She had been dreaming. A dream of when Sayo first used her ability.
People of Sayo's clan could see unusual things from childhood, and from around the age of five, they could summon visitors. They learned from their parents how to handle visitors — how to convey their will through gaze alone. And once they grew accustomed to their ability, they were left alone. The reason was unclear, but it had been the same for their parents, and their parents before them.
The Sarasa ability varied in strength. The stronger it was, the more visitors could be seen.
Sayo's ability was particularly powerful, so by the time she was self-aware, she was already all alone.
Since then, Sayo had lived together with the Sarasa. With the ability, she could win against any opponent. Occasionally, the visitors would act against Sayo's will, but it was never a problem. The only failure was the Code incident, but even then, the issue wasn't the visitors — it had been that Sayo's status ailment resistance was too low.
With the power of the visitors, Sayo no longer aged. She had no lifespan. She had believed she would continue fighting alongside the visitors for eternity.
To think — she would be betrayed by the visitors.
In the end, the Explorer's Guild's concerns had been correct after all. Honestly...
In the darkness, Sayo drifted.
It was a strange feeling. Her back should have been pierced through, yet there was no pain. Rather, it was pleasant — like floating in warm water.
Her mind was calm as well.
Being betrayed by the visitors was unexpected, but she had managed to save Lucia. If they could escape from the Treasure Hall, Zeblurdia had plenty of strong Hunters. There was even Thousand Transformations — things would work out somehow.
The only problem was what to do about the visitors that Sarasa had summoned. Before Sayo's ability had gone into constant activation, the time visitors could exert power in this world was limited. As long as Sayo watched them with her own eyes, they could keep moving, but once she looked away, they shouldn't be able to last long.
Either way, there was nothing more she could do. All Sayo could do was pray that the visitors would return on their own with the passage of time.
Would Lucia mourn Sayo's death?
—Having pondered such things wistfully, Sayo awoke.
The first thing she saw was a young man with fiery red hair.
Seeing Sayo open her eyes groggily, he cheered.
"Oh, she's awake, she's awake! Great work, Anthem! I still haven't had my sparring match, you know!"
"Mm..."
"...There's no way she'd die from just having her chest pierced. If she died from something like that, we'd all have been wiped out long ago."
"Hehe... And Lucia-chan was the one who was so panicked."
Two familiar voices. It seemed Sayo had been laid in a bed.
There was no pain. No sensation of warmth being drained, either.
She slowly sat up in bed.
The first thing she checked for was the visitors. Sayo could see them, and if they were nearby, she could sense their presence.
Fortunately, the visitors didn't seem to be nearby.
No — more fundamentally, had the betrayal truly been the collective will of all the visitors?
"Lucia, are you okay?"
"The first person you should be worrying about is yourself. Honestly."
"When you showed up carrying Sayo all covered in blood, I was quite startled."
Citry pressed her palms together and said cheerfully. Nearby, Ritz and Anthem were also present.
This appeared to be one of the Mourning Specter's bases. The red-haired young man she hadn't seen at the training ground was probably Luke Saikol, whose name she'd only heard before.
"Were my injuries... serious?"
"Not serious at all~ Just a little fatal wound from having your chest run through. Anthem-bro was here so we healed you right away, but even without him you probably would've healed on your own, yeah?"
Ritz laughed heartily. Her way of thinking was even crazier than at Terrace, where battles broke out year-round.
But at least she'd been saved. Her head was still a little dizzy, but there was no pain from the wounds.
Lucia spoke with a slightly worried expression.
"So, Sayo. What happened? It looked to me like your chest was suddenly pierced, but —"
"...Sarasa went berserk."
"Huh!? That thing betrayed her?"
A visitor attacking Sayo was unprecedented. But if she was truly surprised — not really.
Originally, Sayo's Sarasa had been merely an ability that summoned visitors.
Unlike the spirits contracted by Mages under the condition of borrowing power — where the summoned party would never attack the summoner — Sarasa was different.
Sayo closed her eyes and focused her mind.
Originally, Sayo's ability had been voluntary. It became constantly and forcefully activated after she used it during the day at the Code. If she deactivated the ability, the visitors would lose their power to interfere with this world.
But she tried to stop the ability for a while, and all that happened was her eyes growing hotter.
As expected, she couldn't stop it. Whether the ability was going berserk, or it was a result of growth — perhaps her eyes had physically changed.
What would become of the visitors from now on? If Sayo left this place, would there be no one left who could recognize them, and they would simply vanish? Or would they keep moving forever?
But the visitors weren't fools. There had to be a reason they tried to kill Sayo.
She knew only one thing.
She couldn't leave this place while the visitors remained unchecked.
To stand against the visitors, she needed her eyes.
She had intended to find clues for controlling her ability in the Imperial Capital, but she'd ended up unleashing something terrible instead.
Ritz's reaction to Sayo lowering her gaze was — cheers.
