As she spoke those words, Simon felt his eyes suddenly flicker open, her figure disappearing into the shadows. He soon began to realize that everything he saw was nothing but an illusion.
Time had not moved past a few seconds, and Jör was still cuddling against the fabric of his pocket.
(Jör was pulled in with me... Or rather, she was not affected. That means that those beasts were actually supposed to attack me.)
Simon was still stuck reevaluating the events that occurred in the illusion. Of course, he knew even more about her Signature now. This information would be useful if she tried to use it against him again.
The events of the illusion were still plaguing his mind. Before he had the chance to ask about the mission he was given, she was already gone. This caused Simon to frown. Who was Elliot Grayson?
He couldn't comprehend such a vague request; she never explained anything after all. Was it a test to see if Simon was just trying to please her with his words? Or maybe this Elliot had become an obstacle that they needed to dispose of.
Regardless, he knew he needed to turn back and go to the supermarket. He could tell Nocturne was content with their conversation; she wouldn't dare follow him back.
Getting near the supermarket would be difficult either way for her, considering Haruto's foresight. No matter if he was blind, he saw with the frequency of the air, and could see two seconds into the future.
(This is probably why they did not follow me to the supermarket. However...)
To Simon, although this was a great ability for recon, it was useless for him. This was because Haruto was only a D grade. No matter how powerful his Signature may have seemed, he could not maintain it for long.
Heavy usage of this ability would cause internal bleeding in his brain — Simon couldn't have some half-baked Signature as protection.
He decided to end everything here for the night, not wanting to get ahead of himself. Simon walked back to the supermarket, finding both Haruto and Leo sleeping.
There was still an hour left until what would be considered sunrise in this world. The grey halos above were slowly regaining their white color, and more Hollow Beasts were awaking from their slumbers.
Simon walked to his tent with an exhale of frustration. After all, what was left for him to do but wait? He still needed at least one other person to respond and come to this Replica World as backup.
If he didn't, trying to escape now would be writing his own death sentence. Simon couldn't just sit there and do nothing. So, he decided to anticipate the next arrival.
Simon opened his phone and went into an app that would show him his subordinates. His team consisted of seven people, including him.
He already knew Leo and had just been introduced to Haruto. Although from others, he had learned a lot about Haruto.
Next on the list was Evelyn. This was his Captain and Handler for his missions. Beyond that, there was a name he was most familiar with.
(Silas Roe?!)
Silas was the top student of the academy he and Leo had attended. An S rank Signator — the only Signator to be above Simon in his whole career. Silas alone would be enough for the three of them to escape.
The downside to this was that he was incredibly lazy. He probably would refuse to come unless dragged. Simon could not help but feel frustrated at this thought.
However reliable he would turn out to be, there is a high chance he would turn up late. Simon couldn't be bothered with the other members for now; he had to save his phone's battery.
Thus, he made a plan to go through everyone's file once a day for fifteen minutes. He knew everything about Silas already, so he did not need to do so with him. But to keep his routine, he didn't go any further.
Silas was also born in New York, a day younger than Simon. His Signature was the ability to convert sweat and skin into bullets. These bullets had the destructive power to wipe out an entire city in this Replica world.
This was considerably powerful, acknowledging that everything was ten times as durable in this world. Putting his phone away, Simon walked out of his tent, going into the back of the aisles.
Of course, he and Leo had also cleaned this area, but there was something far more important now. With the chances of Haruto not being able to use his ability, cameras would be needed.
And Simon knew full well that with a little bit of work, they could be fixed. So he started to get them back up immediately. Fortunately, when he checked the camera's four out of twelve were still working.
(I see. They must've gone out when the bats attacked.)
After all, they were all originally in the same condition. Simon had guessed that the bats did not know about Jör's presence beforehand, and never got to fully realize it. This caused them to try and swarm the surrounding area, breaking these cameras.
He went outside, spending the rest of the night fixing the cameras. He used parts from other broken devices and even had some luck finding completely new ones.
Once they were all fixed, he wrote a note next to the control room on how to operate them. However, Simon was still not tired.
Although sunrise had just started, he did not feel the need to go to sleep yet. This was a problem; it would terribly ruin his schedule. Additionally, he wouldn't have any free time to himself if Leo and Haruto woke up soon.
Simon paced around the control room, thinking about what to do, finding himself strolling along the shelves that they kept. Eventually, he found a journal with a sleek black exterior.
(...This will do.)
Simon grabbed it along with a pen and began to write the events of what had happened. However, he did not include anything about Project Icarus.
He didn't even include anything about his searches. This notebook was only to make sure that if asked, he would have a consistent story. If anyone else saw it, it would be hard evidence of his actions.
Ink cannot be erased after all. It didn't take long before all the events from the past days were written down, and his hand felt strained. Feeling content, Simon finally went back to his tent and went to sleep.
...I think it's about time we take some time away from my master. I'm sure you are curious about what his subordinates were up to, are you not?
What I will explain next is from my memories, not Simon's.