Chapter 688: An Invitation to the Concert

“N-no...”

Under the immense pressure, the prostitute began to stammer.

It was an obvious lie, so Loren cut off one of her ears.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Tell the truth.”

“Ah!”

The prostitute began to scream, and kept screaming until Loren started counting down.

“I did! I found a way to pass along information about you!”

“What way?”

“I left the information about you somewhere. If I didn’t go and retrieve it for a long time, someone would come to check on me. Then the information about you would be exposed...”

“You’re quite a bit smarter than Sher. This really is more reliable than finding someone else.

“So does anyone else know about me?”

“No!”

This time, she answered decisively, and she was telling the truth.

“Good. You’re no longer useful.”

As he spoke, Loren instantly killed the prostitute with Return to Earth. It was enough to know how she had passed along the information. Loren only needed to follow the projection to that point in time, which would save him a lot of time.

...

“Where are the others?”

After taking care of that, Loren asked Reflection Naclis, who was hiding in his shadow.

Loren had eliminated every potential threat. Not only had he dealt with the prostitute’s contingency plan, he had also watched every one of Sher’s Reflections from this period.

As expected, Sher had more than one backup plan. He had also left his novels by his front door, waiting for a screenwriter to collect them on the submission deadline. Loren’s information was tucked inside those novels.

“The others are all hiding in a basement. You should remember the place. Cecelia kidnapped you there before.”

“Alright. Tell them everything’s fine now. I’ve taken care of Sher for good... the detective, I mean.”

Loren had dealt with every potential threat without even taking a day. He soon flew back to Cecelia’s home, where the others had now gathered again. Mirrorheart had prepared dinner, too.

It was as if nothing had happened. Everyone gathered around the table and ate together once more.

Gwen and Orianna didn’t need to eat, either. They were still making puppets, but without Loren’s original body, their work had slowed considerably. They still hadn’t finished.

“Could we go back home and stay there for a few days?”

As they ate, Anna suddenly spoke up.

The puppets were handling the investigation, so no one had anything they absolutely needed to do right now.

And even if they did, Loren wouldn’t let them risk their safety.

“Maybe in a few days. Let’s keep an eye on things for now.”

Going back wouldn’t really accomplish anything. Anna just missed her old home.

She had lived there for a long time, but she had always been alone.

A place with people was a home. A place without them was just a house.

“Then forget it. As long as you’re here, anywhere will do.”

Anna smiled and continued eating.

“Loren, I have a concert coming up. Do you want to go with me?”

As they ate, Cecelia suddenly asked him.

“Sure.”

After a moment’s thought, Loren agreed. He wanted to see what Cecelia’s concerts were actually like.

After all, Cecelia never appeared in person, so the audience couldn’t even see her.

“When is it?”

“Tomorrow.”

Cecelia kept fiddling with her cutlery, looking a little nervous.

The concert was tomorrow, and yet she had waited until now to tell Loren.

She had agonized over it for so long. It clearly meant a lot to her, and Loren could see that. That was why he agreed.

There wasn’t much risk involved, since they wouldn’t encounter any outsiders along the way.

Cecelia had already told Loren roughly how her concerts worked. The venue had a passage reserved just for her, so she could simply go in through there.

Since her fans were essentially puppets controlled by her Arcane Ability, she didn’t need to worry about anyone disobeying her orders. She would be safe.

Cecelia had also mentioned that many of her concerts simply played a recording. After all, no one could see her anyway.

In fact, that was how most of her concerts went. Cecelia was essentially a shut-in girl, and unless she had to, she couldn’t be bothered to leave the house.

“Alright, I’ll go with you tomorrow.”

Loren couldn’t sing, either. He would only be there to keep Cecelia company.

This time, Anna didn’t insist on coming along. She knew this concert was quite important to Cecelia, so she even stopped Naclis when she looked ready to say something.

“Let’s just buy tickets and go to the concert like normal. It wouldn’t be convenient for Cecelia if too many people went along with her.”

“Alright...”

Since Anna had put it that way, Naclis couldn’t refuse. She was still a little displeased, especially since her own sister was taking someone else’s side.

Anna and Naclis’s exchange also managed to persuade the others, especially Laila, who was somewhat unhappy about it.

Once Loren agreed, Cecelia’s expression visibly relaxed. This really mattered a lot to her.

“It’s getting late. You should all get some rest. I’ll hurry up and finish making the puppet.”

After dinner, Loren went straight down to the basement. Gwen and Orianna were nearly finished. Only a few crucial steps remained.

This time, Loren made Seraphine, using quite a few Siren feathers in the materials. He had kept the finest feathers instead of using them to make ammunition. That would have been a bit of a waste.

She looks like this. I can’t be bothered to describe her.

The Seraphine Loren had made could also beguile people, which made her very useful for gathering information.

She could already use the Sun Card’s effect. The Sirens’ ability was just icing on the cake. Basically, people would believe whatever she said, and she could even hypnotize them outright.

With Seraphine, Loren would have a much easier time gathering information. He was one step closer to collecting all the Tarot cards.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. Thanks for your hard work.”

After making Seraphine, Loren released Gwen and Orianna from his control and gave their hair a pat.

“It’s no trouble. I can’t feel tired anyway.

“But this feeling is pretty great. I can’t do anything at all, and I’m completely under your control...”

“True.”

Orianna, standing beside her, calmly agreed with Gwen, leaving Loren at a loss for words.

His first instinct was to blame Mirrorheart, but then Loren realized that Mirrorheart had never really had a chance to interact with Gwen...

Suddenly, Loren thought of something.

From the very beginning, Gwen had said that her personality actually came from Loren’s perception of her. For example, her personality now was kind of messed up, and she even carried the Collector.

If that was the case, then her having such perverted thoughts also came from...

Loren shook his head, banishing the strange thought from his mind.

Mirrorheart was the pervert. He, Loren, was perfectly normal. There was absolutely no way he and Mirrorheart would ever be a case of both parties being willing...