Emily was startled; she looked up at Levi, her red and swollen eyes filled with a resentful expression.
She glanced at the burly man’s corpse lying on the ground, remained silent for a few seconds, wiped away her tears, and stumbled to her feet.
“I’ll go pack my things now.”
As she spoke, she swayed unsteadily out the door toward her own room.
Levi also quickly packed his luggage.
Aside from Jason’s trunk, he only brought 1 soli 7 pence in change and a backpack containing some spare clothes, Emperor Roselle’s diary, and two daggers.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to bring more, but there were simply no other valuable items in this impoverished home.
Levi looked at the burly man’s corpse and, after a brief hesitation, picked up the revolver from his hand and tucked it into the inner pocket of his coat.
At that moment, spots of white light precipitated from the burly man’s body, transforming into a grayish-white mass, while a similar dark-red object formed over Jason’s corpse.
“Is this…
a Beyonder characteristic?”
Levi had heard Jason talk about such things: after a Beyonder dies, their relevant Beyonder characteristic will precipitate.
These characteristics are very dangerous and may contain the mental imprint of the deceased, but if handled properly, they can be used to create powerful Mystical Items.
Levi pondered for a moment before picking up the two Beyonder characteristics and placing them into separate bottles.
Just then, Emily walked in carrying a bundle.
“Let’s go.”
Levi said softly, and he walked out of the room with Emily.
As the two reached the doorway, they stopped in unison and looked back at Jason lying on the floor.
A moment of wordless silence followed.
After a long time, Levi let out a heavy sigh:
“Goodnight, Jason.”
…
Three days later, Windmill Street.
This was a slum in Tingen City, as notorious as the lower section of Iron Cross Street, crowded with numerous small workshops, laborers, prostitutes, gangs, and idle vagrants.
Its only merit was being far enough from Iron Cross Street; if the group that killed Jason began their search there, it would be difficult for them to trace Levi and Emily.
The Goldfish Hotel was a somewhat decent establishment on Windmill Street—at least the number of visible bedbugs in each room didn’t exceed double digits.
The money Levi had brought from home was only 1 soli 7 pence, and combined with Emily’s, it only totaled 2 soli 11 pence.
This small amount made it impossible to rent a room long-term, and if they crowded in with others, it would be hard to ensure the safety of a young, beautiful woman like Emily.
Therefore, Levi had no choice but to rent Room 207 at the Goldfish Hotel.
It cost 6 pence a day, but it provided a basic level of security.
Over the past three days, between food and dressing their wounds, the two had spent almost all the money they had.
Levi sat on the floor mat beside the bed, looking at the last penny in his hand with a bitter smile.
After a long while, he spoke to Emily, who was sitting on the bed in a daze.
“I’m going to buy some rye bread.”
Emily didn’t speak, only nodding slightly.
Levi tidied his clothes and left the room, reminding Emily to lock the door behind him before stepping out of the hotel.
This outing wasn’t just to buy bread; it was also for scouting the surroundings.
For the past three days, he had been observing through the window and hadn’t noticed anyone suspicious looking for them, which allowed him to relax slightly.
If this scouting mission revealed no issues, he would begin executing his plan.
After carefully examining the trunk Jason had left behind, a plan had gradually formed in Levi’s mind.
He intended to assume Jason’s identity and return to that secret organization!
In Jason’s trunk, besides his women’s clothing, there were two noteworthy items.
One was a notebook containing the intelligence and knowledge Jason had gathered over the past two years while participating in that secret organization.
The organization was called the ‘Tingen City Female Teachers Mutual Aid Society.’ Publicly, it had a large number of female teacher members from various schools in Tingen City, including some private tutors.
Most of these teachers were ordinary people, and there was nothing unusual about their normal participation in the society’s activities.
However, the Mutual Aid Society also had a hidden side.
Its participants were all Beyonders, with a significant portion belonging to the Assassin Pathway.
They held regular gatherings to trade Beyonder items and intelligence.
Regardless of gender, members were required to dress in women’s clothing when attending these meetings.
Several committee members of the Mutual Aid Society would also issue missions to the members.
Completing these missions yielded generous rewards, but they were extremely dangerous, involving assassination, kidnapping, tailing, and investigations.
Jason wrote in his notes that he tried his best to only take on missions that didn’t weigh on his conscience, but he had still been forced to take a life once.
Fortunately, the person was a gang leader with blood on his hands, so Jason didn’t feel too much guilt.
Jason’s final mission was to go to the Hyena Gang in Iron Cross Street to steal an item.
This item was a small Female Statue, currently lying in Jason’s trunk; it was the other item that had caught Levi’s attention.
Unlike ordinary statues that depicted figures as holy and upright, this Female Statue had an indescribable aura—somewhat seductive, yet it instinctively made one feel uneasy, as if it harbored something foul.
The surface of the statue was wrapped in a layer of transparent gauze.
Out of caution, Levi did not uncover it for further inspection.
Jason wrote in his notebook that the bounty for completing this mission was 200 pounds!
This was equivalent to five years’ salary for a common laborer!
Because of this, Jason had rarely indulged in imagining the future in his notes:
“Once this mission is finished, I’ll marry Emily.
I kept delaying our wedding because of the danger of my work, which made her very unhappy.
Now, it’s time to give her happiness…”
Recalling Jason’s exuberant handwriting filled with happiness, Levi felt another pang of sharp pain in his heart.
“No matter what, I’ll get that 200 pounds and give half to Emily so she can go to another city and continue her studies…”
As for himself, Levi had other plans.
With the women’s clothing and intelligence Jason left behind, he had a chance of successfully impersonating Jason without being discovered.
Even if he were caught, holding the item the Mutual Aid Society wanted would give him leverage to negotiate.
He would continue to operate within the Mutual Aid Society using Jason’s identity and find an opportunity to become a Beyonder!
This wasn’t just to avenge Jason, but also for himself—to uncover the truth behind his transmigration and to investigate the nightmare that haunted him.
Therefore, it was worth taking some risks.
Lost in thought, Levi arrived at the shop selling rye bread and used his last penny to buy half a pound of it.
Afterward, while keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings, he slowly returned to the outside of Room 207 at the Goldfish Hotel.
After knocking three long and one short times, Emily cautiously opened the door.
Seeing it was Levi, she breathed a sigh of relief, widened the gap, and welcomed him inside.