Northern Shore of the Conquest Sea, Telva. In a dimly lit hotel room, Dorothy sat in her seat, quietly communicating with Beverly in faraway Tivian using the Literary Sea Logbook. After a period of conversation, she’d gained quite a bit of useful intel—most surprising of all being the truth about the Wall Walkers’ spiritual composition. “I didn’t expect it at all. Turns out Wall Walkers are actually Stone-primary and Shadow-auxiliary—not the other way around. The fake intel the Dark Gold Society spread was pretty damn effective... As expected of a black-market syndicate. Misjudging a Beyonder Path’s composition can cost you a lot in a real fight.” Looking at Beverly’s printed response on the page, Dorothy mused. If someone acted on the Society’s misinformation, they might misjudge their opponents badly. For instance, they might overestimate the Wall Walkers’ Shadow component—failing to employ full Lantern detection when they should. Or they might underestimate their Stone toughness—leading to disaster in a direct fight, just like what had happened to Dorothy herself earlier. If she’d known that Wall Walkers were Stone-primary and had second-stage enhancement hardened skin, she wouldn’t have had her corpse marionette casually shoot one in the chest. The shot didn’t kill him and gave him the chance to escape. If she’d had the correct intel, she would’ve chosen a more reliable way to finish the job—and saved herself from wasting all that extra spirituality. With the truth of the Wall Walkers revealed, another long-standing doubt also clicked into place. Dorothy had always believed that the Wall Walker she’d previously fought—one named Jim—was from the Eight-Spired Nest. She had wondered why she never encountered any more Wall Walkers during the following conflict with them. Turns out… the guy was a hired assassin from the Dark Gold Society. Now that she had a rough understanding of the Dark Gold Society, Dorothy rubbed her chin and began writing again in the logbook’s page. “I think I’ve got a clear picture now of what the Dark Gold Society’s all about. I honestly didn’t expect to run into something like this when I just came to town looking to shop. “By the way, you’re aware of what’s going on with your Telva branch now, right? So what’s your plan? Are you going to report it to the higher-ups at the Craftsmen’s Guild for immediate response?” 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 After writing, she waited patiently for Beverly’s reply. Soon, clean printed letters appeared across the page. “Of course we’ll report it… but I doubt it’ll do much good at this point. The Telva branch has already fallen. Who knows how much they’ve stolen while masquerading under our name? The situation there has already hit the worst-case level. There’s probably nothing left to recover.” Dorothy frowned slightly at that rather dejected response and quickly followed up. “Even if the situation is beyond saving, aren’t you guys going to retaliate? You can’t just let those bastards continue running wild in Telva, right?” “Of course we want to retaliate against those brazen scumbags. But realistically speaking… it might already be too late. Those guys are incredibly sharp. Their operations, when they’re disguised and harvesting, never last long. The moment they sense anything off, they start prepping to leave. “And since you already took out two of their Wall Walkers, that alone is enough to trigger their escape protocol. Even if we dispatched people immediately, they’d be long gone by the time we arrived.” Dorothy bit her pen and sighed, feeling a bit frustrated. “If only Beverly had reached out earlier and explained things more clearly,” she thought. “Then I could’ve handled tonight’s ambush in a more deliberate and efficient way.” “So you’re just letting them go? You guys could’ve reached out to the Church or the Cassatian Mystical Police to lend a hand. Didn’t you say earlier that even official organizations don’t like the Dark Gold Society?” “More or less, yeah. We’ll still send someone to Telva, but chances are they’ll be gone before we get there. And as for asking the Church or Cassatia’s hidden authorities for help… that’s not really an option. Don’t forget, the Craftsmen’s Guild is a neutral organization. Whether it’s the so-called ‘officials’ or so-called ‘cultists,’ we never openly side with any of them. To the outside world, the only enemy we acknowledge is the Dark Gold Society. “Sure, the authorities don’t like the Society either. But if we cooperated with them too closely, it would be seen as us choosing a side. Other groups that are at odds with the authorities might start to distrust us, and that would