A quarter of an hour later.
Edward arrived at a small inn in Quartier de Noël, and, following the information Pallez had given him, went straight to the second floor to the room rented by a descendant of the Abraham family.
The moment he entered, he saw a man in his thirties wearing a thin coat, sitting at a desk and writing something. From time to time, the man would pause, pen hovering midair, deep in thought.
After a while, he closed his notebook. On its gray-brown cover, written in Intis, was his name: Benjamin.
"Huh?"
Edward froze. A Benjamin, and an Abraham at that—could this be the same Benjamin who, after Grimm's death, would become one of Roselle's new Four Horsemen?
At this time, however, he clearly wasn't working for Roselle yet. Like most Abrahams, he lived rootless and unsettled.
Without hesitation, Edward suddenly materialised and cast the Imperius Curse, taking control of Benjamin before the man had time to react—after all, when it came to matters involving the Abraham family's hidden settlements and a Sequence 3 Beyonder characteristic, this was the most direct and effective method.
Edward recalled how, during his first encounter with Christine in the future, he had been cautious and deferential, trying to build rapport in hopes of later securing a formula…
Truly, the growth of strength changed a man's behaviour.
"You are Benjamin Abraham?"
Benjamin's eyes glazed over as he replied, "Yes."
"Tell me the hiding places of the Abraham family you know of."
"Ten years ago, when I left the family, they were in Limon City of Midseashire."
"And now?"
"I don't know."
"Do you know that the Abraham family recently experienced internal strife, with some members choosing to migrate away from the Northern Continent?"
"I know."
"Where are they living now?"
"Midseashire."
Edward's heart stirred with excitement.
"Do you know when they plan to leave?"
"Sometime soon, but I don't know the exact date."
"Do you know how they plan to leave, or where they intend to go?"
"They plan to sail away, but the destination is still unknown. It's said they want to go to the Southern Continent, but I can't confirm if it's true."
The Southern Continent?
In this era, no reliable routes to the Southern Continent had yet been established. Ordinary Beyonders couldn't reach it safely, let alone the Abrahams, who didn't even have a demigod among them.
"From which port?"
"Not yet decided."
"Are they taking with them the Sequence 3 Wanderer's Beyonder characteristic, or any sealed items related to a Wanderer?"
"I don't know."
"Tsk…" Clearly, he wouldn't get much more useful information out of this.
Edward thought carefully. "Do you know the reason behind the Abraham family's schism?"
"Some say they heard an oracle from the ancestor, 'Mr. Door,' commanding the Abraham family to migrate to the Southern Continent. But others believed it was the bewitchment of an evil god. Both sides held fast to their beliefs, and eventually they split."
Obviously, the one delivering this oracle wasn't the true Mr. Door, but either the corrupted, mad Mr. Door—or the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
As for migrating to the Southern Continent—that was likely an attempt to escape the control of the Seven Gods, to find a chance for Abraham's descendants to undo Mr. Door's seal and bring him back.
That, in turn, solved a long-standing puzzle in Edward's heart:
The ritual and requirements for Mr. Door's return weren't particularly difficult, and the Abraham family had never given up on their ancestor. So why, in all these years, had no one ever attempted it?
Edward never believed that, without divine intervention, the Abrahams couldn't have contacted Mr. Door for a thousand years, or obtained the method to break the seal from him.
The truth was that in the future, Mr. Door's return was deliberately permitted—because the time had come. His return was nothing but a stepping stone for the birth of the Lord of Mysteries.
"Thank you, Mr. Benjamin Abraham."
With a wave of his hand, Edward plucked a small handful of Benjamin's hair, then vanished without a trace.
A dozen seconds later, Benjamin "woke up as if from a dream." He didn't realise anything had happened, only scratched at the back of his head, which now throbbed faintly.
"What the hell? Am I overusing my brain lately? Why is my hair thinning back here?"
His expression turned stricken.
"If I'm balding this early, how will I ever find a lady to marry? Without a wife, I can't leave heirs for the Abraham family…Without heirs, that would make me the sinner of the Abrahams!!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
Edward watched silently and covered his face in exasperation. Compared to the questions Benjamin had just answered under the Imperius Curse, losing a tuft of hair hardly counted as a "sin."
Now that everything was in place, he could finally seek out Mr. Door for a conversation.
———
Two days later, on the night of the full moon.
On a desolate island in the Rorsted Archipelago, Edward stood within a simply arranged altar. Around him lay rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, pearls, lapis lazuli, and other ritual materials.
He lit the flames of the altar, set alight a strand of hair in his hand, and dropped it into a cauldron. As the fire dimmed into a shadowy hue, he stepped back two paces, expression solemn, and recited in Jotun:
"Great Door of All Doors;
Guide of Endless Cosmos;
Key to all Mysterious Worlds…
Mr. Door, I wish to speak with you."
