As was customary before their private meetings, Abner stood with The World and bowed to see Mr. Fool off. Only then did he briefly tell Klein the results of his "research" on Bianca, concluding:
"In short, I found a secret ritual on her, but it's incomplete. I'm afraid we'll need to gather all five survivors of the experiment eleven years ago to decipher it."
Klein listened carefully, then said thoughtfully, "So far, we can identify Bianca, Abby, and Pale Admiral Maria among the survivors... I wrote to Maria earlier to confirm it. She couldn't remember the details, but she readily admitted that she'd taken part in an experiment eleven years ago. She hadn't survived because she was lucky, though. She was unusual to begin with, and an elder protected her.
"Considering the direct connection between Pale Admiral's sword and Roselle... your guess is probably right. Roselle was most likely one of the people behind that experiment..."
Abner thought for a moment, then pressed, "Did she say what made her unusual?"
"No." Klein shook his head. "She's friendly toward me, but we aren't close enough for me to pry."
I see... Looks like I'll have to find a chance to "research" her myself... Abner muttered inwardly before saying, "Actually, I have a lead on the fourth survivor, Ms. Lophia—the one Abby's diary says can restore damaged objects. She's quite possibly Miss D of the Aurora Order now, stationed on Corsica Island."
Jane had let that information slip in a letter to him.
"Corsica?" Klein repeated the place name with a strange look.
"Just as you'd expect, Huang Tao named it. Heh, he called himself Caesar, but deep down, he wanted to be Napoleon." After that quip, Abner grew serious. "I have no leads at all on the fifth survivor, so I'd