The boy froze for a moment after looking at the person standing in front of him, only to be brought back to reality by Noa's voice

"Is someone there?"

"Nope!" With no hesitation, he slammed the door shut on Mirage's face and leaned against it to make sure it couldn't be opened from the outside. "Looks like no one else is coming!"

This plan hardly worked as the door suddenly shattered into pieces. Faith was the only one who could tell the door actually remained intact, but the quick image created by Phantasmagoria was enough to call Noa's attention.

The chef was a little put off by seeing the door suddenly undamaged but proceeded to open it after shoving Faith away. Out of all people, she didn't expect to see Mirage in such a bad shape. Healing that girl was a priority, but before that, she made sure to smack the top of Faith's head with a forceful fist.

"If there is someone hurt let me know right away!! A few seconds can make the difference between life and death!!"

The red-eyed boy held his head and clicked his tongue. He made a mental note to make sure Mirage would pay for this.

That said, the damage the girl had taken was beyond anything he imagined at first.

【Several of Mirage's bones weren't only broken, but a few were stabbing into several organs, causing a ridiculous amount of internal bleeding. Her left arm, however, was enveloped by a tangle of scarlet threads that swirled with bright energy. These threads seemed to be spreading across her body and tangling around Mirage, barely keeping her in one piece. 】

Even after fighting someone like Wish several times, his wounds were never half as bad as this. What caused this to happen, was it another grand angel like the one he faced before? At this rate it was like the Wheel of Fortune was the one keeping her alive.

Thankfully, even without an ability like Eschatology, Noa was quick to assess the gravity of the situation. She kneeled down next to Mirage and holding her breath, she placed the palm of her hand on top of the girl's forehead.

【A warm and serene energy overflowed from Noa directly into Mirage's body. The more energy ran towards the hero, the emptier Noa's figure was left with. Compared to the time she had been fighting Faith, her energy was running considerably low now.

It was like dropping a glass onto the floor and then hitting the rewind button. All the damage that spread across Mirage was rapidly reversed, and her body was restored, the threads that were holding her together all returned to her left arm and faded away.】

To think someone with a healing ability this high actually existed. Faith couldn't help but wonder what Noa's limit was. If she could repair a body like that, would someone like her be able to break the taboo of life and death and bring others back from the beyond? Of course, this line of thinking was a mistake, and sooner or later Faith would come to face this truth.

"Thank you." Mirage finally spoke while holding her forehead and trying to sit down. "I am really in your debt."

"Don't push yourself, it takes some time for your mind to catch up with regeneration like this. That said, I will still need an explanation. It's not normal for someone like you to take this much damage. Is anyone else in danger?"

"It's fine. I will explain everything later, I promise."

If possible, Mirage wanted to avoid talking about what happened. At the very least, the last time she saw everyone involved in that incident, they were all standing before her in one piece. She regretted losing herself and attacking them, but the one who stopped her in the end was Wish. Considering a majority of this damage had come from taking a hit from Wish's Starlight Burst, that girl was likely safe somewhere. After all, once Mirage woke up, she was the only one lying in that street.

"Okay then." Noa crossed her arms and then glanced at Faith and Caroline who stood by the entrance. "We are going back to my house. Please help support Mirage, the damage she took was nothing to laugh at."

"Huh? I don't want to carry this extra luggage. Can't we just leave it here?" Faith pointed at the short-haired brunette with an annoyed expression.

"I can walk on my own, no need to worry." Mirage slowly approached Faith. "Besides, Noa, it's not like you can expect much from a whiny baby who throws a tantrum for always coming at second place."

"Huh?! Big words from a coward who is always running away when things don't go her way!!"

After taking a deep breath, Mirage glared into Faith's eyes, pressing her forehead against his.

"You are the last person who can complain about running away you damn traitor!"

"Okay, okay! Time out!! We are inconveniencing Noa. Let's get going for now, okay?"

Caroline walked between the two of them, pushing them away before Faith had a chance to continue arguing.

"Caro–?!"

Before Mirage could speak, the long-haired brunette covered her mouth with the palm of her hand and dragged her away. There was a disturbing pressure coming from Faith's glare as the boy raised an eyebrow.

"T-This girl was badly hurt, right? Let's leave fighting for later and go! I'll help her get there!!"

The doctor twirled a strand of her hair, ignoring Mirage's muffled voice as Caroline's grip only grew stronger.

"Do all of you know each other?"

But in response, the three simply shook their heads furiously.

"I don't know what the deal with all of you is, but if you don't behave, I will gladly take matters into my own hands." Noa cracked her fingers. "So why aren't you good kids and make up right here? Or do you want me to do it by force? Breaking a bone or two won't hurt, right?"

"S-Sorry about that, haha..." "R-Right! Let's get along!"

Faith and Mirage both shook hands while forcing the fakest smile they could. That said, the grip on their hands and the killer intent in their eyes didn't match their words one bit.

☆

There was an odd silence between them as they walked back to Noa's house. Not only because of the tense air between Faith and Mirage, but something seemed to be in Noa's mind.

It didn't take long until they got back to her house. Following her instruction, they went into the room where Eri had been sleeping before Noa reinforced the barrier surrounding the place.

