Capítulo 338: Chapter 338: Night of Chaos
Chapter 338: Night of Chaos
As the viscous, slippery liquid entered his body through his mouth, it began to churn his insides. His internal organs started to convulse and twist. Under his fine clothing, bumps emerged on his skin, itching and tingling, as if tentacles were trying to grow from within.
His once clear mind gradually descended into chaos, with various jumbled thoughts flying around in his head.
Despite the changes wracking his body, Hastur remained expressionless, standing straight while trying to suppress the transformations.
On one side was the cold order of rules, on the other the fiery chaos of extremes. Reason and madness clashed and tore at each other, as if threatening to rip his body in two.
In this struggle, he seemed to see black chains of rules extending vertically into the sky from every part of Backlund, ultimately converging into a great mountain of order looming over everyone's heads.
The hard, cold chains of rules were immovable, yet each was surrounded by an inescapable shadow. Especially beneath the mountain of rules, where the crimson moonlight cast down to form a shadow of order on the earth.
No matter how strict the rules, wherever rules exist, there will inevitably be shadows of order.
As the vision deepened, he saw the people under the rule chains, though perhaps they could no longer be called people. They were twisted lines being alienated - or rather, domesticated - by so-called rules.
Obeying laws and regulations is itself a process of domestication.
Like turkeys on a farm, fed delicious feed by the farmer only at noon and 5 PM each day. At first, the turkeys tried to forage for themselves, but as they grew accustomed to the twice-daily feedings, they would all run to the feeding area as soon as mealtime arrived.
The stubborn turkeys that insisted on self-reliance could only go hungry or be beaten. After a few such experiences, even they would obediently follow the other turkeys to the feeding area at mealtime, scrambling for food.
If there was a turkey scientist skilled at drawing conclusions, it could summarize a set of rules applicable to turkey society based on their daily experiences.
But that's another story.
When the chaos and reason reached a tentative balance, Hastur forced himself to leave the banquet and take a carriage home.
As the carriage slowly made its way down the street, Hastur opened the windows on both sides. The cool breeze on his face slightly eased the chaos in his mind, allowing reason to temporarily gain the upper hand.
In this world of mysteries, chaos is the permanent resident, while reason is but a fleeting guest.
So after consuming the potion to advance, he had to hurry back to South Welles County. Only in that domain where his was the sole voice could his chaos remain hidden from others.
If he stayed in Backlund, his erratic behavior during bouts of chaos would surely be noticed, especially by the Loen royal family.
So before taking the Chaos Mentor potion tonight, he had made some preparations.
He had already arranged for tickets to leave Backlund tomorrow afternoon. He only needed to maintain his rationality for half a day, then he would have little to worry about.
He had taken care of matters with King George III and wouldn't need to report anything before leaving.
He had also paid visits to Glaint, Greek, Professor Wayne and others, with only Miss Audrey left to see.
He could visit her tomorrow morning and check on Susie's progress as well.
As for dealing with the Abraham family and Star Worshippers, he would leave that to Bernadette. She alone was worth more than the entire Abraham family at present.
As Hastur pondered these things, reason was once again swallowed by chaos. His gaze grew unfocused, confused and helpless.
Upon returning home, Butler Neil had a maid bring sobering sweet soup. Hastur took a small sip and frowned, "Sweet? Is this how sobering soup should taste?"
"Don't you like sweet things, sir? You specifically had the chef develop this sweet sobering soup."
"I prefer spicy sobering soup. Remember that next time."
"..."
The maid stared blankly at Hastur's back as he went upstairs. Spicy sobering soup?
Was he suggesting adding chili peppers to sobering soup? Wouldn't that taste strange?
Perhaps the earl's dietary habits had changed during his time in South Welles County.
She didn't understand but was deeply shocked. She turned to go to the kitchen to relay the earl's latest instructions to the chefs.
In the bathroom, Hastur habitually took a bath before bed, but he started brushing his teeth instead. After brushing, he called out, "Bring some breakfast."
Breakfast?
Shouldn't it be a late-night snack at this hour?
The two maids standing guard outside exchanged glances, interpreting his words as a request for breakfast foods as a midnight snack.
After eating a breakfast in the bathroom, Hastur finally remembered to take a bath.
