"As for the remaining half..." Edward bit his pen and smiled.
"That would be meeting our protagonist, the great Mr. Fool, Klein."
Anyone who had read the original Lord of the Mysteries would surely agree on one thing: Klein was a good person-in every sense of the word.
There was no one more reassuring to have as a teammate.
Once he became a Pillar in the future, perhaps Edward could even coast his way into becoming an Angel.
Of course, all that was a matter for later.
He turned to his previous notes. "Based on my last round of analysis, my tentative Potion choices are Hunter, Lawyer, Warrior, Mystery Pryer, and Apprentice. But that's all wishful thinking on my part. In reality, if I'm unlucky, I might go months without encountering any of them."
Edward let out a long sigh. "Well, let's see what formulas I can find at a Beyonder gathering first. Plans never keep up with change."
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone suddenly knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Sir, I'm an attendant at the inn. We've just made some fresh Desi pies. Would you like to try one?"
"Desi pies?"
That delicacy had appeared frequently in the original novel.
His eyes lit up, and he hurried over to open the door, only to find no one outside. "Huh?"
In a flash, a small figure nimbly slipped around him into the room and threw a punch at the back of Edward's head.
Bang!
An invisible shield stopped the compact, sturdy fist a little over ten centimeters from Edward, then reflected the force straight back at its owner.
"A Beyonder!"
The small figure cried out in surprise and immediately turned to retreat.
"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
Edward fired three Stunning Spells in succession, but the small figure dodged every one. She kicked off hard, intending to burst through the window, only for a nearby table leg to twist into a chain and wrap around her right leg.
"Petrificus Totalus."
This spell struck its target dead-on, and the small figure went rigid.
Edward demanded loudly, "Who are you? Why did you attack me?"
The small figure gritted her teeth and broke free of the spell's effects. Drawing a Triangular Stinger, she cut through the chain around her leg, then hurled the weapon at Edward and seized the opening to charge at the window.
"Aah!"
An instant later, the small figure cried out in pain, slammed onto the table, and rolled onto the floor-the glass window had somehow become a sheet of iron.
"Incarcerous, Petrificus Totalus, Relashio."
Damn it. I'm done for this time.
Her entire body went stiff, her limbs lost their strength, and she could not move a muscle.
Edward snorted coldly. "You think I can't do anything if you refuse to talk? Imperio..."
He used the Imperius Curse without hesitation.
Just then, an illusory figure suddenly passed through the wall and hauled the small figure off the floor. "Door."
Both figures blurred, became almost invisible, and vanished.
Edward stood there, stunned.
"Was that... Fors and Xio?!"
Chapter 13: Care for a Thrilling Game of Tarot?
"What the hell? Why would they attack me?"
Edward was utterly baffled. He had only just left the Hall Family's villa and had not done anything yet.
"Right!"
Xio's main job is mediating and arbitrating disputes for the lower and middle classes, but she also takes bounty jobs to earn gold pounds. Has Earl Hall already put a bounty on me? But wasn't Audrey going to muddy the waters for me? Did she not get to it in time?
No, this place isn't safe anymore!
Edward immediately erased every trace of himself from the room, used Apparition to reach an alley he had passed earlier, and cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself.
He and Audrey had tested the Disillusionment Charm. Without activating Spirit Vision, at least at Sequence 9, she could not see him. Susie had only activated Spirit Vision and spotted him after first smelling a stranger's scent.
He wove quickly through the crowd, plucked a few hairs from several unremarkable-looking people, then turned into a deserted alley. Taking out a fresh Polyjuice Potion, he added the hairs and drank it with a grimace.
"Ugh, this tastes absolutely disgusting!"
When he emerged, he had an unremarkable face. He wandered aimlessly through several more neighborhoods before finding another cheap inn near Bridge Borough.
The long detour wore him out. It was evening by the time he lay wearily on the bed. "If they can still find me after all that, I'll have no choice but to leave Backlund."
Inside the apartment Fors and Xio rented.
As soon as she got home, Fors flopped onto the soft sofa out of habit and gave a lazy sigh of pleasure. "Ah, nothing beats lying down."
Xio had recovered by now, though her whole body still ached. She frowned and asked, "How did you end up there?"
Fors closed her eyes as though she had fallen asleep.
"I went out to gather material and happened to see you entering that inn, so I followed you in."
"Ha. You actually went out specifically to gather material?"
"I..." Fors tried to sit up and deliver an indignant rebuttal, but after several failed attempts, she gave up. "Fine. I was avoiding my editor's demands for the manuscript, and buying cigarettes while I was at it."
