[Who exposed you, huh… well, Iris, Tian Long, and Qi Ling are exempted by default. None of the three can lie very well, and if they really saw your true form, you would’ve noticed something abnormal about their behavior before long. That leaves the Theocracy of Light members… and, of course, Shadow.]

‘… He’s definitely the most suspicious one.’

[Of course, there is also the possibility that someone else entirely somehow managed to sneak into the Temple along with you guys, but that is unlikely. If I had to place my bets… it would be on Shadow as well.]

‘Any particular reason?’ Finn asked in his head.

[Well… he uses the Shadowtrance Angelica, which comes with an Ability known as Shadow Vision. It allows him to see through all materialistic objects and only see light and shadow. Because your tentacles are pale white, he was able to see them as clear as day despite the countless flights of stairs in between. The Ability also comes with the perk to capture a given moment of his vision, which is probably what he presented to the guild as evidence.]

‘I see… how troublesome. I should’ve killed him too.’

[No use crying over spilled milk, darling~ for now, I suggest thinking about what you’re going to do from here on out. How are you going to enter Temples and Dungeons, as a Rogue Hunter?]

‘… Good question. I could sneak in with Invisibility, I suppose.’

[Hm… you could, but think harder. Remember what that Jim person and Lei used to open up the portals to the Paracausal Realm?]

Finn, of course, never actually saw the liquid, but he had heard them explain it was in fact Ghost Blood, extracted carefully from the corpses of some unfortunate Ghosts. Which meant…

‘… You don’t mean… I can open up Paracausal Portals with my own blood?’ Finn asked in his mind.

[Bingo~] Zelestria giggled. [So long as you know the location of the Dungeon or Temple’s entrance, you can open up portals to them. That was what I had been planning on showing you on our date… which now has to be postponed once more.]

Zelestria sighed deeply, clearly disappointed. Finn actually didn’t even see a point in going on a date with her now that he knew what the ‘important thing’ she had been meaning to show him was, but he refrained from saying that out lou-

[I can read your thoughts, darling~ don’t forget~]

… Right. She could.

‘… I won’t apologize.’

[Don’t worry, I’m not expecting one. After all, that’s just your personality. If you weren’t like this, you wouldn’t be darling~]

After a short silence, Finn decided to change the topic and discuss something else.

‘One more thing.’

[Hm?]

‘What was the power I obtained from the Lunatic?’

The Lunatic was an Emperor-level Ghost. His power was bound to be amazing… or so he hoped, anyway. Luckily, Zelestria’s next words confirmed that.

[The Lunatic, huh? The ability is simple, but powerful. I won’t tell you directly what it is, and instead let you try to figure it out for yourself. You can’t rely on me forever, after all. If you observe the Ghost you stole the power from, you can get a hint as to what the power is. Think, darling. What was the Lunatic’s strongest power?]

Finn thought. Gravity? No. That was just a subpower of his true strength. The Lunatic. Lune. Luna. Moon.

‘… The moon.’

[Correct, darling.] Zelestria said in approval. [But just the moon isn’t a power. Be more specific.]

‘… I will now gain increased strength when I’m in underneath the moonlight…?’

[Mhm~ but not only physical strength. Your Abilities, mana capacity, agility, and senses will all be heightened greatly. Think of it as an all-around, sudden boost to all of your capabilities.]

‘I see… quite an useful ability indeed. But as for the road ahead… anything you can tell me about the Emperor in District B?’

[Fufu~ that will be up to you to find out yourself, darling. If I just told you everything, you’ll never grow strong on your own~]

Finn sighed. ‘Fair enough.’

With that, their conversation ended, and several hours passed without anything noteworthy happening. In the end, Finn didn’t wake up Iris for her shift at all, and just stayed up the whole night on his own. He wasn’t feeling sleepy anyway.

The next morning, the two of them set out. It was dark and cloudy, giving the day a very gloomy feel. Definitely not the best sign for what’s to come.

There were two ways to get to District B from District A. One, via a long highway bridge that ran over the sea between the two cities, and two, via an underwater long-distance railway. The former option was usually the better choice due to cost, but the latter was a lot faster.

Last night, he had saved money at the hotel since there was no real need to get a room with two separate beds. It was just for comfort. This, however, was different. Spending a little extra money was well worth the saved time, especially when Finn wanted to enter that Temple and see that Emperor as soon as possible. As such, it was clear which decision they chose.

“… Thank you,” Finn muttered in reply after receiving the two tickets he had ordered.

“No problem,” the receptionist replied with a warm smile, having no idea the man standing before her was a rogue Hunter who killed people who were supposed to be his allies. “The metro should be here in roughly another hour. Until then, please feel free to do whatever you wish.”

Finn nodded and went back to Iris, who was sitting in a chair not too far away. He took a seat next to her, then handed her one of the tickets.

“Do you know anything about District B?” Finn asked out of curiosity. “It would be nice to gather knowledge before heading into a place.”

“Hm… I can’t say I do,” Iris said after some thought. “I’ve read a little bit about it in books before, but have never actually been there myself.”

“I see. Guess this will be a new experience for the both of us, then.”

Iris nodded and smiled warmly. “Yes… for the both of us.”