In Snow Mountain Hall, Shade asked the returning young ladies for the Serpent's Shedding and recorded each of them in his own "Fate Manual." He did not mention that he had acquired a "role" as well, instead bringing up next week's plans:
"Claire, tomorrow my friends and I plan to confront the Doppelgangers head-on in the Tobesk region, so I won't be coming over tomorrow. Don't worry about us. Tobesk is, after all, a Great Parish, and the Church will have teams there as well."
"Do you need me to go to Tobesk? I know you can bring people directly back to your house."
The Sun's Great Witch immediately became energized. They were standing at the entrance to Unicorn Nest, and the brilliant sunset made her hair seem orange-red while lending greater definition to Shade's profile—Claire liked the serious expression he wore at that moment.
Shade shook his head:
"Even Galina won't be directly involved in the operation. It would be better if the Witches did not appear in Tobesk. Besides, next week is the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival. If I took you away at a time like this, Elder Harald would come after me with his life on the line.
"In short, if the Doppelgangers have nothing to do with the story on the island, we might be able to deal with House of False Men directly this time. Once the building has been driven away, the remaining Doppelgangers scattered in the city will not pose much of a threat. But if they are connected to this place, Claire, you will have plenty of chances to deal with them."
Bathed in the sunset, the young woman looked distinctly disdainful:
"Who cares about them? I just wanted to... I was just curious what your house looks like. Sivie told me