Chapter 138

Chapter 138

Short Tail closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling restlessly.

She waited for the dream to come, but after counting countless heartbeats, she remained awake, growing more and more alert.

Gripping the note tightly, Short Tail slowly curled up under the blanket, her naturally shorter tail than other rat people tapping against the sheet.

Don't be disappointed, the little girl told herself, didn’t you guess from the start that this was very likely?

Yes, though only seven years old, Short Tail Masma had already developed her own understanding of the world.

They lived under the protection of the gods, yet were seen as enemies that must be eliminated by other gods. Despite this, praying to the gods who protected them was futile; the gods would not pay attention to the thoughts of a small child or care about the illness of a young boy.

But that beautiful dream, the one that made her unable to stop thinking about it, gave Short Tail a tiny glimmer of hope.

Short Tail believed she was no longer a child in her mind. She often felt like she was actually Black Spot’s older sister. Sometimes, when Lin, Luo An, and her brother discussed serious matters, Black Spot only remembered to eat, while she listened attentively and understood.

It also seemed that, although everyone was diligently searching for Snow Claws, and occasionally Lin and Luo An would bring back some uncertain news, a person missing for so long—over a year was indeed a long time!—might never return.

While reading the scriptures of the Bellringing Frost Crow, Short Tail learned that word, and she understood that Snow Claws might already be dead!

Just like how her brother said their parents simply forgot the way home and couldn’t find them, but in reality, the parents had abandoned them!

Thinking of this, Short Tail involuntarily crumpled the note in her hand.

No, no, if praying to the Mirror Eye is useless, then she needed to properly dispose of this note.

The precocious little girl thought, her large ears perked up to listen for any sounds outside. She lifted the blanket to get up and climb down.

At that moment, someone gently knocked on the door twice.

Guilty, Short Tail froze, and the person knocking did not wait for permission. After knocking, they directly turned the doorknob and pushed open the bedroom door.

The light from outside poured in, though most of it was blocked by the figure standing at the door.

Lin, wearing an old shirt, walked in without turning on the light. He raised a glowing yellow diamond, illuminating Short Tail, who was frozen at the edge of the bed.

Seeing Short Tail about to get out of bed, he asked, “Are you going to the bathroom?”

“Ah, yes,” Short Tail nodded instinctively.

“But the bathroom is currently being used by Black Spot,” the adult lied without changing his expression, “you’ll have to wait a bit.”

Short Tail didn’t know what to say, opening her mouth, and Lin closed the door behind him, walking to the desk opposite the bed and sitting on it with his legs crossed.

He placed the glowing yellow diamond on the desk, gesturing to the chair opposite Short Tail, saying, “So I thought, before you go to the bathroom, we could talk for a while… you have something you want to tell me, right?”

Short Tail’s hand, gripping the note, began to sweat.

Lin knew, she immediately realized, without even considering why Lin knew.

Because Lin was very smart and knew everything.

For the seven-year-old Short Tail, the eldest brother at home was such a figure.

Very sensible, so she almost never did anything wrong. Hesitantly, Short Tail walked to the chair and sat down. As soon as she sat, Lin extended his hand to her.

The damp note was gently placed in Lin’s palm.

The resting judge opened the note, glanced at it, and then put it away.

“Short Tail,” he said, “I remember your theology teacher gave you an excellent grade.”

“Yes…”

“Didn’t she teach you not to pray to gods other than the Six Pillar Gods?”

“She did…”

“But you prayed, didn’t you?”

Short Tail fell silent, as if only now realizing the severity of her actions.

Lin said, “Snow Claws hasn’t returned, do you want us to lose you too?”

“But!” Short Tail quickly replied, “nothing bad happened! Luo An said that when the judges came to rescue them, they specifically recited the words on the note…”

“So,” Lin asked, “you knew this note was left behind by the judge. Why didn’t you return it to Uncle and Aunt, who were in the house behind?”

Short Tail closed her mouth again.

“I also took theology classes when I was in the Judge School,” Lin suddenly began to recount, “one day, the theology teacher told a story.

“A man was afraid to go into the Fungus Forest to pick mushrooms. By chance, he learned the name of the Fungus God and prayed for the Fungus God to grant him many mushrooms. Of course, his prayer went unanswered. He didn’t know that the Fungus God was severely injured and had been in a deep sleep for a long time. Anyway, he didn’t get any mushrooms.

“Realizing that nothing would fall from the sky, the next day he sighed and went job hunting. That night, he returned home to find his house surrounded by judges.”

Noticing that Short Tail started to clutch her nightgown tightly upon hearing this, Lin continued, “It turned out that his rented house had been filled with mushrooms that kept growing. After he left, the bed, cabinets, floor, and ceiling of his house kept sprouting mushrooms…”

This sounded like a good thing, getting mushrooms for free?

Short Tail unconsciously relaxed a bit.

