And so, they took their lunch back at Marice's home and waited for further developments on the side of Liza's coworkers.

Up to a certain point, they were able to track Richelle as she peddled her goods from Pasay to Malate, but she had seemingly disappeared just before she could fully make a loop back to Ermita. Liza assumed that it had something to do with the same entity that got Richelle out of the police station, so she told them to analyze the girl's usual routes based on past recordings instead of searching for her blindly. And a few hours later, they submitted a surprisingly comprehensive report of Richelle's patterns across the neighboring districts for a whole month.

Apparently, she had been living on the streets in Binondo along with her grandmother until they seemingly disappeared a week ago. Since then, Richelle had always masked her movements from the surveillance cameras, preventing them to trace where she was currently staying. She couldn't have moved very far though as she was still getting her balut from the same supplier.

With all that information in mind, the group resumed their search, splitting into pairs just like earlier.

Marice and Katherine spent the evening wandering inside Intramuros, hoping for any kind of response from the scrying doll. But once nighttime set in, they decided to take a short break in front of a convenience store.

"We still have at least an hour tops before she calls it a day," Marice said, swaying her legs in the air, "but I feel like we already missed our chance earlier."

"You think so?" Katherine said, opening a bottle of grape juice.

She wagged the doll in her hand. "We can attempt to scry for her location again, but I don't wanna gamble when we're up against something as powerful as a wraith."

"Hmm, I know! What if we ask Vivianne to help us?"

"Vivianne, huh? She's strong, but a wraith isn't exactly an opponent you can defeat with brute force alone."

"So, um, I have a question."

Her sudden shift in tone caused Marice to perk up. "Hm? What is it?"

"Do you hate her, Marice? Vivianne, I mean."

"Where did that come from? No, not at all."

She then smiled, placing her free hand on her chest. "I see. That's a relief."

"You could try asking her. I'm not against the idea."

"Then I'll ask her now."

"Wait, now?"

Her eyes started to glow blue. "Yup, I'll just leave her a message since she isn't online yet."

As Marice hopped off Katherine's floating shield, she heard a familiar call from the far left. She kept her eyes on the junction until she saw a trike pass by. "Hey! Over here!"

The long-haired girl on the trike stomped on the brake pedal, looking in her direction. And after a few seconds of hesitation, she hurried towards the pair.

"S-Sorry," she said, eyes staring at the pavement.

Ignoring the gloomy expression of the taho vendor, Marice looked at the laminated menu pinned on the umbrella's handle. "This is quite a variety. I haven't tried any of these flavors before."

Katherine got off her shield and skipped to Marice's side. "What is she selling? Some kind of drink?"

She paused for a moment. "Huh... does taho count as a drink?"

"Uh... why are you asking me?"

"I just never thought about it before until now. I just sipped everything with a straw when I was a kid."

Katherine stared at the menu's hand-drawn graphic. "Looks like some kind of shake to me. So maybe?"

Their conversation went on for another minute until Marice grew conscious of the vendor's anxious glances. "Sorry. I'll have a large cup of the original."

"Same as hers, please!" Katherine said.

Giving them a small nod, the taho vendor opened up two of the containers and began preparing their cups. As she started scooping up tofu, her trembling hands became even more apparent.

"Are we making you uncomfortable?" Marice asked.

"U-Uh, no. Not at all!"

She sighed as the girl almost lost her grip on her ladle. "Relax. We won't tell anyone."

The vendor froze for a moment, glancing at Marice. "A-Ah... thank you..."

"Pretty ballsy of you to go around in the open like this though."

As she finished filling up the second cup, the vendor started adding in sago pearls and brown sugar syrup. "I have to bring food to the table somehow."

"Synthetic meat for half-breeds is quite expensive, isn't it? I'm curious if they're any different to the regular stuff I've been using as biomass."

"Biomass?"

"I'm practicing necromancy."

"Necro...mancy? Does it have something to do with witchcraft?"

"Yeah, some witches have powers over the dead."

"I see. I wonder if my boss can do something like that." Looking a bit more comfortable, the vendor handed them their cups and straws. "Here you go."

Katherine brought the steaming cup close to her face, stirring its contents with a straw. "Mmm... this sweet aroma is just lovely! I've been meaning to ask: what's this jiggly stuff made out of anyway?"

"Um, tofu."

As soon as she heard that, Marice almost choked on a mouthful of taho, spitting some of it back to the cup. "T-Tofu? That can't be right. It's made out of pudding, right?"

The vendor blinked. "Pudding?"

"Well, something like a leche flan. The custard stuff."

"Ah, no. We make taho with tofu. Or soya milk if you want to be more specific."

"Tofu? Seriously? It's not pudding?"

"Y-You don't like tofu?"

She shook her head. "It's just for the longest time, I thought this was some kind of pudding! Ugh, bloody hell. Where did I even get that idea from?"

Eyes glowing blue, Katherine took a long sip of her taho. "Yep, definitely tofu—the soft kind. But I think you aren't completely off the mark since taho is apparently a type of tofu pudding."

Marice stared at her cup for a moment. "Now I wonder what it tastes like if you infuse custard into the tofu. Or maybe just straight up add custard in the whole thing."

"Like a leche flan flavored taho?" the vendor said. "That might probably work..."

"Right? But I'm just glad I finally got to taste taho again after so long!"

"Oh, so you do love it," Katherine said.

"Of course, it was something that I always looked forward to every morning as a kid." Just as she was about to take another sip, darkness flooded their surroundings. "A blackout?"

Katherine looked at the taller buildings in the distance. "They still have lights over there. Maybe it's just in this district?"

"Maybe."

"Hmm, I know!" A transparent visor appeared over her eyes as she deployed a survey drone from her shield. "Lemme take a look."

As the drone took off in the sky, she projected a holographic screen with her visor, which displayed the drone's camera feed. And sure enough, most of the district was cloaked in darkness.

But after a few seconds of observing the feed, an explosion erupted not far from them. Katherine moved the drone closer to the source of the action and they saw several girls hurling magic spells at each other. The darkness made it hard for them to identify everyone involved, so she opted to freeze the feed just as a stream of fire illuminated the area.

And then, Katherine gasped. "That's Richelle in the back, right? It's definitely her!"

"We need to get her out of there," Marice replied, tossing her empty cup in the nearby trash can. "And don't forget to notify Liza."

Her flight units and a few weapon modules detached themselves from her shield as she finished the rest of her snack. "What about the other girls?"

"You aren't officially commissioned yet, so don't get carried away. Let the police handle them."

"Okay, okay." She turned to the vendor, who had a frightened look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I feel a presence," she replied in a low voice. "Someone's watching us..."

"Where?" Marice asked, fiddling with a homunculus bottle in her jacket's pocket.

"On the tree in the empty corner lot behind you."

"Any idea what exactly we're dealing with here?"

But just before the vendor could answer, a huge dog-like creature appeared before them, blocking the intersection. It bared its fangs at the trio, leering with its fiery red eyes. And after a bloodcurdling roar, the beast charged straight towards them.