Free Web Novel"Since everyone is here—"
Margaret looked around, her dark green eyes scanning the four students.
Reinhardt stopped whittling wood, glanced up at her, and then quickly lowered his head to continue his handiwork.
Frederick sat up straight, while Alicia remained immersed in her own world, a silver-white light slowly rotating at her fingertips in the palm of her hand.
"Then, today we begin the formal curriculum."
Margaret jerked her chin toward the side door.
"Sebastian."
The middle-aged man in the tuxedo emerged silently from the shadows, pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses.
"General."
"How much physical training have Frederick and Reinhardt fallen behind on?"
"Young Master Frederick owes two and a half hours, and Young Master Reinhardt owes three hours," Sebastian's voice was flat. "Calculating interest according to the regulations, it is three hours and three hours and forty-five minutes respectively."
Frederick's expression froze.
"Wait, how is there interest on training?!"
"Daily interest is charged for overdue payments. These are the rules set by the General."
Reinhardt silently put the wood and knife into his pocket without saying a word.
He knew that protesting was useless; in this underground classroom, General Margaret's word was law.
"Today's theory lesson is for the newcomer."
Margaret elegantly sat down in a chair near Pavela. "The three of you go make up your training. Alicia, do your meditation. You two..."
She looked at Frederick and Reinhardt, a meaningful smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
"Sebastian will take good care of you."
The white-haired girl finally reacted.
She slowly stood up, her gray cloak trailing behind her like a flowing mist.
From beginning to end, she didn't glance at anyone, merely walking quietly toward the side door at the other end of the classroom.
"Wait—"
Frederick wanted to protest, but Sebastian had appeared behind him at some unknown moment, a hand precisely gripping the back of his neck.
"Please step this way, Young Master."
"Let go... mmph!"
Pavela watched as Frederick was carried off by Sebastian like a little chick, while Reinhardt sensibly followed on his own, giving her a "good luck" gesture before leaving.
The side door closed.
A few seconds later, a dull thud came from behind the door, followed by Reinhardt's suppressed groan.
"...What are they doing?" Pavela asked.
"Physical training," Margaret answered nonchalantly. "Sebastian's teaching method is rather... traditional."
Another thud, this time accompanied by Frederick's scream.
"Very traditional."
Pavela decided not to press further.
Then, she saw Margaret take something out of the inner pocket of her trench coat.
It was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} a deck of cards.
The backs were deep blue, decorated with intricate gold patterns that looked like some ancient seal.
The edges of the cards were slightly yellowed, clearly showing their age.
"Do you know what this is?"
Margaret placed the cards on her lap and tapped them gently with her slender fingers.
"Tarot cards."
Pavela replied, "Used for fortune-telling."
"Fortune-telling?" Margaret chuckled. "That description... isn't exactly wrong."
She began to shuffle the cards, her movements elegant and practiced.
"You said before that you know nothing about The Way Back. Then let me ask you, do you know why you possess those powers?"
Pavela clicked her tongue.
She actually had some conjectures. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Ever since the night she came into contact with that gemstone, ever since countless voices began appearing in her mind.
Anyone with people talking inside their head would feel they weren't quite normal.
And then there was the power.
The power that surged when she was angry, the impulse that felt like it would tear everything to shreds, and those souls she had devoured...
But she had never understood the essence of these things.
"I don't know," she answered honestly.
"Very good," Margaret nodded. "Ignorance is the starting point of learning. Then let me ask you another thing—what do you think this world is made of?"
"...Steam and steel?"
"Hmm... on a certain material level, yes."
Margaret stacked the shuffled cards neatly and placed them on an empty chair. "But what lies beneath the material? Have you ever wondered what consciousness is? What the soul is? What happens after death?"
Pavela frowned.
These questions were too abstract.
When she was in the Punishment Camp, she had no time to think about such things.
Staying alive had exhausted all her energy.
Later, crossing the battlefield, being adopted by Eleanor, integrating into noble society...
She likewise had no leisure to explore these philosophical propositions.
Moreover, what did "beneath the material" mean?
"I haven't thought about it," she answered honestly again.
"Then think about it now."
Margaret's dark green eyes watched her with a certain appraising look.
"If I told you that beneath the material world we can see and touch, there exists another ocean—an invisible ocean composed of pure consciousness—what would you think?"
Pavela blinked.
"I would think... that sounds like some kind of religious concept."
"Very close."
The corners of Margaret's mouth turned up slightly. "Ancient Occultists called it the primordial sea. Every living being with consciousness is a drop of water in this ocean. While we are alive, this drop maintains an independent form; death is merely the process of the drop returning to the sea."
She flipped over the top card and placed it on the chair seat—the beginning of the divination. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The card depicted a skeleton in a black robe, riding a pale horse.
It held a black banner embroidered with a white rose. Before it, kings, bishops, and young maidens fell one by one.
But in the distance of the image, the sun was rising between two towers.
"Death."
Margaret said.
"This is the thirteenth card of the Tarot's Major Arcana. It symbolizes endings, transformation, and the far shore of the soul."
She placed the card in a specific position on the chair and looked up at Pavela.
"An interesting start."
Pavela stared at the card, feeling a chill for some reason.
Although the skeleton in the picture wasn't hideous, and even though it was a symbol of death, it carried a certain solemn sense of ritual.
The pale horse stepped over the fallen bodies, and in the depths of the image, a new sun was rising.
"Death doesn't necessarily represent dying."
Margaret continued to flip the next card.
"More often, it represents a 'conclusion' of some form—the passing of the old to make room for the birth of the new."
She paused.
"Returning to the previous topic, there are some special souls that can establish a connection with the primordial sea without dissolving into it. They are called—"
"Wayfarer," Pavela interjected.
She thought of that mysterious woman and the system's warning.
High-sequence Wayfarer, threat level: extreme danger.
"Correct."
Margaret nodded approvingly. "Ferrymen, walkers who step between two worlds. We can touch the power of the primordial sea, but we must also bear a corresponding price."
"What price?"
Margaret didn't answer directly but instead flipped another card and placed it in another position in the array.
This card depicted a high tower struck by lightning, bricks crumbling, flames blazing, and two people falling from the top with twisted expressions.
"The Tower."
Margaret showed the card to Pavela. "The sixteenth Major Arcana. It symbolizes destruction, abrupt change, and forced awakening."
Her gaze became meaningful.
"This is The Way Back I believe you belong to. Ferrymen of the Path of the Tower, we call them 'Destroyers'."
Another thud came from behind the side door; this time, it sounded like something had hit the wall.
Pavela tried to ignore the background noise and focused on Margaret's words.
"What is The Way Back?"
"It is the method by which a Wayfarer connects to the primordial sea."
Margaret continued flipping cards, explaining as she divined. "Ancient Occultists categorized them into twenty-two types, named after the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Each path represents a 'frequency' of resonance with the primordial sea, determining the domain of power a Wayfarer can touch."
She pointed to the card faces.
Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant... all the way to the final World.
Twenty-two cards, twenty-two paths.
