Lea accompanied Dawn to Lacrosa, going for another gathering since she had been so busy with all the investigation, inventing, and even more politics.

  Lea transferred more than half of her sary and hazard pay to her passcard. After the revetion that "Miss Mashhith" took her money without her knowledge, Lea now only has 3,500 Cee in her card...

  It is a pitiful amount for a Pathstrider, which is an endless pit of expenditure.

  They headed to the familiar Galley's Salon, entering the high-css salon. And there was still that old woman who looked very suspicious, as if she ate children, in a gaudy red dress.

  Dawn confidently approached her, "Hello, I seek the Lady in White."

  "Oho!! It is nice to see a familiar face here!", the hag greeted Dawn with passion, "And is that a Shadow Guard? So you finally got yourself a bodyguard!!"

  "Well, an acquaintance of mine said she's useful.", Dawn shrugged, "Now, is Laten here?"

  "Hehehe... I can't give you that information, you know the rule~"

  "It's fine.", she turned to Lea, "Come on, let's wait."

  After a few more banters, the two moved on to a room to wait for the gathering time...

  =0=0=

  A voluptuous woman wakes up in a cold sweat, her green eyes dart around the wooden bedroom, seemingly in line with Ryteline architecture standards.

  "Have you been sleeping well?", a voice asked her, pyful and amused.

  Her eyes darted to... the all-devouring bck void. Blinking, she stares at the woman with white hair in a bck uniform. Her eyes are not bck, no, they don't contain the concept of color at all.

  "Agnes Farewey, a Third Step Magical Girl, Salvation and Creation. You truly chose the impossible Path.", oblivion spoke with a smile.

  "You are...", Agnes hesitated, then clutched her head, feeling a headache, "Ugh..."

  "You used too much willpower~ little big Magical Girl.", she giggled, "How about this, you seek the Tome of Light, right?"

  It was like the whispers of a demon...

  "Y-Yes... you know how to see the Keeper?!"

  Agnes was exposed to the light of that book at a young age; unlike those who went insane, she became enamoured with the God of Light. Incidentally became a Knowledge Seeker of old, and It's only follower in this age.

  To learn of it is nothing more than a blessing from her god.

  "Here~", the void presented her with a sigil of an eye inside a book and an instruction manual, "This is the instruction for summoning it~"

  Eagerly, she took the booklet and sigil with fervor; she could barely contain her crazed smile. She trembles and hugs them close.

  "Ah... ah... my lord... please reveal to me... everything..."

  Seeing the manic gaze in those eyes, oblivion exited the room...

  "Hah... another nut case...", she shrugged, stepping away.

  =0=0=

  Today's objective for the gathering was to get in contact with the Cult of Technology, asking them to lend support to Dawn. As well as a member of MSSH.

  MSSH and the cult aren't in opposition; they are indifferent to each other. As long as the other stay in their ne, they will stay out of each other's way.

  So before the gathering officially started, Dawn and Lea went into the backstage area, where the host, now donning a silver white mask with horns, Geas, was preparing.

  How was Dawn able to get here with obstruction? Because of royal privilege and being a semi-member of the Cult.

  "Who do I owe you, Your Highness?", he addressed Dawn, paying no attention to Lea.

  "I have a new invention ready to be released to the public after a few weeks, you know about Ryteline's industrial strength, an entire new age of connection is about to be open.", she smiled confidently, "I want you to buy it and spread my piece of tech far and wide."

  "Shadow Guard, do your job.", she commanded Lea.

  With a nod from the shadow beneath her feet, Lea took out a big wooden box and pced it on the table. She clearly struggled with its weight.

  Geas hesitated for a moment, then he opened the box. His eyes lit up with the yellow light of Creation and Revetion.

  "This is... amazing, Your Highness. I am willing to pay 2,000— no, 3,000 Cee for this."

  Lea widens her eyes, the mask morphs into a vague image of an explosion. 1 Pound is roughly equal to 2,5 Cee... he was willing to pay more than a thousand Pound for this prototype.

  "That's alright, but remember to change the design a bit when making it. You are from Aipotu, right? Make sure it gets popur."

  Aipotu is the Northernmost country, directly above Ryteline, straight across the Great Desert. If that pce made another version of the nd telephone, nobody could track it back to Dawn.

  After all, there is a reason why the princess officially showcases her inventions in public, even if she had begun production with the council's approval before. The official production would only begin after making her inventions public, so people could steal the idea and distribute it worldwide.

  She wants the overall improvement of humanity as a whole; the Cult of Technology is just another stepping stone in her goal.

  Ambitious yet generous.

  Lea could only watch from the darkness as the princess shone brighter, her shadows also became darker.

