Beyonders...
Hearing this term, whose meaning was perfectly clear, Charlotte felt neither surprise nor confusion, but relief.
It was the relief of finally finding a clue that could explain everything after being transported to another world, seeing a red moon, and enduring a whole night of unsettling events.
Just as I thought. The last thing I remember was staying up late and then collapsing into bed. I wasn't hit by a car or struck by lightning, so how could I have crossed into another world for no reason? So this is a world with supernatural powers... If I learn about those powers, or even become a Beyonder, could I find a way home? Charlotte's thoughts raced. She wanted nothing more than to grab Henri by the shoulders and make her spill everything she knew. But remembering how casually the woman had vanished and moved without a sound, she could only force a friendly smile and probe indirectly:
"What you showed me just now was certainly astonishing, but Etienne didn't seem any different from an ordinary person."
At most, he stayed on his feet after being stabbed in the chest. Maybe someone could manage that with a little training... she added inwardly.
To her surprise, Henriette did not argue. Instead, she nodded in agreement.
"That's true. At low sequences, Beyonders of most pathways don't display anything that sets them apart from ordinary people. Some have remarkable memories, some only need two hours of sleep a day, some are good at reading people, and some can easily persuade others..."
As she spoke, she walked over to the dressing mirror and sat on the round stool, leaning against the edge of the table as though inviting Charlotte to ask whatever she liked.
Seeing this, Charlotte stopped suppressing her curiosity and pressed on:
"What do you mean by pathways and low sequences?"
"They're both ways of classifying supernatural power. Your pathway is the road you choose, while your sequence represents how far you've traveled along it. Low sequences, for example, refer to Sequence 9 and Sequence 8. Generally speaking, Beyonders only gain truly supernatural abilities after advancing to Sequence 7 and entering the mid-sequences, like what I showed you just now."
So a pathway is like a Beyonder's class, and a sequence is their level... Nine is the starting point and the lowest level. Henri said she's a mid-sequence Beyonder, which means Sequence 7, or perhaps a little higher. Then is the highest sequence one, or zero? With her modern mindset and experience playing plenty of games, Charlotte immediately summed it up in her head. Then she recalled Etienne's earlier behavior and frowned.
"Etienne persuaded Baron Gustav with just a few words. Even I almost believed him, despite being hostile toward him all along... Is that how his supernatural power manifests?"
"You're very perceptive. Etienne Marceau could use words to guide or even distort other people's thoughts, precisely targeting the weak spots in their minds. But none of those abilities made him look any different from an ordinary person.
"Of course, if he'd already advanced to Sequence 8, things would have been entirely different. By the time those two servants drew their guns, Etienne would probably have dealt with everyone there and taken you away. You wouldn't have had a chance to hurt him, either."
So Etienne was only Sequence 9, the lowest rank among Beyonders... Charlotte privately felt a little relieved, while her yearning for the world of mysticism grew stronger. She immediately asked:
"What pathway was he on? The same as yours?"
Henri smiled, untroubled by Charlotte's subtle probing.
"Etienne's pathway begins with 'Lawyer.' Usually, we refer to an entire pathway by the name of its Sequence 9."
Lawyer? That matches Etienne's public identity. Is that a coincidence, or did his supernatural powers influence his choice of profession? Both his eloquence and his ability to distort other people's thoughts would have been a great help in his work... Henri hasn't revealed her own pathway. It seems their powers come from different sources... Charlotte considered this without dwelling too much on information about a dead man. After laying the groundwork with a few more questions, she asked the one that mattered most to her:
"How does someone become a Beyonder?"
She did not think supernatural powers were innate or acquired by accident, because Henriette had said earlier that a pathway could be "chosen."
Fortunately, this woman, who had behaved quite casually in Charlotte's bedroom and shown her some goodwill, did not conceal the answer. Instead, she gave her a knowing look.
"All Beyonders, apart from the very few born with abilities or who acquire powers by accident, advance by drinking the corresponding potion."
There really are natural-born Beyonders and lucky people who gain powers by accident... And what does advancing mean? Charlotte froze for an instant, then asked excitedly:
"Can anyone drink a potion?"
"Of course." Henri nodded slightly. "Although a few unlucky souls lose control or even die, most people who drink a Sequence 9 potion while physically healthy and mentally stable successfully gain supernatural powers."
Seeing Charlotte's expression grow increasingly eager, Henri poured cold water on her excitement.
"But the greatest obstacle on the Beyonder path isn't talent or luck. It's obtaining the potion. You need both the correct formula and suitable Beyonder ingredients. They're all controlled by the churches, the military, and the royal family. Ordinary people have no access to them.
