"A guide to action. Do you think that will work?" asked Reina.
She was worried because Shirone was being strangled by a steel wire in the real world. She didn't see how putting a single thought in his mind would save him.
Armin knew it was their only chance. "We have to try. This is a very dangerous situation. It would take a long time to cut his head off, but cutting an artery would be deadly. By then, his mind here might be destroyed very quickly."
Amy was getting scared. "So what do we do?"
Armin's plan was simple. "We need to find the real Shirone."
"What? But all of this is Shirone's spirit," Amy said, confused.
"To be exact, everything here is a shadow made from the most important part of Shirone," Armin explained. "We need to find that core, not the shadows. I call it the 'incarnation'."
Then Amy remembered what Guardrock had taught her in the Valley of the Vortex Serpents. The giant whirlpool snake was just a shadow; its real form was a tiny, smooth salamander. The people from the heavens called that real form an incarnation.
"Is that incarnation here on the 11th level?" Amy asked.
Armin shook his head. "No, it won't be. So we have to call it to come up."
"How do we call it?" Reina wondered.
But Amy figured it out before Armin could answer. "Can't we just ask people? After all, everyone here is a part of Shirone."
Armin smiled, happy that they were starting to understand this strange world. "You're right. We just have to ask people. It's called using a 'keyword'. It's very hard to do from the outside, but here, you just have to ask. If we use 'Shirone' as the keyword, his incarnation will rise to the 11th level. Let's go."
Armin walked to the inn's counter with the two women. He spoke to the middle-aged woman who was still knitting.
"Do you know a man named Shirone?"
As soon as Armin said the name, the musician's music stopped suddenly, as if it had never been playing. The murmur of people talking also vanished.
It was only then that they realized how noisy the inn had been. Now, it was perfectly silent and still.
Amy looked around, feeling a chill. All the people who had been sitting sadly were now staring at Armin with clear, sharp eyes.
The woman at the counter was also staring. She was so still it was like her eyes had frozen. Finally, she spoke. "Why are you looking for that person?"
Armin let out a small sigh and smiled. He noticed she didn't say Shirone's name, which meant she was being very cautious. He knew he had to choose his next words carefully. He couldn't be too direct or sound threatening.
"I have something to tell him," Armin said politely.
The woman thought for a moment and then went back to her knitting. "I don't know. Who is that person?"
"Okay," said Armin. He took a quiet breath, thinking this would not be easy.
Armin was impressed. Even though there was thunder and chaos outside, these fragments of Shirone's mind were still alert. It showed how strong and clear Shirone's mind usually was.
"All right. Then we'll be going," Armin said.
The woman at the counter didn't even look up. "Pay for the roof and go."
Even when he was about to die, a part of Shirone's spirit was focused on getting what was owed to him. This was the mind of a wizard who always tried to be 100% efficient.
'He really has a thorough personality,' Armin thought to himself.
It was a custom that people who came into an inn to escape the rain, even if they didn't eat or get a room, had to pay a small fee for standing under the roof.
But Amy had no money. Even if she did, she didn't think real money would work here.
Then, Armin reached into his pocket. He willingly pulled out a gold coin and paid the woman.
"Here you are," he said.
"Huh?" Amy looked at the gold coin he handed over. It was a cog-shaped gold coin, the kind that isn't used in the real world.
The woman at the counter frowned as she touched the gold coin. "This is too much money."
"You can keep the change," said Armin.
"I can't do that. Here, take it back," she insisted.
"It's really fine," Armin refused with a kind smile.
The woman then coolly agreed. "Okay then. You will be blessed."
Amy pursed her lips. Even though the innkeeper looked and spoke differently, for some reason, she reminded Amy of Shirone.
"Okay, let's go," Armin said, his face serious again.
They left the inn, but they couldn't step out from under the eaves. The street was flooded like a river. Feeling the cold air again, Amy shivered.
"If this continues, the whole world will be underwater," she said.
Armin shook his head. "No, the world will disappear before that happens."
Amy turned to look back at the warm, bright inn through the window. Seeing people resting comfortably inside made her feel a little warmer, but also sad. If Shirone died, they would all disappear. Even though they weren't real people, she hoped they could live in this world for a long time.
"We used the keyword 'Shirone,' so his incarnation should rise to the surface," Armin explained. "Divers call this process 'casting a net'."
"Okay," said Reina.
"But that's the problem. We're running out of time, so I'll explain as we go. The higher the water gets, the harder it will be to move," Armin said.
He then ran out into the heavy rain where you couldn't see more than an inch ahead. Amy ran to catch up with him.
"Where are we going? We don't even know where Shirone is!" she shouted over the rain.
"First… we need to buy weapons. Probably," Armin replied.
He stopped in front of a two-story building and looked up. A sign hung above the door, showing an axe and a sword crossed together.
The three of them huddled under the narrow eaves of the weapons shop, pressing themselves against the wall to stay dry.
Armin looked at the two women. "Is there any kind of weapon you can use?"
