1204/08/25 12:30

The SSS, alongside Juna and Agate, arrived in the Downtown District. The crowd of seven attracted some attention from the resident of Lotus Height, who was passing by. It wasn't long before the gang members heard of their arrival.

"Wazy," Abbas, one of Wazy's gang members, greeted them. But as Wazy and Abbas exchanged pleasantries, Lloyd paid them no mind. He was still stuck at Juna's challenge. What did Juna see? What's Agate's importance? He might have deduced how his story and Agate's arrival had the hypothetical weight, but he still didn't know why.

"Anyway, let's go to their hideout!" Juna suddenly interjected the conversation between Wazy and Abbas.

The new group of eight approached Ignis clubhouse and saw Dino, one of the Saber Vipers members who was involved with the Gnosis case, guarding the door. Even before the door was opened, the loud music blaring from inside the building leaked outside.

"Yo, Dino."

"W-Wazy..." the blue-haired gang members return the greeting hesitantly. "What are you doing here with the cops?"

"The SSS is not here for official reasons," Lloyd quickly reassured the young man. "We are here to accompany Wazy."

"Is Wald in?" Wazy didn't beat around the bush.

Dino frowned. "Why are you asking? You're the one who made the boss depressed, so he stopped hanging out with us."

This is news to him. So Wald stopped hanging out with his hang because he was depressed after being defeated by Wazy? ..wait. What if- no, he shouldn't ask Juna about his suspicion here.

Lloyd saw Wazy bite his lip. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to do that, but Wald... he has to learn that our rivalry isn't eternal. I hope he will pick himself up. If he came here, do tell him that I want to talk."

"...Sure," Dino replied with some hesitance.

After that, Abbas went back to the Trinity Bar while the SSS, Juna, and Agate walked back to East Street.

"Ugh. Damn it..." Juna cursed once they left the Downtown District. "I thought for sure that my gut feelings would be correct."

"Is this the first time you're wrong, Juna?" Noel asked the younger girl.

"Well, technically, I was wrong with Renne back at the Anniversary Festival," Juna answered truthfully.

"But you ended up being correct that the Brights would get Renne. You're just wrong on the timing," Elie elaborated. "Is this the same way?"

As they passed the guild, Agate stopped his steps and spoke, "Well, this is where we part ways for the day. I still don't know what you're talking about, but since whoever you're trying to reach in Downtown isn't there, I think I'll just go and take some requests. Oh, if you still need my help, I'll help you as long as I'm still here."

After a round of farewell and 'see you later' from everyone, they went back to the SSS building.

When they settled down, Lloyd called Juna out.

"Juna," he closed his eyes.

"Yes, Lloyd? You wanna continue your story? We were distracted by Agate's arrival and Wazy's story," Juna laughed sheepishly.

"Juna, Please correct me if I'm wrong. But I think I'm starting to see what you're seeing."

His statement caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Lloyd?" Elie asked him in concern.

"Is it from your notebook again?" Wazy hummed in interest.

Lloyd opened his eyes and looked straight at Juna. "The weight... Wazy telling the story puts weight on his relationship with Wald, like Randy's relationship with the Red Constellation had weight, as did Guy's murderer and me." Lloyd stared at Juna's serious face. "Is it correct to say that in the future, Wazy would fight Wald again?"

...

"What?!"

"L-Lloyd?" Elie looked concerned for him.

"Fighting Wald again, huh..." Wazy had a wistful look.

"Th-Then, what about Agate?" Noel asked no one in particular, still reeling from his question to Juna.

"From what I can understand, Juna is trying to use Agate's help as a former delinquent to reach out to Wald. I don't know what kind of outcome Juna sees, but I'm sure of it," Lloyd sighed.

"Oi oi, tell me that ain't true, Junie?" Randy turned to Juna, who had an unusually serious face.

"You're wrong, Lloyd."

