Theater

Seeing Xio's slightly strange expression, Ebner gave a dry cough and explained, "The base of this outfit was the white robe left behind by Panatia. It was woven from the 'Demoness of Despair's' 'spider silk.' Extremely resilient—even small-caliber, high-pressure steam rifles can't pierce it...

"With advantages like that, a few minor visual flaws aren't really a problem."

Xio was silent for a moment, then gave Ebner a few unreadable glances before silently picking up the white robe and heading into the bedroom...

Was she satisfied or dissatisfied? Come to think of it, if Xio deliberately hides her thoughts, even mind-reading can't penetrate... She must be using some kind of psychic-type Beyonder ability for interference... Did she develop that under Miss "Justice"?

Just as Ebner was thinking this, he heard the bedroom door open. He looked over instinctively—and saw "Audrey," dressed in an ornate formal gown, stepping out.

—Ebner had seen Audrey once at the ball hosted by Duke Negan, so he recognized her appearance.

"Xio? Huh, I have to admit, the resemblance is striking. Even the temperament feels similar," Ebner said, examining her with an appreciative gaze.

Xio rolled her eyes at him, then turned to check herself in the full-length mirror in the living room. Slightly dejected, she muttered, "My legs still aren't as long as Miss Audrey's... and I can only stretch my height to about 1.62 meters…"

Honestly, as a "Faceless Man" item, it's already quite excellent... Ebner muttered inwardly, but outwardly he changed the subject: "Have you tested the other abilities?"

Hearing this, Xio turned around—her face had reverted to her original appearance, though her figure still retained the "Audrey template."

"The 'fear of flames' negative effect is more severe than you mentioned. Not only is it a weakness, but whenever I'm 'burned' by fire, I can't maintain the Faceless Man ability and revert to my true form.

"As for 'wound transfer,' it works exactly like the similar ability used by 'Magicians' in MI9. As long as I'm not killed outright and my hands are still functional, I can move critical injuries to less vital areas like my arms—turning fatal wounds into light ones.

"'Flame control' and 'flame leap' are both hard to use because of the flame weakness... Even a minor burn could cause my disguise to fail.

"But overall, aside from the rather shameful design, it's a really good item... Still, if you ever tried to sell it in the Tarot Club, Mr. 'Tower's' image of wisdom and erudition would probably collapse in front of 'Justice,' 'Temperance,' and Fors."

Xio organized her thoughts and gave a proper analysis.

"Didn't you commission this? I obviously wouldn't try to sell it at the Tarot Club," Ebner casually brushed off her teasing. Then, with a vaguely suggestive tone, he asked, "That said, how do you plan to pay for this item?"

As he spoke, he deliberately cast a mischievous glance at Xio's "new figure."

He had intended to make Xio flustered so he could regain control of the conversation—but to his surprise, she remained completely calm. Instead, she picked up a stack of documents from a nearby table and handed them to him. "The 'Silken Garment of a Hundred Faces' should be worth somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds... This adds up to about the same."

"'Silken Garment of a Hundred Faces'?" Ebner reflexively repeated the name as he accepted the papers.

"That's the name I just gave it," Xio replied briefly, then pointed to the documents in Ebner's hand. "Those are a reward I received during the Great Smog incident—a property deed. It used to belong to Prince Edessak."

"Prince Edessak's property?" Ebner opened the documents for a quick glance. It turned out to be a stage theater located in the Hillsdon District... But due to poor management, it had long since been abandoned. Among Edessak's many assets, this was probably the least valuable.

Even so, setting aside any added value from being a theater, the location was excellent—and in terms of real estate value alone, the property was easily worth around 4,000 pounds.

I'd been worried my film company had no theaters under its belt... and now one's landed right in my lap?

Ebner was struck with a thought. He cast a deliberately regretful glance at Xio's outfit, then tucked the property documents into his card case.

Xio didn't panic in the slightest—she had long since known that Ebner was just teasing. In fact, she even sensed a vague and inexplicable undertone of real regret beneath the surface.

Once the topic was over, Ebner took the opportunity to bring up the matter of Fanny's grandfather. After hearing him out, Xio frowned slightly and considered it before replying, "I haven't received any intel on that yet. I'll contact one of my informants in a bit—there should be some preliminary results by tonight. I'll come to your place then… Mm, ask Mrs. Skade to prepare an extra dinner for me."

…

West Borough, in Mr. Surrey's villa.

With Leonard's repeated "accidental" assistance, the Nighthawk squad members finally managed to dismantle the fully activated ritual within the villa. They reached the stairwell on the first floor and found the two corpses belonging to members of the Fless family's elite team.

"There are no signs of struggle. These two took poison of their own volition.

"One was a Sequence 7 Cryptologist, the other a Sequence 8 Instigator… They weren't carrying anything that could reveal their identities. Most likely deathsworn… but we can't rule out the possibility that the scene was staged by whoever killed them.

"They must have encountered a force far beyond their level—were subdued instantly."

After listening to his subordinate's report, Captain Sost looked toward the absent-minded Miss Daly and raised his voice to ask, "Daly, did you find anything?"

Daly snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. "We were too late. Their spirits had already dissipated. I could only detect the remnants of an Adjudicator's power."

Sost looked at Daly with a strange expression. Something about her today seemed… off.

Normally she'd say something like, 'They were long since hollowed out, leaving only the white remains of the Adjudicator behind,' right? But now she's giving such a straightforward explanation—I can't get used to this… he muttered inwardly. Out loud, he said thoughtfully:

"The owner of this house, Mr. Surrey, was a devout follower of the God of Steam and Machinery… He was assassinated by followers of the Eternal Sun, then killed them in return?

"Is this some kind of internal political strife within Intis?"

Another Red Glove, the one in charge of the autopsy earlier, nodded. "That seems likely… Captain, what should we do next?"

Sost pondered for a moment. Although the case had occurred in the West Borough, it really wasn't suitable for the Nighthawks to handle. So he ordered someone to notify the embassy and the Machinery Hivemind, and shared the preliminary findings with the latter.

While he was giving out assignments, Miss Daly was still dwelling on the vision that had just appeared in her mind. Her cheeks flushed red, and she couldn't help but mutter:

"If you wanted to see me, why not just come face to face? Why secretly take pictures… still as cowardly as ever!"

Then she recalled the towering, mysterious figure behind the mist that had appeared just before the vision took form, and sighed in her heart: Oh, Fool…

At the same time, Leonard heard Pallez's aged voice in his ear:

"I sensed the presence of the Sun Chaser…

"He seems to be an old acquaintance of mine!

"I recall he perished during the chaotic era following the Four Emperors War…"

(End of Chapter)