Aurora fell into thought as she watched the two people.
Noticing this, Zeta turned around and looked at her with a blank expression.
In the end, she decided to walk over to Aurora while the other two kept moving.
Gently, Zeta placed a hand on Aurora's shoulder.
Aurora snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her for several seconds.
"...Is something bothering you?" Zeta asked as she lowered her hand.
Aurora nodded.
"Yes, that man looks like him," she replied with a sigh.
"That man?"
Zeta glanced over her shoulder, noticing the man in question talking to the woman dressed in black beside him.
"The man with the ponytail and the bowler hat?"
Out of all the people wearing hats, Zeta only saw the man in the bowler hat walking alongside the woman in black at the back of the crowd.
Aurora nodded, still somewhat skeptical.
"His voice sounds like his."
Zeta shook her head and looked at her in surprise.
"You're overthinking it. We'd better head back to the inn and rethink our plan."
Aurora lowered her head, suppressing a growl as Zeta continued walking.
"You don't understand."
Those words made Zeta freeze in her tracks as she slowly turned around.
"What do you mean?" she asked, her brows knitting together.
Aurora steadied her breathing before stepping closer to her.
"Forget it," she said apathetically.
After that, Zeta shook her head, stifled a groan, and followed after her.
....
From the stream of pedestrians, a man wearing a bowler hat walked along the sidewalk carrying his suitcase. His steps were steady, though his shoulders seemed slightly slumped.
All he could hear was the girl beside him chattering nonstop, nearly bursting his eardrums.
His brow furrowed as the urge to smack her over the head with his suitcase grew stronger.
"Stop your pointless chatter," he said flatly.
The beautiful girl looked startled.
"Why? Don't you like talking about that?" she asked to make sure.
The man in the bowler hat stared at her in disbelief.
"Remember what I told you on the train. If you're going to call me, use that name!"
The young woman, dressed in a black dress that perfectly matched her delicate features and beauty, wore a puzzled expression across her otherwise impassive face.
"Yes, I'll remember," she said with a sigh. "But why don't you use your real name?" she asked, wanting to know.
The man in the bowler hat slowed his pace. After hesitation filled his mind for several seconds, he answered casually, "Huh, I can't answer that."
The beautiful girl continued looking at him.
"I see," she said quietly.
Once the conversation ended, the two of them continued walking along the edge of the deserted street for several minutes after separating from the crowd of pedestrians, finally arriving at their destination after walking nonstop for sixteen minutes.
They stood in front of the door for quite some time, briefly observing their surroundings before the man in the bowler hat knocked.
At 10:47 PM, Saturday night, the 5th.
Knock... Knock... Knock...
There was no response even several seconds after the echoes of the knocks faded away.
The man decided to press the doorbell.
Ding-Dong.
Anyone inside the house could hear it as the sound of approaching footsteps came from within, growing clearer with each passing second.
The man in the bowler hat turned to the girl and asked to make sure, "Are you sure you're going to meet them in this form?"
"..."
The girl nodded, looking somewhat apathetic.
The man in the bowler hat let out a sigh.
His attention shifted to the door as the footsteps drew closer, prompting him to take a step back.
Click.
The door opened, revealing a woman with black hair and blue eyes that shimmered beautifully in the dim light of the living room.
Their eyes met as the night air quietly enveloped them.
The girl remained silent, lost in thought.
'Should I pretend to be clueless, just like that man suggested? And who exactly is this woman?'
As they continued staring at one another, the blue-eyed woman asked, "Who are you two?"
She was naturally confused. The changed appearance of the man in the bowler hat, especially his hair, made her look him up and down.
"I don't know either of you," she continued calmly.
A blond-haired man with gray eyes, standing in contrast to the dim light of the living room, suddenly startled both of them with the sound of his groan.
"Sorry I'm late," the man in the bowler hat said.
The blond-haired man rubbed his eyes before looking at the two mysterious visitors.