Faith and Caroline sat on a corner of the bed where Eri slept while Mirage rested her back against the wall and crossed her arms.

"Okay, we can speak safely now." Noa sighed before sitting on a wooden chair.

The hero made sure to pay attention as she examined her surroundings. For Faith to be here in the first place, something was likely going on, and assessing the situation was important. Even then, she never expected to see a girl who resembled May so much sleeping on that bed. Based on her intel she knew that May had a younger sister, and she could only hope she didn't have the same level of malice.

"Faith. When you checked the restaurant, there was nothing underground, right?"

"There wasn't anything, not even the trace of a disguise or ability."

"Mirage. Your ability allows you to make illusions, correct?"

"Uh, something like that."

Noa placed a hand on her chin before giving out short order.

"Make Faith there see an illusion, and Faith, tell me what you see."

"Heh."

As a grin formed across Mirage's face, a large train broke through the wall and ran into Faith's direction with immense force. In response, the boy simple yawned and looked at Noa with a shrug.

"All I see is a pathetic person using a pathetic ability. There wasn't any illusion masking the area by the restaurant either."

"It's not an illusion though..." Mirage muttered under her breath before looking away.

"Then that's the most reason for us to be cautious. Something wasn't right at the restaurant." Noa pointed to the wall behind her. A lot of ornaments were misaligned and a clock had fallen to the floor. It didn't take long for Faith to realize what she meant.

"The quake?"

"Exactly. That was a major earthquake, I wouldn't be surprised if many areas in the city took severe damage. So there is no way everything would be tidy and in place at the restaurant. Someone is clearly trying to deceive us, and given they were hiding under that restaurant all along, who knows where they could be watching from."

Faith had completely forgotten about the quake, but if someone was really trying to deceive them, he couldn't even begin to imagine how. There weren't traces of any irregularities at the restaurant, that much was absolute. It would only make sense if they swapped out the restaurant for a new one, with the underground base and all.

"Did you notice anyone suspicious today?"

Noa continued her line of questioning. Caroline was quick to shake her head, but someone did stand out for Faith.

"I don't think she was suspicious, but she was kind of weird." The boy brought a hand to his chin. "There was this girl who carried an old ring."

"Hm?"

"Uh, she had red hair and a mole on her neck, I think. She spoke to me for a bit, but she was simply weird, not sure how to explain."

Hearing this caused Mirage to frantically search for her pockets, pulling out the photo of someone who matched that description of long red-hair and a mole on the side of her neck.

"What this the person you saw?!"

"Yeah, that's her. I think...? I'm sure she was younger though, I think."

"Where did she go?!"

"Like hell if I know, why would I care."

"You are useless."

"Have you tried looking into a mirror before?"

"Behave." All it took was Noa stomping her foot against the floor for everyone to go quiet. "Was this girl really at the restaurant? I don't remember any regular who looks like that. Did she do something?"

"It's... kind of complicated." Mirage sighed, placing the photo away. "But if there is a chance she might come back, I'll stick around for a little longer."

"Um."

A voice had come from behind everyone. Eri woke up thanks to all of the noise in the room, but she was completely out of it. Even though she looked like she wanted to say something, she could only sit on the bed while holding a tight grasp on her blanket.

"Um...um...I..."

But no matter how hard she tried, words wouldn't come out. Instead, tears had started to roll down her face. It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't, but the horrible images she had seen were still burned deep into her memory.

"Let's give her some space. We'll keep talking about this later."

Saying this, Noa removed the barrier and walked outside the room followed by Mirage.

"You can take your time to explain, but there's something I wanted to ask. Have you seen Liz?"

"I don't think so."

Mirage answered truthfully but something bothered her, it was almost like she should have known where that maid was but she couldn't remember.

"I can't seem to reach her but knowing her she'll come back later with some dumb excuse. Either way, I'll go prepare breakfast, you haven't eaten anything yet right?"

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Mirage wasn't sure if it was okay to receive this much kindness. The more she remembered what happened earlier the more it ate at her heart. She absolutely hated acting on impulse, she hated doing and saying things she didn't really mean, and even though that girl stood before her in the end, she was well aware of how much she had hurt her. If possible, she wanted to rewind the clock and make sure this morning never happened.

Drowning in disgust, the brunette walked down a corridor and entered Noa's bathroom. Maybe if only for a little bit, this was a peaceful and quiet room. Maybe Faith was right, and all she was good for was running away and hiding.

All she could do now was to sit in a corner of the shower room while hugging her knees. It's not like this was the first time this had happened either, but none of her small fights with Wish before had this much weight. There was no way she could show her face again.

"Found you!"

Caroline's voice startled Mirage, but she couldn't even bother looking up. She wanted to run away but her body simply froze as the long-haired brunette sat on the cold floor next to her.

"Why are you here?"

"Something like this happened before, didn't it? So I thought I would find you in the same place."

"I don't think that was the same though."

Mirage's voice sounded deflated, it was the complete opposite to the Mirage that had been snapping at Faith minutes ago.

"Are you sad?"

"You have no delicacy, do you?"

