Esther stood silently and awkwardly in the doorway for more than a dozen seconds, until a burst of laughter erupted from behind the door, and the door to the apartment at Seven Lily of the Valley Street was pushed open from the inside.

Norn gripped the doorknob, and his heartfelt smile made his whole person look even more kind: "Come in, that unobtrusive guy is being ridiculed by everyone." You're coming in just in time to see the funniest scene. ”

Norn dodged and let Esther in, and the man with the amazing appearance of wearing sunglasses was being pulled by the ears of the diminutive Mrs. Romano, and his one-meter-eight size was useless in front of the fierce and swearing landlord.

Several others gathered around and laughed, which made the hallway quite crowded:

Richie, the "enthusiastic talker" I saw yesterday, laughed until the freckles on the tip of his nose were shining, and his glasses were covered with a faint mist; The dark-skinned Lady Byron Candela covered her face with her palms, but there was a staccato laugh coming from her mouth; The two girls they had never seen before laughed almost together, and they supported each other so that they would not collapse to the ground, the blonde one with heavy makeup even laughed with tears, and the black-haired one leaned against the wall, and the laughter was as crisp and pleasant as a wind chime.

Noticing Esther walking in, Richie clapped his hands vigorously: "Okay, okay, let Gal take care of Mrs. Romano's 'etiquette teachings', and do as we say!" Three! Two! One—"

Several people spoke in unison, including Norn, who was standing next to Esther with the apartment door closed, and the man in sunglasses who was being pulled by Mrs. Romano's ear: "Welcome to Seven Lily of the Valley Street!" ”

Fierce, fiery emotions rushed into Esther's eyes.

In a trance, she seemed to be back to that night, the night when all the night watchmen sat together to celebrate Klein's official membership, and everyone raised their glasses under Dunn's lead, and their voices were filled with the same joy and anticipation as these young people.

Esther smiled her brightest since leaving Tingen: "Thank you! ”

The corners of Mrs. Romano's mouth were hooked, and there was a look of extreme tenderness in her eyes, but the next moment she returned to the vicious face she had just now, and the strength of her hand increased, making the man in sunglasses beg for mercy even more painfully.

"Look at the confetti here! What do you want? Sweep the floor for me! Sweep them all! Leave a petal and you'll get out and sleep on the street tonight! Immediately, immediately! ”

"I'm going to go, I'm going! Let go, beautiful Lady Romano! ”

Mrs. Romano let go of the red ears of the man in sunglasses: "Phew! Don't flatter my old woman with these false tricks! Don't plague Luna either! She's not the same person as you! She's a good girl! ”

The man in sunglasses rubbed his ears and inhaled the cold air, but he still walked up to Esther, stretched out his hand and introduced himself reluctantly: "Calvin Lepres, I prefer people to call me Gal, if you want to call me 'sweetheart', you can do it, little sheep." ”

Esther shook his hand, "Luna Duboa, you don't look like a Rune. ”

"Of course, I'm from Intis in 'Love & Steam', and there's a chance we can go there together for our honeymoon-"

Candela raised her foot and kicked Calvin's calf, forcing him to hold his leg out of the way, and the lady from Byron flicked her long feather earrings with her fingertips and nodded at Esther with a very pompous smile: "Candela Gonzalles, welcome." ”

Because of Candela's move to clear the siege, Esther had a good impression of her: "Thank you! Nice to meet you. ”

The blonde girl unceremoniously squeezed Calvin to the side, wearing rosy lipstick and sequinned eyeshadow, but the heavy makeup on her face was not gaudy, but made her more vibrant: "I'm Agnes!" Agnes Tolpin, a law student at the University of Beckland! Your hair color is so beautiful, but your appearance is very strange, are you of mixed race? ”

"Okay Agnes, don't scare our new friend," the dark-haired girl walked over and held out her hand to shake Esther, the dimples on her face were particularly sweet when she laughed, "Josephine Müller, Agnes and I are both from Remburg, and we both studied at the University of Beckland. If you want to be admitted to Beckland University in the future, you can come to play with us at any time. ”

Richie clapped his hands excitedly, "As for me, you already know her, Luna!" I haven't had any new people come since me, so I was so happy to have a small welcome party and I baked a cake! ”

Agnes winked at Esther, "You're going to love it!" Don't look at Richie's carelessness all the time, his cooking is the best here, better than Mrs. Romano. ”

Mrs. Romano coughed twice and said with a straight face: "Don't be too noisy!" Save your neighbors from complaining to me! ”

Norn nodded, "Don't worry, I'll watch them." ”

Surrounded by a few people, Esther happily and dazedly walked into the dining room in the common area, where the paper bag in her hand was taken by Noun and placed on the cabinet next to her, and Richie brought the cake out of the kitchen - a double cake decorated with cream piping and topped with jam, mint leaves, cookie crumbs and chocolate chips in the shape of sunflowers, giving off a warm scent.

