Inside the Sefirah Castle.
The little crow, Amon, pinched his monocle with one wing and said in sudden realisation, "So that's how you instantly return to the Sefirah Castle? Quite a clever idea."
"Unfortunately, this method seems to work only for you. After all, Beyonders from the other three pathways can't freely switch between their physical and spiritual bodies."
"But tell me, why do you even have this ability? It doesn't seem like something any recorded Beyonder power would grant."
Edward smiled faintly. "That's a good question. Since you're all alone here and must be bored, I'll leave it for you to ponder slowly."
Amon nodded. "Hmm, fair enough."
He hopped twice inside the cage, then asked, "By the way, didn't you say you wanted to grant me humanity? How exactly do you plan to do that? I'm actually more curious about that."
"Speaking of which, I think I've always been quite human. I constantly find ways to have fun—especially playing hide-and-seek with the descendants of the Jacob family. That's so entertaining."
Edward let a gold coin spin deftly between his fingers as he spoke, "Doing everything purely for the sake of amusement—that's precisely a symptom of lacking humanity, because you don't possess the desires that make humans who they are."
"Not true," Amon said. "I have desires. Haven't I always been striving to become the Lord of Mysteries?"
"I don't think that's desire-driven," Edward replied. "It's more like the result of the Law of Convergence of Beyonder Characteristics. You think it's what you want, but in reality, it's just instinct."
Amon fell silent.
After a moment, he nodded thoughtfully. "Well…that's certainly a novel way to see it."
"Then, following that logic," he continued, "if I deliberately defy my instincts—refuse the Law of Convergence, refuse to become the Lord of Mysteries—does that mean I've developed humanity?"
Edward shrugged. "I wouldn't know. But you can give it a try."
Amon burst out laughing. "Hahaha, quite the plan you have there! Unfortunately for you, I'm merely a clone. Even if you did persuade me, it wouldn't affect the main body."
Clink.
Edward flicked his coin again and smiled mildly.
"Take your time. I'm in no rush."
"…"
For an instant, Amon felt as though something had subtly shifted within his mind—something newly added. But when he tried to pinpoint it, he couldn't sense any real change. It was as if the feeling had been nothing but an illusion.
Yet he was certain—Edward had just done something to him.
What was it?
By what means?
How had he pulled it off?
Did it have anything to do with that coin in his hand?
One question after another welled up inside him. Amon suddenly paused.
Wait…isn't my curiosity unusually strong today?
Usually, his curiosity about the unknown was born of amusement. But this time—it felt like genuine, unadulterated curiosity.
Could this be what he meant by "granting me humanity"?
And yet…why didn't it feel like a bad thing?
Watching Amon's puzzled expression, Edward merely smiled. As he had said—take it slow; there's no hurry.
Every few days, he would use a reversed effect of [Madman to the Right] to subtly infuse Amon with traces of humanity—just enough to take hold, without overwhelming either Amon or the Sefirah Castle that bore the strain.
"Next, I should go thank Little Snake, then check on Pallez and see how those 'evil spirits' are doing."
With that thought, he waved at Amon and vanished into the swirling grey mist of the garden.
Amon stared at the spot where Edward had stood, then suddenly chuckled.
He turned his head and, like a woodpecker, began pecking rapidly at a spot on the cage—tap-tap-tap!—his sharp beak drilling a tiny hole into the metal bars.
——
Edward, of course, knew exactly what Amon was doing. But he neither stopped him nor showed any sign of noticing.
Come on, he thought. It's not the cage that's holding you there—it's a "rule" conjured through the reversal of Madman to the Right."
When Amon finally managed to peck a hole through the bars, he'd realise—he still couldn't step a single foot beyond it.
Well, at least it gives him something to do.
———
Montague Street No. 125, Quartier de la Maison d'Opéra—The Spice Shop.
Just as he arrived at the door, Edward saw a woman in a black dress leaving the shop, supported by a maid. She walked toward a luxurious carriage parked by the roadside.
As the two brushed past each other, the woman turned her head slightly and gave Edward a brief nod before boarding the carriage.
It took him a second to recognise her—she was the woman who had recently moved into Emerald Street.
Back then, he'd just learned that the witch named Marcia looked "normal" only because she was wearing a human-skin mask, so naturally, he'd harboured some suspicions toward this black-dressed lady as well.
But afterwards, nothing strange had happened. Everything went on as usual, so he hadn't thought much of it again—he wasn't paranoid, after all.
Then, turning his head, he spotted the "little snake," Will Auceptin, sneakily crouched behind a delivery cart near the doorway, clutching a tub of ice cream. He was spooning it into his mouth while peeking toward the shop entrance.
