"That child really is innocent."
Lovia spoke softly after Derrick entered a room across the hall and closed the door to pray.
"But his being so easy to read should be a good thing for you, shouldn't it, Chief?" She turned back and smiled at Colin Iliad. "After all, that makes him easier to control and use."
The Chief raised his head and glanced at her.
"Give him a few more decades and a few more experiences, and he'll become just like you-utterly impossible to read."
He delivered his retort in a deep voice.
Naturally, he meant that Lovia was Derrick's exact opposite, her thoughts deeply hidden behind layers of calculation.
"Well then, we'll have to work hard so children like him can live to see that future."
Lovia chuckled and walked out of the Chief's room. Like Derrick, she chose an empty room, stepped inside, and shut the door tightly.
In their separate rooms, the two bowed their heads in prayer:
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era..."
"Blood and fury, hatred and fire..." ...
West Balam, Southern Continent.
Klein was resting in his hotel room after closing an arms deal when he suddenly jolted awake, hearing illusory, overlapping prayers beside his ears.
That voice sounds like little Sun... Why does everyone insist on contacting people in the middle of the night...
He dragged himself out of bed and entered the bathroom. In that cramped space, he took four steps counterclockwise and arrived Above the Gray Fog. Sure enough, just as he had expected, the person contacting him was Sun, Derrick, who was praying for a way to make proper use of the "Worms of Time."
*I do know one method: using the "Worms of Time" to make "Fate Siphon" charms... Hmm, the people from the City of