Dorothy’s Forbidden Grimoire

In recent days, Dorothy had been preoccupied with figuring out where to gather spirituality. The essence of the “Chalice” could be drawn from flesh, but that wasn’t what she desired. What she truly sought was the accumulation of “Revelation,” which resided in knowledge. Dorothy had already conducted an experiment at the bookstore in the town of Vulcan. She discovered that mundane knowledge contained very little “Revelation.” The “Revelation” in ordinary books from a typical bookstore was almost negligible compared to what she had accumulated from the fragment of The Anatomy of Sacred Flesh.

Dorothy suspected that even if she read through the entire bookstore, the “Revelation” gained would barely amount to the two points contained in the fragment of The Anatomy of Sacred Flesh. However, reading the entire bookstore was an unrealistic task.

From this experiment, Dorothy concluded that to quickly accumulate the spiritual essence of “Revelation,” she would need to obtain knowledge as arcane and profound as what was in The Art of Sacred Anatomy. But where to find such books remained a significant problem.

Dorothy often fantasized about stumbling upon a street-side shop selling a trove of forbidden books. For the price of a single coin, she could buy a book guaranteed to hold hidden knowledge. If such a shop existed, she’d waste no time clearing it out entirely.

But such a scenario was nothing more than a pipe dream. Realistically, Dorothy thought it unlikely. However, now there was a secret gathering happening, and she had a chance to join the fray. She could see if there was anything worthwhile to be found—hopefully some forbidden books.

As she mulled over her plans, Dorothy glanced at the calendar on her desk. It showed the date as April 14th, meaning the gathering was tomorrow. She had to prepare.

With her mind made up, Dorothy focused her attention back on the gecko corpse marionette she used for surveillance. She wanted to see if she could gather more useful information.

When Dorothy resumed observing Gregor, she noticed he was tidying up the documents on his desk. After organizing them, he put them back in his bag.

“Hmm? Is that it?”

Seeing this scene, Dorothy wondered. But to her surprise, Gregor didn’t turn off the light to rest. Instead, after looking around cautiously, he crouched down on the floor. This left Dorothy confused.

Just as Dorothy was trying to figure out what he was doing, she saw Gregor pull out several large books with thick covers from under his bed. At this, Dorothy’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, books! Hidden so well—are these classified documents from the Serenity Bureau? Or perhaps some esoteric texts on mysticism?”

As Gregor pulled out the books, Dorothy felt her spirit rise with excitement. She stared intently as he placed the mysterious books on the desk and slowly opened one.

Then, Dorothy’s expression froze on her face.

The books on Gregor’s desk contained hardly any text—mostly illustrations. The images depicted curvaceous, scantily clad mature women in provocative poses. As Gregor flipped through the pages, the content became increasingly indescribable.

Gregor was engrossed, absorbed in his reading. Meanwhile, Dorothy, who was seeing the same content through the gecko’s eyes, remained seated calmly in her room. Her face betrayed no emotion—no blush, no quickened breath. She quietly waited for Gregor to finish flipping through the pages.

After a few pages, Dorothy shook her head slightly in disappointment. She leaned back in her chair, took a sip of water from the glass on her desk, and sighed.

“Is that it? Not impressive, my guy…”

Honestly, Dorothy found it entirely normal for a young man of Gregor’s age to hide some risqué books at home. However, due to the era’s limitations, the quality of such material was lackluster. The artwork was outdated and unattractive, with little variety in poses or themes. Compared to the wealth of “study material” available in the internet era, this was underwhelming.

In short, Dorothy had seen far more provocative content in her past life, making Gregor’s cherished stash utterly unremarkable to her.

Not wanting to disrupt the young man’s late-night “studies,” Dorothy controlled the gecko corpse marionette to return to her room. She carefully stored it back in its box, secured it in her suitcase, and locked it.

After tidying up her suitcase full of contraband, Dorothy turned off the lights, climbed into bed, and ended her first day in Igwynt.

…

The next morning, Dorothy, still in her pajamas and rubbing her eyes, stepped into the sunlight-filled living room. She was greeted by the sight of Gregor sitting on the sofa, eating bread, with two plates of breakfast laid out on the coffee table.

“Good morning, Dorothy. Come have breakfast,” Gregor greeted her warmly. Dorothy nodded in response.

“Good morning… Did you make all this, Gregor?”

“Not really. It’s Mrs. Harker downstairs who prepared it. I’m usually too busy to cook, so I pay her a little to help with my meals… Well, now it’s for both of us.”

Gregor finished the last bite of his fried egg and continued, “You go ahead and eat. I need to head to the office soon. I’ve got tasks to handle today. Feel free to explore the area over the next two days. I’ll take you to the school the day after tomorrow. Enjoy yourself!”

As he spoke, Gregor grabbed a piece of bread, put on his coat, and headed for the door. Dorothy, now seated on the sofa, watched him leave.

“Take care, I’ll make sure to enjoy myself…”

Dorothy said this as she picked up a newspaper from the sofa. She began reading while eating her breakfast.

After finishing her meal, Dorothy changed into her outdoor clothes. She examined herself in the mirror, turning slightly to check her appearance. Satisfied, she picked up a suitcase and left the house.

Downstairs, she hailed a carriage and hopped on. Riding through the city, she zigzagged through the streets, switching carriages several times. Eventually, she arrived at a dock along the riverside.

The dock bustled with activity—ships unloading cargo, sailors shouting as they moved about, goods piled high, and numerous large warehouses used for storage.

From her suitcase, Dorothy retrieved a hooded cloak she had purchased in Vulcan. After donning it and pulling up the hood, she stepped off the carriage.

With her face concealed, she walked through the fishy-smelling dock, heading toward a warehouse. After presenting a voucher to the warehouse manager, she was handed a key and a gas lamp. Dorothy entered the warehouse, where rows of locked iron doors marked the large storage compartments.

This was the dock’s storage warehouse. Many goods delayed for various reasons were stored here. As long as you paid enough, you could store them for as long as you wanted. Similarly, with enough money, no one would question what you stored, who stored it, or even bother to inspect the declared type or value of the goods.

In an era with such a lack of regulation, money could accomplish many things…

Holding the key, Dorothy walked deeper into the warehouse. After a few turns, she arrived at one of the storage compartments. Unlocking the iron door, she entered to find a collection of wooden crates of various sizes, each locked securely.

These were all items Dorothy had transported from Vulcan…

After surveying the area, Dorothy stepped into the storage room. Approaching a long, rectangular wooden crate, she retrieved a small set of keys from her suitcase. After carefully selecting one, she unlocked the crate. Then, she slipped on the Corpse Marionette Ring.

As Dorothy channeled the spirituality of the “Chalice” through the Corpse Marionette Ring, the long wooden crate began to stir. The lid creaked open like a coffin, revealing a figure slowly rising from within.

The figure was tall and lean, clad in a dark red suit with black trousers. His complexion was pale, his face gaunt, with deep-set eyes, a hooked nose, and a cruel gaze. His short black hair completed his ominous appearance.

This was Edrick Grandi, the first person Dorothy had personally killed after arriving in this world. He was the original owner of the Corpse Marionette Ring and the former leader of a gang in Vulcan.