"Love in your eyes…
Sitting silent by my side…"
Yu's melodious voice filled the music room, and the resonance of the piano keys made the space around him more ethereal than ever. Shird sat there, listening quietly. How should I put it? Yu often volunteered to play the piano to help Shird relax, but in reality, Shird was the one who taught Yu to play the piano, so it might be more like Yu "repaying the favor" rather than merely helping. Yu was naturally gifted with a heavenly voice, quite different from the melancholic tone of his piano playing.
"How do you feel?"
After finishing his song, Yu wiped the sweat from his brow and eagerly ran to Shird, excited to share the experience he had just given him.
"Excellent… thank you."
Shird finally smiled, a warm smile accompanied by a gentle pat on the head.
"Hehe~"
"Announcement: All Weavers are to return to the meeting room at BH1 immediately. Additionally, Mao-QC (Outer Code) 704, Deputy Minister of F.A.I.R (Fast Aggressive Information Report) is also to hurry to the meeting room. End of announcement!"
The announcement from Frost Wisp's speaker startled many, and it was even more shocking because this was an urgent notice involving a member from a different department, unlike the monthly meetings of the Nine Council.
Immediately, all 9 Weavers gathered in the room, and in addition to the members we already knew, four other members were present:
-IV: Mobius
-III: Vexth
-II: Lapis
-I: Thous
Mobius was as enthusiastic and playful as the other Weavers from level V and up, so there was not much to say about her. The three leaders were another story. III, with his long, tangled hair, seemed to be hiding his cold expression behind it while his body lay on the table as if broken. He appeared to be… sleeping? II wore a peculiar mask and stood next to I. It was not uncommon for her to maintain absolute silence during meetings, so there wasn't much to discuss about her. Lastly, I was different from the other Weavers; he exuded a calm, dignified demeanor, and his deep, penetrating eyes seemed to look into others' souls.
"Sorry, I'm late!"
Mao burst through the door, immediately bowing in apology, causing her two long locks of hair to hit Neo's face.
"It's fine. First of all, I have this."
While Mao was smirking at having hit the face of someone she disliked with her hair, Thous presented data on the unusually high frequency of activities and spies from various criminal gangs, indicating that they were "gathering" for some reason. Since all criminal activities were related to Underworld, which was represented by FUN, the precursor to SAD, where Mao once led.
"As a former leader of the Underworld, what is your assessment of this?"
"…So it has come… Good Time…"
Following Thous's question, Mao, Setsuna, and Free—three former members of SAD—simultaneously uttered a serious phrase, which was quite uncharacteristic of them.
After their explanation, the Nine Council learned that recent activities by the Underworld were being manipulated by "PSD", which stands for Private Swepper Divine, an old special division of SAD. During "Change The World," Mao, in her role as the leader of SAD, had given 17 trillion Gerum (the story's currency) to PSD to rebuild the organization if she failed, and when "Good Time" arrived, they would reclaim Mao from Frost Wisp.
"Hey, what if Mao is actually a traitor and is just pretending in Frost Wisp, waiting for the right moment to betray the Party during Good Time?"
Neo proposed a theory that posed a significant disadvantage to Mao, as expected from rivals who always fueled each other's arguments with more oil.
"Neo!"
"Neo, shut your mouth. This is a meeting to devise protection measures for Mao, not to doubt her."
Following Neo's remark were calls from Mao's close associates like Setsuna, Yu, and Free. However, Mobius, instead of opposing, calmly provided reasoning to keep Neo quiet.
"Hmph…"
"Are you done talking?"
After Thous's comment, Vexth slowly stood up and left the meeting room, as discussions continued on how to protect Mao from this situation where FUN could infiltrate and take her at any time.
On this matter, it's worth mentioning that FUN would "infiltrate" rather than "raid" because FUN's military strength was much weaker compared to Frost Wisp and the Outer Party. However, the influence of the Underworld, encompassing the entire criminal world, was so significant that the Nine Council could not dismiss the possibility of a FA member being a covert spy.
"Above all… perhaps we should split into teams? Since this involves FUN specifically and the entire Underworld in general, the entire Nine Council should work together."
"I won't be participating; I'll just be overseeing."
With Mobius's suggestion to split into teams, the only one refusing to participate was Thous. Perhaps he did not want trivial matters like the Underworld to hinder his ambitions.
In the end, the teams were divided as follows: • Team to protect Mao: Shird, Free.
• Team to handle attack situations: Setsuna, Yu, Neo.
• Team managing the campaign's progress: Mobius.
"Wait! I have a question!"
"Go ahead!"
"Why is it only the entire Nine Council and not members from other departments? We don't lack manpower, do we?"
After Yu's question, all eyes in the room turned toward him. The looks were filled with anger, annoyance, and suspicion, with an intense pressure due to the rare scrutiny of a Weaver.
"W-what? Did I say something wrong?"
"Yu… didn't we say earlier? FUN is larger than Frost Wisp, even the Outer Party, so Mao could be kidnapped at any moment… Isn't publicizing this mission to the entire Party like throwing fat to the enemy?"
It was rare for someone as reserved as Shird to speak up during a meeting, but his tone was gentle, unlike his usual emotional self. Perhaps he simply wanted a pleasant chat with friends.
"To conclude, to maintain the initiative, I, IV, have decided to keep the meeting's content confidential to prevent it from leaking to the organization for the reasons mentioned above. This mission will be named: 'Good Time,' with a disaster rating of: 20 points. Agreed?"
"Agreed!"
"Who gave you the authority to decide for me, Mobius?"
Thous laughed at Mobius's presumption, a friendly laugh, unusually perfect with a slight upward curve at the right corner of his mouth.
…
"Hey sis, what do you think of Thous's smile? I've noticed that he smiles four times a month, but never for long—just a brief smile?"
After leaving the meeting room, everyone went their separate ways, but notably, when Mao left, she seemed to be under some pressure that made her vomit on the spot. Other than that, nothing special happened. On the way back, Yu asked Setsuna the above question, asking discreetly since the entire Nine Council was unclear on how Thous controlled them.
"Hmm… that smile… from my shallow perspective, it seems insincere. I always think it's a fake smile. Considering someone like Thous who can change emotions so quickly, it's normal, but from another perspective, his smile seems like a mask, something put on for a specific period, more like a machine than a human."
At this moment, at C.C (Cosmic Coordinates)-70014, the coordinates of an underwater city in an undefined multiverse, a boy appearing to be 16 years old, wearing an oversized coat and a hoodie, had his face marked by scars on both cheeks, making him look like he was crying. Right there, his headset was not really a headset but a bugging device connected to an old tape recorder from many centuries ago.
"…The Hour of Rebirth… has arrived… all residents… prepare… for… the… reconstruction… of the world… is being rebuilt… rebuilt… rebuilt… rebuilt…"
Continuous static from the bugging device filled the boy's ears, but notably, the word "rebuild" was repeated not as a result of interference, but repeatedly without external force, indicating there might be a hidden message behind the intercepted lines.
"The top-secret project of FUN, named Alasexits… has been launched… regarding the application of undefined energy… It has been researched in recent years… Now… the time has come… to apply… to all military members… of the Underworld… will be the largest…"
At this moment, the voice sounded like an older man discussing the content of the "Hour of Rebirth." After this statement, there was an infinite length of static due to signal interruption.
"Cough… cough… Hahahaha!"
After hearing these lines, the boy immediately smashed the bugging device and ran away with uncontrolled laughter. The message behind seemed very intriguing…? But following his footsteps was a girl, appearing to be 15-16 years old, with a crescent-shaped necklace highlighting her body, watching the boy with a complex smile. What could this imply?