Mysterious, but Naruto

Mr. Rokudo, today, through a friend's introduction, I met an extraordinary person who is ostensibly a writer.

Based on her disguise and the information you left in the Divine Tree space, I determine that she is an Extraordinary being in the "Apprentice" sequence, but I cannot yet determine her specific sequence number.

This person also offered to help me and my friends by providing recipes and potions in exchange for rescuing one of her friends from prison.

Our investigation leads us to suspect that her friend is also an extraordinary individual.

Finally, I'd like to ask, Susie tried to speak today, but she stumbled and couldn't form coherent sentences. Is there anything wrong with that? — Zuo Fu

Louis, who was chatting with the receptionist at the fortune teller's club, was also somewhat surprised to receive Audrey's message.

I am aware of the previous situation. I can continue to maintain contact with the other party. If the other party's sequence is not high, that is, sequence 8 or below, I have extraordinary characteristics that can help the other party advance.

Even if it's higher than Sequence 7, I still have subsequent potion recipes. If I sense that the other party is interested, I can use this as a condition to exchange for corresponding benefits.

Regarding Susie speaking, I told you before that under the influence of the potion, she possessed the intelligence of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old human at the time, so it's not a problem for her to want to try speaking. As for the other details, I'll check on her tonight. —Gou Chen

Louis didn't see anything wrong with Susie speaking; after all, it was perfectly normal for a ninja beast to speak, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

The reason he said that was precisely to take this opportunity to thoroughly examine Susie and record her data so that he could compare it with the rabbits in his divine tree space.

But now, he is not prepared to change his original plan and intends to continue staying in the fortune teller's club.

Louis already knew that prophecy and divination could be performed with the help of the spirit world when he was analyzing the knowledge infused into him by the light gate, but at that time he did not know how to do it.

It wasn't until he obtained the fake carpenter's memories from his mind, along with the knowledge he gained from the "fortune teller" rabbit and the half-"astrologer" rabbit, that he gained a deeper understanding of how to manipulate the power of the spirit world.

After learning about Backlund, Louis discovered that there was even a fortune-telling club there, which is why he came here by carriage.

However, Louis did not intend to join the club as a fortune teller to give readings; rather, he came to the club as an enthusiast interested in fortune telling to make a purchase.

He wasn't going to let others do his divination; instead, he planned to pay for some internal courses to learn what divination methods existed in the world and whether they were the same as those he had learned from the "diviner" rabbit.

In fact, after Louis learned that the digestive potion required an actor, he had some ideas.

The extraordinary paths he now understands consist of four: the diviner, the apprentice, the thief, and the spectator, plus the half corresponding to the "Hanged Man."

According to another potion recipe that the Hanged Man told Audrey, its name should be "Sailor".

So, there are five ways Louis could have known the name.

In Louis's view, it would be relatively easy for outsiders to guess the roles these potion sequences were intended to play.

Take the Diviner's Club, for example. Whether you're a Sequence 9 "Diviner" or a Sequence 7 "Astrologist," you can play the role here.

Of course, besides divination clubs, circuses are also a very suitable place for "astrologers".

In the circus, besides the "astrologers" who can disguise themselves as gypsy wizards and use crystal balls to tell fortunes, lower-ranking "apprentices" and "master magicians" can also play magicians.

By the way, the "Fortune Teller" and its superiors, the "Clown" and the "Magician," are also quite suitable for the circus.

But circuses have one problem: they are not permanent; they are mobile exhibitors.

Louis had previously visited two nearby circuses, but unfortunately, there were no extraordinary individuals among them.

As for "thieves," they are not much different from ordinary thieves. Unless you specifically look for thieves, it is very difficult to find them.

The "Sailor" route is another example; you can tell where they'll appear just by their name, although Louis hasn't seen them at the port of Backlund yet.

Don't forget Louis's alter ego, which he had previously arranged to go overseas. There were many "sailors" on the ship where the "Hanged Man" was located.

Then there's the "audience," a very broad term that encompasses circus audiences, opera audiences, and so on—there are countless opportunities for audiences to express themselves.

However, Audrey received information that her next step involved a "psychologist," so it was clear that the psychologists in the psychological clinic were the most suitable cover.

This conjecture, coupled with his curiosity about the divination methods of this world, led to Louis's visit to the divination club.

Unfortunately, Louis did not find any extraordinary individuals within the club.

After a fruitless search, Louis realized once again that the number of extraordinary individuals in this world was indeed very small.

You should know that he had been here for several weeks. Although he hadn't been looking for it intentionally, he had traveled to almost every street in the area to promote his carriage.

As a result, Louis only actually saw a few official Beyonders when passing by several cathedrals in Backlund and a place that looked like an official outpost.

If Audrey hadn't sent him a letter today saying she'd met two extraordinary individuals, Louis would have suspected that the church had orchestrated the expulsion of all unofficial extraordinary individuals overseas.

After Louis finished his lesson at the club and chatted with several fortune tellers for a while, he left in his carriage.

It's unclear whether it was the message from Audrey that triggered something in Louis, but on his way back to the mansion, he unexpectedly saw an extraordinary person through the carriage window.

The person was hidden in the shadows at the street corner, moving lightly and nimbly, yet capable of unleashing tremendous power the moment they struck.

In the short time it took for a carriage to pass the street corner, Louis watched as the other man used a small knife held between his fingers to cut open the pockets of three men and steal their valuables.

Throughout this entire process, the people whose belongings were stolen were completely unaware, and some even smiled and nodded at the person who did it.

Louis immediately thought of the "Thief" sequence, and with a flick of his finger, a tiny pebble, almost invisible to the naked eye, flew out of the carriage.

