My suit, a relic from the Trunsoest family's more prosperous days, felt stiff and formal. I wore it not for comfort but for the part I had to play. Tonight, I was Tom Trunsoest, a noble looking to regain his family's lost glory, not a reincarnated Earthling with a system and a goddess's Sefirah bound to his soul. The carriage ride to the Tudor estate was a study in probabilities. My mind ran constant calculations: the chance of a highway robbery, the most likely escape routes, and the exact speed at which the horse would need to be moving to evade a gunshot. The world was a spreadsheet, and I was in control of the variables.
The Tudor estate was a masterpiece of opulence, a stark contrast to my own crumbling manor. Marble statues stood sentinel in the gardens, and the air was filled with the scent of expensive perfume and sweet wine. I walked through the grand ballroom, my Robot persona in full effect, observing everything. I saw a young man with a slight twitch in his eye, a sign of Beyonder powers manifesting. I saw a lady with an overly warm smile, a mask for her true, calculating nature. I saw all the little details that the average person would miss.
Suddenly, my Danger Sense flared, a sharp, cold spike of alarm. Not for me, but for the crowd. Something was wrong. My Premonition gave me a fleeting image: a priceless diamond necklace, its jewels winking under the gaslight, and a shadowy figure snatching it. The theft would cause a panic, and chaos would ensue. This was my chance. A stroke of luck, or so it would seem to others.
I made a calculated choice. I moved toward the woman wearing the necklace. She was a haughty old matron, and I knew a direct warning would be dismissed as the ramblings of a madman. So, I did the only thing a Monster would do. I made a scene.
I stumbled, not clumsily but with an oddly precise fall, directly into her path. A glass of wine flew from my hand and spilled all over her elaborate white dress. The crowd gasped. The matron's face turned a furious shade of red.
"You clumsy fool!" she shrieked, her voice echoing through the stunned silence of the ballroom.
My Robot mind immediately began to apologize, my words precise and formal. "My deepest apologies, Madame. A sudden spatial anomaly caused my calculated path to deviate by 0.7 degrees. The probability of such an event was minimal, a statistical outlier."
My bizarre apology was enough to confuse her and the people around us. In that moment of confusion, my Premonition flared again, showing the thief—a stealthy man from the Spectator Pathway—reaching for the necklace.
I pointed a finger at him, my voice cutting through the silence. "The probability of that man being a thief is 99.9%. I advise you to check your necklace, Madame."
The man cursed under his breath, his disguise failing as he felt my gaze on him. He fled, but his window of opportunity had closed. The matron, still fuming, reached for her neck, and her hand closed around the priceless jewels. They were still there. The man had not had time to complete his theft.
The tension in the ballroom broke as people started to talk. A few minutes ago, I was an embarrassing noble who had spilled wine on a duchess. Now, I was a strange young man with an uncanny ability to predict things.
Duke Tudor, a man with a gaze as sharp as a sword, walked up to me. He was clearly a Lawyer Beyonder, a Sequence 5, I calculated. He had a deep, rumbling voice.
"That was… a very strange way to prevent a theft, Master Trunsoest," he said, his eyes narrowing. "Are you in the service of one of the Churches?"
"No, Duke," I replied, my voice perfectly level. "I merely follow the cold, hard logic of numbers. The world is a series of probabilities, and all you have to do is choose the right path."
His expression became one of intrigue. He didn't see a Monster or a Robot; he saw an eccentric genius, a prodigy with an ability he couldn't quite place. His own Lawyer logic would dictate that I was a valuable asset, not a threat, at least not yet.
"Fascinating," he said. "We must speak again."
I had done it. My bizarre, logical actions had not only prevented a robbery but had also turned a dangerous situation into an opportunity. I had gained the attention of a powerful noble, a key move on the grand chessboard of Backlund.
My system pinged, confirming my success. [You have successfully used your abilities to manipulate a chaotic event. Your Beyonder Potion Digestion has increased by 5%. Current digestion: 16%.]
I smiled inwardly. My next step was clear. The gala wasn't just a party; it was a hunting ground, and I had just claimed my territory. I had found the perfect opportunity to prove my worth and, in doing so, get closer to finding the Lucky One characteristic. My luck wasn't just a force of nature; it was a weapon.
These are are the only chapters I have for you today