types qw

Crimson

Chapter Text

In the end, Ellone succeeded in persuading Juny to let the boy stay.

Juny never actually wanted the boy to be kicked out, but she couldn't just let his comments slide.

If she'd let it slide, it would come back to bite her in the ass.

The boy was now much more polite.

Of course, Juny made it clear that overdoing it was just annoying for her.

She was still against letting Tarkel become a Beyonder.

This had nothing to do with his disrespect.

He was simply too young.

Juny's mental age was in the early twenties, so she couldn't truly relate to Tarkel.

She had decided to ignore him, but she simply couldn't.

Juny truly intended to not bother with him, but seeing Ellone's terrible teaching skills, Juny stepped in.

Tarkel wasn't happy at first, but seeing that he understood things much better with Juny's explanations, he kept quiet.

'... Isn't he learning too fast?'

Juny couldn't help but think so after the lesson they had.

'He was bedridden his entire life, but he's for sure a genius...'

'Maybe just as much as Kalia was? No... Kalia was still a bit smarter than Tarkel.'

Juny sighed.

"I can't even be sure since Kalia was only 9."

She stuck another cookie into her mouth and chewed.

This morning, she went to Airina and gave her the advancement potion.

At noon, she taught Tarkel, and now it was time to visit Degster.

'My schedule is so full I can't even eat properly.'

Even through her complaining, Juny walked out of the house.

Soon enough, she found herself standing in front of a warehouse.

'Here goes nothing.'

She used the Isolation Enchantment and quickly found a window.

Juny slowly lifted herself with Space Manipulation and stopped before the closed window.

Quickly, Juny Isolated the window and forced it open.

With that, noone would notice any changes or hear any sounds.

She then flew through the window.

Juny immediately saw a group of men inside.

'Beyonder, Beyonder, normal, normal... where is Natia and Degster?'

Juny stayed in her levitating Isolated state and moved further down.

She didn't dare to take a step just in case they noticed her footprints.

Activating her Material Vision, Juny looked around.

After a few short moments, she noticed a closed room which radiated auras.

'Found it?'

She moved closer and saw the aura's grow clearer.

'A Sequence 7 and a Sequence 8 as well as a... Sequence 5? No... seems like a Sealed Artifact.'

"That looks about right."

Whispering to herself, Juny moved towards the room.

Juny lightly knocked onto the door.

It was too light for the talking men around to notice, but she was sure the people inside have heard it.

Soon enough, the door opened and she saw Degster.

Only that Degster couldn't see her.

Swiftly, Juny slid into the room, before he closed the door, and used Space Isolation.

As soon as she saw Degster flinch and look around, Juny removed her own Isolation Enchantment.

Seeing a figure suddenly appear, Degster first took a defensive stance before relaxing.

He saw the little girl give him a smile.

"My height is hard to fake."

Juny pointed out proudly and looked at Natia.

She was sitting on the couch, unhurt.

Degster observed Juny for a couple of seconds before asking.

"How did you do that?"

Juny offered him a polite smile.

"Trade secret."

Degster's eyes lightly narrowed but he ended up nodding.

He then pointed to the couch.

"Have a seat?"

Juny thought it through before slowly sitting down.

She nodded at Natia as a greeting, and was greeted back in the same way.

She then turned to Degster.

"I have brought it up, and for us, the timing is irrelevant. Whichever suits you, we'll accommodate."

Both her tone and her word choice changed, showing that she was taking the thing seriously.

Degster nodded and explained.

"We already have the time and place picked out."

He looked towards Natia and she took over.

"This week's Saturday. We can't be sure about the exact time, but we can assume it will be at night."

Juny didn't ask why, as it was quite obvious.

She nodded and spoke.

"I'll send two Sequence 7s for combat and I'll take out the Sequence 5."

This made the two opposing her flinch.

They shared looks and probed.

"You'll take him?"

Juny nodded with a straight face.

She already had a plan in mind.

"I'll get rid of him as fast as possible since we don't know what else they might prepare."

