[15 Minsk Street]
Just as Klein severed his connection with the others, the boundless grey fog before him began to churn. A crimson star pulsed gently, faintly expanding and contracting.
"Huh? The Tarot Club just ended. What could be so urgent that they couldn't mention it earlier?"
He extended his spirituality and responded to the prayer, touching the illusory star. His vision blurred for a moment—then he saw a short girl with black hair, dressed entirely in black, curiously poking at something in her hands.
"She's not one of the Tarot Club members, nor is she Fors, who prayed to me once before. Short, black hair…Could it be Xio? Hmm, but she's not that short…"
Just then, the girl looked off to one side, seemingly startled. She hastily dropped the item in her hand and scurried away. "Coming!" she called, and the scene abruptly cut off.
But that fleeting glimpse left Klein dumbfounded.
"That was…a little girl?"
——
[Inside the Wind of Azure Inn]
The scarlet in Edward's vision faded swiftly, and a wisp of pale grey fog flowed into the invisibility cloak in his hands.
He was back in his hotel room, reclining on the sofa. Lilith was crouched on his chest, staring at him with wide, curious eyes.
One tiny paw lifted as if she meant to slap his face, but the moment Edward opened his eyes, she quickly pretended she'd only meant to wash her face.
"You little rascal."
He flicked her gently on the forehead. Lilith, no longer pretending, tilted her head and asked curiously, "Edward, where did you just go?"
"Nowhere. Weren't you sitting on top of me the whole time?"
"That's not it," she said, waving a little paw. "You were definitely gone just now!" Though she couldn't quite express it clearly.
"Hmm…I'll tell you a secret. This is one of my special powers—it's called astral projection."
Edward lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Everyone has a body and a soul. Just now, I used astral projection to let my soul travel all across Bayam in a short span of time."
"Wow! Can I do that too?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Then I'd be able to find the places with the most rats super fast!"
"Er…"
"Teach Miss Lilith, please!"
"This trick can only be learned by humans. Once you become human, I'll teach you."
"But Miss Lilith is a cat…"
Edward ruffled her forehead and smiled. "Once you advance to Sequence 7, you might just become human~ So keep working hard and digest your potion quickly."
"Ugh…"
Lilith's enthusiasm vanished instantly. She leapt lightly to the windowsill and basked in the sunlight.
"This little thing…"
Edward stood up and took out the Hand of Glory, offering it to Mr. Fool via ritual sacrifice. Then he turned his attention to the cloak in his hands, woven from what looked like shimmering water. Unsurprisingly, it had become a mystical item as well, now bearing three abilities:
First, [Invisibility]—Wearing it would render the user invisible. Expending spirituality would further enhance the effect.
Second, [Confusion]—When worn, it reduced the chances of being detected by divination or spiritual senses. The closer the Sequence levels between the user and the observer, the more effective it becomes.
Third, [Concealment]—This ability consumed spirituality to suppress the user's aura and any sounds made while wearing the cloak.
And finally, like the Resurrection Stone, it had an Unknown ability—one that had not yet been activated.
Compared to the Resurrection Stone, the cloak's powers were more straightforward, and it bore no obvious negative side effects.
Edward threw it on, channelling spirituality to boost the invisibility effect.
Lilith, still perched on the windowsill, instantly lifted her head and looked toward the spot where Edward had vanished. Her gaze held a hint of uncertainty. "Edward? Edward, are you still here?"
Edward then activated Concealment.
Lilith immediately sprang upright. A second later, Edward reappeared right in front of her, startling her into a vertical jump nearly a meter high—only to land directly in his arms.
"Wah! Miss Lilith got such a fright!"
"Sorry," Edward said, holding her snugly, "I was testing a mystical item."
Lilith might only be a Sequence 9, but her animal instincts, combined with spiritual intuition, gave her exceptional perception. Yet just now, even as he approached her quickly, she hadn't sensed a thing.
"Oh." She jumped back onto the windowsill, stretched lazily, and lay down again.
"Lilith, you really couldn't see or sense me at all just now?"
"Nope. It was like you just vanished all of a sudden."
"I wonder how it'll fare against mid- to high-Sequence Beyonders…especially the Spectator pathway."
Edward folded the invisibility cloak. "As for consumption—given my current spirituality, I can maintain the enhanced invisibility effect for about an hour. If I also activate Concealment, it'll last at least fifteen minutes. But if I start fighting while invisible, then all bets are off."
"Still, even a minute might be enough. Heh…If I can eventually get my hands on demigod-level powers, using this cloak to land a surprise attack while hidden…anyone below demigod rank probably wouldn't survive it, right?"
———
An hour later, Danitz returned.
He reeked of alcohol and even brought back a bottle of blood-red Sonia Blood Wine for Edward. "Uncle—uh, Mr. Sparrow! You've got to try this. This is what real men drink! Hic—"
Edward had long heard of this wine's fame. It was said to taste excellent, but judging by how drunk Danitz already was, the alcohol content had to be pretty high. He decided to decline politely.
"You have no idea...those pirates from last night...they've already...already started trickling back."
