"The Watcher is doing everything it can to maintain the seal, but it refuses to meet any of the candidates. It says the seal's power was damaged by human intervention. Part of that was Mr. Snake's influence, but there were other forces involved as well.
"The Watcher suspects that one of the candidates is working with Mr. Snake, or has been used by Mr. Snake without realizing it. That is why it does not wish to meet anyone. Moreover, it bears the responsibility of opening the final act, so for the sake of fairness, it cannot reveal itself lightly."
Winnie said this while standing in the perfectly proper posture of a maid.
Shade then asked:
"But I'm not a candidate. Does it still refuse to see me? Or do I need to complete some trial and obtain some sort of token before it will agree to meet me?"
Gathering strange items everywhere or doing strange things was something Shade was quite familiar with.
Winnie shook her head:
"Although it does not trust humans, it still trusts me to some extent. I shared some memories related to you with it, and it agreed to meet you. Its condition is that it will only see you alone, with me allowed to accompany you at most. And you must possess a Ring of Fate capable of using power, to prove that you are indeed qualified."
Although Shade did not have a ring, he was indeed qualified. "Noble Fate" was only a half-ring, but Shade felt that should count as well.
"I'll handle the ring myself. When can I go see it?"
Shade asked. Winnie did not ask how he intended to solve that problem, only answered:
"Tomorrow morning, at the Ice Lake where Emilia Sinode and Angelina Cavendish encountered the Infinite Snake. It