"How about I give you half the bounty?"
Chapter 16: First Meeting with Klein the Cat
"..."
Fors gave Xio a light tap. "Mr. Edward even advanced you the pounds for the Sheriff potion, so stop trying to get more out of him."
She bowed apologetically to Edward.
"Edward... sir, I apologize on Xio's behalf."
"It's fine. I didn't lose anything, anyway. Once I'm strong enough, I might actually try what Miss Xio suggested. Oh, Miss Xio, here's your Triangular Stinger."
Xio asked curiously, "Haven't you already taken some kind of potion and gained Beyonder abilities? Why are you still buying formulas?"
"I'm buying them for a few friends. Why else would I buy so many at once?"
Understanding dawned on Fors and Xio. Now that made sense.
Soon, Edward received the Apprentice Formula and some auxiliary ingredients. After arranging to return in two days to buy the main ingredients, he took his leave.
Only then did Fors let out a long sigh of relief. She slumped weakly onto the sofa. "Ugh, I'm exhausted~~ This sofa is so hard. I really miss our old one."
Just then, Xio's expression turned serious. "Fors, you don't really believe that man, do you?"
"But you were the one who..."
Fors looked stunned at first, then exclaimed in surprise, "You were pretending the whole time?"
Xio looked at her in exasperation. "I've told you so many times that the Beyonder world is dangerous. The more readily you trust people, the worse you'll end up."
"But what could anyone want from us? My hundred words of writing a day, or your meter-and-a-half height?"
"..."
"Wait!"
Fors suddenly jolted upright.
"Did we move for nothing this time?"
"My deposit!!!"
In a cheap hotel in Cherwood Borough.
Edward held the Paper Crane, hesitating.
"If I write my question directly on it, wouldn't that give me away? After all, I have no reason to know any of this. Hmm, that doctor in the original novel seemed to meet him in his dreams after getting the Paper Crane. Should I give that a try?"
He placed the Paper Crane beside his pillow, lay down, and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately, without a Dream Charm, the harder he tried, the more awake he became. Only after taking a sip of Dreamless Sleep Potion did he finally drift out of consciousness.
His last thought was to wonder whether the Dreamless Sleep Potion would really leave him without dreams.
The endless darkness gradually receded, and Edward found himself on a barren plain. Black stones lay beneath his feet, without so much as a single weed.
A black spire towered in the center of the plain, with an enormous silvery-white snake coiled around it. The giant snake had no physical scales. Instead, its body was covered in densely packed patterns and symbols that formed interconnected wheels, each surrounded by different markings.
So this was the Snake of Mercury?
Edward then realized that he seemed fully conscious, unlike the doctor, who had remained in an unconscious haze throughout. Was Will Auceptin giving him special treatment?
He gazed up at the towering black spire, torn.
What should I say when I go inside? Ask him straight out which pathway I should choose?
Just then, the giant silvery-white snake suddenly moved. He curled himself into a coil, his red eyes watching Edward without emotion, and spoke in a voice that could not be identified as male or female.
"Sorry, I can't make that choice for you. Perhaps you could ask someone else."
"Who?"
Crash!
The dream shattered.
Edward found himself lying in bed. Outside the window, the sky was already bright.
"Get out of Backlund, you cryptic bastard!"
Swearing under his breath, he frowned at the Paper Crane, then asked himself another question.
"Who should I ask?"
Two days later.
Edward successfully obtained the final main ingredient for the Apprentice Formula. Viscount Glaint had also helped him find a small villa on the outskirts of Empress Borough. Its out-of-the-way location made it cheaper, and the houses on either side were vacant.
It was only small in relative terms. Its two floors covered more than two hundred square meters, and the garden brought the total to nearly four hundred. It certainly qualified as a luxurious home. The rent was three pounds a week, or 162 pounds a year.
For an ordinary person, that was an enormous sum. Edward, however, had just spent two thousand pounds, so it barely registered.
"Gasp-" Standing in the empty house, Edward drew in a sharp breath. "Am I really going to spend my life shamelessly begging, 'Rich lady, I'm hungry, feed me'?"
No! Edward, you can travel between two worlds! How can you let yourself sink so low?
I'm going to earn money! I'm going to support myself!
Just then, Susie trotted happily inside, wagging her tail. She placed a cloth bag on the floor and vibrated the air to speak. "There's a thousand pounds in here. Audrey asked me to bring it to you."
"..."
Edward struggled painfully with himself for three seconds.
Forget it! Shameless it is.
