Edward once again took on the appearance of Gehrman Sparrow and walked openly toward the Wind of Azure Inn. Along the way, people followed him, left, then followed him again.
By the time he arrived at the Wind of Azure Inn, there were already six or seven people waiting—unexpectedly, among them was One-Eyed Cage's group. Though they had all disguised themselves to some degree, that single eye was hard to miss.
"Captain!"
Cage ran over excitedly. "We heard you're recruiting for another expedition? We want in."
"Hmm, I suppose that's fine."
Edward smiled gently. "What kind of ship can you sail?"
"Any kind!"
"Really?"
One-Eyed Cage pounded his chest with a thud-thud.
"Really!"
"Alright! Then you're in."
———
[Back in Backlund]
After several weeks, Xio and Fors once again attended the Beyonder gathering hosted by Mr. A, now restarted.
Advancing to Sequence 8 had nearly drained their savings (and Fors's hard work for the next year), so this time they were attending to sell some surplus materials—or to see if there were any well-paying commissions.
"Honestly, you should've let me lie on the couch a bit longer at home. Who knows? I might've had a sudden burst of inspiration and written an entire book in one go."
Fors grumbled as she followed behind Xio, "The best part about the new apartment is the living room sofa. I wouldn't even mind sleeping on it at night."
"Sure."
Xio glanced at her. "Next full moon, you sleep on the sofa. I'll take the bedroom."
"Let's just talk about today's gathering, shall we?"
Fors hadn't told Xio what happened during the full moon for a simple reason: she didn't want her to worry. But the growing pain, intensifying each time with no relief even after advancing to Trickmaster, was beginning to fill her with dread. She was terrified she wouldn't survive the next full moon.
Fors felt helpless. Should I try using the note Edward left to contact that mysterious being?
"Hey."
Xio stood on tiptoe and poked her cheek. "Spacing out again?"
"Ah...I—I was just thinking about my next novel."
"You think I believe that?"
"It's true!"
"Pfft."
Once inside the venue, they glanced at the blackboard as usual:
"Looking to buy: a pair of adult Manhal fish gills, 102 Pounds."
"Baby's Cry Flower type, 210 Pounds."
"Mummy powder, 10 grams, 5 Pounds."
"Murloc mucus, 30 ml, 29 Pounds."
"Sequence 8 Sheriff potion formula, 450 Pounds."
——
It was much the same as last time, though Xio was surprised the Sheriff's potion formula was still there. Then she quickly understood: according to that mysterious person, the formula was merely bait. If the right person showed up, they'd be recruited into their organisation.
About ten minutes later, the gathering officially began. The two handed over notes listing the items they wished to sell to Mr. A's attendant.
Then followed a long stretch of announcements, listings, and exchanges. Unfortunately, none of it had anything to do with them—apparently, what they were selling was too common.
Mr. A, still in his black robe, sat in his single-seater sofa, hands folded, casting a relaxed and pleasant gaze across the attendees.
"Fors…look."
Xio suddenly rolled up her sleeve to show Fors the goosebumps on her arm. "Mr. A's been looking at me the whole time."
"Huh? That can't be, right?"
"No! I'm quite sure. It's one of the abilities I gained after becoming a Sheriff—I can sense anything related to evil, chaos, madness…including people."
"But that doesn't make sense?"
Fors patted Xio's hand gently. "Relax. If something does happen, I'll get you out."
"Mm…Maybe I'm just overthinking it."
Half an hour later, the gathering finally ended, and the two hurried to leave with the rest of the crowd. But just as they reached the door, Mr. A's attendant approached.
"Ladies," he said respectfully, "Mr. A would like a word with you."
Following his gaze, they saw Mr. A standing a few meters away, hands folded, wearing a warm smile on a face so eerily beautiful that most women would feel jealous.
The two froze.
Fors instinctively reached for the charm bracelet on her wrist, but Xio shook her head and whispered, "Wait."
She looked cautiously at Mr. A and asked, "Excuse me, what is it that you need?"
Mr. A stepped forward and signalled for his attendant to leave. Then he looked at Xio and spoke, "Uh, this…"
He seemed to ponder for a few seconds.
"…petite and well-proportioned lady—I have a commission for you."
"…..."
Xio's temper flared in an instant. Petite and well-proportioned?
You mean SMALL, right?
So this is just your roundabout way of calling me short? HUH!?
Though she was fuming, she had to suppress it and said through gritted teeth, "I'm not called 'this' petite and well-proportioned lady."
"Very well, my beautiful lady. I'd like to know—was the gentleman who accompanied you last time, the one who received several formulas at once…a friend of yours?"
Fors and Xio both froze.
He's looking for Edward?
"Not exactly a friend," Xio answered truthfully. "I only helped bring him to this gathering."
"Oh? Then do you know where he lives?"
"No."
"Do you know how to contact him?"
"No."
"Do you know anyone who can contact him?"
"Nope."
Mr. A nodded, then turned his gaze to Fors. "Alright then—how about this? If the two of you can bring that man to me, I'll give you a Mid-Sequence potion formula for free."
