Cooperation Reached

The Smiling Moon darted swiftly through the clouds.

William in the Black Suit and Lorien in the Silver Suit stood at the highest point, their arms folded before their chests in the same posture as they looked ahead.

"Lorien, have you ever been to Middle-Earth?"

"Middle-Earth? You mean that largest landmass in the world? I have... but it was several years ago, around the time I had just crossed the sea and completed my passage there.

"The continent was indeed vast, and its infection level was the highest among all the landmasses besides the Great Sea.

"There were many different types of Sick Ones, as well as a large number of human civilization ruins.

"But there was nothing interesting about it, and certainly no special people like those in your G&D organization."

"Go take a look~ If it's not interesting, head to the Old World through the passage there. It won't waste much time anyway."

Yet Lorien detected something in those words. "Did you foresee something? Someone as calculating with his time as you, William, shouldn't deliberately waste it."

William did not intend to hide it. He told Lorien that his and Catherine's trip to another world might attract attention from outside and set the gears of the world turning.

"Oh? William, you've actually already come into contact with the outside world. That sounds especially interesting. So there really are many so-called gods and Buddhas out there?

"So, you're worried that an 'investigator' from the outside world may already be in Middle-Earth?"

"It's possible, but the chances are slim. The Old World survived its defeat in the Riftlands, using the properties of the lesions to move between planes and parasitize the reverse side of our world in an attempt to 'make a comeback.'

"During the World Infection, the entire Old