My setting is above yours!

Chapter 54: Shroud of the Dead Acquired, Version Update Announcement (8k2)

"The Shrine of Relics?"

Baron Hall turned around with some surprise, his gaze toward Idrila carrying a hint of strangeness.

After a moment, looking at Idrila's sincere and earnest expression, he couldn't help but throw his cane aside, clap his hands, and burst into laughter.

"Oh, poor Idrila... I thought you were just stubborn, but it turns out you're really stupid!"

"I just ruined another business of mine, and now I'm going to lose tens of thousands of pounds this year..."

"And now you're putting on this pleading act, asking me for some 'shroud'?"

He looked at Idrila, suddenly stopped his unrestrained laughter, and said through gritted teeth:

"What's your attitude!"

“These two things are unrelated, Mr. Hall.”

Idrisra spoke sincerely:

"Selling children to work as apprentices in factories and exploiting their blood and sweat is something that should never be done, and it is my duty to stop you from betraying justice..."

“But I do need to borrow the Shroud of the Holy Remains from you—I only need to borrow it for one day, and I will return it to you without damaging it in the slightest.”

"Okay."

After a moment of silence, Baron Hall seemed to realize that Idrila was determined to get it, and his tone became tinged with mockery:
"But there always has to be a price for a transaction, right?"

"Of course there should be a price!"

Idrisla nodded without hesitation and said earnestly:
"'The Shroud of the Dead' is... well, a 'special' material. You should understand what I mean—I can rent it for a price higher than the normal market price!"

As she spoke, she counted on her fingers and finally confirmed:

“Hmm… I can offer £316, 13 shillings and 7 pence, which is far above the normal market price and is definitely enough to rent this ‘Shroud of the Dead’!”

"Market price? No, no, no, Miss Idrila, you need to understand, it's you who's desperately asking for it, not me begging you to trade..."

Baron Hall said slowly and deliberately:
"Fifty thousand gold pounds, my deficit this year—you cover this hole for me, and I'll lend you that 'Shroud of the Holy Relic'!"

"Since you're in such a hurry, you must be able to afford this price, right?"

Fifty thousand gold pounds?

That's enough to pile up into a small mountain!
I heard that in the Fog City, even a bottle of Sequence 6 potion only costs 20,000 to 30,000 gold pounds.

Although it was a case of high price but no market, and no one would actually sell a bottle of potion for 20,000 or 30,000 gold pounds, the extraordinary individuals also had a consensus that the potion was worth between 20,000 and 30,000 gold pounds.

Even with these premiums, the excipients for this mere Sequence 7 potion could never possibly reach such an astronomical price...

Baron Hall's asking price wasn't just outrageous; it was downright unreasonable!

Idris knew this difficulty was not without reason. She paused for a moment, then said bluntly:

“Mr. Hall…this is not a reasonable price. Even if I wanted to pay a premium, you have overcharged too much.”

"Two thousand five hundred gold pounds—that's the highest price I can offer."

If you sell all your academic points and the Glowing Earrings, you can probably get over two thousand gold pounds.

Combined with the money in hand, it amounted to a full two thousand five hundred gold pounds...

Idrila did the math in her mind, and realized that such a fortune was enough to tempt Baron Hall.

...But that was on ordinary days.

Perhaps because Idrila had stopped him too many times, and his dreams of getting rich had been shattered too many times, Baron Hall did not budge even when faced with such a generous reward.

"No, it must be fifty thousand gold pounds... I won't lend you that 'Shroud of the Holy Relic' even if I'm short a single penny!"

He looked at Idrila and sneered, saying:
“I know you can’t come up with that money, so I’m telling you now, these kids can actually earn me exactly 50,000 gold pounds a year.”

As he spoke, he spread his hands, making a very generous gesture:

“If you can let them work as apprentices in the factory, I can be generous and just give you this ‘shroud of the dead’…”

"How about it?" He chuckled, his eyes narrowing. "A very good deal, isn't it?"

"...I advise you not to even consider this idea."

