Chapter 29: Arbiter of Storm
"Go to the Half-Dragon Residency in Gold Street." Emilia sat next to Charles and ordered the coachman.
In the meantime, the bowler-hatted coachman in a black suit whipped the horse, pulled the horse reins, and started driving the carriage towards Gold Street. A few minutes later, the carriage made a few turns, entered a long narrow street road, and soon stopped in front of a large three-storied building.
Unlike other buildings, this three-storied building looked more like a modern-day school building with a separate yard.
"John Wayne is staying on the third floor. His room number is 325," Emilia spoke as she glanced at a paper in her hand and walked out of the carriage. Then, she went near the compound gate, walked inside, and soon moved towards the three-storied building. Others also followed her quietly, and the group soon went up to the third floor through the curved staircase.
They then walked on the smooth corridor, glanced at the rooms on both sides while checking the numbers, and soon arrived in front of a wooden paneled door.
"This is it," Emilia said in a calm tone, raised her right hand, and moved it towards the door to knock.
But before she could knock on the door, a clanging sound came from the other side, causing her to pause in surprise.
The next second, the door opened with a screech from the other side.
At that moment, a 30-years-old man with silver hair opened the paneled door and said with an anxious tone.
"Please get inside, Shadows."
His words surprised everyone!
He had fair skin, an oval face, a small mustache, average height, and a skinny body. He wore a casual white shirt and brown pants.
Charles stared at him in a daze for a moment and soon felt that he had seen him before.
'Wait... He is the silver-haired guy!'
He was the one whom Charles met near the Security department office. While he was staring at John in surprise, John's eyes wandered towards the corridor for a minute second before shifting in their direction.
Without walking in, all four stood at the entrance and glanced at each other in confusion. From the other party's response, they could tell that John was already aware of their identities, and from his tone, they also felt that he was in a hurry to invite them in.
Before others could respond, Charles took a step forward to close the distance between him and John Wayne and put his hand on John's shoulder.
"We meet again," He said with a mysterious smile on his face, causing the other party to stiffen up for a second.
Before John Wayne could wake up from the shock, Charles pushed the wooden door and peeked inside.
It was a 15*18 ft room. There were two tables, a bookshelf, a wooden bed, two chairs, and even a wardrobe placed in order.
After a swift glance, Charles gave a sharp look at John's trembling legs and muttered inwardly.
'He is scared.'
Then, he walked past him and entered inside. In the meantime, Andrew stared at Charles for a moment and soon muttered,
"He is acting carelessly. What if the suspect used this opportunity and stabbed him from his back or took him as a hostage?"
"He isn't. See his other hand; you will know the answer." Emilia also walked in as she muttered coldly.
Furrowing, Andrew looked at Charles's hand and soon noticed that a steel dagger was attached to his hand. It was gluing at a strange angle and almost resembled invisible. If not for the slightly dim color difference, he wouldn't find any abnormalities at all!
'Damn it! When did he take out his dagger from the sheath? Moreover, why did he paint the dagger in his skin color?' He stared at Charles's back with wide gaped mouth and soon froze.
'Did he become a disciple of some legendary assassin?' An absurd thought crossed his mind.
'If not, how did a measly mortal improve his skills to an unimaginable level? No doubt about it. There must be some old man stalking him from the shadows.' While he was thinking, he subconsciously glanced towards the hallway and froze.
At that moment, he indeed saw a blonde-haired old man looking in his direction from the hallway!
A chill went up to his spine as he retracted his gaze in a hurry and walked in, sweating continuously.
In the meantime, Luke stood outside in confusion for a moment and then walked in. Once he entered John's room, Luke locked the door from inside and went near the cotton bed to sit.
At this time, Charles had already sheathed his sword and looked around the room in interest.
"Why are you hiding from that blonde-haired man?" Luke suddenly turned his gaze towards John, sat on the soft bed, and asked.
"I-I don't know him... But, he has been following me for a while." Shaking his head, John said in an anxious tone.
"He is just an average mortal, though." Charles also turned his gaze sharply towards John and asked,
"What do you know about A-035?"
A look of amazement appeared on John's face as he stared back at Charles's face for a second and then replied with a sigh,
"I know a few things about that artifact, kid. It is a lot more dangerous and powerful than other Series-A artifacts."
"Why do you think so? Care to tell us more about this artifact?" Asking, Emilia walked near the wooden chair, sat on it, and took a strange head-sized blue crystal from her void pouch.
In the meantime, Andrew took the blue crystal from her hand and placed it at the room's center. After that, he activated the concealment stone and then backed away.
Watching their strange actions, John furrowed his brows and said in a heavy tone,
"Didn't you guys notice something odd is happening in this city?" He paused for a moment as he looked at the balcony and continued with fearful eyes,
"Something abnormal must have happened when Charles and his mother were locked up in the Evergreen Mansion." He paused for a moment as he looked at Charles and then added.
"After that kidnapping incident, multiple strange incidents like killings, kidnappings, and coincidences are happening around us. Moreover, I couldn't even get out of this city for some strange reasons. Even if I did try to go outside, I feel some shadow is stalking me all this time."
"Now that you mention it, I do feel something abnormal about the strange coincidences. But, it's not a surprising thing. Only a hundred or so Mystics are working in this city, so it's not a strange thing to meet each other frequently. Unlike commoners, we are working in high positions and are constantly going to some security-related places." Emilia said while shaking her head in disapproval. Coincidences were scary indeed, but she didn't feel that these strange meetings were coincidences.
"If so, why aren't we meeting those rank-1 mystics frequently? Only rank 2 Mystics and Rank 3 mystics are experiencing these strange coincidences." John said in a solemn tone.
