Chapter 30: Meeting the Unlucky Star
In the meantime, Charles and others went near the couch and stood behind it.
"We also came here to inquire about that strange incident. Can you give us some useful information?" Emilia turned her tone soft and asked politely.
A troubled look appeared on Willy's face.
"During the incident, I detected the presence of an 'Irregular.' The strange coincidences must be his doing. Well, as long as he didn't cross my line, I'm not planning on involving myself with that troublesome person." Saying so, he called out a male servant and asked him to bring some drinks for the guests.
Meanwhile, Emilia pondered for a moment and asked in curious,
"If so, why did you go to Explorers Association and argue with [Historian] Max?"
Willy grumbled as he heard that name and soon said in anger,
"That damned brat was the one who came to my doorstep and looked for trouble. If Max didn't ask my help to protect him in the shadows, I wouldn't have ended up offending that 'Watcher.'"
"Watcher?" Charles and Andrew glanced at each other and asked in unison.
"It's a Rank-3 Astrology class series name," Emilia replied vaguely.
'Tycoon Addie, Anderson Black, Red Prince, and now this Watcher.' Charles furrowed his brows in puzzlement and soon asked,
"What is his aim? Why is he doing these strange coincidences?"
"I think he is planning to confuse his real target. If he used his power to change one's 'Fate,' it would be easy for others to detect the anomaly. But, if he creates multiple coincidences, his real target will also get confused and lower his guard."
'Is he making these coincidences to lure the A-035 out of the shadows? Or is he after another thing? What did those three [Historians] do to make him angry?' Questions whirled in Charles's mind as he fell into deep thoughts.
In the meantime, Emilia nodded her head and asked more questions about the kidnapping incident. Most of them were vague replies, which made her sigh in disappointment. If it were another Rank-2 mystic, she would have used her authority to question him further. Unfortunately, Willy was not a regular Mystic. Emilia knew that only Rank-3 had the qualification to become an Arbiter and gave up pestering further.
While she was asking questions, a blonde-haired servant arrived near her and gave her a glass of grape juice. After that, he went beside her and passed other glass cups to Charles and others.
Taking a sip, Emilia held the glass in her right hand and asked,
"Are you also after A-035, Arbiter Willy?"
"Nope. I came here on another purpose, but I was unexpectedly involved in this incident." Willy responded in a heavy tone.
In the meantime, Andrew shook his head and corrected him.
"Coincidentally."
Furrowing his brows, Willy stared at Andrew for a second and asked in curiosity.
"Are you saying that I'm also a part of the Watcher's plan?"
Before Andrew could open his mouth, Emilia glared at him and then responded,
"He is overthinking."
"No. Your teammate might be right." Willy turned his face solemn and then added,
"Abandon this mission and go back to your office. Then, explain the current situation to your higher-ups and ask them to send reinforcement."
Emilia nodded her head without any refusal as she gulped the grape juice in one go, placed the glass on the table, and stood up from the couch.
"I will report it to our Branch Leader." Saying so, she bent her waist a bit and then turned around before walking out of the two-storied house. Charles and others followed her footsteps and soon walked out of Willy's house.
"Are we going to abandon the mission, Team Leader?" As they walked out of the white compound, Andrew asked in a suppressing tone.
"Do I look like a fool to you?" Emilia glared at Andrew for a moment and shook her head.
"He is not telling the whole truth, Andrew. He didn't get involved in the kidnapping incident coincidentally." She paused for a moment and then added in a gloomy tone.
"He also seems to be after the Series-A artifact. He told us to back down because he might have found some traces of A-035."
"What?!" Andrew widened his eyes for a moment and soon asked in anxiety,
"If we continue our investigation, doesn't that mean that we are offending the Eighty-seventh Arbiter of Storm?"
"Eighty-Seventh? No, he lied to us about him being an Arbiter of Storm. If he is a Rank-3 Mystic, our Branch Head Russell would have mentioned in the book. So, Willy might be just a peak level Rank-2 [Storm Bringer] class Mystic. Well, I'm not so sure about that, though." Emilia shook her head and entered the carriage. Others also followed after her, and soon the silk-curtained carriage disappeared from there.
...
A few minutes later, a silk-curtained carriage drove past the Amber Church and soon reached the Slum Street Junction. Because of the densely populated area, the Bowler hatted coachman stopped the carriage at the junction and spoke in a solemn tone,
"Lady Emilia, I think you guys should go by foot from here on,"
A second later, a gray-robed lady walked out from the carriage. Charles and others also stepped down from the carriage and curiously glanced at the rows of mud houses, huts, few cottages, and poorly constructed buildings. Although cleaners maintained the dirt road well, they still got nauseous by the heavy urine and feces smell. Charles looked around the people in curiosity and soon noticed that most looked pale and skinny.
"Follow me closely," Before he could take a good look at the slum citizens, Emilia said in a loud tone, causing the nearby citizens to turn their heads at her. She didn't mind their stare, though. She silently walked on the smelly road and soon entered a narrow alley. Charles and others followed after her and soon arrived at a single-storied brick house.
"He hasn't gone to Richard's house." She commented casually and then knocked on the door thrice.
