In the morning, on a bustling street in East Tivian, Naifnis stood in slight astonishment. She looked at the mysterious Mosans in front of her and asked.
"Adele. Brillez? You mean that famous female dancer? I've heard of her, and I'm somewhat interested. Is there a problem with you asking me this?" Naifnis replied, glancing at the giant poster on the side of the street featuring a beautiful woman. With such advertising intensity, it was hard not to be interested.
"Ah, you're interested? That's good, that's good." Hearing Naifnis's words, Mosans said with relief, then looked up and peered into the distance a few times, before whispering to Naifnis again.
"Since you're interested in Adele, Captain, are you interested in attending her performance at the Flying Theatre tomorrow? I heard Adele has several performances, and some are new acts never performed before, truly worth seeing." Mosans continued to whisper, still involuntarily looking around as he spoke. Hearing Mosans's words, Naifnis frowned slightly and asked.
"Adele's performance? The tickets for that kind of show must have been snatched up long ago, right?" Naifnis said. Today was the day before the performance, and based on her understanding of a star of Adele's caliber from the newspaper, the possibility of buying tickets now was almost zero. In fact, if she hadn't been busy reviewing for her makeup exam today, she might have gone to buy tickets herself.
"Yes, normally you wouldn't be able to buy tickets seven days ago, but let me tell you, Captain, I still have a few left here. The price of a ticket at this time can be as high as four or five pounds each, but mine are only two pounds each. What do you think?" As he spoke, Mosans fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a corner of a few tickets. Seeing Mosans's action, Naifnis finally understood what he was up to.
"You, an Extraordinary, are actually scalping tickets?" Naifnis said, quite surprised. If she remembered correctly, the other party seemed to be an Apprentice-level Extraordinary. Would an Extraordinary really fall to the point of scalping tickets?
"Hey, you wouldn't know about this. The profit from Adele's performance tickets is huge, much more than the small profits I occasionally snatch from others. I don't want to join any other forces, so why not do a business that can make money? Making money isn't shameful. As an Extraordinary, I have a great advantage when snatching tickets."
Mosans said with a grin. Hearing Mosans's words, Naifnis gained a new understanding of the low-level Extraordinary in Tivian. Just as she was about to say something more, her gaze swept to the far end of the road. In the crowd in the distance, there were a few police officers and people wearing what looked like theater service uniforms. Looking back, she found similar figures behind the road. They all seemed to be constantly looking around, as if searching for something.
Seeing this situation, Naifnis seemed to understand something, and Mosans, seeing that Naifnis didn't react, spoke a little urgently.
"That, Captain, do you want these tickets or not? I'm in a hurry right now, a bit rushed."
"Ah... let me think. I can take these tickets, but I think you can make them a little cheaper." Naifnis said to Mosans with a slight smile, and Mosans responded with some difficulty.
"A little cheaper... Hmm... Let me think, how about this, although it's already very cheap, but considering that you let me off last time, Captain, I'll give you another half price. I'll charge you one pound per ticket, and I'll sell you the two tickets I have left. How about it?"
Mosans continued to speak, and Naifnis shook her finger and said.
"Fifty pence each, if you agree, I'll take both tickets for one pound. If not, forget it." Naifnis said frankly. Hearing her words, the difficult expression on Mosans's face became even more pronounced. The price of fifty pence per ticket was very close to the price he paid when he bought them. Selling them like this would only earn him a tiny bit.
"Uh... Captain, this price of yours really makes me..." Mosans wanted to continue saying something, but when he glanced at the police and a few theater service staff in the distance who seemed to be approaching, he quickly responded.
"Alright, alright, fifty pence it is... Let's hurry up, Captain."
Saying that, Mosans discreetly took out two colorful tickets, and Naifnis, after receiving them, took out a one-pound bill from her bag and handed it to the other party. The other party quickly put it in his pocket after receiving it.
"Thank you for taking care of my business today, Captain. See you next time~"
After putting the money away, Mosans immediately slipped away and ran off. Not long after he ran off, the theater service staff and police who were searching in the crowd suddenly seemed to catch sight of him.
"He's there! That kid is there!"
"Hurry up and chase him!"
