Taking a soft sip from her cup of tea and feeling the taste of the finely selected leaves and the softness of the milk caused a small smile to grow on her lips.
Sitting back in her chair, her emerald green eyes gazed at the lively talk in front of her calmly.
"Did you read the newspaper? Mr. Holmes did it again and attacked a Dead Shot hideout in the middle of the night!" a noble girl said in astonishment speaking to a young noble who nodded and added.
"The 27 guards who were there were killed, and according to the witnesses he did it alone!"
A brown-haired girl dressed in a fine green dress heard this and also added something.
"Not only that, he even killed the gang leader by burning him alive!"
"It's obvious that he's a Beyonder! And a powerful one! Could it be some secret member of the Churches who is in charge of protecting the streets of East Borough?" the first girl asked excitedly.
The noble boy shook his head and said seriously.
"Churches would never allow one of their members to be so famous, is certain that he to work alone."
The girl who was corrected instead of getting angry about it smiled brightly and said excitedly.
"But doesn't that make it more amazing?! Not only does he protect the East Borough but he also avoids the clutches of the Churches!"
The girl's face filled with realization.
"He's like the Robin Hood from the famous Emperor Roselle stories!"
Several gasps of astonishment sounded, they then began to discuss how the man had been able to do this and his similarities to other heroes from the Emperor's stories.
The corners of her lips twitched slightly.
'James Holmes...' she thought a little curious about the man.
'Is it certain that he is a Beyonder though I wonder which sequence he is, 7 or 6?'
A young man with ash yellow hair turned to look at her somewhat confused, a bit of concern danced in his eyes.
"Audrey, don't you have something to say?"
The corners of her mouth trembled slightly again and she unconsciously came out of the Spectator State.
"Sorry Glaint, I was a little distracted." she said apologetically as she lowered the ceramic tea cup.
Glaint's expression creased slightly in concern but he immediately recovered and covered that with a small formal smile.
But in the eyes of a Spectator, he was an open book.
Knowing that she could no longer act, she could only sigh and skilfully joined the conversation.
This was enough for Glaint that the smile he wore was less forced.
Audrey only said what was necessary, throwing out the odd comment or opinion...
...
After chatting for a long time, the party came to an end and Glaint dismissed every member who had attended until only he and Audrey were left.
Returning to the room they had used for the party, he closed the door and let out a tired sigh.
Sitting down in his chair he raised a hand to his head in disbelief.
"How did the Occult Club go from talking about Mysticism and looking for opportunities to become a Beyonder to the Holmes Fan Club?"
"It's been a long time since anything this interesting has happened, give them about 2 months and they'll put this behind them," Audrey calmly comforted Glaint who nodded weakly.
It was obvious that he was sad about how his Club had fallen.
Audrey would be the same or even more upset than Glaint if it weren't for one fact.
'Now I'm in a real Beyonder Club! Not some poor noble children's attempt to imitate that!' she thought proudly, a small smile forming on her face.
'Not only that but I've become a Spectator! A true Beyonder!'
Thinking of that made her remember the reason for her visit which made her smile tremble a little.
She still hadn't made any progress with Mr. Chariot's payment...
She had been so busy with her piano, etiquette, dance, and writing classes that she hadn't had time to contact Glaint.
'Tomorrow is the Tarot Club! If I go and tell Mr. Chariot that I haven't made any progress with his request, the only thing I will get is to be teased by him!' she thought with a chill going up her spine.
She still hadn't finished recovering from the last time...
Not wanting to waste any more time, she deliberately sighed a little loudly.
This caught Glaint's attention and he stopped wailing and turned to look at Audrey curiously.
Seeing how his friend's face had a sad expression, he got worried, he went and quickly sat down in front of her.
"Audrey, what's wrong? Is there something bothering you?"
'Sorry about this Glaint but I don't want to feel Chariot's wrath!' Audrey mentally apologized but outwardly she just made her expression sadder and sighed heavily.
