After resolving the issue with the "Tarot Club," Angel had no intention of staying at the "Carrion Bird Tavern." She hastily bid farewell to "Justice" and her bodyguard, then left the trade market.
The master and servant pair seemed to have other transactions to make. As Angel descended the stairs, she saw the two of them walking towards the message board again.
Come to think of it, the "seer" potion requires more than just stardust crystals as ingredients. Lava octopus blood is also one of the essential main materials. Other auxiliary ingredients are easy to obtain—if not sold in the trade market, most can still be bought at regular herbal shops.
The 5 milliliters of octopus blood previously written on the blackboard seemed to have already been purchased by her. But if this "Miss Justice" had already acquired all the necessary lava octopus blood and also bought stardust crystals, she would have gone back immediately to prepare the potion, not continued lingering in the trade market.
It seems that on her path to becoming a Beyonder, a lava octopus still stands in her way...
Compared to "Justice," who was pursuing the potion at high cost, Angel was actually more interested in the unnamed bodyguard beside her.
From their brief contact earlier, she suspected that he was very likely a Beyonder.
Unfortunately, Beyonders cannot be identified by appearance. Even when using spiritual vision, they only appear slightly healthier and stronger than ordinary people—something a normal person could achieve with training.
Unless they engage in combat and you see them use supernatural abilities, it is hard to distinguish them from ordinary people.
This is also why that clerical worker from "Heart of Mechanics" was only discovered to have secretly taken a Sequence 8 potion after his teammates found out.
But if this bodyguard is a Beyonder, why would he become a subordinate to an underage girl? For lack of money? To fulfill a promise? Or perhaps...
As she walked out of the "Carrion Bird," she was imagining a grand story in her mind.
———
Carrying dinner that doubled as a midnight snack, Angel pushed open the front door of "The Silver Bullet" and immediately saw the team leader of the Enmat Harbor squad, Clement, tidying his trench coat while heading toward the exit.
Seeing him geared up, Angel curiously asked:
"Captain Clement, are you going out on patrol?"
"Patrol? There's no such leisure anymore. I'm going to relieve my teammates who have been on surveillance all day without even time to eat."
Clement answered with a face full of fatigue—a rare sight for Beyonders on the "Sleepless" path.
It seems the Beckland squad's delay turned this joint operation into a war of attrition, worsening the already strained manpower of the Enmat Harbor squad. Even the captain had to go out in the middle of the night, no wonder hardly any people had been seen in the Sleepless' base all day.
Angel stepped aside from the door. Clement brushed past her and left "The Silver Bullet" on foot, destination unknown.
With the door shut, Angel looked around the first-floor hall and found that only she and Dely Simone, sitting in a corner, remained. Most of the Sleepless on duty were likely drafted as reinforcements.
At this moment, she felt somewhat lucky that she was an "Assassin" and not a "Sleepless."
"Did they catch that 'Heart of Mechanics' member?"
Placing the dinner she bought onto the coffee table, Angel sat across from Dely and picked up the coffee pot to shake it—it still had some coffee inside, though cold.
"Unfortunately, no."
Dely had originally been resting with her eyes closed. As one of the few non-Sleepless in the team, she was tasked with guarding the base when her teammates went out on missions. Plus, having helped in capturing the traitor from "Heart of Mechanics," fatigue was written all over her face.
Hearing the question, she opened her eyes. Angel then noticed the blush and eyeshadow that seemed like part of Dely's face had at some point been washed off, revealing fair skin.
"The 'Heart of Mechanics' used a sealed artifact capable of locating a specific target through divination. Unfortunately, Tomatz used some form of anti-divination technique, causing the divinations since yesterday to all fail. It wasn't until this afternoon that the interference was broken."
Taking the cold coffee Angel poured her, Dely took a sip and continued:
"The location was in our Sleepless jurisdiction—in an apartment on Plank Street. I think they initially wanted to handle it privately. After all, having an active-duty member turn traitor and kill two teammates isn't exactly something to brag about. But the divination was quickly disrupted again. With unclear circumstances and insufficient manpower, they had no choice but to ask the 'Sleepless' to cooperate and conduct a joint capture."
"Anti-divination? What kind of Beyonder path is this fugitive on?"
Angel had previously learned from Old Neil about anti-divination's significance while he was divining a wanted target. According to him, only mid-sequence Beyonders—especially from paths proficient in divination—could use such techniques.
"They don't know either. The two teammates he killed were shot in the back and died on the spot—regular revolver bullets. There were no other signs of damage at the scene, making it hard to determine his path. That's also why 'Heart of Mechanics' even brought members equipped with automatic weapons—they feared facing a mid-sequence Beyonder."
"Unfortunately, even fully armed, the 'Heart of Mechanics' still came up empty-handed. The target was not only skilled in anti-divination but probably quite good at divination himself. He sensed the capture attempt in advance and fled before we arrived. What a pity."
