19 York Street, Backlund North Borough.
Vincent had barely finished writing his reply to Audrey when the room around him blurred — and the endless grey-white fog poured in. Mr. Fool sat composed at its depths and said, without ceremony: "The Sun has received the bracelet. He's succeeded in convincing the Elder."
"Praise to you, Mr. Fool."
Klein was about to close the connection to the Lovers, when Vincent spoke: "Mr. Fool, I have some interest in the bodyguard commission Mr. World issued. I'd like a private word with him."
"Granted."
The Fool's figure dissolved. A moment later, the hazy outline of "the World" appeared in his place. "Mr. Lovers — are you considering accepting the commission? Being someone's bodyguard?"
"I have a few questions first," Vincent said.
"Go ahead."
"Can you tell me more specifically what situation your friend has gotten caught up in? To be honest — I've been keeping close watch on the Demoness Sect's activities lately. Anything they do raises flags for me."
Klein hesitated. "My friend… she is a Witch herself. But not the kind who kills indiscriminately for the roleplay."
"Not long ago, she accepted a mission to acquire a Sequence 6 formula…"
He left out only the part about the undercover assignment and the fact that he and "Kleya" were the same person. Everything else — he told it as it was. "Since putting on the ring, the Demoness Sect hasn't done anything to her — but my friend is deeply uneasy. She suspects the Demoness Sect is planning something dangerous."
"..."
Vincent sat with the account for a long moment. "When that Witch called Trissy took the ring off and gave it to — your friend — did anything feel off at the time?"
"It wasn't given to me," Klein said, voice dropping. "It was given to my friend."
"Right, right — to your friend." Vincent cleared his throat. "And the senior Witch who put the ring on your friend's finger — did she say anything else at the time?"
"Nothing."
"You're certain the ring can't be removed?"
"Absolutely certain."
"..."
Klein could feel that something in Vincent's reaction had shifted — a heaviness he hadn't expected. Still, he had to keep up the World persona. "Mr. Lovers," he said, keeping his voice as even as he could manage, "have you found something wrong with it?"
Found something wrong? There's a massive problem!
Trissy. Who was Trissy?
After she'd been renamed "Cheek," she was the Primordial Demoness's intended vessel for descent. In the original novel, the Primordial Demoness never actually completed Her descent through Trissy — but Trissy had used that sapphire ring and the power it channelled to destroy one of George III's mausoleums.
But now that sapphire ring was on Klein's finger — placed there personally by a senior figure of the Demoness Sect.
What kind of bizarre development was this?
Had the Primordial Demoness suddenly changed Her mind and decided Klein would make a better vessel for Her descent? Klein was on the Seer Pathway — but descent didn't require pathway alignment. Lanevus was on the Error Pathway, yet that hadn't stopped the True Creator from descending through him.
So why Klein?
And could the Evernight Goddess just stand by and let this happen? If She did, Her own previous investment and planning would all come to nothing. The Goddess should intervene — surely?
"Mr. Lovers?"
"Oh — sorry. I was thinking."
Vincent composed himself. "I can't give you a clear picture of the situation right now. But I'll look into it and let you know the moment I have something."
"Thank you. Truly."
After closing the connection to Mr. Lovers, Klein clapped himself on the back of the head. "Wait — weren't we talking about a bodyguard? How did we end up somewhere completely different?"
Mr. Lovers' reaction just now — that was absolutely not normal.
He knew something. Or at least suspected something.
"At worst… I just abandon the undercover mission completely. It's not the only opportunity I'll get to build up merit — and I can always try buying formulas and materials through the Tarot Club and other Beyonder gatherings."
Whatever urgency he felt about getting stronger, about revenge — none of it mattered if he was dead first.
...
Feeling Vincent's consciousness return, Bernadette noticed his thoughts were unusually jumbled. "What happened?"
"Klein might be in real trouble."
Vincent explained. "Remember that Witch we ran into outside Prince Edessak's estate a while back? The one where we suspected the Primordial Demoness's consciousness was descending?"
"The one with the ring on her finger that you sensed as dangerous."
"Exactly. We also guessed back then that the Primordial Demoness's descent was somehow linked to that ring."
He spread his hands. "That ring is now on Klein's finger. He insists it's on his friend's finger."
He laid out everything he'd just heard. Bernadette listened, thought for a moment, and said: "No wonder Klein wanted to use the Tarot Club to find himself a bodyguard. He's noticed the danger."
"But why would the Primordial Demoness suddenly change targets to Klein? Does He have some quality that makes Him a better vessel? Is it…" She shifted. "Is it because Klein is a transmigrator? And are there special qualities to a transmigrator beyond the fact of having come from another world?"
"That's what I can't work out either."
"Why didn't you tell Klein directly?"
"Because there are still too many unknowns. And we're already curious about what the Demoness Sect's real goal is — I thought maybe Klein could help us uncover something."
That was the truth, if not all of it. What Vincent was actually more curious about was what the Evernight Goddess thought of all this — or whether this was simply one of the trials She'd set for Klein all along.
"Let's go find Katrina first."
Vincent pushed himself off the sofa, then asked: "The Marionettist characteristic — when will it be ready as a Beyonder item?"
"More time needed. That's a Sequence 4 characteristic — not every Artisan can casually craft a demigod-level item the way Boneva can."
"I'm just saying — you should go to Him directly. Once more or less makes no difference."
Bernadette gave no answer.
...
The Gloucester family's ancestral graveyard.
By the time Melissa arrived at the desolate cemetery, Stephen had been waiting for some time — a blade of grass between his teeth, leaning against a collapsed wall, staring up at the sky.
He jumped to his feet at the sound of footsteps. "Miss Christine, are you really sure you want to go into the vault? There's a demigod-level Evil Spirit down there…"
Melissa was terrified on the inside, but she kept her voice calm. "Don't worry. I have a way of handling it."
"Fair enough. But let me say upfront — I'll wait for you at the bronze door at most. Last time I barely made it out alive, and I'm not gambling with my neck again."
"That's fine."
Stephen bent down and picked up a shovel from the ground, held it out to Melissa. "Alright then. Let's get started."
"Ah?"
"We have to dig, obviously. How else are we going to get in?"
Melissa: "..."
She genuinely hadn't thought about that part.
To be continued…
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