Museum Palace, Lounge Area.
Raiden Mei sat in a chair in the lounge area, looking somewhat absent-minded, Bronya's pointed observation replaying in her mind.
As a young woman, how could Raiden Mei not notice Seele's affection for Ren Amamiya?
Hare's concern for Ren Amamiya also clearly went beyond the boundaries of ordinary friendship.
Even Bronya, who originally had a rather ordinary relationship with Ren Amamiya, now treated him with increasing ambiguity.
Raiden Mei felt that there was a deeper meaning behind Bronya's earlier warning—it was almost as if Bronya was telling her that if she planned to back down, Bronya was ready to take her place and actively pursue Ren Amamiya.
If Ren Amamiya had truly succeeded in "nine-timing" and gained the approval of all the girls, then Ren Amamiya, carrying the expectations of the majority, would clearly not betray the majority of women who also held affection for him for the sake of just one person.
Thinking this, Raiden Mei seemed to finally make up her mind. Her tense body relaxed slightly, and a clear light appeared in her previously dazed violet eyes.
Raiden Mei turned her gaze towards Ren Amamiya, who was sitting at the next table.
At this moment, Ren Amamiya was sitting with Hare, Bronya, and Seele, holding red-backed playing cards in the Phantom Thieves style, playing a card game called "Daifugō" [Also known as "President," "Rich Man," or "Daihinmin."]
Previously, when she had been muddle-headed and declined to play cards, choosing to sit alone and sort out her thoughts, she hadn't felt anything.
But now, having emerged from the haze in her heart, watching Ren Amamiya and Bronya playing Daifugō so harmoniously… Raiden Mei felt a strange sense of being excluded.
They had explored the entire museum Palace, even the second floor, which served as a viewing platform, leaving no corner unchecked.
However, let alone the materialized Palace Treasure, not even an unformed Treasure light orb could be found anywhere in this museum Palace.
Both Ren Amamiya's status as the Palace ruler and Hare's ability to detect the location of Treasures had failed in this museum Palace, as if no Treasure existed within.
—Or perhaps there truly was no Treasure.
For example, Futaba Sakura's Palace clearly had no Treasure. Morgana's explanation had been that Futaba herself was the Palace's Treasure.
But rather than "the person themselves is the Treasure," Ren Amamiya had originally leaned towards the idea that it was a special effect caused by Futaba Sakura awakening her Persona using a P4 method in P5.
However, now, in this situation where he couldn't find his Palace Treasure no matter how hard he searched, Ren Amamiya could only reconsider the strange possibility that he himself was the Treasure while taking a break from playing cards.
Perhaps because this was Ren Amamiya's Palace, as the Palace ruler, his luck was incredibly good. He was almost the embodiment of luck itself. Forget the AI-like cognitive existences of the Phantom Thieves in the lounge area, even Hare and Bronya struggled to win against Ren Amamiya in Daifugō.
If he didn't intentionally throw the game, Bronya, Seele, and the others wouldn't have any fun playing at all.
So, Ren Amamiya played cards while reorganizing his thoughts.
Although Futaba Sakura's Palace had quickly collapsed, before its disappearance, Futaba Sakura had undoubtedly been a Persona user with a Palace.
Thinking this way, the common point between Futaba Sakura and Takuto Maruki, both Persona users with Palaces…
Was it that their initial Personas were both from the Cthulhu Mythos?
Futaba Sakura's initial Persona was Necronomicon, the infamous legendary grimoire from the Cthulhu Mythos.
Takuto Maruki's initial Persona was Azathoth, the blind idiot god and supreme deity of the Cthulhu Mythos.
However, after their Personas upgraded, neither Futaba Sakura nor Takuto Maruki continued down the Cthulhu path. Their Personas immediately left the Cthulhu system.
Following this pattern, Ren Amamiya's awakened initial Persona should also be related to the Cthulhu Mythos.
However, although Persona Arsene looked rather sinister and frightening at first glance, as the originator of phantom thief culture, Arsene undoubtedly had no connection to the Cthulhu Mythos.
And even among Personas from the Cthulhu Mythos, Takuto Maruki's Palace clearly still contained a Treasure.
His thoughts went round and round, but in the end, Ren Amamiya still felt lost and confused.
According to common sense, a Palace relied on the concept of a [Treasure]. Without the support of a [Treasure], a Palace was like a castle in the air, destined to collapse and be destroyed.
Since Ren Amamiya's museum Palace could still maintain its existence, there must be something akin to a Treasure within this Palace.
