, he looked like he was frightened and became even more determined not to give me Grandfather’s notes right away. It seems he is worried that my path to the extraordinary is progressing too quickly. He keeps telling me to slow down, as if he’s afraid I’ll run into some trouble.”
With a shrug, Nephnis said to Dorothy with a hint of helplessness. Listening to her words, Dorothy’s brows furrowed slightly.
‘Neph’s speed of advancement has scared her old butler… No wonder, she only became an apprentice last October, and she advanced from apprentice to Black Earth in just two months! That speed would scare any normal person, right? I remember that old butler was only an apprentice himself… He must be worried that his young mistress’s rapid advancement could lead to problems…’
Dorothy thought to herself. As long as the secret transmissions were ample, the speed of spirituality accumulation could be quite fast, and it was no wonder that ordinary people in the secret world couldn’t handle it. Nunut’s cautious attitude was understandable; in his view, Nephnis was progressing too quickly on her extraordinary path, and the secret society, Rosy Cross, was too unfamiliar to him. Having such worries without understanding Nephnis’s practice methods was only natural.
After all, if a school’s education management were quite opaque, parents would be worried too.
‘It seems that if Neph wants to obtain the remaining notes, she will need to communicate further with Nunut. It might be helpful to let her disclose some details about the Rosy Cross to him, and even mention Akka’s existence.’
‘As long as she can reassure him that everything is fine for his young mistress in our society, whether it’s studying or regular club activities, with no risks involved, that the Rosy Cross is a perfectly benign society, then it should be fine.’
Dorothy thought this through, and after her contemplation, she continued speaking to Nephnis.
“I will find an opportunity to talk to your old butler. As long as he is reassured a little, he should hand over the materials to you, and that shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Miss Dorothy… Do you want to communicate directly with Uncle Nunut? Uh… then I’ll leave it to you. Actually, there’s no need to rush for the advancement. Even if I obtain the White Chalk ceremony now, preparing for it will take some time anyway.”
“In that case, it’s even more important to get the ceremony method as soon as possible. The earlier it’s in hand, the sooner you can prepare. Don’t worry, Senior Neph, you’ve helped me a great deal this time. When it’s your turn to advance, I will do my best to help you.”
As she spoke, Dorothy finished her coffee in one go, and after hearing her words, Nephnis nodded in agreement.
“Um… then I’ll trouble you…”
…
After finishing their meal, Dorothy settled the bill and left the restaurant. The two didn’t spend much time together on the street before bidding each other farewell and returning to their respective places.
Taking a small boat, Dorothy returned to her residence, a hotel by the church square. As she glanced at the square still under lockdown and the distant church with its lost luster at the top before entering the hotel, she walked upstairs to her room.
Once back in her room, Dorothy sat on the sofa. After resting for a moment, she began to sum up her actions from the previous night.
‘Using Vania and Thief K’s forewarning to hold Antonio back, then letting Garib, who came to steal, collide with him. In the ensuing scuffle, I found an opportunity to temporarily design it so that Garib mistakenly took the Emmanuel Crown. Overall, last night’s operation was quite successful. Not only did I obtain Azamu’s donation, but the spirituality consumption wasn’t too heavy, just two points of ‘Stone’ when dealing with those two secret police from Adria and Boneyard Society members. Adding to the preliminary reconnaissance, I also used about two points of ‘Shadow.’ This loss isn’t too much.
‘As expected, as long as I don’t act personally and utilize force efficiently, the spirituality consumption is relatively low.’
Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy thought this to herself. Then she began calculating her spirituality consumption, and before long, she figured out her current remaining spirituality.
28 Cups, 9 Stones, 20 Shadows, 4 Lamps, 14 Silences, 40 Enlightenments.
Among them, Dorothy’s “Shadows” were paid for by Storage Items. She still had 2 “Cups” and 2 “Shadows” left in storage, and the “Shadows” given by the Knight from the Secret Bureau were nearly used up. Recently, she had quite enjoyed her travel in Adria, spending about 20 pounds on travel and transportation, leaving her with 1830 pounds.
After calculating her spirituality consumption, Dorothy felt somewhat satisfied. She then took out her magic box and pulled out several small bags. After opening them, she placed the items on the coffee table beside her, including cups, necklaces, earrings… a variety of antiquities, mostly jewelry, with styles largely from Northern Ufeiga.
After arranging the donation items Nephnis stole back, Dorothy used her spirituality vision to inspect them, and since no abnormalities appeared, this confirmed that the cooldown period for the divination tool hadn’t ended yet. If it’s around mid-to-late March, they should have to wait another couple of days.
Not in a hurry, Dorothy put those items back into the bags and returned them to the magic box. Then, she took out a thick book titled “Navigation of the Literary Sea.”
Opening “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” Dorothy flipped to Beverly’s correspondence page and began writing.
“I have a trade here. Garib’s Boneyard Society is recognized for violating its agreement with you and getting too close to the Dark Gold Society. Aren’t you displeased with Garib? I have found an opportunity here that could make Garib suffer a significant loss; if fortunate, it could make him disappear from the secret world. If unlucky, he could be severely injured.
“Since Garib has breached the contract, you need not remain neutral. As long as you provide me with some leverage, I can take a risk using this opportunity. Are you willing?”
After finishing this note, as she prepared to close “Navigation of the Literary Sea” and patiently wait for a reply, Beverly’s printed response appeared before Dorothy’s eyes.
“What opportunity? Do tell.”
Seeing this response from Beverly, Dorothy’s eyes lit up, and she continued writing.
“Exactly what you should not ask about. Time is of the essence; we cannot miss this chance. You just say whether you accept this trade or not.
“The reward I need isn’t much; just some ceremonial materials that might be used during the Ascendance of Silence for extraordinary beings.”
Once Dorothy wrote this part, she waited expectantly for a reply. Tricking Garib into a loss was essentially a serendipitous gain derived from battlefield tactics for her. Since she had already set the trap, it was only fitting to extract some value from it; otherwise, it would not be fitting for him to be the head of a society, right?
…
In the southeastern part of Adria, in an endless vast sea during the afternoon.
Rocks lay shattered, trees were broken, and the ground was cracked… The once peaceful uninhabited island in the Conquer Sea had now become a scene of devastation, as if it had just experienced a cataclysmic event.
On the edge of this broken island, on the soft sand beach, the seawater washed over bloodstains, and Garib, covered in bl**d and flesh, lay there, life and d*ath unknown. Beside him stood Antonio, whose clothes were tattered, his body injured all over, but these wounds were visibly healing at a rapid pace.
At that moment, Antonio held the radiant Emmanuel Crown in his left hand and a small white card in his right, his serious expression focused intently on the card, staring at the flippant notes on it.
“According to the agreement, I have come to admire the Emmanuel Crown. Unfortunately, this is not what I need; I’ll leave it for others with a deeper interest.
“Thief K”
