Dusk had barely fallen when Charlotte made sure all the gardeners and servants had left the garden. She quietly pushed open the French windows and stepped onto the second-floor balcony, then climbed down using the stone railing and decorative features on the wall. Once her feet touched solid ground, she quickly scaled the courtyard wall and landed on the secluded lane outside.
It was Thursday, and her destination was the underground trading gathering in the Harbor District mentioned in Henri's note. Getting there from the Saint-Roc District meant crossing almost the entire city, so she had to set off early to arrive in time.
Fortunately, her good behavior over the past few days had put both her father, Raoul Sauron, and her maid, Lila, off their guard. After dinner, she had claimed she wanted an early night, successfully securing some time alone, and slipped out of the mansion without wasting a second.
She wore a fairly inconspicuous dress beneath a dark cloak, with the brim of her hat pulled low, looking like a maid hurrying on an errand.
But even after becoming an "Arbiter" and gaining stamina far beyond that of an ordinary person, the journey still felt long. By the time she left the Saint-Roc District and reached King's Road, which ran across the peninsula, night had fallen. Most shops had closed, and there were noticeably fewer pedestrians. Only widely spaced oil lamps dotted the road.
It left Charlotte feeling as though she were facing the unknown alone in the darkness.
Of course, she had not decided to undertake this outing entirely on her own. During her afternoon visit to Saint Roch Cathedral, Charlotte had reported the underground gathering to Ms. Viève, the member of the Purification-ers who happened to be on duty. Viève had not seemed surprised. She had merely reminded Charlotte that the Harbor District fell under the jurisdiction of the Church of the God of Artisan. The Machinery Hivemind most likely already knew about the gathering, but had judged it to pose little danger and was mainly keeping it under observation.
Viève had also specifically warned her not to casually buy Beyonder materials, Mystical Items, or Potion formulas of unknown origin. There were plenty of fakes at gatherings like these, and the genuine articles were often even more dangerous. Unless the organizer could verify their authenticity, she was better off looking without buying.
Looking without buying? Wouldn't that make this a wasted trip... Charlotte grumbled inwardly, lifting her skirt as she strode through alternating lamplight and shadow, desperately wishing she had a bicycle to get around on.
I wonder which Potion Pathway lets you move quickly, and what Sequence you need to reach before you get an ability like that? What's Sequence 8 of the Arbiter Pathway? And why is the Assassin Pathway called "Demoness"? What happens if a male Assassin keeps advancing? One thought after another surfaced in her mind, helping her pass the tedious time without a phone, neon lights, or advertising billboards to keep her entertained.
Only when the last trace of sunset on the horizon had given way to the night sky did Charlotte reach Finger Bridge, which spanned the Rhine River. It was also known as King's Road Bridge, since the boundary between the Bols District and the Old District was King's Road, which crossed the peninsula and ended at this bridge. Every day, silk from the Lower Korus District passed over it, heading to the Harbor District to be loaded onto ships bound for other cities, or even carried along the waterways all the way to Trier.
Unlike Exchange Bridge, which connected the Saint-Roc District and the Bols District across the Sona River, Finger Bridge had numerous ramshackle houses built along either side. Makeshift shelters erected by vendors and porters crowded the edges of its deck. After nightfall, it was livelier here than in the city districts.
Charlotte lowered her hat brim and crossed the bridge. She had only just started following a row of warehouses toward the address on the note when she noticed footsteps trailing her at a steady distance. They sometimes slowed and sometimes quickened, but never disappeared.
Just as I thought, a woman going out alone is an easy target... Charlotte was not surprised. As she passed the mouth of a narrow alley, she abruptly stopped and turned to look behind her.
Her pursuer was a vagrant in ragged clothes with a tangled mop of hair, his expression a mixture of greed and hesitation. When she stopped, he froze as well, apparently not expecting his target to turn around of her own accord.
"Get lost."
Charlotte kept her voice low as she gave the command, the authority of an "Arbiter" radiating from her along with her words.
The vagrant's face went pale, as though the frail woman before him had suddenly become a burly man wielding a weapon. An indistinct sound escaped his throat. Before he could form a complete sentence, he stumbled backward, turned, and fled down another alley.
Charlotte watched him scramble away into the darkness before softly letting out a breath.
If he had actually carried a weapon, or had been a Beyonder himself, that intimidation might not have worked so well. Against an ordinary vagrant, however, the power of a Sequence 9 was already more than enough.
She checked the address on the note again by the crimson moonlight and soon reached a small alley between two rows of warehouses.
There were no streetlights here. The walls were damp, and straw ropes, wood shavings, and sludge littered the ground. Two people stood beside a side door at the end of the alley. One wore a loose, old cloak that covered his entire head and was ducking through the doorway. The other looked like an ordinary dockworker. He leaned against the doorframe, holding an unlit pipe, his gaze moving back and forth.