Idris's eyes sharpened: "We're just talking business, but if you're still not giving up on those children..."

Baron Hall interrupted Idrila directly, saying with complete confidence:
"Do you still want to borrow the 'Shroud of the Dead' from me?"

Idrisla was silent for a moment, about to say something, when she was interrupted by a calm voice.

"Alright, no need to waste words with him."

At this moment, Ron, who had witnessed everything, arrived late and slowly walked to Idrila's side.

"He won't lend us the 'Shroud of the Dead'... Listening to his ravings is just a waste of time."

Baron Hall's face darkened as he watched Ron approach.

He looked at Ron, his expression fierce but his voice weak:

"And who are you? Let me tell you, I am the Baron of Evening Bell City! I..."

But before he could finish speaking, Ron impatiently waved his hand, using [Vector Manipulation] to control the wind and air, firing air bullets one after another.

"Ow!"

Air bullets rained down on Baron Hall, leaving him bruised and battered, forcing him to flee in panic.

Just like throwing stones at stray dogs on the roadside to force them to leave, they were beaten and driven away at the same time. Baron Hall was disarmed and his clothes were torn to shreds by air bullets. He scrambled out of the orphanage.

Once outside, he tumbled and rolled a few more times on the roadside, but Ron's air bullet hit him precisely in the buttocks, making him completely disregard his dignity and roll away naked like a dog.

Seeing his master run away, the old butler took off running even faster, all the while scribbling something in his ledger with a quill pen, probably calculating some kind of compensation...

But it seems Baron Hall will never receive compensation in his lifetime.

Ron didn't hang him from the lamppost on the spot because he didn't want to cause trouble... but if he were to blindly jump in front of Ron again, Ron wouldn't mind taking action to show him what the difference between mortals and extraordinary beings is.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ron..."

At this moment, Idrila, who had been watching Baron Hall leave the orphanage in a panic, finally came to her senses and sighed:
“If it weren’t for me, there might have been a chance to get the ‘Shroud of the Holy Relic’ from Baron Hall…”

You know it's your problem, right?

Ron couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing, but he couldn't bring himself to have any objections to Idrila.

After all... if he had the choice, he wouldn't be willing to trade those children's lives for a piece of "shroud of sarcophagus"...

He looked at Idrila with a hint of curiosity, as if he were meeting her for the first time, and asked:

"Since you know that doing this will offend Baron Hall, didn't you think about waiting until you got your hands on the 'Shroud of the Dead' before trying to save those children?"

Upon hearing this, Idrila said awkwardly:

"This...it was indeed a moment of thoughtlessness on my part."

"Seeing the children being arrested and abused, I instinctively took action..."

As she spoke, she lowered her head shyly, seemingly quite embarrassed:

"Although I know this will offend Baron Hall, I simply cannot stand by and do nothing while the children are being abused..."

Oh, manual skills are faster than brainpower.

You've done this kind of thing a lot before, haven't you?
Ron paused for a moment, then deliberately asked:
"But have you ever thought that it is your actions that caused me to lose the opportunity to obtain the 'Holy Shroud'?"

"What if you could do it all over again? What would you choose then?"

"Should we choose the Shroud of Relic, or those unrelated children?"

"If we could do it again..."

Idris hesitated for a moment, as if she was thinking about something.

But in an instant, she arrived at her answer, looked at Ron with utmost seriousness, and said:

“I would do the same thing again, Mr. Ron.”

“Even for just a moment… I cannot stand by and watch the children be abused like that.”

“‘The Shroud of the Dead’ is not exclusive to Baron Hall. If this really means you are without ‘the Shroud of the Dead’, I am free to go to the Church of the Lost to find out.”

As she spoke, a hint of stubbornness crept into her voice:
“Even if I have to dig up all the graves of the Church of the Lost, I will find you a piece of the Shroud of Remains…”

Did they go to the Lost Church and dig up all the graves?
You really are... quite a disturbance to the peace of the deceased.

Ron was speechless for a moment, and in the end, he could only shake his head helplessly:

"The Church of the Lost is extremely dangerous; no one knows what Father Harvey is hiding in the church..."

