The woman at the door was not Fritzh, not a servant, and most definitely not a hallucination.
My mind immediately went on high alert, noting every detail: violet night hair, a calm yet observant blue gaze, and a black dress that made her look like a shadow given form. She was a living reminder of last night's nightmare.
My hand moved on its own, slipping into my pocket and wrapping around the revolver I had ordered from Hobert. "At least that expensive investment is good for something," I thought sarcastically, while my index finger sought the trigger.
"Who is this?" My voice was rougher than I intended, sounding hoarse from the lingering pain of being strangled by that madman.
The woman simply remained silent and observed my face, then she answered my question with a Backlund accent and her slight smile, "Isolde Winslow."
Then she showed an emblem with a black base, featuring a dark red crescent moon surrounded by brilliant points of light.
She paused for a moment, then her lips moved again. "Law Enforcer," she added.
"Isolde Winslow..." I mumbled the woman's name again and tried to dig through John's memories to find out if he had ever met this woman before. The result was nil; this woman was completely unknown to John.
I looked at the woman and carefully examined the emblem she carried. After observing it for a while, I realized it was from the Evernight Church!
A conflict erupted in my head. On one hand, I didn't trust anyone. On the other hand, the Evernight Church was the official authority handling such matters. Who else could I ask for help? My family? They were clearly not Beyonders, although I was sure this family could hire Beyonders as protection. The police? They wouldn't understand about people with unnatural smiles and terrifying strength.
I was caught in a dilemma. Staying alone meant facing the unknown threat by myself. At least... the Evernight Church was the most benevolent church, if I remembered the novel correctly, so perhaps they could protect me!
With a heavy breath, I finally lowered the revolver but didn't let go of it completely. My hand holding the weapon remained in my pocket, just in a less threatening position now.
I then grabbed the door handle and opened the door properly, revealing the woman's appearance clearly. She remained silent and didn't react much as I looked her over. She was a woman seemingly shorter than me but with a very ideal posture, wearing a black hat that covered the top of her violet night hair.
"Sorry, I just woke up," I said, looking at her with my green eyes.
"What do you need?" I continued, observing her expression, which was actually quite flat.
"Do you know Baron Edmund Percival?" the woman asked, scrutinizing my face carefully.
"Edmund Percival, who is that?" My mind immediately identified the name carefully, but I couldn't find it in either the original John's memories or my knowledge of the novel.
After all, the name was completely unfamiliar. "Percival." Which noble family was that? Heh, it seemed not to be an important noble name, as throughout all the noble families I remembered from the novel, they weren't on my list. They definitely weren't ancient nobles from the Fourth Epoch either, because those ancient noble families were Medici, Tudor, Abraham, and then... I couldn't remember! Even though I was sure there were other Fourth Epoch nobles mentioned in the novel, I genuinely couldn't recall them anymore. Hmm... but the feeling of loss was quite natural; perhaps if I had never thought about Fourth Epoch nobles, I wouldn't have realized I'd forgotten some names.
"Sorry, I don't know that man's name," I answered Isolde Winslow's question hastily, making a confused face towards her.
"Please come in; it's not good to talk like this," I offered the woman to enter my room.
The woman didn't speak, but she seemed to smirk slightly. Then her expression returned to neutral, and she immediately entered my room without any comment.
"What was wrong with that man?" I posed the question to the woman because I needed context for what that man had done.
"I'm the one asking the questions," she retorted, her expression smirking slightly again, but she was still observing me carefully, as if trying to figure out if I was lying.
My hands sweated as her eyes scanned my entire room.
She observed my room meticulously, then walked to my desk and picked up my notebook containing the Visionary Pathway information, which I had written in English and disguised with ordinary Loinese text above it.
Thank goodness I wrote that book in English! Otherwise, I would have been highly suspected for knowing the Visionary pathway up to Sequence 0, when even knowing just Sequence 9 was difficult. I unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
She flipped through the book with a confused face, her eyebrows twitching, and then she held her face with one finger and smiled mischievously.
"What is this? It looks very strange," she said with her mischievous smile, but her face returned to its previous neutral mask.
"It's just some random notes. I happened to be trying to decipher Emperor Roselle's secret code earlier," I said nonchalantly, indicating the book was worthless.
"True, the book does contain writing like that, but there are parts written in a very strange script," her blue eyes looked at me as she said this. "What is the meaning of these strange parts?" Her finger pointed towards the Visionary Pathway section I had written.
"I'm imitating the Emperor's habits," I replied to her in a flat tone, making it sound like it was my usual habit.
"Is that so..." she said, then placed my notebook back on the desk and looked around the room again, but she didn't seem very interested. Then she sat on the chair at my desk, crossed her legs, and looked at me.
Of course, she wouldn't be suspicious of this. After all, I had considered the worst-case scenario, and given John's past as a great admirer of the Emperor, it would be very natural for John to someday imitate the Emperor's habit of creating some kind of "code."
"Has anyone near you or any acquaintance been acting strangely lately?" she said while crossing her legs.
"This feels like an interrogation scene from a movie!" my mind screamed as she said this while sitting in my own chair.
