"Hali?! Of all people — you?! You and Yuzuha were in on this together the whole time!"
Lucia stared wide-eyed in pure disbelief when the ghost was revealed to be none other than Idehali.
"I'm sorry, Lucia. Yuzuha told me not to say anything," Idehali said, offering the two of them an apology — though her expression made it abundantly clear that she didn't mean a word of it.
And so, Lucia and Alice promptly proceeded to give Idehali a thorough tongue-lashing.
Geno watched them with an expression of perfect calm. The moment he'd seen the photo, he had already spotted Idehali lurking behind the statue, so he'd had nothing to be startled by.
Once Yuzuha had laughed herself out, she stepped in front of the group, pressed her palms together, and offered a sincere bow.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry — I promise, absolutely no more pranks after this."
Faced with the barrage of complaints, Yuzuha had no choice but to plead for forgiveness — and while she was at it, she produced the Lumiceramic charms she'd prepared in advance and handed one to each of them.
"With one of these, you won't have to be scared of any ghosts or monsters~"
Yuzuha said with a contented squint. She'd made every single one of these charms by hand, learning the craft from her own father — a gesture full of genuine heart.
These friends of hers, kindred spirits all, mattered a great deal to her.
"These are actually pretty well-made. Did you give one to Mato too?"
Geno turned the little trinket over in his hand, and his mind drifted to the one Oddhouse member who wasn't here — Komano Mato, who was apparently working some construction job and was temporarily away from Weifeidi.
"His share I'll give him when he gets back. For now, let's keep exploring!"
After Yuzuha's little disruption, the oppressive atmosphere of dread that had settled over the group was completely gone. In its place, they were chatting away like kids on a school field trip as they walked through the abandoned residential block.
Along the way, they also learned why Idehali had been there at all. It turned out Yuzuha had tipped her off about their plans in advance — and since Idehali hadn't had any commissions lined up lately, she'd agreed to Yuzuha's invitation and come ahead of them to play ghost.
"I did consider at first whether it might be going a bit far," Idehali admitted, her tone as languid as ever, "but in the end I decided I wanted some material — girls screaming in the face of terror. So I became Yuzuha's accomplice."
Idehali wore that same drowsy expression as always, her eyes giving nothing of her inner feelings away. Those slightly unfocused irises, their color unlike anyone else's, carried an air of deep mystery — like some eldritch deity from the pages of a horror story, exuding an allure that was entirely unknowable.
"Hmph. If you want my forgiveness, you'd better treat us to dessert."
"Sure," Idehali agreed without a moment's hesitation, then let her gaze drift to the one unfamiliar face in the group — the stranger she had yet to place.
"And this would be... Geno?"
"Whoa! How on earth did you figure that out?! The height is completely different, and so is the gender!"
Even Yuzuha was taken aback. She'd been planning to use Geno's disguise to give Idehali a scare in return — it hadn't occurred to her that Idehali could see right through it even so.
"My eyes are a little... special. His appearance may have changed, but his Ether signature hasn't," Idehali explained. That she possessed unusual visual abilities was no secret.
"Ah, that makes sense. I had no idea your eyes could do something like that," Yuzuha said, the realization dawning on her.
"In that case — can you tell if there are any Ethereals walking around in the human world?"
Yuzuha's offhand remark landed like a stone in still water. Everyone present who knew the truth felt a cold sweat prickle along their spine.
"Perhaps. But then again... an Ethereal that can leave the Hollow — surely that's impossible."
Idehali's lips curved into an enigmatic smile, her gaze drifting — ever so briefly — in Geno's direction. But in the end, she said nothing more.
"True enough. Even the strangest urban legends wouldn't write something like that — because if it were real, the human world would be completely finished, wouldn't it?"
Yuzuha's careless words dropped the group into a brief, heavy silence. Fortunately, Yuzuha herself was quick to change the subject.
"Hm? What's that?"
Walking along the street beneath one of the apartment buildings, Yuzuha's sharp eyes caught a rounded, unidentified object on the ground. She broke into a quick trot toward it.
The movement instantly caught Geno's attention.
"Watch out!"
BANG!
He tackled her to the ground in a flying lunge — and a split second later, a thunderous explosion tore through the air right where she'd been standing.
That thing had been a grenade!!
"Get them!"
A group of fully armed combatants materialized in front of Geno and the others. Everyone scrambled to draw their weapons.
Geno hauled Yuzuha — trembling with shock in his arms — back to the others' side.
"What the hell is going on?! Where did these people come from?!"
Geno was stunned. His senses had picked up nothing — no Ether trace whatsoever. They'd appeared as if out of thin air, like ghosts. And judging by their equipment, they were highly professional — they looked like Defense Force.
"This is bad. There are way too many of them, and they're all armed," Idehali said, gripping her great hammer. She was silently grateful that Yuzuha's prank invitation had left her no time to stow the hammer away — she'd had no choice but to carry it with her.
"No — these aren't Defense Force," Alice said, eyes narrowed, rapier in hand, facing down the hostile strangers without an ounce of fear.
"They're rebels!"
Rebels — born from the chaos that followed the fall of the Old Capital a decade ago, when great numbers of soldiers broke from the Defense Force and formed independent armed factions of varying strength.
Though this group's uniforms bore a resemblance to the Defense Force's, their bearing and the weapons in their hands both set them apart from the current New Eridu Defense Force.
"Why are rebels showing up here? Don't tell me this is Ravenlock's doing again?"
Geno's guess wasn't wrong — these rebels were indeed mercenaries in Ravenlock's employ. But they weren't working for Ravenlock exclusively.
Not that who had hired them mattered much right now. What mattered was that they were about to go up against a well-equipped fighting force.
Without a word of warning or a single threat, the rebels raised their weapons and began closing in on Geno's group in a slow, methodical encirclement — unhurried, precise, and utterly without mercy.
Faced with that closing ring, Geno and the others had no intention of sitting quietly and waiting to be taken.
"Go, Agama!"
Yuzuha let out a shout and hurled something into the air.
The rebels' attention snapped to it immediately — and they opened fire, shooting it down in an instant.
What none of them expected was that the moment the bullets made contact, it exploded.
Realizing they'd been played, the rebels spun back toward Geno and the others' position — only to find empty air. The group had vanished without a trace.
____
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