3 2. Madam Sharon

The knocking came from the front door.

Do people in this world have the habit of visiting in the middle of the night?

Looking at the red moon in the sky outside the window, Angel hesitated about whether to open the door or not.

First, she needed to prepare a handy weapon. She looked around, her gaze sweeping over the poker next to the fireplace, then towards the flowerpot placed at the study's doorway, and finally, as if drawn by a mysterious force, back to the desk in front of her.

Following the memories in her mind, she opened the desk drawer, took out a large dictionary, and then lifted it to reveal a secret compartment underneath. Inside, there was a neat stack of banknotes, more than ten scattered coins, a valuable-looking pocket watch, a notebook with a yellowed cover, and a revolver lying quietly on the notebook.

Ignoring the other items, Angel directly reached for the revolver. The wooden grip and metal body gave her a sense of security she hadn't felt in a long time.

Time waits for no one. She quickly spun the cylinder, confirmed that the chamber was loaded with five unfired bullets, then removed the bullets to estimate their weight and size.

"0.45 caliber, not really suitable for women to use, the recoil might be a bit much," Angel examined the bullets. "But the strength hidden in this female body is not inferior to that of an adult male. Holding this 3-pound handgun with one hand does not feel strenuous at all, even quite effortless." She reloaded the chamber and quickly switched between a few positions, finding the strength in her slender arms astonishing, which gave her more confidence for the potential battle ahead.

"Knock, knock—" The knocking sounded again, and Angel hesitated no longer. She picked up the revolver and headed to the living room, taking the poker for extra caution.

Circling around the bay window facing the street, she arrived next to the front door. Silence prevailed behind the door, as if the visitor had grown impatient and left.

Angel was not deceived by this appearance. She recalled the "Assassin," or rather, a basic ability possessed by all Beyonder individuals, "Spiritual Vision."

She pressed her tongue against the bottom left molar, activating the spiritual vision ability originally belonging to Cole Granger.

Beyonder individuals in spiritual vision state can observe objects with spirituality within their line of sight, including various Beyonder items, materials rich in spirituality, and of course, living beings.

This spiritual glow could even penetrate through obstacles of lesser thickness.

Under spiritual vision, the dim interior of the house, aside from the faint spiritual aura emanating from herself, only revealed a dim but sufficient white light that could pass through the crack behind the door.

After confirming through spiritual vision that the visitor was still standing behind the door, she quickly turned off the vision. Just those ten or so seconds had made Angel feel her spirituality was nearing depletion. This was certainly due to her body and mental instability, but the significant consumption of spirituality by the spiritual vision was also clearly evident.

With her right hand holding the gun at the door frame and her left hand carrying the poker, she asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?" If you don't answer in five seconds, I will shoot—she added silently in her mind.

"It's me." A soft voice came from behind the door, with a slight quiver that sounded like a young woman.

After a brief moment of thought, Angel recognized the owner of the voice: Mrs. Sharon.

Sharon Khoy is Tingen City's most famous and beautiful widow, as well as the most sought-after lady in social occasions. She was the second wife of Baron Khoy, but unfortunately became a widow.

Mrs. Sharon was widely popular in the business and political circles of Tingen, not only because of her unique identity but also due to her adept social maneuvering and "secret relationships" with numerous officials. For Cole Granger, however, Mrs. Sharon's most special role was as a mentor guiding him into the Beyonder world to become an "assassin".

According to the memories in his mind, Mrs. Sharon herself was also an Beyonder individual, having risen through the ranks of "assassins" just like Cole, but the specific rank she achieved, beyond being at least a "witch" of the seventh sequence, was unclear to Cole.

Knowing who was at the door, Angel did not open it. Instead, she cocked the hammer of her pistol, making no attempt to conceal the sound of the parts rubbing together, sending a clear message to the other side of the door: "Please go back."

The person outside seemed completely unfazed by having a gun pointed at them and calmly said:

"Ah, it sounds like you've successfully advanced. I told you, this promotion, in every sense, is a transformative change for you. Once your condition stabilizes in a few days, I suggest we meet at the usual place. It will help you master the power of the potion."

"The item you're looking for, I've left it on top of the mailbox. That guy has put up a two hundred pound reward for it in the Tingen Morning News. You might as well claim the bounty as a reward for your successful advancement."

"By the way, I've also brought some women's clothes for you. You wouldn't want to go out dressed as a man after dawn, would you?"

After leaving these peculiar statements, the person outside went silent. Angel reactivated her spiritual vision but found nothing.

