Bernadette thought it over. "I haven't decided yet. Based on what I can see, whether or not Mr. Fool comes from your world, there must be some connection — that's why he's been collecting Father's diary."
"I'm not certain how He would react once He knew I was Roselle's daughter. Whether, because of a shared 'homeland' with Father, He'd regard me with goodwill — or something else."
Vincent turned it over in his memory. In the original story, Klein's overall attitude toward Bernadette had been one of goodwill — especially once he realised that he and Roselle had essentially slept side by side in Sefirah Castle for millennia, making him something like "Uncle Zhou" in jest. So whether Bernadette came clean about her identity or not, the danger would be minimal.
He was about to say so, but Bernadette moved on.
"By the way — The Hanged Man mentioned that a pirate going by 'Vice Admiral Hurricane' has come to Backlund. He asked us to watch for his whereabouts. Apparently this man is a pirate admiral with quite a reputation."
"That's putting it mildly," Bernadette said. "Vice Admiral Hurricane only became an admiral recently, but he's already made a name for himself — particularly because everywhere he goes leaves a trail of savage carnage. Despite having the lowest bounty of any pirate admiral, he has the highest level of official attention."
"In that case — do you think that if we could haul someone like him before a court, prosecute him, and actually get a conviction, that would fit what you said the other day about rules and order?"
Vincent laid out his idea. "Also — Vice Admiral Hurricane reportedly has a Beyonder item with Shepherd characteristics in his possession, and the ability to freely change his face. I'd wager that item has a Faceless soul grazed inside it. If we can capture him, wouldn't that solve the identity problem for your Prosecutor role as well?"
"Worth a try," Bernadette said. "But with the Faceless ability active, as long as he doesn't expose himself, I have no way of locating him."
"Qilangos's item has a negative effect — it requires a living soul and flesh every other day to satisfy it, or it turns on him. We might be able to work with that."
"Agreed. Leave the legwork to Vivian and Xio. Did The Hanged Man say why Qilangos would come to Backlund in the first place? With his notoriety, crossing from open water to land raises his danger exponentially. Unless he had a compelling reason, I'd expect someone as cunning and cautious as him to never set foot inland in his life."
Because of a commission from the Twilight Hermit Order. But that was something Vincent knew from the original story — he couldn't share it directly.
"I'm not sure about that part."
"Ha. Even setting aside the Prosecutor act, the question of why Qilangos came to Backlund already has me curious."
Please don't get too curious. If that draws in the Russian Priest, we'll have a real problem.
The next morning.
Audrey arrived at Caesar's Restaurant with her lady's maid Annie and her golden retriever Susie, welcomed effusively by the attending staff. She settled into a window seat, then gave Susie a subtle sideways look. The dog immediately understood, leapt up, and bolted happily out of the restaurant.
Annie rushed after her, trying to haul Susie back.
Bernadette — body-swapped once more — crossed the room and took the seat across from Audrey. "The Prosecutor matter — has it been arranged, Miss Audrey?"
"It's in progress. Should be a few more days."
Audrey reached into her small lambskin handbag and produced a folded piece of paper. "Lady Natasha, I came today to ask a favour — I need you to find someone."
"Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos has secretly entered Backlund. This is his portrait. I'd like you to help locate him."
"The Crown's bounty on him is ten thousand pounds. Even a tip that leads to his capture would earn a substantial reward."
Bernadette unfolded the paper and glanced at it. She found it quietly amusing — just yesterday Vincent had been talking about catching Qilangos to further the Prosecutor act, and today Audrey had walked in with exactly this commission.
"No problem. Dead or alive?"
"Ah?"
Audrey blinked. The Hanged Man had simply asked her to help track the man's whereabouts, even emphasising how dangerous he was. And Lady Natasha had immediately gone straight to dead or alive.
In Audrey's own mind, a brutal pirate like this should naturally be eliminated — but what was The Hanged Man's thinking?
She made a decision. "Either is fine."
"Understood."
The two of them chatted for a little longer. By the time Annie finally managed to drag Susie back in, Audrey was already rising to leave.
"You took forever, Annie."
"Susie... she runs so fast."
Annie was bright red and gasping.
Audrey gave Susie a light tap on the head with a straight face. "Susie, that was terribly naughty."
"Woof!"
A loud, cheerful bark.
"Come on, then. We're going to the Gralint house."
She'd made a separate appointment with Xio as well — intending to get her help tracking the pirate admiral.
Out on the street, once her back was turned, Audrey quietly slipped Susie a dog biscuit. "Good girl, Susie."
Bernadette watched their carriage roll away. "That dog... she's the one Audrey mentioned who consumed a Beyonder potion, isn't she?"
"Almost certainly."
"Father had a period where he was deeply interested in creating Beyonder familiars," Bernadette recalled. "At the time he had people bring him several beautiful foxes and fed each of them a potion. Unfortunately... they all lost control and turned into monsters."
Then she asked, "What pathway's potion do you think Father gave those foxes?"
"Erm... I genuinely have no idea."
"Ha."
A dismissive sound that somehow managed to say everything.
Bernadette's figure blurred. In full view of anyone who might have been looking — yet without drawing a single glance — she stepped through into the Spirit World. When she stepped back out, she was in Trier.
"Trier is enormous," Vincent said. "How do we even begin to find the Mystic Order's gathering here?"
Bernadette produced the Mystic Order badge and weighed it in her palm. "Perhaps by tomorrow we'll know."
East Backlund. A pub under the Zmangg Gang's control.
After receiving the commission to track down Qilangos, Xio had immediately set the Zmangg Gang to work. Following Audrey's advice, she directed them to focus first on the city's destitute and homeless — the forgotten ones.
After all, no one in Backlund knew exactly how many vagrants there were. No one noticed when they disappeared. They were as good as invisible.
By evening, the Highlander men she'd dispatched returned in ones and twos, bringing information about recent activity around the vagrant population.
The results were nothing like what Xio had expected.
In recent days — nothing obviously unusual had happened. But going back further, roughly once a month, large numbers of vagrants had been vanishing. As if spirited into thin air — no bodies left behind, no one to notice.
That's strange. According to Audrey's information, the brutal pirate had only recently come ashore. He couldn't have anything to do with the older disappearances. So what had happened to those vanished vagrants?
Xio leaned against the bar, flipping through old newspaper clippings and documents related to the earlier disappearances, sometimes running a hand through her already-dishevelled hair, sometimes propping her chin in thought, sometimes making marks in pencil.
It didn't take long to reach a conclusion. It's not just vagrants who are going missing. And the disappearances had a pattern — subtle, but unmistakable. Deliberate.
What reason would someone have for making people quietly disappear?
Human trafficking.
Xio set the papers down and pressed her fingers to her forehead, expelling a slow, heavy breath. "I just took on a simple commission to find a pirate and earn a bit of extra money. How did that turn into uncovering a human trafficking operation?"
Her gut told her this ran a great deal deeper than it looked.
To be continued…
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