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Chapter 189: Return to the Surface

– The Next Morning –

“Leaving?” Evelyn asked as Finn and Iris entered her private chambers.

Finn gave a nod. “We came to bid farewell. We’re returning to the surface and heading back into the Temple… is what I’d like to say, but we are still waiting for the equipment you promised.”

But Evelyn only smiled and stood up from her chair, then pressed a book on her bookshelf wall. Immediately, a rumbling noise ensued, and the bookshelf suddenly parted in half, revealing a hidden passageway behind it leading into a room with a teleporter inside.

“Wow… it’s like out of a movie,” Iris murmured, eyes sparkling in wonder.

“… What is this?” Finn asked, not needing to see to be able to tell what happened.

“A teleporter,” Evelyn replied with a smile. “You need the equipment, do you not? This teleporter leads directly to Evelyn’s Heart. Once we arrive there, I’ll call the House of Spectra and get you your equipment.”

“I see… that would be efficient,” Finn murmured. “But can you switch personality that quickly?”

“Fufu, don’t worry,” Evelyn said with a soft laugh. “I’ve been doing this for years now. Just remember—the moment I step beyond that portal, I’m Carmen no more. Don’t be too shocked if I pull a complete reversal on you~”

“I don’t care, as long as you still uphold your deal,” Finn replied, and Evelyn gave a chuckle.

“Relax, relax… you’re so uptight all the time,” she said with a sigh, then turned to Iris. “You should tell him to relax more, y’know?”

“Um, that’s…” Iris scratched her cheek awkwardly. “Well… I can’t really convince him, you see…”

Evelyn laughed and left it at that, then stepped onto the teleporter. “Come. I still have business here in the afternoon—dealing with the guards of that man you killed last night—so let’s make this quick, shall we?”

*****

The moment the three stepped through the portal, they were shrouded in a white light that blinded all of them. Ironically, only Finn was unaffected. The teleportation process took only a few seconds, and when the light faded away, they were in a new room—a velvet chamber with lush decorations and a single door in it.

Evelyn wordlessly stepped out of the teleporter and opened the door, then began heading down the corridor. Iris’s eyes widened a bit at the fact that Evelyn’s clothes suddenly changed. She didn’t know how, but she looked the same way she had when the two had first met her—a velvet robe that dignified her as the leader of Evelyn’s Heart, not the Carmen of the underground.

The corridor they were in led into none other than her private office, and she did not hesitate before reaching for the phone on her desk and dialing a number. After several seconds, the other end picked up.

“Hello. This is the Prince of the House of Spectra. What do you need, Matriarch Evelyn?”

“Equipment,” Evelyn replied, brisk and cold. “Specter-hunting equipment.”

“What…? You are planning on having your Phantom Slayers enter the Temple again…?”

“It is still not conquered, is it not? The Emperor in there could strike at any moment. District D has already fallen. Your House of Spectra soldiers are not doing anything, so just give me the equipment and I’ll send my Hunters in.”

“That’s… my soldiers have tried to raid the place many times, but always came up empty… they never even encountered the Emperor…”

“Incompetence. The two I will be sending in are strong—stronger than anything you can imagine. They will get the job done. All they need is the right anti-Specter equipment.”

“W-Wha… only two?” The Prince was clearly shocked.

“Yes. Surely you can manage two spare kits, correct?”

“Of course, but… isn’t sending only two suicide…? Do they even have a Healer? If they do, that would mean only one of them is capable of firepower…”

Evelyn shot a sideways glance at Finn and Iris, both of which could heal far faster than the average person could thanks to their Ghost blood, then closed her eyes and spoke into the phone.

“… They don’t need one.”

*****

– About an Hour Later –

“Matriarch, you received a package from the Prince of the House of Spectra,” a busty woman with glasses who looked to be in her twenties said, knocking on the door of Evelyn’s office.

“Set it at the entrance,” Evelyn replied.

“Yes, Matriarch.”

A second later, the soft thunk of something being placed on the carpet floor could be heard from outside the door, and Evelyn looked to Finn and Iris, who sat across from her.

“Go on, take the equipment. After that, you’re free to go.”

Finn and Iris stood up and headed for the door, opened it, then picked up the two boxes on the ground. Each one contained a full set of anti-Specter equipment, and Finn and Iris each carried one.

While Iris went on ahead for the elevator, however, Finn hesitated by the door of Evelyn’s office, and spoke quietly.

“… You don’t have to act so tough just because you’re up here. Your daughter… you can be kinder to her, at the very least.”

“Hm? I don’t know what you’re talking about~” Evelyn said with a soft giggle, and Finn snorted.

“Your true self is showing, Evelyn.”

“My… you’re right.” She cleared her throat, then sighed. “… I wonder why it’s so easy for me to open up to you, Finn.”

After some pondering and a period of short silence, Iris called down to Finn from down the hall.

“Hello~? The elevator’s here!”

Finn turned his head in her direction, then spoke.

“… Perhaps, it is because we’ve both once had everything taken from us.”

Evelyn, hearing this, smiled a bit and let her true self show, then flashed a wink even though she knew Finn couldn’t see it.

“We’ll meet again, Finn.”

“… Yes, we will.”

Of course they will. Now that Finn had gained a powerful pawn like Evelyn, there was no chance he was letting her go so easily.

With that in mind, he headed for the elevator, where Iris was struggling to keep the doors open.