People with no familiarity… are obnoxious.

"I'll oblige. Let me tell you what you most likely want to know." Raffi spoke in a hushed tone and settled back on Iberis' lap. He then looked at Stelcis' face.

"…I am… the supervisor of this 'Labyrinth System'… In other words, I'm the sole 'terminal' with the codes to access the central system."

"What…?"

Iberis gasped and looked down at Raffi.

Stelcis kept the smiling expression on her face and said. "I see… So the remnants of the management system still survived in such a form."

"Fortunately or unfortunately, all the information that constituted me was not lost. But…" Raffi gritted his teeth and clammed up. He pondered for a few seconds before carrying on. "When I acquired this form, I lost most of my construction information. There are several access codes among them. Therefore, it is no longer possible to interfere with the system in the usual way…"

"You mean you're simply an entity with the attributes of a… management system?"

Iberis asked, but Stelcis interrupted her.

"There's more to it than that. Even if you are a remnant of the management system, there are still too many unexplainable aspects to your behavior. You still have some of the access keys… to interfere with the main system, don't you?"

With those words flung at him, Raffi grew silent.

He then looked around at the men and women surrounding him, before shooting his cat eyes at Stelcis.

"Why do you want to know about that?"

This time, Stelcis held her tongue when the question was posed in reverse. Seeing her momentary reaction, Raffi distorted the edges of his mouth. He then exhaled lightly and glanced at the bed beside the girl.

"It made sense. You're 'there'."

"… What do you mean?"

Iberis, in the wheelchair, heard the sound of Raffi's voice and dropped to her hip. Raffi replied to Iberis, with a hint of alarm in his words.

"The Nightmare called Mock Turtle. She's presumably 'existing' next to her."

"I can't feel anything."

"That's what the 'Seventh' she possesses, I guess. The ability to render oneself unperceivable. Isn't this shelter also hidden by that Nightmare's power?"

All the men and women surrounding them lifted their stun guns at once and leveled them at Raffi and Iberis.

"Stop," Stelcis said, holding back the others. The smile disappeared from her face, and she directed a Noh-like impassive expression at Raffi and Iberis. "What are you going to do if that's the case…?"

Raffi snorted at the question.

"Nothing. I have no intention of hostility at this stage. You seem to be overly cautious."

"… 'She' is concerned about the efficacy of the access key to interfere directly with the system you hold," Stelcis said nonchalantly.

The black cat fell silent slightly, then drew in a breath before continuing.

"I see. She fears that the Nightmare will be obliterated or that the Seventh will be disabled."

"…"

"Not at all. If I could, I would have done it long ago." He assured her, and Raffi's expression twisted into a pained one. "I wish I could have… done that…"

"…"

While the men and women around him were holding their stun guns, Stelcis let out a breath. Then she cast her gaze down on the bed.

"… Right. Mock, what do you suggest?"

For a while, silence enveloped the room.

Eventually, the top of the bed wavered and the space warped like a heat haze. Then a figure like an infant, who had not been there before, emerged. She sat down on the bed and regarded Raffi and Iberis as if she was frightened.

Her hair was reddish-brown and her eyes were dull brown. She looked to be about five or six years old. She was a small girl in a white hospital gown.

Her bare feet wriggled, and she drew them up with her thin arms. Then she hugged her own legs and uttered in a muffled voice.

"People with no familiarity… are obnoxious. Get out of here…"

"Are you the Mock Turtle?" Raffi remarked, settling down again on Iberis' lap. Then he straightened his back and opened his mouth. "Does the fact that you showed up mean that you have some trust in me?"

"…"

Burying her face in her knees, the Mock Turtle watched Raffi from between them with keen eyes. After a while, she started speaking in ramblings again.

"I… can only conceal… I don't have any Seventh's ability. I can't protect myself. So I hide. I have to be cautious. Please understand that."

"I understand that. But it's driving me mad." Iberis spat out the words disdainfully. Upon observing the terrified look on the Mock Turtle's face, Raffi interrupted her.

"Stop it… Mock Turtle, I have one question for you."

"…"

When she didn't respond, Raffi softly asked her.

"Is your ability to completely hide the shelter even from the Original Nightmare possible?"

"…"

While remaining silent, the Mock Turtle reached over to the side of the bed. She then made a grasping motion and randomly threw it towards Raffi and the others. A stuffed bear popped up in the air and rolled to the floor with a light thud.

This action was repeated several times. Soon, more than a dozen stuffed animals appeared and rolled on the floor.

"…"

Taking a glimpse at the dumbfounded Iberis, the Mock Turtle clapped her hands lightly. All at once, the stuffed animals disappeared.

"…"

She pulled her knees together again and looked at them from between her knees, and Raffi said admiringly.

"It's like an advanced magic trick, your Seventh. Indeed, all the residue of data and everything else is gone. Even if you were to touch it with your hand, it might be imperceptible."

"… My ability, as long as I'm alive, is permanent. So this shelter is safe as long as I'm here."

The Mock Turtle looked up at Stercis as she said this.

"What Stel says. I'm half-listening. The citizens, I'll accept. But…" She stared at Raffi and Iberis with her dull-colored eyes. "I don't accept these people and their companions. Please leave."