"Would you rather face this danger than obtain the 'Shroud of the Dead' through an easier means?"

But Idrila disagreed with Ron's words:

“Simple? No, Mr. Ron. On the contrary, it is extremely difficult to use these poor children as bargaining chips to obtain the Shroud of Relic.”

Idris looked at the children still playing nearby, instinctively clenched her hands, and pressed them to her forehead in prayer:
“I would rather go to a heretical church and face the potential dangers than go against my conscience and leave these children under a crumbling wall…”

"After all, I've witnessed far too much sorrow in the Battle of Field..."

As she spoke, a hint of sadness crept into her voice:
"But do you know that those poor people who died on the battlefield may not be the most miserable or desperate people in the world?"

“I once helped some child chimney sweeps in the textile mill in Field—do you know how old they were?”

Although Ron had expected this, he still asked:

"How old?"

Idrisla said, "At the age of four or five, they had to climb into the soot-filled chimneys where the boilers were still burning, day and night..."

"Being able to survive in this job is already a luxury."

"Because of the dark, cramped environment inside the chimney, filled with coal dust, many of these children have become twisted, blackened figures that are no longer human..."

At this point, Idrila's tone was clearly very complicated:

“As a chaplain, I couldn’t cure their illnesses… The first child I tried to treat coughed in front of me for more than ten minutes and then fell silent.”

“Before he fell asleep, he told me…it was so dark in the chimney, and he was so scared.”

"He shouldn't have died. But he died, in darkness and fear, in injustice and violence."

"Since then, I've been thinking that living is already difficult enough, so how desperate would life be if we lived in a place without light?"

As Idrisla spoke, looking at the group of carefree children playing, a clear tenderness flowed in her eyes:
"That's why I decided to become a nun in the sanctuary instead of continuing to stand on the battlefield and fight for bloody military merits."

"Because only by standing here can I help them, do what I can, and save some poor people..."

"If one day, everyone will coldly write a period to their life, I hope that as they walk through the world, at least their journey will be guided by justice and light—"

"Although I can't do that much right now... at least for now, the justice I'm doing is a ray of light for the children."

Ron fell silent for a moment after hearing Idrila's words.

He scrutinized Idris as if he were seeing her for the first time, looking at her intently for a long time, and finally couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

If we remove the somewhat art-disrupting "war" sequence involving Idrila, perhaps she really is a very competent, even stereotypical, "saint"...

Gentle, pure, and upholding justice—

Well, considering the impact of the [War] sequence, perhaps Idrila is more like a so-called "knight" who follows ancient virtues than a saint?
Considering the level of technological development in this era, it's uncertain whether we'll see any other knights in the "Potion Age"...

Being stared at with such admiration by Ron for a full ten minutes made even someone as oblivious as Idrila feel a little strange, and she couldn't help but ask:

"Mr. Ron? What's wrong with you...?"

"Ah, don't worry about it."

Ron then came to his senses, looked at Idrila, and nodded in agreement with utmost seriousness:
“I’m only now realizing that ‘Saintess of the Evening Bell’ is not just a title used to flatter you.”

He gave Idrisla a thumbs up:

"Perhaps, you really can become a saint."

Saint?

To truly be worthy of such a title, one must become a saint... that is, someone who can be called "He"!

What makes Idrila so capable of climbing to such a high level in the [War] sequence?
"No, no, no, Mr. Ron, that's just wishful thinking..."

Idris's face immediately turned red.

It wasn't shyness, it was fear.

What level does she have to presume to touch divinity and step into a position above Sequence Four?

They weren't afraid of triggering some curse, losing control on the spot, or being turned into a crazed monster by the contamination of the potion!
Fearing she would suddenly be torn to pieces by endless blades of air, Idrila stammered, trying to change the subject: "Let's not talk about that... Let's think about how to get the 'Holy Shroud'!"

As she spoke, a distressed expression immediately appeared on her face:
"If we can't get the 'Holy Shroud' from Baron Hall, it seems there's really nowhere else to look for it in Evening Bell City..."

