Raphael studied Miss Audrey, who was wearing a false bushy beard, once more, then used the ability granted by the White Jade Bead to check Miss Hall's spirituality again.
The result was the same as before. He still detected no trace of a Beyonder's aura from Audrey.
Raphael fell silent for a few seconds before grinding out the cigarette he had dropped on the floor. He looked straight at Audrey. "Then may I ask why you approached me?"
After his initial shock, he immediately calmed down and realized there were only three possible explanations for this bizarre situation: first, the White Jade Bead's ability had malfunctioned; second, Audrey was under the protection of some high-level existence, rendering the bead's ability ineffective; third, Audrey herself was a high-level Beyonder.
Raphael promptly ruled out the first possibility. Whichever of the other two was true, killing a Sequence 8 like him would be as easy for Audrey as crushing an ant.
Yet Audrey had not done so. She had even willingly let Raphael abduct her and bring her here, all without displaying her abilities.
Raphael therefore deduced that Audrey must have approached him with some purpose in mind.
Seeing the calm, perceptive look in Raphael's eyes, Audrey hesitated slightly. How did this man switch between a lunatic and a wise man so effortlessly?
Her hesitation lasted only an instant before she smiled. "It seems I won't need to explain much."
Then she gave the excuse she had prepared long ago. "As a noble, there are many occasions when it's inconvenient for me to act or conduct investigations myself, so I need subordinates to serve me.
"And naturally, I have to assess any prospective subordinates carefully."
Raphael did not seem particularly interested. "Oh."
Then he asked, "What about Miss Susie?"
Audrey suppressed a smile. "She's a friend I invited to help me assess you."
Remembering how he had even used Susie to threaten Audrey, Raphael could not help finding it amusing.
Audrey asked, "I'm curious. If I weren't a Beyonder, were you really planning to release me after receiving the ransom?"
"After receiving the ransom, I would have disbanded the Mafia and hidden you somewhere secluded," Raphael replied. "Then I would have sent Earl Hall a letter telling him where you were hidden.
"By the time the letter reached Earl Hall, I would already have left Backlund."
Audrey was taken aback. "You would actually abandon the Mafia you founded for a single Sequence 7 characteristic?"
Raphael spread his hands and smiled. "Enjoying life matters more to me."
He paused before continuing, "So I don't want to become anyone's subordinate. But if you offer the right price, I could conduct some investigations for you and help resolve problems when it's inconvenient for you to act yourself."
He was not particularly worried that Audrey would kill him to silence him for refusing her, either. Although Miss Hall had remained composed throughout, making her true thoughts impossible to guess, Raphael reasoned that if she really were screening potential subordinates, she could simply have left the task to Miss Susie. The daughter of a great noble had no need to take risks personally just to observe him.
Raphael therefore suspected that she had another purpose, and that he would remain unharmed until she achieved it.
Raphael's refusal also came as something of a surprise to Audrey. For unaffiliated Beyonders, joining a Beyonder organization or becoming a high-level Beyonder's subordinate meant access to better resources for advancement.
But Audrey had not really come to recruit a subordinate. Establishing a connection with Raphael would be enough.
So she pretended to feel a little regret. "That sort of arrangement would work as well."
Then Raphael smiled helplessly. "So much for the ransom."
The "hostage" he had abducted was a mid-sequence Beyonder who could leave whenever she pleased. Even if Raphael really had gone mad, he would not try to stop her.
Audrey smiled. "If you do an excellent job on the tasks I give you in the future, I could offer a Werewolf Beyonder characteristic as payment."
Raphael did not answer immediately. Instead, he thoughtfully took out his metal cigarette case, selected a cigarette, and lit it unhurriedly.
Only after taking a drag did Raphael say, "I don't mean to speculate wildly, but common sense suggests that even among nobles of great standing, it's rare for someone as young as Miss Hall to reach the mid-sequences... most likely Sequence 5, at that.
"So I think it's reasonable to assume there must be an organization behind you, Miss Hall.
"Would your organization happen to be interested in striking at the Rose School's Indulgence Faction?"
In the Beyonder world, the Rose School's Indulgence Faction was an organization universally reviled.
Organizations inclined toward justice would certainly not pass up such an opportunity to uphold it.
Those inclined toward evil would also consider it an excellent opportunity to make money. After all, the characteristics of the Indulgence Faction's members were worth gold pounds.
Of course, the crucial point was that the organization's forces were relatively scattered across the Northern Continent, seemingly without any sensible overall deployment. That was what allowed everyone to turn against them.
On the Southern Continent, however, no one apart from the orthodox churches wanted to make enemies of the Indulgence Faction's lunatics.
Audrey, whose code name was Justice, was naturally interested. "Oh? Tell me more."
"I believe you must have noticed that I'm a Beyonder of the Prisoner Pathway," Raphael said. "The characteristic I used to advance to Sequence 8 came from the leader of the Skeleton Party.
"After I killed the Skeleton Party's leader, a Werewolf named Bevin approached me. He said the Skeleton Party was actually a gang they supported. They admired my streak of madness, so they wanted to back me as its new leader.
"At the time, I had only two choices: either he killed me, or I regularly supplied them with intelligence, funds, and manpower.
"Only after meeting Bevin a few times did I learn that he was a full-fledged member of the Indulgence Faction."
Raphael took a drag, then continued with a faint, ambiguous smile. "How should I put this? There wouldn't really be a problem if they merely indulged themselves, but they keep acting as though they've thrown their brains away. Teammates that pigheaded are a rare find.
"With teammates like that, I'm bound to die a horrible death someday.
"I'd really like to break free of them, so I can take you to Bevin and let you kill him."
Audrey was somewhat disappointed. "Killing a single Sequence 7..."
"But since I'm one of Bevin's contacts, they'll definitely come to me to find out what happened. Then you can kill them too. Wouldn't that deal a heavy blow to the Indulgence Faction's forces?"
Audrey froze. Why am I starting to feel a little sorry for the Indulgence Faction members handling their affairs in Backlund?
Before you continue