The Three and the Three

The process of signing the contract was much faster than Horn had imagined.

All he had to do was write his name on a copper-plate contract paper—which bore the Prevention and Suppression Bureau's motto, "ALIIS SI LICET TIBI NON LICET (If it is permitted for others, it is not permitted for you)," printed in a deep, meditative ink at the header—and then have Emma collect it to be submitted to the Night Duty Department. It was finished.

It was impossibly simple.

Afterward, Veronica, who still had matters to attend to, hurried away, leaving Emma and Horn to stare at each other.

The first to break the silence was the black-haired girl who had been acting cool in front of Horn earlier. With an expression that suggested she would burst if she didn't speak her mind, Emma took the initiative to ask the question that interested her most.

"How are you still... not dead... no, wait, how did you survive Saliba in one piece?"

Sacred Heart Hospital had been reduced to ruins, yet the patient she had visited was completely fine, bouncing around in front of her just days later, and even transforming into a newly hired colleague.

The whole thing was too bizarre, and Emma's surging curiosity was about to explode.

"Hmm—"

"Hmm!?"

Rubbing his chin, Horn put on a thoughtful look. The drawn-out tone made Emma wish she could use Soul Summoning on him right then and there to drag the rest of the story out of him.

"Actually, I passed out from the very beginning, so I don't know anything. I suppose some Immortal must have descended from the sky, beaten Saliba up, and then left."

"Then, when I woke up, I found I had an extra mark. Oh my, it's quite a headache."

Wait, seriously, buddy?

Too stunned to even retort to Horn's hole-ridden answer, Emma was shocked. "Are you saying you are a self-awakened transcendent?"

Sensing an opportunity to bluff, Horn—who naturally wouldn't reveal that he had transformed into the Ghost Rider and teamed up with Veronica to hack at Saliba—nodded along, caught the keyword, and asked in return:

"Self-awakened?"

Seeing the clarity in Horn's eyes, a sense of mission to educate a newcomer welled up in Emma, the Candle Bearer. Her pupils glowed slightly, and she stood up from her chair, tapped the wall with a fingertip that gathered a point of light, left a trail of luminescence, and spoke with a serious expression.

"First, let me ask you: how much do you know about the hidden world and transcendents?"

"Reporting to my senior, my knowledge is almost zero."

Obediently playing along with the roleplay, Horn raised a hand to answer.

"Hmm, a pure rookie, then. Can't be helped. I'll start by explaining the types of transcendent awakening to you."

Using an arc of light to write three lines of large characters on the wall, which served as a makeshift blackboard, Emma coughed, pointed to the first line, and began her explanation.

"The first type, and the most common one, is 'Higher Elevation'."

"Elevation?"

"Though it's called elevation, it could also be contamination; it's much the same. The key lies in these two words."

Using a highlight from her fingertip to underline "Higher" twice, Emma explained: "It involves a fixed ritual directed at a higher being, using curios, secret transmissions, or even simple influence to stimulate or imbue the soul quality of a qualified newcomer, anchoring the path they are about to tread."

"Major organizations generally create new blood this way, and the specific promotion rituals are kept secret. But what is certain is that transcendents who awaken this way have a basically fixed path ahead, and their abilities at the same rank are much the same. Because there are the trial-and-error results of predecessors to rely on, the lower limit of their abilities is guaranteed, making this the most secure and widespread method."

"As long as you have the money and the connections, and can afford the materials and labor costs for the ritual, theoretically, anyone can possess the First Seal."

"Why only theoretically?"

Having just felt that the threshold for transcendents wasn't that high, Horn asked, puzzled.

Sighing, Emma chose a simpler explanation. "Because the transcendent must remain hidden. As power is gained, loss of control and madness follow like shadows. The risks are too high, and the rewards are meager. The rulers of various countries know of the hidden world to varying degrees, yet few choose to become true Scholars, and even Apprentices are rare."

"Most choose to use secular power and money to cooperate with hidden factions or form organizations like our Prevention and Suppression Bureau to curb the spread of transcendent knowledge. After all, Apprentices are human, too, and they need to eat. The era of the lone wolf is long gone; even an Immortal would find it a headache to face the encirclement of an army."

"'Let the Creatures of the Night remain only in the night, so that the Creatures of the Day may walk in the day.' This is not only the motto of our Prevention and Suppression Bureau but also the intention of the entire Survival Prototype."

Having answered Horn's doubts, Emma pointed her fingertip at the second line, "Self-awakened," and continued her lecture.

"This is the second way to become a transcendent: internal power that compels one to touch the transcendent. Like the soul-stirring sorrow in one's bloodline, an obsessive yearning for the light, or a dream that remains sticky on your teeth like honey when you wake up. These are all manifestations of power."

"Those with qualifications step through the door of dreams with their own desires and establish the foundation of the transcendent, achieving the First Seal. Transcendants who promote this way can also tread upon known paths, and their future may be even greater, but the risk of losing control increases accordingly. Becoming an Abomination will always be an undignified end."

At this point, Emma rubbed her hands together with some anticipation, stepped out of her teaching mode, and asked with great curiosity:

"I heard that self-awakened transcendents all have some special ability. Whether it's being able to talk to the passing wind, having magical hair that can mend things, or being able to sleep for seven days straight..."

"Since you were able to join directly, you must have the First Seal, right?"

The light in her pupils flickered. Emma leaned forward, tilted her head, and pressed her hands together, rubbing them while pleading in a contrived tone:

"Come on, there's no one else here, tell your big sister! Please~"

Startled by Emma's burning, curious gaze, Horn, who had just recovered from some unpleasant memories, nodded helplessly and signaled for Emma to lean in closer—closer still.

With her small ears, hidden beneath her black, choppy hair, pricked up, Horn lowered his voice and feigned mystery as he revealed his secret.

"Actually, my ability is that I can make objects disappear."

"Oh, oh! Matter erasure, that's a very high-end ability! How exactly do you do it?"

Facing the excited Emma, Horn took a slip of paper from his pocket, brushed his hand over it, and the paper vanished from his hand as if it had never existed.

"Ta-da!"

Having keenly sensed the slight distortion in the air and roughly understood the principle, Emma still clapped her hands together with a "clap-clap," offering the praise due for Horn's impressive, magic-like performance.

With this level of manipulative ability, he wouldn't starve even if he changed careers to become a magician.

Exchanging a knowing look and confirming the newcomer's sense of humor, Emma straightened the hair by her ear and pointed her finger at the last line of large characters.

"The last type, and the way of transcendent awakening you will almost never encounter, is 'Apostle Selection'."