Despite how fearful Botis was of the Spear of Longinus, the truth was that in the original work, even after devouring Cattleya's Spear of Longinus, he had only sustained severe injuries. Had he not been struck by a chain of disasters—"ntal Plague," "Sleeping Beauty," "Madness," and a fatal blow—sending him into a state of deranged dentia and leading him to open the third layer of the Box of the Great Old Ones, he might still have had a chance to escape.
Hearing this, Bernadette replied calmly, "I have my own thod."
"Well then, thank you for today."
"Mm."
At that mont, Bernadette said, "I'll organise the diary entries I need you to translate as soon as possible. Goodbye."
"Wait a mont, Your Highness—do you happen to have any Reader pathway Beyonder characteristics? Specifically, Sequence 6 Polymath? I'd like to buy one…I can offer a high value."
She gave a slight nod. "I'll ask around for you." Then, after a short pause, she added, "I don't want money. Trade three stories instead."
Uh…
Still playing the roleplay ga, huh?
But a Sequence 6 Beyonder characteristic would normally cost at least 3,000 pounds. Three stories for one characteristic—that's a tenfold markup!
Edward opened his mouth, but could only nod in the end. "Alright."
With a single step, Bernadette called down thick pea vines from the sky, forming a path into a forest. The mont she stepped onto that forest road, everything vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared.
———
anwhile, the battle between Mr. A and Saint Tenebrous, Kisma, was still ongoing.
One of them had gained the power of a Sequence 4 Black Knight with the help of the True Creator, while the other was a genuine Black Knight.
Both were fanatical believers of the Aurora Order.
And both regarded the other as a traitor, one who had betrayed their faith and their god.
Once the fighting started, it was to the death. They had long forgotten their original goal of assisting Edward (Botis) in hunting down Botis (Edward).
Mr. A blinked away once more, narrowly dodging Kisma's cleaving strike. In his palm, the energy accumulated by the Son of the Evil God unleashed another piercing shriek:
"WAAAAHH!"
Kisma staggered as though struck by lightning. Blood flowed from his eyes, nostrils, and ears, and his skin was quickly overrun by a layer of black, writhing keratin.
He imdiately switched abilities and cast several instances of Placate, calming the signs of going out of control. Just as he prepared to retaliate, his movent suddenly stalled. Without hesitation, he stepped backwards and teleported away.
The Orthodox Churches had arrived!
Mr. A's expression slowly cald. He glanced back at the abandoned factory a few kilotres away, the corners of his mouth lifting ever so slightly.
"Heh, he actually pulled it off."
He clasped his hands again, reverting from his Black Knight state, and teleported away.
———
[Empress Borough—Inside the Hall Family's Luxurious Estate]
The mont Edward stepped out of the suitcase, Audrey finally let go of the anxiety she had held in her heart for days. She didn't speak right away. Instead, she entered her Spectator state and carefully observed Edward, checking to see if he was hurt.
Edward smiled at her. "It's done!"
Her eyes lit up.
Over the next half hour, Edward recounted everything that had happened not long ago. At first, Audrey had been nervous and excited, but once he finished, she rested her chin on one hand and sighed in amazent.
"I didn't expect you'd actually manage to hunt down a demigod-level opponent!"
Edward scratched his head. "I was just playing a minor role, really."
"Nope. If it had been anyone else caught in the middle of multiple demigod-level battles, they wouldn't have even survived, let alone nearly reverse the situation and kill Botis," she said, her tone turning serious. "But this isn't praise, nor admiration—because it was far too dangerous!"
Edward sighed. "It's not like I wanted to take such risks either. But the Snake of rcury, Will Auceptin, clearly said that if I didn't take the initiative, the consequences could be even worse."
Audrey fell silent for a while before furrowing her brow.
"Why is it that trouble always seems to find you? The Son of an Evil God, the True Creator, Ince Zangwill, Saints of the Aurora Order, Mr. A, and…"
As she spoke, she looked at Edward with a strange gaze and said softly, "I think I'm starting to understand why you drew the Tower card."
Edward blinked, then was struck by a sudden realisation. Drawing the Tower card back then hadn't simply been a coincidence. Perhaps even if he drew ten or a hundred more tis, it would always be the Tower—just like Klein was destined to be the Fool.
If that's the case…Maybe I'm actually suited for the Witch pathway. Wherever I go, disaster follows.
Bah! Hell no!
He hurriedly cast that absurd thought out of his mind.
Audrey took a deep breath. "Let's hope Mr. Fool regains his strength soon, so he can help you turn misfortune into fortune."
Edward nodded solemnly. "Praise The Fool."
"Praise The Fool!"
———
Just as he returned to his small villa in Empress Borough, Lilith flew into his arms like a rocket.
"Edward, you're back!"
Edward caught her mid-air and gave her a big squeeze, inhaling deeply.
"Aaah—!!! Lilith, you have no idea how dangerous things got today!"
Lilith anxiously scanned him up and down, then raised her blue eyes with concern.
"Did you run into a big, bad guy?"