"Sorry. You know I'm not good at reading people's feelings, so I'd rather make sure."

"Yeah..." The short haired girl hated to admit it. "I'm sad."

"Isn't that good? You are the one who used to say "you can't read feelings and I don't have feelings," but if you are sad doesn't that mean you have a heart after all?"

"Why do you still remember that?" Mirage looked up, frantically wiping her tears away with her arm. "You always remember the dumbest things."

"Hey, that's not true! I remember lots of important things too!!"

"Like?"

"Like the time you tried to stop Claudia from playing around with mentos and cola!"

"I couldn't even convince her in the end, and god knows what else she put in that bottle because it took weeks to fully clean that office. Heh, you really remember the dumbest things."

"That may be true... but you finally smiled so I win this time!"

"Don't point that out!! And I didn't!!!"

At that moment, Mirage's phone began to vibrate from inside her pocket so she was quick to take it out and take the call. It was a miracle that this device had survived this long.

The moment she accepted the call, a small holographic screen reflected over the device, showing a young girl with long, and tidy black hair sitting in what looked like an old-fashioned detective office.

"Hello, hello! You were just talking about me, weren't you? I can feel it!!"

"It's Claudia!!" Caroline waved at the screen. "I'm surprised you are still in one piece!"

"Caro? Whoa! Now that's a face you don't see every day! Wait... did I get the wrong number?"

"I'm right here." Mirage tried to hide her face by slightly hiding behind Caroline, but it was hardly useful.

"You don't have to say anything, Mirage. I have the gist of what happened since I was watching most of it. The good news is that I was able to get a good data sample."

"Uh-huh."

"Look at this! I was able to perfect the Entropy Scale using your combat data, and created this neat little device!" Claudia held a small chip in her hands. "This will now alert you of nearby threat levels with better accuracy, you never know what you can find in that city after all! Aren't I great?"

It's true that up till now she was only gauging the enemy's threat levels on her own, furthermore, if this worked like a radar it could help her stay as far away as possible from Wish so maybe it wasn't so bad.

"I already sent you the item, so please download it and place it somewhere easy for you to access."

Being the lead inventor in GHOST, Claudia had upgraded Mirage's phone to the point smaller items could be generated using data, almost as though it had an advanced 3D printer. She was also the one who perfected Mirage's hook, and the smaller explosives she would carry.

"I already installed an application that can let you regulate this device's settings, I put all kinds of cool standby sounds you can set to every threat level! You like that kind of thing, don't you?"

"You didn't have to go that far you know–"

It was always like this. Whenever Claudia did something, she always went overboard. Even now, Mirage wasn't sure how to speak with her, and after meeting someone like May, facing Claudia again was a little difficult.

With a sigh, Mirage printed out two copies of the device. She attached the chip to the back of her eclipse-shaped pendant and gave the second one to Caroline.

"That aside," Mirage thought back at the photo of the red-haired woman in her pocket. "There is something else I need you to investigate for me."

☆

Meanwhile, Faith had remained in the room with Eri. Being alone with a family member like this made it easier for her to open up and tell him what she saw. From the events that took place in the underground base, to the visions where that strange entity had killed everyone.

The boy had a hard time figuring out how to take it all in, he wasn't good at seeing others cry, but he knew what it was like to have realistic nightmares. From time to time, he could still see the many lives that were lost in that cursed tower.

"Listen Eri. Most of what you saw was nothing but a nightmare, and even if it wasn't, there are a few things you are forgetting."

"Things I'm forgetting?"

"For one, my assistant is alive and well. She was never killed by any strange person and all her limbs are in place. What you saw definitely didn't happen."

So Caroline was safe after all? Come to think of it, she had briefly seen her face earlier but didn't give it too much thought at the time.

"And second, I wasn't in that nightmare, but I am here right now. If someone like that appears again I'll blast them to pieces, so the chances of that nightmare ever happening are of zero."

Eri silently nodded and then smacked her cheeks with a lot of force, nodding once again to herself.

"Yeah!! If someone like that appears again let's destroy them!!"

Hearing her say something like that reminded him this really was May's sister after all. At the very least, it was comforting to see Eri acting more like her usual self but hopefully she wasn't forcing it out too much.

"Feeling better?" Caroline smiled at Eri as she entered the room.

"Caro!!" The black haired girl jumped out of bed in an instant, clinging unto Caroline with a tight grasp. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

"I'm doing great!"

"And Ruru...?"

"Hmm. No idea, I haven't seen him anywhere but maybe Noa knows!"

"The food is ready!" The green haired chef peeked her head into the room to let them know.

As Eri slowly felt more awake, she soon realized she had no idea where this was. Suddenly being in a stranger's house was nerve-wracking for someone who was only used to interacting with her family. Most of the time it was only her and May, and for her acting school, there really wasn't anyone else to interact with.

The dining table was very small and cramped. Compared to the restaurant, this was a really small house. Of course, it was more than enough for the couple who lived here. It looked as though Noa had placed a random wooden table next to the usual dining one as the sizes and materials didn't match. The chairs were all mismatched as well, with most of them being old wooden chairs, did these use to be in the restaurant before?

