Having successfully annoyed the writer, Adryan stayed a while longer in the curiously oriented duo's flat. Having changed his appearance to that of an ordinary man with Creeping Hunger and changed his clothes, he walked calmly through the streets.
"That woman seriously needs a job. Every time you visit her, she sleeps in her room or smokes her life away on the balcony. She's a disgrace." Flora snorted bitterly in his head, annoyance clear in her voice.
Adjusting the scarf to cover his smiling lips, Adryan laughed softly. "She's like that; I doubt a few short words will change that. Though I must say, she's trying her best to improve."
"You call a job in the circus her best to improve? Ha! At least she's useful for making the kids laugh." Flora clicked her tongue, laughing in derision.
"She has good tricks," Adryan said, his grin even bigger.
Flora noticed this and quickly voiced her suspicion, "Why are you smiling?"
She could feel it; it was about her!
"No reason~" Adryan chanted.
Her suspicion grew even more. "Princess..." Flora warned.
If he was thinking she was jealous-
"You're afraid."
The Jacob didn't respond immediately. She was silent for 6 seconds. Finally, she said in a calm voice, "Why do you say that?"
Adryan replied flatly, "Did you think I wouldn't notice? You have been frustrated very easily and more silent than usual.
"There is something that scares you."
"..." Flora said nothing.
Walking calmly through the unsuspecting civilians, the black-haired man said nothing. His feet carried him leisurely through the streets of Azshara.
After half an hour and after crossing an alley, a black liquid came out of his shadows and quickly wrapped itself around his arm. With a thought, his body sank into the same shadows.
With two jumps, he was already in the bedroom of his flat. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Adryan stared at the wall in silence.
After long minutes, his voice broke the silence in his bedroom.
"It's for the Tower, isn't it?"
A tired sigh sounded deep in his head, so exhausted that for a moment, he didn't think it came from her.
"That's right..." Flora paused momentarily before adding, "Remember what I said the last time we talked about it?"
He nodded, "The suppression of the Sequences."
Adryan laughed a little, unamused; "I was wondering when you'd bring that up in our talks. I got tired of waiting, so I took the first piece."
"..."
At her silence, the idea that was whispering and tormenting his mind was confirmed.
"Sigh... You don't know what will happen to you, do you?"
According to Flora's words and what little he knew of the Tower, it made the forms more 'even'. If a Beyonder of a higher Sequence than the one on the floor entered, it would be suppressed to match the one on the floor.
The first floor of the Tower was equal to Sequence 7, and you could only use abilities at that level and below.
Flora was the Parasite of Sequence 4. Parasitism was a Sequence 4 ability and the only thing keeping her alive.
"And how would I know?" Flora growled in frustration. "Have you forgotten already? You said so yourself.
"The Jacob and Zoroast family, while we've managed to survive so far and even give birth to Demigods, we're still incredibly weak!
"Counting me. There are only three demigods in the two families. While we have done some tests, we never tried to test what would happen if one of us entered the Tower through a host. We are too valuable!"
Adryan kept quiet the entire time his companion spoke. Listening attentively and calmly.
When she finished, he gave a serious nod; "I understand your concern, Flora. B-but- pfff."
His expression broke a little, the corners of his lips quivering with such force that it looked like he was suffering from a sprain on his face.
"Princess..." Flora hissed through her teeth. Smoke billowed from her non-existent mouth.
Adryan raised a hand and covered his face. "Sorry, sorry! It's just that-that... pfff."
His body began to tremble; he barely restrained himself.
"pfff... pffffff" spittle escaped his super-tight lips, tears peeking out of the corners of his eyes.
"Seriously-"
"HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHHAHAHA! COUGH! Sorry! Sorry! But it's just that- hahaha!!!"
Her words were cut off by the maniacal laughter from the black-haired man trying to explain himself but couldn't utter three words before laughing again.
Knowing he couldn't do this, the red-haired man only went on for about four more seconds before recovering. Wiping away a tear with a final chuckle, he happily tossed it away.
"Fuu~ Wow, Flora, you're worrying about unnecessary things." He said with one eye closed, swinging his legs like he was on a swing.
There was no response from his companion.
"Oh, come on!" Adryan snorted a little. Dropping his back on the bed, he smiled calmly.
"Do you think I'd go into the Tower without knowing if you'd be alright?" he asked.
"Come on, Flora. Do you think so low of me? When have I ever done anything that would put you at risk?"
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" the Jacob answered simply, Adryan could easily see a worm raising an eyebrow.
"Touche."
"..."
At the return of the silence, the black-haired man rolled his eyes and got up from the bed. With a mischievous grin, he winked and leaned his head to the side.
"Do you forget that you are still under contract to my Lord and therefore under 'His' protection? You still have several decades to serve. You won't die so easily, my dear~"
"Wouldn't it be easier to kill me and free you from me? There will be no better opportunity than this. Once we enter the Tower, I will only be a Sequence 7 no matter what happens. If you wanted to kill me, there would be nothing I could do about it." Flora admitted with honesty and clearly hurt pride.
While they would both be Sequence 7 and thus 'equals,' she wasn't stupid. What could a Cryptologist do with almost no combat skills against a Pyromaniac?
A grimace formed on Adryan's face, his cheek burning and his mouth bitter. He felt as if he had eaten an incredibly bittersweet at the same time he was being slapped.