Degster frowned.

What Juny just said was true. They have escaped before, so the enemies will probably have a trick up their sleeve this time.

Seeing this, Juny flashed a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, I have more than one way to get rid of a Sequence 5."

She then turned serious.

"If a Demigod shows up, we're running."

Natia jumped at the word 'Demigod' and the nodded with a serious expression.

Degster also acknowledged.

Juny stayed silent for a while before giving the two a look.

"I'll need you to stop his movement for 3 seconds, can you do that?"

The two shared looks.

Natia spoke up.

"That won't be easy."

Juny nodded.

"I know."

Degster fell into deep thought.

"Maybe if we had something like Abyss Shackles."

Immediately, Juny replied.

"I can get that for you, but I'm not sure it would do much."

The two flinched again.

"You could?"

Natia couldn't help but ask.

Juny sighed.

"I could make as many Abyss Shackles as you need, but he's also of the Apothecary Pathway, the effect will be weaker."

Degster frowned.

"With a certain amount, that doesn't matter. How many can you get?"

Juny looked at him straight, not blinking, not smiling.

"As many as you need."

Juny couldn't tell him about her ability to create Spell Scroll, so she simply made herself look as serious as possible.

She needed them to know that she wasn't joking.

Natia and Degster exchanged another look and nodded.

"Sure."

...

After almost three hours of pure planning, Juny finally left the warehouse at around 7pm.

Today was Wednesday, so Juny had less than three days to prepare.

She ended up with an order for a large amount of Spell Scrolls.

She felt a headache incoming just by imagining the number.

With the addition of the Scrolls for her group, it was exhaustingly large.

"I will have to refrain from using my blood, otherwise I won't make it."

Mumbling, Juny returned home and ate something to fill her stomach.

She then asked Darmine if she could tell the siblings not to search for her the next day, that she would spend it mostly in her Pocket Dimension.

Darmine nodded and offered her a few encouraging words before going back to reading.

Soon, Juny returned to her study and began scribbling down the Spell Scroll order.

"Huff... time to pull off an all-nighter."

...

Inside a lit room, a zombie walked out of a mysterious door.

The zombie wore strange but aesthetically pleasing clothes.

The corpse had long black hair and thin scales plastered across its face.

'I'm a moron.'

Juny cursed as she walked by her desk.

She gently pushed the glass accessory she received from Shake not too long ago.

It was a pretty Mystical item filled with spirituality, but she has yet to research it.

Ignoring everything, she limply fell into bed.

'I shouldn't have done that... I feel like I'm dying...'

"I think I'm having auditory hallucinations..."

If there was one thing that Juny absolutely adored about The Void Pathway, it was that she never heard any ravings.

This was a fact, since there was no living high-Sequence Beyonder of The Void Pathway.

Not to mention, every cursed ingredient or characteristic had a level of protection placed on it by a god's remains.

This meant that she was literally unable to hear Evil God's ravings.

Which is why hearing auditory sounds was out of pure exhaustion, not because she showed signs of losing control.

Juny yawned into her pillow.

It wasn't that she had no energy after pulling an all-nighter.

It was because she has depleted her spirituality multiple times and forcefully recovered it using medicines.

She was just about to take a nap when red light filled her eyes.

As soon as she became alert and pushed her body up, her vision turned bright red.

'F*ck off!'

Before she even registered what was happening, she found herself inside a grayish and thick gray fog.

Juny looked around with extreme caution.

Soon, she noticed two figures looking around in confusion just like her.

One looked like a girl wearing a noble's dress.

The second was an older man with a classical outfit.

As her head moved, she saw a mysterious person completely covered in gray fog.

"Sir, where is this?"

"What are you planning on doing?"

Juny looked at the lady and man, who just each asked a different question, both at once.

'Was I supposed to say something too?'

Feeling extreme confusion, Juny looked back at the Mysterious man.

After a few seconds of silence, Juny heard a soft chuckle.

'What? What are you laughing at?'

