He dreamed of the tri-colored starry sky again, but this time it was hazy. His consciousness simply drifted aimlessly.

His aimless drifting came to an end as Rorschach opened his eyes to a new ceiling. Sunlight spilled onto the pale yellow wallpaper, and the room’s furnishings were painted a light blue. There were two beds in the room, and the white sheets and pillowcases led Rorschach to guess he was probably in a hospital.

On the other bed, Pascal was fast asleep, snoring. He probably hadn’t planned on sleeping. The evidence was all there: he was still wearing his Mage Robe, had no blanket, clutched a Spell Book in his hand, and his head was lolled to the side. He had basically slumped against the headboard while sitting up. If he stayed that way, he would wake up to the wonderful prize of a stiff neck, a sore back, and a cold.

Based on this assessment, Rorschach decided to wake him up. "Senior Brother? Pascal? Thor?"

"You’re awake?" Pascal wiped away his drool. He first wiped the corner of his mouth, then quickly discovered another trail on his neck. "The doctor said you’re probably just exhausted. You’ll be fine after some rest."

He suddenly remembered something, shot up from the bed, and grabbed a brown bottle and a glass from the nightstand, pouring out an amber-colored liquid.

"Doctor’s orders, you need a glass of aged brandy with sugar. This is from Teacher Kano’s private stash. I brought it for you." After pouring a full glass, he dropped in a yellow sugar cube and began to swirl the glass as if it were a beaker, the cube clinking against the sides.

’What kind of quack doctor prescribes strong liquor to a minor?’ Rorschach quickly held out his forearm to check for any signs of bloodletting from the quack, but thankfully, there were no cuts. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"You should feel lucky. Our Magic Guild has its own designated clinics. If you’d been sent to Valuvan Hospital, you might have woken up to find a corpse in the next bed." Pascal wasn’t just fearmongering. The church-sponsored city hospital not only had all its inpatients lying together, swapping infectious diseases, but it was also so understaffed that sometimes the medical staff wouldn’t even notice when someone had died.

Even so, the hospital—also a "Relief Institute"—was still a place where the poor and sick could find a moment of respite when they had nowhere else to turn. For people from the outer provinces, it might be the first and last time they ever got to drink sugar water.

"Let me." Rorschach was getting annoyed by the clinking of the sugar cube. He took the glass and activated his [Decomposition Skill]. The sugar cube in the glass broke down into fine particles, most of which quickly dissolved into the brandy.

"How did you Decompose it through the glass?!" Pascal watched his junior brother Cast the Magic in amazement. He naturally took the glass Rorschach handed back and naturally took a sip. "Alright, your Casting skills are way better than mine. No wonder you were promoted to Middle Level Mage so early."

Rorschach stared at his senior brother’s dark circles. After closing the hospital room door with [Spell Hand], he asked, "Have you been going to the club again recently?"

"Y-y-you... How did you know?"

"A while ago, you weren’t yawning. Now you look exhausted again. I can’t help but suspect someone hasn’t been sleeping well at night."

"It’s not entirely because of that..." Pascal took another sip of the sweet liquor to calm his nerves. "I was planning to quit anyway... Since you know I’m not going anymore, I might as well come clean..."

It turned out that this "White Rose Club" (a copy of the original ’White Rose Club’ in Istani) used to discuss things Pascal agreed with and was interested in. But as the stock market heated up, the voices of speculators grew more and more numerous, and louder.

Only after a "winter wind" in the spring bankrupted many small trading companies did the club’s members gradually return to their old topics.

"They’re not in it for ideals, they’re just complaining in the club because they didn’t make any money!" Having seen their true colors, Pascal indignantly took a large swig, trying to drown his sense of injustice with the alcohol.

"The real leading figure, an upright lawyer, hasn’t been to meetings recently. I heard he’s very busy, handling cases pro bono for people who have suffered injustice." Pascal spoke of him with great admiration: "’Rock’ Maxim! He’s the only one who can make those guys, blinded by greed, shut their mouths in shame."

