"Then, Will…your President sent here to find you?"
From beneath the bridge ca Ricciardo's hoarse voice.
"That I'm not sure about. Perhaps His Excellency has "His" own plans."
Edward thought for a mont before asking, "Then do you know where that thing is right now?"
"Go to Bayam. Find Roy King. He's my disciple."
"And how am I supposed to find him?"
"That depends on your luck."
"Alright, thanks."
Edward turned and started walking back. Just as he reached the bridge's edge, he saw that "homunculus" running toward him in a hurry. When the man saw Edward walk out unhard, he froze in surprise.
"You…you're alright?"
"Maybe I just got lucky. Still, thank you for your warning, sir."
The reason Edward had dared to march straight into the bridge tunnel wasn't because he thought himself particularly powerful, but because Will had blessed him with good fortune—enough to negate the ill luck brought by Councillor Ricciardo completely. That was also why the man had so quickly believed Edward's words.
"Farewell, kind sir."
With that, Edward's figure blurred and vanished.
———
Bayam.
Edward walked along the street, trying to use his dowsing rod to locate Roy King.
Unfortunately, the staff simply stood upright, refusing to tilt in any direction.
That was highly unusual.
Even though he didn't have any of Roy King's personal belongings, with Will's blessing of luck—enough to find the demigod Councillor Ricciardo—finding Roy King should have been trivial.
Which ant…the die was behind this.
He tried divining the location of the chubby apothecary, but ca up empty again.
"Huh?"
Edward was a little surprised. The fact that the results for both master and disciple were identical ant the die didn't want him finding either of them.
Could it be that the chubby apothecary and Roy King were together right now?
That didn't quite match the events in the original story.
Which left him with only the simplest thod: mobilising the Sea God Church and the Resistance's contacts in Bayam to help search.
Edward then headed back toward the governor's mansion. As before, he picked soone who was stepping out on an errand, transford into their appearance, and strolled openly inside—because in the original storyline, Roy King had been captured by the Loen military and imprisoned here.
Unfortunately, after so searching, Edward learned that while the military had indeed gotten wind of Roy King's whereabouts last night, they had failed to capture him.
Now, all ports and exits out of Bayam had been sealed by the military to prevent Roy King from escaping.
"He's not in the governor's mansion either? Then where could they be hiding?"
Edward frowned in frustration. Bayam might not be as vast as Backlund, but it was still the size of a county. Without divination, finding two people here wouldn't be easy.
"Sigh…hopefully the Resistance can deliver."
———
Lilith crouched by the bedroom door, peering left and right to make sure no one else was around. She quietly shut the door, tiptoed over to the bed, and reached underneath, groping about.
At last, her fingers found a yellowed photograph wedged between the floorboards and the bed fra—the sa picture Isabella had shown her earlier, a happy family of three.
Frowning, Lilith stared intently at the faces of the man and woman in the photo, making sure to morise them before she prepared to slip the picture back into hiding.
Just then, the door creaked open.
"Lilith, ti to eat~ What are you doing?"
Lilith jumped, hastily hiding her hands behind her back.
"Miss Lilith wasn't doing anything."
Isabella giggled. "What are you hiding back there?"
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"
She held out her right hand, showing her pale, empty palm.
"See?"
"And the left hand?"
Lilith quickly put her right hand behind her again and held out her left.
"Still nothing."
Isabella planted her hands on her hips. "Both. Hands. Out."
"…"
Lilith puffed her cheeks, then brought out the photo. "This."
"Oh, I thought it was sothing else."
Isabella walked over, took the photo, and grinned.
"If you want to see it, just tell ."
She sat down beside Lilith.
"Jealous, huh~? When Dad cos to take back to Backlund, I'm going to take even more pictures—and bring you all along for so too!"
"…Okay~"
Lilith hesitated for a mont before quietly saying,
"Isabella…yesterday—no, the day before—I think I saw the man in this photo."
"…"
Isabella's pupils contracted, but she quickly burst into laughter.
"Impossible! My dad's in Backlund. How could you possibly see him here?"
"Really."
Lilith blurted out, "I'm not mistaken! Maybe your father's already back!"
"Impossible!"
"It's true…Why don't you go take a look? If I'm wrong, I'll apologise. But if I'm right, and he can't find you, he'll definitely be worried sick!"
"I said it's impossible!"
Isabella's voice rose sharply, making Lilith flinch.
She quickly apologised. "Sorry, Lilith, I…I just don't want to waste ti. And my father told that as soon as he cos back from Backlund, he'll co to find first thing! So you must have been mistaken!"
