Mutagen

Their first stop on their return was straight back to the bureau and report the results of their mission. The receptionist in the bureau was happy to see them safe, although surprised and skeptical, given that the members of Evernight looked too clean for people coming back from a mission.

Well, the receptionist could not really suspect anything more than that after Mark handed the subject for the mission.

It was the head of a so-called [Named Infected], along with photos of its corpse.

[Named Infected] was the term used by the bureau for an [Infected] that gained notoriety. It could be an [Infected] with an uncanny ability that most people feared, a leader of a horde, or a [Mutated Infected] that managed to kill many people.

Normally, such enemies were supposed to be dealt with by the government and the army. However, with the [Freelancer] system already established, steps were created in order to give opportunities to brave and capable people.

Like a criminal with a bounty, [Named Infected] would become a target of a mission for a certain amount of time. After that amount of time elapsed, the mission would be taken over by the army.

The amount of time a [Named Infected] would be allowed to be posted for a mission depended on the estimated threat level of the [Infected]. It could be only a few days, to even a month. However, if the mission failed a certain amount of time, the mission would be handed over to the army regardless of the time elapsed.

It might sound convoluted. However, it was a necessary step to give financial opportunities and experience to [Freelancers] while possibly saving the limited workforce and supplies of the army.

As for what the Evernight Group hunted, it was called "The Ripper." It was a [Armor and Predator Type Hybrid Infected]. It was a rare combination as [Armor Types] had thick armor and were slow-moving, while [Predator Types] were agile. In short terms, it was a tough agile [Infected]. It gained notoriety after escaping elimination several times against [Freelancers] and even army scouts. Worse, it would attack and kill when the targets least expected, making it even more dangerous.

Fortunately, it was not the extremely aggressive type and would flee as fast as it could after sensing danger. Even if it was spotted first and was ambushed, its armored body was not easy to penetrate, and it would still be able to escape. It was an odd type of [Infected], making it even more dangerous than your usual [Infected].

In fact, if the Evernight Group had failed to kill it this time, the mission would have been handed to the army already. The slippery [Mutated Infected] had already killed quite a number of people and escaped many encounters dangerous for it.

Now, the slipper monster was marked as dead, without a doubt.

The Evernight group received the rewards for the mission and went on their way.

But as they returned, Mark and the girls were welcomed by a peculiar scene.

The little [Zashiki-Warashi] was back again. However, she was huddled at the back of the restaurant area, shivering in fear and trying not to move an inch.

And the reason...

It was another little girl. She was wearing Shinto clothing similar to a Priestess\' robe and with a hime style haircut.

"Oooh, it\'s really you!"

The girl said as she saw Mark enter the restaurant with a rather uncanny expression. That expression of his was clearly asking what the hell this girl was doing here.

There was no way Mark would not know this girl. Sixteenth, the [Eye of Excitement]. The other girl high in caffeine.

Sixteenth had the image of an oriental princess, specifically, a Japanese princess. And with the robes of a Shinto Priestess, one would expect her to show elegance and calmness.

However, Sixteenth\'s demeanor was clearly the opposite of what her image portrayed.

The members of Mark\'s group were also surprised to see their guest. The only different one was Emika, as it was the first time she had seen this girl in front of them.

"Who?"

Emika asked Mei after pulling on the latter\'s clothing.

"Another [Eye]."

Mei replied to Emika\'s surprise.

Emika expected that the other [Eyes] would be similar to Fourth, who had more than just a pair of eyes. However, the [Eye] before them only had a pair. But then, she gulped as she noticed. The pupils of the [Eye] before them looked scary.

"You all go up," Mark told everyone. "I\'ll talk to her."

Everyone followed Mark\'s words. Mei did not forget to also take the [Zashiki-Warashi], who could not even move out of fear, with them. And the girl, who would usually run away, could not even reject Mei\'s help.

"So..."

Mark opened his mouth as he took the seat in front of Sixteenth.

"Why I\'m here, right?" Sixteenth spoke what Mark was about to ask her. "Japan is within the domain I\'m taking care of. Rather than me being here, it\'s more surprising why you are here."

"I\'m just away for some time," Sixteenth continued. "And when I went back, a candidate from another domain appeared here. Why won\'t I go and check? You even fought with my candidate."

Those words from Sixteenth gave Mark a bit of information. It was not surprising, really. The Priestess, the leader of the Temple, clearly was who Sixteenth was talking about. Only she was the one Mark knew here who had the qualifications to be an [Eye\'s] candidate.

Ren had some qualifications too, but Mark did not fight her.

Of course, Mark was not clear about it yet. There were still other people that Mark had some beef with after arriving here in the Reclaimed City. After all, an [Eye\'s] candidate did not have to be a good person. They only had to have the qualifications.

As such...

"I\'m not the one who started the fight."

Mark replied, trying to get more concrete information.

"I know! I know!" Sixteenth exclaimed. "It\'s just a pity I\'m not present to watch when you two fought... It\'s not every day you can see a Demon and a Priestess in an equal fight. Most things happening around my domain is boring. There\'s no excitement at all."

Of course, the [Eye of Excitement] had complaints. It was all due to the lack of excitement in the current world. Something that even most of the other [Eyes] were having complaints about.