The next instant, the gems around him cracked in succession, bursting into powder that floated upward. They glimmered—red, blue, green, dazzling white—and streamed together into a current that poured into the altar's flame.
As the Abraham descendant's hair burned away, the fire suddenly expanded, intertwining upon itself, becoming ever darker—like a "phantasmal door" leading to another world.
Half a minute later, the shadowy fire twisted, transforming into a massive vortex, deep and hidden with faint crimson. From its depths finally came a voice, ethereal yet sharp enough to pierce the spirit:
"A demigod of the Door pathway? Hm…why does your aura feel so familiar?"
The instant the voice struck, Edward felt again that same soul-rending agony he had suffered the night he first took the Apprentice potion and heard the whispers.
But the pain was fleeting, as quickly gone as it came. He steadied himself and replied evenly, "Good evening, Mr. Door."
After a pause, he asked, "May I ask, do you know me?"
"Eh?"
There was a note of doubt in Mr. Door's tone. "Should I know you? The aura is familiar, but…"
He seemed to be straining to discern, and after a long moment, his whispering voice murmured, "You are not an Abraham, nor someone I once knew, nor a follower of any of them.
"Then…who are you?"
So, he doesn't recognise me?
So, this wasn't the lucid Mr. Door who had bargained with the Russian Priest (the True Creator), but the one still corroded and polluted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity?
Which meant, right now, he still held the uniqueness of the Door pathway? And the "familiar aura" he mentioned…that was the uniqueness as well?
If so, then at this very moment, this timeline contained two Door uniquenesses?!
Another monumental violation of the so-called laws of Beyonder characteristics…
I'll have to find a way to confirm this later.
With that thought, Edward said aloud, "I am merely a fortunate one who happened to walk the Door Pathway and reach demigod. Tonight I sought you out to ask—where can I obtain a Wanderer's Beyonder characteristic?"
"Wanderer…"
Mr. Door's voice was a whisper of dreams. "If I am not mistaken, at present the Wanderer characteristics are divided—some are in the hands of the Churches, and some remain with the Abrahams."
Edward nodded. "But the Church would never grant such a precious thing to an outsider. That is why I wish to know how to find the Abrahams."
"Haven't you already obtained the hair of an Abraham descendant? You can simply ask him."
"You don't know? Since your…disappearance, the Abrahams have fragmented, scattered across the continent. None stay long in one place, to avoid discovery. The descendant I found left the family over ten years ago and knows nothing of their present whereabouts. I even tried divining with his hair, but to no avail."
The dark vortex was silent for a moment before Mr. Door's whisper returned: "Forgive me…but I cannot tell you where they are either."
"I see."
Edward showed no particular disappointment. Instead, he asked, "Mr. Door, I heard that the Abrahams recently suffered an internal strife, some claiming to have received your oracle, commanding them to migrate to the Southern Continent. Is this true?"
"It is true, but not entirely true."
"…What do you mean?"
"I did command them to leave the Northern Continent—but not to the Southern Continent. Rather, to a certain safe and hidden isle upon the Fog Sea. Before I left, I found that place especially for them, and left behind sufficient mystical materials and sealed items to sustain their survival and growth for a time."
An island in the Fog Sea?
Don't tell me you mean that nameless island corrupted by the Mother Goddess?
Heh…what a transparent lure.
Edward sighed with feigned emotion. "In my homeland, there's a saying: 'Parents who love their children plan deeply for them.' It seems you too have thought deeply for your descendants."
Mr. Door's voice was calm. "Not as noble as you make it sound. I simply did not wish the Abrahams to vanish from history on account of me."
"Oh? Yet I also heard that on every full moon, your descendants hear your whispers. These whispers bring them unbearable pain, the higher their Sequence the worse, until in the end they go mad and die. That is why for so many years, the Abrahams have never produced a demigod. Why is that?"
"You seem…very familiar with me, and with the Abraham family."
Edward replied solemnly, "Of course. I am myself a Beyonder of the Door Pathway. How could I not strive to learn as much as possible about you, the one closest to the Door itself?"
Mr. Door fell silent for a while, then said, "Those whispers…they do come from me, but not of my will. Years of drifting through the starry void have left me unstable, especially on nights of the full moon. Then, I cannot control the whispers, and they harm my bloodline descendants who share the Door pathway."
"Then how can I help you?"
"When I return to reality, the problem will naturally cease to exist."
His tone grew earnest. "If you can aid me, I—and all the Abrahams—will be profoundly grateful."
"Truly? Then…could you grant me one small request?"
"Of course."
Edward's face broke into a delighted grin. "Wonderful. Then what I want—is the uniqueness in your hands!"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.