Chapter 1014
Avatar of Rumor
“We’ve arrived, gentlemen—”
As the light faded, the sharp, frenzied voice of the Moon Deer rang out.
Like an energetic announcer, full of passion and spirit, it seemed to relish its “job” and showed no signs of fatigue.
Arsen, who had been lost in pain, looked up and was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t even registered that they had departed, let alone arrived.
“Is this… the Mirror Hall?”
Arsen peered into the distance. Before him and Eivass, a dazzling and magnificent palace appeared. This was the Mirror Hall. However, Arsen’s intuition suggested a more fitting name might be the “Jade Palace.”
Composed entirely of jade, it sprawled across an area at least twenty times the size of the Silver and Tin Hall – a true palace complex, or perhaps a colossal fortress. Its outer walls weren’t uniform in color; they were a natural, random distribution of deep green, light green, red, yellow, ice blue, and milky white. Yet, this didn’t make it look jarring or ugly, for each section of the outer wall was adorned with masterpieces of various artistic styles, all rendered with exquisite naturalism.
Some were oil paintings, some ink wash, and others were bas-reliefs. These painted scenes seamlessly blended with the jade backdrop of the walls. It defied any single artistic style, yet embraced them all.
“Everything recognized as ‘beauty’ in the Material Realm converges here,” Eivass explained. “This is the Mirror Hall.”
“…Then, where are the mirrors?”
“The mirrors are inside, of course.”
Eivass smiled and patted the Moon Deer beneath him. “We’ll be coming out again later. Could I trouble you to wait a little while?”
“There’s no need for that, Respected Child of the Candlemaster. If you require my services, simply have the Night Demon above your head call my name. She is, after all, a Phantom Demon of the Path of Love.”
The Moon Deer let out a sharp, “sinister” laugh. “My name is Arnold Eddie McDonald Lyman Gavin Blue Morgan Mail Holmes…”
It rattled off a forty-four-letter name in one go. The name was so long it could be a song, making one’s head spin. However, with Eivass’s currently enhanced memory, he easily retained it.
“Your True Name is too long. I’ll just call you Arnold from now on,” Eivass said softly, stroking the Moon Deer’s head.
“As you wish, Respected Child of the Candlemaster! I anticipate—your summons!”
With that, the Moon Deer let out a sharp, wild, hysterical, and passionate laugh—if it had seemed like a circus clown earlier, it now transformed into the Joker from Gotham City. “And I anticipate your stories!! Anticipate!!!”
It laughed, leaped high again, and then vanished in a flash of light.
“The Moon Deer… is truly a wondrous creature,” Arsen mused. “Does it ferry people back and forth simply because it wants to ‘hear stories’?”
“Because the Moon Deer is actually the avatar of the concept of ‘gossip’ in the Dream Realm. That’s why its voice is so sharp, excitable, and unpleasant. It’s like certain people in the Material Realm, upon hearing someone’s past misdeeds, their untold secrets, or painful memories, despite vowing to keep quiet, often embellish the tale before passing it on. At most, they’ll add, ‘Don’t tell anyone else, okay?’ and feel relieved.”
Eivass replied, “In the Material Realm, the distance between two hearts might be just a few rooms or streets. But in the Dream Realm, it could be from the Shadow Realm to the Mirror Hall. The Moon Deer’s speed is like ‘a thought’—information travels from one end to the other. And to ‘spread gossip,’ you first need information that can be spread. Therefore, it must be painful, not dirty enough, or not entertaining enough—”
The more people enjoyed a piece of gossip or a juicy tidbit, the more passengers the Moon Deer could carry and the farther it could teleport. Just like how more interesting but unfriendly stories spread faster and wider. Similarly, a story that stirs strong emotions would definitely spread better than a pure joke or meme.
This was an episode that highly benefited news dissemination studies.
“…Gossip?”
Hearing this, Arsen’s expression changed dramatically. “Then what I told it… won’t get out, will it?”
