The next day, Nexus District. Early morning hours.
On Victoria Street, the tallest building on the entire street had finally finished its repairs after almost two months since it was purchased in mid-August.
It would have been finished in mid-September, but the constant rains and the change of season meant that the repairs and repainting of the building took a few extra weeks to complete.
A woman with well-groomed black hair and square glasses stood outside this newly reinvigorated building, her mouth pursed into a disgruntled grimace as she surveyed it.
The dark, reddish brick façade, decorated with details in shades of ivory and pale green, and the moldings were finally gleaming again after a much-needed coat of paint.
The domes of the roof had the same fate, although first the parts where the metal had been damaged had to be repaired, the new sky blue paint making it look like a cloud would come out of it at any moment. The central dome was now painted white and gray to resemble a cloud.
The ivory-colored columns flanking the door looked as good as new, and the wooden door with green-painted reliefs looked fresh from the carpenter, the old wood polished and gleaming.
Snorting ungracefully, she shook her head.
'The power of money. When you have enough, it's no longer a question of how but how fast they can do it...' The best lawyer in the whole building, as well as the newest member of the building owner's team, sighed wearily.
Her eyes then moved back to the columns at the entrance above it.
Wayne Enterprise
'That name isn't even real, and you use it for your company. Wise Owls are weird...' Complaining some more, Vivian sighed somewhat roughly and entered without much haste.
As she entered, the first thing she noticed was Eleanor off to the side, talking to the boy Saul, who was watching him flatly, finding it hard to tell if he was paying attention to him or not.
Suddenly, Saul turned around, and his dark green eyes immediately connected with hers.
Without a word, the boy raised a hand and waved from his place.
That done, he turned and looked back at Eleanor.
The older man had a slight frown on his face and was looking at the young man in front of him strangely. Turning to where the young man turned, he noticed her too.
"..." Vivian only looked at him for a few moments before rolling her eyes and turning away, beginning to walk to the stairs.
Eleanor's face twitched, and he casually lowered his right arm.
Beside him, Saul bowed his head slightly and commented monotonically.
"Please don't take it the wrong way, Mr Eleanor. It's not that Miss Vivian doesn't like you, she's like that with everyone."
Pursing his lips, the secretary coughed softly into his fist, "Hm. It's alright, Saul, I'm used to Miss Vivian's... quirkiness by now."
The young Robot nodded at those words, "Well, you look annoyed."
"..."
For an instant, Eleanor's left eyelid twitched.
Turning in place, the man began to walk back to the basement.
"Let's get on with the class."
...
Pausing between the break to the second floor, Vivian sighed lightly. She turned and looked down to where she had last seen such a curious young man.
'I barely looked at him for a moment, and he already detected me... That's a powerful intuition...' Narrowing her eyes slightly, she raised an eyebrow.
What kind of path would that be? The Seer or the Monster?
Shaking her head for a moment, she returned her gaze to the front and climbed the remaining path. Up to the fourth floor.
Passing through the corridors, she opened the door to her office and calmly stepped inside, but didn't close the door.
Going to her desk, she opened one of several drawers and, after a moment's rummaging, pulled out some documents she had prepared in advance. They consisted of several contracts for the rental of a theater for the 'debut' of the first 'film.
The theater chosen for this 'theater killer' presentation was a fairly decent one on the fringes of the downtown Artelia district. It wasn't on the level of the biggest and most important theater, but it was by no means a bad start.
'The only thing is, the rent is kind of expensive...' Vivian paused her accommodation of the money for a moment, her brow furrowed and lips tightened.
Of course, it's not as if Mr K had any problem with money....
Even though she knew it was useless and knew the answer was coming, she had a job to do and a role to play.
Arranging and tidying them, the Barbarian left her office and walked down the hallway, the door with the metal 'W' greeted her.
Entering after obtaining permission, Vivian took four steps into the office and stopped, a few feet from the table where Harvey Wayne sat calmly sipping a cup of coffee, nothing seemed to affect or bother him.
Vivian took a deep look at that false face, that black hair combed back, high cheeks and shiny forehead.
"Good morning, Miss Vivian." Harvey Wayne, or Mr K, greeted with the corner of his lip slightly raised.
"Is there a problem?"
It was as if Sunday had never happened....
Ignoring the jump in her eyelid and closing her eyes for a moment, she shook her head lightly
"Good morning to you, too, Mr Wayne.
"There's no problem at all."
She then walked over to the desk and placed the various documents on it.
"Here is the final contract for the rental of the Vico Theater, from Wednesday, October 10, through October 31. A total of 21 days, 85 sassem per day, that would be 1785 sassem for the rental time."
Now that she had gotten a little closer and Harvey Wayne was going through the documents one by one, Vivian looked out of the corner of her eye at the other woman in the office, who was sitting by the window.
Abigail Rodhes had a disinterested look in her blue-gray eyes. Her fluffy white hair combed to one side, held back by her laurel.
