Ademisaul stood trembling slightly outside the Evil Dragon Bar, momentarily at a loss as to whether he should go inside.
With Mr. L's "sincere assistance," he had successfully joined the Aurora Order, placed his faith in the Angel of Fate who served the True Creator, and received the Angel of Fate's blessing, becoming a "Monster."
And the Aurora Order and the Church of Storms were sworn enemies.
Then I shouldn't be coming here at all, should I...?
"Hey, isn't this Ademisaul the 'Monster'?" Inside the Evil Dragon Bar, an old regular called out to Ademisaul in front of him:
"We haven't seen you for days. Thought you were dead."
"I... I'm not dead," Ademisaul said somewhat blankly.
His mind felt clearer than ever before, and the irritating, tangled patterns he had never been able to make out had vanished from his sight. Following his instincts, he said:
"I got scared before and ran off for a few days. I couldn't find my way back..."
"Tsk, then you missed yesterday's fun." The old regular staggered over to Ademisaul, slung a muscular arm around his shoulders, and led him into the bar:
"A woman brought a fledgling here yesterday. Some bastard made a few lewd remarks at her and got what was coming to him. Pissed himself out of nowhere, then lost every penny he had on him. They stripped him naked and tossed him out..."
His words prompted a burst of delighted laughter from those around him.
Klein's face twitched slightly as he inexplicably recalled what had happened when Miss Daly took him to the Evil Dragon Bar the night before.
According to Daly, Old Neil had taken many newly recruited Nighthawks to the underground market there. It had become something of an unspoken tradition-even though Old Neil had returned to