Meanwhile, having left the island, Bernadette returned to her place in Backlund. She pulled several essential oils, herbs, and other materials out of the "Secret Door" and asked, "Do you know what that Angel of Fate likes?"
"Er, no idea. Wait, does praying to an angel really need to be this 'formal'?"
Bernadette said flatly, "When a low Sequence prays to a high Sequence, preparing the oils and herbs they favor beforehand is basic respect. If someone calls out my honorific and prays to me, having those preparations ready will naturally put me in a better mood when I sense it."
Vincent said, surprised, "Huh? Aren't you only Sequence 3?"
"..."
She gave a small huff. "It was mentioned in that occult book I gave you earlier — once you reach Sequence 3, you can take an honorific title for yourself. Though the effect it has is fairly limited — basically all it does is let you sense when someone has spoken your title. It's nothing like a true god, where you can actually form a connection with the person praying, let alone converse with them."
Hearing this, Vincent remembered — in the original story, after Klein was promoted to Sequence 3, he'd also taken some kind of honorific title. "So what's yours, then?"
"Why do you need to know that? Do you and I really need honorifics between us?"
"Hey, just in case."
Bernadette was quiet for a moment, then recited, in Giant language: "Sacred spirit that pursues knowledge, beacon of the world of mysteries, eye that peers into fate, sovereign above the sea — the holy Bernadette Gustav."
"Tch, that sounds way better than the 'Lord of Chaos' I threw together on the spot!"
"Shut up."
"Sure thing."
She looked over the various oils and herbs in front of her, thought it over, then packed them away again — lighting only two candles with her spirituality instead. If they didn't know what the target actually preferred, better not to use anything at all; using the wrong scent could backfire.
"I'm starting."
She stepped back half a pace and recited, her expression serious:
"Wandering soul that will not depart;
"Servant of the True Creator..."
Whoosh—
Before she could finish the second line, a sudden gust of wind blew out the candles in front of her, cutting off her prayer. An instant later, a paper crane fluttered unsteadily in through the window and hovered in front of Bernadette, speaking in an exasperated voice:
"Hey! Is this really how you treat the person who saved your life?"
"???"
"If I hadn't sensed something off ahead of time, you'd have really landed me in it! Picture it — me eating ice cream, humming a tune, and that dumb snake just drops out of the sky in front of me and skins me alive. Wouldn't that be unfair?"
Bernadette frowned. "Sir, who exactly are you?"
"Hospital, ice cream — ring any bells?"
"Ah, it's you."
Bernadette immediately remembered — the limping child who'd pulled her into a dream twice before. He — It had said back then that it sensed she might help it advance to Sequence 0 someday.
In other words, this was a Sequence 1 Grand Angel, just half a step from godhood. Putting that together with what it had just said, and the "Wheel of Fortune" card in Bernadette's hand, she could roughly guess this Grand Angel's identity: the Snake of Mercury, Sequence 1 of the Fate Pathway.
Among the twenty-two pathways, which was strongest and which weakest was always up for debate — but the strangest, without question, was the Fate Pathway. Its abilities, the way its Beyonders had to play their roles, its whole path to advancement — all of it felt utterly unlike any other pathway.
And Fate really was the only pathway with no neighboring pathway at all.
"Why are you stopping us from praying to the Angel of Fate?"
Bernadette had a rough guess already, but she asked anyway, playing dumb.
The paper crane landed on the table, humming in annoyance. "That dumb snake has been hunting me for thousands of years, and I've been dodging it for just as long. I'm right in the middle of my 'reboot' right now — you send one prayer its way, and it'll come sniffing right over, won't it?"
"But we have a reason we need to pray to it."
"So you'll just coldly abandon your own life-saver for the sake of your little reason?"
Bernadette could almost picture a big-headed little boy staring up at her with wide, watery eyes, looking pitifully wronged.
"..."
You're a several-thousand-year-old thing putting on an act like an abandoned orphan?
"Ahem!"
The paper crane wobbled and gave a little cough. "Fine. Tell me — what exactly do you want from that dumb snake?"
Bernadette's eyes flicked. "Two things. First — a Black Knight's Beyonder Characteristic, on behalf of Mr. Z, to help him advance to demigod."
"Second — I'd like its help with the crisis coming to Backlund."
She gave a polite smile as she looked at the paper crane. "I wonder — could you help with these two things, sir?"
"Hmm."
The paper crane made a remarkably human gesture, using its wing to mime stroking its chin. "Are you trying to make this hard for me on purpose? I'm just a poor, helpless limping kid who has to act cute just to get some ice cream..."
It paused for a few seconds. "The second thing — I genuinely can't help with. Like I said, I'm about to go through a 'reboot.' Best I could do at that point is bless you two with a bit of extra luck."
"As for the first thing — that's not impossible. Here's the deal: I'll take care of the first thing for you, and in return, you push back the timing of your prayer to that dumb snake a few days."
"Give me time to clean my presence out of Backlund completely, so that even if that dumb snake comes here, it won't be able to sense me."
"Deal?"
Bernadette didn't hesitate long. "Of course. Thank you, sir."
The paper crane flapped its wings and rose back up. "Just so we're clear ahead of time — the way I hand over the Beyonder Characteristic might... probably... maybe... not be quite what you're expecting. That fine?"
"..."
Bernadette was silent for a few seconds. "That's fine."
"Great, see you next time then. Oh, and send me more ice cream while you're at it."
The paper crane started fluttering off the way it came.
Just then Vincent shouted urgently in his mind: "Keep hold of that paper crane!"
Bernadette didn't understand why, but that didn't shake her trust in Vincent — she moved in a blur and snatched the crane out of the air before it could get away.
"Ow, hey, what are you doing?"
"Elder."
Bernadette switched to a different form of address. "Could I keep this paper crane?"
"Tch, feels like I've just made trouble for myself. Fine, take it, take it."
The moment it finished speaking, the paper crane lost the special power it had been imbued with and dropped into Bernadette's palm.
Bernadette held the crane, studying it for a moment. "Are you sure that through this, we can actually reach that Snake of Mercury?"
"You know your dad 'invented' the paper crane, right?"
"Mm. On my sixth birthday, Dad folded me a paper crane to cheer me up. He told me if I wrote a wish on it, it would come true."
Bernadette's voice softened. "A lie. It never actually made wishes come true."
To be continued…
Guys, do support me on Patreon; It helps me a lot!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus