Invisible, Edward found himself caught in a dilemma. He knew Hibbert Hall must have gone to fetch Beyonders. If he tried to escape under cover of invisibility now, he might run straight into the Hall Family's Beyonders.
There seemed to be only one option left.
He hurried to Audrey's bedroom door and waved his wand.
"Alohomora."
The locked door clicked open, and Edward appeared at the same moment. Before Earl Hall could react further, Edward shoved the door open, slipped inside, and slammed it shut behind him.
Before him lay a luxurious bedroom, with lavish wallpaper, a lavish bed, a lavish dressing table and furniture, and an assortment of expensive oil paintings. Frankly, it did not look like a seventeen-year-old girl's bedroom.
The Washroom door creaked open, and a girl in a long dress stepped out. Silky golden hair spilled over her shoulders, and her emerald eyes were crystal clear, as deep as the sea yet as flawless as the purest gems. Her bearing was innocent and elegant—Edward had to admit that she was the most beautiful girl he had seen in either of his lives.
Audrey had just finished the summoning ritual "assignment" Mr. Fool had given her. Hearing the commotion outside, she had hurriedly put everything away and emerged from the Washroom.
Then she saw a boy dressed in a strange black robe, unlike anything worn in Loen. He looked about her age, stood a head taller than her at just under one hundred eighty centimeters, and had short flaxen hair that gave him a lively appearance. He was reasonably handsome, though nowhere near as handsome as the royal princes.
He seemed nervous. His fingers gripped the strange stick tightly, clearly showing how much he valued it. The right leg of his trousers was badly creased, with several tiny holes in it.
From the sounds outside earlier, she could conclude that he was a Beyonder. Judging by his current reactions, however, he did not seem like a criminal who had broken in to rob them.
"Miss Audrey, I mean no offense, and I certainly don't want to hurt you."
Edward spoke almost instinctively-in quite standard Loen, no less.
So I can speak it as well as understand it. This must be some kind of cheat that came with crossing into the Lord of Mysteries World. I wonder whether I also know Jotun and Hermes, languages that contain mystical power.
After a brief daze, Edward continued, "I only wandered into your villa by accident and had a misunderstanding with your family. I broke into your room purely to protect myself."
A flicker of fear crossed Audrey's eyes, only to be immediately replaced by intense curiosity. "Are you a Beyonder?"
"Wait!" Edward gestured at her, then waved his wand. "Quietus."
Only after casting Quietus did Edward say, "More or less, but I'm not quite the same as Beyonders like you."
Audrey immediately blurted out, "How do you know I..." Before finishing, she hurriedly covered her mouth, but her glittering emerald eyes still betrayed her surprise.
At another time and place, Edward might have teased her. Before advancing to Sequence 4, Audrey had always been an innocent, carefree girl full of curiosity. After experiencing war, death, and a series of other events, however, she had "grown up," becoming a competent Beyonder and a true Spectator.
But Edward had no time to think about that now. He had entered Audrey's room to make the others hesitate to act for fear of harming her, but who knew what Sequence the arriving Beyonders would be? Even if he took her hostage, someone might force him into a dream and kill him before he realized it.
Left standing to one side, Audrey could not help speaking again. "Mr. Robber..."
"I'm not a robber," Edward interrupted, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Don't you know calling someone that is provocative? You might make them angry."
"Then... Mr. Beyonder Who Wandered In, I can actually ask my father to let you leave safely."
"You believe what I said that easily..."
Before he finished, he remembered that Audrey had already consumed a potion and become a Spectator. Judging whether he was telling the truth from his words and behavior really would not be difficult for her.
No wonder people always said to beware of Spectators. Most people would find it hard to lie in front of one.
Edward believed Audrey was sincere, but how could Earl Hall possibly let a Beyonder who had inexplicably broken into his home walk away unharmed?
In that case...
He took two steps toward Audrey, then immediately stopped and held out a hand. "Could you give me a strand of your hair?"
Audrey hesitated. She trusted her earlier observations, but hair held considerable significance in the mystical world. Soon, however, she became dejected: she did not seem to have a choice.
She carefully wound a long golden hair around her index finger, then gently plucked it out.
"Accio hair."
The Summoning Charm brought the golden strand into his hand. He immediately pulled a palm-sized flask from the leather pouch at his waist-yes, that unassuming pouch had been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm and contained more than twenty cubic meters of space.
Audrey watched Edward's movements curiously. Although she had become a Beyonder after drinking a potion, Spectators at low and middle Sequences possessed no overt Beyonder abilities. She was genuinely envious of an ability that could make an object fly over with a single utterance.
Edward slipped the golden hair into the flask, gave it a gentle shake, and looked at Audrey again. "All right, take off your clothes."
"???"
Audrey's eyes instantly widened:
What happened to wandering in by accident? What happened to meaning no offense? What happened to not being a bad person?
Edward was actually quite skilled at Transfiguration and had long since mastered its derivative spell, Quick Change. But he did not know how long he would need to maintain his disguise, and Transfiguration had a limited duration.
Watching Audrey retreat repeatedly in terror, Edward frowned.
"What are you imagining? I only want to borrow the clothes you're wearing. Go change in the Washroom and give them to me."
"???"
After a brief moment of confusion, Audrey could not help puffing out her cheeks, even though she knew this was hardly the time.
She took another dress from the wardrobe, went into the bathroom, and slammed the door. Immediately, however, she caught herself. Audrey, oh, Audrey, you're being held hostage! He might not be a bad person, but you still can't throw a young lady's tantrum.
