The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

Victor said, “Speaking of which, Miss Freya, I still don’t know what you’re going to the [Mind Research Society] for. You don’t look like someone with psychological issues.”

Freya said, “In a sense, my goal is the same as that noble young master you’re trying to catch. I want to obtain some Mind Path potions.”

“Ah?” Victor froze. “You want to take the Mind Path?”

“More or less,” Freya said.

“But... isn’t that a bit of a waste?” Victor said. “Miss Freya, with the luck on you, the Fate Path is clearly the better choice!”

“Although the Fate Path’s combat strength isn’t very high in the early stages, your advancement speed would probably be extremely fast. It might not take long at all. Three years? No, one year, maybe even half a year, and you might reach my current level. Once you reach Rank Four, the situation becomes completely different!”

“At the very least... enemies you can’t defeat might never appear in front of you in the first place.”

After all, it was a Path closely tied to luck. If she could beat an enemy, she would run into them. If she could not, she would never meet them at all. That was quite reasonable.

But Freya still could not help muttering softly, “Half a year just to reach Rank Four? So slow.”

Her voice was small, but the three of them were standing close together, so both Euphemia and Victor heard it.

Euphemia had no special reaction, but Victor froze completely.

“Wait, what? Half a year to Rank Four is slow!?”

Freya silently muttered in her heart, If you knew that in reality, I only spent three days creating one Rank Four and one Rank Five...

Even if she included the time inside the simulations, it had only been one or two months. That was still much faster than half a year.

But Freya had no intention of talking more about this topic.

“In any case, don’t worry about it. I don’t plan to take the Fate Path for now. I want to try the Mind Path first.”

Victor could not help saying, “What do you mean, you don’t plan to take the Fate Path for now? Do you think Paths are something you can just switch whenever you want? Changing Paths halfway will kill you!”

At this moment, Euphemia suddenly cut in and argued, “Actually, not necessarily. If it’s within the same Path, switching between different classes can usually be done safely if the preparation is sufficient.”

For example, a Rank Four [Warrior] could drink a Rank Five [General] potion.

But to be honest, doing that would not increase combat strength by much. After all, the abilities of a Rank Five [General] were [Battle Formation] and [Grant Devotion]. If that person had advanced from a Rank Four [Warrior], they would not have the prerequisite abilities [One-Man Army] and [Grant Adjutant].

That was basically the same as having both Rank Five [General] abilities automatically wasted.

The corner of Victor’s mouth twitched slightly.

“I know that. But weren’t we talking about the Fate Path and the Mind Path?”

Seeing the topic drifting further and further off course, Freya could not help coughing lightly. Then she pointed at herself.

“Victor, do I look like an idiot to you?”

Victor answered instantly.

“Of course not!”

Freya said, “Then don’t worry about it. I have my own judgment. Just trust me.”

Victor hesitated.

“This... all right.”

After that, the three finally returned to the main topic and continued discussing the [Mind Research Society].

Euphemia took out a map and spread it open in front of everyone.

“The nearest place that can be called a major city is [Bordeaux]. If we set out from where we are now, even if we take a carriage the entire way, it will take more than ten days.”

“However, we can first go to another smaller city nearby and investigate there. If that small city has no information about the [Mind Research Society], we can take a local train directly to [Bordeaux]. That will take much less time. We should arrive at the destination in about two days.”

In the Kingdom of Tarapaca, the current trains were still being tested. But in the Empire, trains had already spread through all major cities and had become the first choice for many people traveling long distances.

Freya and Victor had no objections to Euphemia’s arrangement and both nodded. Just like that, the meeting ended.

Next came sleep. They needed to clear away the exhaustion of traveling by ship for so long, as well as the fatigue from spending the day in a carriage.

The next day, after another full day of carriage travel, the group arrived at a small city called [Lille] at around three or four in the afternoon.

That said, the moment Freya stepped down from the carriage and saw the wide street before her, along with the neat, beautiful houses on both sides of the road, she felt that this place was not much different from [Auxerre City], the first-tier city she had lived in before.

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Victor then said, “Ladies, you can stroll around and have some fun. Leave the information gathering to me. I’m good at this!”

Find a tavern, buy someone a drink, or find a casino and chat with others while losing money. As long as it was not an especially important secret, ordinary common knowledge could usually be found out casually.

“Fine.”

Since someone was willing to do the hard work, Freya naturally had no reason to refuse.

After agreeing on a time and place to meet, Freya took Euphemia’s hand and began wandering around.

What was the first thing one should do when traveling to another city?

For some people, it might be finding a famous local landmark and taking a photo as a keepsake.

But for Freya, it was definitely finding local specialties and eating right away.

Then, as they wandered, Freya and Euphemia slowly stopped in front of a shop.

The two fell silent for a long while.

Because... the sign on this shop read [Mind Research Society].

There was no need to ask anyone at all.

They had seen it directly.

Freya looked back. Victor had long since disappeared and was now off who knew where gathering information.

After a pause, she said, “Forget it. Let’s ignore him for now. Should we go in and take a look first?”

Of course, to prevent accidents, the moment Freya said this, she opened the system and entered [Future Simulation], using Save File 00, which was herself.

⸻

Euphemia had no objection, so the two walked straight inside.

As soon as they entered, a formally dressed staff member took the initiative to greet them. With a smile covering his face, he said, “Welcome to the [Mind Research Society]. Adorable young ladies, may I ask what kind of help you need?”

