Chapter 303 (1): Great Secret

The Red Leaf Asylum was located in the northwestern part of suburban Londan. Driving along the highway outside the city into a forest path for fifty kilometers, one would see the asylum’s towering walls. The watchtowers in the four corners swept the area with searchlights at night. The sign that said restricted military area served as a warning of the airtight defense around the asylum.

There were a total of three checkpoints for personnel access, where posted guards checked the vehicles, including the trunks and chassis, to ensure that no patients could escape.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

It was easy for mages to become Forgotten Ones: they only had to learn one too many things and break their balance. It was much harder for the Forgotten Ones to become normal again.

Therefore, the Red Leaf Asylum saw many more admissions than discharges. There had been few cases of successful treatment. Even those who had recovered fully would be shunned by other mages due to their record, so they had no choice but to stay at the asylum as a staff member.

When the Church of Heavenly Father was at the peak of its power, the Red Leaf Asylum was the Inquisition in Windsor. The church alone decided whether someone had lost their sanity. It was hard to tell if the tradition continued to this day.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine what the Red Leaf Asylum meant to any normal mages. It was a taboo, and receiving the asylum’s official documents was more terrifying than a visit from the tax authority.

Wayne drove to the Red Leaf Asylum. The first thing he saw was an ancient castle in the embrace of dense forests, all eight underground levels housing a great number of Forgotten Ones who had lost their sanity.

In the back of the castle were rows upon rows of wooden mansions, which were the residences of the medical personnel and other staff members.

The Red Leaf Asylum was now under the jurisdiction of the Windsor Ministry of Magic, but due to its unique value, the asylum didn’t fully belong to Windsor. All churches had the right to appoint attending physicians to the asylum.

Planck, as the asylum director and a legendary mage, managed the Gold-ranked mages on behalf of Windsor. To welcome a newblood today, he organized a brief meeting to introduce Wayne to his future colleagues.

“This is attending physician Brandon, from the Church of Sun...”

“This is attending physician Channing, from the Church of Moonlight...”

“Head nurse Lorey, a clergywoman from the Church of Heavenly Father...”

As Planck made the introductions, Wayne shook their hands one by one. Technically, they were all his people, but due to the unique role of Red Leaf, the Gold-ranked mages didn’t involve themselves in the internal affairs of their respective churches.

Sidney was an exception. The Church of Nature had dominated Windsor while keeping on the royal family’s good side. Moreover, before Marshall—Sidney’s master—lost his mind and became the Lord of the Void, he had been an influential figure in Londan.

In other words, although the Red Leaf Asylum wasn’t exclusive to the Windsor Ministry of Magic, Planck wielded significant authority here due to having the power of personnel deployment.

After the short meeting, the Gold-ranked mages returned to their posts. They rarely left the asylum and had little access to information on the outside world, so they didn’t know much about Wayne.

Channing from the Church of Moonlight, for example, didn’t know that Wayne had slept with their High Reverend even as a Gold-ranked mage, when any Silver-ranked mage worth their salt knew about the scandal.

The other mages were similarly indifferent to who Wayne was. They welcomed their new colleague like they were merely going through the motions, not even asking Wayne for his contact.

Wayne suspected that these people were all on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Having been in contact with too many Forgotten Ones, they were close to losing their sanity.

He glanced at Planck, wondering if the old man had tampered with them. Planck had been studying Forgotten Ones. Fallen Gold-ranked mages would undoubtedly be the best research subjects...

“Wayne, Auston had borrowed a few patients from me. After their return, the patients all showed unusual symptoms. Do you know what research Auston was conducting?”

“I don’t know.” Wayne shrugged. “He’s the head of the family and can do whatever he wants. He does not report to me.”

“Alright. It doesn’t matter anyway.”

Planck dropped the topic, leading Wayne to the nurse station on the first floor of the castle. He pointed at a blonde woman with a cackle. “That’s a clergywoman from the Church of Heavenly Father. She’s rumored to be the illegitimate daughter of a bishop. Isn’t it hard to believe? A bishop who doesn’t like boys?”

He cackled again.

Wayne didn’t laugh. The hellish joke was so outdated that even demons wouldn’t laugh; they had stopped using it to attack clergy people.

“Maybe she’s illegitimate because the bishop worries about being marginalized for his unique taste,” Wayne grumbled. “Planck, I only came to work at Red Leaf because you told me that you had a great secret to share.”

If this were the great secret, he would have to say that Planck had a terrible sense of humor.

Planck looked at Wayne. His crusty beard and unkempt white coat made him look like a joke. Just put a patient gown on him, and he would fit right in with the insane Forgotten Ones. However, his expression was particularly solemn at this moment, as if it were time to exchange secrets.

“You’re a Gold-ranked mage who is powerful enough not to fear legendary mages, and you have my antique silver coin. Aren’t you going to tell me your secret?”

Planck wanted to know what Wayne had seen and gained so that he might learn from Wayne.

He didn’t care before when Wayne was guarded with him, and he never pointed it out, but not now. Wayne had gained a sense of security, while Planck felt less and less secure. It was the best time to trade secrets when they were on a level playing field.

“What do you want to know, Planck?”

“Technically, I don’t know what I want to know, either. I just have a thought—an abstract thought about balance...”

Planck spoke plainly. He was close to High Prophet Tubert of the Church of Nature’s headquarters. Inspired by the High Prophet, he had developed a deep interest in the balance of nature. From his relationship with Tubert, he had also learned that the Life Alliance once consisted of five major faiths.

