Eldritch Horror Theatre

As Nepheli sighed, Fu Qian didn’t even need to look back to know that Su Gao—now on absolute high alert—was silently approaching.

Given the methods of the Divine Emissary before him, Su Gao most likely didn’t remember her face.

But a female Divine Emissary from the Anjing Company showing up at this exact moment? With all those labels combined, there was absolutely no reason to harbor any wishful thinking.

”I never thought you two were from Siren, and now I’m absolutely certain.”

Her gaze tracked Su Gao until she took a seat beside Fu Qian. Nepheli didn’t mind the girl’s icy indifference in the slightest, smiling as she continued.

”You flatter us. At a glance, Ms. Nepheli doesn’t look like someone from the Anjing Company either.”

In response to the Divine Emissary’s veiled praise, Fu Qian offered a highly pertinent assessment in return.

”Oh? Why is that?”

Nepheli looked quite curious.

”The exposure of my illicit deal with Brother Sawada is good news for the Anjing Company no matter how you look at it.”Fu Qian pointed in the direction Sawada had just left.

”And as for handling this situation, either turning yourselves in or having you and Yasui Tokiyuki strike together would obviously be a better choice than knocking on my door just to let me know the secret is out.”

”Not to mention bringing Brother Sawada along for the visit.”

”After all, he is far too weak. If a Demigod wanted him silenced, even a Divine Emissary might not be able to save him.”

Analyzing the situation with complete seriousness, Fu Qian made no effort to hide the fact that he had already seen through her Rank.

As for how they should handle it, he wasn’t just talking nonsense.

The Anjing Company’s ongoing headache had always been the leverage against them for secretly using the Miracle Potion.

It was an issue that could be as large or as small as one made it—a matter of principle that weighed nothing if ignored, but could crush them if formally weighed.

But once the test subject wasn’t innocent, harbored suspicious motives, and was even a transcendent themselves, the severity of the matter would inevitably drop.

Under those circumstances, the safest choice would be to go directly to the Night Watchers and confess, taking on a certain amount of risk to seize the initiative and thoroughly eliminate the hidden danger.

Or two Divine Emissaries could have decisively struck, taking him and Su Gao down first. Even if they failed to contain the fallout and alerted the Night Watchers, the fact that their targets were two transcendents made the nature of the act far less sensitive.

Yet this Divine Emissary had ultimately chosen to visit alone, even bringing a key witness right to his door. No matter how he looked at it, her attitude was a bit subtle.

”That makes a lot of sense.”

Nepheli nodded repeatedly as she listened, even giving a light clap of her hands at the end.

”I must say, the candor of this conversation far exceeds my expectations.”

Finishing her praise, she remarked with a deep sigh.

”I was originally much more interested in Ms. Violeta, but Mister Dancy has truly given me a massive surprise.”

”As for your partnership with Sawada, Anjing is indeed still in the dark. I only asked him a few passing questions because of Kisaragi Kana, never expecting such an unexpected harvest.”

”As for Yasui Tokiyuki, he should be quite busy right now. For the time being, he has no time to focus too much on this.”

’Busy, as expected, huh?’

The amount of information in Nepheli’s few words was, it had to be said, quite massive. Fu Qian nodded inwardly as he listened.

It seemed Yasui Tokiyuki truly was making a major move.

Sure enough, sincerity is the ultimate killer move.

His decisive removal of the mask just now, choosing to show his true face, was obviously not as simple as polite hospitality.

Just as he said before, Kisaragi Kana becoming a transcendent overnight was miraculous, but it wasn’t enough to make a Divine Emissary personally come to his door to check on the control group.

Given Kisaragi Kana’s special transformation, drawing attention to himself was perfectly normal. After all, besides taking the same model of potion, he had also dealt with her extensively.

Faced with a Divine Emissary’s methods, crushed under a dimensional strike, Sawada’s survival instinct could be as strong as he liked, but his odds of keeping the secret were still roughly zero.

Even though he didn’t know much, simply exposing the fact that Fu Qian was a transcendent was enough to put Nepheli on alert.

After all, when she visited last time, she most likely hadn’t realized he was a transcendent.

For a Divine Emissary accustomed to looking down on others, that contrast was undoubtedly huge.

Therefore, Fu Qian had immediately judged that Nepheli’s second visit was most likely not aimed at Su Gao, but at himself.

Rather than waiting for her to find a way to rip his mask off, he figured he might as well be completely candid and show his stance.

The benefit of doing so was that it directly established an honest and friendly atmosphere for communication, helping them exchange information with high efficiency.

What he had told Su Gao earlier was the truth; he was genuinely looking forward to Anjing’s reaction to Kisaragi Kana’s advancement to the Transcendent Tier. After all, it tied directly into the final conclusion of the project.

...

”So, how is Kisaragi Kana doing right now?”

Having exchanged their sincerity, Fu Qian smoothly steered the conversation back to the topic she had just mentioned.

”Very well! In fact, a bit better than expected.”

Nepheli nodded.

”Last night, Anjing received a notice to assist in the investigation. Right now, she should still be over with the Night Watchers.”

”From the feedback, Kisaragi Kana’s state has stabilized at Tier 7, and she has displayed an extraordinary charm. The researchers on the Miracle Potion project are highly encouraged right now. I wonder, what are your thoughts, Mister Dancy?”

”A bit dull.”

Nepheli’s question was met with Fu Qian’s razor-sharp critique.

”As I see it, this is just a coincidence among coincidences. At the very least, the bottle I drank didn’t make me feel anything special.”

Fu Qian shook his head.

”The reason it worked was most likely due to Kisaragi Kana’s own extraordinary talent.”

”Her own talent?”

Nepheli looked surprised, then asked with an amused chuckle.

”Before the Miracle Potion, Kisaragi Kana was a genuine, ordinary human. Where exactly is this extraordinary talent of hers?”

”Depth 4. Is that not extraordinary enough?”

Fu Qian once again pulled out the Badge and slapped it onto the table.

”Mister Dancy is actually interested in that little game too?”

Watching his gesture, Nepheli’s eyes grew deeply meaningful.

”Even the local chief of the Night Watchers mentioned that he’s keeping a very close eye on this hobby for young people.”

”As for my take, I think this little game is quite a clever concept. At the very least, it’s a bit more interesting than the Miracle Potion.”

”Mister Dancy truly stands apart from the crowd! You should know that to most people, those two things are entirely incomparable.”

As Nepheli voiced her thoughts, Sawada returned. She casually gestured for him to brew tea to the side, and he naturally complied, showing no trace of his previous agitation.

”I looked over some previous records, and Kisaragi Kana’s situation is indeed a bit special. Was that the reason you deliberately got close to her at first?”

”No.”

Fu Qian shook his head once more.

”Because I was entrusted by someone.”