Chapter 318: Chapter 318: The Tower and Justice
After his rounds at the free night school, Edward paid a quick visit to Capim's villa—just in time to witness the "Hero Bandit Black Emperor" finishing his dramatic performance in front of two demigods before making a flawless retreat.
Just like in the original plot, Klein overlooked Capim's safe.
So, naturally, Edward had no problem helping himself to it.
To express his heartfelt gratitude for the generosity of Mr. Fool, he even transformed into the Black Emperor again and gave those two demigods another dose of theatrics on Klein's behalf.
From their point of view, the "Black Emperor" who had vanished into thin air now suddenly reappeared inside the villa's second-floor study, looted the emptied safe, flipped them the bird, and then strolled off under their very noses—again.
In other words, the Black Emperor had vanished right in front of them…only to pop up inside the villa, loot the goods, provoke them, and then walk off unfazed after weathering their attacks.
This wasn't just a double dose of flair—it was a triple combo special layered atop Klein's original act.
Surely…it would help with his potion digestion, right?
Edward sighed with mock envy: Man, I wish I had a friend and believer like me to help digest my potions.
Unlike Klein, I spent an entire night at a free school, didn't gain any noticeable progress, and can only find solace in the ten thousand gold pounds now sitting in my drawer.
With a self-deprecating chuckle, Edward sat down at his writing desk, pulling out his notebook and a fountain pen.
Lilith immediately leapt onto the desk and stared at the notebook, her eyes wide with curiosity.
"Edward, what are you writing?" she asked, reaching out a tiny paw for the pen.
"Lilith wants to help write!"
"…Uhh. Sure, go ahead."
Raising children is all about not stifling their enthusiasm for learning.
"After tonight's fieldwork," Edward began slowly, "I can now confirm that trying to digest the potion by teaching at a free school will be an extremely slow process."
Lilith cried out, "Say it slower! Lilith can't keep up! How do you write 'slow'? How do you write 'process'? I can write 'potion' though! But it's really hard!"
"If you don't know how to write a word, just draw a circle for now."
"Oh!"
She nodded enthusiastically. "I was just thinking that!"
Of course, that's what all kids do.
As Edward looked at the scribbles on the page—crooked characters scattered between dozens of little circles—he was genuinely surprised.
This little one's picked up more words than I expected.
"I'm done!" she declared proudly, staring up at him with bright, eager blue eyes.
Edward slowed down his speech.
"It might be because I haven't done any real wandering yet, or maybe because I didn't teach enough tonight."
"I'll test the latter over the next couple of days, but the former needs a hands-on approach. Still, when exactly I should depart…that depends on Bernadette's update."
Lilith frowned. "Ugh! Another difficult word again!"
"No cursing," Edward warned.
"???"
He cleared his throat and looked at her. "Lilith, you done?"
"All done!"
She lifted the notebook with her paw and handed it over. "Take a look!"
Edward flipped it open to find pages covered in doodled circles and the occasional badly misshapen character. If he hadn't just spoken the content himself, he wouldn't have been able to tell what any of it was.
"Well? Well? How is it?"
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Sigh…I guess I'll never be cut out to be a strict father.
He gently patted her head. "Lilith, you're amazing! You've learned soooo many new words in such a short time!"
Her eyes lit up like stars. "I know, right!!"
"And if Lilith can learn all the words behind those little circles, she'll be even more amazing!"
"Yup!!"
"Well then, that deserves a red flower sticker!" he said, pulling out a small red paper flower and pinning it to her.
"Wowww!!"
Lilith spun around in delight. "Edward is the best~~!"
Edward laughed. "Yes, I am!"
———
Thursday morning.
Inside the luxurious estate of Earl Hall in Empress Borough.
Audrey was resting her chin on one hand, lost in thought as she absentmindedly ate her breakfast. Just then, she heard her father—the Earl—chuckle while flipping through his morning paper.
"Capim is dead."
Audrey asked offhandedly, "Who's that?"
The Earl, clearly thinner and more refined after the past week's political scrambling, looked up and replied, "A wealthy man—allegedly involved in human trafficking. Had connections with certain people."
He gave a light chuckle. "Last night, someone killed him. The scene bore clear signs of justice being served. The newspapers are calling the killer a 'Hero Bandit Black Emperor'. Apparently, the alias comes from the rulers of the ancient Solomon Empire."
"But here's the kicker—his corpse was covered in tarot cards. They say it might be a newly emerged secret organisation."
Tarot cards?
Audrey's eyes lit up. Was this another one of our Tarot Club's missions?
"Daddy, were any specific tarot cards left behind at the scene?"
The Earl paused, confused by the oddly specific question. "Oh, there were two inside his looted safe."
"What were they?"
"The Tower and Justice."
Audrey froze. "Huh?"
"Heh. Apparently, the Church of the Storm is now searching the entire city for anyone connected to those two cards," the Earl said jokingly. "You wouldn't happen to have any leads, would you?"
No, Father—I have no leads at all.
Because…I am the lead!!
Audrey sipped her tea calmly. "By the way, where's Hibbert? He hasn't come to breakfast in days."
"He's been spending his time with the other nobles, trying to minimise the damage from last weekend's mess. Left early again this morning—said he had to attend some salon or another."
"Poor thing. Is there anything I can do to help, Daddy?"
The Earl smiled. "No need. Just stay safe at home."
"Alright then."
