It was an unexpected offer.
One that I didn’t think she’d propose to me the moment that she saw me. Staring at her pale face and cold features, I started to think, ’Does she have some sort of motive behind asking me? Is she trying to gauge my strength? Maybe recruit me?’
Suddenly, I felt curious.
"Do you need some time to think about it?"
Her soft voice brought me back, but I answered right after that.
"I’m interested."
Realistically speaking, this wasn’t what I was supposed to do. At the moment, the priority was to get back to the others and figure out the point situation. However, this sudden offer caught my interest.
Not only was I curious about her intentions, but if she truly had a way to deal with whatever had been "haunting" us, then I was very interested.
A part of me wasn’t done with it yet.
Especially after everything it had done to me.
’Right, I really want to deal with it. I have to deal with it. The others can wait.’
Dealing with it would also give some points.
Since I had none, this was good.
"That’s good."
Seraphine nodded and turned to face Catherine and the others. Her gaze swept over them for a brief moment before she turned away and began to leave. It didn’t seem like she had any interest in recruiting Catherine.
However, it also didn’t seem like Catherine cared.
"Good luck."
Instead, she waved at me with a thin smile.
"I wish you the best of luck with whatever you’re dealing with."
So fake...
"You too."
Since we were being recorded, I decided to put on a fake act as well. We couldn’t show the world that we were actually on bad terms.
"Oh, right."
Just as I was about to follow Seraphine and her group, a thought crossed my mind. I paused and looked back at Drake and Esteban.
"They can come too."
Seraphine beat me to it as her voice calmly drifted in the air.
"They’re capable enough."
"...Well, okay."
I didn’t really mind whether they came or not. Still, glancing to the side and catching Catherine’s expression, I couldn’t help but feel a quiet sense of admiration. She truly managed to keep her composure.
If anything, she even looked gentle.
Yeah, that bothered me.
"Bye."
I waved at her as she waved back.
Her smile remained as sweet as ever, but the more she kept it up, the more it bothered me.
I wanted to see her angry.
So—
"If you see your sister, do tell her my location. I believe that she would be of great help to us."
Ah, there it was.
The subtle twitch in her features as her waving paused.
"She is a Paragon, after all. Not only that, but she’s extremely capable. I actually admire her skills quite a bit. For her to have developed this far while also maintaining her modeling career... I’m honestly impressed. You’re younger than her, right? You should learn from her. I think you have a lot of potential."
I was talking quite a lot. More than I normally did. I could even feel the annoyed glances from those in Seraphine’s group as they paused to stare at me, but I felt completely unbothered as I kept my entire attention focused on Catherine.
The more I spoke, the more her face changed.
And it was such changes that made me want to keep going.
’You’re about to explode. Hmm. Almost there. If I push a little bit further, I might be able to—’
"Well, I’m off."
This isn’t good. This isn’t good.
Covering my lips, I turned my attention away from Catherine. Ever since returning from Limbo, I had started to feel it.
The changes that were taking place within me.
I wouldn’t normally do something like this. In fact, I had a lot more self-control. But ever since I came back, it felt as though that very self-restraint had almost shattered. Even now, I had no choice but to walk with my lips covered.
I had no choice but to.
Otherwise...
They’d see my smile.
’Ah, how troublesome. How really troublesome.’
Eventually catching up with the group, the first thing I noticed was the trembling expressions on Drake and Esteban’s faces. I blinked at the sight of them.
"Is something the matter?"
They hastily shook their heads.
"No problem."
"...Nothing. Nothing."
"Hmm. I see."
I turned my attention away and looked ahead, feeling Seraphine’s gaze settle on me. Her expression remained cold, but there was something else in her eyes as she watched me.
The longer I felt her gaze, the more something within me began to stir. It grew strong enough that, in the end, I had no choice but to look away.
’Control it. Control it.’
Thankfully, Seraphine didn’t keep her gaze on me for long. As we moved through the mist, she began to speak.
"I believe we’re dealing with an anomaly. One that seems to fall under the Illusionist Decree. Something capable of manipulating perception. I also believe there’s more than one of them. From what I’ve experienced, they can hide within groups and pretend to be part of them to observe. They study everything. Voices, tone, the way someone speaks, their mannerisms, and even personal details. They copy it all... so they can blend in with the group more perfectly."
Her information was rather detailed.
In fact, most of what she revealed was something I had already more or less figured out after my previous encounter.
"They don’t target a specific person. They target groups and play around with every member. They will either go after the weakest member or anyone whose guard is lowered. In the end, their goal is to create division within the group before picking everyone apart. After everything is done, they throw a flare to gather more groups to infiltrate."
My steps suddenly started to slow down as I looked ahead.
Seraphine continued forward in silence, her gaze fixed straight ahead without the slightest sign of concern.
"Yes."
Her voice drifted into the air.
"...It’s currently among us."
Ah.
Suddenly, something clicked inside of my mind. Everything that I had previously been confused about made sense.
’Right, it makes sense this way.’
The reason she had asked my group to join hers instead of Catherine’s had nothing to do with skill or any particular interest in me. It was far simpler than that.
My group only had three people.
With fewer people, things wouldn’t be as messy.
And above all—
’She knows that I know how many people are originally in her group. Her perception of the number of people in her group might be messed up, but mine isn’t, since I wasn’t originally part of her group. At least, not yet. She’s essentially telling me to find the anomaly and get rid of it.’
This was a smart play from her.
However, there was something that she grossly miscalculated.
Originally, her group was meant to consist of six people. This was something that I remembered reading before the start of the Congress while gauging the other teams. But as I looked ahead now, there were more than six people in her group.
There were nine.
Meaning...
There’s not one extra, but three.
Suddenly covering my lips, I couldn’t help but quicken my pace as I looked around me, feeling the corners of my lips slowly pulling higher and higher.
’What a troublesome dilemma.’
Truly.