"What?"
Even in His polluted and half-mad state, that question left Mr. Door dumbfounded. Were young people nowadays always this ambitious? The very first thing out of his mouth was asking for the uniqueness?
"You should understand the significance of the uniqueness to me, shouldn't you?"
Edward replied smoothly, "Of course. But compared to your return from the starry sky, it doesn't seem like much, does it? After all, that's been your pursuit for over a thousand years."
From behind the swirling darkness, Mr. Door fell silent for several seconds before sighing. "You do know a thing or two about me. Do you also know how I might return to reality?"
"That's right."
Edward nodded. "The price is your uniqueness."
Another stretch of silence followed. Then came the response:
"Very well. But since you understand how important uniqueness is to me, I must be honest. Once I return and give it to you, I will allow you a month to hide. After that month, I will reclaim it."
Edward agreed without hesitation.
"No problem!"
"Then how do you intend to help me return?"
Edward said calmly, "You only need to have someone prepare a ritual like this—using as sacrifices one demigod each from the Seer, Apprentice, and Marauder pathways. That will allow you to break free of the storm, pierce the darkness, and return to reality."
"???"
Mr. Door slowly manifested three question marks. Do I really need you to tell me that?
"Well, I've already told you the method. When you do return, remember to keep your promise."
"..."
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
Mr. Door suddenly burst into wild laughter. In an instant, Edward once again felt his spirituality being torn apart, as though steel needles were scraping inside his skull.
"You are amusing. After wandering in the starry sky for so long, encountering someone like you is truly a delightful surprise."
Then His tone shifted. "Do you know the formula and advancement ritual for the Door pathway's Sequence 2, Planeswalker?"
Edward said nothing.
Mr. Door answered Himself, "The formula for Planeswalker requires the corresponding Beyonder characteristic, along with a Worm of Time, a Worm of Stars, and a Worm of Spirit. As for its advancement ritual, one must leave legends in nine different locations outside this planet."
"As for the Beyonder characteristic of Wanderer—go to Midseashire. There, you might encounter descendants of the Abraham family."
That location coincided with what Benjamin Abraham had provided, serving as a confirmation of his words.
The moment He finished speaking, the dark swirling firelight collapsed with a thunderous roar, and the powdered gemstones vanished as though they had never been.
Edward remained standing in place, lifting his head to gaze at the crimson full moon overhead.
As for the Planeswalker formula—he had already seen it last time, carved upon the Blasphemy State beside Sasrir in the Giant King's palace within the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
So this so-called "parting gift" from Mr. Door brought no real surprise.
What's more, it was obvious—this was just a ploy to push him toward advancing to Sequence 3, and then force him to leave Earth for the cosmos in pursuit of the Sequence 2 ritual, where he would undoubtedly be pummeled by Him.
All that, just because of one joke? Such a strong sense of vengeance?
Strange…Neither the polluted, frenzied Mr. Door nor the Mother Goddess of Depravity behind Him should possess such strong, human-like emotions. Then again…maybe not.
After all, the future Fallen Mother Goddess—Christine—had never seemed like a purely mad Outer God.
"Heh. Whatever schemes you're plotting, you're doomed to disappointment. Even though I don't yet know the advancement ritual for Sequence 2, it certainly won't be the same as Planeswalker's. And even if it is, with the Harry Potter world as my foundation, I have no need to venture into the starry sky of the Mysteries world."
Unfortunately, this attempt to contact Mr. Door had yielded little—other than confirming His current state and that He hadn't yet struck a deal with the Russian Priest (the True Creator).
Now, all he could hope was that he might truly find an Abraham descendant in Midseashire and secure the Wanderer Beyonder characteristic.
———
Dubois, as always, worked with remarkable efficiency. On the third day after the full moon, he brought Edward the intelligence he had gathered on the King of Intis.
Edward sat on a garden bench in the villa, listening as Dubois reported at his side—while Bernadette stood several meters away at her easel, sketching them.
"The current king, His Majesty, is the youngest son of the late monarch. His name is Dorian Sauron. The reason he managed to ascend to the throne despite being the youngest son was due to a supernatural incident in the royal palace many years ago."
"The two elder brothers who stood before him in succession both perished tragically in that event, leaving him the sole heir."
Edward raised his brows in surprise.
"A struggle for the throne among three princes…that turned into mutual slaughter?"
"Mm."
Although he didn't quite understand Edward's words, Dubois could guess the meaning. "But according to what I've heard, that incident had nothing to do with the current king. Judging by his past behaviour, rather than becoming king, he actually seemed more inclined to be a carefree prince who only sought pleasure."
Edward didn't comment on it. Under the sun, nothing was new—among princes competing for the throne, the ones who looked harmless and guileless but were in fact deeply calculating were far too common.
"Since His Majesty was pushed onto the throne on short notice, he had no supporters in either the military or political circles. So, while his position appeared exalted, in reality he never truly held power."