'Now not only her nose but her eyes...' Vivian nodded internally, confirming her theory.
Unlike Sunday, Abigail's eyes now had that bluish tinge and hint.
The Barbarian was now certain.
The white-haired woman sitting in the office next to Harvey Wayne was not the real Abigail, but someone else.
The original had been replaced!
Most likely the same with the Harvey Wayne in front of her. This Harvey is not the real Mr. K!
Being experienced in seeing hidden truths, Vivian immediately understood what was going on.
'Before, Mr K only had one artifact with the Faceless abilities, so only he could change his face, so the Abigail that came with him was her in her true appearance. But, after getting that grade 1 artifact, Rapture, it is very certain that he also got another artifact similar to the one he uses. And this new artifact is in the hands of the one who is replacing Miss Abigail...'
This didn't surprise her much; artifacts with those specific qualities were rare. What confused her was how she was using these abilities.
Instead of completely changing her appearance to be identical to that of the white-haired woman, she preferred to leave a few differences?
They were not very noticeable, the bluish tone was very difficult to see without the right lighting, as well as the different nose one had to be in front of her to notice it. From a distance, they were the same people.
'By the way she is using it, Miss Abigail does not wish to abandon this identity, but she also has to leave certain differences so that she is not so easily identified. A poor attempt to hide in plain sight, so the intention is not truly to hide... How curious. Is she using it to confuse?'
Beneath her square glasses, her eyes sparkled for a moment, seeing the truth behind it.
'Yes, that's right! People who aren't familiar with Miss Abigail wouldn't notice the changes, but those who were would notice it immediately, so this is a sign for me! They want me to act normal so I can avoid drawing attention to myself so that whatever the real Miss Abigail and Mr. K are doing can be completed without complications!'
Her grandfather used to do this a lot when she was little, so she was very familiar with what to do.
So, with years of experience in helping her dim-witted grandpa, Vivian held back the corners of her lips from turning up and continued to act like someone who didn't know what was going on.
'The church must have had a mission for Mr. K that required him to check up on it personally so he left a replacement while he dealt with it. I wonder what it will be? Dealing with some wraith or specter? Or investigate some ancient ruin?'
She wasn't quite sure what a Wise Owl was in charge of, but it couldn't be much different than what she was already used to.
Meanwhile, on Artiros Street. In Warehouse 7...
In front of an altar with several red poppies and recently extinguished red candles, circular glasses passed by. A pair of hands grabbed them and placed them beside the altar, next to an old hardback book.
Adjusting the handles slightly, a young man lifted the circular-framed glasses and analyzed them.
The swirl deep in his purple eyes left no detail unturned.
The edges of the frame were covered with several carefully carved mystical symbols that were used to assist the ritual, unchanged and undamaged. The one that stood out most of all was the symbol under the bridge between the two crystals, a spear surrounded by infinity with a book.
"Well... Everything is in order." Mumbling quietly, Charlotte sighed and paused for a moment.
His purple gaze moved to the reflection of one of the several jars of materials on the shelf. To the invisible aura of spirituality that covered each one, which was the wall of spirituality that sealed each ingredient.
This was the effect of his Eyes of Mystery Prying. Something that often endangered his life as he struggled to contain them.
'Until today...' Adding in his heart, Charlotte stiffened his resolve.
Looking at all this, the young man with black hair and gray lines nodded slowly and put on his glasses.
Nothing changed, these glasses had no magnification of any kind, but they were still very special...
Calming his mind with semi-cogitation, he spoke flatly in Hermes.
"Seal."
The lens glass shimmered for a moment before returning to normal, as if it had suddenly reflected the sun.
Ignoring that, Charlotte returned his gaze to the vials and failed to notice anything in them; the invisible aura was no longer present.
Nodding at this, he pressed two fingers to the side of his head and frowned slightly.
Immediately after that, the invisible aura returned.
Quickly, the corners of his lips curled up. A big, satisfied smile now rested on his face.
A few feet away from him, leaning against a column and wearing an open puff sleeve displaying a rusty spearhead necklace and a white jacket, Adryan Kenway gave a thumbs up.
"A curious design, but they look good on you." The redhead praised with a sideways grin. Holding back the comment that Charlotte now looked like a hippie.
"Hehehehehehe..." Squeezing the charms tightly in his left pocket, Charlotte laughed a little, letting the nervousness that had overwhelmed him finally leave him.
Covering his mouth, he coughed a bit, regaining his composure, "I don't want to change it unless I have to, I've always preferred circular shapes, so it's okay to wear this."
As he said that, he grabbed the book next to the altar of the Scarlet Monarch and looked at it appreciatively, at the title written in Hermes on the dark colored goatskin cover.
Book of Secrets. Klarman
Thanking whoever this 'Klarman' is, Charlotte returned his attention to the redhead.
"These glasses are something I've always wanted to do, but didn't dare try. One mistake and blindness would be the best outcome.