Idrila hesitated for a moment. Although she knew that Baron Hall probably wouldn't lend out the "Holy Shroud," this was still the safest option.

We should try again...

She pondered:
"However, Baron Hall also knew that 50,000 gold pounds was an unreasonable price..."

"Although I have offended him badly this time, if I visit him as a member of the Society and a nun of the Sanctuary, he should not dare to refuse me because of my status."

“When I sell the ‘Glimmering Earring’ and give him some gold pounds, he will probably agree to the deal once he has calmed down. Then we will have the opportunity to borrow the ‘Holy Shroud’ left by the Hall family.”

But Ron shook his head:
"No, he won't give it to me."

“Even if he actually agreed to lend the ‘Shroud of the Dead’ when you gave him gold pounds, he would never actually hand it over to us.”

"after all……"

As Ron spoke, he thought of various classic examples of ideal cities and couldn't help but chuckle:
"Capitalists, regardless of the era... are all the same in their greed."

Even if Idrila borrowed the place as a member of the Society and a nun of the Sanctuary, using her status to pressure others, the result would probably be the same.

After all, Baron Hall's behavior just now proved a lot—he was indeed afraid of Idrila's identity, but there were limits to it.

At least as a nobleman, he was not afraid that his life would be truly threatened by members of the Church of the True God.

Therefore, considering his intense hatred for Idrila... it would be impossible for him not to try and swindle Idrila out of money.

However, Ron was more concerned about the Shroud of Relic than about what kind of scams and lies capitalists would use to steal wealth without giving a penny away.

He asked in confusion, "Why do you say that if we don't get the 'Holy Shroud' from Baron Hall, there's nowhere else in Evening Bell City we can look for it?"

Thinking of Baron Hall's incompetent appearance, Ron couldn't help but frown:

"Is there something special about him?"

"Because of time, Mr. Ron."

Idrisra said helplessly:
“Evening Bell City is just a small city... In Evening Bell City, the Hall family is already the oldest noble family in the country.”

"The most important element for the 'Shroud of Relic' to form is time—"

"In the realm of mysticism, only cloth that has truly transcended nearly a thousand years and an era, imbued with the magic of nobles, heroes, and clergy, can become a qualified 'shroud'..."

As she spoke, she shrugged:
"In Evening Bell City... apart from Baron Hall's long-standing legacy, the only other options are to look in the sanctuary and the church."

So that's why... The formation of this so-called "shroud of shamans" is indeed quite demanding in terms of occult requirements...

But, across a thousand years? Across an era?
Ron seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly asked:

"You mean...traveling through time?"

"Does the so-called 'shroud of the dead' not actually need to decay for a thousand years, but only need to span a thousand years in terms of time?"

Hearing this, Idrila was stunned.

In terms of time, spanning a thousand years, isn't it just decaying within time itself for a thousand years?
Could it be that……

Thinking of the hidden figure behind Ron, Idrila couldn't help but feel a chill.

Was her previous guess wrong? Was that person not an angel who controlled [Order], but a hidden being who manipulated [Time]?

Idrisla pondered for a moment, then said cautiously:
"Theoretically speaking... all extraordinary materials are like this."

“In the concept of mysticism, the existence of an object is traceable—for example, a piece of clothing, in a mystical sense, is born the moment it is made.”

"So, in whatever form it appears two thousand years later... then in a mystical sense it has a two-thousand-year history."

"Take the 'Shroud of the Dead' for example—as long as the concept of its formation is met, even a freshly cut piece of cloth, imbued with magic and sent a thousand years later, will become a qualified 'Shroud of the Dead'..."

Why didn't you say that earlier?

Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

It must be said that since arriving in the "Potion Age," Ron has never seen anyone more "saintly" than Idrila—

Ron firmly believed that someone like Idrila, even if she couldn't become a saint in the "Potion Sequence," was absolutely a saint in terms of character!

If the fabric imbued with her magic could transcend a thousand years... it would undoubtedly become a more sacred and pure "shroud" in a mystical sense!
So, here comes the problem——

If Ron were to return to the "Superpowered Era" with Idrila's clothes...

