Westminster Bank

Chapter 46: Chapter 42: Dreamscape and the Return Journey

In the final hour before the Day of Regression ended, Arilan’s main force, guided by a Wizard’s divination, finally located the Baron’s Blood Palace.

The palace was hidden within a village abandoned after the Blood War. Atop its glazed-tile roof sat a dilapidated Black Moon Church.

As Arilan stood before the church’s Black Moon Goddess Statue and looked down, dark rain clouds drifted in from north of Mundra. The twin moons were obscured, and a heavy rain began to soak the ground and the corpses beneath it.

The Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger ordered her people to search the catacombs. Following the Wizard’s divinations and prophecies, they opened several secret doors, discovering young girls dressed like princesses inside.

They clutched dolls and were themselves coiffed like dolls. When the Attendants explained what had transpired, the girls remained impassive. ƒrēewebnovel.com

But when it was mentioned that their adoptive father, Baron Camberra, had been killed by a Demon Hunter,

the girls’ faces simultaneously contorted with expressions of grief or rage. Some even began to wail, clutching a Cross and swearing to kill that Demon Hunter and avenge the Baron.

When an Attendant told Arilan about this, the Lord Marquis was expressionlessly reading the letter left for her by Demon Hunter L.

After listening to the Attendant’s report, she put away L’s ’will’ and issued a cool command:

"The lessons that God and the Baron failed to teach them, the world will.

Let them return to their mothers. Farmers are the most diligent people in the world. The crops will teach them when to bend their backs, and when to stand up straight."

Once the Attendant had left with her orders, Arilan sighed again, muttering as if to herself, "Because farmers are also the most despicable people in the world."

She then summoned another Attendant, ordering him to take a group to search the surroundings for any sign of L, stressing, "If he’s alive, I want to see the man. If he’s dead, I want to see the body."

Among the search party were Maguire and Zod, two members of Baron’s squad. When the pair saw the monster’s corpse, riddled with wounds beneath the Cross, along with the bodies of the Nuns in their various states of death,

Zod took a swig of liquor and said, "Did that guy evolve or something? How does one Black Iron Tier Demon Hunter kill so many Bronze monsters?"

Maguire, meanwhile, turned to wipe his tears away, clenched his fists, and said, "I will carry on L’s legacy and continue the fight."

Zod said, "Putting aside whether that guy is even dead, what exactly is his ’legacy’?"

Maguire froze, then said uncertainly, "Love and peace?"

"Wrong. It’s fanatical justice."

Zod crouched down, saying this as he looked at the fragments of human tissue remaining in the Divine Punishment Monster’s mouth.

They recognized a piece of Baron’s clothing.

At that same moment, in a jungle in Mundra, Faraday of the Iron Thorn Gang reined in his horse. He pulled out an Enchanted Compass, his thick brows furrowing.

He had been following the Compass’s divinations, circling this jungle for an entire day. While he hadn’t exactly dug three feet into the ground, he had certainly become familiar with every last tree in the woods.

Faraday looked up at the twin moons, obscured by inky clouds, and frowned. ’The bank robbers can’t possibly be in the sky, can they?’

’The sky... No, wait.’ Faraday suddenly realized. ’Perhaps the Compass isn’t pointing to the sky, but to the earth.’

’It’s possible I wasn’t divining the robbers, but the Gold Coins they hid!’

’And where is a good place to hide Gold Coins?’

Faraday gazed into the dense forest, his eyes scanning the base of every thick tree.

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’My head hurts, and my body hurts... That Divine Punishment Monster was way too strong... Am I dead? The ground is damp and soft, so this probably isn’t Hell... But then, why is my default assumption that I’d go to Hell when I die?’

Baron opened his eyes and pushed himself up, finding himself once again in that sea of ethereal blue flowers. The sky above was the same ethereal blue, devoid of stars or moons.

He climbed to his feet in a daze. Amidst the refreshing floral scent, he touched his face, his hands, and his chest, shocked to find his body, which had been torn apart by the monster in his final moments, completely intact.

"Anomalous Dreamer, you are awake," an ethereal female voice said from behind him.

Baron instinctively gripped the butt of his pistol and spun around, only to see a hillside where a young girl in a black dress and a Bonnet Hat sat.

She held a Bell Staff and was sitting sideways on the back of a black sheep.

Her face was an ethereal white, utterly devoid of color. Silver curls cascaded from under the brim of her hat, and beneath them, her eyes were as clear and cold as a winter lake, without a single ripple.

Like an exquisite but lifeless doll.

"Who are you? Where is this? Why did you bring me here?" Baron said.

He remembered that this girl in the Bonnet Hat had previously assigned him a mission to find some kind of internal organs, after which he had been transported to Prole.

"You may call me Shepherdess, my lord. This is a dream created by the Master of Dreams, a realm independent of Prole and Britain. You are the Dream Seeker chosen by the Dream Master."

The doll-like girl hopped off the black sheep’s back, the bells on her staff jingling. The sheep let out a BAA and turned to graze on the hillside.

’The Master of Dreams, I know... A dream? Dream Seeker? Right, and what was that earlier about saving the Dreamland?’

Perhaps because he had plenty of experience with sudden exposition dumps, Baron’s mind raced, rapidly searching his memories for any related keywords.

