Lumian reached a conclusion that if his guess was true, Cordu and the surrounding area were the only places affected by the time reversal. Other places were not affected.
Lumian's thoughts raced, wondering if leaving this place would allow him to return to his normal life. He turned to Aurore and pretended to be guilty.
"Well, uh, this telegram is my doing."
"You?" Aurore was both angry and amused but, more importantly, at a loss.
She wondered if her brother had pranked her.
This was akin to being pecked in the eye by an eagle despite being an experienced hunter!
Lumian explained 'sincerely,' "Here's the thing. Haven't I always wanted to go to Trier to take a look? So, two days ago, I secretly sent a telegram to Novel Weekly at the telegraph office. I wrote it in your style to ask when the nearest author salon is. As expected, they warmly sent an invitation."
Aurore showed a look of enlightenment, as though the mystery was finally solved. "So that's how it is…"
The next second, she picked up a wooden stick beside her and gritted her teeth.
"So the child has grown up!"
Lumian quickly added, "Aurore, no, Grande Soeur, listen to my excuses. No, listen to my explanation."
He didn't panic and even deliberately joked.
"Fine, go ahead," Aurore said as she held onto the wooden stick. "I've always made sure that others accept any punishment with my best conduct. How can I convict someone without listening to the suspect's statement? Even if you are to die, I'll make sure you die knowing why!"
Lumian quickly said, "In Intis, Trier has the most and best universities. I'm going to take the college entrance examination soon, and I want to visit them to decide which three to apply for."
Aurore nodded slightly, indicating for Lumian to continue.
Lumian praised his sister sincerely.
"I believe that as long as I make this legitimate request, you will definitely take me to Trier. However, you will have to spend your money. If Novel Weekly sends an invitation, not only will the steam locomotive ticket and hotel accommodation fees be reimbursed, but also various entertainment expenses in Trier.
"I know you don't need the money, but all the writing you've done was painstaking work, word after word. I won't let a way of saving money go to waste."
Aurore's expression eased.
"At least you care about me. But have you considered that I don't want to attend an author salon? I hate interacting with so many strangers."
Lumian smiled.
"Aurore, uh, Grande Soeur, have you thought that Novel Weekly invited you so warmly not to let you attend the salon, but to build a good relationship with you? You're a famous best-selling author. The salon isn't important; what's important is you. You can find a reason to reject the salon if you're willing to accept the invitation to visit Trier. The people at Novel Weekly will be glad that you accepted the first part of the invitation."
Aurore sized up Lumian.
"You're getting better at reading people."
She exhaled and said, "Alright, I'll handle some matters and pack our luggage. We'll leave for Trier in two days. Send a telegram to Novel Weekly before we leave and ask them to pick us up at the Trier train station."
"Alright!" Lumian couldn't hide his joy.
Although he suspected that it was impossible for him and Aurore to simply walk out of Cordu and find the corresponding source of the time reversal, he had to try. He couldn't trap himself in one place.
Having such thoughts, he had tried to convince Aurore.
Lumian didn't plan on telling Aurore about the time reversal because she had lost her corresponding memories. Lumian knew that it was unlikely that she would believe such a delusional speculation unless Lumian kept making prophecies that were eventually verified. However, he still pretended that he wasn't aware of the time reversal. He didn't plan on making prophecies for the time being to see if he could discover any clues.
Using reading as an excuse, Lumian returned to the second floor and entered the study.
He sat down and casually flipped open a book to confirm if he had it the right way up.
Then he sank into his own thoughts, hoping to make further sense of the current situation through the various details he discovered last night and today.
As his gaze shifted across the empty space, Lumian saw the livre bleu on the table.
His heart skipped a beat, and he retracted his thoughts. He stretched out his palm and took the livre bleu, flipping through it quickly.
The pages that were missing some words and had corresponding holes appeared before his eyes.
That letter… Lumian muttered silently.
He combined the "late" reply from Novel Weekly with the letter of help that Leah, Ryan, and the others had received, and he had a new guess.
Perhaps that letter was really written by me. I'm the murderer!
Time reversal might have happened more than once. According to the definition in Aurore's novel, this should be called a time loop.
In a previous cycle, I discovered a certain abnormality through certain exploratory actions and decided to seek help from the outside world by sending an anonymous letter without implicating Aurore. By the time officials realized the seriousness of the problem and sent Ryan and the others to deal with it, Cordu had already begun a new cycle. Like Aurore now, I lost all my corresponding memories and returned to my 'initial' state…
Now, that begs the question. Why are words still missing from this livre bleu?