The five faiths combined represented life. Nature sat opposite Death, and light and darkness were on opposing sides. Together, they constituted life.

The Life Alliance today could not possibly represent life. Losing the opposite side of nature and light, the followers couldn’t gain the complete life even if they studied the divine arts of Nature, Sun, and Moonlight.

Planck studied a great many faiths to amend that. The more knowledge he had acquired, the more he realized how ignorant he was. To stabilize his balance and to sate his overpowering desire, he ended up dipping into multiple faiths.

He was probably the legendary mage with the most chaotic mix of faiths in the Free Mage Alliance.

Planck realized that he had reached the limit of his path. If he continued to learn different faiths, his balance would crumble, and he would become the next Marshall.

Marshall had recovered his sanity for an unknown reason. Planck didn’t think he would get lucky like that, so he stopped learning, turning to Wayne to confirm his theory.

Nature, Sun, Moonlight, Darkness, and Death.

Planck had provided Wayne with knowledge on all five faiths and the antique silver coin to supply the necessary resources. Now, it was time to receive the return on his investment.

Wayne made a strange face. The knowledge on faiths that Planck had provided was superseded by the divine artifacts of the chosen knights, and the silver coin was replaced by the obelisks and Obed’s coin. While Planck had invested in Wayne, he wasn’t the sole investor, and he wasn’t even the top investor. Asking for a return all of a sudden...

Well, he wouldn’t just say no. Planck’s silver coin had helped a lot in the beginning, allowing Wayne to reach Silver Cross.

“This isn’t the right place for the conversation.”

After some consideration, Wayne decided to give Planck his share according to the percentage his investment accounted for.

Planck’s eyes lit up with joy. He rushed to lead Wayne to the most dangerous floor in the Red Leaf Asylum, the underground eighth floor.

The most dangerous place was the safest place, as they said. Moreover, the eighth floor was the secret he was offering in return.

***

The underground eighth floor of the castle of Red Leaf had been designed and constructed by the Church of Heavenly Father. So rich was the church that the clergy invested a fortune to build the magnificent structure.

Every layer was vast like a standalone architecture, with a sky, a tilted land and ocean, and a boundless cosmos as the ceilings. Although they were magical creations, they were vivid enough to pass for the real things. Moreover, Wayne sensed different Laws from the domes of natural phenomena.

“Planck, was the Red Leaf Asylum really built by the Church of Heavenly Father?”

“It was,” Planck murmured. “Back then, the Church of Heavenly Father ruled over the entire Chosen Land. God was Heavenly Father, and Heavenly Father was the only god. Everything you see now is the church’s spoils.”

The asylum was but the tip of the iceberg. It was evident how dominant the church had once been. The Papal State was loaded with riches, which reminded Wayne that the Pope had only given him, a false reincarnated angel, the Sacred Lance of Heaven and a sex toy pendant. That was stingy of the Pope.

Objectively speaking, His Horniness had done wrong. Hopefully, he would amend that mistake as soon as possible!

Wayne and Planck went down, quickly reaching the underground sixth floor through a portal. The patients’ residence wasn’t as glorious a sight. The extravagant sky was no more, replaced by cold stone walls with only the narrow vents and a smattering of magic stones introducing some fresh air and dim light. The heavy, oppressive atmosphere seemed thick enough to touch.

Sickly pale light permeated the air, making the shadowed silhouettes seem even darker.

There were no isolated wards for the patients. The distorted stone walls stretched, representing the Forgotten Ones’ twisted mental labyrinth. The damp smell of mold was omnipresent, and occasionally, rattling chains could be heard, making the hearts shudder. Low, eerily terrifying whispers resounded from the depths of the labyrinth. Every step inward felt like torture.

“Starting from the sixth floor, the attending physicians can only enter in pairs with my permission. The Forgotten Ones here are beyond saving. Their strong desires compel them to devour each other. They were known as Void Wanderers in the world of magic.”

“They use themselves as sources of corruption, pulling their hosts into chaos by parasitizing them. Through consumption and assimilation, they become even more insane...”

“Wanderers are incredibly corruptive, second only to the knowledge of the Void and the flesh and blood of Astral Beasts. Silver-ranked mages cannot resist the parasitic attacks. It’ll require a Gold-ranked mage’s vitality barrier.”

Planck explained everything in an orderly manner. He studied Forgotten Ones, while Bourne studied Astral Beasts. There was a link between their fields of expertise, so they naturally got close through their frequent exchanges of findings.

“Wayne, the world of magic sees Forgotten Ones and Wanderers as lives that have gone down the wrong evolution, but Bourne and I disagree. Wanderers can evolve further, transforming into Astral Beasts.”

“It’s an evolution path with a clear direction. Because of the strict requirements, it remains unknown and sees few successes, which is why it’s mistakenly judged as a failed evolution.”

Speaking of his research, Planck seemed even more like an old madman. That supported Wayne’s belief that all legendary mages were insane in some way. That was true for Senna and Filomina. The only one Wayne knew to be somewhat sane was Anastasia, the Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness.

The dark elf was responsible, willing to sacrifice herself, unwavering in her belief, and courageous in facing her tragic life. She was so virtuous that she was one of the few people Wayne would admit his inferiority to.

Moula and Leo were addicted to playing cards, which connected them to gambling, one of the three greatest sins in the world. Therefore, they weren’t the dark elf’s match.

Darienne was even further from Anastasia’s level. She was so shameless that her frosty beauty was wasted on her.