Back at the BlackThorn Spirit Domain, Amanises, Leonard and Frye reported everything they had seen while investigating Lanevous' residence.
Dunn Smith looked at them with a grim expression as if already expecting such an outcome.
"I got it. Good work, all of you. You're free for now."
As troubled as all of them were, they still put up an effort to look professional in front of the Captain.
"Don't we need to worry about the bomb?" Frye asked while his pale skin somehow became even whiter. It was clear he was in distress.
Dunn shook his head. "I asked Him, and He said that there's no immediate danger, but we still have to hurry and disarm the bomb."
Amanises breathed a sigh of relief. "Well if you say so. When will a demigod be available?"
"I don't know, they're incredibly busy and hard to get hold of. No more than five days I suppose."
Five whole days?! That's insane! Do these people have no sense of urgency??
She stared at him with a complex expression, her gaze almost crumpled under her own anxiety.
With a defeated sigh, she turned around and left the Captain's office, mumbling out a goodbye in turn.
Great, now I have to keep my heart in my teeth for five whole days.
***
Arriving home, she instantly told everything to Daly, who also looked at her with a frown after listening attentively to her speech.
"We can do nothing but wait." She ended the briefing with that simple sentence.
"It's always like this, let's just hope we can actually get in touch with one this time around."
"There's a possibility we don't?"
"Slightly, but since this concerns an entire city, there's no way a demigod wouldn't come."
Amanises slunched back in her seat.
Perhaps I should ask Mr Fool for a divination? Isn't He a deity with close ties to the Seer pathway? Or the mysterious Mr World for advice...
She started thinking about ways to get around this long waiting period without looking too suspicious.
Meanwhile, Daly got up and went to the kitchen. "Let's relax for now. Continuing to wrack our brains over this will lead to nothing."
Amanises nodded absentmindedly.
***
The woman thought about this the whole day, wondering if it's worth it or not to bother The Fool.
He's rather nice, always willing to help at a fair price. However, I shouldn't exploit His goodwill. Who knows what will happen if it ends.
She played with the Miracle charm in her hands, tossing it around between them left and right.
Eventually, her words mumbled the words 'The Fool' and before she could explain her request, Amanises was pulled above the gray fog.
…
Finding herself in the familiar seat, she greeted Him with the familiar bow to which he nodded in acknowledgement.
"What's your request?" The Fool tilted His head to indicate that He was listening.
Do I really have to mention it? Aren't you watching over me all the time?
"I'd like to have an audience with Mr World, if possible."
The Fool smiled and tapped on a crimson orb, making it fluctuate and contract.
Is this how he sees us? Crimson stars? How interesting!
It was similar to the sparkling stars that resembled prayers which wavered in the blank sky above the River of Souls.
Could this place and the river be similar?
Meanwhile, the orb continued to shift and soon enough it expanded, flying over to the other end of the table and materializing into the familiar Mr World whose silhouette was shrouded in a black mantle.
"You wish to speak with me?" He started in an even voice, a bit imposing too, making her shudder.
She nodded. "Yes, I'm currently in Tingen City and we found an altar belonging to the Aurora Order. The perpetrator left a letter saying there's a growing timed bomb in the city, waiting to explode.
"We already figured out that it's a metaphor and not an actual bomb, but we have no idea where to find it."
The World absorbed all of the information, bobbing his head up and down.
"Hmmm, it would be better to consult a divination expert."
"Getting in touch with one will take about five days."
"I see, you think it will explode before that?"
"Yes."
"How ominous." He said, without continuing.
Is he thinking? Or perhaps he has no way of helping? Was all this for nothing?
She started to panic slightly, even trembling a bit as the man at the end of the table continued to stretch the silence.
Eventually, he spoke.
"The results show no immediate danger. Well, that's regarding your own survivability."
Judging by his response, Mr World must've made a divination while she was catastrophizing.
"That means?"
"No matter what happens, you will live. You might face great danger, but will survive in the end."
Is that supposed to dispel my worries?
"What about others?"
"There will be no event that Tingen City will know of."
What the fuck do you mean? Is the bomb going to explode or not? Are my friends here going to die with only me being left alive??? I hate these goddamn Seers!
It looked as if The World was aware of Amanises' internal rumble, so he continued in that unnervingly calm tone.
"If you wish to check for yourself, take a Sealed Artifact regarding the Seer pathway to the place and perform a divination. To get rid of interference and corruption you can apply for Mr Fool's blessing."
Phew! Amanises was filled with relief.
If she can do something for herself then that makes everything better. She was tired of relying on other people.
Amanises kept everything that The World said in mind and thanked him sincerely.
Soon after, she exploded in countless streaks of light, leaving the castle and returning back to her place at the rented house.
The Fool and The World remained in the palace, looking at each other.
After a few seconds, The Fool sighed and soon cut the connection with him too.
***
The very next day, Amanises showed up at the Spirit Domain like a regular day at work.
She greeted the few people present and then made her way to the archives.
She was surprised to find another person there, Royale Reideen.
"What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?" She asked the dark haired woman.
Royale, with her hair half up and wearing a silver hair clip, gazed back.
She had a small book in her hands, one with a bare cover of a weathered yellow colour that looked almost ancient.