The man then spoke as if he was replying to a polite greeting from his 'guests'.

"An attempt."

Juny's expression contorted.

'A what? You made me get out of bed for 'an attempt'? You don't even feel like a Beyonder! I home go wanna! Boohoo!'

She heard the lady next to her take a breath.

After looking up, Juny saw a very courteous smile and heard a slightly perturbed voice.

"Sir, is the attempt over? Might you permit our return?"

Juny was silent.

'L- Lady, we were kidnapped! He won't just let us go!'

Juny saw as the mysterious man checked each and every one of them out.

'Sir. I am a simple child! Permit my return at once!'

Although she had many complaints, she gulped them down.

The mysterious man looked at the noble girl and chuckled.

"Of course, if you make a formal request, you can return this very moment."

Juny frowned.

The man was not spouting lies, he was actually very sincere.

The lady next to her heaved a sigh of relief.

Juny expected her to ask to leave so she could follow in suit, but unexpectedly she spoke in both anxious and tempted manner.

"This is such a wonderful experience... Yes, I have always been hoping that something like this would happen."

'Cuse me? Lady! You were just abducted at the Spirit level!'

Feeling extremely enraged, she listened to the lady continue.

"I mean- i like mysteries and supernatural miracles. No, my point is- what I mean is that, Sir, what can I do to become a Beyonder?"

Juny listened to the overly-excited lady in an exasperated manner.

'...Lady...'

Before she could react, she suddenly saw the fog churn.

It was too fast for her to even manage Solidifying a weapon, she soon saw a beautiful towering stone pillars.

Above her short body was a vast dome, completely encapsulating her and the other 'visitors'.

It was like a magnificent palace and she soon found herself sitting by a long bronze table.

She sat to the right of the beautiful noble lady.

'A bronze chair? How uncomfortable... No wait! That's not important! A f*cking palace just spawned!'

She watched as the Lady looked to each side.

"How fascinating..."

'Lady... you're so naive I can't keep my face straight! Please! This is not fascinating, this is full on terrifying!"

She watched as the older man looked around before looking at the Lady.

"Are you a Loen? If you want to become a Beyonder, join the Churches of either the Evernight Goddess, the Lord of Storms, or the God of Steam and Machinery."

"The majority of us will not meet a Beyonder our entire lives."

Juny heard this and tried her best to mask her confusion.

'Sure would be nice! But even though Beyonders are rare, I somehow meet a new one every week!'

She decided to keep her lips zipped as she listened to the man.

"This has caused churches, and even some clergies within some of the biggest churches, to suspect the same. While this is the case, I am certain to tell you that Beyonders still exist in courts, tribunals, and execution agencies."

'You forgot gangs. You can't forget gangs!'

Juny pursed her lips together but listened nevertheless.

"They are still fighting against the dangers that grow in the dark, only that their numbers are much fewer as compared to before and during the early days of the Iron Age."

She then heard the Lady sigh.

"Mister, I know all about what you just said; I even know more than that, including the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, and the Machinery Hivemind, but I don't want to lose my freedom."

Juny almost snorted.

'Can I interest you in joining a gang?'

She heard the older man give a low-sounding laugh.

"You can't become a Beyonder without sacrifices. If you don't consider joining churches and accepting their given challenges, you can only seek the royal families and the few nobles with family histories of more than a thousand years. If not, you can rely on your luck to search for clandestine evil organizations."

Juny watched the lady puff her cheeks. She then immediately looked around in a fluster.

They made eye contact and Juny quickly pretended as if she hasn't seen her tic.

The lady turned back to the man and pressed.

"Are there no other solutions?"

Juny felt the urge to intervene, but she kept silent.

She watched the man look at the mysterious man before continuing.

"I have two sets of Sequence 9 Potion formulas."

'Only two? Pft.'

Juny joked inwardly. Even as someone who has an entire storage for herself, she could still relate.

'I was joking! Two is not bad. Mhm!'

She then heard the lady ask.

