He expected her to continue; however, Ma’am Felanor ended it there, refusing to elaborate on the details, not even when the aftermath was right in front of them. Ulrich was not surprised by her attitude in the slightest, though he didn’t exactly throw in the white towel either.

  “Am I privileged to know the name of this particular member?” Asked Ulrich, his voice remained respectful and formal.

  There was apparent aversion and hesitation drawn on her face, as though his questions left her much to consider. Having learned about the Eternal Club and the related secrets from prior loops, as well as her attitude relating to the former, he wasn’t surprised if she chose to remain silent again.

  Yet, much to his already bottom-of-the-barrel expectation, she raised her head as her hand poked the corpse, causing it to disappear like a mirage in the desert.

  Should he be concerned? Startled by her strange spells and behavior? No, he’d seen enough not to be alarmed by such a sight. Goddess, if Ma’am Felanor were to suddenly approach and kill him, he wouldn’t even be surprised, as all was a dream.

  “Cygnus,” She said, her voice lowering by another octave, “And she is a very, very irritating weasel. I suspect she is being nosy even at this moment.”

  He didn’t know what to expect, but certainly not this strange name, which was neither eastern nor western. It was like a name straight from a fantasy game. What was even more perplexing was Ma’am Felanor's comment regarding this Cygnus fellow.

  “Do you know this person?” He asked, extremely curious. For someone of Ma’am Felanor's status to comment on that person specifically, then, their identity cannot be ordinary. Ulrich suspected that Cygnus must be a true member of the Eternal Club, and even within the rankings of true members, it cannot be low!

  Unfortunately, she did not meet his expectations and merely wore a smile. Was he surprised? No? Disappointed? Certainly.

  Be it as it may, certain matters relating to the Eternal Club are indeed off-limits, and he was led by the nose at the discretion of Ma’am Felanor’s whims. It felt unpleasant, not having the upper hand, yet he dared not voice his discontent as she must have her own reason for speaking at length.

  In the end, Ulrich nudged the topic along, raising various questions which may or may not elicit an indirect answer from the Servant of Night. He knew that a direct answer from her was impossible, but at the very least, through various roundable inquiry, he was able to vaguely grasp the truths relating to the murder of Shi Jing, as well as Cygnus’s involvement and motive.

  Ulrich came to understand that despite the status of ‘members’ in the organization, their structure was loose. The goal of every single true member was different. It wasn’t like the Ministry, where everyone works together to combat the threats looming beneath normal society. He can’t help but wonder what the mysterious Leader’s thought was when creating this structure.

  In that, even Ma’am Felanor was unable to grasp ‘Cygnus’ goal in killing Shi Jing, just that Cygnus seemed to worship a certain entity that cannot be mentioned. And she guessed that the act of Cygnus killing Shi Jing was a way to please that entity. This further confused the seer.

  In a sense, he was blindfolded, forced to throw darts at the wall, and listened to the sound in order to guess its relative position. And that he did.

  During their entire interaction, Ma’am Felanor's body language, as well as expression, was extremely friendly and patient to the point that he found it disturbing. Each loop, each iteration where he conversed with her made her feel strange. He’d noticed this prior, though the more he continued interacting with her, the more prominent that feeling became.

  It’s like speaking to a long-time friend… He thought, yet that idea didn’t quite stick, as many of her words and gestures disproved that notion. If she knew him firsthand, why pretend not to know him? And if she did know him, how? In what way?

  Once again, he cursed his future self for leaving behind all these cryptic clues and roundabout way of passing the message along. Ultimately, Ulrich let out a soft groan, causing Ma’am Felanor to chuckle gently.

  “Any other questions?” She asked.

  He thought about it, long and hard, he did. However, nothing came to his mind. That wasn’t to say that he had no question; no, he had a load of them, but he knew for a fact that she would not answer them, directly or indirectly.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “No,” Ulrich answered, shaking his head.

  Giving it a second thought, he recalled his plans in the real world and quickly changed his mind. “Actually, I do have some questions. It’s not related to the Eternal Club, I assure you, Ma’am.”

  “Go on…”

  “We—“ He paused, immediately realizing his mistake. Ulrich almost spoke of the previously mentioned matter relating to the Rank 5 Weaver’s Ruin in the Shadow Realm, a conversation which never existed, not this loop. Had his sentence actually finished, that would be rather awkward. Though, he doubted that she would be bothered much by it, if not, grow a little curious.

