Inside her rented residence in the Lower Korus District, Charlotte locked the doors one by one and drew the curtains. With practiced ease, she took the relatively inexpensive ritual candles, essential oils, and other supplies from the cabinet. Finally, she pulled the golden powder she had received from the Purification-ers out of her pocket. It possessed a measure of spiritual power, and with it, her preparations to receive a "Bestowal" were complete.
A heavy wooden chest containing five hundred gold coins also sat on the table.
This money came from the gift her father, Raoul Sauron, had given her before she came of age, and it amounted to more than half her current savings. Although Sushit Weekly was now running smoothly and ought to have been making a profit, none of its four partners was shortsighted. They understood that, during this early stage of expansion, the money was better reinvested in production, so no one had brought up dividends. Naturally, Charlotte could hardly withdraw her own share.
Fortunately, Miss N of the Aurora Order had repaid her kindness by giving Charlotte the Sheriff potion formula for free. Otherwise, her savings, which had fallen below a thousand gold coins after she bought numerous materials and pieces of information at various gatherings and paid Gwyneth for her investigation, would probably all have gone toward advancing to Sequence 8.
Although the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun might reimburse her material expenses after she submitted an application, Charlotte had thought it over and decided it would be better to conceal her advancement for now. Going from an ordinary person to a Sequence 8 Beyonder in just four months was bound to attract plenty of unwanted attention. Besides, even if she explained where the materials came from, she would still have to use the