Melanie was still talking to herself. "But that woman just left. Could she not be one of those vampires? Or maybe it's because this place is too close to the cathedral, making it inconvenient for her to act? But if that were the case, there was no need for her to intentionally bump into you just now. She should have followed you and waited until you were further from the cathedral before making her move... I can't quite figure it out."
Despite her confusion, Melanie was clearly suspicious of Fiona.
She was debating whether to take action or arrange for someone to tail Fiona.
Olivia did not want Melanie focusing too much on Fiona; that would be anything but good for her.
After a moment's thought, Olivia spoke slowly. "If she bumped into me on purpose, there's another possibility. She might have simply wanted to touch me. In society, this kind of behavior is also known as 'taking liberties' or 'groping.'"
Melanie's voice sounded startled. "But the person just now was a lady."
"Ladies can also have the urge to take liberties with girls. It's not that strange. In fact, for a lady, it's much easier to accomplish without drawing too much resistance, to the point where some people never tire of it," Olivia said, offering her analysis.
This analysis left Melanie in a brief silence.
She hesitated, opening and closing her mouth, before finally saying, "Olivia, you really are a bit narcissistic. The unfortunate thing is that after thinking your narcissistic analysis over, I have to admit it's the most likely possibility at the moment. I don't even know what to say."
"I'm not narcissistic. I'm just performing an objective analysis of the facts," Olivia felt the need to defend herself.
"Right, right, you're not narcissistic." Melanie didn't want to dwell on the issue.
However, there was no doubt that in her heart, Olivia had been irrevocably labeled as a narcissist.
The only good news was that Melanie stopped obsessing over Fiona. Since the woman had left immediately after the bump, she hadn't done anything else suspicious enough to warrant further investigation.
Seeing that Melanie had nothing more to say, Olivia secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued toward the other side of Triumphant Square as planned.
Though the interlude had made her heart race for a while, fortunately, the rest of her schedule went off without a hitch.
She watched a performance at the circus for a bit, then found a moderately priced restaurant on Stellan Street, on the far side of Triumphant Square. She ordered their signature pork chop rice and enjoyed a delicious meal.
It cost her 20 Belu.
Belu was the currency of the Holy Kelidos Empire. An average worker's monthly salary was roughly between 2,000 and 6,000 Belu.
As for the clergy of the church, how much they earned each month depended entirely on their individual contributions. However, it was generally higher than the working class outside. The higher the rank, the higher the salary, so many people were willing to become clergy if given the chance.
After lunch, Olivia crossed several streets and arrived at Karen Street, home to the well-known Silman Library.
A payment of just 1 Belu allowed one to stay in the Silman Library for an entire day. Even if one entered a minute before closing, the required fee would not decrease in the slightest. Consequently, many people with plenty of time chose to arrive in the morning or even at dawn.
Olivia chose this place primarily because she didn't find other locations particularly appealing. Having been exposed to the entertainment industry of her previous life, she felt the entertainment options in this world were somewhat monotonous and failed to pique her interest. In comparison, the various cultural knowledge and transcendent rumors of this world were far more fascinating.
While acting as bait, reading books seemed like the most suitable activity.
'What a hardworking person. Aside from being a bit narcissistic, Olivia really is a perfect girl.'
Watching Olivia enter the library, Melanie couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
The library was quite large, with rows of bookshelves standing in neat order, packed to the brim with books.
There were men and women here, all dressed relatively decently. Some moved between the shelves searching for books of interest, while others had already found theirs and were sitting quietly in the seating area by the windows.
In short, it was very quiet.
Olivia asked the librarian for the section on transcendent topics and walked over. It was a row of shelves at the very back, where the books were scattered and far fewer in number compared to the other shelves.
"For a library, there are so few books related to the transcendent?" Olivia was somewhat surprised.
Melanie knew why. "That's normal. Books related to the transcendent that are actually useful aren't allowed in public areas. The value of the books here isn't actually that high."
Olivia nodded thoughtfully, then picked up a book titled 'Legends of the South District' and began to read. The book told fictionalized transcendent stories set in the South District. Since she was currently in the South District herself, Olivia found it somewhat interesting.
She didn't even look for a seat, standing right next to the shelf as she flipped through the pages.
The content consisted of several stories. The first was related to dreams, telling of how many people in the South District would have uninvited guests enter their homes to steal their beautiful dreams once they fell asleep.
These stolen dreams would be cast into a forbidden artifact called 'Paradise,' collectively constructing a world that contained only beauty, with no sadness, bitterness, or pain. Then, people willing to spend Belu would be guided into this 'Paradise' to experience beauty and happiness.
A transcendent version of an amusement park?
The act of stealing dreams was quite similar to what Ronan and the others were investigating.
Olivia found the story interesting. Because the transcendent was not a secret in this world, many stories were adapted from real-life transcendents. It wasn't strange for stories to involve professional terms like 'transcendent' or 'forbidden artifact.'
Such a setting also gave the stories a more realistic sense of immersion.
The first story wasn't very long, and Olivia finished it quickly, intending to turn the page to the second story.
Just then, Melanie's voice came through. "Someone has their eyes on you... Don't look up, keep reading."
Olivia suppressed her instinct to look up. She wanted to ask something but didn't know if she should speak at this moment.
"Don't worry, I'm watching," Melanie's voice came slowly. "The person targeting you is setting up a ritual. It looks like a barrier ritual. It's clear this fellow wants to act against you silently, without alerting anyone else."
Rate on N.U.
