Eldritch Horror Theatre

Clearly, Delin hadn't told his wife about the gathering's other purpose.

When Mrs. Delin returned with the warmed pastries, she brought a slender young girl with her.

With short black hair and lively eyes, she had inherited her father's height and her mother's features. Laige hadn't been exaggerating on his friend's behalf—she was indeed a pretty little girl.

Right now, however, her face was drawn tight. She seemed rather reluctant about being dragged out to greet her mother's guests.

She was in her early teens; if she was maturing early, a rebellious phase was perfectly normal.

Of course, if Mrs. Delin knew Dancy's past, she would have realized she ought to indulge her daughter's rebellion.

"This is Rebecca," Mrs. Delin introduced her with a smile. She had the girl set down the plate of pastries before gesturing for her to greet the guests.

Despite her obvious reluctance, Rebecca greeted everyone one by one with perfectly standard etiquette.

Throughout the entire exchange, Delin's expression remained rather dark.

It wasn't out of overwhelming worry, but rather the protective instincts of a father. He felt that letting a piece of scum like this even glance at his daughter was a desecration.

Fortunately, it brought him a sliver of comfort that in the face of his daughter's greetings, Dancy Crawford actually kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. After a polite response, he focused entirely on his tea.

Sure enough, the man knew better than to court death. That madness he had shown earlier might just have been a deliberate act.

To have remained at large for so long, his nose for danger had to be top-tier.

Delin snorted inwardly.

Today, there was indeed a tacit understanding between him and Laige.

Although he had washed his hands in a golden basin and no longer ran about risking his life, he had spent too many years in the struggle to naively believe he could completely leave the transcendent world behind.

Transcendent power had long since become inseparable from this world, on every conceivable level.

Therefore, he hadn't completely cut off contact with his old friends, nor had he deliberately chosen to live in some remote area.

Only a stable, orderly system could guarantee safety.

So when Laige found him and described this beast's deeds, he hadn't hesitated long before accepting the risky proposal.

Partly, it was to help a friend, and partly to maintain good relations with the Night Watchers. But ultimately, it was for the victims, who were barely older than his own daughter.

...

As for why he hadn't just followed through earlier and crushed the guy to death on the spot, it wasn't for lack of desire.

Playing the director for this kind of setup was delicate work; missing a single beat would ruin the whole act.

Everything leading up to it had been ideal. First, the guy had actually followed them here. Second, he lacked any sense of danger, opening his mouth to say something that would obviously cause a misunderstanding.

Delin's subsequent display of anger had been a perfectly natural reaction. But with an eyewitness like Violetta right beside them, swatting him to death without another word still would have felt somewhat contrived.

If the guy had thought he had some backing and kept running his mouth... or even if he had shown a little weakness, it would have been fine.

But who could have expected him to start discussing tutoring classes, instantly changing the entire nature of the conversation?

Forcing a move under those circumstances would have been very difficult to justify later.

...

"Violetta, did you go out yesterday?"

After Rebecca finished her greetings, she obediently sat down next to her mother. Considering she had been forced into making an appearance, she naturally wasn't about to initiate any conversation.

Seeing everyone fall silent, Hayami Suzune took it upon herself to liven up the atmosphere.

Of course, she still couldn't be bothered to talk to Fu Qian.

"Yes, we went to Wushe Temple yesterday," Su Gao admitted plainly.

The Night Watchers had followed them all the way until they got out of the car yesterday. They had put so much effort into acting just to achieve this moment of composure.

...

Hayami Suzune clearly knew what Wushe Temple was famous for, and she subconsciously shot a glance at her captain.

"Hmph!" Laige's reaction was full of disdain.

"I have to say, Captain Laige's words yesterday were very inspiring," Fu Qian said, naturally taking over the conversation. "Given my urgent desire to break the barrier between the transcendent world and ordinary mortals, we set out not long after you left."

"Oh, so did you break the barrier?" Laige asked with a fake smile.

"How should I put it? The game is indeed quite interesting."

Fu Qian stretched out his left hand. With nimble finger movements, he made the exquisite Badge weave back and forth across his knuckles.

At Kisaragi Kana's request, he had chosen to carry it with him today.

"Depth 4..." Hayami Suzune muttered under her breath the moment she noticed the four stars. It seemed she hadn't watched the program any less than the others.

"Only Depth 4? I thought you'd be at least Depth 7 or higher."

Noticing that everyone, including her captain, was looking over at her, Hayami Suzune felt a flash of embarrassment and subconsciously directed her disdain at Fu Qian.

"I'm actually quite low-key by nature. This four-star one was given to me by someone else."

Unfortunately for her, Fu Qian was completely immune to verbal attacks of this level.

"Though, I do quite like the number seven."

"Considering how enthusiastic those young people are about it, wearing seven stars out would definitely look very impressive. Would that count as breaking the barrier on a level of influence?"

This question was directed at Laige.

"If it makes you invulnerable to water and fire," Laige retorted, naturally refusing to be outdone. "You're more than welcome to wear it, take a stroll through a forbidden zone, and come back."

"I'm not going," Fu Qian answered with crisp shamelessness.

"I'll stay right here and break the regional barrier first."

"You think there's no mortal danger here—" Laige slammed his teacup down. He ultimately suppressed his temper and didn't stand up, turning his head away in disdain instead. "It's just a child's toy. It's completely meaningless."

"Uncle Laige, I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you," a somewhat tender voice chimed in. To everyone's surprise, it was the constantly silent Rebecca who had spoken up to refute Laige on Fu Qian's behalf.

"What do you mean?" For a moment, not only Laige, but everyone else was taken aback, staring at the righteously indignant Rebecca.

"Casually belittling the hobbies of others is impolite," Rebecca said, remaining remarkably composed even at the center of everyone's attention. "There is one thing Mister Dancy said that I agree with. Even if it lacks the 'meaning' you speak of, this thing is at least interesting, and that is enough."

"Rebecca—" Seeing his daughter suddenly pop up to contradict Laige, Delin instinctively spoke out to stop her.

Whether it was an endorsement of the notoriety law or an endorsement of a scumbag like Dancy, it was clearly something he didn't want to see.

"Whether you want to admit it or not, at least more and more people are recognizing it, aren't they?" Unfortunately, his reprimand had no effect whatsoever. Rebecca simply shot him a glance before pointing at the Badge in Fu Qian's hand and continuing.

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