[Himeko: "I guess it's time to talk about that [Mikhail] story now, right?"]
[Gallagher nodded: "You're very sharp. The Astral Express also received that music box, correct? Do you know what secret is hidden inside?"]
["A message: 'Take in all the impossible things in the dream, find the legacy of Penacony's father [Watchmaker], and then answer: Why does life slumber.'" Himeko recited the sentence completely.]
[Gallagher smiled lightly: "Not a single word wrong."]
[March 7th immediately became interested: "Hey, why are you smiling… Don't tell me you wrote it? Your writing is pretty good."]
[Gallagher turned to look at the young girl: "I'm the sheriff in charge of investigating cases. How could I not know… I guess you've also noticed that this message wasn't written by the Family—and that their relationship isn't that good?"]
[Himeko pondered and said: "It's still just speculation for now. It's hard for us to believe that Penacony's father (the Watchmaker) and its actual administrator (the Family) are so at odds."]
["Now I can tell you—it's completely correct." Gallagher said calmly, "The Family has long regarded the Watchmaker as an enemy. But because the latter is elusive and only lives in the commercial myth he created, the Bloodhounds have been unable to catch him."]
["So, I'll ask you further: Have you considered why the Family would tolerate the Watchmaker sending out such a joke-like message to the outside world, allowing you to come by invitation and turn this place into a mess?"]
[Himeko guessed: "You want to use this opportunity to make the Watchmaker reveal his flaws?"]
[Gallagher nodded: "Now you can understand why the Oak Family authorized the Nameless to assist in the investigation, yet still conceals things from you at every turn."]
——
Arcane: League of Legends.
By the fountain in Piltover's Central Park, Vi watched Gallagher's speech on the Celestial Screen. It felt like a heavy punch had come, making her brain grind like rusted gears.
"Wait…" She rubbed her temples. "So the Watchmaker and the Family aren't on the same side? He's the Family's mortal enemy? This…"
Caitlyn beside her also found it hard to believe. Her initial guess was that the Watchmaker held a very high position in the Family, even having inextricable ties with the Dreammaster, with status no lower than the Dreammaster's. But this twist was a bit too exaggerated. She didn't want to believe it… yet it was very reasonable.
"Cupcake, so that means the Watchmaker is like a wanted criminal in Penacony, but that doesn't seem right either…" Vi thought seriously. "The Watchmaker's deeds have been circulating throughout Penacony for nearly a thousand years. What human can live that long? Either he's a robot like Screwllum, or… he's not human at all!"
"If he's not human, then what is he?" Caitlyn asked in confusion.
"An organization." Vi said firmly. "Only an organization can last a thousand years. An organization has structure and will have generations of members to inherit and carry forward a certain mission. To the public he is a spiritual leader, but in reality he is an organization resisting the [Family]!"
"Just like Zaun has forces resisting Piltover's oppression! The Watchmaker must also know the Family's conspiracy and has always been dedicated to resisting it!" Vi said while happily wrapping her arm around Caitlyn's shoulders. "Cupcake, don't you think such an organization is really cool?"
Caitlyn let out a cold snort and pushed Vi's arm away: "Your analogy is good. Don't use it next time."
——
["…Because the Watchmaker is not some legend of the Land of Dreams at all, but the most unspeakable stain in Penacony's history of division. He is the originator of all dream mutations."]
["What does this have to do with Mikhail?" Stelle asked.]
["Haven't you realized it yet? What I mean is… Mikhail, the Family's traitor—he is the famous Watchmaker."]
[After speaking, Gallagher led everyone out of the bar and arrived at an amusement park to begin investigating the Watchmaker from here. After popularizing some of Penacony's blood-and-tears history to the Express crew, he told them that some of the animated characters here have real-life prototypes.]
[For example, the Hanun Brothers. He was a prisoner who smashed the Company's shackles and led people to fight for freedom. Although the animation has artistic embellishments, adaptation is not fabrication, and dramatization is not nonsense. They are all processed based on Penacony's history. This is an indisputable fact.]
[Because Sunday had just issued a lockdown order, many people from the Bloodhound Family were patrolling nearby, preventing guests from entering.]
[Himeko looked at the Clockie statue at the entrance of the amusement park and continued asking: "If these animated characters all have traces in reality, then the one corresponding to Clockie is undoubtedly the Watchmaker."]
["He is the partner of the Hanun Brothers and one of the earliest members of Sweet Dream Town. Can this be understood as the historical Watchmaker personally participating in that war and standing on the side of Asdana?"]
["That was a massive war of independence. Masked Fools, Nameless, Fictional Historians, Mourning Actors, Omen Vanguards… Hanununu quelled the chaos with the help of his companions and visitors from beyond the sky. Naturally, the future Watchmaker was among them."]
——
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
"Why do they talk about the Company like it's some evil demon that does all kinds of evil?"
Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito scratched his head in confusion. Although the Company now couldn't be called particularly benevolent, it had at least given many people in poor and weak regions opportunities for development. Was the Company really that bad a thousand years ago?
"Muichiro, did you forget what Mr. Gallagher said earlier?" Stone Hashira put his hands together. "History is written by the victors. Perhaps in the history known to Mr. Gallagher, the victors also did some beautification?"
"If one day our Demon Slayer Corps is destroyed by Muzan, then in the history written by Muzan, we might be the 'evil' side."
Iguro Obanai quietly watched the amusement park on the Celestial Screen: "But thinking about it carefully, what kind of independence war would attract Masked Fools to participate? I guess… a large part of that independence war's victory came from the Company's voluntary abandonment. When the Company feels that the benefits of reclamation are less than the investment in war, it becomes an unprofitable 'investment.'"
"What a joke! The Company now is too bastardly, right?" Sanemi Shinazugawa slammed his fist heavily on the floor with a thud, veins bulging on his forehead. "They abandoned it all at once back then, and now they see the Family making money and want to reclaim it out of jealousy. There's no such good thing in the world!"
"But what's subtle is that the Family doesn't seem that clean either." Shinobu Kocho smiled faintly. "Whether it's the Company or the Family, it's just Penacony changing owners. Whoever can keep the tourists here safe and build this land better can take over."