"???"
Edward froze in disbelief.
That's impossible, he thought. With the invisibility cloak's Concealment ability active, even a typical demigod shouldn't be able to sense my presence when I'm standing perfectly still. How could this little girl, who isn't even a Beyonder, possibly have discovered me?
Is she bluffing?
"I see you!" Bernadette shouted. "If you don't come out, I'm going to call someone!"
"…"
"Is it you, Daddy?"
She bounced to her feet, still staring right at where Edward was. "I don't know how you became invisible, but..."
Bernadette pointed at his feet. "The grass under you is all trampled down!"
Damn it!
Edward was speechless. He had actually wondered if little Bernadette possessed some extraordinary innate talent...but it turned out to be for such a simple reason.
So this was the fatal flaw of the Cloak of Invisibility: it only rendered you unseen, erasing sound and presence, but your body was still physically there, leaving traces like footprints on the ground.
A misstep.
"You're not Daddy?"
Bernadette's expression suddenly changed. She carefully backed away.
"Mama…"
"Uncle Grimm? Uncle Edwards?"
"Grandpa Zaratul?"
As soon as she called the last name, she turned and bolted.
Edward didn't stop her. By the time she brought someone back, he'd be long gone, and no one would know who had been standing there just now.
Eh?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly sensed a faint loosening in the digestion of his Secrets Sorcerer potion. Not digestion, precisely—just a subtle shift.
Edward blinked. "This… also counts as keeping a secret?"
No—perhaps…this belonged to "Mystery."
So, the acting of a Secrets Sorcerer wasn't just about "secrecy." It also encompassed "mystery."
The past "Queen Mystic" had, unintentionally, shown him that playing the Secrets Sorcerer could also mean embodying "mystery." This…was rather fascinating.
With that thought, Edward's heart stirred. He pulled out one of his last two spare wands from his leather pouch—he would definitely need to stock up on more next time he returned to the Harry Potter world.
Then he froze. If the Harry Potter world didn't exist in this era…what would happen when the time came for him to return there a few days later?
Bernadette had barely taken seven or eight steps when she suddenly lost control of her body, spinning back around and running straight toward him. Terrified, she tried to scream, but no sound came out—her mouth was gone!
Her pupils quivered in sheer horror, yet she could do nothing but watch as the distance between herself and the "invisible man" rapidly shrank. Then, as if leaping out of thin air, a figure suddenly appeared before her.
"Hello, Bernadette."
Edward had restored his original face from before his transmigration. Smiling, he lifted a hand and waved in greeting.
"Mmphh—wait? I can talk again?!"
Bernadette muttered in surprise, then immediately shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Daddy! Help! Somebody!"
Edward merely folded his arms, letting her scream as she pleased. He had already used Space Concealment to shroud the entire area. Even if she screamed herself hoarse, no one would hear a thing.
Bernadette soon realised this. She decisively shut her mouth, her azure eyes darting about as she put on an obedient and adorable expression.
"I…I was just joking with you earlier."
"I was joking with you too."
"…"
The little girl froze for a moment, then rattled off in a rush. "Are you here to kidnap me? To demand ransom from my Daddy? I can cooperate! I promise I'll behave!"
Edward shrugged.
"I'm no kidnapper. I only wanted to catch a glimpse of the so-called 'Son of Steam.' But since you noticed me, I had no choice but to…"
"I don't know anything! I didn't see anything! I won't say anything!"
Bernadette squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her mouth.
"You clever little thing."
Edward walked forward and, almost unconsciously, patted her on the head. Hmm, not as soft as Lilith's.
"Ah!"
She jumped in fright, but still didn't open her eyes.
"Alright, I was really just joking with you. I'll be leaving now."
"Huh?"
Her eyelashes fluttered as she cracked one eye open, spotting the strange man turning to walk away. But after just a few steps, he suddenly stopped again. Bernadette quickly snapped her eyes shut.
"You really like Pinocchio, don't you?"
"Huh?"
"The book in your hand—it's got him drawn on it, doesn't it?"
"Eh?"
Bernadette's eyes flew wide open. A few seconds later, she planted her fists on her hips, huffing in indignation.
"You are Daddy!"
"What?"
This time, it was Edward who was baffled. How had she come to that conclusion?
"You're mistaken."
"You're still pretending!"
Edward conjured a little Pinocchio doll and tossed it to her—the exact kind Bernadette would one day give to him in the future.
"If you don't tell anyone that you saw me today, I'll give you this Pinocchio doll. How about it?"
"Huh?"
So he really wasn't Papa?
Bernadette tensed again. She knew she absolutely shouldn't hide something like this from her father. But if she refused this man outright, what if he got angry and did something to her?
