Beckland, West End.

It was another day of clouds covering the sky, and although the city had long been accustomed to it, the haze of war had gripped many people's minds, making the atmosphere in the air even heavier, and the clouds far away in the sky had become substantial, weighing heavily on the heads of the pedestrians with newspapers.

Although the air in the West Side is relatively better than the smog factory area in the East, when Klein opens the hotel window and looks out at the street that is far less lively than before, he still feels like a stone in his heart, and he has not been able to get the slightest respite for a long time.

At least he's been that way since he left the Grey Mist.

The answer he received from "Him" only raised more questions in Crane's mind, and although he had not wavered, he was now a little more confused about the path ahead of his pursuit of promotion.

The end of the three paths, and the title of "Lord of the Spirit Realm," kept hovering in his mind like a ghost that never died.

"The wind is blowing......

Crane let out a heavy sigh, as if sensing his low mood, Nornes arched out of the pocket of the "winner" puppet and flapped his wings to Crane's shoulder.

When Klein spread out his left palm, Nornes fell into his palm very intimately, tilting his head to look at his owner.

But Crane's eyes and emotions were strange to Nornes, and the "spirit creature" that had been imitating animals gave birth to instinctive uneasiness, and it chirped in a low voice, full of doubt.

Klein couldn't understand Nornes' words, but he could understand what they were trying to say—how strange it was, he had never subconsciously ignored it before, thinking that Nornes was human, but he had never doubted it.

Is it blind because of trust?

Crane smiled, but his gaze was still unwarm, and he gently brushed the lark's feathers with his right hand, and handed it to the window.

He was sure that he saw in Nouns's eyes an emotion he had never seen before, a horror that doubted that he would be abandoned.

"It's a shame that what you're afraid of is true." Klein said lightly.

Nornes let out a very sharp cry, but soon it lowered its voice aggrievedly, and kept sticking its beak to Crane's palm, such a mournful pleading made Crane's newly hardened heart begin to soften again, and he decided to push himself again:

"I know you're no ordinary bird, and I suppose you're her like the rest of the light that remains on her...... Or His eyes, right?"

The lark's screaming stopped, and its black eyes stared sadly at Klein for a moment, then turned to look out the window against the gloomy sky outside.

Nornes could feel a faint calling, the desire to return to his roots, which had never been broken, and today, that feeling was becoming more and more clear.

Klein didn't urge the lark, in fact, he was far from being as resolute as he seemed on the surface, the tug-of-war in Klein's heart was shaken by the previous pleading of Nornes, of course he was reluctant, but he knew that if Nornes continued to stay by his side, it would inevitably become another hidden danger.

This lark was never a simple pet, nor was it under his control, it had its own ideas.

Nornes turned his head again and stared at Klein.

"It's time for you to go." He said, his voice so low that he could barely hear him.

When the lark spread its wings and flew into the sky outside the window, Klein felt a light hand.

He didn't look up at the pair of wings, but stared at his hands, his heart sinking as if a piece of lead had fallen into his stomach, dragging him into the mire.

The cold air poured into the warm guest room of the hotel from the window, but Klein could not feel the more specific temperature, but there was a chill that gave him goosebumps.

Now that you've made up your mind, don't regret it. Klein closed his eyes slightly, then exhaled heavily.

The open windows were closed again, and the shadow of the bird, which had shrunk due to the rise, completely disappeared into the shadow of the hazy day.

——

On the outskirts of Beckland, a small church is quietly erected in a deserted valley.

Esther pushed the church door open a crack and crept out halfway through.

But when she looked up, she saw a flock of blackened birds standing outside, occupying all the canopy, bushes, and ground where they could land, crowded with variegated animals, such as squirrels or wild foxes that were supposed to hibernate—the only thing they had in common was a peculiar solid circle around their right eye.

Esther was speechless as she looked at the spectacle of birds and beasts gathering quietly outside the church, she was silent for a few seconds, looked back at the "army" that looked at her neatly, and slowly stuffed her body into the crack in the door of the hall.

This battle is a bit too big, she can't withstand it, I'm afraid there are no animals left that she can parasitize around, since they are so unscrupulous, it must be because they have cleaned up the nearby environment.

Then let these doppelgangers meet slowly, anyway, things like referendums or parliaments will definitely waste a lot of time......

Amun didn't lack time, but Esther didn't want to stay here, she wanted to stay away from Adam's area, and if she didn't leave in time, she might be left in this church.

She didn't want to participate in the promotion plan of "Adam", more because she didn't want to be caught between Hall and Hulse, not to mention that she still needed to keep that secret, if she stayed here, Esther didn't even know how to face "Adam".

