Criminal

June 8, 1346, evening

Nearly three days had passed since Altair last attended a party, and his "Factory Plan" was still in the works.

Now he had come to the East District to carry out another assassination. As before, he had used the information gathered during his investigation to lie in wait along the "target's" usual route, ready to shoot as soon as the target appeared.

The dimly lit path before him was the "target's" usual route.

Altair lay bored on the rooftop, gazing at the Crimson Moon overhead, which was obscured by clouds from the pollution spewing out of Bexland's factories. The city's nightscape was even worse than that of the cities in his own era.

When he heard a sound from around the street corner, he turned to look and saw five drunken men supporting one another as they approached.

As time passed, they drew closer and closer. Once Altair had confirmed they were his targets, he raised himself up to get a better shot.

The Lever Rifle looked cool, no doubt about it, but lying prone made it hard to reload.

After Altair had fired all the bullets in his rifle and packed up his things, ready to leave, he instinctively looked down at the bodies.

One, two... four—four! One body was missing!

He immediately jumped down from the building and went over to check.

There were indeed only four bodies. One man had escaped. Looking at the trail of blood, he thought, You won't get away.

Following the blood trail, Altair pursued him closely. When he reached the bend in the path, a dagger suddenly slashed toward his face.

Altair instinctively bent backward to avoid the attack, executing an incredibly difficult backbend.

As he watched the dagger pass over the spot where his head had just been, he twisted sideways and kicked it away.

As the dagger hit the ground, Altair warily watched the man before him.

He took a .45-70 Round Nose Bullet to the chest and didn't die. He even had enough strength to run and fight back. Is he even human?

Seeing that Altair didn't attack right away, the enemy cried out anxiously, "Who sent you? Don't kill me! I'll give you money. I have lots and lots of money..."

"I even have a house in Bexland's West Borough, and I still have..."

Seeing that Altair had no intention of sparing him in exchange for money, he hurriedly said, "Do you know about Beyonders? I can give you a Potion Recipe. You can use it to make a Potion and become a Beyonder."

The moment he heard the word "Beyonder," Altair understood why the man was still alive after all that. He was a Beyonder.

But he was still curious about which Pathway let someone survive a gunshot, even with a hole in his chest. He asked, "Which Pathway's Potion Recipe do you have? What's it called?"

When the man heard the assassin ask about his Potion Recipe, he knew he still had a chance of surviving. After all, who could turn down the chance to become a Beyonder?

He let out a sigh of relief and said, "'Criminal.' Don't get the wrong idea, don't get the wrong idea. The Potion Recipe for this Pathway is called 'Criminal.' I'm a Beyonder on this Pathway myself, so I can guarantee the recipe is correct. And look, you shot me with a powerful High Pressure Steam Rifle, but I can still move. That proves how strong this Pathway is. You'll definitely be satisfied..."

At this news, Altair lost interest. Only someone with something wrong in their head would choose the Abyss Pathway.

He took advantage of the man's lowered guard and rushed behind him. He stomped on his knee and caught his head with his arm. With a crack, his target's life came to an end.

Once it was over, Altair let go of the man's body, and the lifeless corpse collapsed to the ground.

Looking around, he saw that perhaps because of the noise, someone had turned on a Gas Lamp inside a nearby house. But perhaps out of fear, no one came out to stop him.

At the thought, Altair shook his head with a self-mocking smile. Maybe this was a common sight in the East District. After all, its public order was only a little better than the Dock District's.

He didn't want any trouble, so he could only drag the body deeper into the alley.

When Altair saw the dark red, gel-like substance leaking from the corpse's chest, he put it in the cigarette case he had prepared beforehand, slipped it into his pocket, and left the scene.

He didn't have a cheat like Sefirah Castle. He couldn't keep a Beyonder Characteristic in a cigarette case for long. This was just a last resort. For now, he had no choice but to do this. Once he got back to the manor, he would use materials to make a Wall of Spirituality and seal it away. That was the proper way to preserve it.

As for where the cigarette case had come from, Altair could only express his "apologies." Using your cigarette case to hold your Beyonder Characteristic. At least I haven't put it to waste.

After leaving the scene, Altair made his way home along the path. To pass the time, he skipped and danced along, making his way home with graceful steps.

If anyone had happened by, they would surely have thought Altair was a poor man driven mad with fright. After all, what sane person would run around and dance so wildly after getting blood all over their clothes?

When he got home, he entered through the door Hahn had left open for him. He saw Hahn sitting by the entrance, and when he went over, he realized the man had fallen asleep. He gently patted his shoulder and said, "Hahn, wake up. I'm back. Don't sleep here. Go inside and get some rest."

When Hahn slowly opened his eyes, he saw Altair, whose clothes were covered in blood. Pointing at the stains, he asked anxiously, "Count Altair, you..."

Seeing Hahn's reaction, Altair looked down at his clothes and realized how bad they looked. "It isn't mine. I got it on me while 'hunting' the enemy tonight."

Hearing this, Hahn lowered his hand in relief. He shook his head and sighed, then asked helplessly, "Count Altair, it looks like tonight's outing didn't go very smoothly. Should you take a break for a while?"

Hearing Hahn's concerned words, Altair shook his head. "I'm fine, Hahn. I just happened to run into a Beyonder this time. Ordinary people are no match for me. Don't worry."

Then he took out his spoils from tonight and handed them to Hahn. "This is what I got tonight, the Beyonder Characteristic of a 'Criminal.' Seal it away for me using the materials."

"I'll go take a bath first. Now that you mention it, I do smell pretty bad."

Once he had taken care of everything, Altair returned to his room, took off his bloodstained clothes in the washroom, and tossed them aside to deal with tomorrow. Then he got into the bathtub for a warm soak.

But he thought, Assassinating Beyonders really is better than killing ordinary people. Under normal circumstances, I'd have expected it to take at least three months to finish my Acting. After this period of high-intensity Acting, and tonight's encounter with that Beyonder, I have a feeling I'll be ready to advance in a month.

Based on the Beyonder materials he had collected so far, he had enough to last at least through Sequence Six. But the materials for Sequence Five and beyond were all "restricted items" held by the major churches, nations, and factions.

He would have to rely on Mr. World to buy them for him.