"At first, he didn't seem to care. That was…until our 'Son of Steam' suddenly rose to prominence, bringing Intis a flood of inventions and creations. The young king realised that promoting those inventions would surely strengthen the nation's power, so he sought to push them vigorously. But the majority of the old nobles opposed him, and so conflict erupted."
"This time, however, His Majesty did not back down. After a series of struggles, what followed was the prosperity Intis enjoys today."
Pausing to take a breath, Dubois continued, "Yet…as a result, His Majesty became even more restricted, and the ones restricting him are said to be the older generation of the royal family."
"But His Majesty seems unconcerned by this. His sole demand is to continue supporting Roselle's inventions and their application across Intis's various industries, so as to strengthen the nation."
Tsk. That sounded less like the king's own demand, and more like the demand of the Twilight Hermit Order.
Still, two points of Dubois's report puzzled Edward.
After all, royal families across the Mysteries world were never simple. In the Fourth Epoch, the kings of each kingdom—or empire—were often among the most powerful figures in their nations. Even if now, under the churches' restrictions, kings were forbidden from advancing to demigod, the old royals were no weaklings.
How could these old monsters sit by and watch their king be bullied by nobles and bureaucrats?
More precisely, not only did the old royals of Intis fail to support their king, they actually helped outsiders to restrict him. That was highly abnormal! By contrast, in the future, when George III of Loen advanced to Sequence 0, those demigods and even angels of the royal family had all jumped out to lend him support.
So…was that why the king relied on puppets to do things for him?
And the reason he didn't buy or rent the house at 7 Rose Street was because he feared being discovered?
Then what was he plotting by painstakingly planting those brass rods that amplified spirituality?
Closing his notebook, Dubois said, "Boss, that's all I've managed to gather about His Majesty these past two days. If I find anything new, I'll report it to you right away."
"Mhm. Well done."
"Mr. Sparrow, don't move!"
Bernadette's voice rang out. She looked utterly serious, pencil flying as she sketched quickly across her paper.
"It's been an hour already, and you're still not done?"
"How could it be that fast?" she muttered. "The folds in your clothes are so hard to draw. The shading is impossible to get right."
"Oh, by the way, Boss," Dubois added, "that Henry fellow seems to be moving into the house at 7 Rose Street today."
"Don't bother with them. I've already confirmed there's no problem."
Edward gave him a long look. "You're a Telepathist now?"
"Yes. I drank the potion last night."
Dubois's face brightened with a smile. "Compared to Spectator, Telepathist allows one to probe deeper into auras, astral bodies, and other mystical layers, reading the hidden thoughts of the target. I'm already impatient to meet Roselle in person."
"You two really are…something."
Just then, Bernadette approached with her sketch. "I heard you talking about Daddy. What were you saying about him?"
"Dubois said he's gained a power that lets him glimpse people's inner thoughts, and that he plans to use it on your father. If you want to know any of your father's secrets, you can tell Dubois."
"Daddy's secrets?"
She pursed her lips in thought, then huffed. "Hmph. I don't want to know. Mr. Sparrow, here—look."
Edward accepted the sketch. It was a pencil drawing of himself sitting on the bench. Compared to her earlier childish doodles, this sketch showed an enormous improvement—it was clear she had already grasped some of the basics of drawing.
Clever people really did pick things up quickly.
"Not bad at all. Hard to believe this was drawn by someone who's only been learning for a few days."
Bernadette sat down beside him. "It's pretty simple, really. It's just that while I know how the lines should go, my fingers don't always listen."
That was probably due to her young body still developing.
"You're only six. Give it another two years and you'll be fine."
She immediately corrected him.
"I'll be seven soon!"
"Oh, really?"
"June 6th is my birthday. That's only a month and a half away! Hmph! Mr. Sparrow, you didn't even know my birthday?"
Edward crossed his arms and chuckled. "Then do you know mine?"
"..."
Bernadette glanced at Dubois, then admitted, "I secretly asked him before, but he didn't know either." Her voice softened. "Mr. Sparrow, when is your birthday?"
"My birthday…"
Edward thought for a moment, then said, "October 10th."
In truth, he had no idea what the birthday of his transmigrated body was. October 10th was his birthday before crossing over.
"Oh~ That's still a long way off."
Bernadette blinked, already seeming to consider what gift she might give him when the day came.
Suddenly, her small body shivered, and she hugged herself, shrinking her head into her shoulders in puzzlement. "Why does it suddenly feel so cold?"
A bat-like spiritual creature, invisible to ordinary eyes, emerged from the air, dropped a letter into Edward's hand, then slipped back into the spirit world.
"It's not cold anymore…Huh? How come you suddenly have a piece of paper in your hand?"
Edward smiled. "Maybe a gust of cold wind just blew by. I've been holding this the whole time—you must not have noticed."
"Oh."
She rolled her eyes, clearly unconvinced.
Edward unfolded the letter. On it, scrawled in crooked Intis, were the words:
"Mr. Sparrow, help!!!"
———
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