— — — — — —
Mr. Mystery…
The moment he heard that name, Highness's mind started racing, trying to figure out which high-ranking being it referred to.
No—more likely, it was just a fake name meant to mislead people.
Still, when had this "Mr. Mystery" managed to parasite himself onto him? For something that invasive, there had to have been physical contact. He ran through his recent interactions one by one.
Then his eyes narrowed. There was one suspect.
The dead Prophet.
He'd grabbed the man's hand earlier when helping Rin up.
So the Prophet… was Mr. Mystery?
Highness frowned. He'd barely interacted with the man—he didn't even know his name. In fact, no one at the base knew it. The Prophet had gone to great lengths to hide it, always using his codename for everything.
'Could it be that after being killed by Indra, he somehow transferred himself into me to escape death?'
'Would a four-digit being really be that hard to kill?'
Highness's pulse quickened. He silently adjusted his estimation—Mr. Mystery must be at least a three-digit existence.
Heh, well, only someone of that level could've slipped away from Indra's hands.
The Deva King, forever mocking and belittling himself… but still a great being who had survived since the Dawn Era. You couldn't judge someone like that by appearances alone.
Alright. For now, assume Mr. Mystery is the Prophet, and test the waters.
"You said you could help me?"
Highness's tone was cautious but open—an invitation to cooperate.
If Mr. Mystery had gone to the trouble of hiding inside him, that meant he had a purpose, one that required Highness's body as a vessel.
At his question, Mr. Mystery chuckled softly. His voice was gentle, yet every word carried a strange weight.
"Whether I can help you or not depends on your judgment. I'm not an all-powerful being, after all."
Highness's heart skipped a beat.
Was he hinting that he once was?
He hesitated. Should he really work with this thing?
But in the end, he had no choice. He couldn't risk Rin's life on pride or paranoia.
He exhaled, then said quietly, "I foresaw my companion Rin's death. Do you have any way to prevent it?"
"Heh… I didn't expect you to be the type to worry about something like that." Mr. Mystery's soft laugh dripped with irony.
"But that's not up to me—it's up to you."
Highness frowned. "Her death involves a four-digit being—my superior, the Prophet—and his killer was none other than Indra, the Commander of Heavenly Army. You really think I can interfere in something like that?"
Mr. Mystery's tone shifted, slow and deliberate. "Are you sure it was Indra who struck the killing blow?"
"What do you mean?"
Highness's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That's impossible. That spear is his signature divine weapon. No one else could use it. Unless… wait. Are you saying it was Brahma?!"
Brahma and Indra were intertwined deities—brothers in both life and death, and within the Little Garden they even shared the same Another Cosmology.
That connection alone was enough to make Highness doubt his assumptions.
But Mr. Mystery only smiled and said, "No. Brahma didn't make a move. The one who attacked was Indra—at least, the one who launched the strike was him."
"'Launched the strike'...?"
Highness's heart sank. He suddenly felt like he was prying into something he wasn't supposed to know.
Mr. Mystery's tone turned teasing.
"Indra probably never imagined that a casual attack he made two hundred years ago would end up killing such a key figure centuries later."
"He never wanted to get involved in messy affairs—but fate has a habit of dragging him in anyway."
"Two hundred years ago? That's absurd. The attack only just happened—wait…!"
Highness's pupils dilated in shock.
An attack made two centuries ago couldn't possibly hit someone in the present—unless time itself had been twisted.
Impossible. And yet, in the Little Garden, there were beings who could make the impossible happen.
For instance, the Buddha.
Causality Reversal.
No way. It couldn't be the Buddha himself. He wouldn't interfere personally… let alone borrow Indra's old attack to do it.
A chill ran down Highness's spine. His mind raced.
Had the Buddha and the Holy Son already discovered his attempt to slip out from under their watch?
Should he grab Rin and the others and flee to another world right now?
Sensing his panic, Mr. Mystery spoke softly.
"Relax. The Buddha only gave things a little push. Even without him, Omega's methods would've been enough to kill the Prophet. And besides those two, Queen Halloween was also present."
Mr. Mystery's tone turned almost cheerful.
"So really, the Prophet never had a chance."
Omega. Queen Halloween.
Even those two were involved?
Highness's face tightened.
Was Mr. Mystery bragging about surviving that?
If everything he said was true, then this Mr. Mystery wasn't just a three-digit being—he might be brushing against the level of a two-digit, one of the seventeen, or at least among the thirty-three beneath them.
What kind of power structure was he caught up in?
His pulse hammered in his ears. He pushed the thoughts away, forcing himself to focus.
"Then what about Rin?" he asked through clenched teeth. "If those beings are involved, doesn't that make her situation even more dangerous?"
Mr. Mystery sighed, like a grandfather scolding a stubborn grandchild.
"You're letting your emotions cloud your thinking."
"When gods of that level are involved, do you really think killing a little five-digit girl means anything?"
"She's just one of the first snowflakes to fall in an avalanche. Nothing more."
"Besides," he added with a chuckle, "you seem to be underestimating your own value."
"That girl's uniqueness was enough to make those old foxes place early bets. And you—you share that same uniqueness. Saving her would be a trivial favor."
"If you wanted, you could demand seventy-two girls just like her from them."
Highness blinked, thrown off by the metaphor.
"Why would I want seventy-two girls?"
Mr. Mystery paused, coughed awkwardly. "Don't worry about the details. Just understand this—the girl's survival depends entirely on whether you decide she's worth saving."
Highness fell silent, thinking hard, then finally nodded. "I understand."
He'd confront Ouroboros's First Division directly.
If that failed—he'd threaten to leave the organization with Rin.
---
[No Name]'s HQ
Ryo stirred awake, the taste of too much wine still heavy on his tongue.
He blinked blearily, rubbed his eyes, and looked around the messy living room—only to find Black Rabbit sitting beside him.
His head was resting on her lap.
"...Huh?!"
He froze, completely blank.
And then, a man's amused voice whispered in his ear:
"Kid, my great-granddaughter's thighs are pretty comfortable, aren't they?"
In that instant, every hair on Ryo's body stood on end.
.
.
.