Xio

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xio Derecha
Original Name	休
Alias(es)	Judgment — Tarot Club codename 3; Shortsword — operational contact name 62
Gender	Female
Age	Twenty-five when recruiting Raphael as an informant 62
Height	1.52 meters; she emphatically corrects Fors’s description of her as one-and-a-half meters tall 222
Affiliation	Tarot Club; initially an MI9 peripheral associate, later a full member 3 96 208
Occupation/Role	Bounty hunter in Backlund’s East Borough; later an Intelligence Department team captain with seven subordinates 53 219
Beyonder Pathway	Arbiter 100 101
Highest Documented Rank	Demigod; her specific advancement is not described in the supplied passages 427
Residence	Shares rented accommodation with Fors in Backlund; their home is identified in the Wood District 101 199
First Appearance	Participates as Judgment in a temporary Tarot Club gathering 3

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Sequence 6 — Judge	96 100	Explicitly identified as Sequence 6 while still an MI9 peripheral member; Paul later identifies her as a Judge during combat. The circumstances of her advancement are not shown.
Sequence 5 — Disciplinary Paladin	294	Confirms that she has advanced. She previously obtained Paul’s characteristic and secured MI9’s promise to support her advancement ritual 101. Her increased standing helps her pursue the restoration of her father’s reputation.
Demigod	427	Confirmed indirectly by the statement that the Tarot Club’s Backlund members have all become demigods. Neither her advancement scene nor her specific Sequence is stated in that passage.

Background / History

Xio is the daughter of Mason Dere. His death and conviction brought hardship to her family, including a period when she feared they would not have enough to eat. She associates George III’s crimes with her father’s murder and her family’s collapse, and later works to overturn the former king’s verdict against him 181 264 294.

Before becoming an official MI9 member, she was a somewhat well-known bounty hunter in the East Borough. She maintained a Backlund intelligence network and supplied information through a golden-masked MI9 contact who had once served under her father 4 53 62.

Xio and Fors investigated Viscount Stratford, another of her father’s former subordinates. During that investigation, Xio discovered that her friend Sherman had become the Witch Shermane and had been drawn into a trap involving Stratford, Katarina, and Trissy. Xio and Fors defeated Stratford, but Xio had to end Shermane’s life as she approached loss of control. The incident left Xio with lasting resentment toward those involved 198.

Her Tarot Club membership followed Audrey’s nomination and an observation period conducted by Mr. Fool, although Xio did not know she had undergone that assessment 182 220.

Appearance

• Short stature: At 1.52 meters, she is repeatedly mistaken for someone younger. Raphael assumes she is a teenager before learning that she is twenty-five 62 222.
• Golden hair: Identified when Raphael recognizes her among the Tarot Club members 381.
• Knight’s clothing: Wears a knight’s uniform during the illusion incident and a simple knight’s outfit at a later Tarot Club gathering 196 381.
• Height-enhancing footwear: Adds considerable height to her shoe soles when attending an exclusive Beyonder gathering, but still appears much shorter than Audrey and Fors 182.
• Youthful appearance: Dewinter notices an air of youthful innocence despite her position and experience 299.

Personality

Xio combines investigative experience with a strong concern for fairness. When Raphael insists that she take the Disciplinary Paladin characteristic, she points out that they earned it together and offers him £3,000 in compensation. She also challenges his decision to obtain intelligence by massacring the Three Brothers Society 96 101.

Her loyalty is reciprocal rather than merely professional. Remembering how Raphael absorbed the danger during their fight with Paul, she refuses to abandon him when Trissy advises her to flee. She later volunteers for his dangerous Conston mission and cares for him while they recover in the wilderness 198 299 307.

Compassion sometimes puts her principles under strain. She hesitates to stop a bakery looting because the participants may genuinely be starving. Raphael subsequently challenges her blanket opposition to war, prompting her to distinguish between wars of oppression and resistance. She remains troubled by excessive violence, disapproving when he kills a hostile villager to force others to feed fleeing soldiers 208 303.

She is willing to compromise when survival or another person’s safety requires it. Despite her resentment toward Trissy, she accepts her help to buy time for an escape. She also gives MI9 a false account of the controlled agents’ deaths and later withholds details of Raphael’s assassination methods 198 208 307.

Her father’s death and her family’s collapse make conventional family life frightening to her. This shapes her decision to pursue intimacy with Raphael without treating them as a committed couple or expecting marriage 309.

Abilities & Skills

Imprisonment

Xio uses Imprisonment, invoked in Ancient Hermes, to restrain opponents and create openings for allies 47 48.

• Suspends Raphael in the air when he approaches an omnibus during his fight with Petrov 47.
• Restrains Petrov, allowing Raphael to deliver the killing blows 48.
• Uses it against Cazzari and Paul during the Feynapotter espionage confrontation 98 99.