Several theater service staff members immediately shouted and surrounded Mosans after seeing him, restraining him. Then the police followed more slowly. Before the police arrived, the service staff had already begun to interrogate him sternly.
"Mosans? It's you again, kid, scalping our tickets, right?!"
"You're wrong, brothers, I haven't sold your tickets this time at all! If you don't believe me, search me, there's absolutely no ticket... Ouch!" Before Mosans could finish speaking, he was directly pressed to the ground by several theater personnel, unable to move. One of them cursed.
"This kid always liked to cheat when he was boxing before, don't believe anything he says, search him!"
"Ouch, brothers, be gentle! Ah! It hurts!"
The theater service staff and Mosans got entangled, and the scene was somewhat chaotic, causing the surrounding spectators to stop and watch. Naifnis, who was not far away, saw this scene, then nodded and thought.
'As expected, he was being chased, so he was in a hurry to get rid of the tickets he had. Just in time, I got two tickets at a low price through this opportunity.'
Naifnis thought this way. She had noticed that someone seemed to be looking for Mosans and that Mosans looked somewhat shifty, which was why she deliberately lowered the price so much.
'Perfect, after I pass the makeup exam, I can go see a performance. What good luck, I originally thought I wouldn't have a chance to see it.' Touching the tickets in her bag, Naifnis thought with great pleasure in her heart.
"Then... after I go back, I'll find someone to go see the performance with~ I wonder if Emma has time?"
Murmuring, Naifnis walked with a cheerful pace back to school. Just as she hadn't gone far, she suddenly felt a slight abnormality on her body, and then touched her right shoulder. Behind the clothes there was a mark she had drawn herself.
'This is... Miss Dorothy's mark? Is she giving me a hint?'
Thinking this, Naifnis quickly walked into a small alley, took out a book from her bag, and opened it. She quickly turned to a page with many words. At this time, there were new words printed on this page.
"Do you have time at noon?"
...
Tivian North Suburb, outside the East Gate of King's Campus, Green Shade Town.
At noon, the sun shone directly on the streets of Green Shade Town. In a private room of a restaurant, Dorothy, wearing a beige dress and a small hat of the same color, sat in a seat in the private room. A cup of juice was on the table in front of her, and across the table sat Naifnis, who had just returned from shopping in the City and hadn't had time to change her clothes.
"Hmm, looking at you, you went shopping in the City, right? It seems your life has been quite comfortable lately, Senior Nefelnis." Dorothy said, drinking juice while observing Naifnis's attire, and Naifnis smiled and said.
"Uh... it's not that it's all comfortable, I only go occasionally, Miss Dorothy." Naifnis replied this way, her expression a little unnaturally nervous. In front of Dorothy, whom she considered a high-level member of a secret society and a high-level Extraordinary, she naturally couldn't relax, even though the other party looked like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl.
"Is that so... Then how have you been reading the secret transmission I gave you before? These are crucial to your promotion to a true Extraordinary."
Dorothy said to Naifnis. She came to see Naif this time mainly to check how she was reading the secret transmission so that she could formally promote her to an Extraordinary. Hearing Dorothy's question, Naifnis was slightly startled, and then said with difficulty.
"Uh... You mean those books you gave me last time... Uh... I'm very sorry, I haven't really looked at them much recently, I've only read about half of the first one now..." Naifnis tapped her fingers together, speaking somewhat softly. After hearing Naifnis's words, Dorothy frowned slightly and spoke in a slightly stricter tone.
"What? It's been so long and you've only read half a book?"
"That's right, but please listen to my explanation, Miss Dorothy. The reason I haven't read much is because of the recent makeup exam review..."
Afterward, Naifnis explained clearly to Dorothy the situation where she missed the exam due to her involvement in the Eight Point Nest incident, her focus on reviewing for the makeup exam, and thus not having time to read the secret transmission. Dorothy listened and slowly nodded in understanding, then looked at her and spoke.
"Alright, I understand your difficulty. Since you have to review, there's nothing you can do, but remember to continue reading the book afterward."
Dorothy said understandingly, after all, she was also a university student in her previous life and had experienced the sense of crisis when facing the possibility of failing and having to retake a course. Hearing Dorothy's words, Naifnis also let out a big sigh of relief.
