A mutual friend? That must be referring to Fanny… Calamity looming? She's about to face danger?
As the thought crossed his mind, Ebner reread Emma's letter.
Now that he had the final result, reverse-engineering the puzzle became much simpler. By breaking apart the words, he quickly deciphered the hidden message and arrived at a result similar to the prophecy.
"I was originally planning to have a servant go and set up an appointment, then pay a proper visit to Mr. Sarrie and Fanny, and while I was there, naturally bring up the request to borrow the 'Steam Workshop'...
"But since Fanny might be caught up in some unknown danger, I either stay out of it entirely, or I need to pay a discreet visit to avoid dragging trouble back home..."
Although he gave himself the option of "not getting involved," Ebner still leaned more toward helping. After all, Miss Fanny could be considered a friend—she'd given him the "Flame Heart" necklace, which had once saved his life in the Daniel Maze...
Both sentimentally and rationally, I can't just let her walk into danger.
More importantly, Ebner believed he had the strength to face a demigod directly. He was in Backlund—his home turf. He could call Xio from MI9 for help at any time, or even go to the Church of Harvest and ask for aid from the Chained God and Lilith...
Unless a true god or an angel king-level being got involved, his life wouldn't be at risk.
And as a Sequence 8 Pugilist, Fanny shouldn't have provoked an enemy of that level.
With his mind made up, Ebner was about to head to the Western District when Helene stopped him at the door.
"Mr. Bryan, is the 'video camera' mentioned in this proposal real?" Helene asked, her eyes shining.
With her years of business experience, she had already determined from a preliminary read that if the device was real, it could set a new trend and rake in unimaginable profits.
"You'll see it tomorrow," Ebner said confidently.
With supernatural abilities at his disposal, converting a camera into a video camera wasn't difficult. The only issue would be low production volume… but that was actually a benefit, at least in the early stages—it would prevent the "technology" from leaking or being stolen.
"I just looked at your first proposal—it's about filming Backlund's fashion, food, architecture, and daily life? While that does showcase local culture, isn't it a little dull?" Helene had already stepped into her role as a "startup partner" and voiced her concern.
"Just make it fun to watch… Take a look at the end—I included a sample plan called 'A Taste of Backlund' when I wrote the proposal. Oh, and I just found a pretty charismatic male foodie… I mean, male host for the show." Ebner took the proposal from her, flipped to the last page, handed it back, and encouraged her, "With your intelligence and talent, I'm sure you'll create plans even better than mine for the other three segments."
After just a few glances, Helene's spirits were immediately lifted. Blushing slightly, she thanked Ebner for his guidance and buried herself back at the desk, jotting down ideas.
Just a little pep talk and it's like she's on a high? The 'employees' of this era are really easy to motivate… I even prepared a bunch of grand visions, but I didn't need to use a single one…
Muttering to himself, Ebner mentioned that he had hired Hazel to act as Helene's "guide," and said:
"You don't know much about Backlund, so your proposals are bound to have issues—especially with the fashion culture part. That's why it's necessary for Miss Hazel, a lady of high society, to show you around more."
Truth be told, Ebner's decision to make the first filming project a showcase of Backlund's clothing, food, housing, and lifestyle wasn't solely for the sake of earning money in Trier...
His primary goal was still to show the higher-ups of Silver City that normal human society truly existed—and that it wasn't just some delusion planted in Derrick's mind by an evil god.
Nothing proved the existence of a civilization better than displaying its various cultural facets. Especially since that boy, Jack, whom Colin brought back to Silver City, even if he hadn't visited Backlund, wouldn't be completely unfamiliar with the nation's capital. There had to be a few landmark buildings he'd heard of that could corroborate the authenticity of the footage.
Releasing a "video" like this would be far more convincing than just hearing the "Sun" describe it with words.
On the other side, Helene's pen paused slightly when she heard Hazel's name, but then she nodded, indicating she would accept Mr. Bryan's arrangements.
Seeing that she had no more questions for the moment, Ebner finally stepped out of the house and took a carriage toward the area near Mr. Sarrie's villa in the Western District.
After he left, the "Lion" Leon, who had been crouched in a corner of the living room, scoffed and shook his head, muttering, "Back in Bayam, you thought I was just tarnishing this kid's reputation.
"Look! He's barely returned to Backlund and already so many young ladies have come knocking…
"I was right all along. This kid is just like Roselle. Helping him build a social circle using Roselle's methods is exactly the right approach."
Helene rolled her eyes at him and thought, Why are you telling me all this? What do Mr. Bryan's personal affairs have to do with me…
…
West Boroug, Green Park Street.
When he was still two blocks away from a villa with both front and back gardens, Ebner got off the hired carriage and paid the 1 sou fare.
Then, he walked into a nearby public washroom. When he emerged, he was already shrouded in the "Ivans' Veil of Secrecy." Not even an ordinary demigod would be able to detect his presence.
Ebner circled Mr. Sarrie's villa a few times. After confirming that no one was watching the place, he cautiously slipped into the back garden.
Unlike his last visit for the dinner party, the rituals and spell traps around the Sarrie estate were now in a half-activated state. If not for Ebner's "Pure White Eye" being able to precisely locate their weak points, sneaking into the house under the nose of an "Astrologer" who had studied the Book of Celestial Bodies and Elements would have been extremely difficult.
Maybe it's because of the Great Smog and the unstable situation outside that Mr. Sarrie is keeping his rituals in a state ready for immediate activation?
Or perhaps he's already sensed something, and this is his way of preparing…
As he pondered, Ebner glanced at the candlelight inside the house, then used his "Flame Jump" ability to appear within the villa.
He didn't rush to confront Sarrie and Fanny. Instead, he took out the "Magic Mirror" and had it use its demonic ability to scan the villa for any hidden threats.
Soon, the Magic Mirror responded: there were few people in the house—just Mr. Sarrie and his granddaughter Fanny, plus two servants and a butler.
Ordinarily, two servants wouldn't be nearly enough to maintain such a large villa. But as a Sequence 5 "Astronomer" on the Savant pathway, Mr. Sarrie had long since integrated the workshop with the residential area. The floor tiles were laced with "rails" everywhere to facilitate his mechanical servants in performing chores and serving their masters.
Of course, when necessary, these mechanical puppets could also take on the role of "bodyguards," pulling six-barrel steam-powered machine guns from their chests. Their firepower didn't look the least bit trivial…
And the reason Ebner knew this was because not far from him, a pitch-black figure wearing a black face covering was currently surrounded—its head aimed at by four mechanical puppets, totaling twenty-four gun barrels.
(End of chapter)