"It must be the Goddess Roysia's cursed gem's doing." In the meantime, Andrew widened his eyes in disbelief and said.
"One more word from your mouth, I will slit your throat for real, Andrew." Emilia glared at Andrew and turned her gaze towards John.
"Are you saying that these strange killings, kidnappings, and coincidences are happening because of this A-035 series artifact?" She asked in puzzlement.
"Yes." John nodded his head as he leaned his back against the concrete wall and continued,
"I came to this city to protect the seventeenth young master of the Fireborn family. When I found out that he was studying in the archaeological department, I got startled a little. I didn't understand why that Fireborn family head sent his child to become an explorer in this rural area. At first, I didn't take my mission seriously and protected him from the shadows. But a few months ago, I got bored and then peeked at Max's research paper when he was attending his lecture." He closed his eyes as if he was blaming himself for his reckless behavior and continued with a bitter smile,
"But I didn't expect that 17-year-old kid was researching all this time about a Series-A artifact. After that, I followed him like a regular guardian and also started searching for clues about the Holem's Crown on my own. But after Charles's kidnapping and the serial killing incident, I noticed some strangeness when following the young master."
"Sometimes, he would go on a normal walk and then bump into some familiar faces like it was just a coincidence. If it were once or twice, I would have thought of it as a normal coincidence. But, this action continued tens of times. After that, I also started paying more attention to my surroundings and noticed that strange coincidences are happening to all Rank 2 and Rank 3 Mystics." When he finished his words, an eerie silence descended to that room.
'Coincidences...' Charles widened his eyes for a moment and went dead silent.
'A-035 again... Looks like I need to enter the Dreamworld and search for clues there.' He pondered for a moment and soon asked,
"Why did you go to Slum Street when the three Historians were disappeared?"
"Young master Max is one of the three Historians." John Wayne let out a heavy sigh and said in depression.
"That explains everything. So, you followed Max to protect him from the shadows, huh. Hmm, Jeffery said he was following after them to get some clues about the crown. This case looks nothing special." Andrew mumbled on his own and soon frowned,
"Did you know how those three Historians were kidnapped earlier? Who kidnapped them? Did you see the kidnapper?"
John's body quivered on its own as he heard Andrew's question. He leaned on the concrete wall for a whole minute and soon spoke in a solemn tone.
"It happened when they walked past the infamous thief's house. A strange humanoid shadow descended from the sky and covered the nearby area in complete darkness. At that moment, I entered into some strange black world. I couldn't feel my body parts, I couldn't sense any smell, nor could I hear any words.
I floated... No, I stayed in the strange dark world for a long time... I couldn't pinpoint the exact time in that world, but I felt like I was in the dark world for years. If not for my strong will to live, I would have died there. When I returned to reality, I noticed that only seconds had passed... It was the scariest thing I encountered in my life-long experiences. When I looked around in a panic, I noticed that those three Historians were nowhere to be seen. I knew that the strange being must have kidnapped them and became scared even to move. I ate the apples to ease my anxiety and silently returned to my room."
All four of them went stunned as they heard John's words.
"What should we do now?" Andrew glanced warily at the entrance and asked while suppressing his voice.
"Are you afraid of that blonde-haired man?" Emilia threw a glance at him and asked with a smile.
"Yes, Team Leader. He also looks very suspicious." Andrew said while nodding his head.
Charles also felt something was off about that blonde-haired man and nodded in approval. The Aces team quickly walked out of John's house and soon noticed that the blonde-haired man was nowhere to be seen!
"Did he run away?" Emilia furrowed her brows and soon shook her head.
"Let's go. We should go and meet our next suspect." Saying so, she turned her gaze towards John, who stood at the entrance, and spoke,
"If you encounter anything abnormal, contact the Withering Shadows department and tell them that you want to meet me." She paused for a second and added,
"I'm Emilia Wilson. Hope we meet again."
Saying so, she turned around and walked on the smooth corridor. In the meantime, Charles and others followed after her from behind and soon went downstairs.
After walking out of the Half-Dragon Residency, they entered the office carriage and told the coachman to go to El Street.
A few minutes later, the carriage entered El Street, moved towards the end of the street road, and soon parked near a two-storied house.
Meanwhile, Charles and others walked out of it and looked at the two-storied house.
Unlike the other houses, this house looked well-maintained. Their group even saw a gardener trimming the ornamental plants using hand pruners.
The gardener was 35 years old man with wavy black hair, had wide-set hazel eyes, an oblong face, a large belly, and an obese body. He wore a brown shirt, leather pants and appeared 182 cm high.
Once they entered the house compound, he inquired about their visit and soon guided them into the two-storied house.
The gardener soon appeared in front of the door, turned the doorknob, pushed the door open, and walked in.
"Please, come in," He spoke as he entered the vast hall, sat on the couch, and added,
"I'm Willy Pickton, a theatrical actor for commoners. But for Church members, I have another name." He paused for a moment, revealed his golden teeth, and added.
"I'm Eighty-seventh Arbiter of Storm."
"Arbiter of Storm?" Emilia's face turned serious as she heard those words. Still, she maintained her calm face, raised her hand, and nodded.
Then, she walked in front of the opposite couch, sat on it, and said in confusion.
"Honorable Arbiter, We thought that you are just a believer of Storm Church, though. Why are you hiding your identity and acting here as a theoretical actor? I hope you give us a satisfactory answer."
A chuckle escaped from Willy's mouth as he straightened his back and spoke calmly.
"Hmm, coincidences, bad luck, increased crime incidents, and even the abnormal appearance of Shadows in the nearby surroundings. These things had all become more frequent during the past few months." He paused for a moment and soon sighed.
"If not for these strange incidents, I wouldn't have revealed myself now."