Although it was already well past mealtime, fortunately, Trattoria Margherita was open throughout the entire day.
The two of them chatted casually while waiting for their dishes to arrive.
"So we're going to fight Tacet Discords later? I noticed you seem to really like fighting Tacet Discords?"
"Yes, I fight a lot of Tacet Discords every day."
"My Modulation ability can create Tacet Discords under specific conditions. If you like, we can try it out later."
"No thanks, I'm not a real Tacet Discord slaughter machine. I don't have that kind of hobby of deliberately creating Tacet Discords just to kill them."
"Noah!" A surprised shout interrupted their casual chat. Noah turned his head and saw Phoebe quickly jogging over while carrying her bird-head staff.
"Great, I didn't expect to see you here. May I ask if you have Miss Cartethyia's contact information?"
"I do, bro, I do."
Noah took out his terminal, opened Cartethyia's contact, and was about to send it to Phoebe when he suddenly paused.
Giving out someone else's contact information without permission was very rude and could easily cause trouble for them.
"Phoebe, sit down first. What do you need from Cartethyia?"
Seeing Noah ask, Phoebe sat down and recounted everything that had happened in the Order of the Deep recently.
Ever since it was revealed that Fenrico had sent a large number of people onto the pilgrimage ships, there had been strong public backlash against the Order. To calm the situation, the Order promised to revise their doctrines.
The new doctrines needed to benefit the public, which would also infringe on the Order's rights to some extent. This caused enormous resistance to the revision, and Ludovic had been in serious conflict with the higher-ups.
Under the influence of multiple forces, the newly issued doctrines didn't fully fix the bad parts and didn't improve the good parts enough, causing quite a few more messes.
"This is mainly because the Order is currently leaderless. There isn't anyone who can make decisive calls on everything."
Listening to Phoebe list everything in detail, Noah finally understood the current state of the Order.
"So, you need the Saintess to return to the Order and become that leader?"
"That's right. The Order looks calm on the surface, but in reality, it's a complete mess. Many affairs aren't properly supervised."
One of those affairs was probably the hidden sea testing grounds.
Noah thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I'll mention this to Cartethyia, but she isn't very willing to get involved in the Order's matters. How to persuade her will be up to you, Phoebe."
If they could invite the Saintess back to set things right, that would be a great achievement.
Cartethyia had no intention of competing for the position of leader, Ludovic was already in conflict with the higher-ups, and Phoebe, who had made contributions, had greatly increased her competitiveness.
"Thank you so much, Noah."
"You're welcome."
Noah originally wanted to reach out and pinch Phoebe's chubby little face, but remembering that Phrolova was still beside him, he had to stop.
After editing and sending the message to Cartethyia, the meal soon ended. Noah arranged for Phoebe to go welcome Cartethyia, while he left with Phrolova.
"There's something I'm really curious about."
While walking on the road, Phrolova beside him suddenly spoke:
"It seems like whenever someone comes to you for help, as long as you have time, you're willing to lend a hand. What kind of environment did you grow up in to develop such a wonderful character?"
"It's not as noble as you make it sound."
Noah shook his head, unwilling to say more:
"They happened to be in trouble, I happened to pass by, so I helped out. Most of the time, I just do what I think is right."
"Following your own heart, huh..."
Phrolova lowered her head, lightly pressing her lips together. After a long while, she asked again:
"If one day you discover that you helped a bad person, what would you do?"
"I would regret that I couldn't help her before she turned bad..."
...
The designated location for this Tacet Discord cleanup was on the high mountain behind the Order.
[Daily Quest: Clear Tacet Discords (Challenge) Completed.]
The moment the quest was completed, Noah immediately opened Phrolova's banner and started pulling without hesitation.
Ten-pull summon——
160th pull, Gold!
[Successfully Summoned——Phrolova!]
He had eaten the full hard pity, and she finally came out. Noah was completely numb.
Expensive, way too expensive. One Phrolova cost him a full 25,600 Astrite just for the base character with zero chains.
Even though he knew the huge benefits of pulling Phrolova, he still couldn't suppress the impulse to not want her anymore.
Could he apply for a refund-only and get his Astrite back?
"Dusk has arrived."
A soft whisper pulled Noah out of the banner. He closed the panel and looked toward the source of the voice.
Phrolova was sitting at the edge of the steep mountain peak, also looking at him, as if inviting him over.
After looking at each other for a few seconds, Noah took a few steps and sat down side by side with Phrolova, enjoying the scenery under the setting sun together.
Brilliant burning clouds surged into view like ocean tides. The huge red sun had already touched the sea surface, dyeing the entire ocean a deep crimson. The wind blew, stirring up layer upon layer of waves.
"Ever since that catastrophe, I feel like I've been living in a gray and white world. It wasn't until I casually turned around just now that I realized this world is actually so splendid."
Phrolova murmured softly, then suddenly changed the topic:
"Tomorrow, would you be interested in visiting my former hometown with me? I haven't picked up the violin for others in a long time. I want to play there and have you as my first audience."
"Anything's fine." Noah was indifferent: "We should head back now, right?"
"Can we not use your ability to teleport?"
Seeing Noah about to use teleportation to return to The Lost Beyond, Phrolova tugged at the corner of his clothes and pleaded:
"Let's take a walk a bit longer. There's a seafood shop near the dock. I suddenly feel like buying something."
...
Time passed slowly.
They finally returned to The Lost Beyond. Phrolova secretly went back to the small house, took out the cigarette-holder pot that Noah had once disliked, and wiped the lid.
Wisps of smoke rose from the spout, gathering into an illusory altar. Before the altar could speak, Phrolova had already laid out one Shell Credit, one Tick Tack, and one mutated Tick Tack.
"What is your wish?" A ethereal voice sounded from within the altar.
"I wish to reconcile with Noah." Phrolova made her wish.
"Then you can wait."
The illusory altar dispersed with the smoke. The prepared offerings showed no change at all. Phrolova's expression froze.
Just as Noah had said, this thing was useless. She must have gone crazy to think of praying to it.
On the other side.
Noah was pondering his new character.
According to the game settings, Phrolova's Resonance ability was to establish a connection with her other self in the beyond, linking to the beyond and possessing an immortal body, different from all other characters.
Damaged skin could recover in just 6 seconds, damaged organs required 15 to 18 minutes to recover, with no lethal weaknesses.
He wondered if after switching to Phrolova, he would have his own Hecate and The Lost Beyond.
No time like the present. Noah directly switched to the Phrolova character.
After feeling it for a moment, he froze in place.
"This isn't right... Phrolova and I share the same The Lost Beyond and Hecate!"
If that was the case, then——
He would gladly accept Hecate.
He would gladly accept The Lost Beyond.
He would gladly accept the Threnodian gem too.
As for Phrolova——
Hmm? Why are you still here?
...