"Will! You're eating ice cream again!!"
Suddenly, a woman's voice rang from behind him.
The little snake's hair practically stood on end. Terrified, he spun around, hastily hiding the ice cream behind his back and shouting,
"I'm not eating ice cream! There's no evidence that I was eating ice cream—none at all!"
But when he saw it was Edward, his face darkened in annoyance.
"You...you're such a jerk!"
Edward chuckled, walked over, and squatted down beside him behind the cart. "So you're that afraid of this 'rebooted' mother of yours?"
"Shouldn't I be?" Will said as he licked his spoon. "Do you think every 'reboot' is just a case of surrogate birth? She's my real mother, you know. Of course I have to respect her and listen to what she says."
"Uh...I'm pretty sure that's not what 'surrogate birth' means."
"Who knows? That's how Lilith described me back then."
Edward gave a faint, awkward cough. "...Alright, fair enough."
Will narrowed his golden eyes and gave him a wary glance. "You didn't come all the way here just to scare me, did you?"
"Of course not. I came to thank you—for blessing me with good luck the other day."
Will waved it off. "No need. That little blessing wasn't enough to make much difference anyway. The credit mostly goes to those big shots—and to yourself."
He paused. "Besides, at that time, all my attention was on something else. I didn't even have the capacity to watch over you."
"You mean the extraordinary incident in Trier that night?"
"Mm."
Edward leaned a little closer and asked in a low voice, "Can you tell me what really happened?"
"Hmm…" Will tilted his head back, spoon still in his mouth, thinking for a while before speaking slowly, "It's about a fool who thought he was smart—he laid careful plans and set up everything just right, only to end up trapping himself and his descendants, while taking down a few other idiots along the way."
"Then, his blunder drew the attention of a lunatic who'll stop at nothing to reach his goal.
But in the end, someone who was supposed to be the prey walked away with all the benefits."
"..."
Edward blinked, completely lost. "What kind of riddle is that? Can't you just say it straight?"
Will shook his head. "How I speak, and how much I can say, isn't up to me—it's up to what Fate allows me to say."
Edward frowned, fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "...Do you know why, after all these years, you still haven't ascended to Sequence 0?"
"Why?"
"If you let Fate decide everything for you, how can you ever become Fate? What you need to do is become the master of Fate, not its servant."
Will pursed his lips. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who gets punished when things go wrong."
Still, there was a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
After a moment, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, ornate jewellery box, handing it to Edward. "Didn't you say you came to thank me? Then do me a favour. Take this to Oravi—give it to the person waiting for you there. In my current state, I can't hold onto it for long."
Edward froze for a moment. He took the box and opened it—inside lay a dice etched with the number 4.
"The Die of Probability?"
"Wait—didn't you say it was with Lilith?"
Will nodded. "That's right. I also told you Lilith once said this world has two dice—one male, one female.
"I used to think she was just messing with me...until I actually saw them both."
Edward frowned. "What do you mean?"
Will grinned slyly. "I mean...last night, this dice was given to me by Lilith herself."
"!!!"
Edward's composure shattered. "Lilith appeared last night? Where is she now?"
"No idea. She handed me the dice and left."
"Why didn't you tell me immediately?!"
Will furrowed his brow. "Why should I tell you? Lilith and I are at least half-friends—
No, actually, since she gave me the Die of Probability, I'd say we're full-fledged friends now.
I don't even know what you're really up to, so why would I tell you? You do know Cheek's been looking for her, right?"
"I—wait, did you at least tell her that...someone's looking for her?"
"Yeah, I did. She just went, 'Oh.'"
"And then?"
"Then she left."
"..."
"So…" Edward's expression shifted slightly. "When you said earlier that your attention was elsewhere that night, you meant Lilith?"
"Exactly."
"And the one who walked away with all the benefits…was her?"
"Right again."
"You really don't know where she is now?"
"I really don't."
Will sighed. "At the time, Fate told me not to ask where she was going or what she planned to do...so I didn't ask."
"..."
Edward rubbed his temple. "...No wonder you could never beat Ouroboros. You totally deserve it."
The little snake bristled. "At least I follow Fate's guidance. That's still better than that silly snake who only listens to the True Creator!"
After a while, Edward asked quietly, "How is Lilith now? Is she…alright?"
"Not so good." Will scooped another spoonful of ice cream. "I used to think Lilith had just used some method to survive—barely escaping death when Cheek and the others attacked her. But after seeing her this time, I realised—she actually did die back then."
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.