The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 1171 Lucky Betty
Rupert Benevento's 'duality' is common to many 'great men'.

Theodore was well aware of this.

He was even somewhat pleased that Rupert was willing to 'show' them another side of himself—while Rupert went to the toilet, Roland whispered that he might be out of his mind.

Theodore, speaking on behalf of Rupert, quoted the opening line of this passage: duality, common to most great men, and so on…

Roland: "I mean, you're out of your mind, Theodore."

Roland had a 'Taylor' by his side, so he was well aware of these people's arrogance and self-perceived superiority. He was simply curious why Rupert Benevento, who received no respect whatsoever from the Benevento family, kept mentioning how proud he was of 'Beneventone' the whole way...

So, how does he view his own 'abnormality'?

I'm afraid all that's left is hatred.

The pain of hating it and having to live with it all the time.

In this respect, Rupert is indeed a good friend of Theodore.

Make friends first.

"So, what exactly are we going to Cornwall for? Cultists? Or news of the artifacts?"

As the sun slowly rose, the carriage warmed up.

Rupert removed his scarf and shawl, and the two gentlemen were finally able to get rid of their thick, padded long coats.

"Cultists? No, I'm going to find the dragon."

Rupert blinked, as if he hadn't heard clearly: "...What?"

"Dragon, Lulu. I'm going to find the dragon. There's a rumor that there were traces of dragons in Cornwall..."

Dragon.

Theodore instinctively replied, "I heard about 'dragons' when I was an apprentice, Mr. Collins. My... my mentor told me stories about dragons."

When the 'guide' was mentioned, Rupert gave Theodore a nonchalant glance.

“That’s no ordinary ‘mutant’… no… it should be said that ‘dragon’ has almost transcended the category of mutant, and is nearly gravitating towards ‘ritualists’.”

Dragon.

A species that most ritual practitioners have never seen, yet is also one that most ritual practitioners know 'perfectly': legends about dragons are widespread in the mystical world, almost equivalent to the 'mystical children' in the mortal world—

When a woman is neither virtuous nor beautiful, but dull and lacking in wisdom, her husband will soon find a crying baby on a snowy day (or perhaps in the height of summer).

"It is said that when it spreads its wings, thunder roars, and it breathes out storms and frost; it only appears in the moonlight..."

There are too many legends about dragons, and every good storyteller has his own unique style. In this respect, ritual performers are no different from ordinary people.

“Natalie once showed me a young dragon’s long fingernail,” Rupert gestured with his hands, which were about as wide as her shoulders, “and when ground into powder, it’s more expensive than gold…”

A few rituals require the use of "dragons".

The most advanced, and also the most dangerous, rituals.

In what situations would a keel be used?

Some of the descending, or sealing rituals of the Ring of Eternity.

If we narrow the scope to a certain road—

'The veiled gown of truth, Roland. The reason why those who traverse the 'Mirror' path are so rare is not only because there are few remaining loopholes in the market for them to continuously climb the ladder of lies, but also because the door to lies that blocks the apprentices is strong enough.'

"The Lace-Up Lens Without Lies," "The Woman of Deception," "The Silver Moon," "The Reflection in the Lake"—whatever you call Him, as a 'legitimate' sect, these changeable and enigmatic ladies and gentlemen should be constantly walking in the secular world.

However, even Fernandez had rarely seen the ritualists of the "Mirror" path.

Aside from their necessary 'influence,' the narrow path from apprentice to ritualist is enough to block the vast majority of exceptionally talented children.

There are too few of them.

"The ascension of the 'Mirrors' is very interesting, Roland. When we are able to manifest the 'Arcane Triangle,' the gate to the Ascension is within reach—but the Mirrors are different. Their gates are strong enough."

Only a mysterious substance of sufficiently high concentration can strengthen the apprentices' arms during the ring-raising ceremony, enabling them to turn the handles instead of breaking their own arms.

Shandel says that many qualified young apprentices get stuck at this step: the step from apprentice to ritualist.

They lack generous mentors, have no connections, and are unlucky in life—many desperately try to change course amidst setbacks, or exchange their years of accumulated wealth for something that 'seems to be high-concentration'—which raises a question:
Is the 'concentration' of the strange object high enough?
'An alien, Roland. A single strange object might kill a hundred aliens, just as easily as you could twist off the head of that pianist we heard about in yesterday's paper—in terms of art, in terms of intensity.'

The mirrors have their own path trodden by predecessors, and they know exactly what is best suited for an apprentice's advancement.

Parts from the alien species.

And when it comes to different species, what is better than the "dragon"?

'I haven't seen any records of this in the library—there's very little language about the mirrors, Roland. I can only tell you that, of the currently recorded names, those apprentices who failed the ring-raising ceremony have no second chance.'

Then...

The mysterious "Coffin" lady, a frequent visitor to the Taylors' home and a friend of Beatrice, has a ulterior motive for demanding the dragon bone...

What could it be?

A promotion that absolutely cannot go wrong.

'I find it hard to believe Betty is qualified for this path…a lie? Or…the opposite?'

'She was blessed, Roland, and also incredibly lucky—you know what I mean.'

A slightly high-pitched voice interrupted his recollection.

"It seems we really are on a 'trip'. How could the court assign you such a task?" Rupert was initially dissatisfied, then full of suspicion. She assumed that Roland had used his silver tongue and his face, which could charm most people (excluding herself), to bewitch his superior and thus obtain an easy and carefree 'task'.

—To search for a dragon that could never exist in a remote town.

He can take a long, uninterrupted vacation without being seen by his 'brothers and sisters' working in London.

So why didn't they do as the train conductor suggested and exchange their tickets for tickets going in the same direction, so they could go to a more interesting place?
Is the seaside better than a drab mining town?

"If it's just a trip, give me a few more days. I've forgotten so many clothes in my room, plus perfume, face cream, and the fruit syrup I'm supposed to take before bed—"

Roland pushed aside the small wooden box that Harida had arranged with his index finger and lowered his head to concentrate on picking out cigars.

“Harida brought everything, Miss Lulu.”

"What did you bring?" Rupert glanced at the woman in the black robe standing behind Roland—she really shouldn't have worn dark clothes: "You don't want me to smear a few shillings of filth on my face, do you?"

Roland gently put down his cigar.

That's tantamount to putting your neck to the blade.

"Putting aside my role as an executive officer, you should know that I'm also one of the owners of the 'Fountain of Youth'... How many shillings do you think my maid would use for face cream?" The man said smugly, "Harida, tell her how many pounds the face cream I bought you last week cost?"

Harida's expression was serious: "Thirteen pounds, sir. That's the best."

Roland hummed and tilted his head back, attempting to flick Rupert's forehead with his chin.

Behind.

After the maid finished speaking, she quietly bent down and whispered in his ear:

"But, but, sir, I haven't been able to open the gift box; it's still in my closet..."

Rupert looked at Roland quietly.

Seeing him silently turn his head back and begin to concentrate on selecting cigars again, he said, "Speaking of which, I've learned a lot about cigars from a friend, Theodore, would you like to hear it?"

Rupert gave a forced smile: "I'm not deaf, Mr. Collins."

(End of this chapter)