"Really? Which two sets?"

The older man leaned back and replied.

"As you know, humanity can only depend on potions to become real Beyonders."

'Or you can eat your family member's remains! That's also quite popular.'

Juny corrected the man inwardly.

"While the names of potions come from the 'Blasphemy Slate'. After constant translations into Jotun, Elvish, Ancient and modern Hermes, and ancient Feysac, they have undergone changes to match the day and age of that era. The essence is not in their names, but whether they portray the 'core characteristics' of the potions."

Juny almost sighed.

'Sir, you are saying general knowledge and making it look important while taking easy concepts and making them complicated!'

The man continued, undisturbed by Juny's inner voice.

"I have a Sequence 9 'Sailor'. It enables you to have excellent balancing capabilities. Even if you were on a boat in a rainstorm, you will be able to walk about freely as though you were on land. You will also gain immense strength and illusory scales under your skin..."

Juny listened to the deal of a Spectator Potion formula in exchange for at least 100 milliliters of Ghost Shark's blood.

Hearing the deal come to an end the man turned to the Seat of Honor.

"As for promises, I think that both you and I can feel rest assured under the witness of the mysterious sir."

'... you guys are so easy to fool it's almost unbelievable. THAT MAN IS NOT A BEYONDER! If not for this wonderful space, I would've long pointed it out, I kinda wanna explore it...'

The older man continued.

"Sir, the fact that you brought us here shows that you have tremendous strength unimaginable to us. Neither one of us would dare violate a promise with you as witness."

'Speak for yourself! I have an even cooler Dimensional Space!'

She held back and didn't interrupt the man.

The Lady next to her soon agreed with excitement.

"That's right! Sir, please be the witness of our trade."

The Lady then froze in realization and hurriedly asked.

"Sir, how should we address you?"

She flinched but then heard the older man echo the same question.

"Sir, how should we address you?"

Feeling the atmosphere, Juny quickly did the same, in Loenese.

She only slightly changed her voice to make it higher-pitched.

"Sir, how should we address you?"

Juny watched as the as mysterious man rapped his fingers on the bronze table.

He then leaned back and crossed his ten fingers, placing them below his chin.

He then offered the three a faint smile.

"You can address me as... The Fool."

'What a dramatic reveal! Also... The Fool? Of the Seer Pathway, maybe? But he's not a Beyonder...'

The palace was filled with silence for a few seconds.

Juny then saw the lady next to her slowly stand up.

The Lady then held her skirt and bent her knees to curtsey towards the Seat of Honor.

"Honorable Mr. Fool, would you please permit me to take the liberty of requesting you to be the witness of our trade?"

Juny almost trembled.

'You are so polite... and here I am, too tired to even speak properly.'

The mysterious man soon spoke.

"It's nothing."

Juny watched the older man stand up and bent his back.

"It's our honor, Mr. Fool."

Juny watched this and her mind boiled.

'I, I don't have to do that, right? I'm not part of the deal, so I don't have a reason to stand up. Right?'

Just to be sure, Juny, too, stood up and held her short skirt while bowing.

She did not speak though. As a child would.

The mysterious man lowered his palm as a signal.

"Continue, the both of you."

Juny almost exhaled in relief.

'I didn't make the wrong impression.'

The three slowly sat down and the older man looked at the Lady.

"If you can obtain the Ghost Shark's blood, get someone to send it to the Warrior and Sea Bar at Pelican Street, in the White Rose Borough of Pritz Harbor. Tell the boss, Williams, that it's what the 'Captain' wants. Once I acknowledge receipt, will you be giving me an address to mail the potion formula to of do you want me to tell it to you here directly?"

The Lady thought for a moment and then smiled.

"I will choose the more secure method. Let's do it here, although it's a test of my memory."

The Lady then turned to Mr. Fool and suggested.

"Mr. Fool, would you mind making a few more 'attempts' like this?"

The older man then hurriedly echoed.