"Who are they?" he asked, trying to make sure.
For some reason, his night vision had been getting slightly worse lately.
He wanted to find out why, but suddenly, his body felt incredibly weak.
The man adjusted his bowler hat, his gaze growing sharper.
'So, they're already here?'
Zavi wondered inwardly how Aaron had managed to find the two of them.
"Where's that woman?" he asked with a sigh.
Aaron was startled, snapping out of his thoughts.
"Huh, Actitus? Weren't you..."
"Dead?" Zavi finished calmly.
Aaron looked completely dazed, as though he had been unaware of everything he had done, at least over the past few days since that incident.
Felina instinctively stepped back, her body bumping into the door as her mouth nearly fell open.
'So this long-haired man is that stalker?'
She couldn't suppress her excitement upon realizing that Zavi Actitus had returned, even though she still harbored resentment toward him.
Keeping her expression blank despite the mixture of sorrow and joy in her heart, she stepped aside and opened the other door to her right.
"Please come in," Felina said, holding back a smile.
The two of them barely knew each other, although Zavi had recognized her from the very beginning, especially from Felina's piercing gaze.
Zavi lowered his bowler hat before walking in and sitting on the sofa near the shelf where neatly arranged accessories were now swallowed by the darkness of the room.
Aaron's expression remained unchanged as he flipped the light switch before steadily walking to the left.
The lights came on.
The chandelier hanging in the center of the room bathed the living room in warm light, driving away the unsettling darkness.
On the white table sat a teapot and two glasses containing coffee grounds.
Zavi looked at them for a moment before asking, "Were you two talking earlier?"
Aaron sat back down in his seat and nodded.
Meanwhile, Felina sat on the long sofa beside Celvira.
Zavi fell silent for a moment before asking, "What were you two talking about?"
Aaron sat across from him, silently watching him, still curious about how he had returned completely unharmed despite what the newspapers and documents had reported.
Meanwhile, Felina sat on the long sofa beside Celvira, observing before making a move.
"Yes, we were talking about what I witnessed that night," Aaron finally answered.
He truly couldn't understand how they had been able to commit such horrifying acts across different locations within just a matter of days.
Just remembering it made the hairs on the back of Aaron's neck stand on end, though he remained curious about the mastermind behind the string of deaths.
"The same thing happened in Minehold, and it claimed countless lives," Aaron said as he folded his arms.
"So, how did you meet her?" Zavi asked, pointing toward Felina.
Felina remained silent, showing no reaction whatsoever even though she knew the two of them were talking about her.
Aaron blinked.
"If I remember correctly, it started because of Mine's Recipe," Aaron replied uncertainly.
Zavi nodded. Having finally gotten the answer to the question that had been circling his mind, he decided to get straight to the point. "Tomorrow, I'm going to the Kingdom of Synomia, and I'll fulfill that promise while I'm at it."
Aaron's eyes widened.
"The Kingdom of Synomia, you said?"
He found it hard to believe. Given the kingdom's internal turmoil, he had assumed they wouldn't be going there until at least next month.
However, because there was something that needed to be taken care of, Zavi reluctantly chose to leave the Kingdom of Norn for Synomia.
Aaron had originally wanted to ask more questions, but Zavi did something completely out of character.
In fact, Zavi intended to test them using the brown suitcase resting on the right side of the sofa.
The three of them were just about to rise from their seats when Zavi set the suitcase down. Two gleaming objects instantly appeared and began circling around his body in the blink of an eye.
The three of them stared in astonishment, although Celvira had already heard about the two artifacts during their journey there.
"Artifacts, huh? Have they chosen you as their new master?" Aaron asked, his voice slightly trembling.
Zavi nodded uncertainly.
"I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out what powers these two artifacts actually possess."
Felina raised an eyebrow.
"Where did you get those artifacts?" she asked seriously.
It was the first time they had ever seen artifacts react so quickly, surrounding someone instantly as though they had been together for centuries.