She dared not relax her body, still pointing the gun at the door until there was no movement outside for five minutes, then cautiously put away her weapon.

She had guessed correctly.

The relationship between Cole Granger and Mrs. Sharon was good, especially after he became an "instigator." Perhaps seeing Cole's rapidly growing power as a worthwhile investment, Mrs. Sharon took their relationship to the next level, yes, that kind of relationship.

From the perspective of Angel, an observer, it was almost certain that Mrs. Sharon had used the charm abilities of an instigator or a higher sequence. However, Cole Granger was undoubtedly being manipulated by Mrs. Sharon.

It wasn't until the eve of his promotion to "witch," when he learned that the potion would turn him into a woman, that he finally woke up and firmly refused Mrs. Sharon's request, declaring he would never take the potion.

Of course, Angel's presence here showed that Cole's "never" wasn't so absolute.

Based on the relationship between the two in her memories, Angel successfully played the role of a woman whose emotions were unstable after her promotion, keeping Mrs. Sharon out and successfully avoiding the meeting.

She had a premonition that once the door was opened and they met, things would definitely go in a bad direction.

After confirming Mrs. Sharon had left, Angel opened the main door, peeked around for a while, saw no one on the street, quickly grabbed the package from the mailbox beside the door, and then closed and locked the door.

——————————

"Could there be any traps or curses?"

Angel stared at the package on the table, lost in thought.

She prodded the package with a fire poker, and the outer burlap easily caved in, suggesting that the contents were not particularly hard.

Having calmed down after acquiring the weapon, her heart stirred again, a change she knew came after encountering Mrs. Sharon, stemming from the anxiety caused by the gap in their strengths. Her gentle words also had an inexplicable effect.

This made her realize that "language" can also be a weapon for the Beyonder.

Setting the fire poker aside, she held a gun in one hand and with the other, she lifted the burlap off the package. A fine badge rolled onto the table, beneath which lay several neatly stacked pieces of clothing.

Could it really just be clothes?

Placing the revolver within easy reach, she picked up a piece of clothing from the table and shook it out, discovering it was a surprisingly conservative dress, with the rest of the outfits being women's dresses as well, including a few sets of underwear and two pairs of flat shoes.

"At least they're not high heels..." Angel comforted herself, "and the clothes aren't revealing." Even after inexplicably becoming a woman, she couldn't accept wearing anything too revealing.

Putting the women's clothing aside, she picked up the badge that had slipped out when she opened the package and closely examined it.

It was a brass badge about half the size of a palm, octagonal and symmetrical, with a hefty feel. One side was inlaid with a teardrop-shaped amethyst as large as a broad bean, which refracted strange lights under the dual illumination of red moonlight and yellow lamplight. The other side was engraved with "Presented to Quentin Cohen—From Azik Eggers," and upon closer inspection, there was a line of elegant small print: "Carry it personally, remember."

It turned out to be a gift from someone, no wonder the owner offered a 200 pounds reward for this item. Just looking at the craftsmanship and the cheap amethyst, one could probably buy it for 10 pounds in a street-side gift shop, and maybe pay a little extra for engraving.

After confirming it was just an ordinary commemorative badge, Angel lost interest and tossed the "200 pounds" item aside. Since Mrs. Sharon had mentioned that the item could be taken for a reward, she didn't mind trying it when she had the time.

After the "Mrs. Sharon crisis" was resolved, she began to ponder her current situation.

The thought of being a man in his 30s who suddenly arrived in another world, becoming the young woman she was now, and with a murder charge hanging over her, gave Angel a headache. She was tempted to put a bullet in her head with the revolver, wondering if that might send her back to her original world.

However, her intuition told her that it wasn't as simple as dying the same way to return. The death on Earth must have triggered some extremely special mechanism, allowing her soul to come to this world, inhabiting the body of the also deceased Cole Granger, and transformed into her current appearance under the effect of a "witch's" potion.

Right, Cole Granger was a male, and now I'm in a female body, so what do his crimes have to do with me? No matter what, they can't pin it on me, right?

Realizing this, Angel breathed a sigh of relief; at least she didn't have to worry about being pursued by the authorities anymore. Being wanted would not only make it difficult for her to move around the city but would also put a lot of psychological pressure on her as a former Templar Knight, even if she wasn't the one who committed those acts.

Even without worrying about the crimes committed by Cole Granger affecting herself, Angel now needs a legal identity. The original male identity can no longer be used, even if it's not wanted by the authorities.