"Audrey said her home is safe now. You can go see her anytime, using the method only the two of you know."
"All right, understood. Thanks for your help, Susie."
With a piece of dried chicken in her mouth, Susie left happily.
The method Audrey meant was naturally Apparition. Since she had specifically sent Susie to deliver the message, her meaning was clear-something had come up, and she wanted him there quickly.
Crack.
Edward's figure twisted, and he appeared in Audrey's "new room."
Audrey sat upright on the sofa, clearly having waited for some time. Today, she wore a relatively simple pale blue dress and a soft hat, its ribbon tied around her fair neck. She looked rather adorable.
"You're here!"
She eagerly took out the three pages of Emperor Roselle's notes, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Quick, see what these three pages say. The next time I go over there, I'm definitely learning this language!"
By then, the great Mr. Fool would probably have no advantage over you at all.
Sorry, Zhou Mingrui.
Edward did not forget to cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on the room before taking the notes and quickly scanning them.
"November 3. Matilda is three months pregnant..."
"November 8. Archbishop Van Estin came to ask for my help with something..."
"November 9. So the sequence pathways actually conceal a secret like this..."
"April 9. The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Church of the Lord of Storms, and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom have terrible relations and are hostile toward one another, while the Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Feysac Empire's Church of the God of Combat are utterly irreconcilable..."
"April 13. I attended a gathering of that Ancient Organization..."
The contents of these diary pages had appeared in the original novel. Edward thought for a moment before saying, "These three diary pages should be records from two different periods. These two start with some details of Emperor Roselle's daily life, then mention something important: after becoming a Sequence 5 Beyonder, you can switch to the corresponding sequence of one or two other pathways. For example, the Sleepless Pathway and the Corpse Collector Pathway, or the Savant Pathway and the Mystery Pryer Pathway."
Audrey was astonished.
"You can actually change pathways?" This was rather different from the "common knowledge" she had learned before.
"But the diary also says it's limited to those one or two pathways. If you switch to a potion from the wrong pathway, going half-mad is the mildest possible outcome, and you won't be able to advance any further."
Edward picked up the other page. "This page mentions the relationships between the major Churches. The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Church of the Lord of Storms, and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom are hostile toward one another, while the Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Feysac Empire's Church of the God of Combat are utterly irreconcilable."
"Why is that?"
"I don't know." Edward shrugged. "Then there's Emperor Roselle attending an ancient gathering. Its members were all legendary figures. The crucial part is that the gathering possessed an item on the same level as a god, but I'm not sure whether telling you about it would cause any danger. It's enough for you to have a general idea."
"Heavens, what was that gathering?" Audrey could not help covering her mouth, wondering whether the Tarot Club would one day become a gathering of that caliber too.
"It doesn't say. That's all the useful information."
Edward searched his memories. Whether it was the hostility between the Churches or that ancient gathering, his memories were missing. That surely meant the information was extremely dangerous merely to know.
Audrey sighed in disappointment, propped her chin on her hand, and muttered, "Ugh, it feels like I've learned something, yet also like I've learned nothing."
"There are only three pages, after all."
"True." Her lively manner returned. "Edward, have you chosen the pathway you want?"
"No. The problem now is that I don't know what criteria to use." Edward spoke jokingly. "At worst, I'll draw lots. In a sense, that would count as a god choosing for me."
Audrey immediately turned serious. "It could also be an evil god misleading you! If you really want a god to help you choose, you should ask a great orthodox deity, like the Evernight Goddess."
And Mr. Fool, she added silently.
At that moment, Edward suddenly understood. "That's right! I can ask a god for help!"
"Ah! Are you really going to the Church of Evernight?"
"No, I have a better option."
He smiled. He had probably figured out who the Snake of Mercury meant by "someone else"!
"I'm going to Tingen City!"
On Sunday afternoon, Klein did not head straight to the Blackthorn Security Company. Instead, he planned to spend two hours at the Divination Club first. He felt that his Seer potion was almost fully digested.
Lately, he had been growing increasingly well known in the "divination business." Sometimes, he could see over a dozen clients in a single afternoon, so even though he generally only visited twice a week, he still earned a considerable income.
"Ah, what a shame. I made myself sound too noble back then and built up too perfect an image. Now I can't change my divination fees whenever I want."
Klein had just seen off Elizabeth, who seemed to be haunted by a ghost, and was planning to return to the Blackthorn Security Company to find the captain when the pretty receptionist, Angelica, knocked on the door. "Mr. Moretti, someone else is here for a divination."
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