[Master, the Oracle Doll Makers are en route now. I have arranged for them to meet us at a resort 70 miles from here,] Dame Wasp reported to her master as he laid the unconscious driver on the bus stop bench where he had initially picked Ace up in the cab.
"Oh, thank God!" Ace exclaimed in relief as he tore the talisman from the unconscious driver. Summoning his motorbike, he affixed fresh talismans to it and rode through the woods, following Dame Wasp's directions to the new delivery location where she had agreed to meet the Oracle Doll Makers.
[Master, I sent a text to every superior C.I.B. agent's contacts I found in Layla's cursed smartphone. Don't worry—they'll never be able to trace us,] Dame Wasp assured her master, emphasizing her meticulous care.
[Good,] Ace complimented Dame Wasp as he carefully navigated the bike through the forest. Then, wanting to stay ahead of the situation, he asked, [Rose, is there a way for you to monitor their responses and track what they plan to do?]
[Unfortunately, no, Master. I have reasons to believe that the C.I.B. server is one big cursed gadget. If I try anything, while it might not be able to track me, it would detect my traces,] Dame Wasp admitted dejectedly. Having examined Layla's cursed smartphone and after today's incident, she was no longer confident that she was unmatched skill in cursed cyber arts. The curse users of this world had tricks of their own. Fortunately, not everyone could afford to turn their servers into cursed gadgets like the government did.
[That's alright, Rose. You did excellent today,] Ace praised Dame Wasp wholeheartedly, aware that she had been blaming herself for not noticing the array formation. However, neither Ace nor Emi blamed her for it—If they were in her place they wouldn't have detected it either. Their tiers and knowledge were simply too low to tackle an array formation capable of covering an entire winery spanning several thousand acres while successfully hiding its presence.
[No, Master. I almost got you killed,] Dame Wasp replied, unable to forgive herself for missing the array formation. In her eyes, it was her responsibility to sense the curse energy in the surroundings and warn her master. The fact that she failed in this task was unacceptable to her. To her the reasons for her failure were secondary; her incompetence could have cost her master his life, and that was what truly weighed on her. She believed such a failure should not be easily forgiven and demanded punishment accordingly.
[Rose, it's not your fault. I'm sure that array formation was high-tier—likely sky or void tier. Just wait for the C.I.B. to post a report on the curse web, and you'll see it wasn't your fault. So, don't beat yourself up over it,] Ace said, though he didn't fully understand how critical Dame Wasp was being with herself so he had no idea how to console her properly.
[Master, you cannot let me off so easily. I made a mistake during a mission that almost got you killed. I should be punished accordingly,] Dame Wasp insisted.
[Sure. But save it until you get your new body. Then I'll punish you to my heart's content. Do you have any objection?] Ace replied, attempting to lighten Dame Wasp's mood by agreeing with her in a teasing manner.
[No objection, Master,] Dame Wasp responded, knowing he was just joking. However, she still felt it wasn't right to burden him with her guilt. She resolved to deal with it herself by becoming stronger so she could better protect her master in the future.
[Master, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we did not get the Phantom Paint curse core. Now, where are we supposed to craft Senpai's new body?] Emi used the status screen to remind the other two that, although they had managed to save their lives, they had failed to achieve their main objective of this trip. As a result, their previous big plans were now all for naught.
[Don't worry. We'll do it as you guys proposed previously—but not underground at my uncle's farm. Instead, we'll use the basement of the solar power plant control room. We'll use the barrier and storage talisman to keep pollution and contamination to a minimum. Besides, by then, we'll have Doctor Druid to help us. I'm sure her skills will come in handy,] Ace informed his trio about his updated plan to build Dame Wasp's new body. He had no choice but to improvise. After all, they couldn't cry over what hadn't happened and could only keep moving forward with what was.
Without the toy summons he had planned to create using the Phantom Paint curse core, Ace now had to find another place to build Dame Wasp's second body. However, it couldn't be far from home because the process would take almost half a day. If he went missing for that long, his parents would freak out and search the streets for him.
As much as he loved his parents, he was beginning to understand why his sister had moved out the second she got her job. Mooching off one's parents came at a cost—losing one's privacy and private life. However, he was still too young to move out of his parents' house. His only viable option was going to college, but knowing what he did about the world now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to waste four years of his life attending college.
[That sounds like a plan,] Emi agreed. Meanwhile, Dame Wasp advised them, [Master, I think after all this ordeal is over, we should visit the winery again.]
[And why would we do that, Rose?] Ace asked in surprise. As far as he was concerned, he had no intention of returning to that part of the world ever again even if it was safe after C.I.B. was done with those assholes.
[To find the loot of our attackers. I didn't find it on their persons, so I believe they hid it in the tree trunk they were hiding in. Once the heat on the winery settles down, we should check it out,] Dame Wasp explained, reminding her master about the missing loot of the trio of curse users they had killed.