If that's the case, then if I insist on setting out to sea next…won't it be extrely dangerous?
Roselle hesitated. Or perhaps…
The thought of backing down barely surfaced before he imdiately denied it. If I get scared off like this, wouldn't that make , a transmigrator, unbearably pathetic?
With that conviction, Roselle asked seriously, "Your Excellency, how may I obtain your protection?"
Edward was slightly surprised. Haven't you always been extrely cautious around ? Why now suddenly seek my protection?
"Isn't Stiano's protection enough for you?"
"But His protection requires to keep running to the Church. Isn't that just another form of restricting my freedom?"
Edward feigned a thoughtful pause, then said, "The rule is still the sa as before: you help with one matter, and I can grant you protection to a certain extent."
"Please, tell ."
"Go to Stiano's church. Take a Sealed Artifact—any one will do. As long as it's a Sealed Artifact, it will suffice."
"!!!"
Ha! So the evil god finally reveals His true motives. What He wants is a Sealed Artifact from the Church, isn't it?
This ti, it's 'any one.' Next ti, it will be narrowed to a specific one. And the ti after that…maybe He'll demand a Grade 1, even a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact!
Step by step digging pits for to jump into, that's what this is!
Roselle's reaction was clear to Edward. A sharp man like Roselle could naturally see the sche. But what he didn't know was that this so-called "evil god" wasn't after so terrifying Grade 1 or 0 artifact at all—what Edward really wanted was simply a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact: the Bootlicking Mirror.
"Anything else?"
Roselle hesitated for a few seconds, then asked in a low voice, "May I ask…are there others like in this world?"
"Others like you?" Edward repeated blandly, then said lightly: "No. You are the sole special existence right now."
"This answer…is free."
With that, he severed the connection with Roselle.
And it wasn't even a lie. The previous one who left Sefirah Castle, Amanises, had already ascended as the Evernight Goddess, dwelling in the Astral Plane. The next one, Klein, wouldn't appear for nearly two hundred years. And Edward himself ca from the Harry Potter world, utterly different in nature.
So, at this point in ti, Roselle truly was the only unique existence.
Roselle opened his eyes in the study.
"Did He catch what I was really trying to ask at the end?"
"Does this world truly have no other transmigrators? Then…that doll He gave to Bernadette, was I just overthinking it?"
"Or did He rely follow my lead, giving yet another vague and ambiguous answer?"
Roselle pinched his fingers together, gritting his teeth. "Damn it, I really am sick of this endless ga of guessing."
"Next ti…maybe I should just co right out with it."
If my transmigration truly was orchestrated by Him, then all this suspicion, this acting and second-guessing—it's nothing but a joke, isn't it?
And if it has nothing to do with Him, then what does it matter if He knows? Could He slice open, research , and discover a way to Earth?
If it were that easy, He'd have acted long ago. He doesn't need my confession at all.
——
While Roselle agonised, Edward sat within Sefirah Castle, calmly observing his reaction.
He could more or less guess what Roselle was thinking now. If it were him, he would probably fall into the sa mindset.
But there was no helping it.
For the sake of my own path, I can only let you suffer for now, Emperor.
In the future, I swear, I'll do everything I can to help you back up again!
Until then…may you have good mornings, good afternoons, and good nights. May peace follow you through the years.
———
At Count Clair's mansion.
When the old Count Cleir repeatedly confird that his grandson had indeed been crippled, he smashed everything in the room he could lay his hands on, completely consud by maddened rage.
"I want everyone involved to die!!!"
"That woman, her employer, those responsible for protecting the Wells, and everyone else who was there…don't let a single one of them escape!"
"Quick! Imdiately! Right now! Go!"
The butler cautiously reminded, "That woman's employer was already bailed out this morning by Roselle."
"What did you say?"
Count Clair glared, his cloudy pupils flashing with vicious light. "Why didn't you tell earlier?"
"At that ti, you were accompanying young master Wells…"
"Roselle!!" Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel⚑fire
He roared like a wounded lion, beard bristling. "I understand now, I understand!"
"All of this was designed by Roselle! He planned every step of this, all to retaliate for the suppression I dealt him before!"
"Good, very good! If that's the case, then I won't bother giving the Church any more face!"
"I'll offer a huge bounty for those damned Beyonder—the bounty being Roselle's head!"
At that mont, muffled screams echoed, followed by several attendants carrying in a blond young man in his twenties on a stretcher. His face was pale, twisted with madness.
"Grandfather, I want…I want to kill that woman with my own hands! Hurry! Take to her, quickly!"
"No, Wells."