Reina spoke first. "I learned a little swordsmanship when I was young…"
"I'm a wizard," Amy said, feeling a little embarrassed. She was ashamed to call herself a wizard after being criticized earlier.
"Okay. I hope we can find something useful for you," Armin said. As he turned to go inside, Amy stopped him.
"Wait! How did you get that money?" she asked.
Even if there were good weapons inside, they couldn't get them without money. And the money Armin had didn't seem real.
Armin had just entered Shirone's consciousness, so Amy thought maybe he could create money, too.
"Ah, I withdrew it," Armin said.
"Withdrew it? From where?" Amy asked, confused.
Armin pointed up to the sky. "From Shirone, of course. This is Shirone's world, so you can create anything you need. Just imagine in your heart that you need money. Then, money will appear based on how much Shirone trusts you. Let's see…"
Armin rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a gold coin. "I have 9 left, so I got a total of 10 gold coins. Of course, it's only gold here, haha."
Seeing the serrated gold coin in Armin's hand, the two women closed their eyes and concentrated, imagining that they needed money.
After feeling in her pockets, Reina blushed and said, "What? It's true. I have 7 coins. 7 gold."
Amy looked up, amazed. She had never heard of Armin before, so she thought Reina, who knew Shirone better, would get at least 10 gold coins. But Armin had more. Did that mean Shirone trusted Armin as much as he trusted Reina?
'Who is this man? What is his connection to Shirone?' Amy wondered.
Still, Amy felt a little excited. It wasn't real money, but here, it was the only currency they had.
'Hmm, Armin has 10, Reina has 7. Maybe I'll get about 20!'
Amy stuck her tongue out in concentration and rummaged through her pockets. She checked one pocket, then the other. Slowly, her happy expression turned into a worried one.
"What?" Reina asked, tilting her head. "What's the matter?"
"No, wait a second," Amy said hurriedly. She frantically searched all the pockets of her clothes. But no matter where she looked, she found nothing.
Amy's face turned red with disbelief. "There… there are no gold coins!"
Armin nodded, understanding why. "Hmm, I see. If Shirone refuses the withdrawal, then that's that."
Amy was shocked. The number of gold coins showed how much Shirone trusted a person. How could she not get a single one?
"Oh no, let me try again!" she pleaded.
Armin said gently, "It's no use. We don't have time. Let's just get what we can with the money we have."
Withdrawing gold coins was supposed to be easy. If none came out the first time, it meant they wouldn't come out no matter how many times she tried.
Reina comforted Amy and led her toward the shop door. "It's okay, Amy. Let's do that. We should have enough with 16 gold."
But Amy shook Reina's arm and stopped, refusing to move. "It can't be!" she shouted.
Tears filled Amy's eyes. The 7 gold Reina received was a sign of Shirone's feelings for her. Amy didn't want to buy her own weapon. If she had to buy something, she wanted to use the money Shirone had given her.
Armin understood that feeling completely. It's why robbery was forbidden in this world. When you see a person's true feelings so clearly, it can feel like everything you thought you knew was a lie.
"Amy, you don't need to feel betrayed. Shirone is desperately holding on. Any emotional trouble can cause this. Maybe you said something that worried him before we came here…" Armin said kindly.
Amy shook her head wildly. "No, it can't be! I would never…"
But then she stopped talking. How could she know for sure? Even if you know everything about a person, you can't always understand what they are thinking deep inside.
Maybe it was because she couldn't handle the Xenoger's attack properly. She had tried to use Ignit to melt the spider's web to save him, and she felt she had failed. Was he disappointed in her?
Armin sighed. This was something everyone had to face inside Shirone's mind, and there was no easy answer.
"Let's go in. We cannot wait any longer," Armin said firmly.
Seeing that Armin would not wait, Amy finally followed, her head hanging low. Reina felt sorry for her friend, but no words could make this situation better.
"Welcome!" the shop owner said, putting down his newspaper.
Amy looked up at him, and her eyes went wide. He looked a little older, but she was sure it was Neid.
"Neid? Is that you?" she asked.
"Huh? Do you know me? I think this is our first time meeting," the shop owner replied, looking confused.
Amy turned to Armin, her eyes demanding an explanation. Armin also knew Neid. He was one of Shirone's friends who had hidden in his house once.
"This is a projection from Shirone's mind," Armin explained quietly. "It's a mix of the idea of a weapons shop and the person Neid. It seems the boy named Neid is interested in this kind of thing."
Reina added, "That happens in dreams sometimes. Once I dreamed someone was a villain and fought them, but when I woke up, I realized it was just a family member I had argued with."
"Yes, it's a natural function of the mind," Armin agreed. "And the fact that there are complex projections like this means that important ideas exist here. Should we look around?"
Neid was still frowning at Amy. "I really don't know you. Are you sure you have the right person?"
"Ah, I must be mistaken," Amy said, pretending she was wrong. She didn't want to say anything else that might upset the delicate balance of Shirone's mind. She knew that in a world made of thoughts, even a small touch could cause a big reaction, like a butterfly effect.