Dealing with It (First Update)

Because the war between the Temperance Faction and the Indulgence Faction of the Rose School had previously even drawn the aura of a Demigod, the official Beyonder teams had been conducting strict investigations over the past week. As a result, people from all sorts of gray areas had temporarily vanished from sight. Xio had not received an "Arbiter" commission in East Borough for quite some time.

While Abner was meeting with Miss Ray, Xio entered a bar in East Borough that sold lunches and ran into a local resident who occasionally provided her with intelligence.

He was a young man of about twenty-three or twenty-four. His eyebrows had been plucked very thin, his brown hair hung to his shoulders, and his features were not particularly rugged. He wore cheap cosmetics, giving off a distinctly incongruous impression.

The moment he saw Xio, his expression grew somewhat nervous. After glancing around, he quietly said to her, "Xio, I have something to tell you. Come with me." With that, he cautiously slipped into the shadows beneath the bar's wooden staircase, a place where drunken men and women often went to do private things when the mood struck.

Xio frowned at this. As far as she knew, this young man named Sherman had always believed he should have been a woman, only for Fate to play a cruel joke on him and make him a man. This had caused him to suffer severe discrimination over the years.

Even if he wanted to do something with someone, he would not choose a woman—let alone me, who can lift him with one hand... This really must be urgent! Having reached a decision, Xio stepped into the shadows after him.

"Sherman, did something happen?" Xio asked first, her expression serious.

"Xio, did you offend someone? Recently, a very Weird woman has been asking about you everywhere!" Sherman said, his voice actually trembling.

"A Weird woman..." After thinking it over without results, Xio asked seriously, "What kind of person was she? Also, what exactly was so Weird about what happened to you? Tell me in detail."

Sherman rubbed his hands uneasily, then glanced at Xio before finally gritting his teeth and saying, "She was a beautiful woman with a scholarly air, but she was really Weird. Any man who looked at her a few times would be seduced into telling her everything, without noticing anything unusual at all... You know, I've always liked men, so I could barely resist that Fascination."

"A Beyonder Ability? I just don't know which Pathway it belongs to... I can just ask Abner." As Xio muttered inwardly, she continued asking, "What was she asking about me?"

"She asked whether you had investigated Rosen, the Two-Faced Man, and his adviser. She also asked where you lived and how to contact you." Sherman added, "I really don't know anything else, but it seems several people who know you fairly well promised that woman they would contact you as soon as possible."

Xio nodded and solemnly said, "Thank you, Sherman!"

Only then did Sherman reveal a faint smile. "You're one of the few people who don't discriminate against me and have even helped me... If you really want to thank me, buy me a drink once this is over."

"Drinking is bad." Xio gave him a serious warning, then quickly left the shadows beneath the stairs and quietly slipped out through the bar's back door. Someone had already recognized her when she entered the bar. She did not know whether they would report her to the woman investigating her, so it was safer to leave first.

After making a slight disguise in a Safe House she had rented before in East Borough, Xio took several detours before finally riding the subway to Detective Isengard's office in Hillston District.

Abner was sorting through aristocratic case files when he saw Xio enter under the guidance of a servant. Somewhat surprised, he said, "Xio, why are you here?"

Only after the servant left the office did Xio ask, "Abner, do you know which Pathway can Fascinate men and make them do unreasonable things?"

Abner did not know why Xio was asking, but after giving it some thought, he answered, "Several Pathways have similar Fascination abilities, but if it specifically targets men, the most likely one is the Demoness Pathway."

"Demoness..." Xio repeated, then recounted in detail what had happened to her at noon.

Abner narrowed his eyes as he listened and instinctively entered a state of deduction:

"It can't be a Sequence 6 Demoness of Pleasure! With a Sequence 6's Fascination ability, even if Sherman had a different sexual orientation, he would still have been Fascinated. He was, after all, only an ordinary person. It should still be a Sequence 7 Witch. Does she have a Beyonder item with restricted Fascination abilities?"

Hearing Abner's speculation, Xio interjected, "Could it be Lina, the Witch Turner exposed after he cursed me?"