Dely showed no trace of regret—instead, she seemed to be enjoying the drama.
"The apartment was purchased by Tomatz long ago and used as a secret base. We found a lot of privately stashed mystical materials and weapons inside—probably embezzled from his job. Herman—the 'Heart of Mechanics' member you met today—believes the two killed teammates were trying to confront Tomatz over these stashes and were silenced."
"Too bad, after all this today, even if Tomatz were an idiot, he wouldn't stay in Enmat Harbor. If he moves fast and finds a ship willing to set sail at night, he could arrive at Pritz Harbor by tomorrow morning."
The last wanted fugitive who was expected to flee Tingen overnight ended up dying in Tingen...
Angel thought of the "Assassin" she killed while retrieving the Antigonus Notes. She neither agreed nor disagreed with Dely's judgment, since the matter didn't concern her much. Seeing Dely was growing sleepy, she didn't argue.
The two shared the dinner Angel had brought back—a roasted Dixie fish—and, with its sauce, gnawed on some Intis long bread that was as hard as a stick. It wasn't until the Sleepless on duty returned, having been relieved by Clement, that a drowsy Dely said goodbye to Angel and left "The Silver Bullet."
———
Handing a 1-soule banknote to the coachman, Angel jumped off the carriage.
It was already the next morning. When the sun should be shining brightly, a dark cloud blown in from the sea covered most of the sky above Enmat Harbor, casting the city in gloom. Yet the distant sea, bathed in sunlight, presented a stunning scene through the Tyndall effect caused by the mist.
Perhaps this is one reason why Enmat Harbor, despite its coastline being covered in oil and garbage, still attracts many tourists...
Angel glanced at the coastline with disinterest and then looked away. She had too many tasks today to admire the distant view.
Early that morning, the sleep-deprived Captain Clement returned and announced a piece of news that made everyone both glad and worried:
The Beckland squad had confirmed they would arrive in Enmat Harbor tomorrow—Sunday—at noon. The long-awaited operation would begin that night.
Apart from Dely, who was already overworked, the other Sleepless were all excited. But upon hearing that, to prevent the target from fleeing prematurely, they still needed to monitor several locations, even the usually energetic Sleepless—who only needed three or four hours of sleep per day—had their smiles replaced with anxiety.
Fortunately, there were enough Sleepless to fully cover the shifts through careful scheduling. As a rare path and unlike the Sleepless, Angel couldn't stay up all night without losing combat effectiveness. She only needed to stay inside "The Silver Bullet" during her scheduled duty time, just like Dely.
She was assigned to the night shift today, while another "Corpse Collector" would be on duty during the day. So she could use her last bit of free time to finish some tasks.
In the afternoon, she planned to reach out to that Beyonder who left a message in the trade market. If possible, she would buy the main ingredient for the "Instigator" potion.
A main ingredient for a Sequence 8 potion costs between 200 to 300 pounds. The potion formula itself goes for around 400 pounds. Fortunately, Angel already knew the formulas up to Sequence 7 of the "Assassin" path, so she only needed to buy materials.
To ensure she could get at least one main ingredient, she sold all her "stardust crystals" yesterday. Now carrying over 400 pounds in cash, as long as the other party didn't raise the price absurdly, it should be enough.
But before heading to the "Carrion Bird" for trading, Angel planned to visit "Kavi's Watch Shop."
Yesterday's appraisal of "Bloodthirst" revealed that the craftsman Kavi truly lived up to his reputation and the praise of the "Hanged Man."
She wondered whether this craftsman could take on the task of crafting a new type of weapon...
Angel had many weapon designs in her head that surpassed revolvers, but lacking the skill to build them, she kept the idea buried. Now, having met the craftsman, her restless heart stirred once more.
It was now 9 a.m. As the thunderous chimes of the "Church of Steam and Machinery," driven by gears and linkages, rang out, Angel returned to the unremarkable door of "Kavi's Watch Shop."
The glass door, still unwiped, was half open.
Good luck—seems the shop doesn't close on weekends.
Angel's anxious heart settled. She reached out and knocked. Without waiting for a response, she pushed the door open and walked in.
The gas lamps inside were unlit. In the dim environment, the old man whom she had previously mistaken for Kavi lay face-down in the narrow passage, a dark red pool of blood spreading where his face touched the floor. A short-barreled shotgun had been flung far away.
Craftsman Kavi clutched his bleeding left shoulder, kneeling on the ground. There were red finger marks on his neck from being choked, and the barrel of a brass revolver—extended at the muzzle—was pressed to his forehead.
The handgun's owner stood in front of Kavi, revolver in his right hand, a pocket watch in his left. Hearing the door open, the man in a long coat and newsboy cap slightly tilted his head, his gaze beneath thick-rimmed glasses shifting toward the entrance.