80. Door
It was still some time before the appointment with Xio.
"Misfortune…"
"Zoa Ele is said to be a being that brings misfortune to anyone who sees it—or even to those merely near it. No one knows what it truly looks like, perhaps because no one has ever survived an encounter with it," Uriel explained, sharing the information she had gathered.
For some reason, I couldn't help but picture her dressed like a stern teacher, complete with glasses. But… no, I'd better banish that thought once and for all. She might appear pure on the outside, but her inner nature was… well, let's just say not so innocent. I let out a quiet sigh.
Well, judging from the current path, Zoa Ele is most likely another spider… but one that brings misfortune….
What exactly is misfortune?
Should I just smack someone for no reason?
Would that count as misfortune for them?
Or maybe rig a lottery so that everyone loses—does that qualify?
What if I made bird droppings rain from the sky? Would that be misfortune enough?
Haa… I finally had a lead, yet I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do with it.
Maybe this really is how people nowadays advance their potions—through endless trial and error.
In the end, all I can do is experiment and repeat.
… Directly harming someone doesn't really count as misfortune either.
I'd already tried the same approach as before. Back in Sequence 9 and 8, all I needed was to act like a taratect—a spider. Simply honing my creativity with threads, venom, ambushes, and traps had been enough to digest my potions. But now… things are different.
I tried applying my new abilities in the same way, but the results were negligible. In other words, the old method won't work anymore. If I want to advance, I'll have to uncover and understand the meaning of misfortune.
With Xio in tow, we left the harbor and made our way toward Empress Borough, where our client awaited us. For the time being, I covered my burn injury with threads, which left me looking like a half-wrapped mummy.
"Welco—!! Are you alright?!"
The one to greet us was Fors, who had already returned from her gathering. Her first reaction upon seeing my condition was to check on Xio first. Only after confirming she was unharmed did Fors let out a sigh of relief. Then, without hesitation, she hurried off to fetch a first aid kit for me as Xio and I stepped inside.
Accepting the kit, I thanked her before unraveling the threads and tending to my burnt wound. Perhaps I should ask Mr. Glaint if he has anything more useful for this…
Meanwhile, Xio carefully explained to Fors, step by step, everything that had happened. Once she finished, she rose to her feet and said she would look for Audrey's messenger. Lavenus now knew we were watching him, which meant he was likely to flee—or move ahead with whatever scheme he had planned here.
After Xio left, only Fors and I remained in the room. She shouldn't be gone for long. From what I'd heard, Susie was serving as her messenger.
"Are you alright?" Fors asked, her gaze settling on my arm—the one bearing the worst of the burns. The way she looked at me, it was as if she could feel the pain herself, even without being able to truly imagine what it was like.
"I'm fine." To prove it, I raised my right hand and waved at her, as if asking for a high five.
"!?" Her reaction… she froze, too afraid to touch it and risk making it worse. Well, that was obvious.
"You don't have to do that!" Her voice rose slightly, betraying her worry. "Doesn't it hurt?"
"Mhm, yes, it hurts," I replied casually. "More than when you stubbed your toe on the bedside."
"Eeep!" she yelped, finally able to imagine the pain. She even wrapped her own toe just in case. "Then why did you do that?" she asked again questioning my action just now while staring at me as if I were completely insane.
"Well… at least it's still attached," I grimaced, recalling the pain and the sheer discomfort of losing a limb. "I need to figure out a way to hide this thought," I muttered. Appearing like this in front of my parents might just give them a heart attack.
"Just… what kind of experience…" she muttered in disbelief. Then, letting out a sigh, she bowed to me once more. "Thank you." I could feel the depth of her gratitude.
She wasn't naive. Judging by the state Xio and I were in, she could more or less piece together what had happened.
"Don't worry about it." I explained that the reason we had stepped into such a dangerous situation was entirely my doing—without me, Xio wouldn't have taken such a risk.
"Alright, enough about me," she said. "What about your side? Did you find anything useful?"
Fors sighed—a clear sign she had come up empty.
"I was able to confirm that a Psychology Alchemist had appeared there before, but this time, there's no sign of such an individual. I can't make any connection," she said solemnly.
Understanding her frustration, I tried to offer some comfort.
"Well… that's usually how it goes. Succeeding on the first try is nearly impossible. We just got lucky this time," I said as softly as I could. "It's a miracle we managed to find even one of our targets on the first attempt. Pure coincidence—" I trailed off mid-sentence.
"??" Fors turned to me. "Hey… you're alright?" she called again, worry evident in her voice. From her perspective, my face had turned pale in an instant.
"Does it hurt?" she asked once more, her eyes fixed on the burn—but I gave nothing away. "Chris!" she called, louder this time—and finally, I responded.
"Aa—yeah, I'm fine," I said, forcing a wry smile to calm her down.
"Huu…" she sighed in relief. But that didn't mean the goosebumps had disappeared.
"Anyway," I repeated, trying to salvage the situation, "we were just lucky this time. You know, like hitting a jackpot or something—just once in a lifetime."
"Hehe," she suddenly chuckled, leaving me momentarily confused.
He's trying to cheer me up—but that should be my job, Fors thought. Just looking at him, anyone could tell what condition he was in right now.
'He was trying to act tough, but his pale, ashen face betrayed him.' Actually, Fors's upset had already faded the moment she saw our condition; what remained was just a trace of lingering worry. She was easily influenced, yet just as easily recovered—after all, she was far too lazy to dwell on things like that. Her deadlines mattered far more.
Thankfully, the situation seemed salvaged, and the conversation grew lighter between us—or so I thought. That was until I saw Fors suddenly collapse, clutching her head and screaming in pain.