[Aventurine disguised himself as a reporter and collected a lot of information from people in the square by handing out money. Information about Souldad's devils, dangers in dreams, ghosts of nightmares…]
[Unknowingly, the bag was almost empty… Aventurine began looking for the last lucky person, hoping to give him a surprise.]
[He found a Pepeshi and was about to speak when the influence of Harmony struck—]
[He felt as if countless steel bars had pierced his head, cold metal brutally stirring in his brain. The Pepeshi in his sight twisted and deformed, and countless noisy voices like flying venomous bees viciously stabbed their poisonous needles into every inch of his skin.]
["Ugh…"]
[Aventurine let out a muffled groan, his knees slamming heavily onto the hard ground. He subconsciously tried to hold himself up, even the sounds beside his ears starting to become blurry.]
["Remember what I said? You Sigonians are only fit to stay under the manhole covers…" The Pepeshi had somehow circled behind him and mercilessly mocked, "Look at how sneaky you are! Sniffing here, smelling there—"]
[Aventurine barely stood up and turned around. The Pepeshi had already transformed back into Sparkle's appearance.]
["—Does the bloody smell of [Death] smell that tempting, little peacock?"]
——
A Certain Scientific Railgun.
"Isn't Aventurine's method of gathering intelligence way too primitive?"
In the academy's dessert shop, Kuroko Shirai bit the spoon of her strawberry parfait, frowning: "Shouldn't he first win more at the casino, then send a few people to help him gather information?"
"…Your behavior isn't exactly modern either." Mikoto Misaka gave her a helpless look. "You have to consider time. Time! Seventeen system hours. How long do you plan for him to waste in the casino? Besides, a person restrained by Harmony is already speaking feebly. Do you expect him to win one hundred percent?"
"Kuroko… Although he's a Company executive, he's ultimately still a human, not an Emanator. Don't overestimate his physical condition."
Mikoto Misaka stared somewhat warily at the smiling girl on the Celestial Screen. For some reason, although the girl looked cute, every time she spoke it gave her a feeling of being schemed against.
Her feeling was completely different from Sunday's. Sparkle was like a director who knew everything in the play, then guided the actors to the positions she expected—either to create conflict or to exit the stage… No one could escape her arrangements.
"Sparkle's aggressiveness is still the same as always." Kuroko sighed. "Seeing Aventurine like this, she must be very happy, right?"
Mikoto Misaka couldn't help but feel a sigh: "Yeah, Sparkle has been treating him as entertainment from beginning to end. However… Aventurine probably really wants to see her. Once he scatters all the money on him, the only one left in Penacony willing to give him information will be Sparkle."
——
[Aventurine coldly "hmph"ed: "…It's you. I should have guessed. After Robin died, the [stand-in] that appeared on TV was you, Masked Fool."]
[Sparkle smiled gracefully. She walked to Aventurine's side and spoke teasingly: "I heard the Family put a curse on you? Sigh, I clearly gave you such a direct hint… [Go make friends with the mute]. Listen, it's such a simple sentence…"]
["And the result? Not only did you mess it up, you even dragged yourself into it. I told you to make friends with the mute, not to step up and become the mute yourself. You really wasted my good intentions."]
[Aventurine's voice deepened: "…What do you mean?"]
[Sparkle switched to a lighter tone: "You know better than me. Who was the one watching with eager eyes as the little bird that couldn't sing died tragically right in front of him? Of course it was you, little peacock~"]
[Aventurine said word by word: "I'm asking you… what does [becoming mute] mean?"]
["…Oh?"]
["Fool, do you think why I'm carrying this shabby bag and handing out cheap jewelry all over the streets?" Aventurine took a deep breath and looked down at the smiling girl. "This was all for you to see. The more miserable I appear, the more likely I am to lure you out… I've been waiting for you for so long. In consideration of how hard I've worked, won't you reward me with an answer?"]
["What reason do I have to help you?"]
["Don't you want Penacony to fall into chaos? I can make that happen. I only need to verify one thing: At that time, when you told me to find the [mute]… were you really referring to [Robin]?"]
["..." Sparkle closed her eyes and spoke meaningfully: "…What if I say 'no'?"]
[Aventurine nodded in satisfaction: "Thank you. This is the first time this word sounds so pleasant."]
——
Sword Art Online.
"Kirito… I'm a bit confused. What exactly are they talking about?"
Asuna was stunned watching the conversation between the two on the Celestial Screen. What mute or not mute—who exactly were they talking about?
"If the mute is a metaphor for the deceased, then it means the dead person Sparkle mentioned at the beginning wasn't Robin, but someone else." Kirito pondered with his hand on his chin. "But besides Robin, there's only Firefly. In other words… Sparkle's initial prophecy was Firefly's death. Robin's death was the accident."
As for the other information in their conversation, Kirito couldn't quite understand it either. Their way of chatting was too cryptic. A lot of the intelligence seemed to have been said, yet also seemed like it wasn't.
"But why would Sparkle predict… or even know so much information in advance?"
Asuna became even more confused. It seemed this Miss Fool had been in Penacony for a very long time. She not only had deep knowledge of the Family, but was also very familiar with various factions.
In an unfamiliar area, intelligence was often the most important thing… sometimes even more valuable than money. Sparkle reminded her of intelligence brokers who only appear in TV dramas in real life. She might be powerless to change the situation herself, but she could manipulate everyone in the palm of her hand through information.
So the Fool was such a formidable character?!
Asuna even had a vague premonition: This Miss Sparkle was very likely the final boss and the last target for Stelle and the others to walkthrough.
——
["Sure, I underestimated you. But what's the use of that?" Sparkle smiled and asked back.]
["Let me tell you—the [mute], there were originally two people who fit this definition. But Robin is already dead, and the other… [she] is still in Penacony, but I'm afraid you won't be able to find her anymore."]
[Sparkle's words were like a shot of adrenaline. A trace of blood finally returned to Aventurine's pale face.]
["Fool, now I can be completely certain that from the very beginning I have been walking in the correct direction without any deviation. I only lack two things: First, the meaning behind the truth; second, the method to reveal it."]