"I wonder what an ordinary woman Extraordinary would make of this." Ais suddenly found herself curious.
For her own part, aside from becoming alert, she wasn't particularly affected. She'd once had thoughts along the same lines herself — she'd just never acted on them the way this person had.
"If another Witch encountered something like this, she'd probably be excited about it. She'd play the helpless victim, wait for the right moment, capture him, and then do terrible things to him at her leisure."
Ais imagined the scenario and reflected:
"That would be extremely cruel. If I caught this person, the worst they'd face from me is just losing their life."
This wasn't a figure of speech. She'd heard that Watchers assigned to deal with her — a Sequence 7 Witch — had to come in pairs of two or more specifically because the concern was that one person might soften and compromise on principle. That gave her a perfectly clear picture of what fate awaited a lone Extraordinary who fell into the hands of the Witch Cult's fanatics. "Selling you while making you count the money" would be getting off lightly.
"So should I play helpless — lure this one in, let him lower his guard, and then kill him?"
Ais couldn't help rubbing her hands together. She felt her heart beating a little faster.
She'd turned down the commission to actively seduce someone this very morning — mostly because the era had nothing like a recording device, so she'd need actual material progress before she could hope to pocket the 10 pounds. But this situation was different.
Even if this unhinged person was only a Sequence 9 Extraordinary, killing them would net her roughly 400 pounds worth of Sequence 9 supernatural traits — and a successful necromancy afterward could yield another 200 pounds in potion formulas. The price she'd have to pay was simply acting like a helpless, pitiful, defenseless woman. No need for any meaningful real-world contact.
The more she calculated it, the more appealing it looked. What was male dignity anyway? Was it worth 600 pounds? Especially given that she'd forfeited that claim the moment she became a Witch.
"Stop." Ais gave her head a firm shake:
"What am I getting excited about? I know nothing about this person's actual situation."
She swallowed and reminded herself sternly:
"Caution. Caution. Don't treat someone else like a fool."
At that moment, Big One butted her head against Ais's foot and let out a soft, aggrieved whimper. The lingering unfamiliar scent in the room had evidently reminded her of the stranger who'd badly startled her earlier.
Ais came back to herself. She picked up the puppy and carried her to the ground-floor sofa.
Still holding Big One, she tried a divination to determine how the intruder had entered. The result only confirmed that the person had appeared abruptly on the ground floor.
"The door lock shows no sign of forced entry. Some kind of special movement ability, or an unusual lock-picking method?"
Ais turned this over while finding herself increasingly suspicious of her current investigation target. The timing fit; the target's vicinity had produced unexplained phenomena; and the height matched her divination result.
The probability of coincidence wasn't zero — but the man's suspicion seemed quite high.
Ais suddenly bent down and brought her mouth close to the small dog's ear:
"Little one — do you think this lunatic knows I'm an Extraordinary?"
Big One naturally had no answer to this. She simply turned her head and tried to lick Ais's face, only to be dodged cleanly.
"In the past few days I've barely used any supernatural abilities — except tonight. But I didn't notice anyone following me tonight, so the probability of being seen is low."
The thought brightened her eyes. "Though it needs verification — it seems like I might actually have a real opportunity here. In which case — what would a perfectly ordinary, non-Extraordinary small-time detective do upon discovering an unhinged man had been in her house?"
Ais looked at Big One, who had given up on licking her face and was now trying to scale her torso, and felt inspiration arrive:
"Little one — tonight you're sleeping in the bathtub taking a bath. And then staying in bed with me. Honestly — dealing with a lunatic like this, sleeping alone really just doesn't feel safe."
Her performance instincts suddenly blazing, Ais got to work. She first covered everything in the house that could see outside with something to block the view, then ran a warm bath for Big One.
Once the puppy was dry, she combed out her fur carefully — to minimize the amount of dog hair that would end up in the bedding. Then Ais took her own quick bath.
