Eldritch Horror Theatre

Standing in the sea breeze, Fu Qian ”watched” the departing figure, genuinely impressed by the Night Watchers’ dedication.

The operative’s Rank clearly wasn’t low. If he had been even a fraction more impatient just now, he likely would have been discovered.

Too bad for them, he still had the upper hand, successfully carrying on Old Man Camus’s legacy.

The release of Frank and his three companions was clearly a final act of releasing in order to capture.

When uncertain about who was compromised, letting the targets think they were in a safe environment while observing them from the shadows was a perfectly logical tactic.

And when that surveillance yielded nothing unusual, likely factoring in that Frank had been the first of them to climb onto the table, the watcher showed himself to give Frank a little extra test.

For now, he should have temporarily slipped out of the Night Watchers’ line of sight. Old Man Camus’s escape plan really was brilliant!

Next, he just needed to find an inconspicuous moment to slip away.

As he pondered, Fu Qian tried pushing his personal will further outward. Soon, his five senses returned one by one.

Although he was still bound to a second-person perspective, he could even ”smell” the briny scent of the sea breeze.Below their position lay a massive expanse of sandy beach.

At a glance, the white sands and azure waves were teeming with tourists—a truly picturesque scene.

”Frank, what just happened?”

Surprisingly, the sole female among Frank’s three companions was the first to wake up.

Sporting heavy eyeshadow, a nose ring, and aqua-blue hair that obscured almost half her face, the rebellious-looking young woman rubbed her eyes in confusion.

”How did I fall asleep again?”

”...I don’t know either.”

Unfortunately, Frank couldn’t offer any answers. He even buried his face in his hands.

”Someone was asking me questions just now... I don’t even understand what happened—”

Ah! Ah!

His words were quickly cut off by two sharp gasps. The remaining two companions had also woken up, equally bewildered about having fallen asleep.

”What do we do? Why don’t we just go back?”

Seeing this, the girl with the nose ring was clearly ready to back out.

”This place is too weird. Besides, I don’t want to take another trip to the Police Department tomorrow.”

”But we went through so much trouble to get here!”

Before she even finished speaking, someone voiced an objection.

”The Clamor Festival is tomorrow. We just have to wait one more day.”

”I’m not going back with my tail between my legs just like that. If we do, the guys back home will laugh us to death.”

”Besides, it’s not like the police actually did anything to us, right?”

”But speaking of which, this place really is a bit strange. I never thought I’d climb onto a table and start dancing without even drinking. They didn’t make us pay this time, but who knows about next time.”

”What do you think, Frank?”

With the last companion voicing his opinion, everyone’s eyes converged once more on Fu Qian’s host.

...

It was obvious that Frank was something of the person in charge of this little group.

Faced with the expectant gazes of his teammates, he hesitated for a moment before seeming to make up his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and pulled something from his pocket—a small vial about the thickness of a finger.

Inside the clear glass was a brilliant liquid that shimmered with a silver glow.

As he gave it a gentle shake, the fluid surged into a series of storm-like vortexes, dizzying to look at.

”Is that... Mercury Storm?”

Almost immediately, Frank’s companions began crying out in astonishment.

”Where did you get the money for that?”

”I prepared it a long time ago, naturally.”

Frank, equally entranced by the small vial, gave a soft snort.

”Honestly, what I was most afraid of at the Police Department was that they’d confiscate this to cover the damages.”

As he spoke, he popped the cork and poured every last drop of the liquid down his throat.

Under the nervous gazes of his companions, he took two steps forward and spread his arms.

”Hamadus!”

The next moment, an incredibly resonant roar was forced out of his chest, booming like thunder and echoing endlessly.

”I saved up for a long time to buy this Dunis specialty.”

”I know there’s a rule saying you can only use this tomorrow, but I feel absolutely fantastic right now.”

Having finished his shout, Frank turned back to his dumbstruck companions, looking thoroughly liberated.

”Now, even if we can’t join tomorrow’s celebration, it won’t be such a shame.”

A traditional Dunis potion? And it sounds like it was made specifically for the Clamor Festival?

Watching from within, Fu Qian observed Frank’s actions with great interest.

From his perspective, it was obvious that the potion contained an incredibly subtle trace of transcendent power.

So it was no surprise that drinking it allowed someone to produce such a roar.

But that seemed to be the extent of it. From what he could tell, it was almost a purely recreational item.

Going by Frank’s words, there would be large crowds drinking this stuff and roaring at each other tomorrow to liven things up?

Just imagining the scene was quite amusing.

”Let’s hurry up and get out of here.”

The girl with the nose ring finally snapped back to her senses. Staring toward the beach with a complicated expression, she urged them in a hushed voice.

Unsurprisingly, Frank’s roar just now had alarmed nearly half the people on the beach.

Theoretically, this kind of violation could easily earn them a second trip to the Police Department in short order.

In fact, the startled crowd was already sitting up and looking around.

However, upon spotting the group of four, the crowd not only showed no annoyance at being disturbed, but a moment later, they let out a joyous chorus of bizarre roars and shrieks.

It wasn’t as exaggerated as Frank’s potion-fueled shout, but the unceasing howls still created quite the spectacle.

Uh!

Watching this unfold, the four of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

”Are we still leaving?”

For a moment, they exchanged uncertain glances, confirming each other’s opinions.

”...Let me hit the restroom first.”

Under his friends’ expectant gazes, Frank, who had already made up his mind, hesitated slightly and decided to use the restroom as an excuse to go cool his head.

...

In the restroom, Frank splashed cold water onto his face again and again, until his chaotic thoughts finally cleared.

But when he finally lifted his head, he realized there was someone else in the restroom who hadn’t been there before.

The person was dressed bizarrely, wearing a very unique mask on his face with strangely soft facial features.

Why did he look so familiar?

A sense of familiarity made Frank frown, but he wasn’t given more time to recall it before the stranger swaggered away.

”What the hell! Frank, where are your clothes?”

When a groggy Frank stumbled back to his group, he was instantly greeted by a chorus of shrieks.

Looking down, Frank was surprised to discover that, at some point, his clothes had all been taken off, leaving him in nothing but his underwear.

In a flash of realization, he suddenly understood why that person just now had looked so familiar.