"Baron Hastur Campbell, this is a man shrouded in countless mysteries. About him… nothing can be seen through!"
"Oh, damn it, where did this mysterious figure come from?"
"Fate, fate has begun to turn! This is bad. Ince Zangwill formed a slight connection with him because of Prince Edessak's matter. Hopefully, that connection won't cost Ince Zangwill his life."
"Poor Ince Zangwill. His fate has always been rough. The avengers from Tingen are also searching for him, and they're getting closer and closer."
"When war breaks out, what kind of ending will await Ince Zangwill, who has lost fate's protection, amid the chaos?"
"Hmm, he will die, and die miserably."
At this point, a hand gripping the pen crossed out the last sentence and wrote another passage instead:
"When war breaks out, Ince Zangwill will survive this winter night and advance to a higher Sequence!"
This passage existed only briefly before automatically dissipating into nothingness. Not a single drop of ink was left on the diary page.
Ince Zangwill fell silent for a while, then wrote another passage: "Prince Edessak, busy dealing with the matter of knocking down Countess Keisman, gradually forgot about visiting Baron Hastur Campbell. The two thus missed each other and never met."
"Everything continues as before. This small incident comes to a halt. Nothing goes beyond control, nor does it involve Baron Hastur Campbell any further."
Ince Zangwill stopped writing here. His face was somewhat pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He did not want to involve that mysterious Baron Hastur Campbell, someone even 008 could not see through.
Given his current situation, it was not suitable to provoke any more enemies.
As for the three hunters from Tingen, he was not particularly worried. Once he finished handling matters here, he would leave Backlund.
They, however, still had to serve in the Church of the Evernight Goddess and could not leave Backlund to search for him.
The next day, sunlight streamed in through the window, and several new passages appeared in the diary on the desk.
"That girl who tempted Prince Edessak is extremely interested in the mysterious Baron Hastur Campbell. She wants to leave the estate and pay him a personal visit, but unfortunately she is stopped and cannot go out smoothly."
"The girl seems to have sensed something strange. She sends Talim Dumont, a loyal friend to Prince Edessak, to search for Baron Hastur Campbell and ask for his help."
"Talim leaves the estate smoothly and arrives at Baron Hastur Campbell's residence. Unfortunately, the baron is already out and not at home. They thus miss an excellent opportunity to meet."
"Repeated disturbances disrupt the changes of established fate. This arouses Baron Hastur Campbell's vigilance. He becomes aware of Ince Zangwill's existence and believes all these coincidences are Ince Zangwill's schemes behind the scenes."
"Poor Ince Zangwill, miserable Ince Zangwill, he has truly been abandoned by fate. Especially when facing fate's favored ones, his misfortune becomes even more apparent."
When Ince Zangwill, who had not even finished breakfast and was hurriedly filling his stomach with a piece of white bread, saw these passages, his entire expression darkened.
He had clearly done his utmost to avoid Baron Hastur Campbell, even deliberately arranging an accident to prevent Prince Edessak from disturbing him.
Yet now, holding 008 and the script, he had instead become the mastermind behind everything, forced to take the blame for these coincidental events!
What a grave injustice. He had never intended to provoke Baron Hastur Campbell, but fate seemed to keep converging in that direction, ultimately alarming the baron and drawing a formidable enemy to himself.
"The script failed on him, and the one who wrote the script, me, has instead suffered backlash from him."
Having held 008 for some time, Ince Zangwill vaguely understood why this chain of events had occurred.
When the script he wrote involved Baron Hastur Campbell, all predetermined scripts failed, and events began developing in directions beyond the quills control.
There were only two possible reasons for this: one was a status that suppressed 008, and the other was protection by some kind of power.
At present, 008's ability to write scripts was being suppressed, and even its authority to write scripts was gradually being stripped away. Everything was heading toward an uncontrollable and unknown direction.
Now, there were only two paths before him.
One path was to do nothing, abandon the script that was nearing its final chapter and quickly leave Backlund, which would bring him safety.
The second path was to actively eliminate all factors interfering with the script's development, allowing it to reach a splendid finale as originally written.
At this moment, a long passage appeared in the diary: "Heavens! Ince Zangwill, who has successfully advanced to Sequence 4, a Nighthawk, actually wants to flee Backlund like a homeless dog!"