"If you don't turn in your manuscript soon, will you even have enough money for next quarter's rent?"
"Don't worry. It's almost finished, almost finished. Besides, I just saved your life, you know. You haven't even thanked me, and you're already nagging." Fors lazily took out a cigarette and lit it with an elegant gesture. "Didn't you check how strong the target was before taking this job?"
"The person who posted the bounty didn't mention anything, and the reward wasn't that high. I just assumed the target was an ordinary person." Xio clenched her fists, furious. "I'm definitely going to settle this with him!"
"Oh, right. Viscount Glaint just contacted me. He wants us to take him and Miss Audrey to a Beyonder gathering as soon as possible."
"Tomorrow, then."
Xio was about to take out her Triangular Stinger out of habit when her expression suddenly changed. "Oh no. I left my dagger with that Beyonder. I've heard some Beyonders can use objects to track people down..."
The two girls exchanged a look, and the air seemed to freeze.
"I told you there was no need to worry about the rent."
After a long moment, Fors shrugged. "Let's move."
Inside the cheap inn.
Edward had no intention of looking for Fors and Xio. They had just fought, after all. Showing up unannounced would only make them think he had come for revenge, and Fors would probably have to waste another bead.
"Forget it. I'll get a good night's rest first."
The next day.
Refreshed after a full night's sleep, Edward washed up and used Apparition to reach the agreed location, where he found a letter in a crevice in a tree.
"2 p.m."
The letter contained only a time, but Edward knew Audrey was telling him she would leave home at two in the afternoon to attend a Beyonder gathering, and that he should find an opportunity to meet her.
"I remember Audrey's first Beyonder gathering was a Secret Gathering organized by Mr. A, with Fors and Xio introducing her."
Mr. A was one of the Aurora Order's twenty-two Oracles, a dangerously deranged beauty with strikingly seductive looks. He had been very active in the early and middle portions of the original novel and was an extremely dangerous individual.
"Still, Mr. A is more of a religious fanatic. Everything he does is in service to his Lord. As long as his Lord isn't involved, he actually shows some restraint. I just need to keep a respectful distance."
Back at the inn, Edward finally got to eat the Desi pies he had heard so much about. Perhaps because the inn's cooking was nothing special, the taste left him somewhat disappointed.
The Desi pies came with a few desserts and black tea. He tasted each and left the rest untouched. Although he had transmigrated into a Westerner's body, his palate still leaned Chinese-the highest praise he could give a dessert was "not too sweet." Unfortunately, everything in front of him was cloyingly sweet.
He remembered that Klein-Zhou Mingrui-seemed to have quite a sweet tooth. No wonder he had put on weight in his previous life.
Since it was still early, Edward simply went out in search of food.
As soon as he left the inn, a scrawny child came limping toward him, followed by several men who looked like street thugs. They were furious, their expressions murderous.
"Stop right there, you little brat!"
Edward hesitated, then gently flicked the Wand hidden in his sleeve. The men seemed to run into something and tumbled into a heap.
The child seized the chance to escape, ducking into the crowd and disappearing.
"Honestly, if this sort of thing happens on streets near Empress Borough, I can't imagine how chaotic the slums must be. And they call this a land of hope?"
Worse, the King of Loen had very likely created this chaos deliberately to advance to Black Emperor. Being a subject under a king like that was rotten luck indeed.
He wandered along, sampling every kind of "authentic Loen snack," with only one thought in his mind.
I'm gonna fucking eat, eat, eat! Eat, eat, eat! Eat my way through a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin!
At noon, he found a café and sat down, planning to wait there until evening.
"Sir, your coffee and ice cream."
The moment the attendant set his order down, a scrawny figure crawled out from under the table and stared longingly at the ice cream, swallowing repeatedly-it was the lame boy who had been chased earlier.
He looked less than ten years old, wore shabby clothes, and had a newsboy cap on his head.
"Here, take it."
Edward handed over the ice cream. The boy's eyes lit up, and he took it and began licking it with delight.
Edward picked up a copy of the Daily Observer and casually browsed its contents. Most of the articles were down-to-earth, dealing with livelihood issues affecting ordinary people. Some read like little tales from a story magazine.
"Sir." Having finished the ice cream, the boy produced a deck of tarot cards from somewhere. "I happen to know a little tarot divination. Would you like to try it, sir?"
"Sure."
Edward smiled and held out his hand. If Klein had said that, he might have been very interested, but with a lame little boy, he would just treat it as playing pretend with him...
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