"While they cause a lot of problems and put our lives at risk. Our eyes are our most prized possession; they greatly facilitate the performance of rituals and charms as well as bring various benefits."
Pausing for a moment, Charlotte sighed, "Of course, this makes them very sensitive.
"Simple glasses with an equally simple ritual won't be enough to seal them; a gentler touch is necessary."
His uncle had explained this in his journal, as well as recounting how someone he knew had lost his eyes by trying to seal them by ritual instead of using an object such as glasses.
Of course, the result would have been the same even if he had worn the glasses. Sealing Mystery Prying's eyes is not easy.
Sighing again, Charlotte looked at his boss and raised an eyebrow, "By the way boss, what are you guys doing here?"
"We have nothing to do." Adryan rolled his shoulders disinterestedly, tilting his head to the left.
Being that this week he planned to report the witch problem to the Church on the Day of Knowledge, it was best to keep a low profile and avoid as much attention as possible while the day arrived.
So they were just lazing around for now.
Charlotte glanced sideways at his boss, barely restraining himself from raising an eyebrow.
'Nothing to do, eh?'
As he tilted his head, the red hair that marked his face moved a little, showing his neck.
It was only for a moment, but Charlotte would swear he saw a bite mark.
"..." Closing his eyes, the Melee Scholar nodded casually, "Sure, Boss, whatever you say."
Sensing the young man's sudden discomfort, Adryan smiled slightly but didn't comment on it.
Today, he and his beloved worm hadn't done anything besides cuddle. It's just that Flora had gained the habit of biting him these past three days. Something that didn't seem that would stop anytime soon.
'I wonder if this is the Marauder possessiveness she mentioned... Is she marking me?' If so, Adryan could only say he found it curiously sweet.
His red eyes focused on the white-haired woman sitting a few feet to the side.
Wearing a thick, turtlenecked light blue dress with a yellow scarf, Flora was holding the book of Secrets in her hands and giving it a disinterested pass.
"Uh?" Charlotte looked at that and blinked in confusion, looking to his side, he noticed that the book was gone.
'When did she grab it? My intuition didn't tell me anything!' Stunned, the young man subtly took a step to the right and stepped behind the redhead.
"It's been a while since I've read anything to do with Shaman King Klarman," Flora commented, turning to the mysticism section, her eyes gaining a sudden sparkle.
"Oh? Do you know him?" Adryan asked somewhat surprised, but after some thought, it made sense.
He still didn't know what his beloved worm's true age was, only that it was a big number. Adding that to the fact that she was a demigod, it was no surprise that she had heard of this guy.
The Jacob paused her reading for a moment and looked at him flatly, feeling her sixth instinct itch. But after a few seconds, she shook her head.
"I've never met him, I'm just familiar with some of his work. His books on mysticism are highly sought after, each one."
Turning her attention to Charlotte, Flora continued, "Learn well what is in this book, it will be very useful to you in the future."
"I will, Madam Flora." Placing a hand on his chest, the young boy gave a respectful bow.
Ignoring the way he had called her, Flora closed the Book of Secrets and extended it into the air.
Naturally, the redhead reached out his hand, and the next moment, the book appeared a few inches above his palm.
Catching it casually, he extended it to the young man beside him, who took it with a somewhat blank stare.
"So this is the ability of a Prometheus..." Charlotte murmured, and there was a hint of envy in his tone.
If he had those abilities, he would never have had to worry about missing money or ingredients. He could simply take them without his victim noticing-
"Dream Stealer," Adryan corrected with a small sideways smile.
"... Really?" He stammered a little.
That meant she, too, was already Sequence 5?
'With Madam Flora, the team now has three Sequence 5 beyonders!' Charlotte tensed for a moment, clearly stunned.
"By the way..."
The sudden voice of his boss snapped him out of his momentary trance, blinking, Charlotte noticed that the red-haired man was extending something to him.
"Here."
Raising an eyebrow in suspicion, he looked at the outstretched paper for a few seconds before taking it and raising it to his eyes.
The Adventures of Mickey Mouse and Goofy. Friday, October 12, 9:00 p.m.
"A ticket?" Charlotte frowned.
What was he supposed to do with this?
"You're not that stupid, are you? It's an invitation."
Sighing, Adryan raised his left hand and double-tapped the ticket, "I already gave the rest to the others, you were the last one. These are the best seats, so wear your best clothes."
Ignoring the throbbing in his eyelid, Charlotte replied, "I'm not a fan of theaters."
At those words, a mischievous smile formed. Laughing a little, Adryan hummed, "It's not a performance."
"What's that supposed to mean? It's in a theater, isn't it? Then it's a performance."
Patting the young man's shoulder, Adryan closed his eyes, "You'll understand on Friday."
Saying that and leaving his hand on the boy's shoulder, Adryan opened his eyes and looked flatly at the young man, "Wear good clothes, if you dare to go with something ugly, I have a dress that is just your size."
Unable to help himself, the young man gulped.
"Y-yes, Sir!"