"...I... I understand."
He quietly sat back down and said no more. The price had caught him off-guard — he'd anticipated it being expensive, but not that expensive. Still, expensive things have their reasons. These were the works of the Father of Dolls, after all.
In the world of doll collecting, Roselle's status was the equivalent of the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith to the Sanguine — a name that sat above all others.
What a shame.
The man then pulled out a few potions to sell. The best-sellers were the haemostatic and restorative ones, followed closely by something that helped men recover their vigour in the bedroom.
Apparently, even becoming a Beyonder isn't enough to save some men from certain personal disappointments.
Another ten minutes passed, and the gathering came to a close.
Everyone filed out the same way as last time — Vivian keeping order, everything proceeding smoothly.
Fors, Xio, and Audrey, having neither bought nor sold anything, naturally ended up in the last group to leave.
"Such a shame — not a single page of Roselle's diary for sale tonight."
Audrey sighed. She turned to Xio and pressed her palms together. "Xio, please — over the next few days, you have to find me at least one page. Just one. I'll pay a hundred pounds."
"I'll... do my best."
It wasn't something Xio could promise outright. Emperor Roselle's diary was like that — it seemed to turn up everywhere, and yet the moment you actually went looking for it, it was nowhere to be found.
Especially since the last time she'd gone out of her way to acquire diary pages, she'd drawn the attention of a Beyonder far more powerful than Mr. A. She had absolutely no desire to repeat that experience.
As the three of them stood waiting, a folded slip of paper suddenly landed precisely in front of Xio. "Miss 'Arbiter,' would you be willing to speak with me privately? I have something you need."
Xio's green eyes flickered. She turned her head — and sure enough, the man in the white mask was looking straight at her.
"Knew it," she thought. "He noticed me after all."
She gave Fors a quiet elbow in the ribs. "What do we do?"
Fors thought for a moment. "Don't forget — this is Lady Natasha's territory. Ask her to arrange a private room for you. He won't be able to try anything funny."
"Right!"
Xio stood up and walked quickly over to Bernadette, relaying the situation in a low voice.
Bernadette gave a small nod. "Certainly. Vivian, arrange it."
"Of course, my lady."
Vincent filed that away. The man who sent that note asking Xio for a private meeting — that's almost certainly MI9 from the original story. My arrival has changed some things, but certain events seem to be finding their own way back on course.
I wonder — when MI9 discovers that Xio is the head of a criminal organisation, what will their reaction be? Will they be even more pleased?
"When are you planning to advance?"
Bernadette broke the silence.
Vincent thought it over. "Based on what happened the first time, once I make contact with the grey crystals inside the Nation of Disorder, I'll probably be pulled back into reality involuntarily. Then the Beyonder potion will reshape me completely and the advancement will be done."
"The problem is — right now you're the one controlling this body. I'm not sure what will happen if we try to make contact with the crystals under these circumstances. So I'd rather wait until we've swapped back tomorrow."
Bernadette listened, and then smiled. "But don't you think this is actually a wonderful opportunity for an experiment?"
"Your Majesty, please. We already have more than enough problems to deal with — let's not go looking for new ones before we've solved the old ones."
"Think about it. While you're controlling this body, you are effectively a Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer Pathway. If the Broker Pathway potion then tries to act on the body in that state — who knows whether two conflicting pathways might clash and send everything spiralling out of control."
Bernadette replied calmly, "That's true even if you were the one in control. The underlying reality — one body, two souls, two pathways — doesn't change no matter who's at the wheel. If it were going to be a problem, we couldn't avoid it."
"...Maybe everything goes back to normal tomorrow."
She said nothing.
"Oh, speaking of which."
Vincent changed the subject hastily. "Before the gathering started, I tried exploring the Nation of Disorder again. Same as always — nothing."
"But something occurred to me. Based on our earlier reasoning, the Nation of Disorder's appearance probably wasn't caused by your father's compass — but there's likely some connection between the two. So — what if we brought the compass into the Nation of Disorder? Would something happen?"
Vincent had expected Bernadette to be immediately intrigued. Instead, she fell silent.
After a long pause, she said quietly, "I've had that same thought. But... let's wait a while longer."
"???"
"That Wishing Compass is the last piece of hope I have left for finding Father. I'm worried that if we use it and something goes wrong..."
"I understand."
He pressed on, "When are you planning to go and search for your father's final resting place?"
"The Boundless Sea is enormous. Searching without any direction would be like looking for a needle in the ocean." Bernadette pressed her lips together. "These past two days I've tried using Oracle abilities to divine something, but I've come up with nothing."
Hmm.
That was strange. How does Bernadette find that remote island in the original story?
Just then, Xio and the white-masked man emerged from the back room. The masked man didn't linger — he was gone almost immediately. Fors hurried over to Xio. "Well? What did he want?"
"...Let's talk when we're outside."
Xio gave Bernadette a small nod of thanks, then turned to Audrey. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, Miss Audrey."
"Not at all~"
Audrey smiled warmly, while privately plotting her next move. The more time I spend with Xio and Fors, the closer we're getting. Before long, I'll be able to recommend them to Mr. Fool. Ha!
Even if Mr. Lovers suggested bringing in new members before I did, I'm going to get there first!
When the three of them reached the street outside, nearly every lamp had gone dark. The whole city was quiet and still. Stephen, who had been waiting patiently, brought the carriage to a stop before them with a gentle snap of the reins.
He bowed slightly, grinning. "Your carriage awaits, my three lovely ladies."
Xio and Fors had met Stephen before. They knew that this seemingly casual, slightly roguish man was a Beyonder that Lady Natasha had found for Audrey — hired specifically to protect her against Mr. A.
Which meant he had to be at least a Sequence 5 powerhouse.
And yet here was this towering Beyonder, playing coachman for them. All you could say was... money really does move mountains, even for those beyond ordinary men.
"Xio, the woman who ran tonight's gathering — that was Lady Natasha, wasn't it?"
Audrey's eyes shone with excitement. "She's remarkable!"
The first time they'd met, Audrey had taken her for an ordinary low-ranking Beyonder. But she'd quickly proven to be something else entirely — exceptional intelligence, an extraordinary network of contacts, and most importantly, even Mr. Fool himself had taken an interest in her.
"You two seem to know her fairly well, don't you?"
Fors and Xio exchanged a glance. Well... we're in her 'gang' and we pray to the same 'evil god.' You could say that.
"We're... on decent terms, I suppose."
"Then have you ever heard her mention anything about 'Brokers'?"
"What?"
Audrey lowered her voice. "I mean — Lady Natasha always calls herself a Broker, doesn't she? I've always felt that it's more than just a job title. It could very well be one of the Sequences of a specific Pathway."
"I've been doing some reading in mysticism books lately, and I can't find any record of a Broker Pathway or Sequence anywhere. Which makes it all the more fascinating!"
"Have you heard her say anything about it?"
"...No!"
Xio denied it without hesitation. At the same time, her Broker-granted ability quietly sensed from Audrey a strong, unmistakeable need.
But Audrey also saw through Xio's half-hearted denial — and her heart leapt. Xio knows something.
She's clearly on her guard about it, though. How do I get her to open up?
Xio's mind was already turning at speed. Audrey's need was obviously her burning interest in the Broker. But the contract with that mysterious existence explicitly forbade carelessly revealing anything about Him.
And then, like a bolt from the blue, she had an idea. A way to satisfy Audrey's need, complete a proper transaction, and technically not "carelessly" reveal anything at all.
All she had to do was get Audrey to recite the three-part Honorific Name herself.
You want answers? Go ask Him directly.
To be continued…
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