By the time Xialuote returned to the Suolun residence, the sky had already darkened. In her bedroom her personal maid removed her tricorn, untied her neckcloth, and took off the short hunting jacket, already worn in several places. Once she had changed into a loose, soft housedress, she made the excuse that she wished to be alone, sent Laila away, and pitched forward, throwing herself onto the bed with its velvet quilt.
She did not want to move at all. She might as well skip supper and sleep straight through to the next day... She buried her face in the pillow, breathing in the faint scent of lavender on it. The bad habit that had once belonged to a corporate drudge surfaced again, and the day felt so long it was as if she had worked overtime from early morning all the way into the deep of night.
But calling it overtime really wasn't wrong. She, who ought to have been enjoying the pleasure of the hunt, had first fought an Extraordinary who had lost control beside Count Fulaisi's hunting ground, and had nearly taken that dark-green ray full in the face. Right after that she had to face the Purifier squad that came hurrying over, and explain why she and Luosaier had appeared by the stream, and which things Luosaier had learned that he ought not to have known. When she finally got back to camp, she still had to face Lawuer's countenance, so overcast it looked as if water might drip from it.
To cover up the extraordinary incident, she could only force herself to say that she and Luosaier had talked in the grove, their conversation running from the printing plant all the way to Baifeng Palace; that along the way they had unexpectedly come upon a frightened deer; and that Luosaier had fired to protect her. Only then had the count's servants been drawn over, to the embarrassment of several other couples hidden in the woods.
Of course, she stressed that she and Luosaier were different from those young nobles whose tastes ran only to the vulgar. What they had discussed was the noble enterprise of how to make money. But Lawuer clearly did not believe all of it. Suspicion flickered in his eyes, and who knew what he was imagining to himself. Only because the hunt was not yet over had he refrained from making a scene on the spot.
Talked for a long time with a young man in the grove... startled by a wild deer, and a gun even fired... If this were my daughter, I would break both her legs... Eyes closed, Xialuote turned it over, and could not help giving a shake to the two legs that were still intact.
Worse still, after a full day of hunting and of exchanging pleasantries with other noblemen her own age, Xialuote, back in Suxite, still could not rest at once. She went again to Saint Luoke Cathedral, and in the room where she had met Weiyefu—the one with the Sun Holy Emblem and the stained glass—she submitted a report to the Purifier on administrative duty that day, setting out in detail everything that had happened by the stream, how the one who had lost control had manifested his abilities, and Luosaier's situation as a person in the know.
That she had held out until now before collapsing onto the bed was probably because she was already a Sequence 9 Extraordinary. The potion had improved both her stamina and her recovery by a good deal.
Fortunately, the matter was over for the time being. What she ought to do as a peripheral member among the official Extraordinaries was done. What followed would be handled by the Church's own people. Luosaier would think for a while, and then decide whether he truly meant to step into the world of mysticism.
And he was a little luckier than Xialuote. Because Baron Gusitafu believed in the God of Craftsmen, and Luosaier was likewise a shallow believer in this orthodox god, the Craftsman Church's Machinery Heart had room to step in.
By the agreement of the two great Churches, extraordinary incidents within Suxite were generally divided by district among the two great Churches and the military. Saint Luoke District, Bo'ersi District, and the Old City were mostly the responsibility of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. Xiakelusi District and the Dock District belonged to the Machinery Heart of the Craftsman Church. The suburban military district where Anaibao lay was under the military's own jurisdiction. As for the countryside and villages still farther out, if trouble arose it was usually resolved by whichever official Extraordinary was nearest and the first to receive word.
But if the incident itself involved the faith or family background of those concerned, it would afterward be handed over and handled in cooperation.
Luosaier was precisely caught in this awkward position. The fight had taken place at the hunting ground east of Suxite, and the Purifier squad stationed at the Saint Luoke church had been the first to arrive. Yet he himself was a believer in the God of Craftsmen, and the Gusitafu family had always maintained good relations with the Craftsman Church. So if he decided to go deeper into the extraordinary world, he would very likely face two choices in the end: become a peripheral member of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, or deepen his original faith and let the Machinery Heart handle him.
Of course, changing one's faith was not impossible. But the great majority of believers in the orthodox gods, in this age, would not do so lightly.
Xialuote guessed that if Luosaier truly decided to step into the extraordinary world, he would in all likelihood choose the Machinery Heart, and she could not help feeling a little disappointed. She certainly hoped that this young man—who likewise had so many strange ideas, and with whom she had already been through danger—might become her colleague. Still, between official Extraordinaries, cooperation in the end outweighed opposition. Even if they belonged to different departments, there would be chances to work together.
Their common enemies were the evil cult, dangerous extraordinary creatures, and... Extraordinaries who had lost control.
At that thought, the expression that had just relaxed a little darkened again.
