"Wrongfully accused!"
Edward scooped Lilith up into his arms. "Lilith can testify! I only got those diary pages right before the Tarot Club began, and just like last time, it was Queen Mystic who sent them to me for translation."
Lilith nodded. "Edward's telling the truth."
"You two really are in sync—father and daughter working together to fool me."
Audrey sat down beside Edward, puffing out her cheeks. "So, tell me—what was in those pages that shocked Mr. Fool so much?"
"I was shocked too, honestly."
Edward recalled the contents and summarised the pages for her. Audrey interrupted now and then with questions, until he finally reached the last page—
"That transmigrator senior is still alive!!!"
Audrey's eyes widened. "So…there really is another person in this world who came from your world?"
"At least, that's what the Emperor's diary says."
"Do you think he's still alive now?"
Edward shook his head. "I don't know. But just like the Emperor questioned in his diary: if such a person really exists, why are there no other traces of him in this world besides the diary?"
Audrey thought for a moment. "Either he was just extremely low-key and didn't want to draw attention like the Emperor did…or maybe he arrived a long time ago, and whatever traces he left behind have already been erased by time."
Edward agreed with that line of thinking.
Aside from the Emperor—who clearly saw himself as a "chosen one" determined to reshape the world—many like the Evernight Goddess and the Ancient Sun God had left barely any traces after a few epochs.
In truth, Klein was in that same category.
Years from now, the world might only remember the Tarot Club and the Fool, but not a transmigrator named "Zhou Mingrui".
As for Edward himself, he probably lay somewhere in between. If he transmigrated to a backwards, unfamiliar world, he'd definitely use his modern knowledge to bring change—but not in the showy, domineering way the Emperor had.
Come to think of it, Roselle's over-the-top personality probably wasn't just a quirk—it was likely necessary for his eventual advancement to Black Emperor.
Audrey's gaze finally landed on the golden cup. "Wait, are you testing out Hufflepuff's Cup?"
"Yeah."
Edward explained the two abilities of the cup. Audrey perked up immediately. "Let me try!"
She put on her gloves, carefully picked up the Apprentice Beyonder characteristic, and dropped it into the cup.
The trait melted instantly, and a few seconds later, a thin layer of clear liquid appeared at the bottom of the cup, carrying a faint aroma of wine.
"It really did become wine?"
Edward cautiously poured the liquid into a glass, then rapidly cast Magnify in quick succession, moving it back and forth multiple times until he'd used up roughly a third of his spirituality.
He took out a divination crystal. "Will drinking this liquid be harmful to me?"
After seven repetitions of the divination chant, the green crystal slowly began to spin counterclockwise—meaning it wasn't just harmless, but actually beneficial.
Still frowning slightly, Edward muttered another divination chant under his breath and closed his eyes.
Audrey looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"I was wondering… since this fine wine comes from a Beyonder characteristic, wouldn't drinking it be the same as consuming the characteristic itself?"
Edward pondered aloud. "Based on the divination, the wine only retains spirituality. But that raises the question—where did the original Beyonder characteristic go? Did it just vanish? That clearly violates the conservation of Beyonder characteristics."
"Oh, right!"
Audrey's eyes lit up, then she said curiously, "But didn't we already break that rule when we brought traits and materials from one world to Hogwarts?"
He nodded. "That's why I just did a divination to figure out where the trait went after entering the cup—but it came up blank…" He paused. "It would make sense if moving items across worlds caused the issue, but this cup…it's just a mystical item. How could it break the rule on its own?"
They stared at each other, analysing the situation from multiple angles—but still couldn't come up with a solid explanation.
Audrey asked worriedly, "If there's potentially something wrong with the cup…is the wine it produces still safe to drink?"
Edward stared down at the crystal-clear wine, still emitting its alluring scent. "At least the divination says it's harmless. And it's only made from an Apprentice-level trait, so even if there is an issue, it'd just be a small one."
He brought the glass to his lips.
"I'm drinking it."
Edward downed the wine in one gulp. His first sensation was—delicious.
No! Not just delicious, but sublime. A level of pleasure he'd never experienced before.
Compared to this, every drink he'd ever had before tasted worse than horse piss. He immediately understood the cup's negative side effects:
This thing could ruin your entire palate.
The next moment, he felt a huge surge of spirituality restore within him.
Based on a rough estimation, it was about half of his original Sequence 9 spirituality.
Audrey quickly asked, "How was it?"
"It really is just pure spirituality."
Edward carefully examined his body again and ran another divination. No problems, no added traits.
"Let's try with a Sequence 8 trait now."
He dropped in the Trickmaster's trait, poured out the resulting wine, and drank it.
It was just as heavenly.
This time, it restored half of his Sequence 8 spirituality.
"Phew—"
Edward exhaled a breath of wine-scented air. "If the pattern holds, drinking wine made from a Sequence 6 trait should restore half my current spirituality."
Audrey shook her head. "Not quite."
"Why not?"
"You forgot—your spirituality has been higher than the norm ever since you advanced to Sequence 7. The Sequence system shifted slightly for you."
"True...Then it should restore about a third."
Edward thought for a moment. "So if I drink three glasses made from Sequence 6 traits, I can go from empty to full. Same for Sequence 5, 4, and higher?"
Tsk…this ability is expensive to maintain.
Suddenly, Audrey had a thought. "Wait—since you're drinking wine, is there a chance you could actually get drunk?"
"Uh…I never even thought of that."
Imagine—you're in battle, take a swig of magical wine to restore spirituality…and end up drunk. That'd be ridiculous.
