Cherwood Borough, inside a two-story house.
As evening approached, Fors Wall woke up from her nap. She looked at the dim sunlight outside the window, struggled on the bed for a moment, and finally got up with difficulty.
After a simple wash, Author and "Astrologer", who had been out day and night lately, and whose black and white were reversed, touched his somewhat shriveled belly and thought about whether to make simple food at home or go out luxuriously and have dinner at a nearby restaurant.
"Xio must still be busy with her tasks anyway... Sigh, it feels like we rarely have dinner together during this time..."
She muttered, pushed open the bedroom door, and suddenly smelled a strong smell of meat fat mixed with the sweetness of fruits, which made her stomach twitch.
That's the smell of the most famous Xin's Dixie Pie around!
"Hugh? Are you back?"
While twitching her nose to catch the source of the scent, she looked around to find her friend in the dim living room.
"No, I'm getting ready to go out."
A vague answer came from behind the large sofa Fors.
When she came to the small area consisting of two sofas and a coffee table, she sat directly on the carpet. Xio Derecha, whose entire body was covered, had already wiped out her share of Dixie Pie. She finished the Sweet Iced Tea that accompanied the meal in one gulp, wiped her mouth, stood up, pointed at another piece of pie wrapped in a paper bag and said:
"This is for you. I'm going out and I won't be back until about midnight."
Fors picked up his own dinner, ignored the burning of his hands and mouth, opened the package and took a bite into the pie wrapped with a large amount of fat and thin minced meat and small pieces of chopped apple, making his mouth instantly filled with rich juice.
She hummed contentedly before asking vaguely:
"You want to spy on that Viscount again?"
"It's to protect him from harm, but surveillance is secondary."
Xio corrected his friend's misunderstanding. She had already come to the door, put on her boots and a round hat, slung a small bag with several newspapers in it for disguise, and dressed like a newsboy.
Seeing that Fors was still chewing on the pie blankly, as if she hadn't woken up, she couldn't help but remind her:
"You still remember that you are going to the circus' fortune telling house tonight, right?"
"Ah?" Fors, whose cheeks were stuffed with pies, was stunned for a moment before he reacted, "Of course you remember, I am already the most popular person in that circus, the mysterious Astrologer, I will answer your questions every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights."
She swallowed the pie in her mouth and memorized the opening remarks.
Recently, in the process of digesting "Astrologer" Potion, Fors tried the method of the "Trickmaster" period and found a circus costume The effect of playing the role of "Seer" is pretty good. I hope to finish Potion this month and try to be promoted to "Scribe" from Sequence 6.
It's a pity that Xio can't keep up with my progress. She still needs to accumulate merits to exchange for the Potion formula "Judge" from the online store, but she doesn't want the Beyonder Characteristic I bought for her. I accepted it freely, but insisted on saving up money to buy it from me... Fors murmured, stuffing the last bite of the layered and rich wheat-flavored pie into his mouth, biting out the gravy inside, chewing it carefully, and letting out a satisfied groan.
Following Xie's example, she drank Sweet Iced Tea in one gulp. She returned to the bedroom and took out the crystal ball given to her by her teacher Dorian, preparing to go to the circus to continue playing her role.
But before going out, she had a sudden idea and sat back on the sofa. She held the ball with one hand and touched the top with her other hand. She kept stroking it and murmuring in her mouth.
Gradually, a ray of light appeared in the crystal ball, illuminating the living room that was getting darker as Sun went down the mountain.
In the light, a figure of a newsboy, about 1.5 meters tall and wearing a hat to cover part of her face, emerged. She walked quickly in the blurry picture, accepting a coin from time to time and handing out a newspaper, but her eyes frequently looked at a certain location.
"A copy of "Tussock Newspaper"."
Before Xio had taken a few steps, he was stopped by a Gentlemen who was passing by and asked to buy a newspaper.
She returned her gaze to the door of the restaurant not far away, glanced at her bag, and replied "regrettably":
"Sorry, they're all sold out."
She had only prepared less than ten newspapers to disguise her identity. She didn't expect that the residents of Hillston Borough loved reading newspapers so much. The newspapers were sold out before the target was reached!
In desperation, she had no choice but to take off the round hat that represented her identity as a newsboy, mess up her shoulder-length yellow hair, wrap her coat tightly, hold her bag tightly, her eyes became sharp, making her temperament completely different from before, more like a wanderer who accidentally broke into the business district.
Not to mention buying newspapers now, even Passerby who was walking opposite her gave way and looked away.
This allowed her to easily find a hidden corner and observe the luxurious restaurant across the street.
After an unknown amount of time, a four-wheeled carriage with a coat of arms consisting of a flower and two rings slowly approached and stopped in front of the restaurant, instantly catching Xio's attention.
That's the Viscount Stratford family's carriage!
She stared at the carriage with great concentration until a middle-aged Gentlemen wearing a tuxedo and a white hairband stepped out. He welcomed the young Miss who was traveling with him out of the carriage and walked into the restaurant holding her hand.
The moment the carriage left and the restaurant door had not yet closed, Xio saw the face of the female companion next to Stratford.
She has a beautiful face, her brown hair is pulled up, revealing her white neck. Her lively eyes like a deer look at the Viscount beside her with a hint of admiration. The corners of her mouth are raised, with a happy expression on her face.
That was Xio's friend, "Witch" Shermane who turned into a woman.
