Ryan caught the surprise in Edith's eyes and instinctively downplayed it.
"Mainly because acting like an Assassin comes so naturally it can happen without really thinking about it. Otherwise I doubt I'd have stumbled onto this on my own."
Edith nodded.
"Even so, it speaks to your perception. In any case — the potion's name is not merely a description. It is also a revelation, a key: the crucial element for helping an Extraordinaire avoid the residual spiritual influence left behind in the potion."
"Residual spirit? Left behind by whom?" Ryan pressed.
"The Extraordinary creatures used as the potion's primary ingredients." Edith answered straightforwardly.
He nodded, watching her answer without hesitation. The deep crimson "gelatin" he'd already handed over to the Church came to mind, and he ventured carefully:
"Then, Miss Edith — I have a question. Given that we can obtain Extraordinary powers by incorporating part of such a creature into a potion and drinking it... the same would presumably apply to an Extraordinaire?"
The thought had occurred to him the moment he'd suspected that the crimson substance might be a vessel for Extraordinary power — that what mattered in primary ingredients wasn't the material itself but the power contained within it. He just hadn't been certain enough to say so until now.
Edith raised an eyebrow, then smiled slowly.
"You really are perceptive, Mr. John. The answer is yes. Humans are living creatures too — there's no reason it couldn't work."
Ryan's expression fell instantly.
"Would that be... whatever substance emerges from an Extraordinaire's body roughly ten minutes after death? The clearly unusual thing? That would be equivalent to both primary ingredients combined?"
The thought that he had handed away something worth at least three or four hundred pounds made him feel physically ill.
Edith guessed the reason for his sudden grief and smoothly shifted direction with a laugh.
"Only for Sequence 9 Extraordinaires. Higher-Sequence Extraordinaires, when they die, leave behind special material equivalent to all the primary ingredients from every potion they ever drank, concentrated together."
"Ah — Miss Edith, why is an Extraordinary creature's power divided across two different species? What separates it?"
"Simple. Reproduction is an inescapable tendency for every living thing. In that process, a powerful Extraordinary creature naturally passes a small fraction of its power — too little to reduce its own Sequence — to its offspring. Though if it produces too many offspring, its own power does eventually diminish.
This applies to creatures comparable to roughly Sequence 6 or 5 Extraordinaires. In that case, an offspring would be born as something like half a natural Sequence 9 Extraordinaire.
For lower-Sequence creatures, the power doesn't transfer to offspring at all — unless a single individual has consumed multiple doses of the same potion." She explained all this with a pleasant, unhurried smile.
This woman is definitely up to something. She's talking about perfectly serious matters, so why does it keep feeling like she's trying to lead me somewhere, Ryan thought, and looked away.
Seeing him avert his eyes, Edith continued with an even more pronounced smile:
"It seems I've gotten sidetracked. Back to the main point, Mr. John — how much longer until you've fully cleared the Assassin potion's influence?"
"Just the last little bit left. If I didn't have to worry about the Church, two or three ordinary assassinations would probably do it."
Hearing this, Edith's smile deepened considerably.
"What a pleasing answer. At this rate, it won't be more than a few months before we become fellow members, Mr. John."
"Miss Edith — Sequence 7 is the minimum to join? That seems quite strict. If I recall, Sequence 7 is already enough to serve as a Nighthawks squad captain."
"It can't be helped. Sequence 7 is the most important milestone in the Assassin path — and the one where an Extraordinaire's capabilities improve most dramatically. Without it, evading a full Church squad is genuinely difficult.
That said, you needn't worry too much. As long as you follow the potion name's guidance strictly, clearing the influence of lower-Sequence potions takes at most half a year."
Edith spread her hands in a gesture of mild regret, then added:
"The reason Sequence 7 is enough to lead a squad in the Church, incidentally, is that the Church hasn't disclosed this method to all of its members. Nighthawks officers in smaller cities have to rely on time alone to reduce a potion's negative influence, which keeps the number of Sequence 7 Extraordinaires relatively low."
She paused, and her tone shifted to something more direct.
"But I should warn you of something, Mr. John. You've surely realized this yourself — for lower-Sequence Extraordinaires, numbers matter enormously in a fight. Don't let the fact that the Church's highest field officers are only Sequence 7 make you complacent.
Even a Sequence 6 — even Sequence 5 — must be careful when facing a prepared official squad. Coordinated group combat is the Church's greatest strength. Against that kind of team, Sequence 7 only means a chance to escape — nothing more."
Ryan sat up straight and nodded repeatedly, taking the rare moment of genuine gravity seriously. Though somewhere at the back of his mind, he couldn't help himself: She's actually kind of adorable when she's being serious.
Fearing an ill-timed grin, he quickly redirected:
"Ah — Miss Edith, why does the Church keep this method hidden even from its own people?"
Edith spread her hands and shook her head.
"That I couldn't say. Perhaps sheer numbers — if Sequence 7 became too common, the Church might not have enough Sequence 6 potion materials to go around. Unlike us..." She sighed. "We have the opposite problem. Recruiting new members is its own headache."
She sighed again, then let it go.
"Never mind all that. Since you're nearly ready to advance to Sequence 8 — would you like to buy the Sequence 8 formula for the Assassin path from me first? I'll tell you the name for free: Instigator."
Her smile returned in full force the moment she said it.
Women really do change expressions faster than turning a page, Ryan thought, looking away before he could react visibly. When he managed to sound genuinely confused rather than distracted, he asked:
"Miss Edith — Instigator doesn't seem to have any connection to Assassin. Are you serious?"
"I know it sounds a little strange, but yes — Sequence 8 on the Assassin path is genuinely called Instigator."
She paused briefly, then continued in a voice that had somehow become even more gentle and sweet:
"I have no reason to mislead you, Mr. John — do I? It would benefit neither of us.
And besides, if I only wanted money, there would be no need to fabricate a formula just to trick you. After all, if you were dead, your money would come to me regardless. I think you understand that this wouldn't be particularly difficult for me."
As if sensing that wasn't quite convincing enough, Edith stood up and walked directly over to him. Her right hand caught his jaw at a speed he couldn't react to and tilted his face toward hers, forcing eye contact.
Then she leaned in slowly, that flawless face drawing closer, until his reflection was clearly visible in her eyes — and stopped.
Then, very deliberately, one syllable at a time:
"Don't you agree, Mr. David John?"
She watched his body go rigid. His breathing stopped. Color crept into his face.
She watched all of this, and her smile grew brighter.
She simply waited — as if she would stay there for as long as it took for him to answer.