Returning to his room to rest after bathing, Hastur lay in the warm bed but couldn't fall asleep.
Various voices kept sounding in his mind - some urging him to sleep, some calling him to go out and party, some wanting him to sneak out and commit theft, and one voice telling him to secretly go to Earl Hall's home and knock on Miss Audrey's window.
How could he possibly do something so rude and awkward?
...
At Earl Hall's residence.
Audrey hadn't attended the royal banquet tonight, as she had declined the invitation days ago. She could only listen to her older brother briefly recount what had happened at the banquet.
It was past 10 PM when she returned to her room after bathing. She stretched lazily and lay on her side in bed, reminding Susie not to stay up late reading.
"Audrey, don't you think the quiet of the night is the best time to commune with books?" Susie asked.
"I don't think so. Night is for sleeping, and daytime is for working hard. That's why the day is divided into night and day. It's the Creator's intention," Audrey firmly opposed Susie's attempt to secretly study at night.
"Oh." Unable to argue with Audrey, Susie could only close her book and curl up in her dog bed to rest.
Satisfied, Audrey extinguished the lights and lay her head on the soft pillow, drifting off to sleep.
Some time later, a rhythmic knocking sound came from the window.
Tap, tap, tap tap.
Susie, who hadn't been very sleepy, was immediately startled awake. She climbed out of her bed, tail raised and eyes wide, staring alertly at the window.
Besides the knocking, a dark figure could be faintly seen hanging outside the window.
Like a giant humanoid bat?
Susie quickly ran to Audrey's bedside and barked twice loudly, immediately waking Audrey from her drowsy state.
"Susie, is it morning already?" Audrey mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Audrey, something's knocking on the window!" Susie whispered urgently, trying not to startle whatever was outside.
"??!"
After Susie repeated herself a few times, Audrey suddenly became fully alert, her gaze instinctively turning to the window.
There was indeed a dark human-like figure rhythmically knocking on the window.
A bat-man from folk horror stories? That was Audrey's first thought.
In one of the horror novels she had read, there was mention of bat-people who resembled humans and liked to come out at night.
Along with bat-people, there were also moth-people, owl-people, and so on.
Audrey was a bit scared at first, but then remembered she was already a Sequence 7 Psychologist. Even if she encountered some unknown creature, she had some ability to protect herself.
Besides, Susie was by her side, and this was her own home.
Audrey regained her composure and looked at the mysterious figure still knocking on the window. Her intense curiosity overcame her fear.
She carefully got out of bed, put on a pink and white robe, and gestured for Susie to approach the window with her.
As they got closer to the window, the starlight allowed Audrey and Susie to see the outline of the figure outside more clearly.
It looked like a person?
How could there possibly be someone knocking on her window in the middle of the night?
It must be her imagination, Audrey thought, shaking her head to dismiss the absurd notion.
As Audrey and Susie neared the window, the figure outside seemed startled and suddenly fell from the window.
Audrey quickly stepped to the windowsill and pushed open the window, peering down. She could only vaguely see a figure rapidly disappearing into the night.
She blinked and asked curiously, "Susie, did you recognize what kind of creature that was?"
Susie came to Audrey's side, stretching up on her hind legs to look out the window. She said uncertainly, "Audrey, I think I smelled a familiar scent."
"A familiar scent?"
"I can't be sure. Maybe it really was some kind of bat-person."
"What a strange night," Audrey mused. Then she added, "I'm visiting Mr. Hastur tomorrow morning anyway. I'll ask him if bat-people really exist."
"Audrey, I want to visit Mr. Hastur too," Susie said.
Audrey frowned slightly, "Then you're not allowed to let Mr. Hastur send you any more strange books."
"..." Susie was silent for a moment before saying, "Audrey, I just want to learn knowledge."
Audrey said earnestly, "Susie, knowledge can be poisonous."
"But Audrey, the books say knowledge is beneficial," Susie countered.
"Books are written by people and can contain errors," Audrey sighed. "You need to develop your own critical thinking skills, not just blindly learn from books."
"I understand, Audrey!" Susie's eyes lit up, as if grasping an important point.
Audrey had a bad feeling about this, but she didn't have the energy to probe further. She still needed to get some sleep.
Status de energia semanal
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