The next morning—
As Lin Ruo rose from his bed and observed the morning sun's hues on the horizon, he remained somewhat puzzled.
"Wasn't I supposed to be pulled into Klein's proximity today?" Lin Ruo blinked, momentarily grappling with the mechanics that brought him to Klein's side.
On both prior occasions, he had been drawn over early in the morning. Lin Ruo assumed this would become his routine, yet things seemed different now.
"Is this really random? What if I get yanked away while I'm in the middle of a fight? That would be ridiculous!" Lin Ruo muttered, a tinge of exasperation in his voice. He deftly washed up, then proceeded with his routine, buying provisions for the coming days before sitting down to breakfast with the morning newspaper.
The paper predictably recounted the events at Capim's Villa from the day before. However, it barely mentioned the Beyonder elements, merely attributing the incident to the intervention of enigmatic individuals who'd dealt with a human trafficker named Capim.
Unlike Klein, who donned the persona of the Black Emperor and earned the moniker "Hero Bandit Black Emperor" for his involvement in the original narrative, Lin Ruo received no such epithet in the paper.
Instead, he was simply described as a mysterious figure. Furthermore, the article delved into the details of the tarot cards at the scene, characterizing the event as a righteous and ritualistic "murder."
"This newspaper is getting spicier by the day. It's only a matter of time before it's full of nonsense!" Lin Ruo quipped wryly. Having perused the rest of the paper, he suddenly realized a significant blunder he'd made the previous day.
He should have seized the contents of the safe at Capim Villa. Unlike Klein, who had been pressed for time in the original story, Lin Ruo had had ample opportunity. However, he had completely forgotten about it.
Still, he wasn't to blame for this oversight. Lin Ruo wasn't in need of funds, and his objective had been to eliminate the scum, accomplish the hunt, and fulfill his objective. The notion of plunder hadn't even crossed his mind.
Regarding the tarot card he'd left at the scene, Lin Ruo didn't consider it a grave error.
For one, although he had yet to officially join the Tarot Club, Lin Ruo was convinced that due to his association with Klein, he'd soon become a non-staff member and potentially even a full-fledged one. It was only a matter of time before his name would surface within the Tarot Club's ranks.
Secondly, as the Tarot Club was still in its fledgling stages, boasting only three formal members and a leader, it was a minor concern for Lin Ruo to preemptively raise its profile. With two members having official positions and one hailing from a noble lineage, Lin Ruo wasn't anxious about bringing the club into the public eye prematurely.
In fact, orchestrating his connection with Klein in this manner would enhance security—after all, who would suspect an organization with Angel on its roster, led by an ordinary person?
Though his angelic status was counterfeit and his real power merely at Sequence 9, the façade bore a resemblance to the Tarot Club.
After pondering these matters, Lin Ruo stretched upon finishing breakfast. Contemplating his next course of action, he considered various aspects.
Firstly, he intended to continue playing his role. Given Backlund's prevailing circumstances, this posed no great challenge, as suitable prey abounded.
The subsequent issue concerned obtaining the follow-up potion.
Lin Ruo temporarily dismissed the Red Priest card route, leaving it for his future companion. At present, his focus was on alternative channels.
One option entailed engaging in various Beyonder gatherings, encompassing both those the previous owner had attended and those integrated into the storyline within Backlund.
Another involved tracking down the blood emperor's descendants as chronicled in the original plot—Rafter Pound, a destitute noble. As a blood emperor descendant, Rafter was likely to possess the formula for the subsequent hunter potion, even if his family had fallen from grace.
An obstacle here was Rafter's fate—taken over by the hot pot evil spirit in the original narrative, he'd become the entity's servant. Unfortunately, the precise timing of Rafter's possession was unclear. When Klein and Miss Sharron encountered the hot pot evil spirit, Rafter had already become its servant.
Though some time remained before this point, Lin Ruo couldn't ascertain whether Rafter was currently in the hot pot evil spirit's employ.
Even if Rafter was under the spirit's influence, Lin Ruo might still obtain the potion formula from him, albeit with diminished chances.
Another avenue was to target the ambassador, Bakerland Jean Madan implicated in the killing of five people by Xio. A conspirer of Sequence 6, this ambassador's demise, coupled with his Beyonder characteristics, could potentially provide Lin Ruo with formulas for Hunter Paths 8, 7, and 6 through spiritual or divinatory means.
This proved challenging, as hunting an ambassador proved more complex than a straightforward prey. Security around such figures surpassed that of common targets, making opportunities scarce.
Departing Backlund to search for opportunities constituted the fourth option. Unlike Loen with its limited active hunters, the Five Seas boasted a larger population of active hunters, increasing Lin Ruo's chances of obtaining formulas. Nevertheless, he wasn't eager to leave Backlund unless compelled to do so.
The fifth alternative was direct and assertive—Lin Ruo could leverage the power of truth to facilitate encounters with Beyonders of the Hunter Pathway. Whether to persuade or eliminate them to acquire the formula hinged on the individual's circumstances.
For the average person, these options carried varying degrees of risk. For Lin Ruo, the first and fifth seemed most suitable.
The latter required no further explanation. The former, however, could be aided by truth to secure the hunter formula at Beyonder gatherings. Given Backlund's distinctive circumstances, success appeared likely.
Naturally, Lin Ruo planned to pursue a dual approach. First, he'd employ [Truth] to explore options one and five. If unsuccessful, he'd reluctantly consider riskier methods.
In the end, Lin Ruo's thoughts turned to matters pertaining to the original owner's adversary.
Roaldie Fryer's father had perished due to political upheaval, resulting in his family's downfall and the fire he'd encountered at eighteen. These events had profoundly impacted the original owner's life. Yet, being young at the time, his memories were both vivid and hazy—vivid because the incidents had drastically reshaped his life, yet hazy due to his limited understanding.
The original owner's insights on the matter had been gleaned from subsequent conversations with the aging housekeeper and his mother. Unfortunately, both of them seemed reticent or unclear about the specifics.
Having accessed the original owner's memories, Lin Ruo was certain they held crucial information that they chose to withhold.
Even the last words uttered by the housekeeper who perished in the fire had been a plea for the original owner to forget and forge a new life elsewhere.
All signs pointed to the possibility that the original owner's father's death concealed a significant secret, possibly involving some faction within the Fryer family.
The original owner had deduced this and spent the past year investigating in this direction. Regretfully, the past eighteen years had seen him squander time and energy, leaving limited resources for such endeavors. Nevertheless, he'd identified a potential link to the year's events—Viscount Stratford.