He suddenly recalled the song Carmen had chanted on the day she became his Contract Knight.

Baron still remembered the gist of the lyrics. They told of a being called the Master of Dreams who created a place like Heaven. The people loved Him, and God killed Him...

Baron’s gaze drifted across the Flower Sea, the girl, the black sheep, and the void.

’Could "Heaven" refer to this Dreamland, and this is the place the Master of Dreams created?’

’A space independent of Prole and Britain... Britain...’

Baron’s thoughts froze. He slowly turned his head to the Shepherdess and gave an awkward laugh. "Britain... What does that mean?"

The Shepherdess said coolly, "Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The heir to the throne is—"

"Stop, stop, stop! I know what Britain is! No need to explain."

The moment Baron finished speaking, the Shepherdess clamped her mouth shut. She stared at him motionlessly, her expression as cold as a robot’s.

Baron pushed the fear of Britain and the [Time Death Judgment] to the back of his mind and recalled the second half of Carmen’s song, as well as the Shepherdess’s name for him.

’The people loved him, so they killed him... Dream Seeker...’

’Dream Seeker...’

Baron frowned. "The Master of Dreams was killed by his own people. For some unknown reason, his lingering dream chose me to be the Dream Seeker. So, my job is to find the Dream Master’s leftover organs, or something like that, to save this Dreamland you speak of?"

’The Great Dream Era. I get it.’

Baron admired his own intellect.

To his surprise, the Shepherdess shook her head. "The Dream Master is not dead; he is merely awaiting an opportunity to return. And you, my lord, are the one who will find his remains and enable his successful return."

’Find his remains to let the Dream Master return... How does the word "remains" connect with [the Dream Master is not dead]...?’

"You also had me looking for his organs earlier... Could this be it?"

As if remembering something, Baron’s Gentiana Pattern Ring flashed, and two withered but seemingly still-beating kidneys appeared in his hand.

A ripple finally disturbed the Shepherdess’s ice-lake eyes. She carefully reached for the kidneys... but Baron snatched them back, raising an eyebrow at her.

"So, just because you say I’m the Dream Seeker, I’m supposed to hand over these remains I went through hell to get? That’s a pretty weak sales pitch, don’t you think?"

To his surprise, she slowly parted her dress, revealing a rounded shoulder. The Shepherdess calmly undid the top button at her collar, exposing her snow-white neck...

"Whoa, now," Baron said. "What are you doing?"

The Shepherdess said, "Since you opened your eyes, my lord, of the twenty-eight glances you’ve cast my way, fourteen have stopped on my chest. I surmise that you desire my body..."

Baron, his lecherous thoughts exposed, felt a rare pang of embarrassment. "I was just checking if you were hiding a weapon."

The Shepherdess cupped her breasts with her hands and said in a completely deadpan voice, "They’re real."

Baron: "..."

He didn’t linger on the topic and got straight to the point. "Why did the Dream Master choose me to be the Dream Seeker? What’s in it for me? And how did I get from Britain to Prole? I need an explanation."

"Because the Dream Master’s remains chose you, my lord. They are what brought you through the Shadow Land to the Dreamland, Prole. As for the benefits..."

The Shepherdess said coolly, "Collect all of the Dream Master’s remains, and you will receive one-third of the First Law of Dream Fragment. This will help you ascend Above Gold."

’One-third of a Law Fragment is enough to ascend Above Gold...’

Baron was astonished. He remembered the pinnacle of a class was reaching Gold by mastering one-third of a class Law.

’So what the hell is this "Above Gold"? Is the difference between the First Law, the Second Law, and the man-made Third Law really that great?’

Not dwelling on it for long, Baron continued, "When did the remains choose me? I only just got these two kidneys a short while ago..."

"The Dream Master’s right hand resides within your body, my lord. You can make it manifest with a thought," the Shepherdess said coolly.

’Manifest?’

The thought had barely formed in his mind when a card appeared in Baron’s hand: a colorful, smiling JOKER.

"This is..."

Baron’s eye twitched. He vaguely recalled a thick fog, a drop of his blood landing on a card...

"This card is the manifestation of the Dream Master’s right hand. My lord, your blood resonated with the remains. They believe you can bear the mission of recovering the other pieces..."

The Shepherdess suddenly glanced at the sky. "It is getting late. My lord, your spirit and body have not fully recovered. To stay too long in a dream is to risk becoming lost in it."

A wave of drowsiness washed over him. Baron’s mind grew hazy, and his eyelids began to droop.

The Shepherdess deftly took the two kidneys from Baron’s hand. As she pushed him into the Flower Sea, she gave him a nod and murmured, "Until we meet again, my lord."

His last registered image was of the Shepherdess bending down to gently caress a flower, a rare, soft expression on her face.

"Wait..."

Baron wanted to say more, but he suddenly jerked awake.

He found himself sitting on a moving bus. Outside the window were the streets of London. Inside was a gunman.

A gunman... a hijacker?

???

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[Author’s Note: Be patient; good things are on the way. Also, I’d like to ask for your opinions on the update schedule. What do you think is best? One Chapter in the morning and one at night, or two Chapters released in the evening?]