She wonders if forging documents could solve this problem. After all, in a world without the internet and databases, as long as the counterfeit is realistic enough, it should be easy to pass through undetected.

Besides a fake identity, she needs to find a new place to live as soon as possible, to completely say goodbye to the identity of "Cole Granger." That way, even if the crimes he committed are discovered, the police would only find an empty residence and the disappeared Cole Granger.

Once settled, she plans to find a way back home. This is a world of extraordinary abilities, so the possibility of returning to her homeland is still very high.

Moreover, she needs to clean up the ritual traces in the basement to prevent the police from associating Cole Granger with changing identities through magic potions...

Having prioritized her tasks, Angel is filled with determination. She goes to the bathroom to find a bucket, mop, and brush, and cleans the strange radial bloodstains in the basement. She rearranges the table, candlesticks, and other furniture, and throws the cauldron used for brewing magic potions into the kitchen, making it impossible to associate with any supernatural elements.

Though the floor still smells faintly of blood, it's less noticeable mixed with the basement's damp air. Angel decides to buy some nearly expired cheap meat later and leave it forgotten in a corner of the basement, so the rotten smell will eventually overpower the blood scent.

After cleaning the bucket and mop, Angel changes out of her sweat-soaked clothes, takes a quick shower, and puts on the women's clothing sent by Mrs. Sharon.

"I have to say, this body's appearance and figure are much better than those female celebrities I've seen on TV and the internet before." Angel clumsily puts on the unfamiliar women's underwear, admiring her figure in the mirror, inevitably drifting into daydreams.

Before she knows it, she has spent a quarter of an hour in front of the bathroom mirror.

"This is too dangerous, even I can't resist it, let alone if other men see..." Angel shivers, snaps out of it, and quickly buttons up the top of her dress to cover the skin between her collarbones and neck. She makes the sign of the cross over her chest, asking for forgiveness for her confusion.

Next, she needs to address her hunger and check the surroundings of her residence—two tasks that can be accomplished together, as Angel finds the kitchen unusable.

She had already checked the kitchen, realizing that Cole Granger did not cook at home. The cookware had no traces of grease, the stove could be lit, but the seasonings were unusable. The salt was clumped from moisture, the black pepper had white spots of mold, the lard had a layer of strange fur, and only half a can of tea leaves survived due to dryness.

After disposing of the spoiled seasonings, Angel decides to go out to solve her dining problem.

Perhaps as the fusion of soul and body becomes tighter, from waking up in the middle of the night to the current morning, Angel recalls fragments of memory, mostly general knowledge not involving specific memories, such as how to use a gas meter, the exchange rates of gold pounds, solis, and pennies (they use pennies here too), there are 365-366 days in a year, seven days in a week, 24 hours in a day, etc.

There are also vague memories related to Cole Granger's life, but mostly recent, with older memories fading until she can't recall them at all.

"Let's go to the restaurant he often frequented. The prices are reasonable, and the food tastes good." Angel opens the desk drawer, picks out a 10-pound note from neatly stacked bills in a secret compartment, hesitates, then puts it back and takes three 1-pound notes and two 5-soli notes, along with a handful of copper pennies.

The purchasing power of a gold pound in this world is much higher than that of a British pound on Earth. It's inconvenient and unsafe to use large denominations for shopping.

But Cole was really rich; there must be at least 300 gold pounds in this drawer alone. It seems he made a good amount before retiring from being an assassin. Looking at the various denominations of ill-gotten money in the drawer, Angel loses the last bit of guilt for taking someone else's money.

Before leaving, she makes a simple holster from an old bedsheet, tying the revolver to her right thigh. With her skirt covering it, it's completely unnoticeable.

Putting the bills and coins in her pocket, Angel leaves through the back door, takes a long detour through the sparsely populated alley, and returns to the main street.

Her temporary residence is at 6 Daffodil Street in Tingen City, part of a row of buildings, with a hip roof, gray-blue exterior, two floors, and a towering chimney, not lower than the three-story buildings next to it.

It's eight in the morning, the busiest time of the day. Vendors crowd the streets, shouting their wares, and shops set up signs, waiting for customers.

Breathing in the air mixed with the fragrance of bread, the aroma of fat, and the sting of spices, Angel finally feels back among the living. The anxiety of inexplicably traveling to another world is temporarily suppressed, and her empty stomach begins to cramp, reminding her of what she needs to do most right now.