The Mysterious Phenomena Research Club of Chiba Academy.
Su's arrival immediately triggered a wave of shrieks from the girls.
Although Su believed he was nowhere near as romantically favored as Kevin, the truth was that he was quite popular among the girls at Chiba Academy as well. It was just that whenever he stood beside Kevin, most of the attention was diverted.
Unmoved by the girls' starry-eyed behavior, Su walked straight to Vill-V, who was conducting a tarot reading, and placed her ultrasonic egg-peeling speaker firmly on the table in front of her.
Before Su could speak, Vill-V—dressed in an extravagant magician's outfit—declared dramatically,
"I already know why you've come. This is the script's guidance. The prank of enlightenment."
"No need to hesitate. Come."
Her fair, well-proportioned arm swept lightly across the black velvet-covered table like a feather. Twenty-two exquisitely gear-printed tarot cards lay neatly arranged before Su like a spread of stars.
"Reveal your destiny. Let the darkness be clarified."
Su frowned and casually flipped over the nearest card.
It was a tarot card he had never seen before.
Its name was "Heavenly Wisdom." The image depicted Vill-V holding a Bodhi leaf, eyes closed in contemplation. Her posture was serene as a mountain, as though pondering the mysteries of heaven and earth in search of life's ultimate truth.
"Oh my, oh my~"
Before Su could even voice his confusion, Vill-V leaned forward theatrically and began interpreting in an impassioned tone.
"What a painful choice this is! You are about to embark upon a path of seeking truth while bearing sin. Suffering and trials, confusion and perseverance—"
While Vill-V continued her fervent explanation, Su calmly broke the rules and flipped over another covered card.
It was the same "Heavenly Wisdom."
Identical to the first.
Su then flipped over an entire row.
Every single card was exactly the same.
The only reason he didn't continue was that the remaining cards were blocked by Vill-V's exaggeratedly forward-leaning chest.
With an expression of "just as I thought," Su asked flatly,
"Care to explain why all twenty-two tarot cards are identical?"
Vill-V smiled mysteriously and straightened up.
She reached out and flipped over the card behind the one Su had revealed earlier.
This time, the image was completely different.
"Magician."
It bore the classic Major Arcana design: a vine wreath, white robe with a red outer cloak, wand in hand.
Vill-V continued turning over the remaining cards.
Each one now displayed a different, classic tarot image.
Su showed no surprise.
Or rather, in Su's eyes, that was precisely how a magician's performance ought to be.
"Not bad," he said. "So?"
"What are you trying to say?"
In the tone of Conductor, Vill-V asked,
"Su, what is your dream?"
Su noticed the shift in her voice. Crossing his arms over his chest, he replied,
"We're not close enough to talk about dreams, are we?"
Vill-V answered with a troubled tone.
"Don't overthink it. I just want to understand you better—so I can arrange a surprise."
Soon, however, she regained her usual liveliness, placing a finger at the corner of her lips.
"Let me guess. A doctor?"
Su's brows knitted.
"...You've investigated me quite thoroughly. Did Kevin tell you?"
Ding.
Su's phone suddenly chimed with a message notification.
"Vill-V: Hello. The Mad Hatter Party is recruiting part-time medical staff. Monthly salary 8,800. Holiday bonuses. Full insurance coverage. Dedicated mentorship. Learn quickly, earn easily, get rich fast. Add me and note: (Job)."
From suspicious fortune-telling to suspicious recruitment scam in an instant.
Su found himself at a loss.
He had installed an anti-fraud app. Why hadn't this message been filtered?
And why send a text when she was standing right in front of him?
Her train of thought was completely unhinged. He couldn't keep up.
If this were genuine... could she be some wealthy young lady inventing excuses to pull him into her circle? Had Kevin actually guessed right?
Yet Su trusted his judgment of people—especially psychologically.
In Vill-V's gaze and tone, he sensed no affection whatsoever.
Only something familiar.
As though she knew him very well.
"Eight thousand eight hundred a month is extremely high for someone who hasn't even graduated yet," Su said evenly. "But why recruit a high school student who hasn't studied medicine? I'm curious."
