Queen's District, beside Viscount
Dressed in black, Fors and Xio were hiding together in a dark corner, staring at the closed iron gate, patiently waiting for the target to appear.
It hadn't rained tonight, so they didn't have to face too tough an environment, and the carriage parked at the edge of the lamplight made them understand that a harvest would surely come—only a matter of sooner or later.
After an unknown amount of time, the iron gate let out a metallic scraping sound and slowly swung open.
A figure in a deep black cloak darted out from inside, head lowered, walked to the hired carriage, and lightly climbed aboard.
"Is it her?" Fors asked in a low voice, turning to Xio beside her.
She had no Beyonder power to reconstruct the target's appearance from a description, nor had she seen the target before, so she couldn't rely on her spirituality intuition or "Astrology" to make a judgment.
Xio nodded firmly.
"Right!"
While they were conversing in low voices, the hired carriage gradually picked up speed and drove away from the side gate area.
Xio immediately left the hiding corner, intending to rely on her "Bailiff" Beyonder power and the physical enhancement from "Interrogator" to trail the target at a jog from a distance.
"What are you going to do?" At that moment, Fors grabbed her shoulder, ruining her plan.
"Follow her!" Xio looked back at her friend in confusion.
Fors glanced at the carriage that hadn't fully distanced itself yet and asked thoughtfully: "What is the purpose of following her?
"Besides, didn't you say that after the target enters the
"Right," Xio answered the latter question first, then said, "Your question is strange. Following her is of course to confirm her appearance, identity, origin, and purpose."
Fors withdrew her left hand from Xio's shoulder and said with a slight smile: "Since the target has such a powerful Beyonder protecting her, it'll be hard for us to complete the tail in the Backlund Bridge area. We won't be able to find her residence or figure out her real identity. Do you want to directly confront that protector? Even with my help, have you confirmed the opponent's strength? How sure are you? Wouldn't it be too dangerous?
"Moreover, if a fight breaks out, the target will inevitably be alarmed. That's the same as intercepting the carriage on the way and questioning her face to face. It would ruin your fundamental intention, make Viscount Stratford wary, and prevent him from falling into a predicament that gives you an opening."
"If we act, there's a chance of failure. If we don't, failure is certain." Xio stressed that she understood the difficulty, but just wanted to try again and look for opportunities along the way.
At this point, the hired carriage had already turned the corner at the end of the street and entered the main avenue. Fors watched its silhouette gradually disappear, shook her head, and laughed: "No, no, no. What we need is a change of mindset!
"We should first try to figure out the target's appearance. Then, when dawn comes, we can use her looks to conduct regular investigations in the Backlund Bridge area and gather intelligence from other channels."
"You talk like a professional..." Xio said as she thought.
"Of course, I'm someone who's written detective novels!" Fors replied without a trace of modesty.
"But how can we figure out her appearance without alarming her?" Xio raised the most crucial question.
As if prepared, Fors took out "Leamano's Travel Notes" and said with a smile: "Simple! Use the 'Psychology Invisibility' recorded by Miss 'Justice'!"
— Miss Justice (Audrey), although she hadn't had much opportunity to use "Leamano's Travel Notes," had still rented it two or three times out of curiosity, studying the functions and characteristics of the different Beyonder powers, and had recorded some of her own abilities in it, including the very practical "Psychology Invisibility."
As for the question of her true identity, Xio and Fors were becoming more and more certain, but they hadn't asked openly nor conducted further investigation—that was basic respect for a
Hearing her friend's answer, Xio's thoughts cleared up, and she immediately had several inspirations.
Fors then continued on her own: "When you use this page's Beyonder power, you will enter the sensory blind spot of all surrounding creatures. Even if you wave in front of their eyes, they won't see you. This way, you can directly board the carriage, walk up to the target, look at her face openly and calmly, and remember all the features.
"Hehe, sometimes I think: a person using Psychology Invisibility might, if they're unlucky, get stepped on and crushed by some large creature passing by.
"Uh, don't make too much noise or speak to any creatures around, that will draw attention and cause Psychology Invisibility to automatically dispel."
"Mhm!" Xio nodded and then raised another difficulty: "How do we make sure the target doesn't notice the carriage door suddenly opening while in motion?"
Without waiting for Fors to answer, she pressed on: "Do you have the Beyonder power 'Open' recorded?"
"What do you think?" Fors smiled and handed "Leamano's Travel Notes" to her friend, indicating which pages held "Psychology Invisibility" and "Open."
After firmly memorizing that, Xio immediately ran along the shadows on both sides of the road, chasing after the hired carriage.
Before long, she spotted the target. She gently shook her right hand, causing the copper-green notebook to display a page of yellowish-brown parchment.
As her fingers lightly brushed over it, Xio seemed to see countless sparkles emerge on the surface of a deep lake, spreading in all directions.
When her vision returned to normal, she quickened her pace and soon caught up to the moving carriage.
To confirm, Xio didn't act directly but took several big strides, overtaking the horses.
She then turned around, as if to cross the road, but the driver noticed nothing—neither shouting a warning nor pulling on the reins.
Having confirmed the effectiveness of Psychology Invisibility, Xio accelerated, dodged the horses, and arrived at the side of the carriage.
After a brief observation, she flipped through "Leamano's Travel Notes," revealing a page of white paper covered in strange patterns and symbols, then reached out with her right hand and pressed it against the carriage wall.
Her figure instantly turned transparent, and she appeared inside the carriage.
The woman in the deep black cloak was sitting diagonally opposite, seemingly lost in thought as she looked out the window on Xio's side, but she ignored the bounty hunter who had suddenly barged in.
At such close distance, even though her cloak was pulled low, Xio could roughly make out her face. Moreover, the woman wasn't as cautious as when walking outside; her movements were quite casual, so the cloak had ridden up to the level of her eyes.