After crossing a distance of over thirty meters, I gently touched the person.

Even such a slight touch alerted the person, who immediately withdrew his hand and leaned against the wall, completely hiding himself in the shadows.

Only after repeatedly observing and confirming that no one was paying attention to him and that he was not injured did he quickly run away from the street.

Louis, however, no longer cared. He had marked the man, so he could easily find him if needed.

As the carriage traveled to the western district, Louis noticed a group of children dressed in simple clothes, with at least three or four patches but still looking clean, talking to someone in the backyard of a mansion.

Noticing Louis's gaze, Reed quickly followed it.

"Sir, those should be children from the area south of the East Bridge. It's almost dinner time, and they've come here hoping to get some food."

Louis frowned slightly: "South of the bridge, isn't that a working-class area?"

I remember that only the East Side of Backlund was a slum, so how come the children in the working-class area are also going hungry?

After spending some time with Louis, Reed and the others learned what kind of person he was, so they didn't hide their emotions and sighed directly.

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. Since the abolition of the Grain Act, the price of grain in the country has indeed dropped significantly. Take Backlandre as an example, it has dropped by at least half, allowing everyone to eat cheap food."

However, due to the sharp price drop, many farmers in the outskirts of Backlund who relied on farming lost a lot of money and had to come to the city to find work, otherwise they would not be able to support their families.

But the number of jobs in the city is actually limited, so it naturally replaces many jobs that were originally held by residents.

Especially those who come from the suburbs, in order to support their families, ask for lower wages than city dwellers, and do more work.

As a result, many families in what was once a relatively comfortable working-class neighborhood are now facing starvation due to job losses.

After saying that, Reed glanced again at the group of children in the distance.

"The Corn Laws..."

Louis thought about the word and felt it was very familiar. Then he remembered that in the history he had learned before he transmigrated, Great Britain first used the Enclosure Movement to make sheep eat people, and then it completely drove down the domestic grain price, forcing farmers to transform into workers.

"I didn't expect to find a similar tactic here. Does that mean George III and Victoria were birds of a feather?"

Because Louis spoke too softly, Reed didn't hear what he said: "Sir, what did you say?"

Louis snapped out of his reverie, closed his eyes, and leaned back. "It's nothing," he said. "I was just thinking about whether I should find an opportunity to expand the factory and hire more employees..."

Soon, the carriage returned home, and Louis changed out of his outdoor clothes and into his home clothes.

"Alright, I need to go to my study to take care of some business. Come find me before dinner."

After confirming that Audrey was alone with the ring, Louis opened a spatial rift and entered her room.

"Six, six, six, life, life..."

The moment Louis appeared, Susie, who was squatting on the ground, wagged her tail excitedly, but her words were hesitant and incomplete.

"Good day, Mr. Rokudo. I apologize for troubling you with this trip because of Susie's matter. However, I really can't tell my family about Susie's situation suddenly, and I can't find anyone else to confide in, so I can only bother you."

Seeing Audrey bowing and talking there, Louis waved his hand to indicate that she didn't need to mind.

"It's okay, let me check on Susie first. Come here, Susie, be good."

As Louis placed his hand on Susie's head, he immediately understood her situation.

"It's okay, I already know what happened."

Although Susie's body was modified little by little after taking the potion, her throat structure remained unchanged, and she still could not speak like a human.

However, this clever little Susie figured out on her own how to mimic human speech by using her intuition to change the speed of air flow in her throat while making sounds.

"Yes, Susie has been simulating this for a few days now, and it looks like she'll have a firm grasp of it soon."

Audrey's eyes lit up: "That means Susie can talk to me from now on!"

Louis understood Audrey's excitement perfectly; after all, who wouldn't want a talking dog?

Seeing Susie being held in Audrey's arms, Louis found a stool and sat down.

"What's the situation with that extraordinary person you met today? Is she trustworthy? And what's the situation with the person you wanted to save?"

When it came to serious matters, Audrey released Susie, and her expression became serious.

"Mr. Liudao, that extraordinary person is called Fors Wall. She used to be a clinic surgeon and is now a novelist. The very popular novel on the market right now, 'Stormy Mountain Villa,' is her work."

As for the companion she wanted to rescue, his name was Hugh Deercha, who was said to have stood up for someone and ended up injuring a mob boss.

But this matter is still under further investigation by Viscount Grelint and me, the one who made the introduction, therefore…”

Louis nodded: "So, what has Fors Wall promised you in return?"

As Audrey finished speaking, she couldn't help but smile: "She told us that if we could help her rescue her companion, she would take us to a secret gathering for extraordinary individuals, where she would help us find the Sequence 9 recipe we wanted."

However, she didn't know that I had already entered the ranks of the extraordinary, and that this secret gathering was far more valuable than the Sequence 9 recipe.

Louis thought for a moment and then said, "What about that Viscount Grelint? Is he trustworthy? I remember you mentioned him before."

Speaking of Viscount Grelint, Audrey immediately assured him, "Please rest assured, Viscount Grelint and I grew up together. To be honest, he was my mentor in the field of mysticism."

Much of my knowledge of occultism, as well as some materials, came from him.

At this point, Audrey became a little embarrassed: "Mr. Rokudo, didn't you say before that if I could get the basics of chakra refining, I could test my own chakra attributes and introduce others to join the organization?"

"This is all thanks to the Chakra Fruit you gave me. Without its help, it might have taken me several more months to truly master it."

Upon hearing Audrey mention that she had just mastered the basics of chakra refining, Louis immediately became interested, straightening his back, which had been slumped slightly after sitting down.

"Oh? Let me see!"