"Hmm… change the hair color to blue, then braid it into two ponytails."
In the small alley, light and shadow dappled across the bluestone slabs. Phrolova furrowed her brows, carefully examining the clone she had created with her Resonance ability, muttering to herself:
"The appearance is a bit too good-looking. Approaching the target so boldly would seem abrupt. Fine, tone it down just a little — but not too much."
"Remove the eyepatch, unify the pupil color. The clothes should be more ordinary too… no black stockings…"
"A very harmonious outfit. There's no way he'll recognize it's me now. That's it."
Finally satisfied, she nodded, took a deep breath, and controlled her clone to walk toward the public bench near the docks.
Phrolova had watched Noah carry short brownwood back and forth again and again. The confusion in her heart had only grown deeper.
Why would someone with such immense power willingly do something so ordinary? He was completely different from Scar and Cristoforo.
She wanted to find an answer from him — an answer completely opposite to Fractsidus.
She split off a portion of her consciousness, leaving her real body in place. The clone began to move.
With a trace of caution, Phrolova slowly approached the bench, her mind racing with thoughts.
What should she say as an opening line?
Would interrupting him abruptly arouse suspicion?
But speaking too casually didn't feel right either.
It would be great if he could take the initiative to start a conversation.
Phrolova stood still a short distance away, completely silent, eyes drifting — sometimes glancing at Noah on the bench, sometimes wandering to the surroundings.
Finally, Noah looked up at her once… then quietly shifted his body to the side.
Was… was this an invitation for her to sit? But he hadn't said a word. Phrolova was extremely conflicted — should she sit or not?
"You're not sitting?"
Noah finally spoke the first sentence to this stranger who had been standing there foolishly the whole time.
He had noticed her ages ago — just standing there, not saying anything, occasionally sneaking a glance at him, then quickly looking away like a thief.
Just… inexplicably weird.
If he hadn't been genuinely tired from moving all that wood and needed a rest, he would have left long ago.
"Sit."
It seemed he hadn't recognized her. This clone was quite well-made. Phrolova breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on the bench, and spoke softly:
"…I just saw you sighing here. I wanted to know… what's troubling you?"
"Good grief, who just walks up to a stranger and asks about their worries like that…"
He wasn't some NPC with a question mark floating over his head.
"Whatever. Having someone to chat with isn't bad."
Noah paused, then pointed toward the dock not far away:
"Look, there's a work ship over there. They just started recruiting workers to load short brownwood onto the ship. Five thousand Shell Credits for every hundred pieces moved."
"Hmm…" Phrolova murmured thoughtfully.
So he was doing this for Shell Credits?
"Then you must have earned a lot of Shell Credits."
"No, not really."
Noah shook his head and let out a quiet sigh:
"A long time ago, I thought that even without the buffs from Resonance abilities, with my own natural talent, I would eventually make something of myself."
"But just now, I pushed myself to the absolute limit and carried two hundred pieces. Then I turned my head — and the big brother next to me was carrying three hundred. Suddenly I realized… I've always overestimated myself, and underestimated others."
"It sounds like a very ordinary little thing, right? But do you know what I was thinking in that moment?"
Phrolova was puzzled.
What could he possibly be thinking? Someone else just carried a few more pieces of wood than him. Isn't it perfectly normal for there to be differences in physical strength between people?
"In that moment, I suddenly felt…"
"Everything I've achieved along the way — gaining Resonance abilities, defeating all kinds of enemies — it was just luck and opportunity happening to land on me."
"My own effort and choices… they actually weren't that important. There are countless dragons and phoenixes among humanity, people far more outstanding than me."
Noah cast his gaze toward the workers in the distance, busy assembling ships with short brownwood. There was a depth in his eyes that Phrolova found hard to read:
"If I hadn't been so lucky… perhaps I would have just been the most ordinary one among them."
"I've never heard anyone think like this before…"
Phrolova's heart trembled slightly. It was hard to imagine such words coming from the mouth of someone who had saved Jinzhou multiple times and could beat Threnodians into submission.
Everyone she had ever met — including herself — whether good or bad, had always calmly regarded their powerful Resonance abilities as an inherent part of themselves.
None of them had ever considered what they would be like without those abilities.
She felt as if she had grasped something… yet hadn't quite grasped it.
"But you were lucky. You gained such power."
"No, you don't understand."