"The instant noodle incident—Kevin told you about it, didn't he?"
"My phone number was from Kevin too, right?"
"I'm starting to suspect you were sent by Kevin specifically to make fun of me."
...
After Su left, Akane nudged Vill-V with her elbow.
"Senior Vill-V, nicely done. You're already discussing dreams with 'Sir Knight.'"
Within Chiba Academy's circle of girls, Kevin was known as "His Highness the Prince." Su, who was always by his side, had thus earned the affectionate nickname "Sir Knight." There were even rumor-spun romantic tales of Knight 🩷 Prince circulating privately.
Vill-V, of course, had no interest in such romantic nonsense.
These peaceful-era teenagers thought about romance at the slightest opportunity.
Having been single across two lifetimes, if she were ever to pursue romance, she would absolutely choose a beautiful, cute girl she could flirt with freely. How could she possibly accept a man?
Vill-V had never even imagined herself together with a man. Normal men didn't daydream about that sort of thing either.
Of course, she admitted she could be somewhat carefree and unrestrained at times. But that was simply a habit formed across two lifetimes. There were many things she had no desire to change. Completely adopting stereotypical "girlish" habits would only make her uncomfortable—and seem pretentious.
If others with tinted perceptions misunderstood, so be it.
She liked beautiful, adorable girls.
What others thought or said would never change that fact.
The reason she spoke with Su about such things was because Magician had hit a wall.
She simply couldn't find an angle that would truly surprise him.
Su was like an iron lock that responded only to Kevin and Mei. He seemed to have no other desires.
Another purpose was to confirm whether he had any intention of walking the path of a Flame-Chaser.
This test had yielded nothing.
Which likely meant Su would continue down that very path.
And the path of every Flame-Chaser was thorny.
Watching them walk into brambles in the original storyline, Vill-V still hoped to offer them another choice.
Not enthusiastic about saving the world? First place in recruiting talent.
Young man, this era can't be saved. Why not run away with me to the next one?
In truth, according to Conductor Vill-V's arrangements, Su and Pardo were both crucial components of the [Wallfacer Plan] to seize the power of destiny. Without their help, the plan would be nearly impossible to execute.
Even so, Vill-V needed their consent first.
As for the cat—Vill-V believed she simply wanted to survive, so she had directly pulled her along.
Plop. Plop.
The sound of liquid splashing echoed.
Vill-V and Akane turned around.
A group of senior girls were pouring crimson fluid onto the floor.
Akane quickly grabbed Vill-V and headed for the door.
"Let's go! They're about to do that weird ritual again."
"They managed to get black dog's blood?" Vill-V stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Looks like they're attempting spirit invocation today."
"They used to just be obsessed with the pen spirit game," Akane nodded. "Not sure what happened this year—they suddenly became obsessed with the Goddess of the Stars."
"'On a certain day, He fell from the sky that day. The people on the ground looked up and thus saw the starry night sky.'"
"I think that's how the chant goes. I heard it's spreading widely on social platforms like Pline..."
"Hey, Vill-V, don't go in! It's scary in there. I'm not going!"
Before she could finish, Vill-V had already pushed open the door with a curious "Interesting." Akane had no time to stop her.
Inside the clubroom, a heavy stench filled the air.
Curtains sealed the windows tightly. The only light came from flickering candle flames on the floor.
The dim glow elongated the shadows of bones scattered across the ground and cast grotesque shapes across the faces of the four girls.
"Oh, my Lord, great sovereign of the stars, descend and grant me my final destination!"
The four of them leapt and danced like ancient shamans, splashing dog blood everywhere.
The scene was so absurd that Conductor Vill-V couldn't discern any underlying logic.
So she handed judgment over to Occultist.
"..."
The newly emerged Vill-V surveyed the grim, blood-soaked environment and drew in a sharp breath.
"[Conductor], how many times have I told you? I'm the [Expert]... Stop mixing me up with [Occultist] and tossing me into creepy underworld settings like this!"