He scratched his head. "So far, one Sequence 9 and one Sequence 8 isn't enough to affect me."
"Wanna try a Sequence 7 next? And we still have…Sequence 6."
Edward gave a wry smile. "This experiment is getting real expensive…"
Audrey looked both worried and hesitant. "But if you don't test it now, what if you get caught off guard in a fight and really do get drunk?"
"…You've got a point."
Edward sighed, tossed in an Astrologer's trait, poured the resulting wine, and drank.
A few seconds later, he smacked his lips. "I do feel a little buzzed—but not drunk yet."
Seeing Audrey about to speak again, he quickly added, "No need for the Sequence 6. I think I've figured out how it works."
"What do you mean?"
"No matter if it's Sequence 9, Sequence 8, or Sequence 7, the amount of wine produced from the Beyonder characteristics is always the same, and the taste and alcohol content don't change. That likely applies to higher Sequences too."
"That means, if someone wants to accumulate spiritual essence by using low-Sequenced Beyonder characteristics, they'd have to drink a lot more wine—more wine means a higher chance of getting drunk."
"Conversely, if the characteristic is high-Sequence, just one cup could restore a large amount of spirituality, making it less likely to get drunk." Edward shrugged. "Even if you don't get drunk, in real combat, taking a sip might be doable—but chugging an entire bottle? That's a luxury you can't afford. By the time you're done, the enemy might've already taken you out."
Audrey suddenly understood. "So that's how it works!"
"In short…this thing is expensive. Super expensive. And once you reach the demigod level, it's not even that useful anymore…I mean, where am I supposed to find a steady supply of Sequence 4 or above characteristics to make wine? Even if I had them, I wouldn't bear to use them!"
"But then again, at the demigod level, you rarely worry about spiritual exhaustion anyway."
At least in the original story, battles at the demigod level never seemed to run into that issue.
"When the time comes, I'll sell the cup to Mr. Sun. I'm sure the City of Silver will find it useful." He turned. "Oh right—there's also Gourmet Food to try."
They dropped some bread into the cup and poured in spirituality. The bread immediately expanded to ten times its original size. It still looked like bread, but when eaten, it became an otherworldly delicacy—even Audrey, who was raised on fine cuisine, couldn't help but take another bite.
"Alright, alright, this thing is supposed to keep you full for a long time. If you keep eating it now, you won't be able to eat anything for the next few days," Edward quickly stopped her.
She stuck out her tongue and pulled her hand back. "But it's just so good…"
"This Gourmet Food essentially converts spirituality into food. I wonder if it still complies with the 'law of conservation of energy.'"
He chuckled right after saying that. In a world of mysticism, talking about conservation laws almost seemed like a joke.
At that moment, Audrey asked, "By the way, Edward, how do you plan to help Miss Death?"
Edward put the cup away and said, "Facing those three schemers who've been 'alive' for thousands of years…with my IQ, I might as well give up trying to outwit them. I'll just ask directly."
"Huh? But would they actually tell you anything?"
"No idea." He shrugged. "But it's worth a try."
If the Medici Trio had really been set up by that Russian priest, Edward was sure that Medici wouldn't be able to escape the trap easily until the priest had achieved his goals.
Medici surely knew that as well. Yet he still insisted on stirring trouble. Either his chaos served the priest's plan—or he believed that it could help him break free from it.
Based on the original plot, Edward felt it was more likely the latter.
In the novel, Medici played the role of a symbol of war in Adam's "story." His arrival in Backlund as the "Crimson of War" symbolised the outbreak of conflict and marked the beginning of a larger war.
So the Medici Trio could've just stayed in Backlund as a symbolic mascot. But according to Priscilla, she sometimes woke up in the middle of the night to find herself no longer in Backlund.
Also, Edward was very curious why Adam arranged for Medici to become Priscilla's spirit—a move that deviated from the original storyline.
Just as he'd been thinking earlier, Medici's role in Adam's script had been merely symbolic. Why, then, the sudden control?
"When are you planning to ask him?" Audrey asked.
"No time like the present—today," Edward replied.
"Okay. Be careful~"
———
Medici was fuming.
"Uh, well…even if you're now bound to Priscilla, it's still better than being sealed in a pitch-dark tomb for centuries, right?"
Medici didn't reply—at least not with his usual mouth. Instead, a new mouth sprouted on the left side of his face. "I'd rather go back!"
"Why?"
Medici's eye twitched. "Ask this girl."
Priscilla blinked innocently. "Ask me what?"
The mouth on Medici's left cheek snarled, "This girl can't sleep at night unless we tell her bedtime stories!"
Then another mouth sprouted on the right side of his face. "We tell her, but she never likes them!"
Priscilla huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Because the ones you told were boring! All emperors and gods and monsters—so dull!"
The left mouth roared, "That was my personal experience! It was full of Fourth Epoch secrets—most people would kill to hear those!"
The right mouth harrumphed. "I even shared inside knowledge about the Underworld Emperor, Salinger—that stuff could help her with roleplaying and advancing!"
Edward felt a bit helpless. These two old geezers…Could it be that all Priscilla really wanted was a simple bedtime story? Still…asking three Sequence 1 angels to tell bedtime tales was a little much.
Though he thought that, he couldn't help asking out of curiosity, "So, what happened after that?"
Priscilla beamed. "After that, Medici started telling me stories himself."
Edward turned in surprise. Medici snorted coldly. "What are you looking at? That little raven was raised by me. If I could handle him, dealing with one bratty girl is nothing."
———
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