"Of course, the royal family-that is, the Sauron Family-selects certain talented members and supplies them with potions, cultivating Beyonders of its own. To strengthen themselves, oppose other churches and nations, and maintain order in the world of mysticism, the churches and military likewise have their own Beyonder forces.
"Outside these institutions, some potion formulas circulate, both real and fake, along with Beyonders who have advanced through them."
I'm being too eager. Is my desire to access supernatural powers and return to Earth overwhelming everything else? This isn't how a girl who was frightened enough by a string of strange incidents to ask her cousin for help should react... Henriette might not know about my memory loss, and she certainly can't know I'm no longer the original Charlotte. But if I keep acting strangely, I could easily arouse her suspicions... Suppressing her curiosity, Charlotte gathered her thoughts and naturally changed the subject:
"So both major churches not only know the world of mysticism exists, but also have Beyonders of their own? Could they have intervened in the murders in the old district tonight because supernatural powers were involved?"
She still remembered Etienne's wariness of the churches, which he had even placed ahead of the military. Her father had shown similar concern when their carriage passed Saint Roch Cathedral. Clearly, he knew something about the situation.
Unfortunately, Henriette merely shook her head.
"When I arrived in Sushit, I divined your whereabouts and immediately went to find you. I've only heard a few rumors about the disturbance in the old district. I don't know exactly what happened."
That's true. Even I, who was involved, was kept in the dark. Henri only found me partway through, so she's even less likely to know what happened... But if that's the case, she's far too unconcerned about why I left home or why I appeared in the old district. Is that just her personality, or is she pretending, waiting for me to slip up? The more Charlotte thought about it, the colder she felt. She dared not ask any more about potions or supernatural powers, lest she accidentally expose her most important secret: Charlotte was no longer Charlotte.
After some thought, she decided to address the most pressing problem first and steer the conversation back to its original course.
"You said my cousin asked you to come. How had you originally intended to help me?"
Seeing Charlotte take the initiative to change the subject, Henriette rose from the round stool and turned toward the dressing mirror. She ran a hand over its cool surface as she spoke:
"Rosalie originally thought your persistent bad luck came from contact with an object containing supernatural power, or from being haunted by a wraith's lingering thoughts. I was the ideal person to deal with either problem. But after arriving in Sushit, I performed several divinations, and I watched you from the shadows for a while just now. None of that revealed any such problem with you.
"Either this matter ended tonight, with Etienne's attack marking the end of your bad luck, which you were fortunate enough to survive, or the whole affair is beyond my ability to handle. In that case, interference with my divination produced the false impression that everything was normal."
Charlotte had just begun to relax at the possibility that her bad luck had ended when the second half of Henri's explanation sent her heart into her throat again.
Henri must have used 'divination' to find me earlier. But even that can be interfered with?
Etienne's reason for kidnapping me was probably connected to tonight's murders in the old district. If even an unfathomable Beyonder like Henri can't detect the problem, doesn't that mean I'm doomed?
No, perhaps there's another possibility. The original Charlotte died tonight because of her string of bad luck, and after I crossed over and took possession of her body, I lost the connection to whatever power was targeting her... Is that possible?
Thoughts rose and burst like bubbles in Charlotte's mind. In a low voice, she asked:
"Then what should I do?"
Henriette tilted her head at the mirror, perhaps admiring her own appearance. Only after a moment did she answer:
"Two options.
"First, come with me. Leave Sushit and sever all your existing social ties. Then, with the help of anti-divination powers, most mystical methods will no longer be able to affect you. That might solve the problem.
"Second, turn yourself in to the church."
Huh?
Charlotte opened her mouth, wondering whether she had misheard.
The commotion outside gradually subsided. The courtyard gates opened and closed, and the servants' low conversations slowly faded. When the last footsteps disappeared, the Gustav residence sank into silence once more, leaving only the occasional distant bark of a dog and the faint sound of wind slipping through the gaps around the windows.
Roselle Gustav abruptly climbed out of bed. First, he felt his way to the door and confirmed that it was locked from the inside. Only then did he approach the oil lamp to light it. After another moment's thought, however, he returned to the bedside and pushed the window open, using the bright moonlight to look toward the desk.
An ink bottle, a quill, and an open notebook lay there.
The notebook's owner clearly seldom used it to keep records. Both its thick leather cover and its neatly bound pages looked brand-new. Only the first few pages contained writing in a script Roselle found entirely unfamiliar, yet could read with ease.
He sat down at the desk and turned to a fresh page. Relying on muscle memory, he easily held the quill steady, dipped it in ink, and poised its tip over the paper bathed in crimson light.
After a brief hesitation, Roselle wrote the first line.
"February fourteenth, 1143..."
With a few quick strokes, he crossed out the final three characters and wrote above them:
"...fifteenth."
The characters were Chinese, their strokes straight and square.