Chapter 13: A Frightened Xio

Chapter Thirteen
A Frightened Xio

15 Minsk Street, Cherwood Borough.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Klein sat in the easy chair in the sitting room. Beside him, charcoal burned inside the fireplace.

In an environment as warm as early summer, he wore a white shirt, black waistcoat, and thin trousers, and with both hands unfolded the newspaper to the page that contained the most small advertisements.

“A new type of transportation, urgently seeking investment. Details to be discussed in person…”

Klein silently read it twice, then reached to the small dark-red round table beside him, picked up a pencil, and circled the listing.

If no commissions came to his door today or tomorrow, he planned to take a look and see whether this so-called new form of transportation had investment value.

There was no way to divine this matter in advance, because there was insufficient information.

“I hope it is something similar to a bicycle…”

Klein had only just muttered soundlessly when layered, illusory prayers suddenly echoed by his ears.

Who? Miss Justice? Mr. Hanged Man? Little Sun? Or some clerk at Backlund Bank who copied my password?

The thought flashed through Klein’s mind. He set down the newspaper, returned to his bedroom, and locked the door.

Taking four steps counterclockwise and entering above the gray fog, he saw, at the edge of the ancient, mottled bronze long table, beside the seat of The Fool, rings of clear radiance rippling outward.

Already rather experienced, Klein sat calmly, spread his spirituality, and touched the ripples of light as if responding to a prayer.

The scene before his eyes changed abruptly, presenting a blurry set of sofas. Upon one of them curled a petite woman dressed in apprentice-knight attire.

She is not copying the password… She is looking at a piece of paper…

Klein suddenly understood and grasped the reason behind the matter.

“She should be one of the two Beyonders Miss Justice mentioned—one of the people I need to examine…”

After thinking for more than ten seconds, Klein did not truly give a response. He planned to carry out that step around midnight instead, then examine the other party’s personality and abilities through her reaction, attitude, and method of handling matters.

Of course, he absolutely would not force anyone to join the Tarot Club.

…

“The Fool that does not belong to this era…”

Xio had just finished reciting that ancient Hermes passage when she froze for several seconds. Then her back sprang straight, and she abruptly sat upright.

This seems, probably, maybe, to be the honorific name of some hidden existence!

She recognized this fact in terror.

Her mysticism knowledge and all sorts of rumors she had heard told her one thing:

Once one recited the complete honorific name of a hidden existence, it often meant attracting that being’s gaze.

The consequences of such a gaze were very likely not pleasant. They might even be miserable.

Many of those hidden existences were incarnations of evil gods or demons.

And I even recited it in unprotected ancient Hermes… I am so stupid. Why did I have to carefully identify it and silently read it with such attention…

Xio looked around in panic, afraid that some indescribable monster would suddenly appear inside the quiet house.

Sofa, coffee table, cupboard, dining table, chairs, oil paintings—all of these objects entered her vision one after another. Nothing had changed.

After remaining alert for dozens of seconds, Xio relaxed slightly and comforted herself.

“Do not be afraid, do not be afraid. Just now, I only recited the honorific name. I did not add the following prayer incantation.

“This belongs to an incomplete ritual. It should not attract a gaze.

“And there is a rather high chance that the honorific name was translated by the paper’s owner according to Emperor Roselle’s special symbols. It may not even be correct.

“But… but I heard that if evil gods or demons become interested, even an incomplete ritual might receive a response… I am so stupid, really…”

As she thought further, Xio’s face crumpled again, and she felt she had made a severe mistake.

After waiting for several more minutes without receiving a clear response, Xio puffed her cheeks slightly and slowly breathed out.

She slipped the paper back into the hidden layer of History of the Nobility of the Loen Kingdom, then entered the washroom in a rather heavy mood. She turned on the faucet, intending to clear her head with cold water.

Splash, splash!

Nearly transparent water flowed down. Xio bent forward, stretched out both hands, and cupped a little of it.

Just as she was about to pat the cold water onto her face, from the corner of her eye she suddenly saw, inside the wash mirror, a head of long, slightly curled brown hair.

Her own hair was messy yellow hair that reached her shoulders.

In that instant, every hair on Xio’s body stood on end.

She exerted force through her feet, pushed off with both hands, and abruptly sprang backward. Half turning, she smashed out with an elbow.

Pap!

She struck a warm body, causing the other person to let out a familiar scream and fall to the floor.

Xio stopped her follow-up movements and looked at her friend, who was hugging her stomach, rolling in pain, tears filling her eyes.

The corner of Xio’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

“Fors, when did you come back?”

Fors did not answer immediately. After easing herself for a while, she slowly stood with support from the wall, clutching her stomach as she complained, “I only just came back. Xio, have you gone mad? You attacked before even seeing clearly! And with such force!”

“Where did you come in from?” Xio asked awkwardly.

“Through the washroom window. Is there a problem? For an Apprentice, not bringing a key is perfectly normal behavior,” Fors answered confidently and with full righteousness.

Xio immediately straightened her back and pushed all responsibility back to her.

“Then why did you not use the door? You truly frightened me just now!”

Fors blinked.

