~Backlund, West Borough - Townshend Street~
Raphael Collins, disguised as a carriage driver resting by the roadside, waited quietly for his target.
Today, he was going to execute a very daring plan; kidnapping Miss Audrey Hall!
The southern end of Townshend Street was bordered by Empress Borough, while its northern end led to Phelps Street, which was located in North Borough.
Saint Samuel Cathedral, which is the Backlund headquarters of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, was located on Phelps Street. Many aristocrats passed through Townshend Street on their way there to attend service and for prayers.
Raphael had scouted this location numerous times for today's operation, confirming that Miss Hall passed through this street every Wednesday afternoon on her way to pray at the Saint Samuel Cathedral. Sometimes she went with her mother, but most of the time she went alone.
This street was relatively quiet, with fewer police than Empress Borough or the bustle of Phelps Street, making it the ideal location for his crime...
Over an hour ago, Raphael's subordinate reported that Miss Hall had already gone to Saint Samuel Cathedral. Furthermore, his extensive investigations had revealed that Miss Hall herself was not a Beyonder.
Moreover, due to her penchant for attending mysticism/occult gatherings, she disliked having Beyonder bodyguards accompany her when she went out.
'Judging by her usual schedule, she should be returning soon,' Raphael thought as he watched the northern end of Townshend Street with deliberate casualness.
Finally, Audrey Hall's carriage appeared.
"Why do you want to kidnap her?" A remarkably pleasant female voice suddenly sounded by Raphael's ear.
A flicker of panic suddenly flashed in his eyes as he looked left and right, asking, "Who's there?"
Few people were on the street at this moment. Under a streetlamp near the carriage stood a man; Carter, one of Raphael's subordinates.
But that voice just now definitely did not come from Carter. Moreover, Carter remained intently focused on Miss Hall's carriage, clearly having heard nothing.
The pleasant voice spoke again: "No use looking around, and don't think about calling for help either. Others cannot hear our conversation, and no one will notice you." She paused for a moment, then pressed: "Now, answer my question."
After the initial inner turmoil, Raphael quickly calmed down, regaining his composure. This was the most basic quality of a 'Criminal'.
Now calm, he noticed something strange: 'Why does that voice sound somewhat like Miss Hall's?'
He immediately shook his head slightly, dismissing the thought as improbable. Miss Hall was, after all, in the carriage some distance away.
He did not answer the question immediately. Instead, he activated his special ability and instantly detected a Mid-Sequence Beyonder nearby. However, they seemed to be in some sort of concealed state.
Raphael's 'special ability' originated from a mysterious item he obtained after transmigrating.
Yes, he was a transmigrator who had crossed into the body of a 'Prisoner', which is Sequence 9 of the 'Chained' Pathway.
After transmigrating, Raphael immediately gained extensive knowledge about Beyonders and foundational information about this world. He was certain that this knowledge was not something the original Raphael possessed.
That person had been a minor gang leader. The most valuable memory Raphael had gotten from him was the current time... It was August 1350.
The situation among the nations of the Northern Continent was extremely tense. Over half a year had passed since that catastrophic Backlund Great Smog incident.
Based on the additional knowledge and information obtained after transmigrating, Raphael determined his current circumstances...
The bad news was that the 'Prisoner' Pathway seemed like a rather deep pit, and the adjacent 'Criminal' Pathway didn't look much better either.
The good news was that besides that information, a white-jade pearl/bead had appeared in his Mind World. The pearl appeared flawless and natural, exuding a profound sense of historical weight.
After Raphael advanced to 'Lunatic', whenever the potion's influence caused feelings of madness and distortion in his body and mind, simply visualizing that pearl in his mind would instantly dispel the discomfort.
Moreover, the pearl seemed to possess sentience and could communicate during certain periods. It told Raphael that his constitution was special, allowing him to consume potions from adjacent Pathways to gain the abilities of both.
Raphael deliberated for a long time before deciding to give it a try. He figured that since the pearl could dispel the madness and distortion within him, he probably wouldn't die.
And besides, such an act was inherently mad... That is, it was something a lunatic was likely to do.
As expected, after drinking the 'Criminal' potion, the 'Lunatic' potion was digested significantly.
Thus, he was now a Dual-Pathway Beyonder; both a 'Lunatic' and a 'Criminal'...
The ability to detect whether someone was a Beyonder and their approximate Sequence level was another ability granted to him by the white-jade pearl. It had never failed him thus far.
At this moment, even after learning the other party's level, Raphael remained remarkably calm. As mentioned before, this was a basic quality of a 'Criminal'.
Knowing very well that lying was not a wise choice when facing a Beyonder of this level, Raphael answered honestly, "Kidnapping Miss Hall is a means to digest my potion."
Upon hearing this answer, the pleasant voice noticeably paused before asking: "Potion digestion? Aren't you a Lunatic? What does kidnapping someone have to do with digesting that potion?"
Hearing this, Raphael's mouth curled into a somewhat maniacal smile, "Isn't kidnapping Backlund's most dazzling gem insane enough?"
He could freely switch between the states of 'Criminal' and 'Lunatic', but in essence, he was actually a sane Lunatic.
The voice remarked: "A lunatic's thoughts are indeed difficult to fathom using normal logic..."
This voice, of course, belonged to none other than Audrey herself. She had received a task from Mr. Fool to observe this young man named Raphael Collins.
However, Mr. Fool hadn't specified what to observe specifically. Still, Audrey could tell from 'His' tone that Mr. Fool regarded this task with great importance.
The reason Raphael's special ability had not registered Audrey as a Beyonder during the preparations for the kidnapping was because she was under Mr. Fool's protection.
Currently, Audrey was a Sequence 5 'Dreamwalker'. Her golden retriever, Susie, was also a Sequence 6 'Hypnotist' at this moment, and she was capable of using Psychological Invisibility.
The Mid-Sequence Beyonder presence Raphael had sensed a moment earlier was actually Susie.
Previously, while spying on Audrey, he had never imagined that this golden retriever could be a Beyonder... a Beyonder dog.
Earl Hall knew that his daughter was a Beyonder and that she was fond of attending mysticism gatherings, which was why he hadn't assigned Beyonders as her bodyguards...
At this point, Raphael asked, "Are you going to kill me?"
"No."
"Are you a Beyonder bodyguard for the Hall family?"
"No."
"Are you going to stop me from kidnapping Miss Hall?"
A silvery bell-like laughter rang out: "I'm just curious how long you can remain 'mad' after kidnapping her."
She paused for a moment, then added: "My companion, Susie, will stay by your side. If you have any... improper thoughts about Audrey, she will intervene immediately."
Furthermore, if Raphael were to be discovered by official Beyonders, Susie could also prevent him from being killed...
Immediately after, the voice vanished. However, Raphael could still sense a Mid-Sequence Beyonder presence beside him, which he presumed to be Miss Susie.
He truly couldn't fathom what that lady's intentions were just now.
But now was not the time to dwell on that. Miss Hall's carriage was already approaching.
~~~
{T/N: Psychological Invisibility: With a Hypnotist's control of their target's Body of Heart and Mind, they could remain in the blind spot of one's consciousness, achieving Psychological Invisibility.
In simple terms, this ability prevents the target from perceiving the user, even when the user is standing right before them and numerous others had already witnessed their presence...
Criminal = Sequence 9 of the 'Abyss' Pathway...
Lunatic = Sequence 8 of the 'Chained' Pathway...
On another note; a Patre0n of mine took a liking to this book, so I have sufficient motivation to translate this one all the way. That said, I have zero knowledge of COI, and I have no intention of reading it, so all the info I will use on this book comes from the LOTM wiki...}