"Uh…"
Even in the presence of Mr. Fool, even within this spiritual body, Alger could still feel a strange pressure under that unreadable gaze.
Without hesitation, he threw the question to Mr. Tower. "I'm not too sure about the details either. You could ask Mr. Tower yourself."
Edward resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said, "Ailment Maiden, Tracy, needs something from me. So she's forced to do certain things for me. Before the Great Smog incident, it was she who informed me that a high-ranking member of the Demoness Sect had arrived in Backlund."
Klein asked curiously, "What could possibly make her betray the Demoness Sect's intelligence to you?"
Edward explained, "As everyone knows, Beyonders of the Witch pathway will become women upon advancing to Sequence 7. Tracy's mother is the Demoness of Unaging, a Sequence 3. She forced Tracy to ingest the Assassin potion early on and pushed her to keep advancing, turning her from a man into a woman."
"What makes her different from most witches is that Tracy never accepted the fact that she had become a woman. She never changed her sexual orientation either. Yes—Tracy likes women."
Edward chuckled at this point.
"And I have a way to turn her back into a man."
Everyone understood at once.
There was no need to say more. Everyone grasped why Tracy was willing to help Edward now. If any of them had been forcibly changed in gender, they too would have done everything possible to reverse it.
Fors asked with interest, "Mr. Tower, you really can help her turn back into a man? I mean…how would that even work? It sounds so outrageous."
"You wouldn't have believed men could turn into women either, before learning about the Witch pathway, would you?" Edward smiled.
Fors had a sudden realisation. "So…the method to turn her back into a man also involves potions?"
Mr. World—Klein—chuckled darkly, "Is it the principle that adjacent pathways at high sequences can be switched between?"
"Exactly."
Fors gasped in astonishment. "What? Pathways can be switched? I thought once someone drank a potion of a certain pathway, they were locked in forever?"
Audrey, now understanding the implication, smiled and explained, "Miss Magician, the concept of adjacent pathways was something Mr. Fool told us about before you joined the Tarot Club. Under normal circumstances, yes, once you choose a pathway, you can never switch—forcing it would at best leave you half-mad."
"But there are exceptions. Among the 22 pathways, there are quite a few so-called adjacent ones. These can be switched at certain fixed sequences. For instance, the Witch pathway can switch to its neighbouring Hunter pathway at Sequence 4, and thereby change from female back to male."—This specific example of Witch and Hunter, Audrey had learned from Edward.
The Hanged Man suddenly understood and asked in surprise, "So that means…the Hunter pathway must be similar to the Witch pathway—does it force someone to become male at a certain Sequence?"
"Exactly."
Fors eagerly asked, "Then, which pathways are considered adjacent? Like, which pathways could my Apprentice pathway switch with?"
Audrey shrugged. "I'm not sure about that. Maybe you could ask Mr. Tower or Lady Strength. Of course, Mr. Fool would definitely know as well."
Klein: Nope. Right now, I just want to freeload.
Fors quickly shrank back. She hadn't forgotten the rules of the Tarot Club: equivalent exchange.
She quickly said, "Never mind, forget I asked."
Edward cleared his throat. "Alright, let's not get too far off topic. Mr. World, your commission—is it related to Tracy? What did she do to offend you?"
Klein, controlling the World, replied, "…Hah, Tracy kidnapped those women."
His words were vague, making everyone confused, but Edward immediately understood.
"Why?"
"I don't know. By the time I arrived, they'd already been taken aboard her pirate ship," Klein said. "I tried to sneak aboard and take her out to shock the rest into releasing them, but in the end, another demigod witch appeared—presumably the Demoness of Unaging you just mentioned, Tracy's mother—and saved her. I barely managed to escape."
Though Mr. World's tone was calm, everyone could feel how dangerous that had been—facing a Sequence 3 witch, and he'd still managed to escape?
Alger, however, was more focused on Tracy. "Mr. World, did I understand correctly—you almost killed Tracy?"
"Barely."
Alger felt a moment of disorientation. Not long ago, the members of the Tarot Club were all rookies. Now, while he remained stagnant, everyone else had grown terrifyingly fast.
If this keeps up, my 'veteran' status is going to be worthless!
His eyes drifted toward the Sea God Sceptre near Mr. Fool's hand.
No! I need to find a way to improve my strength—quickly!
World continued, "Could you convince Tracy to let those women go? Aldrich is willing to pay for it." He paused, then chuckled, "That Olivia girl is his childhood sweetheart."
Edward suddenly understood. "I can try contacting her and see."
"Great. We'll split the reward—sixty-forty."
"No problem!"
Seeing that Mr. World and Mr. Tower had reached an agreement and stopped speaking, Fors raised her hand and said, "I—I have a commission!"
Huh?
Everyone turned to look at her in surprise. They hadn't expected Miss Magician to issue a commission. It wasn't that they had any bias against her—it was just that, judging from her previous behaviour, she neither had much money nor was willing to spend it.