Before his grandson, Count Clair cald sowhat. "What you need most now is to rest well. Don't worry. Ordinary doctors may not be able to help you, but don't forget the Beyonders—so of them may have special thods."
"I don't care! I want…to kill that woman right now! Hurry, take to her!"
He thrashed wildly, rolling off the stretcher, the motion tearing at his wounds and wringing new screams from him.
"Take Wells back to rest."
"Grandfather, Grandfather!!! Leave that woman to , I must…I must kill her myself! You must let kill her with my own hands!!"
"If not, I will never forgive you!"
———
Midnight
Akasha fled like a phantom through the darkness, cursing under her breath.
"Good thing I didn't believe their bullshit and actually go kill that old bastard, otherwise I'd have died on the spot!"
"Four Sequence 5s guarding inside and out, and they expected , a Sequence 6, to assassinate him? What a goddamn joke!"
Suddenly, a blinding beam of light descended from above, aiming straight for her head.
She halted sharply, swerved, and darted off in another direction.
But another Sequence 5 had been lying in wait. His rifle roared—one bullet tearing through the night with overwhelming force. Though only a single round, it sealed every possible escape route.
Spectral wings burst from Akasha's back. She shot into the air, barely dodging the bullet.
But before she could flee further, her skull throbbed as if struck by an invisible hamr. Her vision spun, and she plumted straight to the ground.
Three Sequence 5 Beyonders instantly closed in. If the count hadn't demanded she be taken alive, there was no way a Sequence 6 like her would have left the courtyard of that estate alive.
Just then, all three of them staggered into a daze. By the ti they blinked themselves clear again, they were standing exactly where Akasha had fallen—but—
"Where is she?"
The spot was empty. She had vanished as if into thin air.
Disbelieving, they tore through the grounds in a grid search. Ten minutes later, they had no choice but to admit: she had truly escaped.
The three n's expressions darkened, ugly as thunderclouds.
"She must have used so kind of Sealed Artifact."
"No shit."
"This ti we've really ssed up."
Three Sequence 5s chasing a Sequence 6, and still she slipped away—the disgrace was crushing.
They exchanged looks, none of them knowing how to explain this to their master.
Just then, another figure descended rapidly from afar—the count's fourth Sequence 5 bodyguard.
"Well? Where's the woman?"
"...She escaped. She must have had so Apprentice Pathway Sealed Artifact."
"Ha. And saying that does us what good? Better think about how we'll face Count Clair."
The newcor gave them a strange smile. "I've got one good news, and one bad news. Which do you want first?"
"...Are you kidding? Is this the ti?"
"The good news is, you don't have to worry about explaining it to Count Cleir anymore."
"Why?"
"The bad news is…Count Clair is dead. Just after you chased her out."
"..."
"The worse news is…we're unemployed."
"..."
———
Akasha blinked awake, utterly confused.
The room looked awfully familiar—
Wait. Isn't this Mr. Sparrow's study?
How the hell did I end up here?
"You really went and tried to assassinate Count Clair?"
Edward's voice ca from nearby. He was leaning against the edge of his desk, vest and suspenders neatly in place, arms folded, his expression complicated.
He had known beforehand this sche involved the Twilight Hermit Order, but he hadn't expected them to move so fast. Akasha had only been arrested in the morning, and by nightfall, the assassination attempt was already underway.
Fortunately, when he'd checked on her earlier, he had left a contingency in place.
"Of course I wasn't that stupid!"
Akasha puffed herself up indignantly. "I only pretended to agree to that guy, acted like I was going to assassinate the count—but in reality, I was just looking for a chance to bolt!"
"But even though I was already being careful, those three bastards still caught and chased down."
She frowned. "What happened afterwards? I just rember my head suddenly exploding with pain, then blacking out. Next thing I knew, I woke up here."
Edward said flatly, "What else could have happened? I got there in ti and pulled you out."
Akasha grinned. "I knew it! No way would Boss ever leave to die. You'd already left a backup in place, huh? Mm! You're as reliable as !"
"Reliable my ass."
Edward shot her a glare. "Do you realise you were nothing but a tool from start to finish?"
"What do you an?"
"Count Clair is dead. Right after you lured off those three bodyguards, soone else assassinated him in his bedroom." Edward's tone was cool. "They never counted on you to succeed. You were nothing but bait."
"What?!"
Akasha imdiately flew into a rage. "So even if I had sohow killed that old bastard, that guy still wouldn't have given what he promised?!"
"..."
So you really were planning to assassinate him…only you chickened out because you weren't strong enough?
———
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