"So that's how it is."
After reading the originally hidden information from Bennett's terminal through Noah's terminal, Carlotta quickly pieced together the entire sequence of events:
"Capollo took out the family's core component to surrender and ally with the Order of the Deep. For that, he killed Bennett, who knew the most about the inner workings."
"He had already guessed that I might investigate him, so he destroyed Bennett's terminal, leaving only the travel logs. He entrusted Old Duncan to hand the terminal to me, precisely to lure me into stepping on the stained-glass mirror trap at the pier."
"But what he didn't expect was that one of his subordinates witnessed everything, recorded evidence of his crimes, and hid it inside Bennett's terminal."
The black under the lamp—no one would bother checking a dead person's terminal again, so this hidden evidence was preserved until now.
Having sorted everything out, Carlotta quickly thought of a way to deal with Capollo:
"Rather than passively searching for the core component that Capollo has hidden, it's better to make him hand it over to us willingly."
Carlotta smiled slightly, elegantly leaning forward to close the distance with Noah:
"Tall Chestnut, are you interested in joining me in giving them a grand and magnificent statement in two days?"
"You handle the arrangements. If there's anything, just call me anytime—I'll be there whenever you need."
The night outside was deep. Noah yawned:
"But there shouldn't be anything for me today, right? You should head back and rest early too. See you later, Little Potato."
"See you later, Tall Chestnut."
After waving goodbye to Noah, the two parted ways at the pier.
Carlotta took a few steps forward, suddenly feeling an emptiness in her heart. She turned back, but Noah's figure had already disappeared around the corner of the street.
She stared blankly at the street corner for a long while before snapping back to reality.
Strange... why does it feel a little reluctant to part with him?
Carlotta savored the inexplicable sense of loss rising in her heart as she walked toward the Montelli Quarter, extending her right hand.
The warmth from when Noah had held her hand seemed to still linger in her palm.
Even though the mirror world had undergone a cataclysmic collapse, the moment he took her hand, all her fear had suddenly vanished like smoke.
Because she truly felt that Noah was a towering, reliable barrier, capable of keeping any storm outside and giving her unparalleled peace of mind.
Carlotta suddenly let out a soft laugh:
"Tall Chestnut... what a fitting nickname."
Speaking of which, she suddenly thought of a question—
"But... what deep meaning does Little Potato have...? Maybe it's a very intimate and pampering nickname? Haha..."
Her mind uncontrollably replayed all her experiences with Noah today. The road no longer felt long, and before long, Carlotta arrived at her residence.
After a quick wash, she changed into loose pajamas and sent a message to Grandfather Francesco to report her safety. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Who could it be at this hour? Someone sent by Capollo...? Could it be Tall Chestnut? Does he have something to talk to me about?"
Thinking of this possibility, Carlotta felt a surge of joy in her heart. With seven parts anticipation and three parts caution, she opened the door. Before seeing the person, she heard the voice first.
"Da, da-da-da-da-da-da."
Red hair in braids, pointed elf ears, emerald-green eyes, strange horns, a cyan-green dress, black thigh-high boots...
Oh, it was just her good sister Ciaccona.
Recognizing the person, Carlotta immediately lost interest and was about to close the door, but a hand immediately blocked it.
"Hey, sister, how can you do this? I came to find you the moment I returned to Ragunna City."
"I really can't do anything with you." Carlotta shook her head and opened the door: "Come in."
As soon as she entered, Ciaccona immediately gave Carlotta a big bear hug, lifting her entirely and taking a deep sniff:
"So fragrant, so fragrant. Still the same as before. It's been so long—let me check if you've developed properly."
"Ah ya, don't touch randomly."
Carlotta swatted away Ciaccona's mischievous hands and changed the subject:
"Why did you suddenly come back to Ragunna without telling me in advance? I could have picked you up."
"With the Carnevale starting soon, I came back to see the current state of Ragunna and try to win the Laureate title."
After letting go of Carlotta, Ciaccona scanned the room, then dashed forward with a few steps and leaped straight onto the soft, fragrant big bed in the middle of the room. Behind her, Carlotta cried out in alarm:
"Hey, that's my bed."
"What's yours and mine? Didn't we often sleep together before? Don't worry, I already washed up before coming."
