"Are you listening to music on your headphones?"
Zane pointed at his ear and looked at Anby curiously.
She was holding a hamburger in both hands. Hearing him, she looked up, blinked, and instead of answering, softly hummed a tune.
"Dun, dun dun dun, dun dun dun…"
It was just a simple rhythm, but under Anby's steady, melodic humming, it sounded strangely pleasant.
The tune had a gentle, almost melancholic air to it—subtle and peaceful, yet a little haunting. In this moment, surrounded by the noise of the restaurant, she seemed lost in her own little world.
Zane raised an eyebrow. It felt familiar.
"Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun dun, dun, dun dun dun…"
Anby froze for a second. She didn't need to check her headphones—she instantly recognized that he'd hummed the exact same rhythm.
Her eyes lit up in surprise.
"Looks like we're a little bit in sync after all."
Zane gave a slight smile. Anby stared into his clear blue eyes and thought—they were smiling too.
So warm.
"Here."
She offered him another hamburger.
Zane hesitated. The only reason he'd been able to hum the tune was because of the Ethereal memory embedded in him—he just happened to remember it.
But seeing the look on her face, he reached out and accepted it anyway.
Out of the three members of Hare's House, his relationship with Nicole was the most natural. Billy was just friendly by default.
Anby? She had always been the most distant. Even a little cautious around him.
But over time, especially now—between the humming and the hamburgers—it was clear her opinion of him had changed.
How bad could someone be if they liked hamburgers and music, right?
Zane figured that was probably what she was thinking.
Seeing him accept the hamburger, Anby smiled faintly. She raised her other hand—the one holding her half-eaten burger with bite marks still visible—and extended it toward him.
"Huh? You're giving me this one too?"
Zane raised an eyebrow and stared at the bitten burger, puzzled.
Was she too full to finish it?
"That's yours. This one's mine."
Anby shook her head and looked at the one in his hand.
After two seconds of thought, Zane looked into her eyes—and suddenly understood.
He lightly tapped his burger against hers.
"So… cheers to burgers?"
"Mm-hmm."
Seeing the sheer joy on Anby's face, Zane couldn't help but think: maybe they really were a little bit in sync.
Maybe the only one who could keep up with Anby's train of thought… was an Ethereal like him.
Yeah. They were both a bit odd.
...
"Zane, switch seats with me."
Just as Zane finished his burger, Wise called out from the other side of the table. Zane looked up, confused.
He remembered how, when they first sat down, Wise had subtly made sure he didn't sit next to Belle.
"My sister has something to tell you."
Hearing that, Zane got up and traded seats with Wise, sitting down beside Belle. He looked at her, puzzled.
"What's so important you have to say it now?"
Belle, seeing him arrive, handed Nicole (who was still napping on her lap) to Anby, picked up her phone, and scooted closer with a serious look.
Billy was still enthusiastically chatting with Seth about Starlight Knights and didn't notice her expression. But Nekomata, who was happily devouring grilled mackerel, looked up at Belle curiously.
"Remember that forum I created—the one called Hollows?"
"I was just browsing, and it looks like some info about you got leaked. It wasn't me—I swear. And now the forum's getting so popular it's rivaling the big ones!"
"I don't even need to run it anymore. The users are practically running it themselves—"
She suddenly paused, then smacked herself on the head.
"Wait, wait, never mind that! The important thing right now—Zane, look!"
Belle held her phone in front of him. It displayed a simplified Inter-Knot interface with a new anonymous message on the screen.
"I know you must know a lot about the Fire Picker.
You might even be close to him.
Don't worry. I mean no harm.
Could we agree on a time to meet?"
There was nothing threatening in the message—but Belle still looked tense.
She couldn't understand why anyone would know about her connection with Zane.
And very few people even knew he was human.
Zane realized how serious this was.
Fire Picker… was his alias in Ethereal form.
So whoever sent this message—might know his true identity?
Was it Soldier 11?
She was the only one it could realistically be.
No, wait. If it were her, she would've come straight to him.
She wouldn't play games on Inter-Knot.
So then… who?
...
"Zane, I swear—I didn't tell anyone anything about you. And I kept my identity as the forum's creator completely separate."
Worried he might doubt her, Belle quickly tried to reassure him.
She furrowed her brow, deep in thought.
"The sender is a brand-new Inter-Knot user. No profile info. It's like they created the account just to send this message."
There was no way she'd meet them—not until she figured out who they were.
With Zane involved, Belle understood exactly how dangerous this was.
Military mechs. Defense Force ambushes. Secret ops. The Dead End Butcher...
Phaethon could handle things like that.
But Belle and Wise? They were just ordinary people. One wrong move and it'd all go south.
...
"I've heard of Phaethon's reputation. Don't you guys have a brilliant butler or something? Can't she track them?"
Zane rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Fairy, right?"
Belle blinked.
If it were about directly tracking someone down—then no, Fairy couldn't help.
Inter-Knot had tight security. And this wasn't really Fairy's specialty.
But if it was just about digging up traces…
"Fairy might be able to help find clues."
"I'll try when I get back."
Belle nodded. For some reason, just telling him everything already made her feel more at ease.
"Actually, it doesn't feel like they're certain. It reads more like… a probe."
"As far as Inter-Knot goes, the only lead they could've followed was that request you got earlier—to investigate me."
Zane hadn't canceled that request on purpose. He was hoping to lure someone out.
Looks like it worked.
...
"Wait… a request to investigate you?"