But these words gave Mark the information he needed. Without a doubt, it was the Priestess.

"So, what do you want from me?"

Mark asked.

"Nothing much, really," Sixteenth said with a smile. "Rather, I\'m curious. Why are you here? And how in the world did you manage to go here?"

How did Mark\'s group manage to go here? It was a question that had a lot of depth. It was due to the fact that each country on Earth right now was surrounded by borders impassable by almost anything on Earth.

Yet, Mark\'s group traversed those borders safely.

And by the looks of it, the [Eyes] were not sharing information about their candidates at all for some reason. If they did, Sixteenth would know that Mark had Spera.

"I don\'t have any reason to tell you, do I?"

Mark replied, making Sixteenth stare at him with a pout.

"What a killjoy." Sixteenth dusted off her sleeve. "If you don\'t want to answer, then don\'t. I don\'t have any authority over someone else\'s candidate."

"What\'s with the spatial distortion separating the countries anyway? Those are from the Spirit Dimension, right? Why let those be carried over after the fusion?"

Mark asked.

"Oh, you didn\'t know?" Sixteenth asked back. "Why should I answer?"

At those words, Mark smiled. The bait had been bitten. He could reel it in now.

"If you answer my questions, I\'ll answer your question."

Those words from Mark made Sixteenth stare at him.

And without hesitation.

"Alright, but you answer mine first."

Sixteenth answered.

***

Starting the information exchange, Mark explained how he and his group managed to traverse the spatial distortions. Of course, he did not go all the way to describe things that were not the focus of Sixteenth\'s question.

"Oh, so you have someone who had spatial abilities? No wonder, then." Sixteenth sure was interested. "If this is the case, you\'re probably the only candidate that can travel from country to country... Fourth is really lucky, huh."

There was little envy in Sixteenth\'s tone. The power of the [Eyes] became weaker after the Fusion of Dimensions. As such, they became prone to more emotional fluctuations.

"Then, I\'ll answer your question."

Sixteenth declared as she began to tell something that surprised even Mark.

The spatial distortions in the Spirit Dimension were there to block its inhabitants from different countries from interacting as much as possible. However, it was actually something not entirely created by the [Eyes] nor the [Observer].

As a hint, the spatial distortions mirrored the territorial borders of countries on Earth.

That was right. The Spirit Dimension mirrored Earth\'s geography. And the spatial distortions were the reflection of the territorial borders that humans established.

"If you want evidence for that, you might want to see the South China Sea."

Sixteenth said.

From Sixteenth\'s explanation, places with territorial disputes have much worse spatial distortions.

So, the spatial distortions were not the doing of the [Eyes] and the [Observer] entirely, but mostly the doing of humans as they segregated themselves from one another.

And now, it segregated countries from being able to help each other in their time of need.

"I see..."

Mark mulled over the information he got.

"By the way," Mark changed topics. "Since you\'re also absent here, one of you\'re candidates is having a hard time?"

"Hmmm? That\'s right," Sixteenth took a deep breath, preventing a sigh. "Fourth is doing the same too. Right? Fourth is in Indonesia because her candidate there is having a hard time. As for me, it\'s my candidate in South Korea."

"It\'s not surprising..." Sixteenth added. "Countries with weaker ancient foundations are the ones having a hard time at this time."

Ancient foundations. Sixteenth was talking about the lost era. More importantly, the effects it left on the countries affected by it.

As they said, stories would not have existed without basis. Myths stated stories lost in time, and legends shared what the scientific Earth denied.

"China and Japan are doing well because of such foundations. South Korea did not have the same level of foundation, and Indonesia had weaker foundations that got washed away by invaders. Your country should be in a worse state if you don\'t exist, as it had an even lower ancient foundation than a lot of countries on Earth."

Sixteenth iterated.

China\'s lost era resulted in Cultivators, and Japan\'s lost era resulted in Ninjas, Samurais, and Onmyoujis. As such, they had foundations that allowed them to protect the remaining humans. On the other hand, in Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia, their ancient foundations barely left anything, not to mention that most of its traces were erased by invaders.

Now, such countries were having a harder time surviving the outbreak.

Due to this, the [Eyes] focused on supporting their candidates in such unfortunate places.

And as Sixteenth said, the Philippines was lucky that they had Mark.

"Well then," Sixteenth suddenly stood up. "I\'m going. I don\'t really have any other agenda in this place."

And without waiting for Mark to speak, Sixteenth just vanished without a trace.

"Just as restless as ever, huh."

Mark voiced out as the girls peered into the first floor and only saw Mark alone.

"She already left?"

Mei asked.

"Yeah, she\'s just as busy as Fourth," Mark replied before asking about the girl in Mei\'s arms. "What about her?"

"She seemed really scared," Mei replied while she stroked the [Zashiki-Warashi\'s] head. "She calmed down now, though."

"That\'s good then," Mark nodded as he patted his stomach. "Should we have lunch then? I\'m hungry."

"Wait for a bit," Mei replied with a smile. "I\'ll cook something quickly."

It was an uncanny event, having another unexpected visitor. But as suddenly she appeared, she left.

And now, Mark\'s group had lunch with the welcomed guest of theirs.