Either way, Faith was starving. They didn't eat anything while helping out at the restaurant for several hours and it was almost time for lunch.

As the boy took the seat next to Caroline, his expression turned into a frown after looking at who sat across from him.

"Eri, let's switch places."

He wanted to make sure he would be as far away as possible, but it didn't seem like Eri was able to hear him.

Clicking her tongue, Mirage stood up and grabbed her chair to sit across Eri instead. Not before grabbing a knife and casually hurling it at Faith like a projectile.

Silly Mirage, projectiles were Faith's speciality. Using Eschatology, he hurled a spoon against the knife, making it change trajectory back towards Mirage who stopped the impact with her left arm.

Even though both sat on opposite ends of the table, they continued to glare at each other. This war was only getting started.

"I sure hope everyone is getting along. " Noa stared at them with a murderous smile after picking up the knife that had ended on the floor. "There aren't any problems here, right? Right?"

"It's all okay!! I was just wondering why Mirage said your food is terrible. Isn't that really rude?"

"I didn't say that!!"

"Really? Because I–"

This time Faith was stopped by a solid kick to his ankle coming from Caroline from under the table.

"Didn't you mishear, boss? I don't think she said that."

"Whose side are you on?!"

"On the side of good food!!"

As Noa raised an eyebrow, Mirage stuck out her tongue to mock him. To think his assistant would betray him like this, he would make sure to remember this.

It didn't take long for Noa to arrive with the food. Considering the variety she had at the restaurant, one couldn't help but wonder what she had prepared, but sometimes something simple was the best way to go, and thus, a large tower of pancakes sat at the very centre of the table.

Faith couldn't help but be a little skeptical so he made sure to scan the food for poison. Thinking the person who helped them might try to poison them might have been ridiculous, but if there was something Faith had learned the hard way was not to trust anyone. Surprisingly, he actually found healing properties in the food. To think Noa's ability could be used this way as well, it was impressive.

Furthermore, even though it looked like a simple and plain pancake, the moment the boy took the first bite he was assaulted by an overwhelming heaven of flavour. Not only was the texture fluffy and pleasant but it only heightened a perfectly calculated sweetness that would melt into your mouth. This went beyond anything he had ever tried in life. To think human hands could craft such heights of perfection. Was Noa even a human at all? No, he was certain she had transcended that realm long ago.

As wonderful as this moment of bliss was, all good things would always come to an end. It didn't take long for there to be only a single pancake left on the plate at the centre of the table. Since the dining area was small it was easy for anyone to reach it, but Faith was quick to notice something. The short haired brunette sitting on the other end of the table had her eyes on the final pancake as well. This was the perfect chance, he would wait for her to make her move and steal it from right under her nose.

Of course, Mirage already expected something like to happen as well, this is why she had hesitated to take action just yet. There was no way she would let Faith get away with this. The final pancake would be hers no matter what, but in order to win, she had to bypass the grand wall that was Faith's Eschatology. She was well aware of how that annoying technique always rendered hers useless, but it's not like she didn't think of a plan to counter it. Even though Faith could read actions slightly ahead of time if the actions themselves changed, the calculations shown to him would change too. It was like playing a rhythm game, but what if the incoming musical notes suddenly changed? This is why Mirage was constantly changing the images shown to him through Phantasmagoria. Slight changes such as the distance between his position and the pancake, as well as the actual amount of pancakes on the plate. If she overwhelmed him with information she could make an opening to act first.

(Heh. Did you really think it would be that simple?)

Faith smiled. He had easily seen through Mirage's strategy. After all, even if she continued to add layers over layers of alterations to his perception, it was still too slow. If there was something that would always break Faith's spirit was facing Wish's Acceleration Rush. It was a physical attack with increasing speed and force; no matter how many times he faced it head-on, even knowing where every hit would land, his body was never able to keep up with it. Compared to that, Mirage's attempt was pathetic. In fact, it was best to disregard her efforts. Instead of focusing on the pancake, he would focus on Mirage instead. He would analyze her every move, and the instant she moved her hand to reach the pancake, he would act.

(He thinks he already won, doesn't he? Stupid Faith, your train of thought is far too simple.)

Even with Escathology, Mirage knew that Faith couldn't read minds. All she had to do was simple. It was obvious he would make a move the moment she tried something, so instead of going for the pancake, she would stab her fork into his hand with all her force once she reached for it.

It would all be decided with this next move, if she was going to act it was now.

(It's over, Faith!!) (Mirage! Prepare to be humiliated!!)

And with a swift movement, a fork stabbed into the pancake, and it swiftly moved from the plate and onto Caroline's mouth.

"These are really so good! I want to eat here forever!!"

Faith and Mirage could only collapse on the floor in absolute defeat.

☆

As much as she didn't want to admit it, this scene was nostalgic for Noa. Thinking back on her hometown, being gathered at a table like this, surrounded by all kinds of noisy people, was her usual every day. The passage of time was truly terrifying sometimes. Even though every single day was the same as the next, before she realized it, there were only two of them left.