The time spanned in between was more than a thousand years.

This makes it a certainty that Idrila's clothes will become "shrouds of hominids"!
In a mystical sense, it might even be comparable to the shroud of a real saint...

Thinking of this, Ron couldn't help but cheer:

"I have an idea!"

In fact, Idrila had already anticipated this when she heard that Ron was interested in the concept of time.

She glanced at the shredded clothing scattered on the floor after Ron's brutal beating of Baron Hall, and said thoughtfully:

"Do you mean to..."

"Yes, that's right."

Ron nodded, and Idrila was immediately certain of her thoughts, saying at the same time as him—

"You want to use the fragments of Baron Hall's clothing?"

"Take off your clothes and give them to me."

After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and were both stunned for a moment.

The next moment, Idrila, realizing what Ron had just said, was bewildered for a long time. She looked at Ron, then held up a finger and pointed to herself:
"Me...me?"

"Do you want me to... take off my clothes for you now?"

……

It's getting dark.

Idrisla played with the children at the orphanage for a long time, until they got tired before she prepared to leave.

Considering that Baron Hall probably wouldn't dare to come to Plantagenet Street again, and even if he did, it certainly wouldn't be for anything good, Idrila found the oldest children there before leaving and gave them a few gold pounds.

Tell them that if they encounter any trouble, they should go to Elvis Bookstore to find her; she's always there.

After dealing with the orphanage matters, Idrila returned to the academy with Ron...

Then, following Ron's instructions, he went into the room decisively and changed into an identical white robe with gold thread.

Without the slightest hesitation, he took off the clothes he was wearing and handed them to Ron to be used as material for the "shroud".

Ron took the clothes from Idrila and could feel their obvious warmth.

The next moment, Ron's nose was filled with a fresh, sunny scent, just like Idrila herself, as if the sun had been shining on him.

Looking at the iconic nun's robe she had casually folded, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

After all, Idrila was a young girl, and it was still a bit... somewhat unsuspecting for her to take off her clothes and give them to him so readily...

Well, looking into Idrila's pure and innocent eyes, Ron felt that she was simply unaware of anything wrong with her behavior.

Perhaps it's because he's oblivious, or perhaps he's become too mature from the baptism of war...

In any case, Idrila's behavior was not like that of a young girl; she actually had the air of a single-minded saint.

Ron sighed, looked at Idrila who was completely focused on nothing, and said seriously:

"Thank you, Miss Idrila... With this dress, the last potion ingredients are finally complete."

"Next, I will pray to that person and then make the potion for the [Death] Sequence Seven 'Medium'... Until I successfully complete this potion, I may need to temporarily requisition your room."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but add a word of advice:
"Please do not enter until I become Sequence Seven..."

“Of course!” Idrila said solemnly. “This is a prayer to a hidden being… I will not allow anyone to disturb you, Mr. Ron!”

It's not that important, really. I'm just worried that if I rely on the manual and go back and forth, I might suddenly become a Sequence Seven and scare you...

Ron inwardly scoffed, but Idrila acted as if she were sleeping right outside the door, serving as a doorman, as if she wanted to die with the door open. She was just like a servant knight guarding the door in some chivalric novel.

Seeing Idrila's serious demeanor made Ron feel slightly embarrassed.

Oh well, as long as Idris is happy.

Ron didn't know how to explain to Idrila that this matter wasn't important, so he simply shook his head and closed the door.

After confirming that Idrila wouldn't suddenly burst in, Ron sat down at the table and gripped the still-warm gold-threaded white robe tightly with both hands.

The reason Ron made up the excuse of praying to "that person" was naturally to avoid being noticed.

He still remembered that last time he was on the tower of the Scorched Earth Sanctuary, he took the Blessed Dew back to the Ideal City and put it in, which made Idrila very puzzled about where his Blessed Dew had gone.

Although he managed to get away with it by saying "that lord used it for me," he couldn't always try to salvage the situation by blaming it on some hidden being who was protecting him.

