Chapter 367. The Solution
Hearing Lily's voice, Charles set aside his documents. He then picked her up and placed her on his open palm before gently stroking her on the back.
"Don't worry so much. Where there's a will, there's a way. Trust me."
As Charles' hand glided over Lily's body, it finally sank in that the once soft and furry little mouse was no longer the same. He could clearly feel the bones underneath her saggy skin.
"Mr. Charles, I don't even dare to look in the mirror now. Am I very ugly now?" Lily asked, her voice tinged with melancholy.
"Of course not. You're still our adorable little Lily." Charles lowered his head and planted a gentle kiss on her sunken cheek. "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"
"I'm not hungry. I'm just... a little sleepy now. I'll take a short nap." As soon as Lily's words fell, her eyelids slowly lowered, and her limbs gradually went limp.
Charles' heart skipped a beat. He nervously placed a finger in front of Lily's nose. Feeling her faint breaths tickling against his skin, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With the gentlest movements, he carried Lily onto his pillow and placed her down before he tiptoed to the balcony.
"Keep an eye on your boss. Notify me immediately if anything happens. Understand?" Charles instructed the few brown mice in the corner of the room.
The mice nodded in affirmation. Charles then vaulted himself over the balcony railing.
Without stopping for any side trips, Charles made a beeline for his destination, the cathedral of the Divine Light Order.
As soon as he entered the building, he noticed several adorable boys and girls gathered around the Pope. The elderly man wore an amicable smile on his countenance as he engagingly narrated stories to his young audience. These were the same children who had sung for Charles and played a role in the restoration of one of his eyes.
Upon noticing Charles' arrival, his eyes lit up and he set the child on his lap down onto the floor.
"Children, go play by yourself," the Pope instructed.
Skipping any pleasantries, Charles jumped straight to the point. "Have you guys found a solution?"
"Unfortunately, we haven't. If we had, I would have notified you immediately. After all, I want you to set out as soon as possible."
A shadow fell over Charles' face as a grim expression appeared on his visage. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he asked, "Didn't you claim that your Light God is all-knowing and all-powerful? Yet, your Order couldn't even offer any solution to this matter?"
"He is indeed omnipotent, but it doesn't mean that His servants are the same by extension. Expecting us to wield His power is unreasonable.
"Of course, there's another way: depart immediately, lift the seal on the Light God, and beseech His intervention to save your mouse. For the Light God so loved the world, he would definitely heed your plea."
A dismissive sneer played on Charles' lips. "Stop trying to fool me. I'm not heading to sea unless Lily gets treated. Don't forget our agreement."
The Pope let out a sigh of pity. He slowly raised his gaze toward the overhead colorful mythological frescoes.
"Truth be told, if I had a choice, I really wouldn't want to work with you. You are too difficult to get along with. You always interpret what you can see as the full truth. But child, the world is far more complex than what is being laid bare before our eyes."
With a clap of his hands, a muscular priest in dark robes entered the room. The man was dragging a pink, brain-like creature adorned with tentacles in tow. The entity was wet, and it seemed like it had just been fished out of water.
The Pope lifted his hand, and the brain-like creature was split into two halves. From its midst, a black piece of paper then floated toward Charles.
Charles has located the door and will be departing soon. Please take action to stop him immediately.
Every muscle within Charles tensed up as he read the message. Someone around them had been leaking information.
"Do you understand now? There are some against our ascent. Be it people or telegram, I've got surveillance on all fronts now. The Divine Light Order is as committed to this goal as you are.
"It's also because of this that I'm urging you to set sail as soon as possible. We really can't afford any more delays."
Traces of hesitation crossed Charles' visage. He was uncertain about the authenticity of the Pope's words.
"Who sent this? Have you caught the spy?"
"We have no clues. The culprit seems rather cautious. But you can try to dispatch your forces to track them down. They're likely still on Hope Island."
As Charles stared at the piece of paper in his hands with a look of dilemma, the Pope continued persuading, "I know that your relationship with that mouse runs deep, but please think it over thoroughly...
"The discovery of the surface world can introduce major transformations in this subterranean realm we are in and benefit countless of our own kind. Is that not worth more than a single mouse's life?"
Charles remained silent at the question. Crumpling the piece of black paper, he turned around and casually tossed it behind him before walking toward the door.
The Pope's voice rang out from behind Charles. "Thank you for trusting me and not siding with those deformed cultists against me. It seems that our bond has grown stronger."
Time slowly passed, and every so often, members of the Narwhale crew would drop by to visit Lily. Despite the smiles on their faces whenever they appeared in the Governor's Mansion, they could clearly feel the increasingly stifling atmosphere weighing down on them.
In the blink of an eye, a month swiftly flew past. Lying on a pillow, Lily appeared even older and frail. She only had one front tooth left, and her fur was almost completely gone.
Charles carefully brought a spoonful of wheat porridge to her lips.
Lily slowly turned her head away, and in an exceptionally weak voice, she said, "Mr. Charles, I'm not hungry..."
"Lily, you haven't been eating much lately. If you don't eat, your body won't be able to hold up," Charles coaxed.
Lily hesitantly opened her mouth and began to chew, though it was apparent that she was struggling even for such a simple task.
Just then, Charles heard approaching footsteps and looked up to see the butler entering the room. He handed over a piece of paper to Charles—it was a telegram from Elizabeth on Elizarles Shores.
I'm sorry, my love. Mr. Gunther has even specially made a trip back to the Western Seas and visited the other prominent families, but was still unable to find a solution.
The mages of the Western Seas aren't as powerful as you imagined them to be. Yes, they can extract a human's soul to be used as a crafting material, but that act is completely different from your request.
Extracting a mouse's soul and transferring it into a human body without harm ventures into the Divinities' territory. Were they capable of such feats, they'd have attained immortality and would have escaped oppression by other powers long ago.
As Charles scanned the words on the telegram, despair started clouding in his eyes; his last shreds of hope seemed to be slipping away.
He had thought that in this seascape that defied logic, saving the life of a mouse would be a straightforward solution. However, he had to face the harsh reality before him now.
While forces of destruction were rampant in this place, the power to mend or restore was rare.
Suddenly, Lily erupted into a violent fit of coughing, breaking the silence in the room.
Charles' gaze turned onto her, and before he could even speak a word, Lily's lips parted, and she vomited a mixture of the recently consumed porridge and a significant amount of blood onto her pillow.
"Linda! Come quickly!" Charles' shouts resonated in the mansion.
Linda rushed into the room immediately. Evidently, she had been on standby. She whisked Lily off to the medical room that had been prepared in advance for such emergencies.
With his arms folded and a look of profound dismay on his face, Charles leaned against the wall next to the medical room's door.
As he waited, the crew of the Narwhale soon gathered around. Like Charles, they remained silent as they stood around and waited for Linda's updates on Lily's condition.
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