"Mr. Fool, don't you find such 'Gatherings' interesting? Although your powers exceed our imaginations, there has to be certain domains that you don't understand or excel in. The person across me is obviously a young lady of lofty nature. I also have my unique set of experiences, insights, mediums and recourses. Perhaps there will come a day when both of us can help you complete something trivial that might be inconvenient for you."

Juny felt that she was being completely forgotten. And she honestly didn't blame them.

'They are all speaking Loenese... How irritating.'

The Lady next to her nodded her head without hesitation.

"Mr. Fool, I think it's a very good suggestion. As long as this Gathering becomes regular, you can totally leave certain things that are inconvenient for you to us. Of course, it has to be something within our capabilities."

Juny felt extremely uncomfortable, she quickly spoke. Her tone nothing like a child's.

"I also think this, Mr. Fool."

She saw the two people look at her, but she was ignored.

'Damn... okay, that's mean... understandable, but mean nonetheless.'

The mysterious man soon stopped rapping the table and smiled.

"I'm a person who likes a fair and equal exchange. Your help will not go unrewarded. Every Monday at three in the afternoon, try your best to be alone. After I make a few more attempts and figure out certain things, perhapAfter all, we can't use our real names for conversation."

Juny nodded and heard Mr. Fool speak.

"Good idea."

The Lady then gave a suggestion.

"You are Mr. Fool which is delivered from tarot cards. Then, as a fixed, long-term, and secretive 'Gathering', we should be uniform in our designations. Yes, I'll also choose one from the tarot cards... I've decided. My designation shall be 'Justice'!"

Miss Justice then turned to the older man and consecutively to Juny.

"What about you, Mister, Lady?"

She had a cheeky smile, but Juny was just glad she didn't forget to include the little her.

The older man frowned before quickly answering.

"The Hanged Man."

Juny kept a passive expression as she spoke.

"The High Priestess."

Hearing this, Miss Justice blurted out.

"Alright, then we can be considered as the founding members of the Tarot Club!"

Only then did she flinch and fearfully looked at Mr. Fool.

"Will that be alright, Mr. Fool?"

The Fool shook his head in amusement.

"You can decide on such trivial matters by yourselves."

Miss Justice was thrilled.

"Thank you!"

She then looked at Mr. Hanged Man.

"Mr. Hanged Man, can you repeat the address again once more? I'm afraid that my memories will fail me."

The Hanged Man seemed pleased with Miss Justice's seriousness as he repeated the address.

Miss Justice then began asking questions concerning the 22 Major Arcana cards and their connections to the 22 Pathways. Juny joined in and shared something, but it was mainly Mr. Hanged Man speaking.

Miss Justice seemed very interested as she repeated the words with a longing tone.

"Twenty-two paths of the divine..."

It was at that moment that Mr. Fool spoke in a deep coice.

"Alright, that will be all for today's gathering."

Juny immediately stood up together with the other two participants and respectfully bowed towards the Seat of Honor.

"Let us look forward to the next gathering."

Just as she heard this, Juny's vision was once again filled with crimson as she found herself back in her bed.

She pushed her exhausted body up and looked towards her desk.

The glass decoration which was filled with spirituality has completely shattered.

Juny's eyes shimmered outside.

'The time moved... if not for the shattered glass, I would've thought that I've just had the weirdest dream in my life.'

Juny mumbled inwardly, but was too exhausted to think about it.

She let her head fall back down onto the pillow as she fell asleep.

...

Juny's eyes opened wide.

Looking at the clock, Juny immediately groaned.

'I slept for 4 hours...'

Forcing herself out of bed, Juny quickly used Recovery on her clothes.

"Great, I slept with dirty clothes on... what else separates this from my college life?"

Her mumbling was filled with extreme irritation, but she soon picked herself back up.

'I need to wash my face...'

Fixing her clothes, Juny walked out of her room.

'It's about 5 pm. Having a bath should be all good with no interruptions.'

After washing herself and getting a new set of clothes, Juny walked down the stairs.

'I will have some food and go back to making Spell Scrolls.'