Even then, Noa didn't hate her new life either. For the most part, it was peaceful and quiet, and she got to spend every day with the person she loved. It was like an ancient war general finally retiring to set up a restaurant in a quiet town.

Maybe this is why she got carried away so much once she got to confront Faith the night before. It had been a long time since she got to fight someone that could keep up with her for so long, it had been a long time since she got to have this kind of fun.

After everyone placed their palms together and gave their thanks for the food, the green haired chef slammed her hands against the table as she stood up.

"Okay! Since the two of you clearly can't stop fighting for two seconds, let's solve this once and for all! But we'll get to solve it my way!"

Faith and Mirage both glared at each other before looking at Noa. Having grown up in a heavily competitive environment, they were ready to take on whatever Noa's suggestion was.

"We'll solve this with a cooking contest!!"

After putting away all the dirty dishes, Noa directed everyone towards her kitchen. The place was slightly wider than the dining room, and there were several cabinets spread across the wall, all filled in with many different ingredients and tools.

Faith wondered whether having contests like this was the usual as Noa seemed to have at least four kitchens in the room, one on every corner.

"The rules are simple. You have half an hour to prepare your best dessert and I will be the judge. You can use any ingredient found in this room, and the winner..."

Noa brought a hand to her chin. The usual things that were put in the line for the cooking contests she was used to were far too grand for a group of amateurs like the ones in this room. There was no need to drag them into her world, and as long as it would appease them, something simple was best.

"The winner gets to slap the loser as hard as they can."

"I'm in!" Faith and Mirage both spoke in sync.

"Good. Then I'm giving you five minutes to look around the room and plan your strategy, after that we'll start right away."

"Here's your next task," Faith pulled Caroline closer. "You will join me and help me achieve victory!"

"Isn't that cheating?!" Mirage was quick to complain.

"Getting assistance is fine, but I won't help anyone."

Listening to Noa's words made Mirage grow nervous. Defeating Faith was one thing but going against Caroline in a cooking contest would be really tough. At any rate, it was best to start securing the best ingredients she could, every second counted.

She started walking deeper into the room, but something else caught Mirage's attention at that moment. A young girl with long black hair had been silently standing by the entrance of the room. She seemed lost in thought and her expression looked like she might cry at any time. It was the same back when they were sitting at the dining table.

"My name is Mirage, and you?" She decided to call out to the girl. Letting someone suffer in silence didn't sit well with her.

"Uh? I'm Eri!!"

"Are you visiting the city? I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"Hehe, something like that. My sister and I live in Lutetia, but we come here from time to time."

"Lutetia huh? That's surprisingly close by." The brunette forced a smile, trying not to think of this girl's sister too much. "Though I've heard living there is really expensive. Are you some kind of rich princess?"

"No way!! We just inherited a house there after our parents passed away. So I guess we just, kind of... live there! It's no big deal!"

"Is it just you and your sister? I imagine it must be hard to get by then. I've heard many people in that area hire fancy maids, do you have one too?"

"Just the two of us! I think it's easier to get around that way though."

"Then, I'm guessing you learned some extra skills like cleaning and cooking! Unless your sister takes care of that."

"She's too busy for that haha. Of course, I'm great at cooking! Someone has to take care of sis after all!"

"Then, how about you join me in this cooking contest?"

"Hm?"

"We'll go against Faith there, and all we have to do is to make a dessert with the ingredients here. Think you are up for it?"

"Leave it to me!"

"Then I'll be in your care."

Mirage smiled and extended her hand out to the younger girl. With a wide smile, Eri shook the brunette's hand and prepared for battle.

"Eri! Are you going to betray me too?!" Faith called out to her the moment he looked at her following Mirage around.

"Hm? Aren't you a great cook? I'm sure you got this! I want to see how our skills compare!"

"R-Right. Fine, I'll allow it."

"Boss, aren't you too easy?"

"What did you say?"

"Aren't you too–"

"Okay!" Noa clapped her hands. "The time is up, I hope you are ready!"

"We are good to go! Besides, as long as we have fun that's all that matters. Right, Eri?"

"Of course! Besides, I've never been in a cooking contest before, I'll start my debut with an overwhelming victory!"

"Tch. Listen." Faith closed in on Caroline. "I have a plan. I have already calculated all the data for every single ingredient in this room. All you have to do is to follow my lead and we will win without a sweat. This is it, with this, Mirage will have no choice but to surrender and cry for mercy! Hahahahaha!!!"

"R-Right, yeah..."

Noa brought a hand to her chin, examining all of the contestants.

"Well then, let this match begin!"

With this, all four of them dashed around the kitchen to secure the ingredients they had placed their eye on. Of course, Faith had the overwhelming advantage in this regard, he had already scanned every single last item in the room.

On the other hand, Mirage and Eri still proceeded slowly, examining everything and peacefully discussing how to proceed.

"So?" Caroline followed Faith to the right corner of the room and raised an eyebrow. "What are we making?"

"Hehehe. Have you ever heard about Est?"

Caroline shook her head and Faith pulled out his phone and brought up a video. Eh? Was he really going to enter a site like CorpTube for this?

"Listen, she might be a hardly known tuber but there is something that makes Est stand out from the rest."