"No, no one around me has been acting strangely lately," I answered honestly regarding John's recent condition. After all, based on John's memories, nothing strange had truly happened to him, except for me suddenly transmigrating into his body.
"Have you been involved with any cults or suspicious organizations?" She observed my face.
Did she think I was part of the organization that attacked me at the party? Hah! There's no way I would be part of them. Besides, what organization would attack its own member? No, actually, organizations worshipping evil gods could certainly attack their own members, as they worshipped evil gods, most of whom were insane deities.
I made a decision in less than a second. While holding my head as if trying to recall something, I said, "No. I have never been involved with such insane things." I answered loudly, proving I rejected that ridiculous idea, my expression looking like someone who had just been offended.
"This is ridiculous! Do you think I'm stupid?" she interrupted angrily, her voice rising.
Huh? Why was she angry? Wait, she never really believed me! This was probably because of the English book. Because to her, it was too strange, and I rejected both ideas, so she suspected me enough to get this angry.
I should have said it was some kind of stupid doodle I made out of boredom! This was the worst decision I ever made.
"I'm telling the truth," I answered frankly, looking into Isolde Winslow's blue eyes rather indifferently.
This might be another bad decision... I immediately thought this after saying it. But I had to say it to avoid suspicion!
"Alright," she said in a softer tone.
Wait? She just accepted it like that. Wasn't it too suspicious for her that someone would write something in a completely random yet patterned script? Was this person foolish or just strange herself?
With her blue eyes fixed on me, in less than a second her lips moved. "You should be in good condition, and you just need therapy for the incident that just happened to you," her voice sounded relaxed. "You can undergo therapy after this," she added.
Great. Now I was going to get a therapy session. Hah, besides, I wanted this. This world was so insane! In less than 24 hours, I had nearly died in this world. What a terrifying life experience!
Wait? What if the therapist assigned to me was a Beyonder who could read minds?
My memories of Earth and the fact that this world was a novel world would be exposed! The best outcome in such a situation would be me being exploited for my novel knowledge. In the worst-case scenario, I would be tortured and then killed by the party who found out. No, actually, perhaps such a thing wouldn't happen. Honestly, I might be too paranoid about everything in this world. After all, Beyonders were actually very, very few, and millions of people in this world were ordinary humans who didn't even know of their existence.
"Well, Johnny, you've truly helped me in investigating the matter concerning yourself. I suggest that after this is over, you honestly inform some other parties, considering we are currently cooperating with other parties for your handling," Isolde Winslow said this with a mischievous grin visible on her lips. Her legs, previously crossed, were now firmly planted on the floor from my chair.
Johnny? She was really calling me that after meeting for just a few minutes?
She was truly an eccentric or strange person, even giving me a nickname moments after meeting.
Shouldn't members of the Evernight Church be more professional? Well... actually, before this she seemed very professional, so this sudden change in her demeanor was utterly confusing.
But I dismissed my thoughts about this woman and immediately nodded towards her, indicating I agreed with what she said.
"Don't worry, I will cooperate with the other parties as best as possible," I said seriously.
Although, in reality, if the other parties asked something that could get me suspected or killed, I certainly wouldn't answer with the complete truth.
But seriously, who was trying to kill me and why did they do it? Honestly, it was somewhat strange because they clearly targeted me specifically, not a random choice.
Then he muttered about the "True Creator." What creature was that? As I thought about it, a sudden itchiness appeared in my head.
Wait, I felt like I had read about this! But I had genuinely forgotten about this creature forcibly. This was terrifying! And why could I forget something this important? After all, clearly the "True Creator" was one of the evil gods.
Perhaps I shouldn't think about this. Because if I thought about it too hard, I might inadvertently attract the attention of uninvited beings, which would endanger me.
"This is very interesting," Isolde Winslow suddenly said and walked closer to me.
"I truly don't understand why the Aurora Order would target you so strangely at a normal event when you are so... normal," Isolde Winslow was now so close to me that the distance between us was likely less than 5 meters. Then she touched my chest.
This was so close! But wait. What did she mean by the Aurora Order targeting me as ritual material?
I tried to recall information about the Aurora Order from my original memories of the novel to find out if, around the same time, they had ever tried to target someone for a ritual.
Nothing! I did remember the organization. But I didn't know if they were doing something in the same timeline. After all, this should be the same month when Klein first transmigrated, so it might be difficult to determine such things.
"Under normal circumstances, someone marked by an organization full of madmen would usually die, Johnny. However, you seem to have survived the critical moment," she said this and moved even closer to me, then she stared into my green eyes.
"Ah, right. I almost forgot. The person who attacked you earlier was Baron Edmund Percival. He was actually an ordinary noble until he was discovered to be a worshipper of the True Creator and targeted you at that party," she said in a tone that sounded playful.
"But with this, my task is complete. Although I am very interested in you, the military will interrogate you once more after you wake up, Johnny," she uttered this with her mischievous smile, and she touched my chest.
"Ah, this is a gift from me because you are so interesting, Johnny. Isolde Winslow is not my real name. My name is Lenore Adelaide. Pleased to meet you, John Lynch."
After she said that, everything went dark.