Aaron shook his head, his mind seeming troubled.
"Unfortunately, no. However, in BlackLand, a library from the past still stands firmly to this day, even though it was built during the reign of Rivver Doveres Hueven, the ruler of BlackLand at the time," Aaron replied confidently.
The way to find the location of that library was very simple. They would have to cross the Caspian Sea and the Hatt Ocean for several weeks before safely arriving in BlackLand, if they were lucky.
There was no point in going there, knowing that it would bring them no benefit and would only waste their energy, especially since they were aware of their status as fugitives.
Their goals were different, yet united as one. Zavi wanted to go to the Arum Archipelago to fulfill the promise in that contract first; dying after breaking a promise was something he absolutely did not want.
Zavi still held firmly to the things he wanted; searching for the demons out there, investigating the identity of Jack the Ripper, and becoming a wanderer.
For now, Aaron wanted to see his hometown or secretly visit it to meet his older sister and put his worries to rest. Then he would continue searching for the reason why he had been given another chance to live in this world.
Zuhen was still bound as a "slave of fate" to a Recipestele named Tell, who wanted to raise his level to Jin. At that level, his strength and advantages could free him from the shackles of the supernatural world, and that would benefit him greatly.
Felina, a woman who wanted to protect the person who had saved her life from a cursed ritual, was at the starting point of her becoming a Receiver of Prefence, at the first level, Suffering.
After adventuring with someone she had not known for several months, she realized how this world worked. A woman with a cold personality and a harsh nature, Felina slowly but surely tried to open herself up to other things, hoping for something good in her life, hoping that they would accept her presence.
She asked for nothing from life except one thing; she wanted to escape this situation, but before that happened, she had made up her mind to remain by Zuhen's side until the day he died.
It sounded cruel and ungrateful. However, the two of them had agreed on that, even though deep down, neither of them wanted it to happen at all.
They were lonely people, each carrying problems of their own. Once fate brought them together through "something" that drastically changed their lives, the fugitives did not waste the opportunity.
Realizing that no one was meant to live alone in this world. A person needed others in order to live, and that became the reason they were still together and alive at this very moment, especially Zavi, who had once regarded them as pawns to achieve his goals.
Zavi realized that thought was nothing more than the mindset of a child who dreamed of becoming an educated person of high standing. Unfortunately, that dream had fallen apart, a costly price for his former arrogance in believing that he could live without anyone else's help.
"Is the discussion over here?" Zavi asked quietly.
Aaron widened his eyes, nodded, and said,
"I'm not sure, but are you sure that isn't strange?"
"What part is strange?" Zavi leaned forward slightly, watching Aaron make quotation marks with his fingers.
Zavi's eyes widened for a moment before he returned to his usual posture. What Aaron meant was the further discussion of how the people who had survived that starry sky were still alive in this era.
They agreed not to discuss it, afraid that something undesirable might happen. Both of them were tired, once again reminded of what had happened the previous night.
When night came, the three people who had previously gone out to search for clues returned to the house and gathered in the living room. They began discussing something, still related to this journey and the information about the previous night's events.
"It's a shame I couldn't find any clues about what ability that was," Zuhen said with a sigh.
This time, he had obtained a pack of cigarettes. According to his agreement with Felina, Zuhen was only allowed to smoke once a week. At first, Zuhen rejected the idea, proposing three times a week. In the end, the agreement remained at once a week. Zuhen had no choice but to accept that painful fact, hoping his lungs would not complain.
A still sealed pack of cigarettes came out of his coat pocket. Zuhen pulled out a cigarette, immediately holding it between his lips as his right hand struck a match while his left hand shielded the flame.
Zuhen slowly shook his head before exhaling a cloud of white smoke in the opposite direction. He did not want them to inhale this poison.
"Sorry if I can't go with you," Zuhen said, then exhaled another cloud of white smoke in the same direction.
Zavi raised an eyebrow, then crossed his legs and sat at an angle while supporting his body with one hand.
"I see," Zavi said quietly. "What about you?" he asked, looking at Felina even though he already knew the answer.
Felina looked at him expressionlessly before answering, "Sure. What time are we going there?"
"Huh?!" Zavi opened his mouth as those words spun around in his head, making him look like a fool.
'Since when did she...'
Aaron responded to the statement with a somewhat apathetic tone,
"Maybe we'll reach the city center in an hour."