Did Flora think so poorly of him?
Did she really think he would abandon her after all she had done for him?
Adryan found himself somewhat hurt by this, finding it a little hard to believe that it was all like this. Thinking deeper to find a reason, his eyes lit up.
Remembering the words spoken by Flora the first time they met, he could only sigh internally, all making sense at that moment.
'Anyone who could say that about their family obviously didn't have a good relationship with them and vice versa. Flora grew up with the teaching that everyone was planning to use her.'
He made a mistake in thinking the Jacob family was similar to the Abraham and Zoroast families. The biggest clue should have been when he told her the story of why she was called 'Dancing Worm'.
What child watching their cousin suffocate would stand by and mock them instead of helping?
'No doubt it is a family of thieves. The Abraham family honorably represents the Door pathway, always holding the door open for the family. The Jacob family represents the Error Pathway very well, stealing and taking without giving back, never minding that they betray their family in the process.'
That is why Flora thinks he will abandon her as soon as the opportunity presents itself. In her eyes, she thinks she's just a burden, a disease he can't wait to cure.
A sad sigh leaves his lips, his eyes softening.
"I won't abandon you, Flora. I won't."
An ironic snort rang in his ears.
"And how can I trust you? I doubt you've forgotten, but I tried to kill you. That's why I'm trapped here in your body.
"Don't you think this is the best course for you? With some coordination with your team, you'll have a Sequence 4 characteristic. You can make a Grade 1 artifact or use it to promote the brat. I honestly don't care-
"I don't kill my friends." Adryan cut her off, his words heavy and honest.
A small whimper reached his ears, so small that he almost lost it amidst the following screams.
"FRIENDS?! Are you an idiot, Adryan!? I try to kill you!" Flora roared, running out of air if possible.
"And that's why you got trapped in my body." Repeating the woman's words back to her face with a smile, Adryan closed his eyes in pleasure, "You're already paying for that crime, no ailments."
"YOU ARE UNBEARABLE!" The Jacob Semi-Goddess gasped—a clear hiccup in her voice.
A chuckle escaped his chest as his smile softened a little more.
"And your friend." Adryan opened a mischievous eye, raising a finger pointing towards nothingness. "Don't forget~"
"URGHH!" a frustrated cry echoed in his head. In his mind, he could see the worm writhing on itself as if it had been salted.
"I love you too."
Closing his eyes, Adryan kicked off his shoes and lay better on his bed. "I'll leave you to your thoughts now I just want to take a beauty nap. Wake me up if anything happens."
It was more to joke than to take it seriously. As soon as he had entered her room, he had already used Hangover Time to seal the sound so no one knew he was there.
The same in W. E. It wasn't that he'd taken a day off, it was just that his soldier was filling in for him and dealing with the annoying stuff, with orders to inform him of anything interesting that might happen.
Letting out a satisfied groan, he covered himself well with the blanket and, with the help of the cogitation, quickly fell asleep, with only Flora's grunts and murmurs as white noise.
Watching her charger sleep, Flora didn't know what to say.
'Friend...' mumbling in her mind, a tired sigh left her lips.
Closing her eyes, she, too, joined the dream world with the black-haired man.
...
Helikon District, Great Library of Lenburg.
With huge bookshelves that were easily taller than normal houses, filled with books of various sizes, and neatly arranged, this thousand-year-old library was the oldest and most important in the world.
Two people were sitting at one of the many tables in this exclusive library, in an even more exclusive room on the third floor, reading one book with a large stack of others at their sides.
The older man with the long, wrinkled face, Zelig Ritter, looked at the person sitting across from him calmly. His eyes behind silver-rimmed circular glasses glowed softly in the lamplight.
'I'm surprised you were the one chosen to introduce Mr. K to the Tower.' Zelig mused as he turned the next page of his book.
The person before him was a short-haired, tanned-skinned man of Bayam ancestry. His brown eyes stared boredly at the book pages in his hands, which were written in Intis.
"Mr. Thaddeus wants everything to go well; no accident will be spared, " the man replied, his voice surprisingly soft yet deep.
"If it is you, there is nothing to worry about." Zelig said as he closed the book, "Is it just an introduction, or will you accompany them on the floor, Mr. Uron?"
"I will be a guide. As I said, no accident will be forgiven." Upon repeated, his tone was a little graver than before.
The older Zelig nodded calmly, all interest in the subject being abandoned.
"How is our communication with the Royal Museum? The transfer is to take place in October, is it not?"
"That's right." The tan-skinned man replied, "Recent events in Backlund have brought unexpected benefits. The previous talks that never came to anything finally found common ground."
Zelig nodded again. Calmly, his eyes moved from the man before him to the book in his hands.
"You think she'll come?"
The flame of the lamp trembled for a moment before returning to normal.
For the first time since he sat down, Uron looked up from the book he was reading to the older man in front of him.
"It's her father's Memorial Exhibition. I wouldn't be surprised."
"Should we increase security? She is a Sea King, after all." Zelig questioned with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Uron shook his head. His gaze returned to the book in his hands.
''Mr. Thaddeus says it's not necessary. Her guarding the Museum greatly diminishes the odds of anyone trying to do anything. And if a fool were to try, I'm sure it wouldn't be three seconds before the wrath of the Sea would fall upon them."