Leaning back against the sofa, Zavi quickly explained.
"From an old friend. Nothing more."
'An old friend? Actitus has an old friend?'
Naturally, Aaron didn't believe that statement, because he knew all too well how skilled Zavi was at hiding the truth.
That was precisely why, from the very beginning, even after they had revealed their identities and backgrounds, Aaron had chosen to hold back and obscure the real facts.
He didn't want his true identity exposed to anyone. Only he and his older sister knew the truth, even though his desire to find a friend came from the deepest part of his heart.
Aaron had been trapped in an endless cycle of running away, yet that cycle now seemed to have been broken by the arrival of someone whose soul he had once allowed to slip away.
Even though it had happened long ago, Aaron still reflected on the mistakes of his past, hoping everything would turn out well.
"Who is this old friend of yours?" Felina asked.
Zavi snorted.
"The one sitting right next to you."
He pointed his index finger toward Celvira, who was sitting only a meter and a half away from him.
Zavi could read the truth from Celvira's expression. She looked as though she wanted to smash his face in.
However, since they had signed the Five Symbol Contract, and the initiator would suffer severe consequences for violating its terms, Zavi had nothing to worry about.
Because he needed her help while Celvira kept actively avoiding the issue, Zavi had been forced to use a method he had only learned earlier that day.
'She's an idiot for bringing up that oath-bound contract.'
Suppressing a laugh, Zavi spoke in a serious tone. "Considering Felina is here, I'm sure she brought Mr. Zuhen with her. So, tomorrow morning..."
He signaled with his eyes, and Aaron immediately understood what he meant.
"All right," he said wearily.
"Good."
As he was about to close the suitcase, the artifacts returned to where they had come from.
Felina remained completely unaware of the existence of the Tier 4 artifact, the Hoisline Fan, which had stayed concealed within that strange, impenetrable darkness from the moment Zavi departed until he reached the forest on the outskirts of Minehold.
Zavi found himself deep in thought, contemplating the three extraordinary objects that now belonged to him.
He had no intention of giving them away, because he was the one who had obtained them.
He let out a long sigh and placed the suitcase beside him on his right.
His body leaned forward slightly. His breathing remained steady, and his heartbeat stayed calm and slow.
"Are Hana and Mine in their rooms?" Zavi asked, seeking confirmation.
Aaron briefly glanced at Felina before answering, "They haven't come back since they left this afternoon."
"Good," Zavi said, causing both of them to tense up.
'What exactly is he planning?'
Aaron tried to decipher the meaning behind that single word, "good," but he couldn't make sense of it. He clicked his tongue inwardly. Even though he had been a fugitive for an entire decade, Aaron admitted that he still couldn't match the way Zavi thought.
Felina, who knew nothing about the two of them, repeated his words.
"What does that stalker mean?"
Seeing the confusion on their faces, Zavi rested his right hand on the armrest of the sofa, glanced at Celvira with a smile, and said in a low voice, "We're going to kill those two women."
Their pupils widened.
"A-Actitus... are you sure about what you just said?"
Aaron unconsciously stood up and demanded to know why, his lips trembling as his heartbeat quickened before he slowly sat back down.
It was the first time he had ever felt such a disturbing sensation while talking to Zavi, except for that terrible moment.
Felina, despite having met the two of them only that afternoon, questioned his motives.
"Why do you want to kill those two women?"
Zavi remained silent, his expression gradually calming.
"..."
Receiving no answer, the other two had no more questions and simply closed their mouths.
Realizing he had been left out of the conversation after turning his head, Zavi glanced at Celvira, silently signaling for her to speak.
However, Celvira chose to remain silent, remembering the command she had been given earlier.
The corners of Zavi's lips twitched as he sensed feelings of jealousy and anger through their spiritual connection.
'So she can get angry and jealous too?'
Zavi forced a smile.
"So, wait until they come back, and I'll handle it myself."