"How should I address you?"

"...15,000 isn't much to me, and I don't have many occasions to spend money, but you might really need it. You can use it to make yourself stronger...

"...Our last meeting was too rushed for me to tell you that I've already awakened the memories associated with Creeping Hunger. I no longer need it. It might be of greater use in your hands...

"...I've placed some seals on it so it won't be hungry under normal circumstances anymore, but every time you use it, you must feed it a human soul and human flesh and blood. Otherwise, it will devour you..."

Klein let out a breath and set the letter back on the table, the most relaxed smile he had worn in days appearing on his face.

Then, as though something had occurred to him, he picked up the glove. It was black and as thin and light as if it had been made from human skin. Without lingering, Klein took the glove to Sefirah Castle, intending to study it there.

In the pure white space, Neph crouched on the ground, wrapped her hand in thick animal hide, and grasped the handle of a brush, carefully lifting it out of a bucket of white paint.

The brush was coated with quite a bit of paint, and as Neph lifted it, the paint on it showed signs of dripping.

Neph instinctively felt that the paint was extremely dangerous, so she dared not let even a speck touch her. Carefully, she put the paint-covered brush back.

The brush settled against the side of the bucket. Neph looked at the wooden bucket before her. In just three days, it had gone from a clean, half-new, empty bucket to one filled with paint. Its exterior was also smeared with paint, even the handle.

The brush, at least, still had a few places she could grip, though it was mottled with paint.

This was clearly the result of the Pure White Walker Beyonder characteristic fusing with the wooden bucket she had brought in. Crouching on the ground, Neph began to consider how to work out its effects and drawbacks.

...Divination?

This was the most obvious answer, because whenever Klein obtained a new Mystical Item or Sealed Artifact, he used divination to solve the problem.

Even setting aside the details already provided in the original novel, Moon City certainly had instructional materials on divination. Neph wasn't worried about not knowing how to perform it. As for tools... come on, Dream Divination only required paper and a pen.

What Neph was truly unsure of was whether her divination would yield any feedback-not every Pathway excelled at divination. At the very least, the description of a Sequence 9 Ghoul's abilities included no corresponding ability.

After a brief hesitation, Neph decided to give it a try. Even if she failed, she had another option-she remembered that Moon City had a Sealed Artifact used for investigation.

She wrote the appropriate divination statement on paper, silently repeated it seven times, and sank into sleep. Neph was cautious on her first attempt at divination. After the dream shattered, she woke, rubbing her brow, then took up her pen and wrote the relevant information on the paper beside her:

"...Provides a special form of Spirit Vision, allowing the user to see the colors of various traces on objects or people...

"...White paint can be applied to the colors visible through Spirit Vision to erase the corresponding traces. When all the colors on an object or person become pure white, their existence will be forgotten by the world...

"...Constantly produces white paint that overflows, erasing the surrounding 'colors.' Without a suitable method of sealing it, areas eroded by the white paint will vanish from other people's sight...

"..."

Neph put down her pen and looked at the Sealed Artifact, which bore an uncanny resemblance to a paint bucket. Without a second thought, she returned to the beginning and wrote down its name:

"A Bucket of White Paint."

Then she withdrew her pen and murmured as she looked at the paint bucket before her:

"I should think about how to seal it... uh, first I need to check whether I can take it outside."

Neph shook her head, tucked away her paper and pen, and picked up the Blank Canvas. She walked over to the paint bucket, crouched, wrapped her hand in thick animal hide, and cautiously gripped the bucket. Then she activated the Blank Canvas with her spirituality.

Neph sighed in relief as the scene before her changed to the real world. She glanced down at the paint bucket on the ground, then silently took it back into the pure white space.

"Sealing... hmm, I'll ask the High Priest first..." Neph muttered, lying down to recover her spirituality.

Only after her spirituality had fully recovered did Neph push herself up into a sitting position. She took out the sheet of paper recording the information about A Bucket of White Paint and dashed into the conspicuous Black Tower.

Having climbed all the way to the top floor in one go, Neph stood before the door, panting. Once she caught her breath, she smiled happily and raised a hand to knock.

"Come in."

Neph opened the door and entered without hesitation. This time, she didn't even glance at the clock, striding straight up to Nim. He looked up at her and said in surprise:

"You seem very happy."

Neph nodded with a smile and slapped the paper down in front of Nim. He paused briefly, then instinctively picked it up to read.

Knowing that someone else would need to read it, Neph hadn't used Chinese, nor had she used that language which resembled Jotun but was different from it-she had spent more than half a month immersed in a Jotun-speaking environment, and her Beyonder ability enhanced her memory. That language resembling Jotun also seemed to give her a certain advantage in learning Jotun. With all these factors working in her favor, she had essentially mastered it.

Of course, that mastery only extended to communication. If someone asked her to write a poem in Jotun, or anything else requiring literary skill, she absolutely couldn't do it.

"What is this?" Nim asked calmly, looking up after finishing the information on the paper.

"Does Moon City have a way to seal it?" Neph asked.

Nim paused briefly. He shook his head, then nodded as he said:

"I'm not entirely sure. I may have to see it in person before I can say.

"Would you like us to help you seal it?"

"No." Neph shook her head, her expression turning serious. "I want to leave it in Moon City."

"Leave it in Moon City...?" Nim looked puzzled.

Neph nodded and explained to him:

"I already confirmed that corruption is also considered a lingering trace. In other words, this Sealed Artifact..."

"Can purify corruption!" Nim and Neph said in unison.

Neph nodded vigorously, looking at Nim in excitement. His expression hadn't changed; all she could see was his tense hand pressed against the table. She didn't speak, and neither did Nim. Silence spread between them.

"Tick-tock."

The chime marking the hour

rang out once again. Neph instinctively started to look up, but Nim, who seemed to have only just recovered his senses, spoke at that moment:

"How should I address you?"

This was the third time Neph had heard that question.