“That way I would have to go around half the house. Too troublesome. I am used to taking straight lines.”

She paused, then asked in confusion, “But Xio, your reaction was far too intense, was it not?”

Xio struggled for three seconds between losing face and losing her life, then answered frankly, “Because—because I made a mistake. A fatal mistake.”

“What mistake?”

Fors rubbed her stomach, both blank and concerned.

Xio hurriedly explained everything from beginning to end: how she had discovered a hidden layer inside the book cover, found an old piece of paper, and accidentally identified and silently recited the ancient Hermes incantation written on it, suspected to be the honorific name of some hidden existence.

“You—where is your brain? It should—should not be too serious, right? The ritual was not complete, and who knows whether it is true or false…”

Fors looked around, inexplicably feeling a little cold herself.

She followed Xio back to the living room and saw the yellowed paper. She saw the special Roselle symbols upon it and that passage of ancient Hermes.

With only one glance, Fors, as a professional mysticism researcher, nodded lightly.

“It is not one of the evil gods, demons, or hidden existences I know. The problem should not be too great.

“And nothing has happened up until now, which means nothing should happen.”

Seeing Xio relax, Fors thought of the pain in her stomach and added with “malice,” “Of course, if something truly does happen, with our abilities, we will not be able to save ourselves.”

Xio’s face instantly turned pale. She blurted, “Fors, tonight, let us sleep together. Forget it. I will sleep alone.”

Fors raised her eyebrows and laughed.

“All right. In fact, there is no need to worry. Think about it. Every full moon, I hear strange ravings, but I have shown no signs of madness or loss of control.”

“Mm… Let us study the other three books. If there are similar papers and incantations, that proves it is very likely Viscount Glaint’s prank.”

The two hurriedly took out Heraldry and the other books and carefully inspected them. They found nothing else.

Xio looked at Fors. Fors looked at Xio. The atmosphere grew heavy again.

“Or perhaps tonight we sneak into the prayer hall of Saint Samuel Cathedral to sleep?” Xio suggested on sudden impulse.

That was the Backlund Diocese headquarters of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.

“Why not Saint Hilran Cathedral? I do not think the Evernight Goddess will bless me…” Fors replied subconsciously.

That was the Backlund Diocese headquarters of the Church of Steam and Machinery, located in Saint George Borough, neighboring the many large factories to the southeast.

The two ladies, who believed in different faiths, sank into silence again. After a while, Fors sighed.

“And that would cause us to be watched by the Nighthawks, or the Machinery Hivemind. Perhaps that is exactly the purpose of that hidden existence.

“All right, sleep. We will know the answer tomorrow morning. If nothing has happened by then, that means there truly is no problem.”

…

At midnight, the not-quite-full crimson moon was hidden by clouds, and in Backlund’s sky, one could rarely see the brilliant stars.

Klein woke by instinct, lifted his blanket, got out of bed, and entered above the gray fog.

Sitting in the high-backed chair belonging to The Fool, he prepared to respond to Miss Justice’s companion, allowing the matter to enter the “examination process.”

Just then, he suddenly had a new idea.

Perhaps I can try whether, under such circumstances, I can pull someone above the gray fog!

That lady should be asleep. Even if my attempt succeeds, afterward she will most likely think it was only a relatively clear dream… Mm… If it succeeds, I will cut it off in time and prevent her from seeing the surrounding scene clearly…

After repeatedly considering it for a while, Klein stretched out a hand and touched the rippling halo of light, using a method of establishing connection.

All of a sudden, he felt his spirituality surging wildly out of him, causing the entire mysterious space above the gray fog to tremble faintly.

Just as Klein thought his spirituality would be completely drained, everything calmed. At the edge of the bronze long table, a blurry, distorted figure appeared.

Heavy with sleep, Xio opened her eyes and saw endless gray fog, an ancient high-backed chair, and a black shadow looking down upon her from above.

Joy rose in Klein’s heart. He immediately followed his predetermined plan and cut off the connection.

That hazy, petite figure vanished. But within the gray-white fog, an additional illusory crimson star had appeared.

Klein looked at the scene and confirmed one thing: as long as someone recited his name, he could pull that person above the gray fog, while the crimson star represented the establishment of a stable connection.

“But there are still certain limits. With my current strength, I can establish at most one more connection… Mm… Based on the experience just now, my present level of spirituality can at most pull in a Beyonder one Sequence higher than me, and even that may not necessarily work. That is only a preliminary judgment. Those of the same Sequence as me or lower should have no problem…”

Klein thought with satisfaction.

There was no need for him to respond separately. The experiment just now had been enough.

…

With a swish, Xio sat up from sleep.

She had been worrying all along about the hidden danger of having recited that honorific name. She had not been asleep long before she dreamed of a mysterious space and a figure within gray fog looking down at her from above.

The dream had been so clear that it frightened Xio.

She glanced at Fors, who slept soundly beside her, and thought while trembling:

“Was it a nightmare caused by fear, or was it because of the gaze of a hidden existence? Is an evil spirit haunting me?”

“Mm… Tomorrow night happens to be the gathering of a Beyonder circle. In addition to buying the formula, I need to find someone skilled at exorcism to purify me.”