With all that done, once Big One began showing signs of drowsiness, Ais pulled the puppy into bed with her and wrapped the duvet tightly around them both.
Looking at the small head now barely visible above the covers, eyes drooping toward sleep, Ais was suddenly struck by a new concern:
"Little one — if this lunatic finds out about your sleeping arrangements, do you think he might get jealous enough to come after you?"
As for herself, Ais was genuinely not worried. A Witch who didn't substantially increase her physical strength was probably among the more physically delicate varieties at the same Sequence — but she was absolutely not the kind who could simply be pushed over, unless the Witch herself was willing. Black flame and ice both required no action to deploy, which meant a Witch was not someone to be casually approached. Unless someone had a way to nullify a Witch's abilities outright — or render the Witch unconscious.
And a Witch's intuition was sharp. Attempting a covert approach in territory a Witch knew well, while she slept — was very difficult, even while she was asleep.
This was a significant reason Ais had rarely felt vulnerable the way ordinary women did, even after becoming a Witch.
The night passed without incident. The next morning, Ais was woken by a small, wet tongue.
She pushed the puppy aside, got up immediately, and went to check whether the unhinged gentleman had left her any new developments.
He hadn't disappointed. When Ais came out of the bedroom in her nightgown — hair still slightly disheveled — she immediately spotted a breakfast tray on the sitting room sofa.
She went over. Predictably, a small card decorated with hand-drawn hearts sat beside the food:
"Surprised, my darling? A breakfast made with love — just for you. Your sleeping face is so peaceful, so adorable — I desperately wanted to steal a kiss while you lay there dreaming.
You needn't worry — I took nothing. How could I risk making a beautiful woman like you angry? And don't be frightened — I caused no damage. How could I possibly make a woman as enchanting as you cry? I only wanted to be a little closer."
Go ahead and try entering the bedroom, coward. Ais curled her lip. She put no stock in the second half of the note. If he'd actually seen her without makeup, he'd inevitably have mentioned it.
She went to the kitchen first and confirmed no sign of use. Reassured, Ais washed up, applied her disguise makeup, and did one more sweep of the house. Nothing else had been left. The door lock was equally undisturbed.
"So his voyeuristic abilities are ordinary. But he's not completely lacking in caution, at least."
The reason she said this was that normally, Ais should have sensed something was wrong the moment the intruder entered. He'd escaped her notice — which meant he had been careful enough to use his abilities to interfere with divination before slipping in. Ais had once used Magic Mirror Interference to delay a Assassin's premonition of danger. Since sneaking into the house wouldn't immediately threaten Ais's life, she hadn't received a delayed warning — she'd simply never noticed the intrusion at all.
A measure of caution like that would be unnecessary against an ordinary person — which meant either the intruder had already known Ais was an Extraordinary, or he was simply quite cautious by nature.
But his continued decision to come in and leave the breakfast meant he didn't believe Ais was an Extraordinary — otherwise he'd have changed his approach. These tactics would have considerably less impact on a woman Extraordinary than on an ordinary woman.
"But if he's this cautious, how do I get this 600-pound fish to take the bait?"
Ais attempted another divination while thinking — the result was roughly the same as last night.
Seeing divination wasn't going to help much, she concluded she'd have to rely on tempting him into making a move.
"First, play the role of how an ordinary female detective ought to react. But then — should I let this lunatic get a look at what I actually look like?"
The thought made the corner of her mouth curl upward.
Author's Note (this chapter):Even if this unhinged person was only a Sequence 9 Extraordinary, killing them would net her roughly 400 pounds worth of Sequence 9 supernatural traits — and a successful necromancy afterward could yield another 200 pounds in potion formulas. The price she'd have to pay was simply acting like a helpless, pitiful, defenseless woman.
What if the divination phrasing was off and it's not a man?And — which Sequence 9 would already have anti-divination abilities? · Shandong · 03-07 20:15 · 2 likes