"Very likely. She was clearly investigating Turner's affairs. You also happened to have dealings with Rosen's gang during that period, so you became a suspect." Abner nodded.

"But we didn't leave any clues or evidence behind in Turner's case..." Xio felt that Detective Isengard had handled every loose end very cleanly back then.

Abner chuckled and explained, "The Demoness Sect isn't an official organization, nor are they an Arbiter like you, striving for justice. Why would they care about evidence? Suspicion alone is enough! Even if they get the wrong person, it doesn't matter to them. If they kill the wrong person, then they kill the wrong person."

Xio came to a sudden realization. Then she asked curiously, "The Demoness Sect? Wasn't Turner from the Gnosis Society?"

"The Gnosis Society is very likely another identity the Demoness Sect displays openly." After saying that, Abner did not continue. He was now facing another problem: how to resolve this matter!

Although this was Xio's trouble, setting aside the fact that Xio was both his Friend and instructor, making it impossible for him to ignore her, he had also participated in capturing Turner back then. If he left it alone, the Demonesses would sooner or later trace it back to him.

But resolving it would be difficult as well. After all, it was most likely a Sequence 7 Witch. Once the Demoness Pathway reached Sequence 7, both its survival and combat abilities improved greatly, making its practitioners hard to kill.

After thinking for a while, Abner recalled Miss Ray, who had come to issue a commission that morning. She was probably a Demoness too, and the feeling she gave him was dangerous. She was most likely a Mid-Sequence powerhouse.

"Judging from their methods, Lina and Rei aren't the same. They're very likely two different people... So while dealing with Lina, there's an eighty percent chance I'll have to face Rei as well!" Abner felt like slapping himself. He had only decided that morning not to interfere with and disrupt the Demonesses' plans, yet that very afternoon he had to consider how to strike against them.

Xio also understood the severity of the situation, and she would likely be the first to face the danger. She lowered her head in thought as well, trying hard to find a way out of this predicament.

At that moment, Detective Isengard returned to the office. Seeing both his student and Miss Xio deeply furrowing their brows, he asked in confusion, "What happened?"

"Teacher, it's the aftermath of that Instigator we captured last time!" Abner recounted what Xio had encountered, then also told him about Miss Ray's visit that morning and all his speculations.

Only then did Xio learn that she might also have to deal with a powerhouse of at least Sequence 6. She was immediately somewhat dazed, feeling that the events of the past month had been rather off. According to Fors, did this call for some Fortune Transfer?

"Your deduction isn't bad. I just received word that a Machinery Hivemind team had previously ambushed a Witch at Rosen's gang hideout, but that Witch was ultimately rescued by a Demoness of Pleasure." Detective Isengard said thoughtfully.

"So it really was a Demoness of Pleasure?" Abner also found it rather troublesome. After all, this was a powerful Sequence 6, and even his teacher might not be her match.

After thinking for a long time without coming up with any solution, Abner could not help looking at Detective Isengard, who did not seem nervous at all. An idea immediately came to him, and he asked, "Teacher, do you have a way to resolve this?"

"The solution is very simple!" Detective Isengard answered with a smile.

"What solution?" Xio and Abner asked in unison, thoroughly surprised. This old gentleman had come up with something so quickly?

Detective Isengard first calmly lit a cigarette and took a satisfied puff. After whetting their appetites enough, he leisurely said, "The solution? Report them to the authorities!"

"Report them?" Abner had never considered this method before. Mainly because the authorities might not be able to keep that Demoness of Pleasure. If she escaped, what would they do if she came back for revenge? The authorities could not protect them forever.

Xio, however, had more concerns. She asked hesitantly, "If the authorities learn I'm a Beyonder, won't they lock me beneath a church?"

"Don't worry. With me guaranteeing for you, they won't. The authorities also need Beyonder informants." Detective Isengard replied with a smile. Then, looking at his student, he continued, "Besides, reporting them requires the right method. Naturally, we must choose one that removes all of us from the matter and makes it as difficult as possible for the Demonesses to learn where the report came from. Hmm, it would be even better if we could avoid exposing that you are Beyonders to the authorities."

(End of Chapter)