["…"] Just as Ren Amamiya was frowning and deep in thought, he suddenly felt a strange fluctuation in his mind, as if someone within his heart wanted to say something but stopped at the last moment.
"Hmm? Who just wanted to speak? Sakura? Kallen? Or Seele?" Ren Amamiya was no stranger to this kind of mental sensation. He knew it was a sign that the Personas dwelling within his heart wanted to talk to him.
However, because the speaker in his heart had stopped short of speaking, he couldn't tell which Persona wanted to address him, so he could only actively inquire.
["I didn't speak. It wasn't me."]
["Sakura also didn't intend to speak just now."]
["It's not Sakura, and it's not Seele, and it's not me either! Sakura can vouch for me!"]
The girl Personas residing in his heart quickly responded, all denying Ren Amamiya's guess.
"If it's not you all, then could it be Kosma? …That's right, although Kosma rarely speaks, he does often seem like he wants to say something but stops himself."
Besides their face-to-face communication in the Elysian Realm, the number of times Persona Kosma had actively initiated a conversation with Ren Amamiya in his heart was almost zero.
Therefore, Ren Amamiya hadn't initially considered Kosma.
However, faced with Ren Amamiya's deduction, the someone on the other side of his mind chose to remain silent.
["…I apologize. I am not Kosma."] Only after a long while did a soft, timid girl's voice, seemingly having finally mustered up the courage, respond to the puzzled Ren Amamiya.
"This voice is… Vill-V?!" The moment the soft and gentle voice echoed in his heart, Ren Amamiya was stunned. He hadn't expected to hear such an unfamiliar voice within his mind.
However, Ren Amamiya quickly recalled that Vill-V had declared she would join them in visiting his Palace, and thus recognized the source of the girl's voice in his heart.
As a creation of the unconscious god Philemon, it wasn't surprising that Vill-V could transmit her voice across space to his mind.
What truly surprised Ren Amamiya, even preventing him from recognizing Vill-V's voice at first, was the fact that Vill-V's current tone and personality were completely different from when he had met her in the Velvet Room earlier. It was a bizarrely opposite situation.
["Um, hello. I am Vill-V."] The previous boldness and flamboyance were completely gone. Vill-V's current attitude was as if she had become a different person. Ren Amamiya even wondered if she had some kind of split personality disorder.
And for Vill-V to actually say "hello" to him… This way of speaking, this tone, was as if she was meeting him for the first time.
Before the original question could be answered, new puzzles arose in Ren Amamiya's mind, one after another. He frowned deeply and quickly located the medium through which Vill-V was communicating with him based on the resonance in his heart.
Ren Amamiya put down his playing cards and extended his hand in front of him under the puzzled gazes of Raiden Mei and Bronya.
A delicate, grayish-brown Signet, resembling a clock hand, emitted a soft glow. The Signet of Helix floated out from Ren Amamiya's outstretched palm and finally settled on the empty space in front of him.
First, a grayish-black top hat with embedded gears appeared from the void, followed by brownish-yellow and dark green hair neatly parted on either side beneath the hat. A grayish-brown work coat, cinched with a belt, tightly wrapped around this shapely woman's voluptuous figure. Her long work boots left her thighs exposed, revealing an eye-catching expanse of smooth, fair skin.
In an instant, a beautiful, curvaceous woman "grew" from the location of the Signet of Helix.
Long eyelashes fluttered slightly as Vill-V slowly opened her previously closed eyes.
Her rare pinkish-white gradient pupils lacked their usual vibrancy and flamboyance, replaced by a tranquil and natural gaze. Her flawless, fair face also wore a calm and gentle expression, and she even exuded a serene and graceful aura, like a well-bred young lady from a distinguished family.
"Ren, who is she…?" Looking at Vill-V, who had suddenly appeared before Ren Amamiya, her face no less beautiful than her own and her figure even more impressive, Raiden Mei couldn't help but bite her lip slightly before softly asking Ren Amamiya.
Judging from the way Vill-V appeared, Raiden Mei could tell that she wasn't Ren Amamiya's Persona. And there were no traces of Vill-V's existence in this Palace, so Vill-V naturally couldn't be related to Ren Amamiya's Palace.
What was different this time was that, although a very competitive, unfamiliar woman had appeared before her, Raiden Mei felt very calm, merely curious about Vill-V's identity.
"This is Vill-V-Nee, someone Ren-Nii-chan and we met in the Velvet Room yesterday… But today's Vill-V-Nee seems a little different from last night…" Because of Vill-V's unusual behavior, to prevent any unforeseen incidents, Ren Amamiya was intently observing the intellectual young woman before him, temporarily unable to answer Raiden Mei's question immediately.