  “Ahem. There’s a ruin deep in the shadow realm that belongs to a Rank 5 Weaver. I wish to explore this ruin. Do you have any advice?” He said, having adjusted his words and phrasing.

  As he spoke, she looked at him with a rather musing smile. On mentioning the shadow realm, she showed no reaction in the slightest, though Ulrich had to scrutinize her body language to make sure. Even the matters relating to a Rank 5 Weaver produced no discernible reaction from her.

  Rank 5? 6? Or… 7?

  To say that he was curious was putting it lightly. Ulrich's interest and curiosity regarding her ranks grow just as high as Mount Everest; goddess, maybe even the deepest of the Mariana Trench. Quite frankly, he was tempted to ask her directly, even if it meant that she might slap him to death on the spot, or feel a certain way toward him.

  After all, the dream was a privilege which allows him to do things over and over without worrying about the consequences. Yet, having witnessed the bizarreness of the world, he dared not risk it. Especially not knowing if she had the means to penetrate this special dream space.

  As a minute passed, she finally fell out of her musing pose and simply said.

  “I see you have quite an interesting talent. Before exploring the mentioned ruin, I recommend speaking to your Keeper; they will have a high chance of helping you directly.” She said, her words were the same from two loops ago.

  It’s my talent again…

  This time, he can’t help but raise the question directly. “If you don’t mind, ma’am. Why are you so confident that my talent will garner the assistance of the Keeper?”

  “Is it not obvious?” She said, letting out a soft chuckle, but elaborated no more. And that only further confused Ulrich. He wanted to press forward, but sensing that she had no intention of answering his inquiry, he was left hanging in the air.

  Ultimately, Ulrich wanted to end this loop as the matter relating to Shi Jing, Bai Ning, and Cygnus came to a halt. No doubt, further inquiry relating to any of these topics will not result in an effective answer, and further leads will lead nowhere. Ulrich, the seer, was back at his starting point.

  Just as his thought faded, he noticed Ma’am Felanor's expression growing strange. Ulrich sensed conflict and apprehension in her body language, something he’d never imagined was possible. In that moment, her shadow grew extraordinarily huge, draping the room in pure darkness. Being caught off guard, he fell flat on his bottom, the stinging pain jolted him awake from the sudden change in his environment.

  Within that darkness, a blob of light bulged from the outside, as though it was trying to squeeze its way in. Ulrich's heart began pounding just staring at it, and a blanket of shadow covered his eyes, followed by a familiar voice.

  “Don’t look at it directly. You will die.” Said Ma’am Felanor, her voice extremely cold and stoic.

  Ulrich heeded her word carefully and closed his eyes. He could sense the shadow covering his eyes retreat, and despite having his eyes closed, the light still penetrated past his eyelids. From the hazy and blurry imagery, he could make out a figure, a very feminine humanoid shape.

  The ‘head’ of the humanoid figure moved, presumably at him, before turning to the side, probably facing Ma’am Felanor.

  “Nautica, I sense… someone spoke of my name?” Her voice was piercingly sharp, like the finest sashimi blade in the form of a human voice, and Ulrich's ear bled just hearing her words. However, facing this mighty figure, he dared not utter a sound and gritted his teeth.

  “Why are you here, Cygnus?” Felanor spoke, and as her words came, Ulrich felt more at ease, more comfortable, and warmth. The itchiness and bleeding in his ear stopped for a moment. Finally, he was able to gain clarity of mind as the conversation caught up to him and his hearing.

  Nautica? Ma’am Felanor’s nickname in the club? And Cygnus…This person who barged in is Cygnus, another member of the Eternal Club? The one that killed Shi Jing?

  Perhaps he’d grown too used to being in Ma’am Felanor's presence as well as her friendly demeanor that he forgot his own standing. These people are not ordinary Weavers, they must be at Rank 5, if not 6 at least!

  Just hearing Cygnus’s voice almost ended his loop early, and according to Ma’am Felanor’s words, looking at Cygnus will kill him!

  At this moment, the hazy figure turned its head back to him, and for a moment, he imagined a smile made of light appeared. “Is it him speaking my name? It must be… To think that you would try to conceal him from me with your veil!”

  For a second, the voice stopped, then came again. This time, filled with astonishment.

  “Very strange… he has no soul, spirit, or astral body. A person without any of these… impossible!”

  In that moment, Ulrich's thoughts spiraled out of control as he came to the realization.

  She knows!