“Alas…”
“Gods…”
“What’s happening now? I’ve almost finished my article! But it has no use if he’s not dead.”
“Oh chill. You heard Shadow’s news, right? Well, get to it!”
“But it’s not eye-catching enough! Isabelle’s injured, and we don’t really have a Mystery alchemist.”
“Make something up then!”
“Oh, you’re right!”
“Come up with a title first.”
“I got it—’Extra! The Sultan has Returned to the South! Will She Reshuffle All Forces in the Wizarding World?!’”
“Oh, I got one too! ‘Hear Ya! A Mystery Alchemist is Processed into Someone’s Puppet?! It Turns Out to be’—”
“So which magazine are we going to contact?”
“Voice of Wizards or Wizardry Time?”
“They publish like every ten years or a century. We can’t wait that long!”
“How about Precision Sky? They’re monthly.”
“I guess you can… but it’s held by Floating Mech City. We’re going to anger Bogula for good.”
“Aw who cares? To hell with him.”
“So we’ll—”
“—do this then!”
With a smile on both sides, Talos slowly closed its eyes.
Meanwhile, on the top floor of a stone tower in Silent Hill, a flock of ravens suddenly cried loudly.
The ruler of Silent Hill, Taurus, sat beside the fireplace with a number of iron racks nearby. Every rack was full of ravens, each staring at each other with their bright beady eyes.
“Get in,” Taurus said in an old voice.
Following his words, the room’s window was knocked open by a sudden gale. Several spirit feelers landed behind Taurus.
“Mister Taurus, are we doing something regarding Shadow’s news?” It was a voice recreated by pure spirit power.
Taurus replied without looking back, “Humph! Do something? How about you give us a suggestion?”
The spirit feelers from different individuals fell into a heated discussion.
“Get her while she’s weak!” an extremist said.
“I agree. I certainly do not want to go through her dominance again.” It was another old voice this time.
“But killing Isabelle does us no good. We aren’t the one ruling Fairy World. She has nothing to do with us anyway.”
“But Dark Castle is too close to Silent Hill. Who knows whether Isabelle will come for us next, once she gains her true strength?”
Another loud raven cry suddenly silenced everyone. They all looked at Taurus.
“Let’s… put this matter aside for now.”
Despite his voice, Taurus’ form looked straight and energetic.
“But—”
“Who among you can prove Diablo’s claim? During their conversation, Diablo used 13 words that suggested uncertainty. If we disregard these elements, we can only know two things for sure. One, Isabelle is back, and two, she’s wounded. As for the extent of her wound, how she got wounded, her next move, her attitude toward Fairytown, and whether she’s going to leave again… They all remain as mysteries. How can you be sure that we should kill Isabelle?
“Besides, let’s suppose Isabelle is in a terrible condition. Will Isabella allow us to kill her teacher? Yes, Dark Castle has lost its former glory, but they still have their old tricks. Are we really going to declare war against Dark Castle? We’re allies by name. Doing so will not help us in the long run.
“However… we CAN ask someone else to scout for info. Ourepa, I heard that you’re a good friend of ‘Bird of Paradise’ Yorditemis, no?” Taurus asked a question.
“Yes,” a gentle female voice replied, “several decades ago, I was invited to try out perfumes in Manda Plane, together with Yorditemis.”
“Sweetmoon Federation presented an extraordinary perfume this time, and I managed to acquire a bottle of it. You can go look for Bird of Paradise and… talk about your old days.”
A bottle decorated by an exquisite box appeared beside Ourepa.
“I see. Oh yes, we do need to meet each other after all this time.” Ourepa chuckled.
“Dismissed.” Taurus waved a hand.
As everyone left the room, a new voice suddenly interrupted the silence.
“Mister Taurus, apart from Isabelle’s matter, about that Mystery alchemist…”
“Yeah,” a second voice spoke up, “he’s not there yet, but he has an unpredictable future. Maybe we should… you know, seize him?”
Taurus grinned and stood up from his chair.
As he moved, the fireplace changed and shifted until it showed the image of Angor before the boy was taken away.
“About him… I just learned something interesting from Talos. Leave him be for the moment. He’s not someone we Silent Hill can keep. Oh ho… Now I’m wondering what Bogula is going to do.”