Chapter 22: Clue
"Sinful Demon? What type of creature is that? I never even heard of it." Charles got puzzled by the new term and asked in curiosity.
"It's complicated. Well, the Demonic Cult members also have a separate class system. It's the path of Demons." He stopped for a moment and added in a grave tone,
"[Sinful Demon] class is a Rank 4 demon class, and walking on this path will turn the humans into real Demons."
"Demons? Are demons real?" Charles had forgotten entirely about the Series Artifact and shifted his attention to the new topic.
"Yes, they are real. Now, let's discuss the current situation." Bishop Reynolds deliberately paused for a second and asked,
"What would you like to drink, tea or coffee?"
Charles stared at Bishop in surprise for a moment and soon spoke,
"Tea."
Nodding his head, Bishop turned his gaze towards Hunt and said,
"Go and prepare one black tea for our guest." He paused for a moment and then spoke while turning towards Charles.
"Charles, I need your help to cure this curse and my bad luck."
A complicated expression appeared on Charles's face as he stared at Bishop. He didn't reply, though. Instead, he went back to the wooden chair and sat on it.
"What can I get in return?" He asked solemnly.
"I can give you an important clue. That clue can help you to get the A-035 Series Artifact." Bishop Reynolds said in a tempting tone.
"I'm not an idiot, Father Reynolds. If I find the Holem's Crown, multiple organization members will come after me. Humph, even the Churches will corner me from all directions and force me to give up the Series Artifact. I want to live a little longer." Charles responded in dissatisfaction.
A chuckle escaped from Bishop Reynolds's mouth as he stared at the deep blue-haired kid in amusement. If it was the old Charles, he knew the conversation would have gone in a different direction.
'Well, nothing can be changed now.' He muttered under his breath and spoke,
"That's why I want to form an agreement with you, Charles."
"An agreement, is it?" Charles's lips twitched as he heard that word from Bishop Reynolds's mouth.
"Yes, it's a win-win agreement this time." Bishop smiled without any shame and continued,
"Holem's Crown had already chosen you as its successor, Charles. Even if we snatch it from you using force, that series artifact will try to retaliate and escape from us shortly. If you promise us to return the Holem's Crown to Life Church before your death, I will ask the higher-ups to solve all the current problems. But you must promise me that you will stay in the Withering Shadows for the rest of your life and serve our Divine Lady. You know, these series artifacts are troublesome bunches, and keeping A-035 in the Life Church's Secret chamber is the best option."
"This is not a win-win agreement. You are just using me to capture the roaming Holem's Crown before others." Charles's tone went cold as he heard those conditions.
"I'm helping you to solve your hidden problems." Bishop Reynolds refuted.
"I can solve them myself, father Reynolds." Charles glared at the Bishop for a second and shook his head.
"If you want my help, then you have to adjust the agreement." He added.
Bishop Reynolds went silent for a moment and soon asked,
"What do you want?"
"I want a complete ownership over the Holem's Crown." Charles leaned back a little and replied calmly.
"Impossible!" Bishop Reynolds shook his head and continued,
"There are rules everyone must follow in this world, Charles. Unless you are a Rank 5 Mystic, Churches won't allow any low-rank mystic to own the Series Artifacts."
"Even if they are the real owner of the Series Artifact?" Charles asked while furrowing his brows.
"Yes. Those artifacts are dangerous and have strange abilities to cause destruction." Bishop said in a calm tone.
Upon hearing Bishop's words, Charles's expression went gloomy. He sat in silence for two minutes and shook his head.
"I will be on my way then." He stood up from the seat and said in disappointment.
"I have a solution."
At that moment, Hunt suddenly interrupted their talking as he walked into the reception hall with two teacups and gave one cup to Charles.
Taking the cup, Charles gave him a sharp look and urged him to answer.
"Why not alter the condition a little?" Asking, Hunt passed another teacup to Bishop Reynolds and elaborated,
"Why not make a little gamble, Father? You can let Charles keep the Holem's Crown for the next ten years. If he managed to reach Rank-5 Mystic in those ten years, he doesn't need to return the Series Artifact to Life Church. But if he didn't, then the Church will have the right to confiscate the Series Artifact from him. How is this condition?"
"Okay for me," Charles sat on the wooden chair and nodded his head.
'10 years are more than enough for me to rank up a few times.'
In the meantime, Bishop pondered for a moment and nodded,
'He is still naive. In the history of the Arcane Era, there are only a handful of geniuses achieved that feat. Well, all I have to do now is wait for another ten years and gain full control over the Series Artifact.'
"Then, let's talk about how to catch the Holem's Crown," Bishop said in excitement.
"Before that, tell me about the clue to find the Holem's Crown," Charles spoke impatiently.
"I will." Bishop Reynolds patted his thighs and asked,
"Do you know Eddie Nightwind?"
Charles thought for a moment and soon shook his head. There was no memory of Eddie Nightwind in real Charles's memory, which caused him to think deeply.
'Eddie Nightwind... From the information I gathered from Ian's mouth, I can guess that he must be an ancestor of the Nightwind family. But what does it have to do with me? How did A-035, aka the Holem's Crown, know about me? There are too many questions in my mind. There is also something off about our house and the 23-hectare land...'
