"Mr. Boiled Umbrella, you seem to be in fine spirits."
When Bai Ye entered the courtyard, the storyteller who called himself "Mr. Boiled Umbrella" was drinking tea at a stone table.
"Oh—it's you." The storyteller was initially startled. He had not expected someone to walk in like that, but when he turned around, he saw that it was Bai Ye.
"That's right. It's me."
Bai Ye walked up to the storyteller, then sat down across from him without the slightest ceremony.
"Where are your companions?" Ignoring Bai Ye's almost rude behavior, the storyteller asked.
"They're intercepting the Ink Wraiths in the west..." Bai Ye said with a smile.
The storyteller's hand froze as he raised his teacup. Somewhat puzzled, he asked:
"Ink Wraiths? What are those?"
"The monsters that attacked Po Mountain Town on New Year's Eve—Miss Sagara named them Ink Wraiths."
"Ink Wraiths... Ink Wraiths, derived from the spirits and demons of old. Very fitting. At last, there is a unified name for them." The storyteller nodded.
"Then, does that mean you also know the monsters' original names, sir? I noticed that they come in different varieties, and you just mentioned a unified name... so do you know what each type is called individually?"
Bai Ye's eyes shone brightly as he looked at the storyteller.
"..." The storyteller remained silent.
"Come to think of it, I have never seen any so-called 'Originium' in this world, yet you know what Oripathy is..."
"At first, I thought you had read some books from the outside world, but Sagara told me that this is merely a painted scroll... which means there is no such thing as an 'outside world' here..."
As Bai Ye spoke, he stared intently at the storyteller.
"Could it be that you, sir, like us, are someone who accidentally