– The Next Day –

Finn woke up early the following morning. However, despite being up early, he found it strangely difficult to get out of bed until at least an hour later.

This was because a certain someone had latched onto his arm very tightly, like a koala clinging to a tree. This someone was, without a doubt, Iris. She didn’t seem to have done this on purpose, and instead most likely did it subconsciously while dreaming about something. Finn decided to not question said dreams.

He didn’t want to forcibly wake Iris up either, since if she needed rest, it was best to give her rest. They were heading into the Dungeon today, so Finn needed her at her best. Anything less than that would only be a drag-down.

As a result, he ended up laying in bed for a whole hour doing absolutely nothing except feeling the rise and fall of Iris’s ample chest.

“Mmn…” Finally, after a long while, Finn heard a soft groan coming from Iris, and spoke without even tilting his head.

“… So, you’re awake.”

Maybe not before, but after hearing this, Iris sure was awake. Her eyes widened in surprise as she noticed herself clinging onto Finn, and before she knew it, her cheeks were flushed red.

“U-Um… sorry!” She cried, hurriedly letting go and bashfully turning away. “I just… needed someone to hold on to…”

“… What did you dream about?” Finn asked, directly contradicting his own thoughts earlier.

“Erm… well… I had a flashback,” Iris admitted, scratching her head. “It’s a bit hazy, but… I’m not even sure if the memories are my own.”

“How do you know it was a flashback and not just a fantasy?”

“I’m not sure… but… it felt too real to be fantasy. I-It’s hard to explain, but… I guess you could call it instinct.”

Finn rubbed his chin. “Hm. Instinct, huh?”

“Yeah… I dreamed about this… war. I saw myself… and you…”

Finn’s ears twitched. “… Me?”

“A-Ah! Never mind!”

Strangely, Iris refused to elaborate further, which only made Finn more interested. Still, prying about it wasn’t going to do anything now, so he just headed into the bathroom and got ready for the day.

Iris, watching him go, bit her trembling bottom lip.

“I’m sorry, Finn… I didn’t tell you because… in the dream… I… I—”

—killed you.

Before long, Finn and Iris found themselves standing on top of the same roof as yesterday. They were, naturally, planning on heading back into the Dungeon.

“Um… shouldn’t we do some more preparation first?” Iris asked. “I mean, we know about the Specter’s traps now, but we still don’t know how to deal with them.”

She had a point. However…

“… We can simply fly,” Finn replied. “As long as we remain in the sky, the invisible portals cannot affect us.”

“Well, that’s true, but… last time we did that, I fell unconscious…” Iris murmured.

“…” Finn fell silent briefly. She had a point there as well. Finn was able to resist whatever kind of mind disturbance that was thanks to Zelestria’s existence, but Iris didn’t have a powerful soul residing in her body like that to protect her from such ailments.

“Halt!”

Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind Iris and Finn, and they immediately turned around. Iris narrowed her eyes at the newcomers.

“… Is there something you want with us?”

“… Hmph. We received intel that you two are escaped criminals in disguise,” the man leading them said, hovering in the air. More Theocracy of Light paladins. “Finn Thresher—you have the Shapeshifter Angelica, do you not? Show your true self!”

He pointed his sword at Finn, who didn’t budge an inch.

“… Sir. How can you accuse me of being Shapeshifted, when you have no proof?”

“Ha! No proof?” The man snickered and pulled out a phone from his inner pocket, then pressed the play button on it.

“E-Eh? F-Finn?! W-Wai- Finn, that’s- no, don’t touch there- ahn~!”

“…” Iris wanted to drop dead on the spot.

“So, my name is Finn. What about it? Does the criminal you seek also share the same name?” Finn asked calmly, completely unaffected.

“Indeed. And that is more than enough to warrant an interrogation. So, if you will come with us…”

“… In your dreams.”

“Wha-!”

Suddenly, six tentacles shot out of Finn’s back and penetrated the paladins instantly, catching them off-guard. Clearly, they had been expecting him to run, not fight back. They didn’t even have a chance to scream before their vocal cords were violently torn out of their throats, and they fell downwards onto the streets below.

“Hmph. Weak,” Finn snorted, then turned his head to Iris. “Change of plans. We need new appearances. Now.”

Iris nodded firmly, still flustered over the voice recording earlier. “In that case, I have an idea.”

In the end, Finn and Iris used the teleporter in Evelyn’s Heart to teleport themselves to Mavrick’s underground shop, all the way back in District A. It would seem only the Theocracy of Light managed to get the info on Finn and Iris’s new appearances, as the Phantom Slayers didn’t make a move to stop them.

“Welcome!” The employee said, not recognizing the two. “The boss is in the back, but he should be here in a seco-“

“We’re in a hurry,” Finn said coldly.

“A-Ah, okay… then, please wait, I’ll go call him…”

The employee rushed to the back of the store, then spoke quietly to his boss.

“Huh? In a hurry? I don’t care! Tell them to wait!” Mavrick yelled furiously. Iris, hearing this, sighed and smiled.

“… He hasn’t changed a bit.”

“P-Please, boss…” The employee pleaded, voice quivering. “Those two seemed scary…”

“Tch! Fine, fine! But only because I don’t want them to sack my shop!”

Mavrick, with a deep breath, appeared in front of Finn and Iris shortly after.

“So? Whaddya want made? I charge a lot for custom-made armor sets, just so you know.”

After some hesitation, Finn pulled out his guild card and showed it to Mavrick, whose eyes widened.

“You’re… the guy everybody’s lookin’ for… that disguise is quite convincin’, kid.”

“Would you believe me if I said I’m on the good side?” Finn asked. Mavrick scanned his body up and down, then chuckled.

“Archon took you in, didn’t he? I trust that man’s eye. And besides, if you were really a Ghost like the rumors say, I would be dead by now.”

Finn nodded. “Good to know. I need a full-body armor set—one that covers every inch of my skin, face included.”

“Huh? Your face…? But you won’t be able to-“

“He’s blind anyway, remember?” Iris said with a smile, having sat down on one of the couches in the store. “I’ll need a new armor set as well, but we can discuss that after you’re done with Finn’s.”

“… Hmph. Alright, alright,” Mavrick said after a while. “But first off, I’ll need more details. And second… don’t expect me to not charge anything.”

Finn nodded. He was, after all, rich now, thanks to all the gold and treasures he had obtained from the fight with the Lunatic back in District A’s Temple. What was a little bit of spending to him?

Mavrick led him to the back of the store in his private office to avoid any prying eyes, and Iris followed. A new Finn was about to be born.