How come she is still with Viscount Stratford and looks like she is in love and can't help herself...
Xio's expression changed, he muttered, and his eyes were fixed on the two people's backs. He didn't know whether he was blaming the other person or himself.
In a corner that she didn't notice, a white figure flashed across the window glass reflecting the street scene.
"'White Saint'Katarina? Why should she protect Stratford?"
In the office behind the noisy Canned Food Factory, Trissy, who was wearing a black classic dress and had a gentle and sweet temperament, raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion.
"It's not protection, it's surveillance," Angel, who was sitting across from her in a simple white dress, said slowly, "My source did not point out that it was Katarina, but only indicated that Demoness of High Sequence was hiding behind him... But among Backlund, she should be the only one who meets the conditions."
"So, Stratford actually knows about this, knows that someone is plotting against him, knows that Shermane who is approaching him has other purposes, and his appearance of being attracted to him is all a disguise?"
Trissy said to himself, as if he suddenly understood a lot of things, his expression kept changing, and finally settled on a faint smile.
She picked up the transparent glass bottle with a thin mouth and a round belly on the table, which looked like a graceful beauty when viewed from the side. She put the bubbling dark brown liquid into her mouth, took a tentative sip, and frowned again:
"It's so sweet, like the fake love between Shermane and Stratford who know each other is acting... burp."
As she spoke, she burped to expel the gas in her stomach.
"After drinking enough bitter beer, East Borough workers will soon like this refreshing and sugar-replenishing drink." Angel chuckled, stretched out his finger, and tapped the bottle of "Cola", causing white frost to appear on the surface of the glass bottle, and the temperature of the internal liquid quickly dropped to freezing point. "Try to take another sip."
Trissy glanced at her, picked up the glass bottle that felt cold in the palm of his hand and brought an inexplicable refreshing feeling, and took another sip of the Carbonated Drink inside.
This time, she didn't comment for a long time, but lowered her head, savoring the feeling of the cold liquid going deep into her throat and reaching her abdomen.
"It tastes better this way," she put down the bottle reluctantly and quickly changed the subject, "Since there is definitely a 'trap', do we, hiccup... give up this plan?"
"Of course, if you continue, you will only sacrifice Shermane in vain. Maybe you will have to join in... inform her and use half a month to slowly alienate Viscount Stratford, leave him, and throw away this false identity... Then, we will directly kidnap Stratford and ask for all the information!"
Huh?
Trissy was a little dazed for a moment. She originally thought that the blond Demoness in front of her was going to give up the current plan and give up on this one thrown out by the military and "Demoness Sect" Bait, and also looking for clues to the truth about Great Smog, but unexpectedly the other party changed the topic and actually prepared to forcibly kidnap the target protected by "Unaging" Demoness?
"Didn't you say that Katerina Pelle is staring at him? She is 'Unaging' Demoness."
She couldn't help but remind her aloud, lest this "desperate" Demoness die in vain.
"Of course, I will use the power of 'secret' to prevent the news from leaking out. I will also contact Katarina before taking action to understand her intentions. If conflict is really unavoidable..."
Angel said, stretched out his finger again and touched the empty glass bottle on the table.
The transparent glass lost its luster centered on the position she touched, and the grayish white color spread rapidly. In an instant, the novel glass bottle turned into a mottled stone surface.
"... I am also 'Unaging' Demoness."
Within Resistance Private Port of Bayam.
On the deck of the "Red Haired Woman", the Sailors, who had just returned from the "Fountain of Youth" and were ready to go to sea again after taking a short rest, were carrying boxes of fruits and cane sugar into the cabin. On the sea surface below the ship's side, a slim Siren floated lazily along the waves, revealing its belly covered in scales.
In the captain's room, Helene, who still had red hair and no longer pretended to be in disguise, had just sent away the terrifying headless messenger with a gold coin. He opened the letter "Golden Queen" sent to her, glanced at it briefly, and showed a look of surprise on his face.
"To expand the ships, first order three Three-Masted Sailing Ships that are the same as 'Red Haired Woman'?
"No need to keep hiding my identity, it's best to let Tracy know that I am Helene?
"Are you ready to be promoted to 'Reaper'?"
She picked up the envelope on the table and shook out a Charm made of purple translucent crystals. She looked carefully under the light of the oil lamp and found a curled-up insect with twelve links inside.
Tuesday evening, at the door of "Old Verne's Restaurant" of North Borough Arka Street.
A hired carriage stopped on the street. A young man wearing a double-breasted tuxedo with slightly raised shoulders and a half-high silk top hat stepped out first. He reached out to take the slender, white hand of the woman traveling with him and helped her get out of the carriage.
The latter was wearing a light green dress, with long golden hair draped behind her. Except for a gold ring dotted with amethyst on her left ring finger and a Maple Leaf-shaped pendant on her chest, there were no other ostentatious decorations.
She held the hand of the man next to her and walked into Old Verne's Restaurant together, and was led by the waiter to the private room on the second floor.
After sending the guests into the private room, the waiter who received the tip walked briskly back to the first floor. While sighing at his good luck today, he recalled the appearance of the young man and woman.
He suddenly found that he remembered that the other party's clothes were good and the matching of clothes was quite beautiful, but the appearance of the two of them was very vague, and he could not remember the specific details anyway.
Weird... He muttered, stuffed the tip into his pocket, and quickly forgot about this little thing.