Chapter 677: Guests Arrive

"Tobiichi-san, are you alright?" Itsuka Shido asked with some concern, looking at Tobiichi Origami's somewhat pale complexion.

Tobiichi Origami sneezed, rubbed her nose, and shook her head slightly: "I'm fine, just a small cold, it's nothing."

"But, looking at you right now, you don't look like you're fine at all!" Itsuka Shido asked with some worry.

"With Shido here, a mere cold cannot defeat me!" Tobiichi Origami said with full confidence.

"Shido, are you ready?" Tonomachi Hiroto asked Itsuka Shido, his tone somewhat urgent. "This time, we must find that Mysterious Shop!"

"Yeah, I'm ready!" Itsuka Shido nodded, his tone also carrying a hint of anticipation.

Previously, when their group went to search for that Mysterious Shop—which they didn't even know existed—they had run into the suddenly appearing Yoshino. After receiving that news, Tobiichi Origami had hurried to the AST headquarters, and Itsuka Shido and Yatogami Tohka were also urgently recalled to the Fraxinus. Without his companions, Tonomachi Hiroto had lost the desire to look for that legendary shop. Now that they had finally gathered together again, Tonomachi Hiroto naturally brought up the matter of searching for that Mysterious Shop once more.

During this time, Itsuka Shido had also learned some information about this Mysterious Shop through the Fraxinus, but the results surprised both him and Itsuka Kotori. Although this urban legend hadn't appeared for long, there were quite a few examples serving as evidence that this shop truly existed!

In fact, even Itsuka Kotori was tempted by this Mysterious Shop; she thought she might be able to find clues regarding the Swordsman from it. However, just as they were preparing to set out, an urgent message came from the Fraxinus, requiring Itsuka Kotori to return to the Fraxinus immediately.

"Reine, what exactly happened? Why call me back so urgently?" Sitting in the commander's seat, Itsuka Kotori frowned slightly.

"This is an urgent message transmitted from the upper levels. After looking at it, I believe this matter requires you to make a decision," Murasame Reine said.

"What kind of matter could make you so anxious?" Itsuka Kotori looked at the document in front of her and frowned.

However, after she finished reading the document in front of her, she couldn't help but fall silent.

"Reine, do you think this matter is true?" Itsuka Kotori asked.

"I do not believe the DEM company would fake such a thing," Murasame Reine said.

"Tsk, I never thought this new Spirit would actually cause such a huge incident! The newest most dangerous Spirit?" Itsuka Kotori's fingers tapped on the armrest of her chair.

She had never expected that the Swordsman's third appearance would actually result in such a terrifying event. Although the information about Nilier Island had been completely concealed by the DEM company, as an organization opposing the DEM company, Ratatoskr still detected the existence of Nilier Island. Now that Nilier Island had been destroyed, some things naturally could no longer be hidden, so Ratatoskr also took the opportunity to obtain quite a bit of useful information from it.

"If Nilier Island is truly as the intelligence says, I'm afraid we will have to re-evaluate the Swordsman's strength," Itsuka Kotori said.

Looking at the completely ruined Nilier Island in the picture, Itsuka Kotori also began to consider whether it was appropriate for her to let Itsuka Shido make contact with the Swordsman. Although Itsuka Shido possessed her flames—where if he died, flames would ignite on his chest to start him over—she couldn't be certain if this ability would still work in the event of dying from old age.

"Reine, what is your take on this matter?" Itsuka Kotori asked softly.

Murasame Reine's brows furrowed slightly; clearly, Lingyun's appearance was completely outside of her plans. Thinking of that woman who had appeared mysteriously back then, a trace of helplessness rose in her heart. At that time, Tokisaki Kurumi's Spirit Crystal had already been invaded by the Underworld Power, and even she could not purge it. When she was trapped in a predicament, it was that mysteriously appearing woman who gave her hope; she told Murasame Reine that she had a method to purify this contaminated Spirit Crystal, which was why Murasame Reine had handed Tokisaki Kurumi over to her. Now, Tokisaki Kurumi's condition did indeed look recovered, but by her side, an unknown entity who also possessed Time Power had appeared. This could not help but make her worry: could her plan still succeed?

"Regarding this matter, I cannot offer any suggestions for the time being; after all, the intelligence is truly too scarce," Murasame Reine shook her head and said.

"Is that so? Then there is no other way," Itsuka Kotori bit her lollipop and said with a frown. "Now we can only speed up the intelligence gathering on the Swordsman, and then make a decision later."

"Hiroto, is that Mysterious Shop you mentioned really in this place?" Looking at Tonomachi Hiroto who was leading the way, Itsuka Shido asked with a frown.

They were currently wandering through alley after alley, and Tonomachi Hiroto was holding a map in his hand, seemingly trying to identify something.

"Rest assured, Shido. I spent a huge price to obtain this map; we will definitely be able to find that Mysterious Shop!" Tonomachi Hiroto said with absolute certainty.

"This place, it's somewhat familiar!" Tobiichi Origami looked at the surrounding alleys and couldn't help but frown.

"This place is indeed somewhat familiar. Wait, isn't this the place where the Hermit appeared before?" Itsuka Shido looked around and suddenly let out an exclamation.

"Hermit? What is that?" Hearing this, Tonomachi Hiroto couldn't help but look at Itsuka Shido with some confusion.

"Uh, that, that is, it's just a code name for someone. Because this person is always living in seclusion in one place and refuses to come out, that's why they have the code name Hermit," Itsuka Shido realized he had let something slip and immediately tried to remedy it.

"So that's how it is. It seems this person is also one of our kind!" A strange light flickered in Tonomachi Hiroto's eyes. "For someone like this, if there's a chance in the future, I must go and visit!"

"Ahem, about that, the Hermit is very hard to see..." Itsuka Shido couldn't help but say.

Thinking of the scene where Tonomachi Hiroto met Yoshino, Itsuka Shido felt like his world was about to collapse.

Inside the shop, Lingyun, who was playing chess with Ruoxi, suddenly raised an eyebrow. In his perception, someone had stepped into the range of the Array he had set up.

"Look, that place is the legendary Mysterious Shop!" Tonomachi Hiroto said, pointing to a storefront ahead.

"That's not right. I've been to this place, and I've never seen this shop before!" Tobiichi Origami looked at the small shop in front of her, and her brows couldn't help but furrow.

"So it's them!" Lingyun placed a chess piece down and said with a smile. "It seems guests have arrived!"