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"You're back?"
As the crimson light faded, Leonard had only just taken in his surroundings when the Parasite's aged voice sounded in his ears.
"I'm back."
He answered calmly and lit the gas lamp. Inexplicably, the cold room felt a little like home, as though someone really had been waiting inside to say, "You're back," when he opened the door.
Leonard pinched the bridge of his nose. With his surroundings illuminated, his mood seemed to lighten as well.
"Old man, do you think it's possible that Ince Zangwill was just an unlucky postman, and the Church was actually sending 0-08 to a particular customer on a regular basis?"
Pallez said nothing for a long while. "...How did that brain of yours come up with this? You even used a figure of speech. Tell me, how long did you spend polishing those two sentences in your head?"
Just as I thought... Having confirmed his suspicions, Leonard pressed on.
"Was it meant for that... angel whose name can't be spoken? You told me 0-08 would attract someone!"
The aged voice in his mind fell silent for several more seconds before finally asking in bewilderment, "How exactly did you connect all these things? What happened while I was asleep?"
Toward evening, dark clouds piled up over Backlund, and a light rain began to fall.
Audrey withdrew her gaze from the rain outside the carriage window, glanced at her personal maid Annie, and began silently communicating with Susie, who crouched beside her.
Through her eyes, expressions, and subtle movements, she said:
Ever since that day, Annie's attitude had been a little strange.
Susie wagged her tail, raised a paw, then lay down and sniffed in Annie's direction. Together with the changes in color at the levels of the Ether Body and Mental