"It's like this…"
Being stared at by a group of "powerhouses" made Fors a bit nervous. She took a moment to compose her thoughts before beginning, "This matter starts from when I first came into contact with the Beyonder world and became a Beyonder…"
She then briefly explained how she had met Lady Aulisa, received her legacy, and became a Sequence 9 Apprentice. Not long ago, she encountered a man named Mr. Lawrence who claimed to be Lady Aulisa's brother and had entrusted her, before his death, to deliver a letter to Pritz Harbour.
So Lawrence really did die…Edward sighed with some surprise. So Fors still met Lawrence, just like in the original novel. But it seems she wasn't taken in as a disciple by that Abraham? What happened differently here?
Fors continued, "…But when I arrived at Pritz Harbour, I found out that Mr. Dorian had gone out…"
"…So a few days ago I went back to Pritz Harbour and rented the place right across from Mr. Dorian's house." Her tone paused for a beat. "But recently, I noticed that another group seems to be watching his house as well. I don't know whether they mean well or ill, and I don't dare approach casually…because I'm afraid of alerting him."
"That's why I need someone to help me—help me take that guy down!"
As she said this, she quickly added, "But…I can only offer 300 pounds as payment, so…"
Fors looked rather embarrassed. Compared to the other commissions in the Tarot Club, which often involved thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds—not to mention demigods and angels—hers seemed meagre and almost laughable.
But she really didn't feel confident that she and Xio could subdue the target safely on their own.
Klein asked, "What's the target's strength?"
"I…I don't know."
Fors answered awkwardly, "But I think…at most, it should be mid-to-low Sequence."
"You think?"
No sooner had she said that than The Hanged Man gave a soft, disapproving snort. "Miss Magician, if you don't even know the target's strength, how can anyone determine whether or not to accept your commission?"
Fors's head drooped instantly. "S-sorry…"
After that rebuke, she began to regret it—regret issuing such a vague and uncertain commission without doing proper reconnaissance first. No wonder a senior like The Hanged Man was displeased.
Forget it…Maybe I should cancel the commission…
"I can help you~"
Suddenly, Miss Death's voice rang out.
Fors froze. Then she was swept by a wave of joy and horror all at once. "Ah…b-but I don't have enough money to pay those three…seniors."
"No problem!"
Priscilla waved it off. "They've been a little gloomy lately and bored. Giving them something to do is actually a good thing." She then changed her tone slyly, "But…"
"In addition to paying me 300 pounds, you'll have to promise to help me gather people for a Beyonder gathering I'll be hosting soon!" Priscilla rubbed her hands together eagerly. "It's my first time hosting a gathering…If too few people show up, it'd be so embarrassing! I'll get laughed at by Medici and the others…"
Uh…Her request left everyone a bit speechless.
What could they say? A child was indeed a child. Even though she hosted Evil Spirits of angelic level, her thoughts were still a bit…immature.
"O-okay! I'll get all the people I know to attend!"
Happiness had come too suddenly for Fors. Just 300 pounds—and she could get three angels to help her! This was an unbelievable deal!
Priscilla beamed. "It's a promise then!"
Audrey raised her hand. "Miss Magician, I'd like to come help too."
"Huh? But I don't have any more…"
"I don't want money. I mostly want…to experience combat between Beyonders." Audrey smiled. "Since Miss Death will be there, there's no real danger. It'll just be a good learning opportunity."
"Well…alright."
Audrey's confidence in Miss Death's abilities only deepened Bernadette's curiosity. She had already been curious about Death from the beginning, and now she asked directly without hiding it, "Miss Death, may I ask—what level are you?"
Priscilla blinked and held up a hand, gesturing, "I'm a Sequence 5, a Gatekeeper."
Sequence 5?
Her answer left Bernadette visibly surprised. Was she born this way, inheriting high-Sequence Beyonder characteristics from her parents? Her younger brother Bornova was like that—he had inherited their father's Beyonder traits and was born a Sequence 5 Astronomer. But the price had been a deep-rooted emotional numbness from childhood. Under the influence of the God of Steam and Machinery, he had gradually lost his humanity altogether…
But Miss Death didn't seem to have that kind of detachment at all.
Still, while Sequence 5 was impressive, it wasn't enough to make everyone believe that her presence guaranteed total safety, was it?
Klein noticed Bernadette's doubt and switched to Mr. Fool's persona. He said calmly, "Inside Miss Death's underworld reside three angelic-level Evil Spirits of Sequence 1—one of whom was once a King of Angels."
"!!!"
This time, Bernadette was truly stunned. Three angels? One of them a former King of Angels? Even if they had become Evil Spirits, their strength would still far exceed that of most demigods.
But why would such beings be housed inside a mere Sequence 5?
She couldn't help but wonder—Edward had gained semi-divine powers easily through Mr. Fool's "assistance"…Could these three angels within Death also be a product of this god's means?
What astonishing methods…
———
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