For a second, everyone's face relaxed. But then Juna's next words dashed their hope. "Wazy telling the story doesn't put the weight. It just lets me notice the weight. It was already there by the time Wazy and Wald fought. In fact, if you look at it from another perspective, all the fights Wazy had with Wald before he joined the SSS puts more and more weight onto their relationship."

"Oh no..." Elie gasped when she realized Juna didn't deny Lloyd's conclusion.

"But how? It was clear that Wald was weaker than Wazy. What would fighting Wazy again accomplish?" Noel once more asked the right question.

Juna turned to Noel. "Have you heard of the phrase, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?'"

"Don't we know it? Our baby-faced leader here is quite familiar with the phrase, seeing as he will cooperate with anyone if it helps solve the case," Randy sighed before he realized what just came out of his mouth. "Wait, Junie... you aren't saying-"

"Wald will work together with Guy's murderer or even the Red Constellation," Lloyd cut in and finished Randy's words.

The entire room was tense at Lloyd's declaration. How could they not? Red Constellation, Guy's murderer, and now Wald. Not to mention, there was still the trade conference in a few days.

"..."

Sensing the gloom, Lloyd decided to speak up.

"Listen, guys. I know it feels overwhelming. Red Constellation, Guy's murderer, and now even Wald... And then there's the terrorist, too. Our future seems like it's full of hardship," Lloyd looked at each member of the SSS in the eyes. Elie, Randy, Wazy, and Noel. He also looked at Juna, who was nodding and smiling. "But that's exactly why we can't give up. It's OUR future. Juna had gone all the way to confirm the existence of the barriers in front of us. It is up to us to get over them."

The room went silent, absorbing Lloyd's words.

"Yeah, you're absolutely right." Elie was the first one to respond. "It is our future. No matter how hard it is, we have to face them head-on."

"Geez. Any more cheesy speech, and we'll be meltin', partner," Randy sighed good-naturedly.

"I wouldn't mind being melted by Lloyd's words. Preferably when we're alone together," Wazy followed up the joke.

"W-Wazy..." Though Lloyd noticed that his joke didn't reach his eyes. Was he...?

"Ehehe, but that kind of thing is so Lloyd," Noel drove everyone back to the track.

Juna only nodded. "Yup, yup. It's a trademark."

Once the mood rose, Wazy stood up.

"Since we have no request, may I be excused?" He asked Lloyd, the leader of the team.

Lloyd nodded in full understanding. "You may, though I hope you will be home by dinner."

"Don't worry. Unless I encounter some lonely women in need of entertainment, I'll be here before dinner," Wazy said in confidence.

"...Why doesn't that give me any confidence?" Noel voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Oi, Wazy. You have your Enigma, haven't you? If there are any ladies in need of entertainment, give me a call," Randy winked at the green-haired androgynous man.

"Listen here, Randy..."

As Elie chided Randy, Lloyd turned to Juna.

"Shall we continue? I still haven't finished recounting the day yet."

"Sure."

1204/08/25 13:00

Wazy was thankful that Lloyd didn't ask too many questions. Well, that was also because Lloyd thought he was still reeling from Juna's prediction about Wald. The truth was a bit of this and that. He still regretted his last confrontation with Wald, but he went out because he wanted to meet someone and confirm his suspicion.

He went to the bus station on Ursula Road and sat down on one of the corner seats. If he recalled correctly, the person he wanted to meet was scheduled to go to St. Ursula from morning to afternoon.

As a bus came and stopped and the people disembarked, Wazy smiled as he was correct.

"...Wazy," a red-haired woman in a church's habit greeted him.

"Yo, Ries," Wazy playfully saluted her. "I've been waiting for you."

Ries only sighed before she took a seat beside him. "So, what business do you have with a new sister like me?"

So, she was keeping up the charade. Wazy looked around to see that the bus stop was still full. Wazy followed. "I just want to get to know you better."

After around five minutes of small talk, the bus stop was almost empty.

Ries gagged, "Ew, Wazy, please never do that to me again. So this is how it felt to be those kinds of women, huh..."

The green-haired youth only laughed.