“The Moon Deer doesn’t even know who you are or your name, so how could it spread it?” Eivass smiled. “It’s merely a manifestation of a concept. Death itself does not die, and slumber itself cannot slumber. Therefore, the concept of ‘spreading gossip’ cannot spread gossip itself. There are quite a few Phantom Demons like the Moon Deer, formed from pure concepts, in the Dream Realm. After all, the Dream Realm is a projection of the Material Realm’s concepts. If you’re interested, I can take you to see the avatar of Death or the avatar of Procreation next time.”
“…No, that’s not necessary.” Arsen chuckled sheepishly and unhesitatingly refused Eivass’s offer. “I think the Moon Deer is quite good.”
“In that case…” Eivass smiled and patted Arsen’s shoulder. “Then it looks like I’ll have to trouble you to prepare the fare for the return trip—three people’s worth, I reckon.”
“…Huh? Me?”
“It can’t be me, can it?” Eivass shrugged. “I dare to say it, but would you dare to listen?”
He certainly wouldn’t dare—
Arsen’s lips twitched, and he offered a constructive suggestion. “What about Sherlock? Since we’re here to rescue him, at least let him pay for the ride. You must also be curious if Sherlock has any unspeakable past, right?”
“…That’s possible too.” A thought stirred within Eivass, and he nodded in agreement.
Both he and Arsen were good friends with Sherlock, true brothers. When their brother was in danger, they were the most anxious; once their brother was safe, they could become the most dangerous.
However, Eivass hesitated. “But I feel, given his personality… he might not have any profoundly unforgettable past. Even if it’s entertaining enough, if it doesn’t stir strong emotions, the Moon Deer won’t be satisfied.”
“He does,” Arsen said with certainty. “I even have an inkling. But compared to the rumors I’ve heard, I’d prefer to hear it from his own mouth… It would also help him let go of those things better. After recounting those events, although I felt more remorseful and sad… I also felt a strange sense of relief.”
The Iris Flower and Star Antinomy were fundamentally different. They lacked the inheritance of the Path of Balance and therefore lacked Alchemy knowledge. Although Arsen possessed the levels of the Path of Balance and had the aptitude to become an Alchemist, and was now a renowned Phantom Thief of the Iris Flower… he had always been unaware of the ultimate consequences of his past actions. This was “crossing professional boundaries.”
Now, he finally understood the full scale of the loss he had caused and the enormous trouble he had stirred up. In the past, when his conscience troubled him, he donated his stolen goods, felt relieved, and balanced his moral compass… but in reality, those donations could never compensate for the crimes he had committed. Arsen himself vaguely knew this. He knew the money he received was definitely less than it should have been—and because he received less than normal, the “atonement” he received from donating it would also be less.
Now, decades had passed. It was precisely this worry that had kept him from forgetting that incident. It was precisely because he remembered his past sins that he could steadfastly walk the path of a righteous thief, admonish himself not to commit the sin of greed, and always distribute his ill-gotten gains to the poor. All of this was due to that “vague, ominous premonition” and “unspeakable past.”
Now that he had revealed everything he had kept hidden, and even learned the true extent of his past transgressions under Eivass’s analysis… Arsen felt a sense of release. There was an inexplicable sense of catharsis. This was indeed like a precursor to “spreading gossip”—sharing secrets suppressed in one’s heart with others to achieve mental recovery.
“It seems you’re beginning to understand the Moon Deer,” Eivass said with a meaningful smile.
Some stories, when told by the person involved versus told by a third party, feel completely different. Even if the events and content are the same, the sensation is vastly different. And what the Moon Deer savors is that “sense of reality.”
“…But, if that’s the case…” Arsen pondered, his instinct searching for loopholes, and asked in a lowered voice, “Then what if I told the Moon Deer a rumor… or a story that’s half-true and half-fabricated, self-edited?”
“That’s fine too, but the distance it can travel will certainly diminish. After all, once you’ve edited it, your heart won’t feel as much remorse or pain. If you were to fabricate further, that would be approaching the domain of the Grey Heavenly Envoy or the Heavenly Envoy…”
As they chatted, they gradually approached the Mirror Hall.
(End of Chapter)
