In the dimly lit room, John stood frozen for a moment after hearing Thorn Velvet’s words. Then, after some hesitation, he finally spoke.
“T-This… Mr. Thorn Velvet, the only valuable clue we gathered from Green Shade Town was the description of this woman. If we suddenly abandon the search, isn’t that…” Faced with Thorn Velvet’s order, John’s expression revealed confusion and doubt.
But Thorn Velvet merely snorted and said, “Hmph… According to the latest intel, those features were a disguise, deliberately meant to be seen. That woman doesn’t actually look like that. Her real appearance should have lighter skin, and her chest isn’t as large. If you continue searching based on the gathered information, you’ll just be wasting your time and playing right into their hands.”
“So, stop searching for that woman and focus your efforts on other tasks.”
Thorn Velvet spoke sternly, and John was momentarily stunned.
In his mind, he thought, “A disguise… So the previous intel was false? That means I don’t have any reason to go after that girl anymore? No way, I finally found such a fine one—I can’t just let this opportunity slip by. I need to talk to Mr. Thorn Velvet about this.”
John had wanted to use interrogation as an excuse to get his hands on Nephthys, but now that Thorn Velvet had issued this order, it made things difficult for him. Unable to suppress his desires, he cautiously probed.
“Well… Mr. Thorn Velvet, we did put in considerable effort to collect this intel. While I don’t doubt your new information, perhaps we should first verify its authenticity and accuracy? How about we continue the search while confirming the reliability of this new intel? To be honest, I just found someone who—”
John finished speaking and smiled at Thorn Velvet.
Sitting in his chair, Thorn Velvet remained silent for a moment before lowering his voice and saying slowly, “This new intel was gathered by me personally. Do you still think it needs verification?”Hearing this, John stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then, realizing the implications, he immediately bowed and forced a smile.
“Ah—! So you gathered it yourself, Mr. Thorn Velvet! Then there’s no mistake! Absolutely no mistake! I’ll go inform Jed immediately and have him abandon all searches for that woman.”
Frightened, John scurried out in a hurry, while Thorn Velvet remained seated in the dimly lit room, gazing at the two black spiders resting in the ornate box beside him.
At that moment, he began recalling the other intelligence he had just acquired—especially about the organization that had now revealed its name and set itself against them.
“Rose Cross… I have absolutely no memory of them…”
Muttering to himself, Thorn Velvet pondered. This was the first time he had heard this name. It was clearly the symbol of some kind of society, yet he had never come across it before.
Where did this so-called Rose Cross originate from? Why had they appeared here? What was their goal? Why were they opposing us? A string of questions filled Thorn Velvet’s mind, but he couldn’t immediately find the answers.
“Hmph, no matter who they are, I already have control over their movements. In eight days, they plan to set up a base and surprise me, right? Let’s see who surprises whom…”
Thorn Velvet smirked at the thought. Since he couldn’t figure out what Rose Cross was right away, he would simply wait until the right moment to wipe out one of their bases, capture a few members, and extract everything he needed from them.
Although his spiders had lost track of the two Rose Cross members, they had still managed to determine the next meeting location. All Thorn Velvet needed to do was place his spiders in advance, and he would have their base’s details at his fingertips. When the time came, it would be up to him to decide how to act.
“Heh… This Rose Cross is probably just some small, unknown society. The usual tricks. They wanted to spy on me, but now, I’ve turned the tables and am spying on them instead. I bet they don’t even realize I’ve already uncovered their movements…”
Thorn Velvet chuckled to himself. The feeling of being one step ahead, of playing at a higher level than his opponents, gave him a sense of satisfaction.
“No matter what they try, everything is already under my control.”
…
Green Shade Town.
At dusk, after successfully recovering all the corpse marionettes and confirming that no one was tailing her, Dorothy went to a restaurant in Green Shade Town for dinner. Then, she returned to building No. 17.
Now, she was seated in a chair on the balcony, idly stirring her coffee—heaped with sugar cubes—with a spoon while reflecting on the day’s events.
“Today marked the first round of intelligence warfare against the Eight-Spired Nest. I was nearly caught in their trap, but I managed to turn things around in the end and successfully misled them. The advantage in intelligence is still in my hands.”
Dorothy summarized the situation in her mind before taking a sip of her now thoroughly sweetened coffee.
“If the deception works, Nephthys’ crisis will be resolved. And in eight days, I’ll have an opportunity. If I can make good use of it, I might just break through their society’s blockade and enter the ruins.”
Dorothy analyzed. She was now fairly certain that the Eight-Spired Nest had seized control of the underground ruins, though she still had no idea what they were doing in there.
“The entrance to the underground ruins is most likely beyond the webbed corridor. But apparently, unless you’re one of their people, stepping into the webbed corridor will trigger a mystical alarm. That makes it impossible to get through unnoticed…”
Dorothy pondered. Among her corpse marionettes, the only one capable of crossing the webbed corridor without triggering the alarm was a bird-form corpse marionette—since it could fly without touching the webbing. But in such an enclosed space, a bird suddenly flying in would be far too conspicuous.
Right now, Dorothy deeply regretted that her corpse marionette ring had size limitations. It couldn’t control bodies that were too big or too small, meaning she couldn’t use insects. If she could, she would’ve just sent a tiny flying bug in.
“I can’t afford to be completely blind to what’s beyond the webbed corridor. Before the opportunity arrives, I must find a way to infiltrate it.”
Slowly sipping her coffee, Dorothy continued brainstorming ways to sneak past the webbed corridor. After mulling it over for a while, she realized there was only one viable option.
“Looks like… I need to have a more sincere conversation with her…”
…
Noon of the next day. In a teahouse in Green Shade Town.
On the second floor of the teahouse, inside a private room, Nephthys sat, sipping tea while gazing out at the sunlit street. Occasionally, she would glance at the pocket watch on the table. Her expression suggested she was waiting for someone.
“It’s already noon. Why isn’t Mr. Brandon here yet…?”
Nephthys thought anxiously. Two days ago, after instructing her to visit the society yesterday, Brandon had also arranged their next meeting here at this teahouse—at precisely twelve o’clock. But now, there was still no sign of him.
Knock, knock…
At that moment, a gentle knocking came from the private room’s door. Nephthys was slightly startled, but after recognizing the prearranged knocking pattern, she immediately stood up to open the door.
“Mr. Brandon, you’re finally—eh…?”
She opened the door, only to find not the scholarly and handsome young man she had expected, but instead, a young girl.
White hair. A light white dress. A sun hat. A small handbag slung over her shoulder. The girl, whose height barely reached Nephthys’ ample chest, lifted her delicate face and smiled.
“Hello, Senior Nephthys. My name is Dorothy. I belong to the same society as Brandon. Today’s discussion is somewhat special, so I’ll be meeting you instead.”
Dorothy spoke softly to the bewildered Nephthys, who, after a brief moment of shock, murmured, “You belong… to the same society as Mr. Brandon? So young?! Are there members this young in a secret society?”
“Of course. In the mysticism world, anything is possible. Senior Nephthys, let’s sit down and talk.”
“…This time, I am permitted to reveal to you some of the secrets of our Rose Cross Order.”