"That is?"

"The lack of order in her videos! You never know what she will upload next! From exploring an abandoned house to catching a bank robbery on camera or running from wild animals!"

"Uh-huh."

Somehow, that didn't sound too different from Caroline's experiences as a super-part timer.

"But you see, once, Est uploaded a cooking video, for a dessert at that! If we follow her recipe, there is no way we can lose!"

"Is... her recipe that incredible?"

"Of course it is! Let's perfect Est's unpredictable skills and crush Mirage!!"

On the other side of the room, Eri had spread out a wide variety of sweets on a table.

"How about this?" Mirage suggested. "I'll let you be the main chef and provide you with any support you need. If I spot any necessary corrections, I'll let you know."

"That's good for me!" Eri nodded enthusiastically. "In fact, please point as many corrections as possible, this may be a good chance for me to learn!"

"Got it, chef! I don't have that many skills but I'll give you the best possible support." Having said this, Mirage's unwrapped her bandages with a single pull and then wrapped them around her forehead. "Let's do this!"

And then, twenty minutes passed by.

The first one to show their results was Mirage's group. Seeing the brunette approach Noa with her dish only made Faith smile to himself. After all, this was the best possible pattern, the one who presented their dish last would win. It was a classic flag.

"The presentation is quite something."

Noa commented as she carefully examined the dessert that Eri had carefully crafted. It looked like a small, and fluffy round bread at the center with seven smaller marbles of different colours surrounding it in a circle.

The first thing Noa was able to notice was the powerful aroma. It was a powerful sweet smell that completely enveloped her. For a moment, it was as though the walls of that small house had spread apart to let a wonderland of blooming flowers spread around them.

And then, taking grasp of the bread in the center with a fork, Noa moved it closer to her lips and took a small bite.

It was the sun. It was as though she had been sent to the far beyond of the galaxy where the most powerful star of all stood before her. All enveloped by a bright, rainbow-colored ring that complimented all the flavors into a ultimate supernova.

To think these two would be able to create such a masterpiece, maybe she could take them in as apprentices. There was way too much potential here to let it go to waste. But she shouldn't be hasty in making a decision, as a judge, it was best to stay neutral, so she refrained from giving out a judgement just yet.

Next, it was Faith's turn. Even though Mirage's result looked impressive, that was nothing compared to his masterpiece. It was clear it would be over in an instant.

"Get out of my house."

And just like that, Faith and Caroline found themselves standing just outside Noa's residence. Not only had Noa slammed the door behind them but Faith's cheek was bright red in the shape of Mirage's palm.

"T...This can't be... this can't be..." Faith continuously whispered to himself as all light left his eyes.

On the other hand, Caroline was grateful she didn't get any slap at all, even though she now had to live with the guilt of the atrocity she had helped bring to this world.

It was then when a white truck suddenly parked just outside. Faith curiously scanned the vehicle but his eyes opened wide once he realized what was going on.

"Listen," He glanced at Caroline. "Go to back there and go to Eri. I don't care how, but keep her in the kitchen and distract her. Don't let her get out of that room no matter what."

"Huh?! Why?"

"We'll discuss the details later! And tell Noa to hurry outside!"

"Got it!"

Whatever Faith's reason was, it was the first time Caroline had seen him so agitated. Just who was in that car?

Of course, to Faith, it was hard to believe what he saw, so much that he tried to scan the truck multiple times to make sure he didn't read things wrong.

There were several injured people inside, but above all, one of them was Wish who had lost consciousness after sustaining great damage, along with May who was standing on a thin line between life and death. To top it off, the young boy with unreal strength was one of the passed out people in that car, along with another presence that only came out as a blurry mess.

On the front, there was a bald man with a black mask driving the truck. It was the same person who had sent him to catch a thief the day before. Next to that man, there was a spiky-haired boy who had clearly suffered fewer injuries.

Just what was going on? Who caused it? Mirage? No, even if it was Mirage there was no way Wish and May would go down like that. Come to think of it, Mirage was initially injured as well.

Could it be, that spiky-haired boy? Was it his doing? Oddly enough, Eschatology didn't give out any readings from him, all Faith could see was an average boy with nothing special to him. That said, there was no telling whether that boy had any kind of sealed power. Maybe it was a power that could surpass even Faith's, if so, it would be no wonder if he was the one who caused all of this. Even if he wasn't, if he survived anything that damaged the others this badly, he really was someone that shouldn't be messed with.

As Faith approached the truck, he made a mental note to be extremely careful of that spiky-haired boy at all costs.

With the truck parked outside, Faith rushed towards the bald man who stepped off.

"What happened here?" A pair of menacing red eyes glared at the man. Considering this was the same person who had sent him to the place where he and Wish went under attack, he was the most likely culprit. "Did you do this?"

"I found them like this. I know as much as you do about this situation."

The man stepped forward, holding Faith's shoulder with a tight grasp.

"Be careful with the way you speak to me, kid. I'm not in a good enough mood that crying for mercy will stop me if you anger me enough."

Clicking his tongue, Faith's hands were already reaching for his gun but Noa had finally walked outside before anything could happen.