"Oh, what could possibly have caused Ince Zangwill to harbor such thoughts?"
"A young noble, Baron Hastur Campbell, who has just turned eighteen this year!"
"Ince Zangwill is actually afraid of a young man he hasn't even met?"
"Where has his courage gone?"
"Eh? Turns out even the rats in Backlund's sewers are braver than him, at least they still dare to come out and steal food."
008's undisguised mockery made Ince Zangwill's already gloomy expression even uglier.
He himself did not know why the thought of withdrawing from Backlund had just arisen.
People who could not be controlled by the script, he had already seen such a case in Tingen, in that Klein.
Indeed troublesome, yet the final victor had still been him, and he had even successfully advanced to Sequence 4 as a Nighthawk.
Why, then, should he be afraid?
Behind him stood the Witch Sect and the Loen royal family, how could he harbor the shameful thought of fleeing Backlund?
"Heh, no matter what, the one who survives is the winner."
008's mockery instead strengthened Ince Zangwill's determination to leave Backlund.
For the sake of face and agreements, he should stay in Backlund, continue arranging coincidental fates through 008, overcome obstacles, and complete the predetermined finale.
But he was more willing to listen to the voice in his heart and leave Backlund. Before everything erupted, stay far away from Backlund.
Face? Agreements? None of that mattered more than staying alive!
Some young noble, some newly eighteen-year-old youth, he didn't believe 008's nonsense for a second!
008 must be hiding something important! If he continued staying in Backlund, that would be the most dangerous option!
He was not someone abandoned by fate. Fate had already given him plenty of warnings through this chain of events.
Leave.
Leave Backlund.
Having made his decision, Ince Zangwill grasped 008, placed it into a special pen case meant for it, then closed the diary. He looked at the sunlight spilling onto the stream outside the window, shimmering, and unhurriedly ate the white bread in his hand.
…
"What? You're leaving Backlund?!"
Panatiya was stunned by Ince Zangwill's news. Everything had been fine, why suddenly leave Backlund?
"According to our agreement, I've already helped you arrange quite a few things successfully. As for the cleanup, that's your own problem. I don't want to be involved."
Ince Zangwill spoke calmly, sipping highland coffee from the Southern Continent.
The taste was very bitter, with no sugar added at all, making the bitterness linger while the aroma became even more pronounced.
"I want to know what reason made you decide to leave Backlund at this time."
Suppressing the anger in her heart, Panatiya stared sharply at Ince Zangwill.
"I need to head to the Southern Continent before the war breaks out. There's something there that I need."
"There are only a dozen days left before the plan is implemented. You're really that impatient?"
"Heh, even a single day is enough to change many things. I was even thinking of spending the New Year on the Southern Continent this year."
Ince Zangwill asked in return, "Don't tell me you can't even hold out for these dozen days? If that's the case, then I should leave Backlund even more."
Panatiya's expression turned ugly, yet she could not stop Ince Zangwill's decision. That didn't mean, however, that she would let him leave Backlund so smoothly.
If she couldn't deal with Mr. A, who had the Aurora Order backing him, couldn't she deal with a mere Sequence 4 Nighthawk?
"Stay." A voice suddenly rang out. Ince Zangwill's expression shifted slightly. He instinctively stood up and looked toward the source of the voice.
At some unknown point, a woman wearing a simple, sacred white robe had appeared in the room.
Katarina Pelle, the Saintess of White of the Witch Sect, a Sequence 3 Unaging!
"My relationship with you is one of equal cooperation, not that of your prisoner." Ince Zangwill's tone was clearly less forceful than before.
"I don't care about that cooperation. I'm keeping you here for another reason." Katarina's voice was very pleasant, very youthful. It sounded comfortable, unconsciously extinguishing the anger in one's heart.
"What reason? I want to know why you're so eager to flee Backlund."
Katarina's blue eyes, both deep and seemingly childlike, stared into Ince Zangwill's, observing every subtle change in his expression.
She was genuinely just curious.
Earlier, Mr. A of the Aurora Order had suddenly announced unilaterally that he would not participate in this plan. Now, Ince Zangwill also wanted to flee Backlund.
She truly wanted to know what kind of reason lay behind all of this.