In the bedroom lit only by moonlight, the tip of a quill scratched across the paper, slow and forceful. Now and then it paused a moment, and then the scratching rose again.
"I lie in bed tossing and turning. My head is full of everything that happened today, all the old affairs of Earth in my memory, and my worries and hopes for the future.
"I know, really, that what I must do now is be cautious, and cautious again. The corpse downstairs has only just been taken away by the nearby security commissioner and people from the Church. I don't know whether the blood was wiped clean. As one of the people involved, I might well be questioned tomorrow. Any suspicious move will draw suspicion.
"But I truly could not hold it in any longer. There is no one who can listen while I unburden myself. I can only write these thoughts down and get certain things out, or I definitely will not sleep well!
"Anyway, I am using Simplified Chinese. Judging by the memories in this body, this world has no other transmigrators, and the locals all use an alphabetic script."
Having written this far, Luosaier felt his way to the window again and cautiously peered outside. Below, the corpse, the bloodstains, and the shards of the vase had all been cleared away. A servant stood guard beside the front gate with a flintlock rifle in his arms. His head kept drooping, and he had not noticed the movement upstairs behind him at all.
Luosaier glanced up at the red full moon hanging high in the night sky, returned to the desk, and went on:
"There is one more thing I can be sure of. This world is definitely not Earth. Not only do none of those country names in the memories exist in history at all, but even the moon in the sky is red, and unusually round, unusually large.
"The language and writing they use are things I have never heard of. Fortunately, I inherited Luosaier's memories and learning, so I will not turn into a fool who cannot even speak the Yindisi language, or read a single word.
"Right. I am now Luosaier Gusitafu, son of Baron Gusitafu of Suxite in Yindisi. But I will never forget my true name.
"Huang Tao.
"Having written the diary this far, I ought to start analyzing why I transmigrated to this world that resembles ancient Europe. But to tell the truth, I have no very deep memory of that short stretch of time before the transmigration, and the most crucial stretch is missing from Luosaier's memories as well.
"What left the deepest impression on me was, instead, another thing that happened tonight: the young lady of the Suolun household who was being hunted fled to my home and, with Baron Gusitafu's help, successfully killed her pursuer in return.
"Right. I ought to be calling him Father now. I have to get used to that.
"I have to say, that young lady was truly beautiful. Set her in the twenty-first century, and she might well have become a great star. She even blushed as she paid her respects to me. A pity my memories had not fully returned then. My reaction must have been very foolish, and I failed to leave her with a good impression.
"No matter. My playing the hero who saves the beauty ought to raise her favor quite a bit, and since we are both nobles, there will be many chances to meet later... Most important of all, I, Huang Tao · Luosaier · Gusitafu, an internet youth of the new century, am not short of advanced knowledge and technology in my head. This backward world will be the stage where I can truly show what I can do. Everyone, Xialuote Suolun included, will look at me with new eyes!
"Once I come up with some earthshaking inventions and lead the trends of the age, will I still need to worry about failing to max out the favor of the people around me? This game is simply easy mode for me.
"No. I have to write down what I still remember first, or I will forget it in a few days. This world has no search engine..."
The writing stopped there. The quill in Luosaier's hand dipped into the ink again and again, and again and again halted in midair, until the ink dripped and stained the blank space below with an ugly blot.
A moment later, without waiting for the ink to dry, he closed the notebook, stuffed it into the drawer beneath the desk, leaned his whole weight back in the chair, and let out a sigh.
"...What respectable person writes a diary?"
He muttered it softly in Chinese.
————
"Turn myself in?"
Xialuote repeated the words and nearly let a sneer show. She held it back at the last moment.
She had been acting in self-defense. If it was finally confirmed that Aidian was connected to the murder case in the Old City, she and the Gusitafu father and son might even receive a bounty!
But on second thought, Hengli'aite, who knew the whole course of events, could not be offering a useless suggestion. Set beside everything earlier about mysticism and Extraordinaries, Xialuote quickly understood what the other meant.
Hengli meant for her to go to the Church of her own accord and confess how she had been drawn into an Extraordinary incident, use the Church to find the source of the power that had plunged her into ill fortune, and have them protect her in whatever danger might follow.
But did the Church truly have the ability, and the will, to do that?
In those memories, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, which Lawuer Suolun's family believed in, was not a religion famous for mercy. The clergy in ordinary churches were still all right, but the notorious Inquisition had always made the common people fear it. No one knew how many heretics and people of other faiths it had seized, and they were only ever seen going in, never coming out.
Nobles usually did not have to worry about being taken in. But once she knew that the Church commanded Extraordinary power and had quite a few Extraordinaries within it, Xialuote gained another layer of private worry beyond these rumors.
What if the Church discovered that she was a transmigrator, a soul from another world occupying the original body of Xialuote Suolun? What then?
Would she be accused of possession by an evil spirit and sent straight to the stake?
At that thought, before Hengli could explain, she asked again:
"If you take me away, can you make sure the power behind Aidian cannot find me?"
She had inherited this body's memories, and could even feel the trust and attachment toward her father that still lingered in it, but Xialuote did not actually have much feeling of her own for the Suolun family. If cutting off contact with her kin and leaving Suxite under a hidden name could solve most of the troubles she already had, she would not hesitate for long.
