Preparation

At the garden villa on 18 Kingst Street in the Cherwood District, Ebner opened his eyes, sitting up in bed with a hint of joy on his face.

After becoming a "Scholar," it took him nearly three weeks, but he finally learned his first Sequence 5 extraordinary ability—"Dream Traversal."

The reason he learned it so quickly was twofold: first, he had already mastered the prerequisite extraordinary ability for this "Audience" pathway, and the "principle" was well within his grasp; second, Judy's mother, a demigod, personally demonstrated it, which naturally led to a more thorough understanding.

"Now that I've learned this ability, once I assassinate Beckron, escaping will be much easier..."

Thinking this, Ebner glanced at the time and realized it was nearly noon. He planned to head downstairs for lunch.

Just then, a hazy gray mist reappeared before him, and he vaguely saw a figure with blue seaweed-like hair posing in prayer.

"'Bloodstained Jewelry Box'... appraisal... 1500 pounds..."

Ebner ignored the details and quickly understood what Alger meant.

An appraisal of 1500 pounds? That means I'll have to pay 225 pounds in commission? Hmm, let's take a look at its functions first; if it's not useful, I might as well have the "Hanged Man" help sell it.

With that thought, he praised the "Fool" and then used spiritual sealing to block the room, conducting the ritual to request "bestowal."

As the howling wind of the spiritual vortex gradually calmed, a beautifully crafted jewelry box made of gold appeared on the altar.

After a moment, Ebner closed his "Pure White Eye," nodded in satisfaction, and set up the "sacrifice" ritual, counting out 225 pounds in cash and sending it through the "Summoning Door" into the gray mist.

For Ebner, the functionality of this jewelry box was quite useful.

You see, due to the existence of the "Pure White Eye," his status was high, and he wasn't afraid of divination... but the items in his possession did not have this convenience; others could indirectly locate him through them.

While he had ways to create similar anti-divination and anti-channeling effects, they required rituals and were not only cumbersome but also time-sensitive and not portable...

With this "Bloodstained Jewelry Box," he could at least store some items that wouldn't attract the interest of demigods, isolating them from others' covetous gazes.

For instance, yesterday when he encountered the "Black Serpent" in the sewer, he only dared to pick up the "Confession" because the revolver was privately purchased by the "Black Serpent." Few knew about it, let alone understood it, making it very difficult to divine in the absence of sufficient preconditions; after all, not everyone had a "hook" like Klein. That's why Ebner dared to take the "Confession."

However, the extraordinary characteristic of the "Black Serpent," which contained remnants of the other's spirit, could easily be divined by someone familiar with the "Black Serpent." Thus, he had to give up...

After the sacrifice of the gold pounds, Ebner placed the jewelry box into his frequently used backpack, disregarding its alleged curse effect.

Come on, he wasn't worried about the curse from that "serial killer" when he was alive; why would he fear the one after it became a box?

At lunch, the off-duty Xio came to mooch food again, and the two enjoyed their meal while discussing their experiences.

After eating, Xio returned home to catch up on sleep, while Ebner transformed into a giant bear and headed to the abandoned prison beneath the embassy to make final preparations for tomorrow's assassination.

Yes, he decided to follow the original storyline and assassinate the ambassador before and after the farewell ball!

After all, if he killed too early, Rosago might not look for Klein again. Then, the "Fool" wouldn't get the potion formula, which would be a minor issue, but if "the World" didn't go online, that would be a big problem...

If he killed too late and failed to receive a response from Rosago, the ambassador, knowing he was heading to kill the detective, might report Sherlock's extraordinary status to the authorities, leaving the "Fool" no choice but to flee.

Thus, since the original timeline was just right, Ebner easily pressed the "button" of the countdown for Beckron's life.

...

In the standalone house rented by Xio and Fors.

Nestled on the sofa reading the latest issue of "Ladies' Aesthetics," Fors heard a noise at the entrance. She stretched her neck to look and saw Xio, somewhat tired but still spirited, walking into the living room.

"You actually didn't come back after an entire night and the whole morning... Is a formal member of the Military Intelligence Section really that busy?" Fors first expressed her surprise, then admired, "You mentioned before that before your father's passing, you wouldn't even get out of bed at home, except for the bathroom, with servants bringing you food and drink..."

"But now you can go out early every day and not come home until night... No, sometimes not even at night! Whether it's pouring rain or heavy fog, it hasn't changed... That's really impressive! I can't do it..."

