Chapter 48: So You’re Also a Lawyer!

"Hilston District, huh? That's not too far from the Queen's District."

The count frowned deeply. The safest area in Backlund was undoubtedly the North District, where the headquarters of the Church of the EverNight Goddess was located. Next came the Queen's District and the West District, where nobles and top wealthy merchants gathered. Most of the NightHawks patrolled these areas, making them the safest.

For example, the Hall family even had a team of NightHawks sent specifically to protect them. So under normal circumstances, no criminal would dare to commit a crime here. If they really wanted to kill someone, the East District would be the best place—it had the worst law and order in Backlund and the laxest supervision. They could even kill someone there without being discovered.

But a Sequence 7 criminal, especially one who was clearly deranged and daring enough to kill in the Hilston District, might take the risk of committing a crime in the Queen's District as well. Hence, it was now the most dangerous. Besides the NightHawks, young and beautiful noble ladies like Audrey were at the greatest risk.

"Audrey."

The count looked at his daughter.

"I understand, Father," Audrey said seriously, her expression becoming more solemn. "I'll try to avoid going out these days."

"That would be best," the count said earnestly. "Audrey, even though you are already a Beyonder, being just a Sequence 9 does not give you enough power to protect yourself."

"Indeed," Audrey thought, having already guessed the answer from Ashes' hints. She asked quietly, "You already knew, didn't you?"

"You took so many Beyonder materials from the treasury. Did you really think your father and I wouldn't notice?" The countess covered her mouth with a light laugh. Even as a Beyonder, Audrey was still her innocent and adorable little angel.

"Is that why you invited Mr. Lover here?" Audrey silently speculated. Recently, her frequent contact with Mr. Lover had made her parents mistakenly believe that he provided her with the potion formula. So they invited him to their home to test if he had any ulterior motives?

Well, from the looks of it, their relationship seemed amicable, so had Mr. Lover passed the test? Thinking this, Audrey glanced at Ashes out of the corner of her eye. His expression remained normal, showing no unusual signs, which made Audrey heave a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, Mr. Lover," Audrey thought to herself. "The spectator formula wasn't given by Ashes, nor did he 'tempt' me onto the path of the Beyonder." But from the current situation, it was clear that Count Hall had misunderstood something.

Count Hall noticed Audrey's discreet glance at Ashes and exchanged a knowing look with Lady Caitlin. They both confirmed their suspicions.

"It's hard to keep a grown daughter," the count sighed inwardly. Was she worried he would hold Ashes accountable? Initially, he had such thoughts, but seeing the current situation, wouldn't he be breaking up a pair of lovebirds? That wouldn't do. He didn't want to be resented by his beloved daughter.

"No need to be too tense," the count said with a smile. "If you want to attend those parties or salons, you can. But you must not go out alone anymore. At least have other Beyonders protecting you."

Audrey nodded silently. She hadn't been going out alone before either—there were the coachman and Annie—but they weren't Beyonders, so she was still 'alone'.

But bodyguards?

"Father," Audrey asked curiously, "do we have many Beyonder bodyguards at home?"

"Not many," the count said after a brief pause. "Just a dozen or so. Among them, a team of three are Beyonders from the Church of the EverNight Goddess. The rest are either family-trained or simply hired."

"But," Audrey glanced at Ashes, then said softly, "aren't these wild Beyonders?"

Saying you have a dozen wild Beyonders in front of an official Beyonder—was this really okay?

"Don't worry," Ashes noticed Audrey's concern and shook his head. "These are all tacitly approved. Most nobles in Backlund privately hire some Beyonder for their safety. It's an unwritten rule allowed by the church."

"It's not exactly tacit approval," the countess interjected, somewhat complaining. "We donate a significant amount of gold pounds to the church every year for these Beyonders."

Audrey opened her mouth, her expression turning strangely. Wasn't it said that official and wild Beyonders were irreconcilable? So this was actually another unwritten rule?

"Count Hall," Ashes suddenly asked, "may I ask which Sequence pathways the Hall family uses to cultivate Beyonders?"

The count was momentarily stunned but then nodded. "There's nothing to hide. The Hall family possesses two Sequence pathways: Arbiter and Lawyer, though they only go up to Sequence 6."

Pausing, the count added with some helplessness, "It's a pity you've already chosen your pathways. These two pathways I have won't be of much help to you."

"Lawyer?" Ashes' eyes flickered, instinctively glancing at Audrey. And at this moment, Miss Audrey, as if sensing something, also looked at Ashes.

"Father," Audrey carefully chose her words, "may I ask where these two Sequence pathways came from?"

"From the royal family, of course," the count said matter-of-factly. "Most of the pathways held by Ruen Kingdom's nobility come from the royal family. They're bought from the royal family."

The count smiled, "This is also part of the rules. Even if the church allows us to cultivate Beyonders privately, the royal family wouldn't allow it otherwise."

He hadn't wanted Audrey to get involved in these matters, but since she had become an Beyonder and they had laid their cards on the table, it was necessary for Audrey to understand more about the hidden aspects of the mysterious world to avoid unnecessary detours.

To cultivate Beyonders privately without being held accountable by the church, they had to donate to the church annually. The church also sent a team of NightHawks, both to protect and to supervise their Beyonders, to prevent them from losing control, for instance.

And to get the royal family's tacit approval, they had to purchase potion formulas and materials from the royal family. The royal family profited from this and monopolized the higher-sequence potion formulas. Thus, the royal family only sold potion formulas up to Sequence 6. If the nobles wanted their Beyonders to advance further, they had to either pay a greater price or have these Beyonders serve the royal family to exchange 'contributions' for potions.

In the end, it was all just a transaction.

(Chapter End)

50 Power stones = Extra Chapter