"So, the truth now. What do you want with me? I thought you didn't want to raise suspicion by directly associating with me?" Ries continued after seeing Wazy wouldn't respond to her request.

"Indeed," he agreed with Ries. "I still wanted anonymity. And besides, I rather liked my reputation here in Crossbell."

Ries stared at him.

"Wazy..."

Wazy sighed. "Sorry. I had a lot on my mind. But I want to talk to you about a matter of grave importance if you don't mind."

Ries didn't reply, but her expression told him to go on.

"What do you think of Lloyd's notebook?"

"...Notebook?" Ries questioned back in confirmation. "You mean the notebook containing Juna's advice? Otherwise, I don't know any other notebook from Lloyd."

Wazy nodded. "Exactly. I remembered you taking a look at that book before. What do you think?. I took a look after you, but I still wasn't convinced of the content. It might just be a coincidence."

"..."

Again, Ries didn't answer, prompting Wazy to continue.

"However, something Juna did a few hours ago changed my mind." Wazy looked to the sky. Aidios was the Goddess of the Sky. She surely was watching them. He prayed to her that what he would do was the correct action to take. "Juna can see someone's fate and weigh it when none of us should be able to. That notebook Lloyd has... it contains the steps needed to see someone's fate."

Ries opened her mouth before she closed it again.

"Juna confessed to me," she began after several seconds of silence. "That she could understand those 'incomprehensible facts' since she was little. I assume, then, that she did it to read someone's fate?"

"She read mine," he replied quickly with a chuckle. "And even without knowing anything about my background, she managed to divine something she was very sure of and proved it not a second later. Granted, Wald wasn't there, but now that it's been laid out openly, what else should I believe? Coincidence? When she's been doing this for longer than I knew her?"

"Wazy..."

"The other in the SSS lacked the full context of what Juna could do. We, Aidios' creations... our brain is not designed to be able to do that. Not unless you take some brain-enhancing stuff to overstimulate it -like Gnosis, for example. Even then, none of the cultists were able to fully do that, according to the church's report."

Wazy ended his rant with a sigh. "I'm sorry if it's a little unsightly. I guess my faith has just taken a blow because it directly involves me. When it was Crossbell's fate at stake, like the show at the guild, I could take it. But since it's mine..."

"Wazy, listen," Ries began. "Within ten minutes of talking to me for the first time, Juna uncovered my real occupation as a member of the Gralsritter. Do you know what she said to me after she revealed her terrorist attack prediction?"

Wazy bit his lip. "Hmm, that's right. You two left the building together, didn't you? I don't know what she said."

"She asked if the church would kidnap her or dispose of her or force her to join us because she understood those 'incomprehensible facts, '" Ries answered, to Wazy's little shock.

He then laughed. "Well, she's not entirely wrong on that front. We do have track records of doing that to the Cult."

Ries glared at him. "My point," she emphasized. "Is that for whatever Juna can do, In the end, she's just a scared teenage girl who wants to do her best for her country."

...

Ries was correct. Juna wasn't some evil mastermind who tried to upend Wazy's mission in Crossbell. Rather than be afraid of her and her ability, Wazy should get closer to her.

"I promised to bring her to Arteria. Juna agreed, but she wanted to do it after 'the problem in Crossbell is resolved,'" Ries continued. "I don't know how, but from what we can understand, she's very sure that Crossbell will face something in the future..."

Already feeling better, Wazy whistled. "Really? She's able to predict Crossbell's fate? No, if she's able to predict everyone's fate just by the history of their actions, then she reasonably could predict Crossbell's fate by the history of Crossbell's action."

Ries gave him a side-eye. "What exactly did she predict about you?"

Wazy's eyes lit up in mirth. "Now, that would be telling, would it?"

Ries sighed before standing up and walking away.

"Your problem's gone, right? Then goodbye."

Wazy didn't say anything. The fewer rumors about him and Ries, the better. Still, maybe the next time he was back in Arteria, he'd treat her to something.

...wait, no. His wallet wouldn't survive!