  If Lea didn't know about the Path of Divinity, with how much Malediction transformed her, she wouldn't hesitate to use Dawn as a stepping stool for her revenge. Even now, she decided to use a section of Renar for her ritual. Dawn wouldn't be happy finding this out.

  Seeing the two followers of the Chalk Princess going back and forth, mostly Dawn expining how to make the components, like the core of the telephone being a special type of crystal that can be created with chemistry, how to set it up, and what needed to be made to make the contraption.

  With that, as the appointed time got closer, both of them shook hands.

  "Come on now, Shadow Guard. Let's enjoy this gathering!!"

  They headed back outside.

  The gathering hall hummed with anticipation as Dawn and Lea descended into the main room. The velvet carpet muffled their footsteps, though Lea's heart still hammered louder than it should.

  The same vish-but-not-extravagant bar greeted them. Circur oak counter, gleaming bottles, cushioned stools, and that pale bartender in his spotless vest still polishing gsses with mechanical precision.

  Dawn moved confidently to a corner table, clearly familiar with the yout. Lea followed, her bnk mask drawing a few curious gnces before people returned to their conversations.

  Above the wooden beam supporting the bar, that familiar emblem, three gears, the rge one supported by two smaller ones, blended with the decorations. The Cult of Technology's symbol.

  Lea settled into her seat beside Dawn, who ordered something expensive-sounding in a nguage Lea didn't recognize. The bartender nodded and began mixing.

  "Rex.", Dawn murmured without looking at her, "You look like you're about to bolt."

  "I'm fine.", Lea replied, keeping her voice neutral.

  The princess accepted her drink from the bartender, a swirling violet concoction that seemed to shift colors, "You've been here before. Act like it."

  Lea ordered the same moonlight cocktail from her first visit. The bartender's pale eyes flickered with recognition, but he said nothing, simply sliding the glowing drink toward her.

  As she took her first sip, still delicious, still dangerously easy to drink.

  Then, gathering officially began.

  On stage, Geas appeared wearing his silver-white horned mask. His presence commanded immediate attention.

  "I am your host, Geas, here to officiate the beginning of the gathering.", he spoke with measured grandeur, "As always, I shall oversee all transactions under the Oath to the God of Commerce, the Steam Bat. Everything shall be fair under the watch of the divine. If I fail to uphold my duty, then It shall devour me."

  A few chuckles rippled through the crowd. Lea didn't find it funny— she'd heard stories about what happened when the Steam Bat's oaths were broken via murmurs of the Pathstriders around. Being eaten by a god doesn't sound good at all.

  Geas stepped down from the stage, and the first seller approached.

  A man in a crow mask held up a leather pouch, "Purified seastone dust from the Deep Mines of Australia. Five hundred grams. Starting price, 1,500 Cee."

  Lea's attention sharpened. She'd used up all of hers preparing her Fourth Step ritual.

  Hands raised immediately.

  "1,500."

  "1,700."

  "2,000."

  The bidding escated quickly. Lea's fingers tightened around her gss. She had 3,500 Cee total. If she spent it all here...

  "2,500," Dawn said calmly, raising one hand.

  The room went quiet for a beat. Then someone countered, "2,600."

  Dawn didn't even blink, "3,000."

  No one else bid. Geas nodded, "Sold to the Lady in the corner."

  As Dawn and the seller disappeared into the booth, Lea sat very still, processing what had just happened. Dawn had just spent nearly all of Lea's remaining funds on seastone dust.

  When the princess returned, she slid a small pouch across the table to Lea without a word.

  "Dawn—"

  She interrupted, "You need it more than I do. Consider it an advance on your next hazard pay."

  Her expression remained neutral, but there was a hint of amusement in her eyes, "You're pnning something big, aren't you? I can tell."

  Lea said nothing, but her mask's patterns shifted slightly.

  The next seller stepped up, a grizzled man offering a set of Ash Path sigils capable of rapid regeneration. The price started at 4,000 Cee and climbed quickly before someone purchased them for 5,500.

  Then came a woman selling information about the Goddess of Fortune's supposed manifestation sites. Dawn seemed mildly interested but didn't bid.

  A younger Pathstrider offered combat techniques for Decimation, which sold for 6,000 Cee to someone in a wolf mask.

  The gathering flowed smoothly, each transaction overseen by Geas with mechanical precision.

  Lea observed the patterns; information always sold for more than physical items, and anything reted to the Fourth Step or higher commanded astronomical prices.

  Then a thin woman in a white porcein mask stepped onto the stage.

  "I seek a meeting with the Lady in White.", she announced, "I can pay 500,000 Cee."

  The room went very still.

  Lea felt Dawn go absolutely rigid beside her. The cocktail gss in the princess's hand trembled slightly before she set it down with forced casualness.