'I should also fill the siblings in on the whole mission.'

Looking down at the couch, Juny saw Tarkel and Darmine reading.

After giving them a courtesy greeting, Juny walked to the kitchen.

While she did so, Juny couldn't help but ask.

"Do you know where Ellone and Dager are?"

Darmine lifter her small head and looked in her direction.

"Ellone went back to helping patients and Dager is telling his group about the fight."

Juny looked at her.

"Does he even know when the fight is?"

Darmine shook her head.

Juny frowned.

'Seriously? Is he giving some heroic speech while absolutely clueless. They won't even be participating in the fight...'

She thought for a moment and pulled out some bread.

"Can you tell them that I'll inform them about the specifics at dinner? If they arrive before then of course."

Darmine observed her for a second before nodding.

Before going back up, Juny answered some of Tarkel's questions like a real teacher.

Sighing, Juny soon entered the Dimensional Space.

"My child-like body isn't suited for overworking."

Her mouth was filled with complains but she got to Carving and Enchanting without any delay.

...

'I feel like I was given an impossible deadline, and it's kind of true...'

Juny took another gulp of spiritual recovery medicine, before leaving the Dimensional Space.

Making her way down the stairs, Juny saw the siblings and Tarkel eating dinner.

"Am I late?"

She couldn't help but laugh out.

The three looked up and Ellone spoke up.

"Not really, but Tarkel has to eat earlier so we just went along with it."

Juny hummed and sat down.

"The fight will happen around nighttime this Saturday."

She cut right to the chase and began cutting her portion.

Dager and Ellone looked up at her with surprise.

"That fast? Can you even prepare enough?"

Ellone couldn't help but question.

Juny shrugged.

"I can do it."

Dager scanned Juny's paler than usual complexion.

"You will fight too, right?"

Juny looked at him with a strange look as she swallowed.

"Of course? Who else would be able to take care of the Scarlet Scholar? I mean, you two could probably do it with the Scrolls, but he'll surely have a Sealed Artifact with him."

Dager frowned lightly, but didn't point anything out.

'Should I tell them about that strange thing?'

"..."

'No... it's just a club run by an average human, an average human girl and a Sequence 7. It's really not that much of a big deal.'

Juny went to explain the whole plan as well as everyone's role in it.

After she was finished, Juny took a sip before standing up.

"Well, I'm off."

Bidding the siblings goodbye, Juny went back to her workplace, the Dimensional Space.

Watching her walk away, Ellone heard a voice coming from the couch.

"She's tired."

Looking at Darmine, Ellone nodded.

"I can tell."

Seeing that her words were being paid little attention to, Darmine went back to reading.

'She might actually pass out though...'

...

'Bam!'

"Ow!"

Juny cried out as she hit her head on the table.

"F*ck..."

After a while of huffing and groaning Juny finally lifted her head.

She could see purple color invading the corners of her vision.

Looking at her long and disgusting fingernails and cracked scales, Juny leaned backwards.

"Fuu..."

Thinking back, Juny had a blank space in her memory.

She just finished her last Spell Scroll but the her vision went black.

Juny watched the black fur move as if it had a will of its own.

'Will you not recede anytime soon?'

Looking around Juny suddenly had a question.

"What time is it?"

Standing up, Juny opened a door outside.

'2am...'

Juny heaved a sigh.

Before getting to making the Spell Scrolls for herself and the siblings, Juny went back to the warehouse and gave Degster his promised Spell Scrolls.

Carrying the thick stack of papers, Juny walked out of the Dimensional Space.

"My digestion is at its peak! As long as this mission goes at least slightly well, I will be less than two months from digesting the potion!"

Juny couldn't help but laughed at herself.

'Who knew I only have to almost lose control a few days in a row to digest a potion?'

'If I were from any other pathway and could actually hear ravings, I would long be a slippery cat monster.'

'Unfortunately, I can only learn the Potion formula and Ritual after fully digesting the potion.'