1204/08/25 13:00

"...And we defeated the Fairy Drake with Randy and Zeit's assistance. After that, we talked more about how and why we were trapped there, and Randy..." Lloyd's eyes went to him, who only replied with a grin before he continued. "Randy concluded that the one doing that was the Red Constellation. As for the reason... exactly after we concluded that, we got a call from Dudley. The Red Constellation, with the help of Lechter Arundel, acquired the former Revache's base and would reopen it as a club."

Juna was silent, absorbing his words.

"On the way back, I saw the two people from the Rosenberg mansion from the car. After that, nothing happened except Randy confronting his relatives."

Once Lloyd finished, he let Juna digest his story for a few minutes.

"So, what do you want to understand, Lloyd? What sticks out to your detective intuition?" Juna asked him. It seemed that she had fully absorbed everything and was ready to answer his question.

"The four of us minus Randy... when I propose five minutes of rest, each of us could've asked for more, but none of us did. And so Randy joined mid-battle. However, since you can see the weight behind our action, I wonder, would Randy arrive first before we join if I had asked for ten minutes or even twenty minutes of rest?"

"Huh? What's questionable about it? Of course, I would. I was with Zeit at the time, and he helped me find you," Randy answered.

Zeit even woofed in confirmation. Too bad Tio wasn't here to translate Zeit's words.

"But if my understanding of what Juna called weight is correct... then even if we take a two-hour break, Randy still wouldn't arrive on time," Lloyd elaborated.

"...I'm afraid to ask, but why?" Elie questioned.

However, it wasn't him who answered, but Juna. "Because the weight would be heavier if Randy arrived late, so he did."

"Huh? I'm sorry, I don't understand?" Noel voiced her confusion.

"Woof?" Even Zeit did the same.

Lloyd grimaced. "It's as I thought. If I asked for an hour break, then Randy would still be late because his way is obstructed or whatever. In the same vein, if we hadn't taken the five-minute break, Randy would still have arrived at the same moment because he and Zeit found a shortcut or anything. Did I get it right?"

"Yes. That's how the weight work."

"That's..." Elie trailed off in disbelief.

"No way..."

"Unbelievable..."

Randy and Noel also voiced the same.

"In any case, I think now I understand how it works. Though I'm not sure if I could analyze and conclude it as fast as you, Juna. Thank you for the confirmation."

"Ehehe, it's nothing. And besides, I love hearing about the SSS. You guys have lots of fans, don't you know? Ryu and Anri always take Momo, Ken, and Nana to play around as the Junior SSS," Juna bashfully deflected.

Ryu and Anri, huh? Lloyd's mind went back to the day SSS was founded. Their very first mission after Chief Sergei left them alone was actually saving the two boys inside Geofront. Although they failed the mission and had to be bailed by Arios...

"We know. And we appreciate them," Lloyd answered with a smile.

When he remembered how Ryu and Anri reacted by making fun of them after they failed and had to be saved by the guild and how they called themselves Junior SSS now, the SSS really had come so far to gain Crossbell citizens' trust.

"Is there anything else?" Juna asked now that his main question had been answered.

"...I don't think so," he answered. "Anyone else?"

"Nope."

"No questions here."

"Same."

"Woof!"

Honestly, Lloyd felt like he was forgetting something, but he didn't know what. Was the weight light, then, that he didn't remember at all? Lloyd put aside his feelings and smiled at the younger girl.

"...Alright. There you have it, Juna. Thanks for your help."

"No problem. Glad I can help you. See you later!"

A/N: Yeah no confrontation with Wald here. I figured I don't want everything to end up too perfect for the cast, including Juna. So it ended up becoming another prediction for them. And now Lloyd is slowly understanding how narrative weight works. What about Aidios' mental block? ...Did you say barrier? *play Get Over the Barrier* Jk, as explained in the chapter, Lloyd still doesn't understand, but once he give more thought to it he sort of gets how it works. A blackbox, if you will. He can operate, but don't know the underlying mechanism. I hope I can show how amazing the combination of this plus Lloyd's detective skills in the future.