Himeko gazed at the warm lights in the distance and said leisurely:
"[...Witness every Impossible Thing in the dream, find the Clockmaker's Legacy left by the Father of Penacony, and then answer: Why Life Slumbers.]"
Welt looked somewhat puzzled.
"I don't remember that passage being in the invitation... Are you saying there was a cipher hidden inside?"
Himeko took a sip of Sodalu from her cup, her thoughts drifting far away.
"That's the intriguing part."
"The [invitation] sent by the Family was a music box. Winding it up would make it play music along with harmonious tones."
"But the one delivered to us was rather strange... Its musical background contained some discordant sounds."
"I transcribed those noises. They perfectly matched the frequency of the gravitational waves produced when the train warped, and using the spatial curvature of the train's engine as the key—I obtained that passage."
After hearing this, Welt's expression turned grave.
"...This is a common distress signal used by the Nameless."
Himeko gently shook her head.
"We can't jump to conclusions yet. It could also be the work of a Masked Fool."
"Judging by the method alone, a riddle-speaker or a Question Demon could do it as well."
Welt looked at the guests milling about in the distance and asked Himeko again:
"When did you discover it?"
Himeko replied calmly:
"When you were Yang Chao Yue, throwing your weight around on the Luofu."
"..."
"That joke wasn't funny." Welt sounded helpless.
The corner of Himeko's lips curled up.
"But it really was around that time. I told Pom-Pom immediately."
"No wonder..." Welt fell into thought as well.
"That Company envoy came to see us again earlier. Though he claimed to be asking about Yan Huan's whereabouts, he also mentioned the name [Clockmaker]."
"I fear the invitation he received