———
After finishing breakfast, Audrey wasted no time and headed straight for Edward's place. She arrived with the newspaper in hand, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Edward, was this your doing?!"
Edward glanced at the front page photo and grinned. "Yup."
"Why'd you leave behind my tarot cards?"
"So you'd feel more involved."
She puffed up her cheeks. "You should've taken me with you! Hmph! A scumbag who pretends to be a saint while trafficking people deserves to be punished by my own hands!"
Lilith chimed in indignantly, "Edward didn't take Miss Lilith either! So mean!"
"That's right!"
Audrey picked Lilith up, both of them puffing their cheeks as they glared at Edward.
Edward shrugged. "Actually…I wasn't the one who killed Capim."
"Eh?"
"Last night, I was originally at the free school in East Borough…"
Edward recounted everything that had happened the night before. By the time he finished, Audrey's eyes were wide in astonishment.
"So…it was Mr. Fool's Blessed who took down Capim and freed all the kidnapped girls. And you…you just went in after the act to clean out his safe?"
"Yup."
To think she'd imagined a whole dramatic fantasy of Edward donning the mask of the righteous Black Emperor…only for him to be the guy who loots the treasure chest after the final boss is downed.
"That Blessed—was it Mr. World?"
"No idea. But when I arrived, he was already confronting two demigods head-on."
"Oh, then it probably wasn't Mr. World."
Audrey grew concerned. "Wouldn't that be unfair to the Blessed, though?"
"Not at all," Edward replied firmly. "I'm certain that such a noble individual couldn't care less about the money. He was acting to uphold justice and protect the innocent—giving him money would be an insult to his ideals!"
He spoke with absolute conviction. "That's what it means to be a Blessed of Mr. Fool."
Audrey nodded in sudden realisation. "Right! At the next Tarot meeting, I must ask Mr. Fool to pass on my deepest respect to that Blessed!"
———
[15 Minsk Street]
"Achoo!"
Klein sneezed, then stared blankly at the morning paper in his hand.
"…What the hell? A safe? I didn't…I wasn't even…I don't know anything about that!"
"…Wait, there was over ten thousand pounds inside? My heart…it hurts…"
"…Hold on. They said two tarot cards were left behind? The Tower and Justice?"
Back then, I just tossed a handful of tarot cards onto Capim's body—I didn't even see the safe, let alone leave specific cards behind.
This has to be a frame job by whoever actually took the money!
"…Still, it's kind of poetic, isn't it? The Tower and Justice."
Klein raised a brow. "Could it have been Edward and Miss Justice?"
I've gotta ask them later.
He put the newspaper down, staring at the bolded headlines:
"Hero Bandit Black Emperor – Hero and Beacon of Hope in Backlund"
"…No thanks. I can't carry that title."
He downed the rest of his Sibe red tea, stood up, and said to himself:
"Time to head to the Lime Bar. If I can't find Barron or get any leads, I'll have no choice but to report everything I've found to Prince Edessak. As for the rest…"
Klein put on his hat, slipped his palm-sized mirror into his coat, and walked out the door.
"…One step at a time."
———
[Cherwood Borough—In the small apartment shared by Fors and Xio]
Fors sat at her writing desk, head propped on one hand, looking half-asleep. A fountain pen dangled from her fingers, hovering over a sheet of manuscript paper where only the first line had been written before trailing off into nothing.
"Hey, you're drooling on the desk," Xio's voice called out teasingly.
Startled, Fors quickly snorted awake and wiped at her mouth, only to realise she'd been tricked. "I wasn't drooling!"
Xio, who was now standing by the couch, finished putting on her boots and tucked her triangular dagger behind her waist. She bounced lightly in place before saying, "You said you'd get up early and work on your manuscript—but the moment you sat down, you started dozing off. Would've been better to just sleep in."
Fors yawned. "I…I had a burst of inspiration last night and ended up finishing off the last of my cigarettes. I'm exhausted now because I've got nothing left to smoke."
Xio gasped. "Didn't you just buy a huge stash of smokes the other day? You're already out?!"
Fors stood up. "What do you expect? People think writing novels is mental labour, but really—it's physical labour! If you want to write fast, you've gotta push yourself. Ugh, don't even mention the new editor at the Backlund Daily. Total sadist. I miss the old guy!"
"Anyway, I'm heading out to buy more cigarettes."
"Wait, Fors," Xio called out. "I really think you should open that letter from Mr. Lawrence."
Fors crossed her arms with a grin. "Leaving aside whether it's moral or not, why are you so invested in this, Xio?"
Xio immediately turned serious. "Didn't you say that Mr. Lawrence and that Dorian fellow might be Abraham bloodline members? The family that holds the Sequence formulas for the Apprentice Pathway? If you could connect with them, you might be able to advance to a higher sequence—and be freed from the nightmares of the full moon."
I don't need to worry about full moon dreams anymore, Fors thought to herself. And with Mr. Tower around, I can get those higher-sequence formulas whenever I need…if I have the money, that is.
Fors smiled. "Thank you, Xio. You really do look out for me."
"Of course I do!"
"Alright, I'll think about it while I'm out buying cigarettes."
Xio waved her off. "Fine, I'll stay here and wait. Hurry back, you chain-smoker."
"Hehe~ Shorty!"
"Who are you calling short?!"
Xio erupted in fury as Fors bolted out the door, cackling all the way.
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.