"…"
She grabbed Lilith's hand and pulled her toward the door. "Co on, you must be hungry. Let's go eat."
When the two arrived in the living room, plates had already been set at every seat, and the other three kids were portioning out the food. Thanks to the huge earnings from yesterday, today's al was far more lavish than the night Lilith first arrived.
There was bread toasted to a fragrant crisp, sausages fried to a glossy sheen, and a small bowl of at-and-vegetable soup for each person. The room was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of food.
Isabella lifted her soup and said, "Thanks to Lilith, we can enjoy such delicious food!"
The others followed suit, raising their bowls. "Thank you, Lilith."
Lilith grinned. "You're welco~ I'm a real witch, you know! Oh, and if you have any wishes, just tell —I'll help you make them co true!"
Isabella shook her head. "No, we're happy enough as things are."
"That's right! We can't have Lilith using witchcraft just to fulfil our wishes—if soone finds out, it'd be dangerous."
"We should achieve our dreams through our own efforts."
"Our days will definitely get better and better!"
"That's right!"
For a while, the house was filled with the laughter and chatter of children.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps ca from outside, and in the next instant, two figures rushed inside. They frantically pressed their backs against the door to shut it.
It was none other than the chubby apothecary, Darkwill, and his teacher, Roy King.
The pair were just about to sigh in relief when they felt eyes on them. Looking up, they saw five half-grown children sitting at the table, staring right at them.
Their expressions varied—so were confused, so frightened, so angry.
"T-That kid is looking at !"
At that mont, the owl on Darkwill's shoulder spoke in a voice only he could hear. The apothecary glanced over and indeed saw that one of the children—Lilith—was staring directly at his owl, her gaze strange, as if…she could see through to its supernatural nature.
Isabella stood up then, speaking with forced calm. "Gentlen, why did you break into our ho?"
The mont she spoke, the other three children imdiately tried to glare ferociously.
"Your ho?"
The apothecary was stunned. Wasn't this just an abandoned, rundown house?
He was about to speak when Roy King beat him to it. "Sorry, we'll be leaving right away."
He reached for the door to open it—only to yank the entire door off its hinges. Hastily, he tried to set it back in place, but the mont he pressed, the whole doorfra collapsed.
Darkwill was dumbfounded. Teacher, dismantling their door right away is a bit much, don't you think?
Creak…creak…
At that mont, fine cracking sounds ca from the walls around the door.
The owl abandoned all caution, flapping its wings and shouting, "Get out! This place is about to collapse!"
The master and disciple exchanged a glance and, without hesitation, dashed toward the stunned children. Each grabbed two with both hands—but there were five kids, and four hands simply weren't enough.
Rumble!
The collapse began at the doorway. Walls, beams, bricks, and tiles ca crashing toward them.
"You go first!" Roy King shouted, tucking the tiny Alisa under his arm and lunging for Lilith—only for her to slip away with ease.
Roy King froze in shock. I'm a Sequence 5 Winner. Don't think the Wheel of Fortune pathway is all about luck—the Sequence 9 Monster and Sequence 8 Robot both boost physical abilities. How could I fail to grab a child?
Bang!
A massive section of the roof caved in, leaving Roy King no choice but to abandon the attempt. He turned on his heel and sprinted out, diving to the ground just as the roof slamd down behind him.
Thick dust billowed out with the collapse, enveloping the area.
But Roy King didn't care about that—he dropped the two children he'd carried and dashed back toward the ruins. All he saw was a heap of bricks, wood, and rubble—the child was buried beneath it!
A wave of crushing guilt and self-bla surged over him. He frantically heaved bricks and timbers aside, clawing at the debris with his hands. It's all my fault. If I hadn't brought Darkwill here, these kids could have been eating their lunch in peace. And now…
"Teacher! Teacher!"
Darkwill's voice rang out. "Teacher, that kid—she's fine."
"What?"
Roy King froze, turning to see the girl standing among the other children, helping them to their feet one by one.
When…did she get out?
"Are you all okay?" Lilith asked, looking at the four others.
But they only stared blankly at the ruins in the distance. Soon, the quietest among them, Alisa, began to sob. Her crying quickly set off two of the boys, who also burst into tears.
Only Isabella remained still, her eyes fixed forward, her pupils motionless.
At that mont, she had only one thought: Our ho…is gone.
That shabby, tattered place that had sheltered her from wind and rain for so many years…was gone.
———
[Note]: Enjoy the Extra Chapter~ (Tho we didn't hit our P.S. goal). 165 Powerstones for another one tomorrow! Go, VOTE!
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Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]
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