"The Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers, 'Childe' Tartaglia..."
Clorinde looked at the slender young man before her, dressed in a gray outfit with a red scarf secured at his chest, its trailing end fluttering over his left shoulder.
His short, orange hair and eager demeanor made her sigh helplessly.
"I've already told you—I won't fight you."
"Clorinde, I've heard you're Fontaine's strongest Champion Duelist, and my creed is to constantly battle strong opponents and grow even stronger!" Tartaglia said with a grin.
"I won't give up! Please, have an exhilarating fight with me!"
"Tartaglia, do you realize that under Fontaine's laws, your actions constitute provocation and disorderly conduct? You've already broken the law." Clorinde replied calmly.
"Oh? What a great deal!" Tartaglia's face lit up with excitement as he stretched out his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Please, take me to the Tribunal!"
"This way, I can have a duel with you fair and square!"
Clorinde suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Due to certain peculiar reasons, she couldn't just strike him down on a whim...
She tried to shake Tartaglia off, but he was formidable in his own right—escaping from him was easier said than done...
For a moment, Clorinde even considered simply recommending Tartaglia to Meropide, so he could go fight Wriothesley in the Pankration Arena instead...
But just then, a commotion erupted in the distance.
A massive, cube-shaped feline was rushing toward them, carrying a blood-soaked person on its back.
A strange white floating creature followed closely beside it.
"Hospital? Where's a doctor? Hurry and save him!"
Disaster struck—the unidentified floating creature just spoke...
That was everyone's first reaction.
Clorinde recognized the cat.
It seemed to be a courier from Komaniya Express in Inazuma, who had made several deliveries to Fontaine before.
But as for the blood-soaked person on its back, Clorinde had no recollection of him at all...
Since when did Komaniya Express start delivering injured people?
"Traveler? Paimon?" Tartaglia was genuinely surprised.
The unconscious, heavily injured person was none other than the renowned Traveler!
"Traveler, how did you end up so badly wounded? What on earth happened?"
At this moment, Tartaglia completely forgot about his duel with Clorinde and hurried over to ask about the situation.
"Huff... Huff... The Traveler... The Traveler was beaten up by a Hilichurl!"
Kirara panted heavily as she answered, clearly exhausted from running all the way here while carrying someone so heavy without stopping.
"Yeah, yeah! A super strong Hilichurl!" Paimon chimed in.
"...Huh?"
Hearing Kirara and Paimon's words, Tartaglia was completely dumbfounded.
"A Hilichurl? With the Traveler's strength, how could he end up like this because of a Hilichurl?"
"Follow me. The emergency room is this way," Clorinde said.
.................
When Aether regained consciousness, he found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
"Thank goodness! Traveler, you're awake!" Paimon was so emotional that tears welled up in her eyes.
"I've never seen you lose so much blood or stay unconscious for so long... I almost thought I was going to lose you..."
"Traveler, are you alright?" Tartaglia asked with concern.
"Tartaglia? Why are you here?" Aether asked in surprise. "Is this Fontaine?"
"That's right, it's Fontaine." Tartaglia nodded.
"Lately, I've been feeling a bit off—there's a restless power surging inside me, and my mood has been fluctuating. So, I came to Fontaine for a vacation to relax."
As he spoke, Clorinde's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Came for a vacation...?
Your idea of a vacation is chasing someone through multiple streets, ignoring all attempts to dissuade you, and insisting on having a fight?
Seeing that Aether had woken up, Kirara finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, as if ready to leave, she said, "Since you're awake now, Traveler, you should be fine. I'll be heading off first!"
"My deliveries are way overdue!" Kirara exclaimed before shifting into her box form and leaping out the window without hesitation.
"Since you know him, Tartaglia, I'll be taking my leave as well," Clorinde said, preparing to step out of the hospital room.
However, the moment she opened the door, she saw Neuvillette and Su Yuan standing in the hallway.
At the same time, Su Yuan happened to glance into the room, locking eyes with Aether.
In that instant, Aether felt something unusual from Su Yuan—an inexplicable, familiar sensation.
Perhaps coming to Fontaine early had been fate's way of guiding him to find this person…
And Su Yuan, too, recognized Aether right away.
"Your name is…?" Aether raised his hand slightly toward Su Yuan, asking.
"Su Yuan," he replied.
"Su," as in Tiramisu. "Yuan," as in ruins and remnants."
Neuvillette, meanwhile, turned his gaze toward Tartaglia and remarked to Clorinde, "So it was him—no wonder you were being pestered."
"Neuvillette, you and Clorinde should head to Chevreuse's father's ward first and meet up with her," Su Yuan suggested.
"Tartaglia , you should step outside and get some fresh air for now," Aether said.
It was clear to everyone that Aether and Su Yuan had something private to discuss.
"Paimon, you should step out for a bit too," Su Yuan added with a smile.
"Huh? Mister Su Yuan, how do you know my name? This should be our first time meeting, right?" Paimon asked in surprise.
People from beyond this world are naturally drawn to each other, but Su Yuan hadn't expected to meet Aether so soon…
Suddenly, he had a new perspective on that uncertain piece of intel.
The information imprinted in his right palm—perhaps it never strayed too far from him.
Otherwise, even if he was given knowledge of it, the information or rule itself would be meaningless…
For example, the previous clue about someone researching eerie phenomena—it was now almost certain that the person in question was Dottore.
And Dottore had recently appeared in Fontaine, confirming the connection.
As for today's uncertain intel, it likely wasn't far from him either.
Kirara met the conditions for "Eerie" influence, but it probably wasn't her.
He had also discussed with Neuvillette that there shouldn't be any traitors among their current group…
Both he and Aether were outsiders to this world, making it unlikely that they had been corrupted or controlled by "Eerie" forces…
By process of elimination, among the new faces he had encountered, the only ones left were Paimon and Tartaglia.
If someone had been under the influence of the "Eerie" all along…
Su Yuan was more inclined to suspect Paimon.
Paimon, a bisexual entity, is the 9th demon in the hierarchy of the 72 demons of Solomon...
In fact, Paimon has always seemed mysterious in the game, clearly hiding many secrets...
If she really had been controlled by the "Eerie," she would definitely be able to disguise herself perfectly...
Because, based on past experiences, the ability to disguise under the influence of the "Eerie" is still somewhat related to the original personality.
Someone like Neuvillette, for example, isn't skilled at disguising himself, so many details would easily expose him...
But someone like Arlecchino, who is cunning and calculating, not only disguises herself well but also uses special methods to make you believe her...
Huh? Why do these strange memories keep surfacing?
Clearly, I haven't experienced any of this…
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