Aventurine did not end up waiting for the person he was supposed to wait for.
This outcome wasn't necessarily bad, nor was it entirely unexpected. Aventurine was simply a little frustrated that his gambit had failed.
He glanced around the room, then turned his head back toward the door.
The door was wide open, and from inside, he could still see the hallway outside.
But there was no one in the corridor. The occupant of this room clearly had no intention of coming over at all.
It was obvious the other party had no intention of playing his game.
Or perhaps...
"Is it because they've realized their own importance?"
Aventurine's eyes scanned the scene outside the door, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Interesting. Very interesting. This course of action clearly indicates they believe they've completely seized the initiative. It was like this when they entered the hotel, and it's like this now that they've entered the dreamscape. They have no intention of taking any other faction seriously."
"Or maybe..."
"They're just too confident. It's like they're acting with a predetermined rhythm, without a hint of hesitation. They're even convinced of their own inevitable success. What a frightening bunch."
Knowing he could wait forever and the person he was meant to meet would never arrive, Aventurine abandoned the idea of staying in the suite any longer.
He was even holding a Corporation "keepsake" in his hand—an item that could be used to send messages. But the other party's move had left him feeling somewhat at a loss.
'*The Stellaron holder... is she really that perceptive? No wonder she's managed to survive so many crises. It seems I'll need a more trustworthy method to get close to her.*'
Aventurine realized his overly direct "kindness" had tipped them off.
Right now, he couldn't tell if they knew what he was trying to do, or if they were just fishing for information precisely because they didn't know what he was trying to do.
But since the item hadn't been delivered, it meant his plan to use Stelle's special status to uncover Penacony's secrets had completely failed.
At his core, Aventurine was a gambler, but his opponent was acting like the casino owner.
Their approaches were fundamentally different.
Aventurine returned to his original room, where a partner was waiting for him.
"Ratio, where's that handsome plaster bust of yours?"
Aventurine greeted his "friend," a man also known as Dr. Ratio.
"You're very late. Such a delay... you must have encountered a fair amount of trouble," Dr. Ratio said, staring at Aventurine's face, his expression impassive as he waited for an explanation.
Aventurine spread his hands helplessly. "They're too slippery. They didn't even give me an opening to make my move. And the chip they put down was so heavy that I had no choice but to raise the stakes. They're as outrageous as a real estate developer guiding me into a high-interest commercial loan, and I have no choice but to keep adding more to the pot because of my mission."
Dr. Ratio's face was cold. "I warned you before. Don't go looking for trouble with the Nameless right now."
Aventurine understood the subtext.
In the past, the Nameless had been good people. Even if there were interactions and exchanges of benefits, the Express crew was generally kind and amiable. They didn't mind being used or approached in certain ways.
But the Nameless of today were different. They had a new, exceptionally strange talent on board—a person with considerable skill and a very particular set of methods.
The old tactics that worked on the Nameless were now basically useless.
Dr. Ratio wasn't speaking up for the Nameless; he was genuinely concerned for Aventurine, not wanting his friend to walk right into a trap set by them.
The old Nameless were like safe, malleable clay. The new Nameless were poisonous clay.
"Of course I know that. They publicly announced they'd found the secret of the Clockmaker's Legacy, and they even dared to stir up a huge fuss about it in front of everyone."
"When they entered the hotel, they showed no regard for the members of other factions, and even had a sort of 'come and try me if you've got the guts' arrogance about them."
"And now they're all immersed in the dream hotel. I just got here to explain the situation to you. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have been waiting in that dream suite until the end of time."
Aventurine explained the course of his actions. He was now confused by the Express crew's moves and was no longer sure if they truly knew the secret of the Clockmaker's Legacy.
The Corporation hadn't given up on prying into Penacony's affairs. They knew a thing or two about The Family's behind-the-scenes dealings, but they lacked concrete evidence.
"You just want another pair of eyes and ears, don't you? Don't be so quick to rely on the power of the Stellaron. The Stellaron exhibits different effects depending on who wields it. You want to use the Nameless to accomplish the Corporation's goals?"
"Is this what you call... making friends?"
Dr. Ratio sometimes found Aventurine a bit ridiculous. If he kept "making friends" like this, he'd probably die without ever knowing how.
Aventurine felt helpless, too. If he truly had a way to control the power behind Penacony, why would he be here thinking up all these bizarre schemes?
Was he just trying to make his job harder for the fun of it?
Dr. Ratio was silent for a moment before asking, "What do you plan to do next? If you can't make contact with the Nameless..."
Aventurine felt that things were getting troublesome, but they hadn't reached a dead end yet.
He explained, "The Family is worried the Corporation is going to cause trouble, which is why they're targeting us at every turn... There might be other troubles brewing behind the scenes in Penacony. As for whether it's a conspiracy by the Harmony, we'll have to dig up the evidence ourselves."
"That invitation was clearly a self-directed charade. Perhaps they're planning to do something out of line during the Charmony Festival."
"Or perhaps the invitation came from someone else, but The Family tacitly approved, playing along to set an even bigger trap."
"But what no one expected was..."
Aventurine looked genuinely surprised as he said this, smiling. "The Nameless are far more cunning and intelligent than we imagined. They even turned the tables on The Family. By publicly stating they held the secret to the Clockmaker's Legacy, they've bet that The Family won't let them leave with that knowledge."
Dr. Ratio knew the old Nameless would never have been capable of such a move.
But the current Nameless were a different story. The Family had likely provoked someone they shouldn't have.
"What's next? This is just the current situation. Do you have a way to handle these problems? Or any plan at all?"
Aventurine spread his hands, looking helpless. "I don't! The trump card I had is now useless, since they're completely refusing to play. The next thing I need to do is put more chips on the gambling table."
Dr. Ratio sneered. "Including your life?"
Aventurine smiled back just as faintly. "Yes. Including my life."