From the captain of the Purifier squad that had arrived, she learned that the six-eyed monster they had met today had originally been a wild Extraordinary of the Mystery Pryer pathway. He had once registered with the Machinery Heart and accepted observation, counting as half a peripheral collaborator. But for reasons unknown, this Mystery Pryer had suddenly lost control a week ago, killed several people, and then vanished. The Machinery Heart had been hunting him as well. They simply had not expected him to flee to the vicinity of Count Fulaisi's hunting ground, and then, in hunger and madness, to attack a servant of the grounds.
If the thing had not happened to cross their path, and if Luosaier had not fired and drawn the Purifiers already patrolling nearby on the strength of their clues, then perhaps, after eating that poor servant, it would have gone on fleeing toward remote villages and caused still greater destruction.
In the booklet Weiyefu had given her, Xialuote had read descriptions of Extraordinaries who lost control. Some underwent a great change of temperament, turning cold and obsessive, though nothing necessarily showed in their appearance. Some died on the spot in all manner of strange forms, becoming dangerous remains that had to be sealed away. But more of them went utterly mad, as today's monster had, their bodies markedly distorted and their power all the stronger.
Yet the shock of words on a page and the shock of seeing it with one's own eyes were entirely different.
According to what that captain had told her, among the wild Extraordinaries on the Church's records, nearly one in three in the end lost control or died in some anomalous incident, for lack of guidance, from abusing their power, or from frequent contact with mistaken rituals and corrupted items. Even among official Extraordinaries, every region each year had records of corruption, of madness, of uncanny deaths, and of disappearances in the course of missions. A considerable share of these came not from any outside cause, but from loss of control over their own power.
The power of a potion was not without its cost... Xialuote turned over and gazed at the fine, dense embroidery on the bed canopy above her, her mood complicated for a moment.
For this reason, if Luosaier ultimately chose to return to an ordinary life, Xialuote could understand completely. Unlike her, he had not been targeted by the evil cult, nor did he have any urgent need of power in order to find a way back to Earth. He could perfectly well go on as a carefree young nobleman, run the printing plant, found a small newspaper, and make his way in the world by his own effort and his father's help.
But Xialuote could not. She had already drunk the potion. She had already become a peripheral member among the official Extraordinaries, and she was still the "sacrificial offering" coveted by the evil cult hiding in the dark. Aside from going on fighting, she had no other choice.
At the thought of fighting, she could not help reviewing her own performance that day.
After becoming an Arbiter, her strength, speed, reactions, and command of her body had indeed been markedly strengthened. Her spirituality could also give a vague warning when danger drew near, so that she reacted a step ahead of any rational choice. And because this sequence excelled at close combat, in a fight the warning of her spirituality was far stronger than when she let her mind relax in ordinary times.
But these powers had clear boundaries as well. Facing that Extraordinary who had lost control, she still had no real certainty of winning.
That thing was said to be only a Sequence 9 Mystery Pryer. Yet if I had faced it alone, I would not have had the slightest chance... A ray that could wither trees in a single strike and send cobbles flying every which way looked, no matter how one saw it, much more like an extraordinary ability only a middle sequence would possess. Perhaps, just as the Purifiers guessed, it had suffered some other corruption while losing control, or had come into contact with some still more dangerous existence... To use a real fight to feel out the boundaries of one's own abilities, and not yet pay a grievous price—that already counted as luck... Thoughts kept turning through Xialuote's mind. She let out a soft breath and rolled over once more, lying prone on the bed.
She had meant to stay like that, staring blankly until supper, but she suddenly remembered another detail from the fight.
Why, in the end, had that dark-green ray—which ought to have struck her—deflected?
By then she had already lost her balance. There had been nowhere for her body to dodge. Yet the monster's head had seemed tugged by some invisible force, and right after that she had heard, when the ray struck on the far side of the stream, the extremely faint sound of glass breaking.
She had formed a guess at the time, but because the Purifiers arrived immediately afterward, she had not confirmed it any further.
Now, though, was a rather good chance... Xialuote climbed off the bed and stood in the center of the room, looking all around.
The bedroom was very quiet. Laila had already been sent away. The fireplace was unlit, the curtains were half open, and the last light of dusk fell through the glass onto the carpet and the dressing table.
She hesitated, then lowered her voice and asked, testing:
"Lady Hengli'aite, are you there?"
There was no answer in the room.
Xialuote held her breath and waited several seconds. Aside from the sound of her own slightly tense heartbeat, she heard nothing.
Did I guess wrong? But among the Extraordinaries I know, only she can hide her form, and she likes to follow me... No. I hardly know any Extraordinaries to begin with... Somewhat disappointed, she lowered her eyes. She was just about to drop back onto the bed when her gaze happened to sweep across the mirror on the dressing table.
The glass showed her slightly tousled long hair, her loose housedress, and a face that looked rather downcast from fatigue and disappointment.
And behind her, in the bedroom that had been empty of anyone else, a blurred shadow was emerging little by little.
The shadow gradually grew clear, tracing out a familiar outline, bearing, and face. It was Hengli'aite, who had appeared once two weeks before, and after that had vanished without a trace.
Chapter 29