"It's nothing Glaint, it's just that my parents will most likely be mad at me when they find out what I did and they will punish me." she said sadly.
She looked at her friend's face and her performance almost broke.
Glaint's mouth hung in disbelief.
It was so obvious what the man was thinking that even a normal person would notice.
'Audrey? The innocent Audrey did mischief?'
Seeing how he was being watched by Audrey's sad eyes, Glaint put his thoughts aside and focused on his friend.
"Your parents adore you, I doubt it's something big enough for you to have to worry about that much!" Glaint tried to comfort the young lady but Audrey looked away with some embarrassment.
This made Glaint's expression crack again.
"Audrey, what did you do?"
Audrey took a few seconds to answer.
"I took some things from the family vault to try to create a Charm according to the instructions in a Mysticism book I managed to obtain... But all I did was make a mess and waste the materials..."
"And the materials are ones that took my parents a long time to get..." she added, the tone of her voice dropping with each word until it ended just above a whisper.
"Why would you do something like that?!" Glaint asked stunned.
Audrey continued her act and looked away in embarrassment.
"I was very excited and wanted to test if the information in the book was real!"
She then turned her head to Glaint and making the most helpless face she could do, she spoke desperately.
"Please Glaint! I don't know what to do!"
Glaint put a hand to his forehead and caressed it stressed.
After a few moments he sighed, he lowered his hand and looked at Audrey.
"I think I can help you, tell me the materials you took, I'll check my personal vault and see if I have them."
Audrey's face lit up with true joy, she clapped her hands together and said gratefully.
"Thank you very much Glaint!"
Now she would not suffer the wrath of Mr. Chariot!
"Yes, yes, yes, you owe me one." Glaint accepted the applause but also reminded Audrey who nodded with a smile.
"Now tell me the materials you used, I'll go get them now and I'll give them to you in a basket before you leave."
Audrey was even more glad to hear this and happily said what she needed to.
"A matured Manhal Fish's eyeball and goat-horned blackfish blood!"
Glaint's brow furrowed for a few moments but he immediately recovered. Audrey noticed this change but did not comment on it.
Glaint sighed and scratching his cheek with his finger, he answered.
"I still have a container with the blood so it won't be a problem but I don't have the matured Manhal Fish's eyeball..."
Audrey's face filled with despair.
'I don't have anyone else to ask this of, what am I supposed to do now!? Does that mean I will suffer Mr. Chariot's wrath?'
She did not trust any other noble besides Glaint to obtain the ingredients.
The reason why she didn't ask another noble was quite simple.
She didn't want to attract the attention of the Psychology Alchemists!
Every time she felt the urge to do that she reminded herself of Chariot's words about this organization...
She started playing with her fingers to calm down, she tried to find other options to save herself...
Glaint who was looking at Audrey was very surprised by this abrupt change.
'It seems that the punishment she will receive is quite terrifying...for her to be like this...'
Not wanting his friend to suffer such severe punishment, Glaint considered something for a few seconds before sighing.
'Maybe Dutch has one left...'
"I can get you the Manhal Fish's eyeball but you will have to wait a few days. How long do you think it will take your parents to realize it's missing?"
Recovering from her episode, Audrey took a few seconds to respond.
"Every Wednesday, they do an inventory check in the afternoon."
This was a lie, the inventory review was done every 2 weeks on Saturdays.
'Sorry Glaint but the faster I can get Chariot the materials the better!'
She was only willing to put up with bullying from the man once.
She didn't think she could handle two...
Hearing the answer, Glaint just nodded and took a pensive pose.
'Dutch hasn't answered any letters to me this whole month, nor has he attended any other party that I know of. I'll have to visit him this time...'
He had free time on Tuesday morning.
'I will write him a letter to let him know that I will visit him...'
Already with the decision made, he looked at Audrey seriously.
"I'll let you know on Tuesday."
Audrey nodded faintly at this.