Edward had just finished dressing—donning his coat, hat, silver-inlaid cane, and pocket watch—when he suddenly sneezed several times in succession. Rubbing his nose, he patted Lilith, who was lounging lazily on his shoulder, and asked, "Lilith, are you cursing me?"
Lilith stretched, nuzzled his face, and let out a soft purr.
"Hm, I'd actually prefer it if you were."
Edward opened the door, stretched under the morning sun, and made his way toward the public carriage station.
Not long after, he noticed someone tailing him. It was Leonard. He wasn't trying to be subtle either, quickly catching up and walking alongside him.
"Mr. Edward, where are you headed?"
Edward snapped his fingers twice, and a small bird suddenly flitted out from his hand.
"As you can see, I'm a stage magician. I perform for two to three hours daily at the circus in City Hall Square."
Leonard slung his police jacket over his shoulder with a casual air. "Oh? I thought you were planning to run."
"Run? Where would I even go?"
A sudden idea struck Edward. He stopped in his tracks and said, "Wait a moment. I just thought of an interesting trick."
"Oh? What kind of trick?"
"Watch closely."
Edward pulled out a gold coin and let it dance between his fingers, deftly shifting it from knuckle to knuckle. As Leonard's gaze was drawn to the motion, Edward's movements abruptly stilled.
He lifted the coin toward his right eye—at the same time, it turned translucent, resembling a monocle.
Leonard frowned in confusion, but before he could say anything, an intense sense of foreboding surged through him.
It wasn't his own instinct—this came from Pallez Zoroast, the ancient and powerful being residing within him.
Pallez…was feeling fear?
The monocle stopped just over ten centimeters from Edward's eye before reverting to a solid gold coin. Edward smoothly closed his fingers around it.
He certainly wasn't about to actually wear a monocle—after all, it was said that Amon could perceive everyone who donned one.
At that moment, the public carriage slowly rolled into view.
"The carriage is here. Care to come watch my performance?"
"Don't go!"
Pallez's voice rang out sharply in Leonard's mind.
"What's wrong, old man?"
After a brief silence, Pallez finally spoke again, his tone heavy,
"There's something off about this man…He seems to know who I am. And that I exist within you."
"But weren't you from the Third Epoch?"
"…I don't know. I hope I'm just overthinking this."
As the carriage pulled away, Leonard clenched his jaw. This guy is definitely suspicious!
Inside the carriage, Edward leaned back against the seat and let out a long sigh.
"Phew—no wonder Klein enjoys courting death so much. Just that one little trick advanced my potion digestion by a huge chunk!"
"At this rate, just a few more similar incidents should be enough to complete the digestion."
He casually tossed the coin in his hand. "Shame, though…This probably only works the first time."
———
Noon.
Edward had just finished his performance when the circus director, Evans, approached him.
Beside him stood a man in his fifties, his graying hair neatly slicked back, his face adorned with a meticulously groomed handlebar mustache.
"Mr. Edward, this is Mr. Depp, the director of Greenhill Mental Asylum. He has a request for you."
The director of the asylum? What does he want with me?
Though curious, Edward still politely removed his hat and bowed slightly.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Depp."
Depp returned the greeting with a gentlemanly nod and a warm smile. "Mr. Edward, next Tuesday, our asylum is hosting a gala for our patients to promote humanitarian care. We want to reassure their families that their loved ones are well taken care of."
"However, you see, our patients have little interest in a conventional ball. So, I wanted to invite a skilled magician to perform for them."
"May I take some time to consider?"
Edward's expression revealed a hint of hesitation. "It's not that I wish to refuse your offer, but…to be frank, I've never performed for—pardon my wording—patients with mental illnesses. If something were to go wrong…"
"100 pounds."
Depp smiled faintly. "We're willing to pay you 100 pounds for the performance."
100 pounds? That's no small sum—just for a magic show?
Without hesitation, Edward gave a slight bow and smiled. "It would be an honor to perform."
"Excellent. Please arrive next Tuesday at 3 p.m. You can inform us in advance of any materials or preparations you need. The performance will begin around 7 p.m."
"No problem."
After a few more words about asylum regulations, Depp departed swiftly.
Evans, watching the exchange, sighed enviously. "One performance for 100 pounds…Mr. Depp sure is generous."
Edward chuckled. "I'm actually not that concerned about money. Magic is just a personal hobby of mine—money doesn't mean much to me."
Evans paused, then tentatively asked, "So…does that mean we don't have to pay you for today's performance?"
"…That won't do."
"Hahahahaha!"
Evans burst into laughter.
Tsk. Failed to act cool.
———
As Edward left the circus with Lilith, he unexpectedly ran into someone.
Christine.
She was dressed in an oversized trench coat, a velvet top hat perched atop her head. A cane rested in her gloved hand. Underneath the coat, she wore a white dress shirt, though her chest was tightly bound—so flat it was practically an airport runway. A brown mustache adorned her upper lip.
At first glance, she looked like a rather short gentleman.
Seeing her cold gaze fixed on him, Edward stepped forward in surprise.
"Chri—oh, wait, Mr. Christine. Did you just happen to be here, or were you looking for me specifically?"
Christine twirled her cane and gestured forward.
"Let's talk as we walk."
City Hall Square was located near Tingen's commercial district, a place bustling with people—one of the main reasons circuses set up shop here.
After strolling several hundred meters, Christine finally spoke,
"Can you let me take your place in performing at the asylum?"
Edward raised an eyebrow. "How do you even know about that?"
He instinctively wanted to question her further but quickly realized—
"…You were behind this?"