"Who is he? Did he have some deep history with Riverdale city?" Charles took a sip of the black tea and asked,
"You guessed it right." Bishop Reynolds said with a nod and continued,
"Riverdale city is indeed Eddie's home. He was born in this city and became a member of Withering Shadow like you. He was a Dreamer class member, a rare Class Mystic. He made great achievements when he worked as a Withering Shadow and became a famous hero in fifteen years-"
"Is he also the first owner of our current house and the 23-hectare lands?" Charles interrupted his talking and asked while turning his face gloomier.
"How did you find out?" Bishop Reynolds looked at Charles in surprise for a second and asked,
"I guessed." He replied vaguely and started to ponder.
'It's not a coincidence. Someone is pulling strings behind our backs.' While he was in muse, Bishop Reynolds nodded his head and continued,
"Due to some misunderstanding, Eddie left the Withering Shadows and joined a certain mage organization. After that, he created a special team and started researching more about Edhen World's history and outer space. He, his childhood friend Myers Collins, and a few other mages explored all over the Edhen Continent and began to raise questions about Gods, Demons, and Devils. They were always a troublesome bunch."
"During their space research, Eddie found this Holem's Crown in the outer space and captured it. He then became the owner of this series artifact and turned into a mysterious individual. With this artifact's help, he even killed a Demi-God and became a legend among the mystics." Bishop Reynolds stopped for a moment to take a long breath and continued,
"But even the mysterious legend met some troublesome enemy during his journey to a secondary dimension. He never mentioned anything about his enemy and returned to Edhen World. After that, he hid from the outer world and started researching about 'Myth Tree.'"
"He claimed that our world is moving towards its doom and the only way to save our planet from its destruction was to find the world tree of Edhen. Everyone thought that Eddis went crazy after he came from the secondary dimension. So, Lady Myers even invited a Dream Church member to check for any abnormality in his soul. To their amazement, they found out Eddie's inner world was not damaged at all!"
"After years of researching, Eddie made a decision and set out to search for 'Myth Tree' by himself in the Endless Sea. But before he went on his long journey, he returned to Riverdale City and stayed here for six months. We learned from the records that Eddie stayed in the Wind Villa and appeared to be preparing for something. He also wrote a strange prophecy at that time and spread it all over the continent. That's the reason that many Mystics from different organizations are hiding in this city. They are waiting for you to find the artifact and steal it for themselves. They are a bunch of greedy bastards." Bishop said in anger.
Upon hearing Bishop's angry voice, Hunt and Charles became speechless.
'You are the one to talk,' Charles grumbled inwardly and asked,
"The clue you are talking about is not that strange prophecy, right?"
"Yes. Although Eddie Nightwind was not a divine being, he was still a legendary one. With his strange dream power, he might have some power to see the distant future. Don't forget that dream is interlinked with the past, present, and future. I think Eddie might have deliberately released the strange prophecy to divert others' attention. He might have placed some valuable information in your home or the Wind Villa."
'Wind villa... Is he talking about that 23-hectare land? Hmm, it seems I need to go and search for clues on my own.' He mused in thoughts and soon frowned,
"Are you hiding something from me? Did you find something in our villa?"
Hearing Charles's words, even Hunt became surprised and glanced at Bishop in wide eyes.
"'Cough' No. I didn't intend to hide it from you on purpose. I thought of revealing it to you later." Bishop coughed twice to clear the awkwardness and continued while taking out a thumb-sized greyish-black pebble from his pocket.
"3 months ago, I went to the Wind villa and found this strange stone in Eddie's study room."
'I knew it! He indeed stole something from our place. But what is this strange stone?' He furrowed his brows and soon cast [Inspect] skill on it.
[Item- Nightmare Stone
Rank- Unknown
Effect: If you place this stone near your heart when sleeping, it will send your consciousness to a strange dream world. It is believed that these stones are only found in the Woolgather world and are very rare.]
"Nightmare Stone?" Charles asked in a startled tone as he read the effect.
"Yes. I found it on Eddie's desk." Bishop Reynolds nodded his head and continued,
"I tried to enter this so-called 'Woolgather World' and but all my attempts ended up as failures."
'Nightmare stone? What is this? Does this stone have some relation with Nightwind family members? Eddie is the one who found this family, so it's not a surprising thing. Did he foresee the future?' He thought for a moment and soon put it inside his void pouch.
"Where did you get a void pouch?"
At that moment, Bishop Reynolds also noticed the void pouch and asked in shock.
'Right? I should exchange those two rare-rank swords with this old man and ask for some good dagger or other-' Charles abruptly stopped thinking as he remembered a particular type of artifact and furrowed his brows.
'If I'm in the Ember Kingdom, it would be very easier for me to get one of the magic pistols. As a former assassin from Earth, having one of the familiar weapons will give me some advantage against my enemies. Although it has a long cooldown time like one day or something per shot, it will definitely be useful as one of my trump cards. Currently, I only have the mysterious magic book as my trump card. But to use that book, I need to learn that strange language.'
'Moreover, I need to learn more about these spell models and get my hands on the runal language book.'
Shaking his head, Charles curled his lips upward and smiled.
Seeing his strange smile, Hunt's and Bishop Reynolds' faces went stiff for a second.
Before they could ask further, Charles smiled widely and asked,
"Father, can you get me an Ember Pistol?"
"Do you have enough money to buy that?" Reynolds showed a surprised look on his face and then said with a sigh,
"Ember Pistols... Those are expensive weapons, Charles-"
"Can I get one in exchange for these two rare swords?" Charles interrupted his talk, took out the two long swords he looted from Ian, and asked.
In the meantime, Reynolds stared at those two long swords for whole ten seconds and said in excitement,
"Deal!"