The next day.
Klein opened his eyes, stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling for a while before he remembered what had happened.
The night had been quiet. Sleeping in this room — with its soundproofing and comfort far better than any hotel — his sleep quality had been good, and he hadn't woken once in the night.
No new words had appeared on the vanity mirror either. After a round of divination to confirm it, he'd ultimately decided not to tell the official Beyonders about the incident.
After washing up, he walked out into the living room, where Miss Christine was already seated at the table, enjoying breakfast. She gave him a polite good morning and waved him over. "Want to join for breakfast, Miss Cleya?"
Klein walked over and sat down. "Did you make this, Miss Christine?"
"Not me."
Melissa took a sip of her coffee. "I meant to cook myself, but there wasn't anything here, so I went out and looked around nearby, picked up some breakfast on the way."
"Thanks. I'll go pick up lunch, then."
While they were eating, the disheveled-haired Ikanser walked in. He wasn't in his police uniform today, wearing a double-breasted coat instead, and carrying a silver mirror with an antique pattern etched into its frame.
"How was last night for you two, ladies?"
Melissa gave a small nod. "It was fine, quite peaceful here. None of the houses around us are occupied, are they?"
"That's right. It's to keep the murderer, if he does come, from hurting anyone innocent by mistake."
Klein frowned inwardly. A setup this deliberate — was it really going to lure in a serial killer? Sure, the man was a "beast," but he was still a Beyonder — no way he was actually stupid.
However he looked at it, it was the official operatives' arrangement here that seemed like the more foolish plan.
Still, according to what the mirror had told him last night, the reason he'd been brought in at all seemed to be some scheme cooked up by that thing inside the mirror — Arodes. And that whatever it was doing, it was actually meant to keep him out of danger?
If that were true, then weren't these official Beyonders all being used by "Arodes" too? But then, what exactly was "Arodes," to have this kind of influence over official operatives?
Could it be hiding among them right now?
Could it even... be that disheveled-haired man himself?
Just then, the young man who'd been with Ikanser the day before walked in, speaking in a low voice. "Steward Ikanser, someone from the Church of Storms is here — they want to borrow Arodes again."
Ikanser frowned. "Who are they after this time?"
"Sounds like there was another Beyonder battle at the docklands last night. They still haven't sorted out what happened a few days ago, and now there's a second incident — they've got nothing to report back with, so..."
"I understand."
Ikanser cut him off with a wave, then turned to Klein and Melissa. "Ladies, I need to step out for a bit. For lunch, you're welcome to have one of our people pick something up, or eat at a nearby restaurant — don't worry, we'll have someone with you the whole time."
With that, he gave a polite bow and left with the young man.
Melissa leaned back in her chair, grinning. "Hehe, food, drink, lodging, all provided, with people waiting on us — not bad at all, is it? What do you think, Miss Cleya?"
"The price being twenty pairs of eyes watching my every move. I can't say I love that part."
Klein took a sip of the bitter coffee and set it down with a frown — not a grain of sugar in it.
"Oh, sorry about that."
Melissa said, apologetic. "I forgot to add sugar for you. Not only does your name sound like a friend of mine, your taste is similar too — he likes his coffee loaded with sugar as well."
Klein hadn't quite caught what she'd said, lost in thought instead: that young man had just mentioned "Arodes," hadn't he?
He'd said "borrow" Arodes?
Borrow?
Could Arodes not be a person?
Not necessarily — people did sometimes say "borrow so-and-so" about actual people too.
"Miss Cleya."
Melissa's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "What is it?"
"Sorry, forgive my curiosity, but — why do you always keep your hands gloved?"
Klein rubbed his hands together. "It's a style choice common in Backlund. I take it Miss Christine isn't from around here?"
"Right, I haven't been here very long."
Melissa looked at him with obvious curiosity. "Does it help keep your skin nicer? Could you take them off and show me?"
She spread her own hand open. "Look at mine — they're such a mess."
Klein said, dry, "Unfortunately, the reason I wear gloves all the time is exactly the opposite — my hands aren't nice enough to show."
"Ah, I see."
He stood. "Well, I'll head back to my room and rest. Thanks for breakfast."
"Aw... I wanted to play Battle the Wicked with you. It's so boring being alone."
Klein paused mid-motion. "Two-player Battle the Wicked?"
"Hehe, there are other people around, aren't there? I'll go grab someone."
"Sure, come find me once you've got a third player."
He'd been back in his room less than ten minutes when there was a knock at the door. Melissa stood outside holding a deck of playing cards, grinning. "Found someone to play with — our very own Mr. Ikanser!"
Ikanser sat at the table and gave Klein a small nod. His last few attempts at questioning Arodes had gotten him only vague, murky answers, but luckily, today Arodes had broken from its usual pattern and only asked perfectly ordinary questions, sparing Ikanser another round of public humiliation.
That put him in a fine mood, and when Melissa's invitation came, he'd accepted without a second thought.
Once the three of them were seated, Melissa handed the deck over to Ikanser. "Mr. Ikanser, would you mind shuffling?"
He set down the silver antique mirror and took the cards, shuffling and cutting them with practiced ease. Klein watched, curious — a grown man carrying a mirror around with him everywhere really did seem strange.
Unless that mirror was something unusual. Like... a sealed item?
Wait.
Mirror? Sealed item? Borrow?
Klein felt like something had just clicked into place — and right at that moment, a line of white text surfaced on the mirror's surface: "Your loyal, humble servant Arodes is at your service, my great master."
"Would you like me to peek at their cards for you?"
Klein: "..."
...
While Klein was playing cards, Vincent was meeting with Xio in a private room at Bravehearts Bar.
"Xio, has anything felt off with MI9 lately?"
"Off, how?"
Xio shook her head. "Even if something were, I'm way too far on the outside to notice, aren't I?"
"Oh, right — my contact at MI9 hasn't given me a single assignment all last week. Does that count as off? Also, the assignment to track down Lanevus got canceled. Beyond that, I honestly have no idea."
"Fair enough."
Vincent hadn't really expected to get useful intel out of her. "Next week, whatever MI9 offers you, turn it down. And try to stay somewhere close to the Church as much as you can."
"Is something about to happen?"
Xio's expression turned serious. "Is this about those rumors going around Backlund lately?"
"Rumors?"
"The ones saying the Loen Emperor is going to hold some terrifying ritual to ascend to an even higher Sequence. According to what MI9's been putting out, all of that is just rumors the Aurora Order and the Witch cult are spreading about Loen, as prep for some upcoming terrorist attack."
Vincent smiled. "Oh? That's how MI9's explaining it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing..."
Vincent hadn't planned on telling her much more — none of this really touched her directly. But then it occurred to him: Xio was actually a victim of George III's ascension too — one of the earliest ones. Her father had been executed on charges of rebellion, precisely because he'd noticed something wrong.
"All right. George III ascending to a higher Sequence isn't a rumor — it's real." Vincent said. "The Aurora Order and the Witch cult planning some kind of attack is also true — but it's Loen behind it, pulling the strings."
Xio's eyes went wide. "That can't be right. How would you even know that—"
The moment the question left her mouth, she realized how foolish it was — the man in front of her was the "new" Mr. A of the Aurora Order. Of course he'd know all this better than anyone.
"So... what exactly is the Aurora Order planning to do next week?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just holding a ritual to bring down an evil god. That's all."
To be continued…
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