Psychic Piercing

A mental attack used alongside Imprisonment to disable Petrov 48.

• Helps stop a Sequence 6 Conspirer during a rapidly escalating street battle 48.
• Supports a fighting style centered on restraint and coordinated finishing attacks rather than prolonged solo combat 48 99.

Death

After advancing to Disciplinary Paladin, Xio uses the power of Death to kill a Reaper during the fighting following the Conston assassination 305.

• Her performance is described as surpassing that of most Sequence 5 Beyonders despite her recent advancement 305.
• Severe injuries and exhaustion leave her unable to continue and close to losing control; Raphael has to save her 305.

Investigation and Intelligence Work

Xio maintains informants, evaluates combat evidence, recruits contacts, and handles official intelligence assignments 4 53 62.

• Investigates Raphael’s background through her Backlund network at the World’s request 4.
• Recognizes the unusual precision of his footwork without knowing the Nine Wolf Shadow Steps technique 53.
• Recruits him on an assignment basis, explicitly allowing him to refuse work and retain his freedom 62.
• Assists with Spirit Channeling during the Three Brothers Society and Feynapotter spy investigations 97 101.
• Reports military developments, MI9 recruitment policy, and the Utopia mystery to the Tarot Club 238 275 361 424.

Combat Awareness and Survival

Xio reacts quickly to supernatural threats and can function under pressure, but stronger opponents and emotional interference can overwhelm her 100 194.

• Notices Bolton’s revived body and forehead eye through a warning from her spirituality 194.
• Closes the prisoners’ cages when the eye incites violent emotions, preventing their uncontrolled escape 194.
• Breaks free of thorny vines and resumes fighting after an induced wave of despair briefly incapacitates her 194.
• Subdues fleeing soldiers with punches and kicks before questioning them about the collapsing front 303.
• Helps conceal and sustain herself and Raphael in the wilderness, finding food and treating his injuries 305 307.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Chill Blade — Mystical Item used to support Raphael against Paul and to cut through the thorny vines restraining her during the Stone Eye incident 99 194.
• Disciplinary Paladin Beyonder characteristic — Obtained from Paul after their joint victory; it supplies the characteristic she needs for her next advancement 101.
• Reaper Beyonder characteristic — Accepts one from Raphael after their battle against Feysac-associated Beyonders, declining the additional Conspirer characteristic he offers 305.
• Creeping Hunger, temporarily borrowed — Raphael lends her the glove while she goes to find food during their recovery 305.
• Reserved Imperative Mage characteristic — Raphael tells her he has saved Dewinter’s characteristic for her. The supplied passages do not show her receiving or consuming it 309.

Relationships

• Raphael Collins — Begins as a subject of investigation, becomes her informant and combat partner, then a close friend and intimate companion. They explicitly avoid defining themselves as a conventional couple 4 62 307 309.
• Fors Wall — Close friend, housemate, and confidante. Fors supports her adjustment to MI9 and encourages her advancement; she privately recognizes romantic feelings for Xio without revealing them 199 222 309.
• Audrey Hall / Justice — Fellow Tarot Club member and friend. They coordinate their contact with Raphael and exchange assessments of his behavior; Audrey also helped introduce Xio to the Club 53 102 182.
• Mason Dere — Father. Xio’s effort to restore his reputation is a continuing personal goal and a reason to consider official MI9 service 208 264 294.
• Mother and younger brother — Surviving family members whose acceptance of Raphael concerns her when she begins considering a relationship with him 300.
• Golden-masked MI9 contact — Former subordinate of her father who treats her favorably, pays for intelligence, supplies assignments, and invites her to join MI9 formally 62 208.
• Dewinter — MI9 deputy director and immediate superior. He uses her connection to Raphael as leverage, then arranges for her to participate in a mission he intends her not to survive 219 298 299.
• Shermane — Dear friend whose death Xio remains angry about. Xio honors her friend’s preferred identity and confronts Trissy over her fate 198.
• Trissy — Distrusted for her involvement in Shermane’s death, but accepted as a temporary ally when Xio and Raphael need time to escape 198.
• Mr. Fool — Tarot Club leader whom she trusts and contacts through prayer. She accepts his decision to place Raphael in charge of their cooperation with the Temperance Faction 199 200.
• The World / Dwayne Dantès — Fellow Tarot Club member who commissions her investigation of Raphael. She and Fors previously served as Dwayne’s bodyguards 4 98.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Investigating and Recruiting Raphael

• At an early temporary Tarot Club meeting, Xio condemns Raphael’s kidnapping of Audrey as a reckless attempt to digest a potion. She subsequently reports his Skeleton Party background through her informants 3 4.
• Her first direct combat encounter with him occurs when she interrupts his street fight with Petrov. After learning that Petrov is a Feysac military attaché, she helps disable him and negotiates a division of the spoils 47 48.
• She sells Petrov’s Conspirer characteristic to Cattleya for £2,500—her first characteristic sale at the Tarot Club—and later gives Raphael £1,600 52 62.
• With Audrey’s agreement, she establishes an independent working relationship with him and assigns him to investigate the organization behind the Three Brothers Society 53 62.