"Does Floran still go? The fisheries manager."

"You know him? Oh, right, we met him together at the Big Market." Pascal didn’t know about Rorschach’s other interactions with the fisheries manager and thought his junior brother just had a photographic memory. "He’s stopped going too. He probably hates the club’s atmosphere now as well."

Then, to Rorschach’s surprise, Pascal started inviting him to join a newly formed club, also led by Maxim: the "Friends of Universal Love and Equality." "This is a pure organization we’re planning to establish. Since you know Floran, and with me introducing you, you’ll definitely be able to join!"

In Pascal’s eyes, his junior brother had both great strength and potential on the path of Magic, as well as certain qualities that surpassed other Mages—this was clear from how he had saved Valon and diligently taught the High Master’s students who couldn’t use Magic.

’Recruiting people so brazenly... But I’m an Empireist!’ Rorschach didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, shaking his head at Pascal’s impulsive invitation. "Sorry, I still plan to go back to the Empire to make my career."

"That’s a real shame." Pascal decided to leave the hospital room. He threw his head back and downed the rest of the drink, then pulled out two things. "Teacher Kano told me to give you these documents, but he wouldn’t tell me what they are. See for yourself, Lord Middle Level Mage. Also..."

His senior brother took out a document pouch and also pulled out two tickets, waving them. "Remember the playwright from the opera last time? He gave me two premiere tickets for his new play at the club. How about a change of pace from your studies?"

"I’ll take the documents, but the tickets... I’m not interested. You should invite someone else, Senior Brother."

"Alright, alright, I’m leaving. Just head out on your own when you feel better. Master Kano already paid the admission fee in advance."

Rorschach was just starting to feel touched when Pascal reached the door and let out a drunken burp. "He said he’ll deduct it from your allowance this month. If that’s not enough, it’ll come out of your research funds, so don’t lie around too long and go over budget!"

’...I want my warm feelings back!’

After his senior brother left, Rorschach opened the document pouch. To his surprise, it contained a file on the Mother Earth Sect. "One hundred thirty-two followers apprehended, six killed on sight..." The file also contained records of evil sacrificial inscriptions and rituals. The group primarily spread its influence among the lower classes through addictive drugs.

"Their activities are concentrated in areas with high foot traffic..." Judging from the report, because it involved the worship of an Evil God, the matter had received the full attention of the Order Church. They were now considering reassigning Holy Knights stationed abroad to sweep the Valuva Suburbs.

"I hope this can curb the Sect’s infiltration." Rorschach wasn’t sure what kind of existence the "Holy Mother" or "Mother Earth" was. After all, the "Original Layer" seemed to be empty, and he had never felt Its presence in the "Supreme Heaven."

And yet, It truly existed and was gradually becoming more active.

At this, Rorschach opened his panel to check the results of the [Divine Exile Technique]’s transformed Magic Array. ’It would be terrible if it’s like a computer and my progress wasn’t saved because I passed out.’

Thankfully, the transformation was complete. Rorschach’s eyes widened—at the center of the Magic Circuit was a complex Rune. With just a glance, he could sense that this Rune was pointed directly at him!

...

In the research building, a red-faced Pascal sprinted down the hallway, waving the opera tickets.

"Pau? Paulina?" He pushed open the laboratory door and grinned at the confused new junior apprentices. "Need to borrow your senior sister for a moment, just a little moment."

"What are you doing...?" Paulina was dragged out by Pascal. In the hallway, he immediately covered her mouth with his, not letting go for a long time.

The damned, newly promoted Basic Level Mage Pascal smugly announced, "If you’re free the day after tomorrow, how about we go see the premiere of the new play at the grand theater?"

Now Paulina’s face was as red as Pascal’s. She wiped her mouth and said through gritted teeth, "Pascal, what is wrong with you? Why are you drinking in broad daylight!"