Bernadette gave a quiet laugh. "My very first thought when I saw that evil spirit... was to use him to act out the Shadow Merchant."
Vincent's eyes lit up. "That's not a bad idea at all."
"But I think it would be very difficult. Because that evil spirit is, in all likelihood, an angel of the Hunter Pathway — and Sequence 6 of the Hunter Pathway is the Conspirer. Trying to outmanoeuvre a creature like that in a battle of wits... I simply don't have that kind of confidence."
That was fair enough.
"You know that Attorney Delin was a member of the Moses Ascetic Order. I find it hard to believe he stumbled upon that tomb purely out of curiosity..."
"Understood — when I cross over next time, I'll help look into it."
"Good. Be careful."
Bernadette naturally understood that doing so carried risk — but then, looking back at what this man had gotten up to during his last few visits, every single one had been more dangerous than the last.
If she could keep his attention firmly fixed on watching the Moses Ascetic Order, he might actually be safer than if he was left to roam freely.
"Last thing."
Bernadette asked, "In the previous exchanges, did you ever study what state we're actually in when we swap?"
"I did. I even tried recording it on camera, but there was nothing to see — just an instant, and our souls had exchanged. Over in the blink of an eye."
"That's what the Invisible Servant told me too."
She thought for a moment. "During the second exchange I tried using a mystical item to convert my soul into an information stream, attempting to resist the swap. It failed. In every subsequent exchange I've tried various things — all without any effect. I even considered, at one point, what might happen if I were a 'wraith': converting myself into a spirit form right before the swap."
Vincent's mouth fell open slightly. "Isn't that... a bit reckless? What if you transferred fully into my body in spirit form and then reverted to a physical state? My body would just... split open."
Bernadette considered it. He wasn't wrong. "My point is this — since what we're exchanging are our souls, any attempt to understand the mechanism should start from the souls themselves."
"Agreed. But in my world, entering a soul-state is... rather complicated."
The only two known methods: dying with a powerful enough fixation and becoming a ghost — like the ones that haunted Hogwarts castle; or doing what Voldemort did, which essentially also required dying first.
"For most people, perhaps. But not for us."
"Oh?"
"You're outside the door right now, aren't you?" she said.
"Yes."
"In your soul-form?"
"Yes..."
"As am I."
Bernadette revealed what she was actually getting at. "What do you think would happen if, at the moment of the next exchange, we were both inside the Realm of Chaos?"
"???"
"!!!"
Vincent went very still.
That is a genuinely fascinating question.
If both of them were inside the Realm of Chaos when the exchange triggered — what would happen?
Would nothing outwardly change, but their souls return to opposite worlds when they re-entered reality? Or would their souls actually swap positions within the Realm itself — placing Vincent in the sitting room while Bernadette appeared outside the door?
But as far as they'd worked out, the space outside the door was accessible only to the one bound to the Realm of Chaos.
Bernadette smiled. "I see you're quite taken with this idea of mine."
"I'm interested, yes — but a little worried we might accidentally trigger some sort of... bug."
"Every great discovery is born from a series of experiments, and every experiment carries risk. If we let caution stop us at every turn, we may never unravel the secret behind our soul-exchanges."
Vincent thought about it for a moment. "You're right."
"Then it's settled."
After that, Vincent gave a brief account of things on his end — focusing mainly on the whole business with Harry and Snape's grudge, and his scheme to make Snape Harry's godfather.
"..."
Bernadette was silent for a long while. "You really are something..."
She couldn't quite find the words.
"Ha ha ha ha — just think of it as me being petty and taking revenge on Snape."
Vincent laughed. In the original occupant's memories, the hatred for Snape ran bone-deep: hatred for his indifference when the bullying was happening, hatred for the years he'd spent as Voldemort's lapdog.
Doing this, at least, was some measure of justice for the person whose body he was now living in.
The world of Lord of the Mysteries.
The location chosen for Georgia's group to sign the contract with the Hall family was Caesar Restaurant itself.
The representative sent to handle the signing was still the trusted personal secretary of the Hall family's eldest young master. For a small venture like this, there was no need for young Master Hibbert to show up in person.
Young Master Hibbert's secretary was a fair-haired man in his thirties, perpetually wearing a genial smile that made it impossible to dislike him. But taking him for a genuinely kind person would be a grave mistake.
"Hello, Lady Natasha."
"Hello, Mr Tucker. As for the contract for Georgia and her associates — I'll be signing on their behalf."
"Ha — rest assured. The Hall family doesn't stoop to underhanded tricks in a small business deal like this."
Then again, the one stooping to underhanded tricks here is me.
Secretary Tucker got straight to business. "Here's the contract. If you have no objections, sign and press your thumbprint."
Bernadette ran her eyes quickly over it. True to his word, the contract simply set down in writing all the terms both parties had previously discussed — nothing hidden.
The crux of it was one clause: the Hall family would hold an absolute controlling interest in the grain company.
The investment from the Hall family was, in the grand scheme of things, a dispensable move on the board — a piece played almost idly. But having played it, they naturally wanted full control. Should this idle piece turn pivotal in the future, they'd want the initiative firmly in their own hands.
"Mr Tucker, I have no objections to the contract itself — but Georgia and her associates have some new thoughts."
"Oh? Do go on."
"They're willing to surrender another half of their equity and profit share in exchange for the Hall family increasing their investment."
Tucker blinked. "And... why the sudden change of heart?"
"Because they're planning to take the business further than originally intended." Bernadette said, "When they spread to stores in different cities, they'll inevitably be competing with established grain traders in each location. In the early stages, they plan to undercut on price to capture market share — and that's going to need a great deal more capital behind it."
He pinched his chin and thought it over, then smiled. "In that case, the grain company will leave them with very little in returns. It'd essentially be working for the Hall family on a salary."
"Not necessarily. Provided the business grows large enough, a smaller share of a bigger pie can still be more money in hand."
"Ha ha ha ha — fair enough. But I must throw some cold water on this: the grain trade in Loen is tightly controlled by the conservative faction, with Duke Nigen at the helm. Anyone can try their hand at it, of course — but anyone wanting to grow... would need to fall in with them."
He continued: "The Hall family, however, are the standard-bearers of the new faction. Accept our investment and you've been marked accordingly. The conservatives won't give you room to breathe."
He tilted his head with mild curiosity. "Which is why I've always wondered — why didn't you seek funding from a conservative businessman to begin with?"
"Because the conservative faction wouldn't look twice at a group of bankrupt grain merchants. And more importantly — I happen to be on rather good terms with Miss Audrey of the Hall family."
Tucker paused. "Is that so?"
Bernadette slid the revised contract back across the table. "Here's the amended version. Please review it."
He bent over it and read through carefully, then looked up with a light smile. "No objections. We'll see if this actually delivers results — the Hall family doesn't like throwing money into a bottomless pit."
"We won't disappoint."
Bernadette smiled as well — and the moment Tucker closed the contract, she felt the Shadow Merchant potion begin to digest.
Now there was only the experiment at the next exchange to look forward to.
To be continued…
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