"Phew... Thank you for your understanding, I will definitely complete the homework you assigned diligently afterward." Naifnis said thankfully. Her words were just like what she would say to a professor at school.
Mature, shrewd, powerful, knowledgeable in the Extraordinary... This was the most direct impression Dorothy left on Naifnis. Therefore, although she was older than the other party, and although the other party called her Senior, Naifnis still regarded Dorothy as a character similar to a professor or teacher to a certain extent.
'Compared to the opportunity to be promoted to an Extraordinary, she is more concerned about whether she will fail her academic studies in the short term? Heh, it seems this Senior Nefelnis is not the type who madly pursues the Extraordinary and power. She has always held an attitude of interest and hobby towards secrets and the Extraordinary from beginning to end. Perhaps this is not bad.'
Dorothy commented on Naifnis in front of her in her heart. At the same time, Naifnis across from her seemed to be thinking about something. After hesitating for a while, as if she had made a decision, she said to Dorothy.
"Um, Miss Dorothy, are you interested in Adele. Brillez's dance?"
"Adele. Brillez?"
Hearing Naifnis's words, Dorothy paused slightly, then thought about the newspaper she read in the morning and spoke.
"This seems to be quite a well-known dancer, right? I've seen her advertisement in the newspaper. It is said that she dances very well, and it seems there will be a performance tomorrow evening."
"Yes, yes, Miss Adele is a famous dancer in Tivian. Tomorrow is highly anticipated. It is said that the tickets were sold out five or six days ago, Miss Dorothy. This morning, I got two tickets for tomorrow night's performance through some special opportunity. As an apology for not completing the task you assigned in time, I have a ticket for the performance for you. We can go see the performance together then."
Saying that, Naifnis took out the ticket she had originally prepared for her roommate Emma and handed it to Dorothy. Upon seeing it, Dorothy's expression showed a hint of surprise.
"Tickets for Adele's performance? Where did you get them? It should be very difficult to get tickets for such a popular performance at this time, right?" Looking at the ticket Naifnis handed over, Dorothy asked with a hint of doubt.
"Well, this morning I ran into the person who followed me last time..."
Just like that, Naifnis recounted the incident of encountering Mosans in the morning. After listening, Dorothy couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
'There are even Extraordinary who scalp tickets? It seems the low-level Extraordinary in Tivian don't live as comfortably as those in Igwinte. There, any Apprentice is a small boss or a small landlord, while the Apprentice here is just a scalping thug. Is it because there are too many Extraordinary people in the capital, causing internal competition?'
Dorothy thought this way in her heart. Of course, she also knew that it was more likely because Mosans was unwilling to join other secret forces.
"Hoh... An Extraordinary scalping tickets? I've certainly gained some knowledge. From what you said, he was also chased by the police and theater people? Is he that unpopular?" Dorothy said with a light laugh, and Naifnis also nodded and replied.
"Yes, and more than the police... This Mosans seemed to be more afraid of those theater people. They directly held Mosans down and started searching him. He was pressed so hard he cried out in pain, much more ruthless than the police."
"Being pressed down and crying out in pain by mortals, heh, Mosans is quite good at acting." Hearing Naifnis's words, Dorothy said with a light laugh. As far as she knew, this Mosans was a Thirster. The fact that a few mortals could hold him down and make him cry out in pain only showed that he was a good actor.
"Good acting, in that situation, that guy Mosans indeed acted as if it were real, but..."
Hearing Dorothy's words, Naifnis frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong, and then spoke to Dorothy.
"By the way, Miss Dorothy, among the theater staff who held Mosans down, some seemed to know Mosans, and even directly said that Mosans used to be a boxer, and that he liked to cheat when he was boxing!"
"Boxing?"
Hearing Naifnis's words, Dorothy was startled, and then recalled what he had confessed after she had cornered Mosans in an alley and beaten him up before.
Dorothy remembered that Mosans said he had once belonged to a secret society that had been destroyed by the Wolf Blood Society of the Fetal Garment Cult, called the High Ring Black Boxing Society.
"It seems it's necessary to go see this performance tomorrow."
Murmuring, Dorothy picked up the ticket on the table.