Christine's tone remained indifferent. "I merely gave the director a little psychological suggestion. It's a simple gala—patients get some joy, their families get reassurance, and the asylum gains a better reputation. A win-win for everyone."
"Oh~ You're quite a kind person, huh?"
Edward rolled his eyes. "Joining a Circus, hypnotizing the director of the asylum, and arranging a stage magic performance—you've gone through quite the trouble. There's no way it's just for the sake of performing a magic show at the asylum, right?"
Christine neither confirmed nor denied it. She simply said in her usual tone, "Name your price."
"Come on." Edward shrugged. "Director Depp has already met me. How am I supposed to just hand it over to you?"
"Any excuse will do—stomach trouble, illness, kidnapping, whatever. He only cares that the show happens, not who's performing it."
Edward chuckled, his fingers absentmindedly stroking Lilith's fur. The little creature purred in contentment.
"So when you stir up a mess at the asylum and make your escape, I'm the one left to take the fall? How about this—if they can hold one show, they can hold a second one later."
"I'm being hunted."
Christine stopped walking. "I can't wait that long."
"Then I'd advise you to focus on running for your life. What could possibly be more important than keeping yourself alive?"
"Revenge."
She lowered her gaze slightly, her voice laced with sorrow and resentment. "I may be from the Abraham family, but my parents were ordinary people who never took potions. Years ago, they were brutally murdered. Ever since then, my only purpose in life has been revenge. Recently, I finally tracked down my parents' killer—he's hiding in the asylum!"
Her eyes reddened as she stared directly at Edward. "Please…help me."
They locked eyes for a moment before Edward suddenly clapped his hands together with a grin. "Delivering such a long, heartfelt lie without even blinking—impressive. Oh, and your eyes really did turn red. That's some real dedication…but your story is too thin. No proper setup, no development, no twists—just straight to the tragic backstory. Needs work."
"..."
Christine gripped her cane tightly. Her expression shifted a few times before returning to its usual indifference. "I need to steal a book from the asylum. It was lost during an internal conflict within the Abraham family and, after many twists and turns, ended up in the hands of a mad Beyonder who brought it into the asylum."
Edward raised an eyebrow. "Go on. This version of the story is actually getting interesting."
"It's said that this book contains all the formulas for the Apprentice pathway."
"Oh? What book? What's it called? What does it look like?"
"Do you think I'm that stupid?" She sneered coldly. "All I can promise is that if you help me and I get my hands on that book, I'll share the potion formulas with you."
"I have a feeling you'll just disappear the moment you get what you want. Oh, wait—why does someone from the Abraham family need to hunt for Apprentice formulas in the first place?"
Christine's gaze sharpened. She stared at Edward and asked, "You seem to know quite a bit about the Abrahams."
"Just a little."
Edward held up his thumb and index finger, leaving a tiny gap between them. He continued, "Alright, how about this? You tell me what the book looks like, and I'll see if I can get it for you. Don't worry—you know where I live. I can't run."
She stared at him coldly for a while before turning and walking away.
"Hey, wait a second."
Edward quickly stepped in front of her, smiling. "I'm curious—before you lost that notebook of yours, you could've just recorded a method to alter your appearance and infiltrate the asylum that way. Why go through all this trouble?"
She gave no reply and simply melted into the crowd.
"What a shame."
From the memory fragments he'd extracted using Legilimency, Edward confirmed that she hadn't lied about the book—but she had hidden some key details. Just as he was about to dig deeper, Christine noticed something was off and abruptly ended the conversation.
"Why is it that Fors keeps running into naive and kind-hearted Abrahams, while the one I meet can't utter a single honest word?"
At first, he'd thought Christine was a fool—too innocent and gullible. Turns out, he was the fool. In the world of the mysteries, no one was simple.
That being said, he had no real interest in performing for a bunch of lunatics. It might be better to use this opportunity to earn a favor—and maybe, just maybe, end up as the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
"Fine, I'll help you."
Edward's voice cut through the crowd, reaching Christine's ears. "But that 100 pounds is mine. Also, you should at least throw in a few thousand gold pounds as a bonus."
She paused for a brief moment, then nodded after some thought. "I'll come find you again."
"Hey, you still haven't agreed to the part about the gold pounds!"
———
[Tulip Street]
Edward strolled toward No. 5 Tulip Street, a small gift box in one hand and a meat pie in the other, munching as he walked. This meat pie was like a Desi pie with an extra-thick layer of cheese—soft and fluffy, but after a few bites, it felt a bit too greasy.
Lilith, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy it. But her mouth was too small—just one bite of cheese was like chewing gum to her. She gnawed at it for ages, unable to swallow, growing so frustrated that she looked ready to smack herself.
"Ugh, I miss hotpot, spicy stir-fry, ramen, katsu and stir-fried potatoes with eggplants…"
Edward first stopped at No. 4 Tulip Street, intending to leave a small gift for Priscilla. However, the house was empty—Steven Green must not have been home from work yet.
"I wonder where Priscilla stays when he's working? I remember Skater mentioning that only Green and his daughter live here. His wife…hmm, maybe they're just living separately?"
Edward hung the gift on the door handle, then turned back toward No. 5.
As he twisted the key and the lock clicked open, Lilith's ears suddenly perked up, and she glanced around warily.
"…Tsk. Don't tell me it's Christine again. Didn't we just settle things?"
Without any sudden movements, Edward scooped Lilith up and discreetly tucked her into his coat, letting her slip into an inner pocket. Then, he slowly stepped backward.
At that moment, a wave of drowsiness washed over him.
Someone was trying to drag him into a dream!
Edward immediately cast a rennervate on himself, snapping out of the drowsiness just as—
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.