Seeing this, Charlotte took out the veil she had prepared beforehand, fastened it to her hat brim to conceal her face, and approached the door.
The man dressed as a dockworker glanced at her and asked quietly:
"What are you here for?"
"To see what's for sale."
Charlotte handed him Henri's note as she answered. After looking down to check it, he stared at her for a few more seconds, then turned sideways to let her pass.
Security is this lax? It looks like the official Beyonders really are tolerating this place. Otherwise, a gathering like this would have been shut down long ago... Charlotte relaxed a little and followed the cloaked man, evidently another participant, through the doorway.
Beyond the door was a narrow passage with a downward-sloping floor. Oil lamps hung at intervals, providing barely enough light to see where she was stepping. Charlotte followed the passage for about half a minute, then passed through a heavier wooden door into an underground room lit by numerous candles.
The room was not large. Wooden crates and old sacks were piled in the corners, and a round table stood in the middle, with seven or eight people already seated around it. In the dim candlelight, she could only tell that there were both men and women from different walks of life. All of them hid in the patches of shadow between the candles, giving them a furtive air.
Several people briefly turned when Charlotte entered, then quickly looked away.
But she could feel a few gazes quietly returning a moment later, settling on her cloak and veil. Charlotte did not know whether they were curious about her gender and build or had noticed something in her manner. She could only pretend not to notice and take a chair in a corner.
A short while later, when the wooden door no longer opened, a hooded figure in a gray cloak beside the round table raised his head and said in a muffled voice:
"Since most of us are here, let's begin tonight's trading. I'll go over the rules again."
No one spoke. Only the occasional faint pop of a candle broke the silence.
"First, you're responsible for judging authenticity yourselves. If you need an appraisal, you can pay me for one, but I'm only responsible for my own judgment. I make no guarantees. Second, no fighting or arguing here. If you have a problem, go outside and settle it. Third, a five-percent fee applies to all transactions, to cover the costs of maintaining the gathering and changing venues."
Five percent... Charlotte thought that rate was acceptable, not high enough to drive people to bypass the organizer and trade privately. A gathering with a regular organizer was also safer than dealing directly with unidentified strangers in an alley.
Seeing no objections, the hooded man continued:
"The procedure is the same as always. We'll start with the group trading session. Each person takes a turn stating what they want to sell or what they need. Anyone interested can bid, and the highest bidder wins. Afterward, you can talk freely, exchange information, or arrange trades for next time. Before we finish, I'll announce the time and location of the next gathering.
"If there are no objections, let's begin."
Like Charlotte, all the other participants had disguised themselves. Some wore masks, others covered half their faces with scarves, and one participant who looked like a middle-aged woman kept her hands hidden in her sleeves the entire time. None showed much reaction to the hooded man's words. Clearly, this was not their first gathering.
Charlotte noticed that Henriette, the slender woman who had directed her here, was not among them.
Knowing her, she might be standing invisibly in some corner, quietly watching the gathering. Or she might not have come at all because trading at this level doesn't interest her... Charlotte withdrew her gaze from the other participants as she considered the possibilities.
Since she had not brought much money, she had no intention of buying anything tonight. She merely wanted to observe how the gathering worked and see whether there was anything unusual worth reporting to the Church.
With that in mind, she lowered her gaze toward the floor. Under the cover of adjusting her veil, she deftly pinched her earlobe with her right hand, using the switching gesture to cue herself and activate Spirit Vision.
The booklet Viève had given her repeatedly warned that this method of using spirituality to observe her surroundings should not be employed casually in unfamiliar places. Otherwise, she might see something she should not, leading to mental confusion, corruption, or even a loss of control. Charlotte therefore did not immediately scan the entire room. Instead, she first looked at the wooden crates in the corner, then slowly shifted her gaze, allowing the outlines of the other participants to enter her field of vision little by little.
Through Spirit Vision, everyone in the room had a faint white glow, differing only slightly in brightness. That was all Charlotte could discern with her current level of spirituality. Apparently, Sequences with stronger spirituality, such as "Mystery Pryer," could judge someone's health and emotions from the different colors of their aura, and even discover Mystical Items hidden on their person. In return, however, they were also more likely to see things they should not.
Once I advance further and strengthen my spirituality, perhaps I'll be able to do that too... she thought with a touch of anticipation. Just as she was about to deactivate Spirit Vision, her gaze suddenly stopped on a figure across the round table.
The young man had black hair and was dressed quite formally, like someone with a respectable job. A cloth covered his face, and there was nothing unusual about his seated posture.
There was nothing obviously abnormal about his aura, yet Charlotte's "Arbiter" intuition vaguely told her something was wrong with him.
As though sensing her scrutiny, the man turned his head slightly and looked her way, a hint of inquiry in his deep blue eyes. Then he nodded and looked away.
But to Charlotte, the human figure shrouded in spiritual light moved as mechanically and stiffly as a puppet.