  Geas's mask tilted slightly, "The Lady in White does not grant audiences through bidding."

  "Then what does She require?", the woman pressed, her voice carrying a desperate edge.

  "Devotion, Contribution to Progress. Innovation that serves Her domain.", Geas replied simply, "The Lady in White watches those who advance technology and knowledge. If you are worthy, She will find you. Not the other way around."

  The woman's shoulders slumped. She stepped down, clearly disappointed.

  Dawn's hand found Lea's under the table, squeezing briefly. A warning. Don't react. Don't let them know we know.

  Lea understood. If anyone discovered that they knew the truth about the Chalk Princess, that Her throne was empty, that it was actively seeking a new host... the political and mystical ramifications would be catastrophic.

  The gathering continued, but the atmosphere had shifted. Several attendees were whispering among themselves, specuting about the Lady in White's recent movements.

  Some cimed She'd been spotted in Aipotu's industrial districts. Others insisted She'd appeared in Ryteline's research facilities.

  None of them knew they were talking about an empty Divine Throne searching for purpose.

  The next seller brought out a mystical compass that could allegedly point toward areas of high seastone concentration. Dawn purchased it for 7,000 Cee without hesitation.

  "Industrial surveying." she expined to Lea quietly, "If I can locate new seastone deposits in Ryteline territory, it'll revolutionize our manufacturing capacity."

  "I thought your purpose was to cut off the mystical side from civilization?", Lea asked in a hushed tone.

  "Well, it is still needed to some extent.", she shrugged, "Until we don't need it anymore, we will continue using it."

  Another man offered maps to ruins in the New World, ciming they contained pre-Bckout technology. Someone bought them for 8,000 Cee.

  Then a hooded figure stepped forward carrying a wooden case.

  "I have three vials of purified dragon's blood from the Eastern Wastes.", he announced, opening the case to reveal three gss vials filled with luminous crimson liquid, "Each vial can enhance any ritual involving Fire, Surge, or Bloom. Starting price, 10,000 Cee."

  The bidding war was immediate and fierce.

  "10,000."

  "12,000."

  "15,000!"

  Dawn raised her hand, "20,000."

  The room fell silent. That was an astronomical sum.

  Geas's mask turned toward her, "Sold to the dy in the corner!!"

  As Dawn disappeared into the booth again, Lea sipped her drink and observed the room. Several masked figures were watching their table now, clearly trying to figure out who Dawn was.

  When Dawn returned with the case, Lea couldn't help but ask quietly, "Why do you need dragon's blood?"

  "I don't.", Dawn replied simply, securing the case. "But Auger does. Consider it payment for his continued consultancy services."

  The gathering continued. Someone sold information about the Church of Sacrifice's internal politics. Another offered a weapon with Disonance and Rift properties, a dagger that could cut through space itself, which sold for 15,000 Cee.

  Then an elderly woman in a jade mask stepped onto the stage.

  "I offer knowledge of the Sixth Step for the Path of Water.", she announced, "Starting price, 500,000 Cee."

  The room went absolutely silent.

  Sixth Step information was almost never sold publicly. Most who reached that level guarded their knowledge jealously.

  A single hand raised, a figure in an ornate mask adorned with pearls.

  "500,000.", they said simply.

  No one else bid. Not even Dawn.

  "The Depth Church is just showing off their wealth again, just ignore them.", Dawn spoke quietly to Lea.

  Being the only legal way to get seastones, of course they are rich... Lea rolled her eys.

  As the transaction concluded, Lea realized she'd been holding her breath. That was more money than she'd see in her lifetime.

  The gathering wound down. A few more minor transactions, but nothing that captured the room's attention like the earlier moments.

  Finally, Geas returned to the stage for closing remarks.

  "The gathering concludes.", he announced, "May the Steam Bat witness fair exchange, and may Progress guide your paths."

  People began filtering out. Dawn stood, adjusting her cloak and securing her purchases.

  "Come on.", she said to Lea, "We have one more stop before we leave Lacrosa."

  "Where?" Lea asked, pocketing the precious seastone dust.

  Dawn's smile was tight, "To meet someone from MSSH. The Cult won't publicly acknowledge my work, then perhaps the enlightenment faction will."

  As they left the bar and climbed back through the impossible corridor, Lea couldn't shake what had happened. Someone had openly requested an audience with the "Lady in White", not knowing they were asking to meet an empty throne.

  And both she and Dawn had been marked by that throne. Chosen, perhaps, for something neither of them fully understood yet.

  Lady Keter knew this would happen... Lea thought grimly... She always knows. And she didn't warn us.

  Outside, Lacrosa's eternal twilight greeted them, and Dawn led the way deeper into the underground city's byrinthine streets, her expression unreadable.