"…I think I do understand now."
Phrolova tightly clutched the hem of her clothes. Her hands trembled slightly as realization dawned.
She finally understood the difference between Fractsidus and the Noah sitting beside her.
It was empathy.
Noah possessed an empathy that Fractsidus could never comprehend.
Because of this empathy, he would never become complacent about his own power. He would never consider himself superior just because he had Resonance abilities. And he would certainly never act unscrupulously and without regard for consequences like Fractsidus did.
Because of this empathy, he could place himself on the same level as ordinary people, willingly lower himself into the crowd, and even feel lost about the meaning of strength.
"I understand how you feel." Phrolova turned her head and looked at Noah beside her:
"You never treat your Resonance abilities as part of who you truly are. You only see them as a stroke of luck. That's why you've always maintained the mindset of an ordinary person."
"You feel fortunate for your own luck, yet at the same time, you feel sympathy and sorrow for the countless 'yous' in the world who aren't so fortunate."
"Such a simple yet moving sentiment…"
Something that self-important playwright would never be able to comprehend.
In this moment, Phrolova truly came to know the young man before her — who outwardly seemed so overwhelmingly powerful.
"You feel… that the world shouldn't be like this, right?"
"…"
Noah didn't speak. His eyes only grew wider and wider. Suddenly, he slapped his thigh in excitement:
"Whoa! I've been sitting here thinking for ages and still couldn't figure out what I really felt — and you just explained it perfectly in one sentence! You're practically my soulmate!"
"You're too kind." Phrolova withdrew her gaze:
"I can feel that your heart is growing through this very struggle, slowly growing to match the power you possess."
"Now it's your turn."
The sudden shift in topic caught Phrolova off guard.
"Say… say what?"
"Just chat, soulmate. Who are you, where are you from, and where are you going?"
"I…"
Phrolova lowered her head, staring at the crumpled hem of her clothes. Her thoughts were as tangled as knotted threads:
"I… am a violinist. I come from… a very small village. It used to be a very harmonious, beautiful home."
"I had my family, my mother, my friends…"
"But then a catastrophe took all their lives. Only I… was lucky enough to survive."
By the time Phrolova came back to her senses and realized what she had just said, she immediately shut her mouth, filled with regret.
Next, this person would surely do what everyone else had done before — advise her to let go of the past, to look forward.
If letting go were that easy, she would have done it long ago.
"You…"
A single syllable fell, and Phrolova's heartbeat raced with unprecedented tension.
Even though she had expected it, even someone as different from Fractsidus as Noah would ultimately tell her to move on, wouldn't he?
She was already sick of hearing those words.
"You must have suffered greatly."
Just those few short words were like a long-lost ray of sunlight, shining into Phrolova's withered heart — a warmth she had never felt before, causing her eyes, long accustomed to darkness and cold, to blur inexplicably.
Other people always thought they were being rational by telling her to be strong, but no one had ever asked whether she was in pain.
In this moment, Noah seemed to glow in Phrolova's eyes.
He really was different from everyone else.
Noah looked at Phrolova with pity.
So this person had come to talk to a complete stranger because she had lost her home and loved ones, and her heart was knotted with grief with no one to confide in.
No wonder she had stood there silently for so long. He thought she was socially anxious — turns out she was an orphan.
No big deal. Jinzhou was full of orphans. He had actually learned a special comforting script from Verina earlier —
"If you don't mind, tell me about it. Maybe saying it out loud will make you feel a little better. I'm willing to share half of your burden."
"…" Phrolova slowly lifted her head and looked back into Noah's encouraging eyes. She suddenly felt such an overwhelming sourness that she couldn't speak.
"…I want to know —"
"For someone as unfortunate as me…"
"Am I also included in the range of people you 'sympathize with' and 'feel sorrow for'?"
Hearing this, Noah thought seriously for a moment before answering solemnly:
"I don't know what kind of answer would comfort you. My sympathy can't change the tragedy that has already happened. All I know is — if you need my help, I won't refuse."
"…Thank you. You are a good person… It's getting late. I should go."
Phrolova stood up, turning her back to Noah. Her voice was slightly distorted:
"…By the way, there have been reports of very ferocious Tacet Discords injuring people recently in the Nimbus Sanctum. Please be careful."
[Main Quest: Veils Off in Sun or Shadow has been activated.]