Shrinking her head into her shoulders, she muttered, "O-okay…"
Edward smiled and snapped his fingers. "Anyone who lies to me will see their nose grow longer."
The next second, Bernadette watched in horror as her nose began to stretch—one inch, two inches, three inches. After a moment of stunned disbelief, she screamed in terror.
"Ahhhhhhh!!"
"So you did lie to me. You were definitely planning to tell someone you saw me, weren't you?"
"No! I wasn't! I swear I won't tell anyone! Really, I promise!" Bernadette cried out in panic. "I wasn't lying, truly!"
"Then it's a deal."
With that, Edward stepped into the Spirit World and vanished.
"My nose…"
Bernadette wanted to chase after him, but when she touched her face, she realised her nose had returned to normal.
"It's back?"
I still have to tell—
The moment the thought arose, her nose stretched again.
"Ah! I won't say it! I won't tell anyone!"
Her nose shrank back.
Bernadette clutched her face in fright, only breathing in relief after a long moment. Then she lowered her head, staring at the puppet in her hands.
"But…if he isn't Daddy, then how could he know about Pinocchio? This storybook was something Daddy wrote just for me. Apart from Mama and Papa, no one else should know about it."
"Could he have seen the words in the book?"
She flipped the page. "But this page only has pictures!"
"Could it be…he can see through things?"
"!!!"
Bernadette's face went pale with shock. Spinning around, she bolted.
"Help!!!"
———
"Tsk. False Reality really is the ultimate weapon against children. They can hardly distinguish between truth and falsehood—so to them, everything becomes reality."
Edward left the Roselle family villa without going to meet Roselle as originally planned. After all, the man wasn't going anywhere. Sooner or later, they'd meet—what difference did it make?
In the dimly lit inn, Edward conjured two floating lanterns to brighten the air, then hunched over a desk. Eagerly, he took out pen and paper, scratching down words as inspiration flowed.
Rules for Acting as a Secrets Sorcerer:
Secrecy—keep secrets.
Mystery—remain mysterious.
As for how to keep secrets, Edward still didn't have much of a clue. Just as he'd mused before, in this era he had already been keeping plenty of secrets.
Mystery, however—his brief encounter with Bernadette had given him an idea. It meant pretending to be profound, speaking ambiguously, keeping one's identity unclear. In short, doing whatever it took to maintain an aura of "mystery."
"Hm?"
Edward drew a line between "Secrecy" and "Mystery." Could he achieve both at the same time?
Or perhaps…Mystery inherently implied Secrecy. The two were inseparable.
Wasn't that the very essence of a "Riddler"?
In that instant, Edward understood why he hadn't been able to trigger further digestion of his potion. Whether it was Secrecy or Mystery, both required an audience.
Someone to keep secrets from.
Someone to act mysteriously toward.
"If that's really the case, then actually…digesting the Secrets Sorcerer potion quickly should be simple."
Edward gave a helpless little laugh. "I could just pick a random deity as my target and play riddles with them."
But that was the absolute last resort. Unless it was truly unavoidable, he wouldn't risk exposing himself like that. Time-travel was too sensitive a matter—who knew how those gods would react if they learned of it?
That meant…
Didn't this suggest that none of the gods had noticed his "transmigration"? Because if they had, they would certainly have been watching him already—and in that case, his Secrets Sorcerer potion would never have been so still.
That was, at least, some good news.
"If not gods, then who else could serve as suitable targets?"
The first person Edward thought of was Medici, who was still imprisoned underground at this time. As a former King of Angels, playing the Riddler with him would certainly yield much. And since he was sealed away underground with little outside contact—and given Edward's current Sequence 4 strength—the risk was relatively low.
Also... Mr. Door from this era?
He wondered if the Uniqueness was still with "Him". If it wasn't, it meant "His" plan with the Russian Priest had already begun. If it was, "He" would definitely be curious as to why there were two Uniquenesses of the Apprentice Pathway in the world.
Holy crap.
If that were true, it would be no small joke. It would shake the very underlying logic of the World of Mysteries.
Yes, so I must try to contact Mr. Door as well.
Who else?
There was also…Mr. Azik. At this time, he should still be caught in the cycle of death and resurrection, desperate to regain his lost memories. That could be an opportunity to take advantage of him. But finding him was the problem.
Same with Old Man Pallez. Who knew what remote corner "He" might be hiding in right now?
Beyond them, there didn't seem to be any other high-sequence individuals to whom he could play the "Riddler" with relative safety.
He suddenly slapped his forehead.
"I'm thinking too rigidly. It doesn't have to be a high-sequence target. What matters is the fit. I need someone I understand well enough, and who will also be intrigued by the information I feed them. Only then can I keep stringing them along endlessly."
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.