Danitz flopped onto the sofa opposite Edward, bottle in hand, one leg casually crossed over the other. "Now everyone's asking around about who Gehrman Sparrow is. Even our ship's contact just snuck by to fish for intel."
He gave a thumbs-up. "You're famous!"
"What about the authorities or the Church? Any response from them?"
Danitz blinked in surprise. "What kind of response could they have? Pirates kill each other all the time. As long as you don't touch their interests, they're more than happy to see us thin our own numbers."
"Does anyone know I'm staying here?"
"They probably will soon."
He grinned slyly. "So, what do you say? Planning to stir up another storm in Bayam?"
Edward gave him a look as if he were a fool. "Are you actually drunk?"
"???"
Edward flicked a gold coin into the air, letting it land on his palm. "Danitz is faking it." The coin showed heads, a clear confirmation.
"…"
Danitz's grin froze. He slowly lowered his leg. "The captain contacted me just now using a rather…special method. She asked a few questions about you and wanted to know your next move."
"So you pretended to be drunk?"
"Drunks speak the truth, right?"
"...That only works if I'm the drunk one." Edward pressed a hand to his forehead. "Right."
He could tell Danitz was just playing dumb. "What else did your captain say? Just tell me."
"She said most young people go crazy for overnight fame. It's easy to get carried away after a single success. If you were really planning to stir things up in Bayam again, I was supposed to do whatever I could to stall you—ideally, get you out of here."
"…She really sees me as a little brother, huh?"
"Tell her thanks for me," Edward said with a smile. "Let her know I've got my own reasons for everything I do. I'm not chasing fame, and I'm not getting carried away."
Danitz let out a breath of relief. "That's good."
Just as he finished speaking, a chill swept through the room. The head of a black bird pierced the air, its claws tugging furiously at something, trying to pull it free.
With a pop, a parchment-bound book slid out of thin air and plummeted downward.
Edward was just about to summon it with a Summoning Charm when Lilith leapt forward, caught it in her mouth, and trotted over to lay it gently on Edward's lap, looking proud. "Good thing Miss Lilith reacted fast, or it would've gone splat!"
The black bird rolled its eyes. "Stupid cat. That book can't break from a fall."
Lilith lifted her tiny head and huffed, "Yes, it can! Books are fragile! Miss Lilith once tore one with just a touch!"
Ah, so that's how my other books got ruined…
"Stupid cat!"
The black bird turned to Edward, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Well? You promised me yesterday—give me all the feathers."
"I'm still thinking about it." Edward pulled out five feathers and handed them over. "You can have five now. The rest depends on how you perform."
The bird puffed out its chest. "Deal!"
"That means you've used up 25 feathers in advance. Don't forget."
"Got it! I'm out!"
It quickly gulped down the five feathers, tore open the air again, and vanished back into the Spirit World.
Edward finally turned his attention to the parchment-bound book. Its cover was a deep brown, inscribed with a line of ancient Feysac. Though Edward couldn't read it, he was certain it said Groselle's Travels.
He carefully opened to the first page—and froze.
The contents were also written in Ancient Feysac!
Currently, the only mystical languages Edward truly mastered were Ancient Hermes, plus a few words of Elvish and Jotun (thanks to Leodero strategem).
But the ability of the Sequence 6 Bookworm allowed one to devour text for power…surely, it didn't require literacy, right?
With that thought, he pressed his finger to the page and activated the [Silverfish] ability of Sequence 6 Bookworm. Instantly, he felt a drain on his spirituality, as well as a slight resistance under his fingertip.
He flipped a few more pages, repeating the process. Same result each time.
The good news: the ability was responding—it worked on this book.
The bad news: it didn't work if you couldn't read it.
Of course! It did require a polymath's traits to advance—no wonder it discriminated against the uneducated.
Damn it!
He looked up at Danitz and cleared his throat. "Ahem, do you read Ancient Feysac?"
Danitz shook his head without hesitation. "Nope. Learned some Elvish and Jotun, thanks to the captain forcing me to, though." He peered at the book in surprise. "Wait, isn't this that same book from the shipwreck the captain's always researching?"
At that moment, Lilith nudged Edward's hand aside with her little head. "Let Miss Lilith have a look."
"Sure, go ahead. See if you can read it."
"…I can't."
Then why do you look so serious?
Edward straightened his expression. "Well, if you can't read, it's time to start learning. You promised me before, remember? That you'd start learning how to read."
"Miss Lilith…"
"Oh come on, you're so smart! Learning to read and write will be a piece of cake. You'll be the most brilliant kitty in the world in no time!"
"…."
"What's wrong? Afraid you can't learn?"
"Of course not!" Lilith sat up properly, her tail wrapped around her legs. "Don't underestimate Miss Lilith! I'll learn it in no time!"
Edward held back a laugh. "Then you'd better work hard."
"Miss Lilith is smart—she doesn't need to work hard!"
Danitz watched this childish exchange between man and cat for the second time and suddenly realised—Edward was treating that cat like his daughter.
Seen in that light…the whole scene was actually rather heartwarming.
———
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