"I hadn't wanted anyone to see this, but you found yourself a pretty good helper."
That's right: Her Excellency Nepheli, former dean of the Institute of Curses, former senior member of the Native Council, and pioneer of the Miracle Path.
Even though she had clearly recognized Fu Qian, she didn't turn around when such a dangerous figure appeared behind her. She merely remarked offhandedly.
He also noticed that she was no longer wearing her familiar outfit. The fitted white shirt had been replaced by black.
It was nothing like her former attire in either its formality or its splendor. He could even make out dark patterns resembling constellations, like some excessively old-fashioned scholar's formal robes.
And just like the brown hair beneath her wide-brimmed hat, her clothes remained completely unharmed, even as she bathed in the dazzling flames.
"I just sensed how much he loves his work."
With only a few minutes left on the countdown, Fu Qian still didn't hurry, despite having finally found what he'd been pursuing all this time. He gave the tower keeper high praise.
He meant it. The whole process hadn't seemed particularly intense, but once Her Excellency Nepheli's true form had appeared, the label "cunning rat" had carried an astonishing amount of weight.
Perhaps the layers of space behind the door were an inherent feature of this place, but how could someone who had always been so good at concealing her tracks not use them to hide?
There was even reason to suspect that some Miracle had been protecting the lighthouse as it truly burned, making sure it could never be found.
And that meant the tower keeper's seemingly bizarre actions had actually broken through a protective formation set up by a Second Order. "Pretty good" was an entirely deserved description.
It wasn't just