"Did you guys hear him talk about the town?" Alfred finally raised the issue after everyone was satiated. "Could he be a native?"
"Hmm, I didn't notice that he'd mentioned that! I was only focusing on my food. But even if he is a native, it doesn't mean he would necessarily know the clues we are looking for. From the way he acted, it doesn't look like he often heads to the market." Fay bit her fingertips, appearing puzzled with Alfred's notice of the matter.
Tabitha also sorted out her thoughts. "You mentioned that all the information you found in the vicinity did not mention the history of the area. Are you planning on learning about the history of this place through him? What's the point?"
"I'm not sure either… I just think that this market or town has secrets. Maybe that secret has nothing to do with us, but until we find the clues, we can't decide on where we can find the clues, isn't that so? "Alfred kneaded the spot in between his eyebrows. Clearly, their efforts over the past few days that ended in futility frustrated him. Now, just a tiny clue was enough for him to spend all his energy on it.
"I agree with Alfred. At this moment, we still know nothing of our mission. Even if it's a tiny clue, I think we should fully pursue the investigation. In that case, you guys will search for the old man tomorrow. Regardless if he is a native or not, or whether he knows any secrets, we can no longer just sit still." Aaron had a serious look on his face. Tabitha accepted it without comment.
The hut fell silent once again. After the team finished cleaning themselves, only the occasional cracking sounds of firewood gradually lulled them into their dreams.
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The search for the old man was as difficult as the clues they needed. Tabitha and Alfred spent a long time searching the nearby areas. Apart from finding useless tabloids and books in the surrounding houses, they did not see anyone else in the region. God knows where the man came from!
Tabitha wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had already taken off her denim jacket and only had a vest on her. With the tip of her tongue pressed against her palate, her eyes wandered around while she considered telling Alfred about the Concealment Area.
"Have you still not recovered your ability?" After some thought, she decided on breaking the ice between them.
"Still the same old." The man said faintly, apparently reluctant to talk about the issue. "Well…it's this. Back when I read the Basic Defensive Method I that I received, I discovered another world inside."
The man raised one of his eyebrows, finding the girl's words incomprehensible.
"I mean it's not a book. It's more like a key which opens another world or another space. I can agree with you if you wish to call it a textbook…" Tabitha replied and began telling Alfred about her experience.
"…I'm unable to open the book now and there is no way to eliminate the visual effects of the world of molecules. Although the effects have not adversely affected me at present, the visual effects left me uncomfortable."
"Is there any impact on your ability?" The tall, thin man listened to her before asking in all seriousness. Tabitha didn't even remember she had an ability until she heard Alfred's words. Everything had been peaceful recently. No one was injured; therefore, she did not even think of using her healing powers. Now with Alfred's reminder, she pondered over it. She placed her hand on the man's shoulder. "Since I need to use my power, I might be able to restore your ability now~ " The girl blinked at the man, as she began casting Recovered Light-d.
While the green light flashed, Tabitha determined that the Concealment Area had not affected her ability. However, Alfred's ability value remained at zero. Although under normal vision, people could only see a green light when Tabitha used her powers, from her molecular world's perspective, in her visual effects of the world's molecularity, what she saw was an influx of numerous green molecules entering Alfred's brain before fusing as one with black molecules at the back of his head. They were not disappearing but transforming into the black molecules.
She frowned for a moment but remained unsure of an explanation. Just as the duo arrived at the door of another barnyard, Tabitha withdrew her hand and swallowed her unformed words back. Alfred didn't seem to think much about it, nor did he say anything about the Concealment World.
The house was covered in dust. The glass of several west-facing windows was shattered into a heap on the ground. It allowed the sun's rays to spread into the house, adding a bit of warmth. The two walked around, stirring up the dust inside the house. The tiny particulates fluttered under the sunlight and shimmered. The two searched separately. Tabitha investigated the windows and found a small, muddy black mark near the base of the wall. The mark was already completely attached to the wall but it had not been stained by the ash. It did not look like it had been left on the wall for long. After a meticulous search, the mud mark seemed to be of certain significance.
Tabitha had no way to tell if it was the remnants of something and immediately cried for Alfred. Perhaps it would be an important discovery for them.
The man looked at the mark for a while before reaching for it. However, he plastered the black mark into a lump, leaving traces on his fingertips. He took a whiff with his nose and looked around for a while, before speaking hesitantly. "It's like the mark left by a wick… But why would it appear here? Did someone come here with a candle and accidentally smeared the wall with the candle?"
Somehow, the man seemed to lack confidence in his conjecture. Obviously, to hold a candle near a wall, the only way was down… However, heading downwards seemed impossible? Tabitha had not paid any attention to the floor previously. She stood up and stood a little further away. Through her molecular vision, she discovered that the floor in front of the window seemed a little different from the rest of the floor. It was hard to tell if the floors' materials varied or if there was a difference in the thickness.
Alfred listened to the girl's discovery and stroked his chin while observing the boundary between the two types of floors the girl pointed out. There were scattered pieces of broken glass there. There was very little dust around the window, with only a little dust floating in the air. He knelt down and started tapping and striking along the borders according to what Tabitha pointed out. When he touched a spot, all he heard was a bang, and a narrow gap appeared between the planks.
The two looked at each other as Alfred slowly pushed the plank forward. After the plank reached a certain point, a staircase that extended downwards appeared right before them.