Nobody Home?

The clock turned back to the day Griseo arranged to meet Meflor:

Sixth Street, inside the video store.

"Lady Phaethon, have you still found no trace of your sister... the other Lady Phaethon?"

The speaker was a purple-haired girl in a Lolita dress. The video store's dim yellow lights reflected in her red eyes.

She was Vivian, a member of Mockingbird and Phaethon's biggest fan. Ever since Hugo had faked his death and slipped away, she had followed Wise as they investigated the Ravenlock Family together.

Vivian glanced around. The video store was empty except for her and Wise. Not another soul was in sight, and an indescribable eagerness and excitement flickered in her eyes.

"Yeah, it's strange." Wise rubbed his chin, frowning. "Not just Belle and Griseo. Even Eous is gone."

He looked at the HDD system and asked gravely, "Fairy, can you help me find out where Belle or Griseo is?"

[Negative.]

[Master, the information you requested has been classified at the highest privacy level. You do not have permission to access it.]

"What?"

Wise froze for a moment, then frowned.

The highest privacy level could only be unlocked by the person in question. What were Belle and Griseo hiding from him this time?

"Fairy, what about Eous?"

[You do not have permission to access that information.]

Wise: "..."

Silence spread through the video store. Vivian tilted her head, studying the helpless confusion written all over Wise's face, and couldn't help asking softly, "Lady Phaethon, what should we do next?"

Wise raised a hand to rub his temples and gave a wry smile. "I don't know."

They were about to take on a boss, and his entire team had gone offline. How was he supposed to play?

That was how Wise saw it, anyway.