Fors froze for a moment. You—with that classic 'I'm a villain' look on your face—are seriously talking about 'inviting' someone?
Mr. A smiled faintly and added, "Don't worry. I mean you no harm—and I have no ill will toward him, either. I originally intended to mobilise my subordinates and comb the entire city to find him, but I was concerned that might lead to…unnecessary misunderstandings."
"So, I thought of you two instead."
Xio fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Why me?"
"Hmm…"
Mr. A's tone turned strangely amused. "As you both know, everyone who attends this gathering keeps themselves well-covered. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be able to distinguish anyone clearly. But…"
He looked her up and down. "You really do stand out."
"....."
Xio clenched her fists instantly. Is this bastard incapable of speaking without mocking my height?
One day, I swear I'll beat that annoyingly pretty face of yours into a pig's head!
"If…I'm just saying if," Fors raised her hand slightly, "If we refuse—does that mean we're not allowed to leave?"
"Oh, not at all," Mr. A replied calmly. "But I'll have you monitored 24/7 until your friend shows up."
The two exchanged glances.
Honestly…that's actually way better than what we were expecting.
"Well then, you may go."
With that, Mr. A turned and walked away, hands still folded.
———
Half an hour later.
The two returned to their rented apartment, sitting in silence for a long while.
Eventually, Xio scratched her already-messy short hair and asked, "Fors…are we moving again?"
"This time, moving might not be enough."
Fors held her head in both hands. "Aaaagh! Why is it us who always get involved in this kind of crap?!"
———
8:30 P.M.
Night was deep, the crimson moon hung high.
Torches scattered across Bayam Island lit it up like a festival.
Danitz, panting heavily, chased behind Edward as they ran full speed through the streets, shouting, "I knew it! I freaking knew it! There's no way those bastards were just gonna let me recruit people peacefully!"
He lifted an arm to show a bloody gash. "One more second and 'Steel' Maveti that bastard would've torn off my whole damn arm!"
Edward cast a healing spell, gently calming him. "There, there. You've been complaining nonstop since we started running."
"So now what?"
Once he confirmed the wound was healed, Danitz wiped the blood off on his clothes. "Are we just gonna keep running? Not planning to fight back even a little?"
"Nope."
"Where's your dragon? Just summon it and burn those bastards to ashes!"
At that moment, Edward suddenly came to a stop.
"The people chasing us…we've lost them."
"Phew—"
Danitz exhaled heavily. "Good. Let's—wait, what are you doing?!"
BOOM!
An explosion erupted with a burst of fire. The pirates who had lost their trail instantly picked up the signal and started charging in their direction again.
"You're insane! You're actually insane!!"
Danitz shouted as he took off running again, footsteps of pursuers closing in behind them.
"You don't find it fun?" Edward asked cheerfully. "Two men, baiting hundreds of Bayam pirates across the whole city—it's kind of exhilarating, don't you think?"
"NO!! I'd much rather be the one doing the chasing!! What the hell are you even trying to do, you lunatic?!"
At this point, Danitz didn't care about anything else—not his pride, not his connections, not even that Edward was technically his future brother-in-law.
Staying alive took priority.
Edward reinforced them both with another Protego, then casually flung a few light magic spells at the pursuers behind them. "You'll see soon enough. Movement is life! Run faster—the plaza up ahead is our finish line. Loser pays for dinner."
"SCREW YOU!!"
———
A few hundred meters away, 'Steel' Maveti and two of his men hovered silently mid-air on a peacock-blue flying carpet, concealed by the darkness.
Initially, their plan had been to kill Edward and Danitz outright—make an example of them for defying the Admiral of Blood.
Unfortunately, the attack failed.
Since escaping, the two had been dragging their pursuers in circles around Bayam, not hiding at all—on the contrary, they kept causing noisy disturbances, attracting even more attention and more pirates into the chase.
Maveti wasn't an idiot. He knew there had to be some ulterior motive behind this.
So he slowed down, keeping a moderate distance instead of diving in too quickly.
Mavit chuckled darkly, "I heard 'Burier' Tesla's in town too. That guy only thinks about killing and burying bodies—he never bothers with strategy. Let him take a crack at them. Accelerate."
The peacock-blue carpet surged forward, diving toward Edward and Danitz. Leaves, flowers, and brambles spilt down from the carpet.
The leaves and petals swelled and twisted into monstrous size, while the thorny vines interwove to form an aggressive net, closing in on the two below.
"Maveti's coming! And that's Bloodthorn Huntley's filthy trick!"
Danitz yelled while dodging, firing round after round at the flying carpet—though, as expected, his regular bullets didn't even scratch Maveti's defences.
"Incendio."
A torrent of crimson fire surged forth, meeting the tangled brambles and burning them to ash in an instant.
Edward looked up at Mavit and his companions…then smiled faintly.
"Flight is prohibited in this area."
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, the peacock-blue carpet began to violently tremble—and with its three riders,plunged downward.
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.