push them toward doing business with the Society instead. “Neutrality is the foundation of the Guild’s dominance in the mysticism world’s trading scene. Only by putting everyone at ease can we do business with all factions. That’s why, when it comes to our feud with the Dark Gold Society, we always settle it ourselves. We don’t let others get involved.” Reading Beverly’s response, Dorothy couldn’t help but feel a bit stifled. From her perspective, having the authorities around to do the dirty work would’ve been a huge convenience—how could they just waste that? “So what, you’re just gonna swallow this one? Let them walk all over you?” She scratched the words across the page. Dorothy had never seen the Craftsmen’s Guild take such a huge hit before. Whenever she’d dealt with them, it was always hard to get the upper hand. Now just one Dark Gold Society op had thrown them into complete disarray. What a rare sight. But Beverly’s next reply came quickly—and caught Dorothy slightly off guard. “Swallowed? Maybe. We’ve certainly taken small losses in the past—after all, the Guild’s presence is widespread and highly visible, so localized setbacks happen. But as for this particular loss? I wouldn’t say it’s settled just yet.” “You’re saying you still have a way to deal with those people? You’ve still got usable forces in Telva?” Dorothy asked curiously, writing as she read Beverly’s reply. But the next line that appeared on the page left her momentarily stunned. “Of course we do. Aren’t you in Telva right now?” “…Huh? Me?” Dorothy stared at Beverly’s response, taken completely off guard. She hadn’t expected Beverly to turn her sights on her. After a moment of dazed silence, she picked up her pen again and wrote. “You’re not planning to ask me to deal with them, are you?” “Bingo. Right now, those Dark Gold Society members in Telva are likely preparing to leave. By the time we dispatch anyone, we’ll probably be too late. And since we’re not involving any official Beyonders, you’re the only one we can count on. “I know what you’re capable of, Miss Neighbor. So I plan to recommend to the higher-ups that we hire you to resolve the Dark Gold Society presence in Telva. If you succeed, we’ll pay you a generous reward.” Beverly’s words continued appearing across the Literary Sea Logbook’s pages. Dorothy paused for a long while, then finally wrote back. “Hiring me… wouldn’t that still count as using an outside force? Is that really in line with your so-called neutrality?” “Why wouldn’t it be? You’re not part of any known mystical organization. You’re full of mysteries. Hardly anyone knows your background. I’d wager nobody in all of Cassatia’s mysticism world even knows who you are. That means you could be anyone. As long as you get the job done and keep it quiet, you can be our agent.” Reading that response, Dorothy nodded slightly, her expression growing thoughtful. After pondering for a bit longer, she picked up her pen and continued writing. “Alright… suppose I do accept your commission and complete the mission—what kind of reward are we talking about? Dealing with the Dark Gold Society in Telva isn’t going to be easy. What do you have that makes it worth the risk?” “We can definitely offer something you want. Aren’t you really interested in the legacy of the Star Numerology Scriptorium? Perfect, because our Grand Workshop has, over the years, accumulated quite a few relics and pieces of information related to the Scriptorium. If you can help us resolve the Telva issue, then I—and the old men upstairs—might be able to answer some of your questions about Star Numerology Scriptorium… and maybe even give you a few relics.” As Beverly’s response unfolded on the page, Dorothy’s eyes lit up. “If I can get valuable intel on the Scriptorium from the White Craftsmen’s Guild, I’ll finally be able to continue progressing along my path.” For her, this was an incredibly rare opportunity—one she’d been racking her brain over for a long time. Still, despite her rising excitement, Dorothy had one lingering doubt. She picked up her pen again. “That’s a good proposal, and yes, I do need information on the Scriptorium. But this is just your personal suggestion, isn’t it? You can’t speak for the whole Guild. Are you sure you can get HQ to approve this commission?” From Dorothy’s perspective, Beverly was just the person in charge of Tivian. This was a Telva-based matter—there was no way someone in another city could make such a call without first reporting it. And yet Beverly hadn’t mentioned informing HQ even once before making the offer. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Based on what I know of the Grand Workshop, they’ll definitely approve my proposal. The only real question is whether you’re willing to accept the job. Put simply: if you accept this commission and complete it, we’ll be able to assist you in your exploration of the Star Numerology Scriptorium.” Beverly’s confident words appeared neatly on the page. Dorothy scratched her chin again. She didn’t quite know how Beverly could be so sure about speaking for her HQ—but considering their friendly relationship, she decided to trust her just this once. “…Fine. I accept the commission. I’ll go pay these black-market bastards a visit before they skip town.” “Excellent. Then your mission is to eliminate as many Dark Gold Society members in Telva as possible. Their leader must be dealt with. If they were bold enough to overtake a Guild stronghold of this size, there’s likely one or two White Ash-rank Beyonders among them—nothing to scoff at. Be careful. If you feel you’re outmatched, retreat. No one will fault you for it.” As Beverly’s response flowed onto the page, Dorothy had already made up her mind to face the Society. Now, what she needed was deeper intel. “If I feel outclassed, I’ll back off for sure. But I need more details. Tell me—what exactly do Wall Walkers become at the White Ash rank? I need a full report on their abilities.” Under the warm lamplight, Dorothy wrote carefully, her tone serious. In response, Beverly began detailing everything she knew about the Wall Walker path—particularly its progression into the White Ash rank. But the more Dorothy read, the darker her expression became. If Beverly’s information was accurate… then once a Wall Walker advanced to the White Ash rank, their abilities were incredibly powerful. Just by reading the descriptions, Dorothy was already convinced: these were easily among the strongest White Ash Beyonders she’d ever encountered. Not only were they strong—White Ash-rank Wall Walkers even had abilities that somewhat countered Dorothy’s, making it extremely difficult for her to defeat them. “Judging by what Beverly said, aren’t these guys a bit too strong? Can I really beat them? Tch... The key issue is that this time, I have to face them head-on, alone. I can’t borrow external forces. If I could guide official Beyonder power like before, things would be so much easier... but that’s not possible this time.” Seated at her desk, Dorothy furrowed her brows as she stared at the contents on the page before her, thinking with frustration. In the past, whenever she clashed with cults, she had always preferred to report them and leverage the strength of official Beyonder organizations to strike at the enemies. Thinking back on it, although Dorothy had felled multiple White Ash-rank enemies, most of them hadn’t been defeated by her own hand—she had borrowed the strength of other factions. For example, the Werewolf Alex had been crippled by the Serenity Bureau before Adèle finished him off. The Werewolf Smith was taken down by a Holy Knight of the Church. That member of the Nether Coffin Order, Larena, had been arrested by the Serenity Bureau. And more recently, the Abyssal Church’s Costa and Massimo had mainly been dealt with by the Church; Dorothy had merely finished off a heavily injured Massimo afterward. At a glance, nearly every one of Dorothy’s operations had involved reporting and leveraging outside forces. But this time, there was no reporting to be done. The Craftsmen’s Guild didn’t want the officials to intervene in the matter of the local Dark Gold Society in Telva, so Dorothy couldn’t report them—even if she wanted to. She had to face them entirely on her own. Directly clashing in battle wasn’t unheard of for Dorothy—she had killed a White Ash rank enemy before. The first one she ever killed, Claudius, had been brought down in a direct confrontation. However, in that battle, she had Vania with her—Rose Cross Order’s strongest force beneath Dorothy herself. Vania had played an irreplaceable, critical role in that fight. Without her, Dorothy wouldn’t have been able to defeat Claudius at all. Now, though, Vania had only just left Summer Tree not long ago. She was still out at sea, far from Telva, and there was no chance of waiting for her to arrive in time. In this situation, without Vania’s assistance, Dorothy’s direct combat capability had taken a major hit. “I can’t rely on official Beyonder forces, and Vania isn’t with me right now… under these circumstances, taking down the Dark Gold Society is going to be a lot more difficult. What should I do now?” Seated on the sofa, Dorothy wore a serious expression as she considered the situation. The current predicament was shaping up to be another major challenge for her.