At this point, Lin concluded the story, saying, “Of course, it also included his wife, who was sick and had to lie at home.”

Rip—

Short Tail tore her old nightgown.

"Even adults can't always foresee the consequences of every action," Lin said earnestly, "but some actions must be considered carefully, like praying to an existence beyond the Six Pillar Gods; you never know what consequences it might bring."

The judge, who had risen to prominence thanks to Bai Li Bomei's prayer to an unknown entity, said this as he jumped off the table.

He continued, "Tomorrow, after your exam, I'll take you to apologize next door. Then, you might get the privilege of spending an hour in the purification room at the branch office, which could disrupt your review schedule.

"But I still expect you to score full marks in all your main subjects. If not... Short Tail, you seemed distracted today and probably didn't hear me, but I'm taking leave until after the New Year. At that time, I'll only take Little Black Spot out."

"What—"

"Do you need to go to the bathroom again?"

"...No. Sorry, Lin, I shouldn't have prayed to an evil god..."

Short Tail lowered her head and spoke slowly.

Lin, who had been stern-faced since entering, finally smiled.

He picked up the softly sobbing little girl and placed her on the edge of the upper bunk bed, saying, "I understand. Go to sleep now."

"But..." The little girl, trying to hold back her sobs, spoke again.

"But?"

"I think, the one in the mirror—" Before Short Tail could finish the awkward name, a finger was placed over her lips.

"Don't say that name. This evil god has His peculiarities; just mentioning the name counts as a prayer. So remember not to mention... Well, how do you feel about the Dream God?"

"He," Short Tail hesitated, recalling the warmth that seemed to envelop her in dreams, "isn't a bad god, is He?"

"No," Lin, whose smile had just returned, became serious again, "He is a bad god."

Gently pushing Short Tail to lie down, the only adult in the house warned, "He is a very, very bad god."

Very bad, He shouldn't have given you special treatment.

Short Tail wanted to say more but was overwhelmed by sudden drowsiness and closed her eyes.

Once he was sure she was asleep, Lin's shoulders slumped.

He held his forehead and whispered, "Scared me to death..."

He had been checking various prayers when Short Tail's voice startled him back into his body, nearly causing him to fall as he stood up.

"If I had known she was thinking about something so dangerous, I should have read her mind... Even as a parent, ah."

The judge's mindset, which should have been more vigilant, clashed with modern educational principles of respecting children's privacy in Lin's mind. Short Tail wouldn't believe that her prayer had already summoned the Dream God, who was now troubled by her.

But the Dream God would not let her dream tonight.

Lin retracted the yellow diamond, turned, and left. Blue Phosphorus and Luo An, who had been waiting by the bedroom door and helping Blue Phosphorus wash up, looked at him with questioning eyes when he came out.

Lin whispered that everything was fine, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.

After a few more words, Lin returned to the study.

Even Blue Phosphorus and Luo An didn't notice that Lin himself hadn't relaxed at all.

Short Tail's case wasn't unique. Perhaps even the Inquisition didn't know how many people, who had not paid attention in theology class, would secretly pray to a god once they learned its name.

With the end of the divine war two days ago, and some cities adopting a compromise with the Eye in the Mirror, the name of the Eye in the Mirror had already spread.

Cases like Short Tail's, where someone found an unrecovered note from a judge, were rare. But there were many like Luo An, who heard judges praying during their rescue.

If judges pray, then prayers must really work!

And the Eye in the Mirror, this evil god, seemed safer than other evil gods?

Tonight alone, in Spire City, over ten students of various grades had prayed for a good night's sleep before exams or to dream about the test questions!

Lin didn't know whether to be glad or not, but at least Short Tail's prayer the day before the exam was unconventional.

"This won't do..." The black-haired ritualist felt troubled, "There's too much junk information; I can't find any important intelligence."

Since waking up yesterday, the number of prayers Lin couldn't process had exceeded ten thousand.

Originally, he had planned to catch the followers of evil gods by spreading the name, but the Eye in the Mirror was being drowned in the sea of information in this world with the internet but no global network.

"Pillar God seniors," he began fiddling with the six differently colored gems hanging from his chest, "how did you manage this..."

Even as a minor deity, his brain processor shouldn't be so far behind the Pillar Gods!

Lin thought about it all night but came up with no good solutions. Even when he decided to sleep, he was woken up by more prayers.

The next day, he sent Short Tail and Little Black Spot to school, feeling lethargic, and then returned to Green Clay Street.

Just before reaching apartment A12, he stopped.

Because in front of the door to A12, there was a white cube the size of a suitcase floating there.

No, it should be called the "Gift" system's self-moving battlefield assistance terminal.

Or simply, Epher.

"Hello, Judge Lin," the white cube turned and said.

It seemed to have undergone a new upgrade, with a fluorescent blue stick figure face appearing on one side, like a screen, smiling at Lin with two dots and a triangle.

It smiled and said, "I'm here to provide some assistance with your home-based work."