It was a great evening.

Esther sat at the table, laughing with the others over Richie's jokes.

Norn sat in the corner, his eyes down to the laughter in the room, and he unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth.

Calwin's gaze swept over Norn and then at Esther, staring at her intently and calmly, but with a joke on his lips that drew a backdrop from Agnes and Joséphine with another witticism. Candela ate her cake quietly, and it was obvious that she wasn't used to or liked the occasion, but she kept it until the end.

When Mrs. Romano walked out of the dining room with a piece of cake, she lingered in the door for a few seconds, she looked back at the group of young people in the room, sighed silently, and walked her back to the staircase leading to the second floor.

——

Outside the window, the light of the crimson moon is barely visible, and the haze over Backland is like a filter, making the night here more and more quiet.

There was no light on in the room, and Esther sat on a low couch in the dark bedroom, and Xiao Wu in the form of a time worm was lying on her lap, half of her body raised to look at her.

"You are happy and sad at the same time." Xiao Wu's words were full of certainty, and by sealing its invisible restraints, Esther's overly exuberant emotions were constantly being transmitted to it.

"Xiao Qi shouldn't have had time to tell you about some special things about me."

"Your fate is special."

Esther chuckled under her breath, as if what Xiao Wu was saying was not the truth, but a mocking joke, and she breathed two breaths before she spoke again: "Yes, it's so special, it's really- his fate!" ”

Xiao Wu didn't speak, and it felt the sadness in Esther's heart.

"If the fate of ordinary people is a line in time and space, then I am a whirlpool that wanders outside," Esther drew a circle with her fingers in the palm of her hand, "I only exist in this void, and even if I intersect with others, I will disappear from their fates after the ripples subside." ”

"Do you know the name of our Sequence Two of this remarkable pathway?"

Esther shook her head: "Xiao Qi never mentions the knowledge related to this sequence to me, and it is more keen to intimidate me with the black history of various Orthodox Churches. ”

"Even if you were told that you were a thief, would you be willing to practice 'stealing'?"

Esther raised an eyebrow: "How is that possible! That's an immoral thing. ”

Xiao Wu sneered: "Aha, then what's the use of him telling you?" Normal Extraordinaries should play in the same way, following the 'rules' of the extraordinary properties of potions, and waiting for the current sequence to be digested before taking the next class of potions for promotion. And you're an outlier. ”

"I know now. At first, I thought this was normal, after all, I ......" Esther stopped talking, she felt the need to carefully conceal her identity as a "traverser", Xiao Wu and Xiao Qi have a slight deviation in their personalities, and she is no longer as naïve as when she first landed, and will pour out all the things to the little bugs around her.

After experiencing the loss of control of Neil Sr. and the near-sacrifice of Dunn, Esther's superiority as a "time-traveler" has long since disappeared, not to mention the experience of Klein and his own murder.

She silently recited Ince Zangwill's name once more in her mind, placing him at the top of the list of enemies.

Xiao Wu moved closer in Esther's direction, in fact, only moving two inches on her legs, and its voice became softer: "The second sequence of the thief's path is the 'Trojan of Destiny', which you can understand as 'Thief of Destiny'. Thieves who reach this level can steal the fate of others and take their place. ”

"What happens to the replaced?"

"An empty shell that has no destiny and identity, or even self-awareness, will of course lose all connection with the real world. What do you think would happen to that person besides death? ”

Esther shuddered, she frowned and leaned heavily on the sofa, but she could no longer feel relaxed: "But I, I haven't lost my destiny!" I'm just going to lose touch with them, I shouldn't be ......"

"So I find it strange, Esther," Xiao Wu looked back and forth at the blankness on Esther's face, satisfied with the panic in her eyes, "what the hell are you?" ”

Of course, there will be no answer to this question, Xiao Wu let out two chuckles, and obediently crawled into the palm of Esther's hand, wanting to coil it up, but his movements paused: "Also, you better be careful of all the extraordinary people in this apartment." ”

"You mean Norn? Or Mrs. Romano? ”

"Including him and her." After Xiao Wu said this, he completely coiled up and fell into a deep sleep.

Esther keenly captures the implication of Little Five's words, which means that there are other people in the apartment at Seven Lily of the Valley Street who are also extraordinary.

Xiao Wu and Xiao Qi have the same malice towards the Orthodox Church, which Esther knows very well in her heart, but who else may be extraordinary, she does not count in her heart.

Want to steal their thoughts with extraordinary abilities to find out?

As soon as this idea came out, Esther suppressed it, her instinct resisted the act of "stealing", even if Xiao Wu told Esther about the "playing method", it was difficult for her to do it to ordinary people.

The people who live here even hold a welcome party for her, so that Esther is wary of them, which is too difficult for her.

Let's take it one step at a time.

The fifth watch.