This bonus chapter was sponsored by Alliance Leader "War Song at Dusk." One extra chapter for now; the remaining eleven will be made up later. Speaking of which, this big shot War Song got three accounts, and every single one became an Alliance Leader...
The mission had failed.
The smoke missions, which had always gone without a hitch, had suffered their first failure. From the very moment he discovered the smoke missions, Liszt had considered what changes might occur if one failed.
But fearing an unpredictable outcome, he had always worked hard to complete the missions, or alter them. Besides, the rewards were generous enough that he simply could not bear to let one fail. Even this time, with the Tulip Bug's evolution, Liszt had still not wanted failure.
Yet it had failed all the same. He stared unblinking at the Smoke Serpent Script, which had begun to shift.
Waiting for the newest change.
Slowly.
The twisting smoke began to form new serpent script: "Mission: When good fortune runs out, misfortune takes its place. How can one walk by the river often without getting one's shoes wet? But you must learn to grow amid adversity, like a storm petrel welcoming the tempest. Please defeat the bat in the dark night. Reward: Bloody Mary."
"Hmm?"
"There's still a mission?"
"When good fortune runs out, misfortune takes its place?" Liszt was surprised. He had considered that the smoke missions might leave him for good, or backlash and seriously injure him, but he had not expected merely a few lines declaring that "good fortune" had become "misfortune," followed by a demand that he defeat a bat in the dark night.
Once the mission was completed, there would still be a reward. Essentially, nothing had changed.
He felt somewhat disappointed, yet inexplicably relieved—the