"X. If you are here then the situation is really bad, isn't it?"

"Indeed." The man adjusted his black glasses. "Come with me."

Following him to the back of the truck, he opened the back doors, revealing what looked like the insides of an ambulance.

"Those two only passed out from exhaustion so they are low priority." He pointed at Starr and Estelle who slept on a corner and then moved his sight towards Wish and May, the latter who was attached to many first aid machines. "It looks bad for those two, please take action immediately."

"Wait, wait, wait. You can't be serious." Noa bit into her thumb. "I'm not a healing machine, and there is one more problem. I've been healing several people from major injuries since last night. I don't have enough energy to simply heal anyone right now."

Faith knew Noa was being as transparent as possible. Compared to her enegy reading before healing Mirage, it was now insanely low, if it let her heal a small cut it would be too much.

As this happened, Mirage peeked from behind the door of Noa's house. Why was X here? No, the situation back then was actually that bad. She had been trying to convince herself that everything was okay, that everyone had made it out safely, and yet the consequences of her actions were able to find her regardless. The more she remembered what she did, the colder her body became with fear and disgust. In the end, the mastermind she had sought to fight didn't really kill anyone, she didn't even do anyone comparable to the scientists that had taken over Mirage's life. She was well aware she had taken it too far, she was well aware she had been blinded by her own feelings, and having been the one who caused May's damage first hand, it would be no surprise if she had died from that. As it stood right now, Mirage fully expected there to be a corpse at the back of that truck.

As the spiky haired boy got off the truck as well, his eyes briefly met with Mirage's who shut the door in panic. At the very least, Ryuusei was glad to know that she was safe. After meeting the mysterious man and helping take everyone to the first aid truck, Mirage's body had disappeared. As much as she wouldn't have wanted to accept it, to Ryuusei, she was still a dear friend.

"You are a doctor, aren't you? I'm not asking you to heal these people like a magic machine, I'm asking for your skills as a professional. If you need equipment I have it right here, please help me save their lives."

"If you put it that way, I'm left with little choice."

"I know it's not a good time, but there is something else you need to know."

"What?"

"You know what this is, don't you?"

At that moment, Faith could briefly notice the man holding what looked like a tiny red stone. Immediately, Noa buried her hands into the man's suit and slammed him against the truck.

"Do you think this is funny?! Do you think this is the time to be joking about this?!"

"I'm not joking."

"Where is the rest of the stone?! You aren't going to tell me you only found this fragment! There is no way!!"

Almost as though he had been expecting this reaction, the man looked away with no intention to fight back.

"I'm sorry. This is all we could find."

"I'm not accepting this, I'm not accepting this, I'm not accepting this!! Tell me where this happened, I'll go there right now."

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Faith quickly cut in front of Noa who started to run away without a thought. If she left at a time like this, May might really die.

"Get out of my way."

"Calm down." The boy held the doctor's shoulders as she tried to escape. "Explain the situation. I have no idea what has you this worked up but anyone can tell you aren't getting anywhere like this."

"Listen." Noa took a deep breath. "If you will listen to me, you have to promise you will believe everything I have to say. If you don't, I will destroy everyone here. Do you still want to listen knowing that?"

"I'm listening."

Burying her nails into her palm, Noa steeled herself to explain. Under any other circumstance, she wouldn't have uttered a word like this to anyone.

"My fianceé, Elizabelle, is an alchemist. You have heard about the Philosopher's Stone, haven't you? An elixir that grants eternal life. For modern alchemists, this is the most basic of the basics. If you were to try killing one, their body will simply regenerate, this is because they have set a Philosopher Stone as a core that ties their soul and prevents it from passing."

Faith stared at her lost in thought. It was true that believing something like this was impossible. After all, he had always been surrounded by abilities that welcomed death, thinking something like that could be transcended was ridiculous.

"But this doesn't mean an alchemist's immortality is absolute. If you break their philosopher's stone, it won't take long before the seal is broken and they can't be brought back."

"So if I'm following, then that stone you have is–"

"It's a fragment of Elizabelle's Philosopher Stone. I have no idea what caused this. It's ridiculous, this shouldn't have happened. I don't even know that much about alchemy, I don't know if this has a solution, but if I can get the whole stone back together then maybe–"

In other words, even though she had taken measures to extend her life, the alchemist Elizabelle Elaitea had died. Considering the people involved, Faith could only guess that this happened because of Wish's World End.

"So you understand now, right? I'm sorry if any of the people here matter to you, but I can't abandon Liz. I will find the stone, I will save her, I will–"

"You have it wrong."

"I told you what would happen if you didn't believe me, didn't I?" Noa pulled Faith by his collar, her killing intent growing higher by the second.

In response, Faith moved his hands into his pocket and handed Noa what looked like a business card.

"Anything Scarlet?"

"You can hire us to do anything. I don't know anything about alchemists and stones, and I can't care less. But all you have to do is locate the rest of this stone, isn't it? Isn't my ability your best shot?"

Noa was well aware that if X wasn't able to find the stone, it was hopeless even if she went there, but she had seen Faith's ability firsthand. Even if it didn't ease the pain in her heart, she would reach for this hope.