It was a foregone conclusion that Idrila's clothes would be used as "shroud of the dead" in the Ideal City, and Ron naturally couldn't leave such a big oversight to arouse suspicion.

After all, a perfectly good piece of clothing can suddenly be gone...

How could that be possible? Did it somehow swallow it whole?
If the suspicions can't be cleared up later, there will be a lot of trouble.

Ron thought to himself, muttering to himself:

"Extraordinary properties, 'Holy Shroud', and potion recipes..."

After a thorough check, he found that he had everything he needed and was fully prepared. Even the disappearance of the "shroud" had a plausible explanation. He finally nodded in satisfaction.

Upon careful consideration, everything was thoroughly prepared.

Now, it's time to return to Ideal City and advance to Lv.3!
With this thought in mind, Ron opened the Dimensional Update Manual and clicked on "Enter World Save".

The current world save files are: The Era of Superpowers and The Era of Potions (already loaded)

[World save file "Superpower Era" selected, joining the world...]

Ron's vision went black for a moment.

The next moment, the familiar room appeared before him.
But unlike before, as soon as Ron returned to Ideal City, he felt a clear, sun-like warmth coming from his hands.

He looked at the white robe with gold thread in his hand—this nun's habit of Idrila had not changed in any way in appearance, but it was obviously imbued with a strange sense of antiquity and mystery compared to the "Potion Era".

After donning the [Embers of the Divine Era] and activating my magical vision to look at the nun's habit, I could clearly see the pervasive, crimson magical energy emanating from the clothing...

The magic of war had permeated the entire garment, but it had not made it bloody or stained with the intent of slaughter.

Instead, there was a subtle, inexplicable, sacred spirituality permeating it, as gentle as a warm breeze...

At that moment, Ron suddenly felt a burning sensation in his arms.

He immediately took out the spellbook from his pocket, opened the pages, and searched for the recipe for the [Death] Sequence Seven "Medium"—

The moment I saw the recipe for "medium," I was not surprised to see that the words "shroud of the dead" on the recipe were already shining brightly.

really!

Ron, who had been a little apprehensive and worried that his trickery might fail, was now completely relieved.

Indeed... in a mystical sense, Idrila, as a pure nun, would have her magically imbued clothes become a "shroud of hominids" after such a long period of time...

With that, the potion ingredients for the [Death] Sequence Seven "Spirit Medium" have now been completely gathered!
What are you waiting for?
Now that everything is ready, there's no time like the present, so let's concoct the potion now...

Ron was in high spirits and immediately took out a beaker, pure water... and the "medium's" extraordinary properties, which were buried in a metal cigarette box and covered with salt grains.

He was just getting ready to start concocting the potion when a crisp notification sound suddenly rang in his ears.

He turned his head to look, only to find the Dimensional Update Manual screen flickering, and a pop-up window he had never seen before appeared—

[A player has been detected carrying a story item from version 3.0 into version 4.0. We are currently working to refine the logic behind this story item appearing in the player's possession and anchor it within a suitable storyline...]

Based on the catalyst method of this story item, a suitable storyline has been anchored.

What is this...?

What story items were brought back in version 3.0? What did I bring back that caused this manual prompt?

Is Idrila's "shroud of shamanism" or the extraordinary properties of a "medium"?
Ron looked at the Dimensional Update Manual screen with some confusion, and soon saw a small megaphone symbol appear on the manual—

[Version Update Announcement: Version 3.171 → Version 3.172]

We have optimized the storyline of the character "Evening Bell Saintess" and added a fixed drop item, "Nun's Robe," to her. This item can be considered, in a mystical sense, the same as the currently carried story item "Holy Shroud."

Meanwhile, we optimized the plot logic of the main storyline "Drama: Hero vs. Dragon" in the small map Evening Bell City, removed multiple ending options, and simplified the storyline for the character "Evening Bell Saintess".

Now, she is certain to die in the main storyline of Evening Bell City, "Dragon Quest: The Hero vs. the Evil."

(End of this chapter)