Logically speaking, it should have returned to its "initial" state, just like the food I ate in the previous cycle.
There are two possibilities.
Firstly, if I discover an abnormality and ask for help before time starts to loop, then the relevant memories shouldn't be reset. Could there be another reason that caused me to lose a portion of my memories? This is getting more and more complicated…
Secondly, I had found a way to keep something from being affected by the loop during that particular cycle. What could it be? If there is, why don't I just find a piece of paper and write down what I found?
Lumian felt like he had cleared away a layer of fog and reconstructed the general situation, only to fall into even more confusion.
He believed that he had already experienced many time loops. However, in the previous cycles, his memories and physical condition would reset once he started from the beginning, so he did not notice it at all.
The reason why he could retain his memories and the Hunter Beyonder characteristic this time was that he had met the lady and obtained the Wand card. He had entered the dream ruins and activated the special trait in him.
Since the special trait brought about by the two symbols allowed Lumian to "bring" his Beyonder state in the dream to reality, it was completely possible for them to "save" his complete physical condition to the starting point of the cycle.
Therefore, even after the shotgun monster's condition reset, it still failed to retrieve the Hunter Beyonder characteristic… Lumian leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling as he slowly exhaled.
He then laughed self-deprecatingly.
I've just become a Beyonder, but I have to face such abnormal things. I don't even get the time to develop…
Uh, I can't confirm that the request for help was created by me. It might have been Aurore, and Madame Pualis is also a suspect. As Beyonders, they might have sensed something amiss during a certain cycle and tried to save themselves. With their mysticism knowledge, it's easier for them to find a way to preserve some traces than I can. Nonetheless, a time loop is indeed the best guess for the current situation.
As he pondered, Lumian realized a way to confirm the source of the letter.
The solution was simple. He would enter the dream ruins and flip through the same livre bleu at home.
If the livre bleu also had missing words, it meant that Lumian had created the letter of help himself. The home in the special dream was formed by his subconscious projection onto the mixed ruins. Everything he subconsciously knew would appear there.
If not, then it was most likely done by Aurore or Madame Pualis. Lumian's subconscious wouldn't know about this and wouldn't be responsible for it.
Lumian wasn't in a hurry to 'catch up on his sleep.' Seeing that it was about time, he sneaked out of the house and headed straight for Ol' Tavern.
In the corner of Ol' Tavern, he spotted a familiar figure.
It was the lady who had given him the Wand card and potion formula.
She was wearing a long orange pleated dress with a flounce collar and a light-colored frilly hat.
Lumian heaved a sigh of relief, feeling like a drowning person who had finally caught a lifebuoy.
He quickly walked over and noticed that there were not breakfast items on the table in front of the lady, but three stacks of tarot cards.
"Do you need me to draw a card?" Lumian probed.
"You've already drawn it." The woman shuffled the three stacks of tarot cards without looking up.
Lumian felt tears welling up in his eyes.
As expected, she was not affected by the time loop!
Without beating around the bush, Lumian sat down and asked directly, "I, as well as the entire Cordu Village, have fallen into a time loop?"
The lady looked up and replied with a smile, "Yes, you're one of the Circle Inhabitants."
Lumian repeated the term 'Circle Inhabitants' to himself and asked in confusion, "What does that refer to? People caught in a time loop?"
The lady smiled and said, "There are two explanations. The first refers to people that obtained a special power equivalent to Sequence 4 after praying to a certain existence. The second refers to your current situation."
"You can obtain strength by praying to a hidden existence?" Lumian was very surprised by the first explanation of Circle Inhabitants.
Wasn't it the case that all 22 Beyonder pathways relied on consuming potions to advance?
The lady nodded slightly and said, "In theory, the Eternal Blazing Sun can also bestow the gift of Beyonder powers without the need for a potion. However, it is a burden to Him. It can only be used as a temporary measure. The more people who need a blessing, the greater the burden. It might even affect His state.
"There are also disadvantages to those who are bestowed. They will slowly become closer to the Eternal Blazing Sun, be it in body, mind, or spirit.
"Moreover, as it is a gift from a superior being, They can take it back at any time unless you possess the unique power of certain pathways and secretly complete a certain level of stealing while still having the gift."