"Are you serious? Will you really do this for me?"

"Did you forget how to read? The card says we will do anything. In exchange, make sure you save everyone here, it would be a problem for me if any of these idiots died."

"Fine. I will take your offer. But remember this, Faith, you are making a deal with the devil. If you were to fail I will personally make you live through hell."

With this, the green haired doctor extended out her hand.

"That's fine." Faith took her hand with a firm grasp. "I've already been there for more than long enough."

The boy then held Noa's wrist, pulling the stone closer to his eyes. He wanted to make sure to analyze it thoroughly to ensure he could find the matching fragment.

【All of his limbs, all of his being, it had all disappeared into nothingness. No longer was he standing on the city of light, no longer was he standing in this world. A red path extended into an infinite road, a path of colors that didn't exist in any reality. Beyond space, beyond all galaxies, beyond infinity itself, beyond all logic or reason, beyond all laws and parameters. Beyond life and death.】

Mirage had followed them the moment she noticed Noa tried to run away. To her surprise, Faith had suddenly frozen in place and stopped breathing. Without giving it much thought, she forced him back into reality with a strong enough kick that sank deep into his gut and forced him into the ground.

What... was that? Faith's mind couldn't even begin to process what he had seen. He couldn't even process the pain from Mirage's attack. When using his ability, he had never encountered anything similar to this. There was no telling what could have happened if someone didn't stop him before it was too late.

"This is all my fault, so I'm going too." Mirage spoke while looking at Noa. "I will save Elizabelle no matter what."

"You know where this took place, don't you?" Faith spoke while trying to calm down his breathing and standing up again. "Might as well use you."

"Only this once. If this is what it takes to save someone, I'll help you only this once." Mirage swallowed all of her pride, she was in no position to do otherwise.

After Noa gave them the keys to her car, Faith called Caroline and Eri. If all they had to do was to find a stone, might as well take the young girl as far away from here as possible. Letting her see her sister in such a state was something he wasn't going to allow.

★Fragment of times past ~ A Red Light in a Faint World

Shiny blue-eyes and short blonde-hair. Celeste couldn't take her eyes away from Alice. It was still unreal that someone had actually started talking to her, but she currently faced a problem.

They were currently in the middle of cooking class. Even though she had made a few mistakes here and there, the simple cake she had been preparing together with Alice was coming along well. Since everyone had to work in pairs for this project it was a relief to have someone who knew what she was doing.

The problem, however, was that Celeste was unable to find her ring. Even though she had been wearing it all day, she suddenly realized it was gone. What should she do, should she tell Alice and ask for help? She didn't want to bother her while she was so busy preparing everything.

"Celes?" Alice called out to her, making the red haired girl jump to her feet. "You lost your ring again, didn't you?"

"Um... how did you– y-yeah."

"This is why I knew." Alice looked at her with a smug expression and held a ring covered in cake batter with her hands. "We were are about to cook the ring you know."

"Alice!!" Celeste took the ring while holding back tears. "You are a life saver!!"

"Right?"

The blonde girl handed over the ring and gave her a pat on the end.

At the end, the cake was just average but it got them a passing grade so none of the girls had anything to complain about. A few hours later, the school day was over, and Celeste's heart had started to beat faster.

Today, Alice had invited her to hang out with her after school. She had never spent any time with anyone like this before.

Not only did she get to take cute photos together at the booth, but they also ate together at a burger restaurant and even went to a karaoke! To think experiencing a happy life like this wasn't a dream!

This is it. This is what everything she endured before was for, this happy life was her reward. It was time to turn things around, it was time to fix herself as a person and to be someone Alice would be proud of!

But before that...

As the next song on the karaoke was about to start, Celeste froze in place.

"Let me guess." Alice nodded to herself. "You lost your ring again?"

Celeste carefully nodded but Alice held the ring in her hand before she had more time to worry.

"You left it at the photo booth! Aren't you glad I found it?"

"Alice..."

"Now, now. Don't start crying again." The blonde girl gave her a soft pat on the head and then tried placing the ring on Celeste's hand.

"Hmm. I think this is why you are always losing it, isn't it a little too loose on your hand?"

"Ah–" Celeste couldn't believe she didn't notice this up till now. Or at least, she didn't want to acknowledge it. "You are right."

"Ohh!" Alice then tried to put the ring in her own hand. "It fits perfectly!"

"Then, maybe you should keep it!"

"No way!! Isn't this important to you?"

Celeste shook her head.

"The most important to me is Alice after all!"

☆

There was a lot of rubble that spread across that lonely street. The damage caused by May's weapons as she fought Mirage had been nothing short of a disaster. Even if the city had recovered from that jungle of nightmares, all the damage that happened outside of Mirage's ability remained.

Even then, someone hummed to herself as she strolled around that road. It didn't take long for her eyes to instantly spot a bright, red stone shining between all the ruble.

As a pair of fingertips took hold of the stone, its shine reflected on the girl's green eyes.

With a horn to her side, her long red hair swayed from side to side with the wind.

Celeste couldn't help but rejoice. After all, this red overflowed with love.