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Have you always been so daring and reckless? Why did you immediately go break a window of an occupied home without thinking?
The question runs through your mind as you watch the little girl stir a bit more into alertness through the broken window. The room you see is a wonderful paradise for a cat, in a corner there's a cat tower and cat toys close to her bed. Confusion blooms in the childish face, then shock takes hold with the awareness of a strange tattooed teenager looking in through her broken window.
The kid knows that her bedroom is on the second floor and it should be impossible for a stranger to stare right into it.
Without hesitation, you collapse the ice pillar into nothingness and drop down to the street. The <span class="mu-s">Springheel Boots</span> absorb the shock of the drop while the ice melts instantly into water. What had been a proud, solid ice pillar simply reduces itself to an unimpressive puddle. Then you begin to chase after the fleeing black cat.
The Baphomets are unaware of the situation; they're absorbed with petting cats. In an instant, you swerve directions and lightly tap each Baphomet as you run past them to get their attention. You consider grabbing one of them and carrying them, but depriving the Baphomets of each other seems like a bad tactical choice.
If you grab the Guide, they won't have a way to escape the hateful World. If you grab the Bodyguard, they'll be left without any combat power. If you grab the Dowser, they won't be able to find you if they get lost.
So you leave the three together and run ahead. The Baphomets must be saying something, but the active Silence Stone eats up their words. At first, they remain still, unable to understand the situation, but it doesn't last long. After all, their King is leaving them behind, and they, as loyal vassals, must never allow that! They start running after you on their short legs with all their might.
<span class="mu-r">Backlash is growing...</span>
The little girl must be looking out from her window, but you don't spare a backward glance. The little detour to grab the attention of your vassals allowed the black cat to pull further ahead. That won't do; time to use <span class="mu-s">Springheel Boots</span> and jump. Muscles tense, you take an immense leap forward disproportionate to the physical effort put in. It clears a lot of ground; it's more efficient than just running, and at the apex of each jump, you track where the cat is heading.
All the while, you hear nothing.
You never imagined how unnerving complete silence is. Cocooned in the magical effect of the Silence Stone, everything around and within is noiseless. The pounding of feet on solid asphalt after every leap, the frenetic beating of the heart, the harsh intake of breath, the ever-present noise of Tokyo—all of it is gone. It's as though you are running in a dead city.