"I'm searching through old poetry. Perhaps I'll find some bouts of inspiration."
"I should do that too sometime, recently my poetry has been lacking." She remembered the nights of continuously tapping the fountain pen on her temple, getting annoyed with her lacking skills.
Royale smiled slightly, she really opened up to her recently. "This evening we will play Texas Hold'em with the others, want to join us?"
Amanises was left unaware of this game up until now.
Or perhaps wait, was I notified yesterday? I think Frye asked me...
In her mind a small blurry scene played.
He really asked me. Oh god, it would've been embarrassing if I wouldn't have showed up.
She agreed to the invitation, saying that she would've joined either way and was glad to be invited.
"You're fitting in so well. It's almost like you're from Tingen. I'm going to be sad when this mission ends for sure."
"Don't worry, I'll visit often. Backlund is rather uneventful with all the main Churches around."
"Huh? I'm pretty sure it's more interesting than Tingen. More people usually mean more trouble."
"That may be the case."
"Huh?" Royale was confused.
What she says hardly makes sense.
"Well anyways, what brings you here? Surely not to watch me read some boring books, right?" She hoped to change the theme of discussion.
"I'm here to inquire about a Sealed Artifact of the Seer pathway."
"How specific. What do you need it for?" Royale closed the book in her hands and put it back in its designated place on the large bookshelves.
"To perform a divination, of course. You must've gotten the news from Captain Dunn by now."
"Regarding Lanevous and the ritual chamber? Yes, I have. You will do the same as you did with Klein Moretti?"
"That's right."
"I see then, you could rent out one from the Castle. Seer pathway artifacts are quite abundant in that place." Since it was the main pathway and represented The Arcanists perfectly, it was obvious some Sealed Artifacts would be present.
"Well then, I'll go there now and see for myself if that's the case. Do you want to come with me?"
Royale froze at the question. She didn't expect to be invited by Evelyn, even if they have become quite close ever since she came here less than a month ago.
Does she see me as a friend? The woman felt good after knowing that more people cared about her, most of the time she would just blend in the crowd and remain unnoticed.
"Sure. Let's go." Royale Reideen looked up at Evelyn with a clear sparkle in her eyes, something which was rather rare to see.
Both women exited the Archives, leaving the ancient poetry books behind and headed for the door to the Grand Castle of Elpahel.
***
Passing through that stiff wall, they entered the huge hall with countless doors and adjacent corridors.
Stopping at the receptionist's desk, Amanises knocked thrice, catching her attention from the disorganized paperwork.
Looking over her glasses, the woman behind the desk was ready to hear the reason they came here for.
"I wish to borrow an artifact of the Seer pathway, if possible."
The woman shuffled through the documents taking out a yellowish page.
"Name?"
"Evelyn Dusk."
"Oh, it's you." There was a hint of recognition in the woman Sasha's voice.
Ah! She remembers me! I don't know if I should be glad or scared. Amanises wore a stiff smile and let out an awkward chuckle.
"Yes, it's me."
"What for?"
"I want to perform a divination."
"Hmm, a suitable Sealed Artifact for divination is from Sequence 9 to Sequence 6. They all bring the same results, however the higher the sequence the more serious the side effects.
"I recommend Sequence 9 Seer for you, there's one that guarantees a result as long as you can withhold the divination itself.
"Meaning that if you can guarantee your safety, it's your best option."
Can a Sequence 9 Artifact bypass anti-divination that easily? I wonder what happened for it to end up like that…
"That's great. May I borrow it?"
Sasha pushed back her glasses up her nose. "Unfortunately, someone has already applied for it today, it will be back by tomorrow."
Such luck! Dammit!
"That's alright, we'll come back tomorrow. Please make sure no one else asks for it."
The woman scribbled down something on a nearby blank paper and nodded.
"Thank you." Amanises sincerely thanked the receptionist for her time.
"No problem." With that, she turned back to her previous occupation. Amanises wasn't sure if she organized papers or played Sudoku, a game invented by Roselle, but that wasn't to her concern.
She grabbed Royale by the hand and returned back to the BlackThorn Branch without any second to spare.
***
Later that evening, Amanises, Royale, Seeka, Leonard and Frye stood at a round table and played a few rounds of Texas Hold'em.
I really don't have any luck with gambling. Amanises looked at her hand, seeing the shittiest cards possible and trying her best to not give it away to her opponents.
Due to her way her face was a constant poker face, no one even realized it.
As Amanises was just about to take a peek under her cards, her vision blurred and the silhouette of the fog-covered Miss Justice appeared in her mind.
She was in a prayer position, lips moving continuously.
"I'm at a ball held by Duke Negan and encountered someone who's suspected to be Qilangos.
"He is disguising himself as Baron Gramir, and his motives are unclear.
"I noticed today that some of the details regarding Baron Gramir were a little different than usual. This made me recall the appearance-altering Beyonder power that Qilangos's mystical item has."
Following that, The Fool's silhouette was evidentiated through that fog.
He chuckled slightly. "You wanted to help. So here's your chance."
The gray fog receded and everything went back to normal.
Amanises blinked a few times, unsure of what happened. Until, the action became clearer in her head.
Bloody hell!