When the plot-skips players into the game world

When the second painting was completed, everyone who was still in the second painting was transported back to the enchanted corridor.

This time they did not need to answer any questions, for the time to make a choice had not yet come.

In front of the three doors, a countdown marker appeared on the ground.

And two of the doors had already turned into paintings.

"... 'The Endless Banquet' and 'Animal World', huh."

Aiwass murmured softly, "What then, is the third painting like?"

He could clearly see that the points of light on the third painting hadn't changed much. They were still being added evenly, but after three rounds of answers, there were only five votes, down from the unanimous three in the first round.

This meant that indeed, two people had lost the ability to vote.

...Was it because they had been petrified?

After all, there should be a Transcendent from the Path of Dusk within the third painting.

He possessed the ability to petrify others. In this death-encouraging promotion ceremony, being sealed had far more serious consequences than death.

Aiwass also didn't know how the Son of the Moon from the first painting was faring. He didn't know whether she had been sealed within the painting or in the corridor outside...

Aiwass had been waiting here until the clock on the ground ticked down. Suddenly, the points of light on the third door brightened and new traces emerged.

Compared to earlier, there were now two additional points of light.

Had someone been released from the seal? Or was there an additional person?

If it was an additional person, then it must have been the Princess. Aiwass hadn't seen her in the second painting; presumably, she must have ventured into the third painting.

She seemed to have survived...

Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she was the one who killed him—still, he hoped she could live a bit longer.

As the base template for the third painting, this "With Me"... if nothing unexpected happened, Aiwass had actually seen it before.

—It was a painting given to Aiwass and Isabel by Master Yanis when he left Avalon. Named by Isabel herself, the phrase was even spoken by Aiwass personally.

And through the three directions completed by this painting... the three endings of 'Ring of Ouroboros', 'A Thousand Years Later', and 'Goodbye', these were making Aiwass somewhat anxious.

He once again—found traces of the Serpent Celestial Marshal in his own promotion ceremony.

As if someone was always reminding him, he was just a key discarded by the Serpent Celestial Marshal. One day the Serpent Celestial Marshal would come to retrieve him, to unlock that door...

"...I'll just have to play it by ear."

Aiwass sighed and pushed the door open to enter.

This must have been the fourth time that this painting had a direction chosen, it should no longer be in its original form.

He hoped to find at least some familiar traces within it...

Aleister was thinking the same thing on the other side.

—Until she opened her eyes amidst a dizzy spell.

Having grown accustomed to the fairy-tale filter of the second painting, suddenly returning to the real-world style, Aleister was having a bit of trouble adjusting...

"...Hmm?"

Her eyes suddenly widened.

Aleister felt as if she had suddenly arrived in a world that was very familiar, yet extremely strange—

She was currently standing at the top of a bell tower.

Above her, the sun shone brightly.

But compared to Avalon's sky that still bore traces of azure, the sky here exhibited a much deeper shade of leaden grey.

And below the bell tower...

There was a continuous flow of traffic.

Familiar yet strange.

Cars came and went in a rush, and towering skyscrapers rose from the ground. The pedestrian crossings were filled with dense and orderly crowds.

On the skyscrapers above, the mirror-like walls constantly reflected advertisements that Aleister felt she could understand, but were also somewhat incomprehensible— they sounded like Avalon language, but were mixed with many words and dialects from the Iris Flower and Star Antimony.

This place is...

"...modern."

Aleister muttered softly.

But this was not her home.

Her emotions churned within her.

She unconsciously gripped and released the railing, her hands and arms involuntarily shaking, then her whole body began to tremble.

Her heart suddenly began to beat violently, gasping as if she were asthmatic. Once her emotions had stabilized slightly, Aleister took a deep breath, and her strength contorted the metal railing into a sudden twist—

"[Stop]!"

Just then, a Word Spirit descended.

It hit Aleister and then bounced off on its own.

Aleister only felt a momentary stiffness in her body, almost imperceptible, before the spell disappeared without a trace.

It was at this moment that a middle-aged policeman, standing on what seemed like a drone-like flying disc, suddenly flew over.

"—Hey, girl! Be careful, that's dangerous! How did you get up here?"

He called out from afar, half advising and half warning: "Don't stand next to the railing; it's very dangerous, easy to fall down—I don't care which school you are from, don't think just because you learned some superpowers you can be a superhero, you are still too young! Go back to school!"

Upon hearing this, Aleister belatedly realized something.

She looked down at her own outfit.

A white blouse, a brown checkered pleated skirt, and a dark brown blazer with a striped tie. This indeed looked a bit like a school uniform...

"...Sorry, sir."

Aleister, suppressing the excitement and palpitations in her heart, put on an about-to-cry appearance and spoke softly, "I'm feeling a bit down..."

"Sigh, you child..."

The middle-aged man dressed as a policeman sighed, stepping on the disc and flying over: "Did you get dumped? You kids..."

It wasn't until now that he saw the metal railing bent by Aleister, which gave him quite a shock.

But seeing Aleister standing obediently next to it, he was in no position to say much.

After hesitating for a long time, he still asked, "Where are your parents? I need their contact number."

"They are both dead."

Aleister replied with tears in her eyes, speaking softly, "They were killed by a Demon and a Cursing Sorcerer when I was very young..."

"...Oh, damn, oh... sorry..."

The middle-aged man realized he had said something wrong and was suddenly choked up, stuttering an apology.

He hovered there, looking at Aleister and hesitating to speak.

"...Sir," Aleister raised her head, her eyes seemingly filled with genuine tears, "I'm a bit hungry. Can you treat me to something to eat?"

"...Nothing too expensive, girl."

The middle-aged man said helplessly, "I don't have much personal savings—this can't be expensed to the Supervisory Bureau."

"A burger and a soda will do, is that okay?"

"Oh, that's fine."

The man breathed a sigh of relief, obviously within his acceptable range.

He looked up at the sky: "It's not early anymore, shall we go have lunch together? And don't do these dangerous things again."

With that, he gently pulled Aleister onto his flying disc. Then he took both of them straight to the street below the bell tower.

Only as they approached the ground did the two get off the disc.

The disc instantly contracted into a shield and was carried on the man's back. There seemed to be some sort of magnetic device on his back that allowed him to just place it behind him where it stuck firmly.

Aleister said politely in a soft voice, "How should I address you, sir?"

"You can call me Inspector Webber. I'm usually patrolling the Red Queen's precinct, if you have anything troubling you can come find me at the Supervisory Bureau. Except for holidays, I'm either on the streets or at the bureau."

The middle-aged man sighed, "Such polite language, are you a young lady from some place? Oh... sorry."

He found Aleister's manner of speaking interesting, with an old-fashioned charm, like that of ancient heritage academies that educated the wealthy. But he had barely uttered these words when he realized something.

"It's okay, I didn't grow up in an orphanage either. I was adopted..."

Aleister shook her head and said with a smile.

"Oh?"

Inspector Webber asked curiously, "What's your name, girl?"

"My name is Aleister."

Aleister said forthrightly, "The people who adopted me... their surname is Moriarty."

"Oh, Aleister... wait... which Moriarty?"

Inspector Webber paused, taken aback.

Aleister's heart stirred.

She stopped in her tracks, tilted her head, and probed, "How many Moriartys could there be?"