Thinking this, Juny slowly grumped.

"Who knew the Dimensional Space had such unavoidable rules?"

This time, Juny actually took off her clothes before jumping into bed.

'This will soon be over...'

Thinking that, Juny fell asleep.

...

Opening her eyes, Juny basically jumped out of bed.

'That's what I call actual quality sleep! 9 hours of undisturbed rest and I'm as fresh as fish in the water!'

"..."

'That's a bad analogy...'

Putting on her clothes, Juny washed away her sleepy eyes and went to fill her stomach.

'My spirituality is pretty much replenished, and there's still a ton of time before the actual fight.'

"Was it actually a well planned deadline?"

She couldn't help but mutter.

Juny made quick eggs before making her way towards the warehouse.

Soon enough, she saw a large group standing in front.

She could vaguely see Dager and Ellone among the men.

'There are a few sequence 9s and 8s...'

'Dager, Ellone and Degster are the only Sequences 7 on our side.'

'Degster also has a Sequence 5 Mystical item that's good at escaping.'

Going over it, Juny passed the group easily and approached the two siblings.

Seeing them turn, Juny reached into her coat.

"Well hello there."

She greeted with a smile.

Ellone returned the smile and outstretched her arm.

"I'm glad you seem well."

Juny handed Ellme her portion of Spell Scrolls and tilted her head.

'Did I look that bad before?'

Feeling strange, Juny took out Dager's Spell Scrolls.

"Good afternoon."

He smirked and grabbed the Scrolls.

"It's not afternoon yet."

Juny pointed out.

When she left the house, Juny checked that it was around half past eleven.

And it took her less than half an hour to arrive, so it can't be afternoon yet.

Dager's mouth twitched, but he didn't retort.

Flashing him a happy smile, Juny walked through and into the warehouse.

She soon caught a glimpse of Degster and Natia.

They seemed to be discussing something.

Hearing someone approach, the two looked her way.

Upon making eye contact, Juny gave them a friendly smile.

She saw them make a strange face as they watched her approach.

'What's up?'

"Greetings. How is your planning?"

Degster blinked and nodded.

"We're just going over the plan again and thinking up scenarios."

With understanding, Juny pointed to a seat.

"May I?"

Natia immediately gave her an answer.

"Of course."

Sitting down, Juny saw Degster eyeing her from the corner of his eye or giving her a confused expression.

Finally, she felt overwhelmed as she directly asked.

"Is there something?"

The two gave each other a look.

Degster then looked at her and spoke flatly.

"You're a leader of an organization?"

"..."

Juny was sure that if she had drink in her mouth, she would've spat it out.

She slowly closed her eyes.

She had the urge to refuse that statement, but remembering the other five's extreme planning and excited faces, Juny gently nodded.

"That is... the case."

She felt her face twisting mid-sentence, but she held back.

'At least he said an organization and not a gang...'

Juny did her best to think positively.

As she opened her eyes, she saw the uncertain faces before her.

'Please, don't make that face... I'm not proud of it either.'

Juny did her best to quickly change the topic.

"Do you have enough Scrolls?"

Natia flinched, but soon nodded.

"Yes. We even have some to spare."

Juny acknowledged.

"I made sure you would, one can never be over-prepared."

She began spouting her acting principles out of pure frustration.

But she still kept her face straight.

They went over the plan multiple times, but Juny still didn't dare to reveal any of her trump cards.

"It's good if you don't trust me fully. If something looks off, don't wait for someone to solve it, just leave."

She received weird looks even from her own side.

Locking eyes with the siblings, Juny gave them a shrug.

'It's not good to blindly trust someone, especially when it's your first time cooperating.'

As if reading her intentions, Ellone nodded while Dager simply looked away.

Soon enough, Juny 'left' the place, while the siblings stayed.

Looking up, Juny saw the moon.

'Today will be fun...'

She observed the darkening sky and activated her Isolation Enchantment.

Juny slowly moved and smiled.

"After today, these warehouses will be covered in Crimson."