The Feynapotter Spy Case

• Raphael summons Xio to a Mafia assault on the Three Brothers Society, placing her and potentially MI9 in an awkward position. She challenges his violent interpretation of her commission 96.
• Their Spirit Channeling investigation links the gang to the Kent Machinery Factory and a Feynapotter intelligence operation 97 98.
• She supports Raphael against Cazzari and Paul, but Paul’s discipline weakens her abilities and his Exile repeatedly removes her from the fight 99 100.
• The case exposes stolen plans and components for Loen’s ironclad steam engine. Xio receives Paul’s characteristic and chooses MI9 assistance with her future advancement ritual over a large cash reward 101.
• At the next Tarot Club discussion, she asks whether Raphael should be restrained, warning that his useful cooperation does not make him controllable 102.

The Stone Eye and Temperance Faction Operation

• Xio accompanies Raphael to an abandoned factory and begins freeing prisoners while he attacks the Beyonders connected to the Stone Eye 193.
• Revived, altered opponents attack her with vines and emotional manipulation. She protects the prisoners and fights her way free 194.
• During their escape, she refuses to leave Raphael behind and accepts Trissy’s assistance despite their unresolved conflict 198.
• From her home, she prays to Mr. Fool for a way to contact the Temperance Faction and asks who should represent the Tarot Club. He names Raphael 199.
• After the operation, Raphael forgives her £3,000 debt and awards her another £3,000 207.

Joining MI9 and Clearing Her Father’s Name

• Encouraged by Fors and Raphael, Xio accepts an invitation to join MI9 officially, partly because the position may help restore her father’s reputation 208.
• Her Sequence 6 rank earns her immediate appointment as an Intelligence Department captain, with an office, seven subordinates, and substantial freedom of movement 219.
• Her advancement to Disciplinary Paladin strengthens her appeal to the Church, royal family, and relevant institutions. The royal family proposes restoring Mason Dere’s reputation within a limited circle 294.
• Alongside Fors, she asks Raphael to help address hunger and food prices, agreeing in exchange to monitor MI9’s attitude toward the Aurora Order 294.

Conston Mission and Relationship with Raphael

• Dewinter detains Xio without a formal arrest warrant and uses the possibility of punishing her to pressure Raphael into an assassination mission. Xio insists on accompanying him and signs a Notarized Contract 298 299.
• They infiltrate occupied Conston disguised as an uncle and nephew, with Xio dressed as a boy. Raphael detects a compromised informant and carries out the dangerous reconnaissance alone 300.
• After the assassination, their escape is interrupted by Erlin and the Mother Tree of Desire. Xio continues with Raphael despite the danger 301 302.
• In the subsequent fighting, she kills a Reaper but suffers near-fatal injuries. Facing death, she admits her feelings; Raphael saves her through injury transfer while making clear that he does not intend to marry or start a family 305.
• They spend nearly a week recovering in the wilderness. Xio nurses him, obtains food, and finds unexpected comfort in their isolation before they return to Backlund together 307.
• She later confirms their physical relationship to Fors while explaining why she does not want a conventional committed partnership 309.

Later Tarot Club Activities

• Xio conceals her private experiences with Raphael and omits his Saint-killing capability when recounting their journey to the Tarot Club 313.
• She worries about the threat to Backlund, her family, and her employment after Feysac breaches the Northern Defense Line. Raphael reassures her that her abilities would remain valuable even if Loen loses 361.
• She presents the case of Utopia, a town that appears and vanishes while leaving accounts from apparent visitors. The World identifies it as an advancement ritual 424.
• By the later account of the Club’s Backlund members, she has reached demigod status 427.

Notable Quotes

“In a previous battle, our enemy was a Disciplinary Paladin. He kept charging ahead of me and was badly injured, while I came away without a scratch. So this time, there’s no way I’m backing down either.” 198

“We earned this together.” — Refusing to treat Paul’s characteristic as hers alone 101

“One meter fifty-two! One meter fifty-two!” — Correcting Fors’s description of her height 222

Trivia

• At Tarot Club meetings, Xio steps away from her tall bronze chair after standing because she worries Mr. Fool might otherwise think she has remained seated 52.
• Urgent messages for her can be sent by telegram to the owner of the Blue Parrot Bar, marked for Shortsword 62.
• She does not particularly enjoy drinking, despite sharing a home stocked with Fors’s beers and wines 264.
• Audrey’s regular greeting to Mr. Fool reminds her of the bell announcing the start of grammar-school classes 219.