Chapter 59: Another One

Chapter 59: Another One

'Somehow, I have a feeling that something strange is about to happen.' William thought as he waited for his two companions to introduce themselves.

"I'll start if you'll allow me." The man asked to be first with his eyes shining, as if he were especially excited, which puzzled William.

"Sure, go ahead." He answered.

"My name is Arthur, Your Holiness, it is an honor to meet someone of Your status." The man named Arthur uttered such words and even bowed completely.

He had fairly short blonde hair. He was very young, probably not of age yet, but he had quite defined muscles.

William felt that this guy might be making fun of him.

"You don't need to speak to me with such reverence, I'm just a candidate for Deacon, we haven't even completed the mission yet." To counter this ridicule, he decided to stay calm and not say anything rude. "Arthur, right? What's your pathway?"

The man seemed to get even more excited if that was even possible.

"I am a Sequence 9 Beyonder of the Knight pathway." He revealed with a big smile on his face.

William froze.

'But the Captain said that...' He narrowed his eyes and the temperature in the small cabin seemed to drop slightly.

Arthur let out a squeal and started to shake, suddenly looking a lot less muscular. The woman remained expressionless.

"Who gave you the choice of that potion, Arthur?" The anti-conspiracy alarms, which William had developed since he came into this world and went through countless assaults, began to ring shrillly in his head.

"Your Holiness, I swear... I didn't think you'd be angry, I thought..." Arthur visibly struggled to speak.

William realized this and it was also an extraordinary thing. Quickly, he calmed down and carefully observed the changes in the young man.

To his surprise, Arthur returned to normal extremely quickly, and his muscles reappeared.

'Is this the suppressive effect of a higher Sequence Beyonder of the same pathway? However, I believed that that only applied to Demigods or above.' William realized this was worth studying, but he didn't allow himself to digress too much. "I need you to tell me who offered you the potion you took, Arthur."

He responded, somehow managing to return to his previous brilliance.

"Your Holiness, the one who gave me the choice was Captain Lewis Hendrick of the Stoen Nighthawks, that's my hometown too."

"Lewis Hendrick..." William had never heard this name before, but he also didn't believe a random Captain could have the formula for Knight's potion. 'Some high-ranking official has leaked it, there is no doubt about that, but for what purpose?'

The Deacon candidate rubbed his eyes to concentrate.

"It's okay, we can't do anything right now anyway, I'd rather continue with the names." He turned to look at the woman, who hadn't said anything since they met.

"My name is Anna, I don't have a last name." Her voice was ethereal, quite pleasant to listen to, although it contained no trace of emotion. "I am a Midnight Poet, Sequence 8 of the Sleepless pathway."

William nodded.

"Okay, I'm not sure how informed you are, so I'll take this opportunity to tell you all the details of the mission." He got up from the bed he had been sitting on and headed for the door. "Come with me, this cabin is too small to have a comfortable chat."

Arthur followed him without blinking. Even with the previous experience, it seemed like nothing changed in him.

Anna stood still for a second, looking at them both, and then she too followed them.

The ship was quite large, and there were not too many people on board. The reason for this was probably that few people wanted to leave Backlund to go to the Southern Continent.

William quickly explained to them what their job entailed. He emphasized the danger of a Sequence 5 Beyonder, who was already far from being able to lose against any common weapon.

After this, he let them roam freely except during mealtimes when they would meet to talk.

The trip to Balam would take several days, so they would have time to get to know each other better.

...

That night, William was pensive as he watched the sea. It seemed that in the Church there was some high-ranking member who was acting behind the scenes, but it was strange that the person had sent the boy, Arthur, on a mission with him. After all, if anyone could detect the anomaly it would be him, right?

'Do you have any ideas about that, Debris?' In the end, he decided to ask his sword, who was his greatest companion.

However, the only thing he received in return was silence.

'Debris?'

At that moment, he felt someone approaching him from behind. He turned carefully and saw that it was Anna. She was wearing a white nightgown and wore the same flat expression she had had all day.

"Captain, could I ask you something?"

It was an odd way to start a conversation, William felt that this girl probably didn't socialize much.

"Go ahead, although I'm not sure if I'll be able to answer you." He decided to joke around a little, although Anna didn't smile at all, which made the situation a little awkward.

*Cough.

William cleared his throat. "You can ask me the question."

Suddenly, the moonlight illuminated the girl.

"Captain, why did you decide to follow the path of a Beyonder?"

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I'm sorry if the story is taking a slightly slower pace, I understand that with the decrease in updates it can get boring. Honestly, college leaves me pretty tired, so this is what I can do, I hope you understand.