Ciaccona rolled around on the bed a few times, then reached out and pulled the approaching Carlotta onto the soft cotton mattress as well:
"Sister, sister, come on, tell me—what interesting things happened while I was away from Ragunna?"
"There were quite a few trivial matters, and some interesting ones... actually, yes. I want to tell you about a traveler from the Grand Library in Jinzhou."
Seeing an unprecedented light suddenly sparkle in Carlotta's eyes, Ciaccona was slightly stunned.
Just mentioning a traveler—did it really warrant such excitement?
No, something was a million percent off!
"Let me tell you... his name is Noah, blah blah blah..."
Once the topic between girls started, it was hard to stop.
"We first met in the Cloud Courtyard... then we explored the vault secret passage together... adventured to fight the Dragon of Dirge... rehearsed performances... entered the stained-glass mirror world aaaahhh..."
The more Carlotta spoke, the more excited she became, all sleepiness gone. She pushed Ciaccona, whose face was gradually turning lifeless:
"Sister, perk up. Listen to me—Tall Chestnut, he..."
If Ciaccona had only one part suspicion before, now it was ten out of ten certainty.
No one understood Carlotta better than her longtime best friend, but she had never seen Carlotta get this agitated and excited just from mentioning someone.
Her good sister was no longer just her sister anymore.
"You're done for."
Ciaccona wailed:
"You're done for—you've fallen in love. What exactly is so great about that stinking chestnut?"
Carlotta frowned and lightly smacked Ciaccona:
"Don't talk about him like that."
"So you admit you like him?"
"No... of course not!" Carlotta's face suddenly flushed red as she hurriedly explained: "We... are still just friends."
"Ohh, ohh."
Ciaccona swayed her head while mimicking Carlotta's tone in a sarcastic drawl:
"We~ are~ still~ just~ fri~ends~"
"Aaaahhh, I think you want to witness a new wave."
Carlotta was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground. She reached out to tickle Ciaccona's sides. The two girls quickly started roughhousing, the big bed shaking repeatedly.
===
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was two days later.
[Daily Mission: "Clear Tacet Field" (Challenge) completed.]
[Current possession: Radiant Tide *20, Lustrous Tide *90, Astrite *80040, Shell Credit *7.6 million.]
"Eighty thousand Astrite, plus 20 Radiant Tides—that's... 520 pulls!"
This was undoubtedly the richest moment Noah had experienced since crossing over.
By the day after tomorrow, when he claimed the Laureate at the Carnevale and met Cartethyia, Noah felt he could easily pull to full six chains, plus a signature weapon.
He might even have some left over.
Looking at the resources he had painstakingly saved for days in his backpack, Noah's pent-up spending desire after half a month reached its peak.
"I'll pull!"
Opening the [Summon] interface—though there were only the two permanent pools now—Noah prepared to dump all 90 Lustrous Tides into it.
He selected Encore as the self-selected permanent character pool on the panel, then with a thought—
Ten-pull summon!
First ten-pull: no Encore.
Second ten-pull: no Encore.
Third ten-pull: no Encore.
Fourth...
Fifth ten-pull: got her!
Golden light flashed on the panel, and soon a petite pink-haired girl holding black and white sheep plushies popped out.
"Black Shores Encore, reporting for duty!"
[Successfully summoned—Encore (automatically converted to Waveband)!]
[Character Encore remaining ban time: 2 days 8 hours 12 minutes.]
"Great, no pity pull!"
Noah rubbed his hands excitedly and dumped the remaining 40 Lustrous Tides into the pool, but unfortunately, nothing notable came out.
Noah didn't mind much—it just padded the pool. As his pulling frequency increased in the future, these permanent characters would eventually reach full chains anyway.
Closing the panel, the terminal's radio wave sound rang at the same time. He answered the call, and a light, cheerful greeting came through:
"Good afternoon, my clever and powerful 'accomplice.' Ready to go on an adventure together? I'm already dying to see you."
"Little Potato, stop speaking in that pinched voice—I can't get used to it."
"Huh?!"
Even through the terminal, one could almost see Carlotta clenching her fists in annoyance:
"I speak normally and you can't get used to it? Looks like you want to witness a new wave."