"How did you come out of there?"
"I was testing the Vanishing Cabinet." Audrey smiled as she handed Edward a newspaper. "And bringing you the paper while I was at it. That advertisement for the Ernst Trading Company buying goods you mentioned appeared in today's Backlund Morning Post."
"Oh?"
Edward took the newspaper and found the advertisement on page five: honey, 9 pence/liter; flour, 3 soli/pound; butter, 3 pence/pound; cream tea leaves, 1 soli and 9 pence/pound...
That meant there would be a Beyonder gathering near the Bravehearts Bar at eight tomorrow evening. The password for entry was nine heavy knocks and three light knocks, with intervals of three long pauses and one short pause, performed in sequence. The final nine meant nothing.
"Thank you."
Audrey walked to the window and looked out at the street. "Hmm, this is actually my first time leaving Backlund on my own. Everywhere really does feel more comfortable than Backlund."
The warm sunlight fell on her, lending her a languid air.
Edward stepped over to stand beside her. "Didn't you only get back yesterday? You're tired of life in Backlund again after just one day?"
She shook her head with a smile. "Not quite. It's just... after getting used to how lively and free Hogwarts is, I suddenly find this a little hard to adjust to."
"Put simply, you've had a taste of freedom, and now you can't settle down."
"And whose fault is that?"
She raised her chin slightly, wholly confident despite having no grounds to be. "If you hadn't whisked me away to Hogwarts, I'd still be a dignified, refined young noblewoman."
"Well, I'm terribly sorry about that."
"Hehe."
Audrey made a face. "Just kidding. All right, the test was a success, and I've delivered the paper. I'll head back now."
Audrey hadn't asked many questions about Edward suddenly appearing yesterday and carting off half her things. She walked lightly back to the sofa, mimed lifting her skirts, and said with a smile:
"Come visit more often."
Edward shot an exasperated glare at Lilith, who was hiding some distance away. "You ungrateful little thing. I was hoping you'd protect me after taking the potion, but when danger came, you ran faster than I did!"
Lilith looked utterly innocent. "Meow? (.?ω?.)"
He shook his head, picked up the newspaper again, and muttered:
"Eight tomorrow evening, huh? If I actually find something I like, I might not have enough pounds..."
This time, he had only taken five hundred pounds from Audrey, bringing his total assets to a little over a thousand pounds. Although that was still far more than our impoverished god Klein had, it really wasn't enough to spend at a Beyonder gathering.
"If only I could sell my spare formulas and materials. Right! Since the Goddess is concealing me, I can try selling some Hogwarts specialties too."
"Besides, I bought five dolls this time. Maybe I can squeeze a few more pounds out of Emlyn. His father might be willing to pay a high price for the coffee beans I got from Dumbledore, too."
Edward clapped his hands. "I'll go see Emlyn first tomorrow."
"Hello."
Just then, a man's voice came from outside the door. "We're your neighbors from number four, next door."
"Neighbors?"
Edward opened the door. The first thing he saw was a small, exquisite cake. Beneath it were two little hands belonging to an adorable girl in a princess dress. She looked about six or seven, with black hair tied into two little buns, rosy cheeks that still carried a little baby fat, and a pendant carved with a feather hanging around her neck.
"Th-this is for you."
The little girl spoke softly, blushing, her brown eyes lowered slightly in shyness.
"Sorry to disturb you." The speaker was the man standing behind the girl. He looked to be in his early thirties and wore casual clothes. His clothes and hair were very clean and tidy. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he had an immediately likable air.
"Priscilla heard we had a new neighbor and kept insisting on coming over to visit." The man extended his hand as he spoke. "Oh, I'm Steven Green. I run a dental clinic, and this is my daughter, Priscilla."
Edward shook his hand. "I'm Edward, a per... magician."
Then he crouched and held out a hand to the little girl. "Hello, Priscilla. Is this cake for me?"
"Yes."
The girl answered in a clear, bright voice. "Daddy made it himself. It's really delicious."
"Thank you."
Edward gently shook her little hand, then brushed his hand behind her ear. A small flower appeared in his fingers. "For you."
"Thank you!"
Priscilla took the flower and beamed, tilting her head up toward her father. "Daddy, Daddy, someone gave me a flower!"
"Yes, yes, I see."
Steven smiled and patted her head. "Mr. Edward, we'll head back now. Let's keep in touch."
"Goodbye!"
"Goodbye."
Edward waved as he watched the father and daughter return next door, his mood growing brighter still. He stretched luxuriously and looked up at the clear sky.
"A new life has begun. How wonderful."