Xio glanced at Fors and shook her head. "It's just been busier these days... I'm a member of the 'Domestic Security and Counter-espionage Group'; I'm only busy with espionage cases... and those kinds of cases are not very frequent."

"Espionage cases... Oh!" Fors tumbled off the couch, and after getting up, she asked nervously, "Telling me this won't violate any confidentiality regulations, will it?"

Xio thought for a moment and countered, "Would you blurt it out carelessly?"

"I wouldn't," Fors affirmed.

"Then it's fine. I've told Ebner more than this," Xio replied nonchalantly.

Fors fell silent for a moment, then chose to forget the topic and asked, "Miss Audrey wants to meet us at Viscount Grelint's house in the evening. It seems she has another commission... Are you going?"

Xio yawned, initially preparing to take a nap, but upon hearing this, she paused.

Miss "Justice" seems to have received an assassination task at the "Tarot Club"... Is she calling us for this?

Hmm, she probably doesn't expect me and Fors to be able to assassinate Beckron... so that lady probably wants to commission a certain powerful individual through us.

With this thought, a name popped into Xio's mind.

"Mr. A!"

Among the extraordinary individuals, Xio and Fors had interacted with, aside from Ebner, only Mr. A likely possessed the strength to assassinate an ambassador!

Miss Audrey probably doesn't know that Ebner is "Mr. Tower," nor is she aware of his true strength, so the only person she could want to commission is "Mr. A."

Previously, when Xio was a wild extraordinary, she had no idea of Mr. A's background, nor had she asked Ebner about it... so she didn't know how formidable he truly was.

But after becoming a formal member of the Military Intelligence Section, Xio now understood what such letter codes represented... They referred to the divine emissaries of the "Aurora Society"!

Thus, Xio was now reluctant for Fors to make contact with such a dangerous character, and if Miss Audrey did indeed commission "Mr. A," it would likely affect Ebner's assassination plans.

As her thoughts raced, Xio came up with an idea. She feigned difficulty and said to Fors, "I have something to do later; I'm afraid I can't go... um, can you reply to Miss Audrey and ask if she's free on Friday?"

Clearly, Xio's plan was to delay. During lunch, she already knew Ebner planned to make his move tomorrow, on Thursday... and Miss Audrey, unaware of this, might agree to meet on Friday.

Fors didn't think much of it; primarily, if Xio wasn't going, she didn't want to go out either. Also, it seemed that Miss Audrey's commission wasn't urgent, so she nodded, saying, "I'll have someone send a letter to Viscount Grelint right away."

...

At 4 PM, in the Earl Holber mansion.

After sending off the viscount's servant, who was delivering the letter, Audrey murmured to herself, "Xio and Fors have been so busy lately that they're even passing up opportunities to make money... but Friday should be fine. 'Mr. Tower' has begun preparations but won't act rashly for a while... and Beckron won't officially leave for Intis until next week, so there's still plenty of time.

"And even if 'Mr. Tower' makes a move first, I'll have contributed..."

As Audrey thought, her eyes gradually brightened.

She stood up, walked to the door, and teased the golden retriever lying lazily outside, "Susi, you're not being very ladylike."

Susi looked around warily, sniffed, then replied, "That's the most standard posture for hunting dog training."

But you're not a hunting dog...

Just as Audrey was about to continue discussing "breeds" with Susi, a thick gray mist suddenly enveloped her, and a figure loomed over her from an ancient chair, looking down and speaking in a deep voice.

After a moment, having listened to the words of "Mr. Fool," Audrey let out a sigh of relief and began humming a cheerful tune.

2000... to give to "Mr. Fool" for the activities of his followers... That way, I've finally paid off a portion of the debt to that "follower"... I feel so much lighter...

Audrey thought, her dimples showing slightly.

Her accumulated annual fund balance that hadn't yet been invested, along with the remaining bounty, amounted to around 13,000 pounds, but using too much at once would certainly attract the attention of Earl Holber and might even lead to an investigation by Bavarte Bank... But a mere 2000 pounds is just a month's pocket money; it's completely manageable.

...

In Duke Nigen's mansion, the capable blonde secretary frowned after hearing the report from her trusted subordinate, thinking, "Miss Audrey took out 2000 pounds and then kept it at home? What's wrong with her? Counting money before bed will make her happy?"

...

At the same time, Klein, who received the 2000 pounds, was seriously counting the banknotes that smelled of ink, his expression quite pleased.

(End of chapter)