"Huh? So you mean you can fight that thing at full strength now?"
"Ooooooh, now I'm fired up! I thought you were leaving me out again, but if that's the case, welcome aboard! There are swordsmen, right?"
Luke clenched his fist and flashed a wild grin.
Wait, that's okay? She was thinking this was a disaster...
As Sayo stood there dumbfounded, Citry spoke up.
"Actually, I have an interesting experiment in mind. Don't you wonder — if we transplanted Sayo's eyes to someone else, would they inherit the supernatural ability?"
"I don't wonder."
"Of course, we'd transplant replacements for the removed eyes. I'll give you my eyes."
"Cit, stop it!"
Lucia smacked the grinning Citry on the head. It didn't sound like a joke, which made it scary.
The Imperial Capital was something else. If the same thing had happened at Terrace, it wouldn't be strange if every resident had to evacuate...
Still reeling from the shock on multiple levels, Sayo was spoken to by Lucia.
"At any rate, I understand the situation. That strange space has already been reported. That your ability can pry open gates as well."
"That must have been tough. Lucia-chan has always been bad with horror, after all."
"..."
"It's fine to be bad with it, you know. Having a few things you're not great at makes you more endearing—"
"Shut up, Cit!"
They seemed to get along well...
For a moment her thoughts threatened to veer off in another direction, so she shook her head and refocused.
"I can pry open closed gates, that's true, but without a gate to begin with, there's nothing I can do. That phantom probably has the power to erase gates."
"What a pain. If only I could just cut it."
"Why don't you try?"
She'd heard he was a sword maniac, but was this beyond even that level?
At that point, Lucia cleared her throat and spoke.
"There are many things we don't know, but there's one move we can make. We should go see our Leader."
Indeed — Klye might know something.
After all, he had declared that Sayo's ability was perfectly suited for solving kidnapping incidents. Given the recent Code incident as well, he likely knew something about the Sarasa.
"But isn't Klye under suspension?"
"It's fine, it's fine. Sayo-chan, you worry too much. Klye-chan is kind, so if you're in trouble he'll help you out. Right?"
"Mm-hm."
Ritz, who had earlier said it wasn't good to rely on friends for everything, now said this so nonchalantly.
So friendship was something complex yet warm, apparently.
Ritz checked the time, then stood up.
"It's past one already, so he might be asleep, but shall we go ask now?"
--- Walking up the stairs of the Clan House alongside the Mourning Specter members.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Klye since coming to the Imperial Capital, so this would be their first meeting in a while.
Because it was the middle of the night, the Clan House was silent.
"It's ridiculous to suspend Klye-chan just because we're incompetent, you know~"
"Well, I can understand the feeling. But he still gets paid, so maybe it's fine?"
The Clan Master's room was on the top floor of the Clan House.
Marble flooring, a large wooden door. In front of the door, people in various attire had taken up positions.
Exhausted-looking, surly expressions — they'd probably been dispatched to monitor Klye's suspension. It was past one in the morning and they were really putting in the work.
"Excuse me, I need to speak with Klye, so I'm going in."
"...We don't have the authority to stop you."
Were they really just watching? What a tough job, honestly.
Citry knocked cheerfully and opened the door.
The Clan Master's room was a spacious, open area.
It probably doubled as a reception room. Fine sofas and a low table. The desk had almost no documents on it, kept neat and tidy with nothing extraneous.
Klye Andrich stood in front of a large mirror by the wall. He held a small tablet-like device to his ear, talking.
"Huh? It's not time yet? I know, I know. But I might not be able to stay awake until four o'clock... The mirror's already prepared, can't we make it work somehow? I even set it to one-eleven-eleven as a repeating digit..."
That tablet — was it some kind of Resonance Stone? Who was he talking to at this hour?
Citry watched Klye with round eyes. He hadn't noticed Sayo and the others' arrival.
"Huh? Behind me?"
Klye looked behind him. In that instant, a small girl appeared behind his back.
"!?"
A girl even smaller than the Lady — doll-like, holding a kitchen knife.
Without a doubt, that was the Treasure Hall phantom.
Lucia blanched. But Klye glanced behind him, then looked back at the mirror.
"There's no one there. Mary? She's not here. Yeah. Like I said before..."
!?
The doll-like girl dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face, slamming the kitchen knife against the floor over and over.
But Klye didn't spare a shred of awareness for her — as though he truly couldn't see her at all.
The phantom called Mary dissolved into the air and vanished without a trace. Klye continued chatting in high spirits.
"Yeah, yeah, that's right, thanks. I'll count on you. I'll be done soon."
Just as he said that.
It was clearly visible in Sayo's eyes.
A gate opened in the massive mirror, releasing a powerful purple light.
When the light faded — Klye, who had been standing before the mirror, was gone.
The monitors peeking through the gap in the door behind Sayo and the others cried out at Klye's sudden disappearance.