Seeing the young lady before her look more and more resolute, Hengli seemed to guess her thoughts. She gave a light laugh and said:
"You look as if you cannot wait to leave your family. A pity that even I cannot guarantee your safety. Even if you go far from this city and use anti-divination to hide every clue, you might still be found, or one day die before my eyes in a way no one could have thought of."
So uncanny... Or was it that, because Extraordinary power was involved, even Hengli, an Extraordinary herself, was not very willing to step in? Xialuote stared at the other’s face, which wore a smile even as the eyes stayed perfectly calm, and for a moment could not tell what thought hid behind the smile. She could only go on:
"So confessing everything to the Church is enough to get help?"
"If you go to the nearest church, drop a few coins into the offering box, and attend a Mass, that of course will not do. But every Church has its own armed force of Extraordinaries. They belong to the official establishment and specialize in handling the trouble made by wild Extraordinaries. As long as they take the matter on, the problem you face ought to be solved.
"Of course, if they cannot solve the problem itself, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun might choose to solve the person the problem appeared in."
A chill ran through Xialuote as she listened. Then she saw the corner of Hengli's mouth tilt upward, and realized this was probably only a nasty joke.
So Hengli is inclined to have me seek the Church's help. Then why say so much to me? Wouldn't it have been enough to suggest I "turn myself in" outright? If I casually mentioned her to the Church, it would only add a great deal of trouble for her... Having heard in the other's words that the Church was not very friendly toward "wild Extraordinaries," Xialuote grew still more curious, but then she thought that the problem she herself faced was greater, and at once lost any wish to ask.
Hengli went on to explain:
"Although the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun seizes heretics and is not friendly toward people of other faiths, in this matter you are simply a victim, and you will not be harshly blamed. And you seem to have a great interest in becoming an Extraordinary. This might be an opportunity.
"Of course, that depends on your passing their trial and making a corresponding contribution... On that point, I suggest that when you go to the church, you bring that dagger."
The dagger? Xialuote instinctively looked down at the weapon in her hand, the one she had brought home after killing Aidian. At the mouth of the leather sheath, its edge slightly worn, a short length of blade that had not gone all the way in lay exposed. Under the oil lamp it showed a dark black, the color of blood soaked into it.
Could it be something special?
She looked up again, meaning to ask more closely, only to find that Hengli'aite, who had been standing before her a few seconds ago, was already gone.
That strange ability again... Xialuote frowned, glanced at the tightly locked door and at the floor-to-ceiling window, which had opened a crack at some time she did not know, and shook her head. Once the excitement of meeting Hengli and learning of the world of mysticism had passed, weariness spread through her whole body, and all she wanted was to drop into bed and sleep.
No. That fellow who can turn invisible might still be watching me from the dark. I cannot show a flaw. A noble young lady—what should she be doing at a time like this?
At that thought she gave a start, hastily shoved the dagger, leather sheath and all, into a drawer of the dressing table, went to the door, opened it, and said to the maid waiting outside:
"Is the hot water ready?"
Saying it, and thinking of what she would have to do next, she felt her face grow burning hot.
————
Seeing a light come on in the bathroom window beside the bedroom, Hengli'aite, who had been hiding on the balcony all the while by means of "Invisibility," yawned, lightly vaulted the railing, and drifted down toward the garden behind the mansion as slowly as a feather held up by the wind.
She walked on until she was outside the courtyard wall, laid out a temporary altar with the silver dagger and ritual candle she carried, and recited the incantation for summoning a messenger:
"Spirit that roams the realm above, friendly creature fit to be commanded, messenger belonging solely to Narrator's cousin."
A moment later she looked toward the empty altar, as if something were there that could not be seen under ordinary circumstances, and said:
"Take word to Narrator's cousin. Say that I have found Xialuote Suolun. She is still alive, but her condition is a little strange.
"She appeared in an alley in the Old City, and was then hunted by a 'Lawyer.' In the end she fled to a baron's home and killed her pursuer in turn... Afterward she claimed her memory was somewhat confused. My divination found nothing abnormal either. It was as if she were only an ordinary victim a kidnapper had fixed on. But the kidnapper was an Extraordinary, and not short of money. This course of action must have had some other purpose.
"Although it was somewhat different from what I expected, I still revealed some basic knowledge of mysticism according to plan, talked her out of running away from home, and had her go to the Church for help... I did not use 'Instigation,' so as not to anger those fanatical religious lunatics... I will stay on in Suxite and watch for a while.
"Come back as soon as you have advanced. I cannot wait to see you.
"That is all. Sorry to trouble you."
When she had finished, she dispersed the Wall of Spirituality, watched the candle go out by itself in the wind, and then began to clear the altar away.
————
Luen Kingdom, Kangsidun City, the bedroom of an apartment.
Dragging his weary body, Zhou Mingrui put away the bread that had served as the altar for the "fortune-turning ritual." He could no longer bear the headache, and sat down in a chair to one side.
He massaged his temples a few times, settling his dejected mood, and looked up toward the window.
The Red Moon hung high, like an eye with no pupil, quietly watching him.
For some reason, a wave of fear toward the red moon rose in him. This seemed to be a feeling buried deep in this body.
He drew the curtains and, by the dim light, looked around the room, which had no electrical appliances and no modern facilities. Suddenly he sighed, and said in a voice of loss and helplessness:
"From now on, I am Kelai'en Yabolahan."
Chapter 9