Tris: "Rose passed by earlier today?"
Rin: "Yes, while I was having lunch, suddenly…"
At dinner, Rin carefully recounted to her Master everything that had happened earlier.
Rin: "…And that's all of it. Master, what do you think?"
Tris: "It feels as though she came just to tease you."
Rin: "… (￣_￣|||)"
Tris: "As for the information that slipped out, it isn't particularly serious for us. Still, since we don't know what she truly intends, it's difficult to judge everything precisely."
Pausing briefly to think, Tris continued his analysis:
"Another thing she said was quite true—actions and habits can reveal much about a person. That applies to her as well. While you were exposing information, she was also revealing bits of herself through her repeated behavior."
Rin: "Specifically what?"
Tris: "First, we know her ability to track people is very strong. Like in the forest—though I carefully hid my face, she still knew exactly who was there and came the very next day.
And today at noon, she pinpointed our location to disturb you again. Even though yesterday I took great care to prevent her from tailing us, it's clear my efforts failed. I still can't discern the method she used."
Rin: "So that's why Master took me wandering around shopping for so long before returning."
The longer Rin stayed near people like Tris and Rose, the more she felt painfully immature and foolish. Compared to them, she couldn't help but feel defeated.
Tris: "Second, her reasoning and analytical skills are far from weak. With just a few scraps of information, she can deduce a great deal. That alone makes her dangerous, because we don't know what conclusions she's already drawn from what she's learned.
And another troubling aspect is her ability to read people's expressions. Even if your control over your face isn't perfect, being able to deduce so much from it is no easy feat."
For a moment, that ability reminded Tris of another terrifying figure he had no desire to face again.
Rin: "Is there anything else you can analyze about Rose, Master?"
Admiring Tris's sharp reasoning, Rin was eager to hear more.
Tris: "Things like her eating habits, tone of voice, mannerisms, or movements could all be analyzed. But those might be staged for others to see. Relying on them could easily lead to false conclusions."
Hearing this, Rin nodded her small head. Once again, she had learned much today.
In truth, being with Tris often meant picking up useful knowledge—directly or indirectly—that greatly shaped her growth.
Rin: "So what should we do next?"
Worried that Rose might disturb them again, Rin wanted to know the proper way to respond.
Tris: "For the next few days, stay in the room until the charity event Rose mentioned takes place. I'm curious to see what that event will be like."
Rin: "Do you intend to attend, Master?"
Tris: "Only to observe indirectly."
Going directly would be playing into Rose's hands, something Tris wanted to avoid.
…
And so, the following days passed uneventfully. Tris and Rin remained busy with their personal training.
Rose did not come knocking to disturb them.
Through the eyes of 'Feathers', Tris saw that everything outside continued as usual.
On the morning of the day Rose had mentioned, Tris and Rin rose early and left their lodging.
They went to a street not far from the slums, where Tris could easily observe through his puppet.
While eating breakfast earlier than usual, Tris used 'Feathers' to see a long line of people already gathered since dawn. Their clothes were shabby, worn, and old—clearly the poor, living harsh and difficult lives.
All of them were heading toward a steaming pot of porridge, managed by a group of women dressed in white. Or more precisely, most of them were women.
Those standing and ladling out the porridge were clearly female. But the one doing the heaviest work—stirring the massive pot with a long pole—was a bald man with a tattoo on his head.
There was no chaos, thanks to another group of men in similar white attire maintaining order.
Anyone who tried to cut in line was immediately seized and thrown out, forced to start again from the back.
After a few such incidents, everyone else behaved obediently.
At a glance, Tris could see this was nothing more than a typical charity food distribution.
Aside from the men keeping order around the place—looking rather rough, like hired thugs—there didn't seem to be anything unusual.
But looking closer, Tris noticed the distinctive logo on their white garments—a vertical eye with four pupils inside.
It was the same symbol worn by the cultist he had once encountered, and the same one painted on the walls of Zyron's underground chamber.
'(⊙ˍ⊙) The White God? Followers of a heretical god running a charity, handing out free food? What are they plotting?'
Nearby, where people returned their wooden bowls after eating, a young girl stood on a simple platform, book in hand, preaching the doctrines of the White God to those willing to listen.
Hearing her words, Tris found nothing particularly unusual. The teachings spoke of virtues, doing good, and avoiding evil.
What truly caught Tris's attention was the preacher herself.
In fact, he believed the curious crowd gathered there wasn't really focused on the sermon at all, but simply wanted to take a closer look at the girl standing on the platform—and to keep listening to her clear, youthful voice
She was a young girl, appearing to be only around seventeen.
Her face was divinely beautiful, with fair skin and short hair that was neat and refined.
Most striking of all was her hair, split distinctly into two halves: the right side pure white like silk, the left side jet‑black, forming a unique and eye‑catching contrast.
Of course, the girl was none other than Rose—the one who had kept both Tris and Rin on edge these past few days.