Listening to the rustle of clothes from the Washroom, Edward did not dare lower his guard. Miss Justice might indeed have been kind, just, and innocent in the original story, but now that he was in this real world, human nature was the last thing he could blindly trust.
Yawn~
Just then, Edward suddenly felt his eyes growing heavy and could not suppress a yawn. "Strange, I went to bed early last night. Why..."
His heart gave a sudden, violent jolt.
Could a Sequence 7 Nightmare be pulling me into a dream? Perhaps Occlumency obstructed his Dream Infiltration, which was why he didn't succeed immediately?
But there was no telling how long that obstruction would last.
"Rennervate!"
Edward hastily cast a Reviving Spell on himself, then rushed to the Washroom door and pounded on it. "Are you changed yet? Hurry!"
"I'm done, I'm done."
Audrey opened the door, already wearing the new blue dress she had taken out. Perhaps because she had been rushing, her golden hair was rather disheveled, a stark contrast to her ladylike appearance earlier.
She handed Edward the clothes she had just removed. "What... do you want my clothes for?"
"To wear!" Edward no longer bothered with propriety. Right in front of her, he stripped off his Hogwarts Robe in a few quick movements, revealing the clothes underneath. Then he grabbed her outfit, which still retained a little of her body heat, and clumsily pulled it on, finding a moment to take a mouthful of Polyjuice Potion.
This series of actions clearly sparked Audrey's curiosity again. After hesitating for quite a while, she could not resist asking, "Are you changing clothes to impersonate me? But you look completely different from me. Even your build is very different..."
She had barely finished when Edward's skin began to writhe as though boiling. His short flaxen hair rapidly lengthened and turned golden, his brown eyes became emerald green, and his body slowly shrank as though being compressed. By the time he was the same height as Audrey, he looked identical to her.
Audrey forgot all about behaving like a lady. She rubbed her eyes hard, confirming that she was not seeing things. Although she had long known how miraculous the mystical world could be, this transformation still shocked her deeply-especially since he had turned into her.
Edward quickly pulled out his underclothes and straightened the outfit he was wearing. Although he still looked somewhat disheveled, that better suited someone who had been kidnapped by a bandit.
He then untied the leather pouch at his waist, loosened the elastic cord around its opening, and pulled it wide enough for an adult to climb through before placing it on the floor.
"Get inside, quickly."
This time, Audrey caught on immediately, her emerald eyes lighting up again. "There's a lot of space inside this bag, isn't there? Is this another of your Beyonder abilities?"
She walked over and peered inside. A faint light shone from within the leather pouch, and a small wooden ladder leaned against its opening, leading down into an unknown space.
Edward gave her a push. "Hurry. If you like it, I'll give you one later."
She immediately gathered her skirts in both hands and climbed down the wooden ladder. When only her head remained outside, she still remembered to look at Edward and say, "It's a promise! Don't forget~"
"..."
Miss Justice, aren't you a little too carefree?
Edward shoved her the rest of the way inside.
"Phew-sorry about this, Miss Justice!"
"Confringo!!"
An intense blue light slammed into the bedroom's outer wall.
Boom!!
The next second, tremendous heat and force erupted. The wall shattered and the roof collapsed-a luxurious bedroom that an ordinary Loen citizen could not afford in several lifetimes was reduced to rubble.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
Amid the billowing dust, Edward stuffed his wand into the leather pouch, then secured the pouch against his bare skin beneath his clothes. Only then did he lie down on the floor and pretend to have passed out.
Chapter 3: Welcome to Hogwarts
Two figures hurried into the dust-filled room. They wore the uniforms of the Church of Evernight, with red gloves on their hands.
"Red Gloves" was the name given to the elite teams within the Church of Evernight's Nighthawks. Generally, the minimum requirement to join was Sequence 7, and their members were elites rigorously selected by the Church of Evernight.
Earl Hall was a famous Loen banker and a devout follower of the Church of Evernight. Perhaps because everything had happened so suddenly, both Red Gloves the church had dispatched were only Sequence 7.
The two quickly assessed the situation, and one said, "The bandit has already escaped."
"But I was watching outside the whole time. I didn't see anyone."
"He probably escaped during the explosion."
Earl Hall had completely lost his usual composure. "I don't care about that damned bandit. I only want to know how my daughter is!"
"She's only unconscious."
Earl Hall hurriedly picked up Audrey (Edward), shouting as he ran outside, "Hibbert, get the doctor here, quickly!"
The two Red Gloves remained behind, trying to find traces of the bandit.
A fierce wind swept in, dispersing the dust throughout the room. An old man with silver hair and silver eyes descended from the sky, wearing a black soft cap and a black robe embroidered with storm symbols. His face was grave.
It was none other than Ace Snake, the Spellsinger of God-the Old Storm Dove who "would always arrive, but always late." His silver eyes quickly swept over the surroundings before he summoned another fierce wind and flew into the distance.
The two Red Gloves exchanged a look and said helplessly, "Let's return to the church first. We'll leave the pursuit to the Spellsinger of God."
In another room of Earl Hall's luxurious villa, Edward lay quietly on a bed, surrounded by Earl Hall, Hibbert, and the others.
A neatly dressed doctor wearing glasses stood up and reassured everyone. "Your Excellency, Miss Audrey merely fainted from fright. She's perfectly fine."
Before Earl Hall could speak, Hibbert Hall asked urgently, "Are you certain? After an explosion that big, she was only frightened?"
"I had the nurses examine her just now. Miss Audrey has no injuries anywhere on her body. There should be no mistake."
Earl Hall breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."
He turned to Hibbert Hall and asked, "Have the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms sent any word about that bandit?"
"Not yet. I'll go press them again."
Before you continue