"What!? Where did Thousand Transformations go!? Answer me!"
Lucia let out an alarmed shout.
"Huh? B-brother!?"
"Well now... He certainly didn't leave through the door, that's for sure."
"But is this really okay?"
"Oooooh, Klyeee! You bastard! Take me with you toooo!"
"Mm..."
Ritz narrowed her eyes and looked at the mirror. But the gate that had existed moments ago was nowhere to be seen — not even a trace.
Were they different in nature? It seemed the gate wouldn't appear unless certain conditions were met.
Lucia looked at Sayo. It pained her heart, but Sayo could only shake her head.
"No. I can't open this one. But how did Klye know there was a gate here? He was under suspension..."
"Ah, that's because Klye-chan is always like that."
Ritz shrugged.
Come to think of it, when they'd conquered the Code, he had acted as though he knew things he shouldn't have known.
"Hmm, this mirror is just a mirror. It wasn't here the last time I came, so it's probably new. If you ask Eva-san, she'd probably know..."
"There's nothing special about the mirror itself. This is probably — a rule of the Treasure Hall."
That Treasure Hall phantom used rumors to abduct people. There would be no reason to do it that way unless there was a specific rule in that Treasure Hall.
If the investigation headquarters combed through the rumors they'd looked into, they could probably figure out which one Klye had used — but just then, Citry, who had been checking the desk, picked up a piece of paper and spoke.
"Everyone, there's a note from Klye here."
The scrawled note contained four words.
'Mirror,' '4:44:44 AM,' 'Smartphone,' and 'What you desire will be obtained.' The last phrase was circled.
Ritz, who had read the note, spoke exasperatedly.
"...Where on earth does Klye-chan keep getting his hands on this stuff?"
"Besides, it's not four o'clock yet..."
It was still one in the morning. Three hours until four, and yet the gate had activated... That meant Thousand Transformations had completely seen through the nature of this kidnapping — the nature of the Treasure Hall.
"This is bad. He promised he absolutely wouldn't leave the room!"
"Hmm... But he didn't exactly go out the door."
"That kind of excuse isn't going to fly! We're the ones paying compensation here!"
"Contact Lord Franz! Immediately!"
Ritz looked up at the ceiling as the monitoring staff, who had gathered in a panic, began scrambling around in disarray.
It seemed authority had no effect on Thousand Transformations. Or perhaps — having sensed that Sayo had been betrayed by the visitors, he had moved to take control of the situation?
If that was the case, she felt incredibly guilty.
Picking up on Sayo's feelings, Lucia spoke without changing her expression.
"...Sayo, my brother isn't thinking about things like that, so you don't need to worry."
"Well, this is quite the predicament."
Citry pressed her palms together and smiled.
"The mirror and the time aside, only Klye has a smartphone... and those are precious Treasure Weapons, so there's really nothing we can do~"
"..."
Her cheeks were slightly flushed. She didn't look troubled at all.
But what Klye had possessed was called a smartphone? It was a name Sayo had never heard before.
Treasure Weapons that could only be found in the Treasure Hall weren't easy to obtain unless they were extremely popular — you needed the right fortune and circumstances.
If the smartphone was a precious Treasure Weapon, even in a great city like this, it wouldn't be easy to acquire one.
But why did Klye have such a weapon?
At that moment, Ritz, who had been staring intently at Citry, draped an arm over Citry's shoulder and said with a smile: "Cit~?"
"What is it, big sis?"
"...Hand it over."
"!?"
Citry's smile froze. Ritz brought her face close to Citry's and said threateningly: "You've got one, don't you! Hand it over, Cit! Now is not the time to be stingy!"
"B-big sis, there's no way I—"
Ritz pinned down the squirming Citry, reaching her hand into her pocket.
Citry's face turned beet red as she thrashed around, but Ritz showed no mercy. It didn't take long for Citry to crack.
"F-fine, I get it! I-I'll bring it out, okay!"
"You actually had one..."
"Mm..."
Luke let out an exasperated voice, and Anthem groaned. Lucia also pushed her hair back, looking down at Citry with cold eyes. Sayo was beginning to understand what kind of Party the Mourning Specter was.
What Citry reluctantly produced was a tablet almost identical to the one Klye had.
Except it was pink. Citry said with a disgruntled expression: "I went through so much trouble to get this..."
"It's fine since it'll be useful. Besides, we're not trying to take it from you."
"I was planning to have a nice chat with Klye with it..."
"I'm confiscating it and putting it under Party management. Consider it your punishment for hiding it during an emergency."
At any rate, they had what they needed. All that remained was to wait for the time written on the note, and something would happen.
Three hours until then... Klye was surely fine. After all, he was the man who had conquered the Code without fighting a single proper battle. He wasn't the kind of person Sayo needed to worry about.
But even knowing that, Sayo couldn't help praying that Klye was safe.
The visitors were not the kind of opponent that even Thousand Transformations could handle through strategy.