"Yeah, quite a few of them. One of them was a pervert who's lived for thousands of years."
"How many thousands is a few?"
She stretched out her soft little paw pads, seemingly trying to count on her "fingers." After a good ten seconds, she gave up and declared with certainty, "Then it must be a very big, bad guy!"
"I really wish that, the next ti I run into soone I can't beat, soone would co help ."
Lilith rubbed her head against him and, in a tone more serious than ever before, said, "Miss Lilith will…will definitely protect you!"
Edward could tell she ant it more than ever before, and his heart ward instantly.
"Lilith, you're the best~"
"That's right!"
Holding Lilith, Edward collapsed tiredly onto the sofa and closed his eyes.
Botis was taken care of—there shouldn't be any other crises in the short term.
Shouldn't be.
"Hm, almost forgot. Botis was the Abraham family's great enemy…If I take his head to Lawrence—no, to Fors' teacher—it should be enough to trade for the follow-up potion formula, right?"
Then again, better wait to hear back from Bernadette. After all, the Box of the Great Old Ones was still involved.
———
The next day, however, instead of a reply from Bernadette, Edward received an inquiry from The Hanged Man, Alger:
The Pirate Conference was approaching.
Edward had two goals for attending the Pirate Conference: first, to see if he could buy any useful mystical items; and second, of course, to et Red-haired Helene, who served on the Vice Admiral Ailnt, Tracy's ship—she was the only direct descendant of the Sauron family Edward knew of.
If he missed this conference, he'd either have to scour the seas for the Vice Admiral of Ailnt, or search the world for another Sauron descendant—which would be a huge pain.
———
Friday morning.
Edward wrote a letter to Danitz:
—
"Dear Ace,
Please send my regards to Lady Edwina.
I'm pleased to inform you that I'm heading out to sea again—this ti to attend the Pirate Conference tomorrow.
I'll be travelling aboard a friend's ship, but I still need an experienced guide, and I trust you'll be very eager to help , won't you?
I hear you've been stuck at Sequence 7, 'Pyromaniac,' for a while—is it because your potion hasn't digested yet, or you're missing the Sequence 6 formula? Well, I just so happen to be able to help with both.
So what are you waiting for?
Click the link below (struck through).
Use what I left you and co find in Backlund.
Here's my current address.
—Your Captain, Gehrman Sparrow"
—
He set the pen down and gently blew on the ink to dry it. Then he arranged a ritual and summoned the ssenger bird.
"Send this to the blonde guy."
"Okay~"
The ssenger bird had now grown into a ssenger hawk.
After just one day apart, the red fire-tipped feathers at the end of its wings had beco more vibrant, and its tail feathers had grown longer. It seed to be slowly evolving into sothing resembling a phoenix. Compared to before, it was clearly several levels more "advanced."
"How many more feathers do you need to complete your evolution?"
The ssenger hawk thought for a few seconds, then shook its head.
"The energy I can extract from feathers has reached its limit. No matter how many more I get, they won't help evolve."
Edward rubbed the Resurrection Stone ring on his finger and asked, "Besides this ring, is there anything else that could enhance your power?"
"There might be?"
It sounded unsure and looked Edward up and down.
"My instincts tell …sticking with you will give a chance."
Edward blinked.
"Stick with ? For what? Uh…are you still planning to eat the ring?"
It nodded, then shook its head. "Maybe. Maybe not."
"…Fine."
Edward took out Leymano's Travel Notes and handed it over.
"Also, return this while you're at it."
He had borrowed Leymano's Travel Notebook from Lawrence specifically for the Botis mission—not only because it could draw Botis' hatred more effectively, but also because of the useful powers it recorded.
In fact, aside from The rmaid, the other two demigod-level abilities had proved extrely useful.
"Okay~"
It flapped its wings and flew into the spirit world.
Lilith looked on with envy. "Edward, why did it suddenly grow so big?" she asked, tilting her head and gesturing with her claws. "Last ti it was only this small."
"Hmm…maybe its physique is just special."
Edward didn't dare admit it was because the bird had eaten phoenix feathers. He was worried that the next ti they went back to Hogwarts, Lilith would try to pluck poor Fawkes bald.
Lilith's eyes sparkled as she murmured, "Hm, next ti I see it, I have to ask!"
———
[Sonia Sea]
The Golden Dream sailed over the vast, endless waters.
Danitz had been back on the ship for a few days now, and was still bragging to everyone he t about his recent "great achievents."
With one leg crossed over the other, he held a mug of beer and grinned at a group of younger sailors around him.
"You have no idea. At that ti, 'Burier' Tesla and 'Steel' Maveti thought they were hunting , but I'd already set up a trap, just waiting for them to walk right into it."
"Then—bam! A hundred pirates were teleported at once. Guess where they landed?"
Third Mate Jodeson yawned beside him. "The Governor's Mansion. You've said this like ten tis."
"Exactly, the Governor's Mansion!"
Danitz slamd the mug down.
"Ha! That's the infamous Pirate Raid on the Governor's Mansion that's been making waves at sea lately—my masterpiece!"
———
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