Mythology Rebooted

On the rural road, the blue sedan was moving at a leisurely pace.

The sedan's structure of this era was quite simple, and it was very easy to repair. Wayne, holding a wrench and pretending to look busy, tapped around without locating the problem, when the car successfully started up and hit the road again.

Such luck!

Free from the curse's troubles and no longer having to eat large amounts of food to alleviate hunger, Wayne ignored the compressed biscuits and bit into a piece of chocolate, chewing loudly.

The noise was tremendous!

In the passenger seat, Villy looked on enviously. Now that she had transformed back into a girl, she couldn't indulge in chocolate without restraint.

Wayne might have been doing it on purpose. He swallowed the chocolate and breathed out a sweet scent towards Villy, "Villy, don't you like chocolate the most? Why aren't you eating any?"

Villy, furious, tore open a wrapper... and licked it.

That was her allowance for the entire day, which made her even more annoyed!

Veronica: Nicely done!

And can't you chew a little quieter, damn it!

Wayne wasn't exactly taking revenge for Veronica; seeing Villy once disguised as a homosexual had disgusted him terribly, and now that he had the opportunity, he naturally wanted some payback.

"Villy, do you know about the Liberty Mage Alliance?"

"The Liberty Mage Alliance?!"

Villy tilted her head, "Why are you asking about that? A bunch of free and sloppy unbelievers—that's not a crowd of good people... Wait, where did you hear about them?"

"From the Nelson Family's manual."

"Oh, that piece of scrap paper. I'd advise you to read it with a critical eye. It's full of nonsense, childish and one-sided, all ridiculous self-delusions..."

"It's not bad as a novel."

Wayne shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to argue with Villy. To the faithful, this book was too juvenile, but for an adult like him, it was just right.

When Wayne was looking through the spoils, Veronica and two others had glanced at it, but their disinterest led them to skim through it and return it to Wayne without seeing the section about the Liberty Mage Alliance.

"The Liberty Mage Alliance, also known as the Unbelievers Alliance, was formed by extremists from the Mage Guild. Due to a lack of faith, these people are solely driven by profit and have very low morals, earning them an extremely bad reputation in the mage community..."

In the back seat, Chris, the senior student, answered Wayne's question. As a devout follower of the Moonlight Goddess, she had a very negative view of the Liberty Mage Alliance and couldn't say a good word about them.

"Does this organization still exist, or has it been eradicated?" Wayne asked curiously.

"..." x3

The silence indicated that there were still plenty of unbelieving mages around.

Clenching her fist and coughing lightly, Chris explained, "The reason the Liberty Mage Alliance exists is not because of its core values, but because it holds value in existing. Mages need to broaden their horizons and share the knowledge and experiences they've learned; The Church cannot organize large-scale exchanges, so in this situation, mages must find their own way, making the Liberty Mage Alliance a good choice."

"Chaotic, without rules or principles, and therefore a breeding ground for darkness, almost every wanted criminal is in..."

"The Liberty Mage Alliance has gathered all the scum of the mage circles, and what they preach about unbelief is all deceptive nonsense. Mages without faith won't get far and can easily stray onto the evil path; Mike is an excellent example."

Anxious for Wayne to embrace the Moonlight Goddess, the senior student greatly worried that this potential talent might be corrupted.

Listening and nodding, Wayne grew increasingly interested in the Liberty Mage Alliance. He had many questions that he wanted to clear up, but Veronica and the other two were not the right people to ask, so he pretended to show little interest and moved on from the subject.

Wayne thought that Mike's comment was quite apt—the three female college students were the epitome of the academic type, having not faced the harshness of society, and thus were very devout in their beliefs.

It's only after they had tumbled and struggled in society for a while and matured that they would, like the older mages, understand the Liberty Mage Alliance and join them.

No good, you lot, how do you survive in society being so naive? If you cross paths with societal trash, you're going to suffer!

As a friend of the three, Wayne was deeply worried. If it weren't for his lack of strength to knock some sense into them, he would have definitely taken matters into his own hands to expedite their maturation in the shortest time possible.

The sedan had been driving for some time when Wayne suddenly sensed something and stopped the car, hopping back and forth across the road several times.

"This is the place..."

Wayne narrowed his eyes; he had driven on this road before and recognized it well. The clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds, followed by lightning, torrential rain, and Drifting Ghosts appearing one after another.

At that time, he had sensed danger, was dazzled by a flash of lightning, and then startled by a Drifting Ghost emerging from underneath the car, leaving no time to think it through.

Now, it seemed to him that the boundary line beneath his feet marked the extent of the cursed space.

"Wayne, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, just a sudden urge to pee, hopping around a bit will help."

"..."x3

————

The blue sedan continued on its way and, before entering the city, encountered a checkpoint set up by the Lundan police.

In recent years, the Great Depression was first followed by the shadow of war that clouded the entire continent, bringing a surge of spies into Windsor Domain.

Lundan City, as the capital of Windsor Kingdom, was practically overrun with spies. To fight against this rampant foreign force and to better manage social resources, the cabinet urgently enacted an ID system, requiring citizens over the age of 16 to carry an ID card and cooperate with police checks.

Wayne had an ID, and so did Veronica and the other two. The officer blocking the road was envious of Wayne, who was accompanied by three beautiful young women on their outing, and there was a hint of admiration in his words.

Dude, what's with that look? Do I seem like the kind of scum that juggles three women at once? Could my body even handle that?

Wayne was speechless. It was clear to any observer that he was not that kind of guy, and the three beauties were not his girlfriends.

Since the answer was obvious, an explanation could seem more like a cover-up, and it might even insult the officer's intelligence, so Wayne chose not to explain. Facing the officer's envious and jealous gaze, he slightly curled his lips into a faint smile and nodded subtly.

After the sedan had left, the officer shook his head repeatedly and, avoiding his colleagues, entered the duty room and made a phone call.

"Mister Lando, do you know Veronica Lando?"

"No, she hasn't done anything out of line, just got herself a boyfriend."

"The guy's name is Wayne, a detective... You know the type, in his twenties with no job, a social drifter, claiming to be a writer, a painter, or a detective."

"Not good. They've been out of the city for a day and a night, saying they were going to the countryside to attend a wedding..."

"Right, there were also two other beauties in the car. According to the guy, they're all his girlfriends. If I'm not mistaken, they've all been fooled."

"I'm quite sure of it. You have no idea how arrogantly he was smiling; I can still remember that smug face clearly!"

"No trouble at all, it's what I should be doing. Without you, the Lundan police wouldn't have the benefits they have today."

"All right, I'll go to the station to get the money tomorrow, thank you for your generosity."