So Seele, who also knew of Vill-V's existence, softly spoke up, introducing Vill-V's identity to Raiden Mei.
While explaining to Raiden Mei, a puzzled look appeared in Seele's ocean-blue eyes. Vill-V's current temperament, completely opposite from last night, reminded Seele of the relationship between herself and Veliona.
Seele began to wonder if Vill-V also had other personalities like her.
"…You're amazing. Is it because we're in your space that you could so easily construct a body for me to use? I originally didn't intend to appear directly like this." Vill-V sighed softly, a hint of melancholy appearing in her pinkish-white gradient pupils.
Facing Ren Amamiya's gaze and the observation of Raiden Mei, Hare, and the others behind him, this gentle and demure brownish-green-haired woman seemed somewhat socially anxious. She lowered her head slightly, looking at the ground, avoiding Ren Amamiya's gaze.
Even without looking up to confirm, Vill-V could feel their gazes, tangible as a net, completely enveloping her. She anxiously scratched her arm, feeling as if ants were crawling on her skin.
Waking up and being forced to face a group of strangers with her most authentic self was simply too difficult for the socially anxious Vill-V.
Especially since Vill-V was the ultimate social recluse, someone who had to wear a mask in her heart, simulate and disguise herself as others to communicate normally, and after becoming a MANTIS, had directly handed over her body to other personalities segmented from her mind, only sleeping soundly in the deepest part of her consciousness.
Since entering Ren Amamiya's body along with the Signet of Helix, Vill-V's Original Ego had reawakened.
Vill-V could sense the power of the three Flame-Chaser Signets—[Deliverance], [Daybreak], and [Helix]—on Ren Amamiya. She knew that Ren Amamiya was a successor who had gained the recognition of Kevin, Kosma, and even her other personalities.
Therefore, she didn't react in any particular way, only silently observing from the side.
It wasn't until Ren Amamiya was troubled by the issue of the Palace Treasure's existence that Vill-V couldn't help but want to assist him.
However, before Vill-V could decide whether to directly remind Ren Amamiya or, to avoid direct communication, subtly set up some riddles for him to solve and find the answer himself…
Ren Amamiya had already keenly sensed her presence and, with lightning speed, materialized Vill-V in his Stigmata Space before she could react.
If it were just facing Ren Amamiya alone, the successor who had gained the recognition of her other personalities, it would have been fine. Although Vill-V wasn't ready to formally speak to him, she could generally muster up the courage to communicate normally.
However, Ren Amamiya had forcibly manifested her consciousness in his Stigmata Space without any explanation, forcing her to interact face-to-face with four other unfamiliar girls. This caused Vill-V's mind to become somewhat frozen and blank.
However, Vill-V could understand Ren Amamiya's current wariness towards her.
As Vill-V's Original Ego, she knew that the character "Vill-V" itself was a magic show built on lies. Not only the Original personality, but every Vill-V personality was a component of the Great Trickster.
Under normal circumstances, Vill-V wouldn't reveal the truth about herself to others. Therefore, in the eyes of the uninformed, Vill-V's erratic personality and all-around genius stemmed from the Meta-Morph surgery causing her abilities to go out of control and absorbing the souls of several experts from different fields into her body.
It was perfectly normal for Ren Amamiya to be wary when facing a previously unknown [soul]. And Original Vill-V also believed that Ren Amamiya's caution towards her was the correct choice… After all, not every Vill-V was a kind person. In fact, she also had a specifically segmented [Evil Personality].
"I mean you no harm. I just wanted to help you. Aren't you troubled by not being able to find the [Treasure] of this Palace?" After closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, Original Vill-V finally mentally prepared herself to talk to Ren Amamiya. She slowly opened her eyes and spoke frankly.
Since she had been forced to communicate with Ren Amamiya face-to-face, Vill-V had no intention of crafting riddles and puzzles. After all, based on her previous observation, Ren Amamiya's desire for the so-called Treasure was quite strong.
And for some reason, as a [Trickster], Original Vill-V sensed a kindred spirit in Ren Amamiya. It was precisely because of this kindred aura that the originally dormant Original Vill-V had been instinctively drawn to Ren Amamiya and had proactively approached him through the Signet of Helix while still dormant.
"A [Treasure] does exist in this Palace, but it's currently hidden. As for who has the ability to hide the Treasure in your Palace… you should know, right?"
As Vill-V slowly revealed the truth, Ren Amamiya's pupils constricted sharply.
He realized who Vill-V was referring to.