“Uh...” Freya thought for a moment and asked, “Can I first ask what services you provide here?”

The staff member immediately smiled.

“Judging by your accents, you two don’t seem to be locals. Are you from the Kingdom of Tarapaca? Then you really came to the right place. Our [Mind Research Society] offers many services.”

“Cognitive disorders, emotional numbness, autism, depression, and other psychological illnesses go without saying. We can treat all of them.”

“In addition, if a customer has any mental distress, such as wanting to forget unpleasant memories from the past, or wishing to feel genuinely happy while working, we can satisfy those needs as well.”

“We even offer some wonderful additional services. For example, we can customize an extremely realistic, unforgettable dream for you. You may define everything in the dream yourself. You can become a hero who saves the world, become the ruler of a country, or explore certain other... more niche interests.”

Listening to this introduction, the first half sounded fairly normal. But by the second half, things gradually began to feel strange.

Freya asked in confusion, “How exactly do you make someone happy while working?”

The staff member smiled.

“What is difficult about that? Take me, for example. I receive a rather generous salary, and I can stand here chatting with two adorable and beautiful young ladies. Isn’t that enough to make me happy?”

As for Euphemia, she suddenly realized that from the moment their conversation began, this staff member had maintained that very natural smile the entire time.

Did she not have the skill of [Microexpression Observation]?

Under Euphemia’s observation, she could tell that this staff member was happy from the bottom of his heart.

He was happy because he was working.

He was happy because he could speak with two pretty girls.

Euphemia looked around.

There were, of course, other staff members in the shop. They had not come over because Euphemia and Freya were already being served. But when Euphemia looked at them, every one of them responded with a sincere smile.

Euphemia immediately felt a chill crawl across her scalp.

She felt that the people here did not seem human at all. Instead, they were like dolls that had been properly conditioned, moving according to a fixed program.

This did indeed allow them to feel happy while working.

But after such “treatment,” was the person really still themselves?

Freya did not have [Microexpression Observation], so she did not notice this. She was still chatting normally with the staff member in front of her.

Since they were in a simulation anyway, she went straight to the point.

“Then do you have any more... serious services? I have a big deal here. Can you call over the person in charge?”

This staff member was definitely an ordinary person. But the person in charge behind him was most likely a practitioner.

“Of course. Please follow me to the lounge area and wait for a moment. I will call [Doctor Ansel] over right away~”

The staff member smiled and led the two to a sofa.

The moment this staff member left, another staff member immediately came over with a smile. He carried a tray of peeled apples cut into small pieces and placed it in front of them.

The second staff member smiled and asked, “Would you two like something to drink? Tea or coffee? If you finish the apples, or if you would like other fruit, please let me know.”

“No, no need.”

Freya waved her hand.

The second staff member still wore the same expression as before.

“All right~ If you need anything, please call me. I will be nearby.”

After this person left, Euphemia immediately explained the strange things she had just observed to Freya.

She said, “I have no doubt that if we called a staff member over right now and told him to act as a punching bag so we could beat him up, he would be very willing and happily take the beating.”

Freya asked, “So you mean all the staff members here have undergone some degree of mental [Modification]?”

The Mind Path’s Rank One abilities were [Mind Reading] and [Hypnosis]. But with only those two abilities, one could not achieve something to this degree. It would require higher-ranking abilities.

However, Freya did not know what abilities the Mind Path had at Rank Two and Rank Three.

Euphemia said, “Not maybe. Definitely.”

After that, she rummaged through her shoulder bag and took out a diamond-shaped object that looked like an amulet, then handed it to Freya.

“This is a protective charm I made recently. It has some defensive occult arrays drawn on it and can help the wearer resist extraordinary abilities that target the mind.”

Although this thing could not be considered an extraordinary item, it was already the most refined thing Euphemia could make at her current stage.

The destination of this trip was the [Mind Research Society], which had many Mind Path practitioners. Before setting out, Euphemia had naturally made thorough preparations.

After Freya accepted the first protective charm, Euphemia took out a thick stack from her shoulder bag one after another.

Freya counted roughly. There were at least a dozen.

Then, under Freya’s blank stare, Euphemia stuffed the entire handful of protective charms into her hands.

“Eh? This many?”

Euphemia said, “After all, my skill level is limited. If it’s a stronger Mind Path ability, these charms definitely won’t be able to block it. But if one can’t block it, a dozen should be able to delay it a little, right? They should help at least somewhat. The moment anything feels wrong, we run immediately!”

Freya asked, “What about you? Aren’t you keeping some for yourself?”

“Of course I am,” Euphemia said. “Three or four, I suppose. But that’s enough. You’re an ordinary person, while I’m a practitioner. The Scholar Path significantly strengthens mental power and willpower, so I already have fairly high resistance against things like hypnosis.”

While the two were dividing up their “gear,” footsteps sounded nearby.

A plump doctor with a beer belly walked straight toward the two of them.

The biggest difference between him and the other staff members was that he did not have that kind of sincere smile on his face. Although he was smiling too, it somehow felt... a little fake.

The man sat down heavily on the sofa opposite them. Freya could see the entire sofa sink deeply under his weight.

Doctor Ansel said, “Young ladies, may I ask what this big deal of yours is?”

Freya said, “A big deal related to Mind Path potions. I want to know how I can buy Mind Path potions from you.”