Felina nodded, then smiled faintly before the smile faded as she spoke in a slightly trembling voice,
"Besides, I haven't enjoyed a cultural festival in a long time."
Celvira immediately joined the conversation, becoming increasingly interested in these humans.
"I just remembered that it's already half past six," she said cheerfully.
Zavi hurriedly reached into his trouser pocket, pulled out his pocket watch, and opened the cover. The rhythmic ticking of the clock spun through his head as his focus became fixed on every passing second. The longer he stared at it, the more Zavi felt himself being dragged along by the wheels of time.
'How long has it been since I left them without giving them even the slightest word? I actually wanted to send them a letter, but are they still alive after that terrible incident? Lately, I rarely think about them, focusing on actions I never actually wanted. If I were given that chance, would I accept it or refuse it? To the four of them, I really want to thank them for staying with me all this time. This is what I need, nothing more than that for now.'
After becoming lost in his thoughts, an urge told Zavi to be honest before it was too late. He was skeptical, but seeing that they were no longer wary of one another as they had been in those days, and seeing how their gazes had changed, made the urge to open his mouth even stronger.
Zavi smiled one last time before that smile ceased to exist within him, as though he himself had changed.
"All of you... thank you for teaching me a lesson after all the difficult days we went through. Honestly, I've wanted to say this for a long time, even back when we met in Semilir. I also want to help you... get what you want."
Although those words might have sounded like deception from the outside, the four of them realized that Zavi's words were sincere from the depths of his heart, knowing it through his spiritual sense.
"I know everything about how you entered that terrible world against your will. It was difficult enough, I know. What's more, three of us are fugitives, along with a woman who has been drawn into this circle. Honestly, when I found out that such a ridiculous reason had changed my status into that of a fugitive, I only laughed. But after realizing that it wasn't as easy as I imagined, that life isn't simply about chasing dreams, but about understanding one another. Ah, sorry if I've been talking too much lately, and sorry if any of my words offended you."
Celvira did not know why Zavi had suddenly become like this, but it clearly made her even more interested in hearing the real reason he was doing this.
"I... entered the flow of history, where I fought against a man who possessed the power to create his own universe."
After speaking for quite some time, Zavi finally closed his mouth tightly while steadying his breathing.
'Damn, even revealing this took several minutes. Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to say it directly, and instead I kept rambling about nonsense. Could... this have something to do with that man?'
Zavi hissed inwardly as he tried to recall the details of that battle. One thing was certain, the matter of entering that strange cave and meeting someone whose physical features were different from those of an ordinary human was still clearly stored in his mind.
"I... saw that creature. A human with a crescent moon mark, if I remember correctly, inside a silent and strange cave. After that, I arrived at a vast expanse of water, similar to an ocean, yet without any definite end. There, I saw a man, but I couldn't clearly see his face. As for his name, if I remember correctly... Loki Wesborn."
After rambling at length, those who had listened carefully to the story fell silent, digesting his words.
Zuhen exhaled the last of his white smoke as he pressed the ember into the ashtray, then discarded the cigarette butt.
"I've heard something similar, related to that 'illusory' history involving supernatural abilities. Honestly, even though I've investigated and wandered through the supernatural world, I've only learned about a few of the fifteen abilities that exist."
Zuhen fell silent for a moment, hesitant to continue as his left eye glanced at Felina for several seconds.
"One of them is; Prefence, an anomalous ability that falls under two types, Prisoner, belonging to Actitus, Exorscist, belonging to Aaron, Scatter, from the Cevenose security department, and Black Death, from a sect within the Norn Kingdom. Ah, one more thing, from that discussion, it turns out that Puppeteer is one of the masterminds behind the series of inexplicable deaths."
After explaining, Zuhen remained silent for several seconds before looking intently at Zavi and adding;
"A puppet that resembles a human. No, it wasn't actually similar from the beginning if someone knew the secret behind that ability. One thing is certain, Puppeteer is extremely powerful, even though I myself have never seen how that ability works."
He did not realize, or rather, did not know that the "fairy tale" was one of Puppeteer's powers, particularly at its fourth level, Fairy Tale.
The information was extremely limited. Anyone who could understand the intricacies of supernatural abilities would certainly be experienced, extremely dangerous, and naturally sought after by people who wanted that information.
Of course, there were people like that. People who had lived for a long time. From the previous era and into the peaceful era of today.