The Ashori, a vessel of the Archipelago Royal Liner company, was a giant by any asure.
Its 213-ter hull cut confidently through storms on its route to the Wastelands and the Lennon Archipelago. Onboard were 2,200 crew mbers and passengers, including a hired team of exorcists for their protection.
Out on the vast, gray abyss of the sea, it offered an undeniable sense of security.
Many passengers lingered on deck. So yearned for the holand they had left behind, others eagerly anticipated a new life, and a third group simply hoped the Ashori would safely reach the Lennon Archipelago.
The noise of the deck and the crash of waves faded as Lu Li stepped into a cabin corridor. Most of the doors were open, spilling out snippets of conversation and the sounds of luggage being moved about.
Stepping around a passenger shoving a suitcase into a cabin, Lu Li checked his ticket and found his own room midway down the hall.
By the door, a young woman who looked like a novice, dressed in a cloak and holding several enormous tos, was speaking with a middle-aged man. The man nodded happily and walked away, passing Lu Li just as the woman pushed the door open.
Cabins on ocean liners varied. The Avitanis, for example, which had carried Aunt Mary and JoJo away, had only three classes: first, second, and third.
The Ashori, however, like the previously ntioned Raislin, offered first, second, third, and fourth-class passage.
This second-class cabin was less spacious than its equivalent on the Avitanis, lacking separate rooms. But it was a definite improvent over fourth class, accommodating only two people.
When Lu Li entered, the cloaked young woman had her back to him, busy arranging her books.
Hearing the door creak, she turned, her chestnut hair fanning out. Her gaze rested on Lu Li's face for a mont before she confidently extended her hand. "Hello, I'm Emin Grolin."
"Lu Li."
Lu Li lightly touched her palm. The young woman's fingers twitched, as if unaccustod to the contact.
"The sign of the Three-Eyed Crow? And with a filled-in eye!" Emin Grolin exclaid, spotting the badge on his chest. "Are you a Senior Investigator?"
"Yes."
Most people didn't recognize the badge, let alone know its na or the significance of the filled-in eye. "Are you an exorcist?" he asked.
"Not yet, but I will be soon!" the young woman declared, straightening with pride. She gestured to an emblem pinned to her cloak—it wasn't a badge, as it lacked a symbol against its background of roses. "I'm a trainee exorcist."
"A trainee?"
"You didn't know?" Emin Grolin gave Lu Li a scrutinizing look, as if suddenly doubting the authenticity of his badge.
"I've been on a ship for the last two days," Lu Li replied. He wasn't used to being so out of the loop.
"I see... The announcent was only made yesterday afternoon," Emin Grolin said with a nod, sitting down on a bunk without realizing it was Lu Li's. "The Investigators, the Night's Watch, and the Exorcist Association have rged into a single organization called 'Exorcist,' eliminating the old divisions of responsibility... Wait a mont."
Rembering sothing, she jumped up, opened her suitcase, and pulled out a folded newspaper. Inside, there were even so vegetables and fruits.
"Here, this morning's edition."
Lu Li took the copy of the Daily News. The front page was dominated by the news of the unified exorcist organization's restructuring.
The three organizations had rged into the "Exorcist" organization with a new system of badges, though they had retained the four-tiered hierarchy of the forr Association: Exorcist, Spirit Exterminator, Demon Hunter, and Legendary Demon Hunter.
Evidently, the rger was a response to the worsening situation and a catastrophic shortage of personnel...
Trainee exorcists were a reserve pool, not yet ready for full status. Typically, after completing their theoretical studies and participating in one or two anomaly incidents, they would be promoted.
Emin Grolin was one of them. She had passed her theoretical exams; now all that remained was the practical component: participating in an anomaly incident.
In the settlent of Peschanaya Obval in the Wastelands, strange incidents had beco more frequent: people were disappearing, and the locals remained silent. Instead of taking on the local assignnt her family had arranged, Emin Grolin chose this case and secretly boarded the Ashori.
It was a coincidence that Emin Grolin would be disembarking at Port Most—Lu Li's own destination. And another: Peschanaya Obval was just over twenty kiloters from the port.
Lu Li wanted to learn more details about the events in the settlent—they might be connected to Aunt Mary. But the young woman knew very little.
"Mr. Lu Li, are you also going to Port Most to investigate the case in Peschanaya Obval?" Emin Grolin inquired.
"No, but it might be related."
"Excellent, we can work together!" Because of Lu Li's status, the young woman, who had just left her "childhood ho," was filled with trust, showing no wariness toward the stranger in her cabin. She even said outright that she got a pleasant feeling from Lu Li, like standing in the shade of a tree on a clear day.
This was clearly the influence of his Humanity: people rarely felt any animosity toward Lu Li, and it was difficult not to believe his words.
Lu Li leafed through Emin Grolin's heavy books: a pharmacology text, a study of anomalistics, and a geographical guide.
The anomalistics text contained only superficial knowledge that wouldn't lower one's Mind Level. Only the last few pages carried a warning: further reading would cause a drop in Mind Level and induce hallucinations. What followed was a description of the rituals of a dozen well-known evil spirits.
Interestingly, so of the spirits were accompanied by illustrations: the Uninvited Guest, the Shadow Stealing Fire, the Swarm of Sufferings, and the Beheaded Spirit—those that possessed an observable physical form.
The depictions of the Uninvited Guest and the Swarm of Sufferings matched what Lu Li had seen. The Swarm of Sufferings was illustrated as a bloated, giant, deford tuber covered in eyes. The sketch of the Beheaded Spirit showed the silhouette of a woman in a dirty dress, her head wrapped in a sack and tied off at the neck.
Although they had forms, these were not the spirits' true bodies but rather so kind of projection, incapable of causing real harm.
Only the Swarm of Sufferings appeared to be in its true body, but any damage inflicted upon it would be uselessly reflected back at the attacker. However, the spirit itself was almost harmless—as long as it was left alone, it would cause no harm.
That is, of course, if one could ignore the drop in Mind Level and the terror and disgust it inspired.
Twilight deepened outside the porthole. The electric lights in the cabin flickered on, and at the crew's request, Emin Grolin lit an oil lamp on the nightstand.
It had to be extinguished upon leaving the cabin—violators would have their passenger status revoked and be put ashore at the next stop.
As night fell, Lu Li drew the curtain and headed with Emin Grolin to the dining hall for second and fourth-class passengers.
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