If he couldn't confront it, couldn't he at least hide?
But what was this about a Hunter girl and a Demoness Poetess? Was it that kind of meaning?
Klein took a deep breath, feeling his worldview shaken to its core. If The Future's deck weren't so sturdy, he'd have dug himself a mansion to escape into.
He suddenly missed the love story of the Great Detective and the Puppet Lady. At least back then, things weren't this bizarre.
…
The Future didn't sail straight to the City of Generosity. To enhance the journey's experience, learn about the Five Seas' customs, check on various colonial islands, and boost Gehrman's fame, the ship made stops at numerous ports.
Thanks to someone's knack for attracting trouble, each stop guaranteed an incident for the trio.
By the time The Future neared the City of Generosity days later, "Mad Adventurer Gehrman" was already splashed across local papers.
"Wow, Gehrman, someone noticed you're like the protagonist of The Bounty Hunter and the Pirate Queen. They're even shipping stand-ins!" Alaric said, holding a newspaper and sharing the gossip with Klein.
Klein, no longer the type to cringe at his own fanfiction, kept his expression cool, lips curling slightly. "Oh."
Alaric glanced at him, shaking his head and setting the paper down with mild disappointment. "Ugh, you're no fun anymore."
"Heh!" Klein let out a cold laugh, glaring at the dejected Alaric. "Can't you pick a healthier hobby?"
What kind of twisted taste was this obsession with others' social demise?
"My hobby's plenty healthy. I just like reading novels! Don't you read them too, Gehrman?" Alaric spread his hands, retorting.
Klein replied flatly, "Reading novels is fine, but have the guts to stop commissioning my fanfiction!"
"It's just so fun!" Alaric said with an innocent look. "Besides, I've said before... if you feel shortchanged, commission mine. I don't mind."
Klein gritted his teeth, snapping, "And who, pray tell, is your CP?"
"Uh…" Alaric blinked, uncertain. "By closeness, probably a gender-swapped you?"
After all, his Jack persona was closest to Lucifer, then Klein. Lil' Amon and Medici ranked further down.
"So what's there to commission!" Klein huffed.
"Poor kid!" Alaric shook his head, then suggested, "You could commission fanfiction for others. That'd distract me from targeting you."
"Huh?" Klein looked at him skeptically. "Like who?"
"Like Steam Girl and Roselle…" Alaric's eyes lit up as he launched into a spiel about his transmigrator predecessor's "epic romance."
After listening for a bit, Klein couldn't hold back. "Does Roselle know you're spinning tales about him?"
"He does!" Alaric spread his hands. "And honestly, everything I just told you actually happened. I'm not to blame for shipping them... they're just that real."
Klein fell silent, briefly questioning his transmigrator predecessor's orientation.
But recalling Roselle's diaries, he didn't doubt it anymore.
Roselle's taste was clear: he loved beautiful women with great figures.
"Why couldn't Steam Girl be a beauty?" Alaric posed a soul-searching question. "At Her level, switching genders for the main body might be tricky, but creating a female avatar? Easy."
Klein went quiet. From what he knew, that was entirely plausible.
And with Roselle's lack of principles… ha, what principles did the Emperor have?
"Does Bernadette know?" Klein asked, hitting a critical point.
"Uh, probably?" Alaric said uncertainly, shrugging. "Bornova knows, at least, but She might not get it... Her humanity isn't that developed yet."
Both fell silent, then simultaneously clasped their hands in prayer.
Here's hoping the Emperor's okay.
"What are you two doing?" Lil' Amon returned, spotting his praying companions and looking puzzled.
"We're praying for Roselle, hoping his daughter doesn't kick him out," Alaric said with a chuckle.
"He can crash at his mistress's place," Lil' Amon quipped, handing out two City of Generosity drinks. "I checked around. The rebel leader's in the northern suburbs. If we want to track down Kavetua, he's our starting point…"
"I asked Siatas about the elf ruins. She's got some leads…"
Lil' Amon relayed his findings, sipping his drink. "That's all I've got. Your turn."
"Thanks, Lil' Amon!" Alaric patted his shoulder. "I'll handle locating the ruins…"
Kavetua's location was unique, a ruin left by Cohinem, existing between the Spirit World and reality, nearly impossible to pinpoint without coordinates.
This was why Kavetua had reigned as a local god in the City of Generosity for so long... even the Church of the Lord of Storms couldn't find it.
But the ruin had a quirk: it wasn't a single site but paired with another elf ruin that could be found in reality.
Alaric had tasked Lil' Amon with gathering intel to use this to locate Kavetua.
Admittedly, he also hoped to use Siatas, the former Elf Queen's attendant, to "fish" for Cohinem. Siatas herself was eager to see her again, so it was a win-win.
Alaric bore no ill will toward Cohinem. He'd even help her if she could offer something he wanted... like information on the Western Continent.
***
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