Scratching her head in annoyance, Esther took the wooden box with extraordinary properties in her hand, the box was very light, but the contents were sent inside, it was difficult to say whether it was "friendship" or "hatred".

When she saw the group of Amon clones outside, she felt that her plan to sneak away needed to be changed.

"It's really sealed my way out......

Esther muttered, glanced at the cross at the forefront, and sat down on the bench in the last row, her fingers running circles around the lid, not knowing if she should do it.

Since reassembling some of Zoya's memories, Esther is not comfortable continuing to use the extraordinary traits from Amun, which is tantamount to deepening the invisible connection between the two, although for now, the "Thief" is unique

Esther rubbed her right brow, and she turned her head to catch a glimpse of a spotted ladybug lying on the back of a bench chair.

It's just that judging from the situation outside, it seems that she doesn't have much choice.

Esther's tense mind relaxed again, and she reached out and played with the ladybug, causing it to spin and fall to the cushion, and then she smiled:

"It's too cold right now, and there aren't many bugs moving around. Besides, have you ever seen any other bugs come in here before?"

The ladybug flapped its wings and waved its short tentacle at Esther in a buzzing sound, and the tentacle on the right side was visibly white: "Don't talk to me, I'm just here to do my duty."

"What else do you have to do, just an unlucky guy in charge of spying on me, right?"

"Hey, can't you give me a little respect?"

Esther poked the ladybug again, "Probably not, fate generally doesn't respect the unlucky guys, otherwise it would be another doppelganger here."

Ladybug let out a frustrated sigh and allowed Esther to roll over and lie lazily on the cushion of the bench, not moving, "You don't look like you want to wait for Adam to come back."

"Of course, if you hadn't blocked the doorway, I would have walked a long way by now."

"We can go out with you, wherever you go."

"I know what you're thinking," Esther stopped flipping the spotted ladybug that gave up struggling, "you're going to follow me and find someone I want to turn to or talk to, aren't you?"

After a pause, she restrained the smile on her face, "It's a pity that I'm not going to look for the current candidate of the Source Castle...... Your plans are going to fall through."

"And where are you going?" Fenerport, Lemberg or Intis? Or are you going back to sea? Fursack

The war with Rune will soon be even more intense, and there are already frequent skirmishes in the border area, which is already the 'trend of the times'."

When that word was mentioned, there was a clear and audible laugh in the ladybug's voice.

Esther was silent for a long time, staring at the wooden box in her hand and whispering, "I don't know."

Looking for another Tarot member? Esther didn't dare to bet that Amon would parasitize them, and she couldn't afford to bet on such a possibility, and after all, she was not familiar with the rest of the people to that extent, and once she left the Tarot Society, she was no longer suitable to have contact with them.

There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go.

Esther smiled self-deprecatingly and asked the doppelganger next to her, "Do you have any other proposals?"

"What about Godforsaken land?"

This proposal made Esther stunned for a moment, and then she clenched the palm of her hand on the wooden box, "It's okay, I should have solved the remaining problems over there a long time ago."

The ladybug's body flipped around, and by the time it flapped its wings and flew up, it had changed from a slight twist to a crow with black feathers and supple feathers.

The crow flew down on the back of the bench, and a slightly hoarse laugh rang out.

——

Klein's spiritual instincts were suddenly touched, and there was a "click" sound in the hotel window, which sounded like some metal object was crashing against the window.

He didn't get up immediately, but slowly put away the "death knell" that had just been divined, and after checking the magical items on his body, Crane was already ready to leave the room and quickly go to a new temporary location.

Instead of letting the puppet respond to the tapping, he walked to the window himself, ready to switch places with the puppet at any moment.

Klein has been reviewing for a long time during this time, and he now knows very well in his heart that his spiritual intuition may also be disturbed when facing "Esther".

But the lark that banged on the window and made a noise looked dirty, and he didn't know where it came from, and Crane was sure that neither Zoya nor Esther would make such a mess of themselves.

The lark's eyes were full of pleading, and he tapped his pointed beak on the glass again, again and again.

Crane sighed heavily and reopened the window, allowing Nornes to fly in.

With a "ding", the lark let go of its claws, allowing a round coin to fall on the window frame.

It called quietly, weakly.

Crane picked up the copper coin worth five pennies, and the complicated taste of crying and laughing came out, and made him stand by the window where the cold wind blew for a long time.

"I don't really need to...... I don't need you to offer me much benefit."

Crane looked at the lark and replied in the same whisper.