Chapter 45: Lilith & Lilith
Early the next morning.
As Lilith, who had spent the night running wild, settled down for another nap, Edward arrived at Emlyn's family clinic. But its doors were tightly shut, and the place was deserted. Only after asking the neighbors did he learn that Emlyn's entire family had suddenly disappeared a few days earlier and hadn't been seen since.
"Why did this happen?"
Edward was baffled. In the original story, Emlyn had gotten lost because of the Master Key and ended up at the Harvest Church, where Bishop Utravsky had locked him up. His parents had assumed an enemy had come after them and fled in a panic.
But the Master Key was in his possession now. This shouldn't have happened.
"Hmm, luckily, I still have some of Emlyn's hair."
He gave his wand a gentle flick. "Trace the Source."
Emlyn's hair drifted through the air, guiding Edward along the route Emlyn had last taken.
Along the way, he first took a public carriage, then transferred to the subway, and then to another public carriage.
Like the major cities of his previous life, Backlund saw a great tide of commuters starting early in the morning, with people from every district hurrying to offices and factories.
Some chatted, some read newspapers, and some dozed. Everywhere he looked, he saw the varied faces of everyday life. Once, he had been one of them, but two journeys across worlds had sent his life down an unpredictable path.
A little after ten, the public carriage stopped in front of a small church on Rose Street.
"This is... the Church of the Earth Mother's Harvest Church? After all that running around, Emlyn still ended up here?"
Backlund's Harvest Church was tiny compared with the churches of the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms, and the man in charge, Bishop Utravsky, was only a Sequence 6 Dawn Knight.
That was because the Church of the Earth Mother was based not in Loen, but in Feynapotter.
The Harvest Church was quiet and deserted that morning. Only a tall man in his forties or fifties, dressed in a brown priest's robe, was cleaning with a broom.
Edward's arrival made him pause in his work. His blue eyes lingered on Edward for a moment before he asked in a clear voice, "Have you come about the commission?"
"Hmm, sort of."
Utravsky nodded slightly. "Then you haven't."
He looked toward the basement and asked, "Have you come for him, then?"
Him? Who? Was it really Emlyn?
Sure enough, Emlyn's shout came from the basement. "Hey! Can you hear me? I remember you. You're that guy called... Edward! Make this old man let me out!"
"Bishop..."
"I prefer to be called Father. Father Utravsky."
Edward readily corrected himself. "Father Utravsky, the person locked in the basement... is something of a friend of mine. May I ask why you've locked him up here? As far as I know, although he's a vampire, he isn't a bad person."
"Sanguine! Sanguine!"
Edward was speechless for a moment. "Keep yammering, and I'll turn around and leave."
"You..." Emlyn was furious. "This old man only locked me up because I was helping you! You can't just abandon me!"
"Helping me?"
"Didn't you want to trade... that for the Apothecary potion formula? But I really didn't know it. Then I heard there was a commission here with the Apothecary formula as its reward, so I came over. And then..."
Father Utravsky spoke up. "I detected the scent of blood on him, and it came from a believer of the Mother Goddess, so I took him captive."
Emlyn immediately protested. "I stole... got it from a hospital! The noble Sanguine never forcibly drink anyone's blood."
Edward pressed a hand to his forehead. So after all that, Emlyn really ended up on his old path because of me? No, I have reason to suspect that the Earth Mother, Lilith, is behind this.
Tsk, this bat Lilith was far more frightening than the cat Lilith sleeping soundly at home.
Poor Emlyn.
"Father Utravsky, when do you intend to release him?"
"Once his emotions have stabilized, he may leave after volunteering at the church for a month."
Emlyn immediately shouted, "In your dreams! Edward, hurry and tell my parents to come rescue me!"
"I'm sorry, but your parents disappeared a few days ago."
The basement fell silent for a moment, and Emlyn's bluster abruptly faded. "Right. Not only would they move away, they'd move somewhere I don't know about."
What a close-knit family!
Edward turned back to Utravsky and asked, "Father, if I complete your commission, could you release him early?"
Utravsky refused without hesitation. "No. But in addition to the Apothecary formula, you may receive an extra Beyonder item."
"All right, I understand."
Utravsky's commission was to enter the mind world and kill his former self: the cruel pirate Utravsky, a powerful Sequence 6 Dawn Knight.
As everyone knew, warriors countered mages, especially warriors with ranged attacks and defensive abilities like this one. In any case, the Apothecary formula was optional now, so there was no need to take such a risk.
"Emlyn, stay here for now, then. I'll come trade with you once you're free."
"You damned bastard."
Emlyn swore a few more times, then fell silent.
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