After a minute, the door opened with a click and soon revealed a blonde-haired male figure, who looked around 25 years old. The blonde-haired male had a lean body, an oval face, amber eyes, and was around 175 cm tall. He wore a regular grey linen shirt, linen pants, and a unique red-gem embedded bracelet in his hand.
He stared at them warily for a moment and soon asked in an anxious tone,
"Lady Emilia? Why are you here?"
In the meantime, Charles cast his [Inspect] skill on the suspect and then squinted his eyes.
[Inspect has been cast...]
[Wisdom Check...]
[Inspect is successful!]
...
[Name: Jimmy Holmes (??????)
Race: Human (????)
Rank: 1
Class: Level 4 Soldier (0/337)
Sub-class: None
Title: Unlucky Star.
Health Points: 61/61
Attributes:
Strength- 11
Dexterity- 12
Constitution- 11
Wisdom- ???
Charisma- 11
Class skills:
Charge-33
Fearless Body-24
Weapon proficiency (Basic melee weapon proficiency)-38
Sub-class skills: None
Unique skills:
Knowledge Seeker-45
...
'Knowledge Seeker skill? How did he get the [Historian] class skill? Inheritance gift?' He got confused inside and soon noticed the question marks in Name, Race, and Wisdom.
'Something feels off about this guy.' He stared at the blonde-haired man for a second and retracted his gaze.
Meanwhile, Emilia took a step forward and spoke in a polite tone.
"As usual, we are here on an official matter, Jimmy." She paused for a moment and then added, "We would like to ask you some questions regarding the kidnapping incident."
Jimmy heaved a deep sigh as he heard those words and soon invited them in. The Aces team members' gaze swept past the entrance and soon landed on the small room filled with two chairs, one small cabinet, and one bed.
On the right side were the kitchen and storehouse, while an attached bathroom was on the left side.
Jimmy hurriedly went inside and took off the messy clothes on the chairs and beds before signaling them to sit. Emilia glanced around the small room walls and noticed strange paintings all over the area.
She narrowed her eyes at the strange paintings, turned her gaze to Jimmy, and sat on the wooden chair. Charles and Andrew also went near the old wooden bed and sat on it before looking at the strange paintings.
Charles first focused on a three-headed strange humanoid creature's painting and then turned his gaze towards another rose-like plant. At that moment, he suddenly felt an eerie feeling out of nowhere and stiffened up.
'I just now felt someone's gaze.' At that moment, his eyes subconsciously moved towards the three-headed strange humanoid creature's face and felt that creature's left side head's eyes blinked all of a sudden.
Goosebumps crept all over his body!
Just as he was about to warn Emilia, he suddenly forgot what he had seen earlier!
He returned to his usual self in a second, shifted his gaze towards the next portrait, and furrowed.
'Why did he draw these strange creatures on the walls?' Puzzlement crossed his face.
At that moment, Luke also seemed to have noticed something and looked at the three-headed humanoid creature.
"Did you find anything?" Emilia asked in surprise.
"No, Team Leader. I felt this portrait a little familiar. That's it."
Saying so, he leaned his back against the wall, took out a small notebook, a strange blue-feathered quill from his pocket, and started writing a few words in it.
He then looked at Emilia and waited for her to ask questions.
"Did you witness the kidnapping incident?"
On the other hand, Emilia wore a soft smile and asked.
Her tone was calm and composed like a caring friend.
"At that time, I was asleep, My Lady." Jimmy didn't dare look into Emilia's eyes and replied while lowering his gaze.
"Oh? That's disappointing." She said as she narrowed her eyes and soon asked.
"If you don't mind, can you give some answer to another question?"
Jimmy raised his head a little and asked in the same anxious tone.
"What is it, My Lady?"
"Did you go to Pine Town during the last two weeks?" Emilia folded her arms together and asked.
Jimmy didn't mind her strange question, though. He thought for a moment, nodded his head, and answered in a polite tone.
"My friend Henry asked me to accompany him to his hometown, so I agreed to his request and went along with him."
"When is it? Can you tell us the exact time and date?" This time, Luke raised his voice a little and asked coldly. He talked to Jimmy like he was intimidating him.
Charles felt puzzled by their current cold attitude towards Jimmy and glanced at Emilia for answers.
At that moment, she noticed his gaze, placed her forefinger on her mouth, and signaled him to stay silent.
Although he was confused by her order, he didn't dare raise any questions and waited for Jimmy's answer.
"I went to Pine Town on June 28th." Jimmy paused for a moment and continued with a bitter smile on his face.
"Five hours before the killing incident."
Charles's face stiffened!
'It's not some mere coincidence, right?' Doubt appeared in his mind.
"Don't think much about it. We're already used to your 'Unluckiness' effect." Emilia said casually and stood up from her seat.
"But if you have any plan on going to another defenseless town, inform it to the security office before you depart. We can't predict when your unluckiness title effect would act again." Saying so, Emilia turned her gaze towards the new strange paintings and asked in curiosity.
"Why are you drawing strange paints on the walls? Won't your house owner scold you?"
Jimmy scratched his head awkwardly and replied with a timid smile.
"I recently got some interest in painting, My Lady. So, I thought of practicing inside to improve my skill. That six-headed devil called Seiyon is my favorite one. Did you find it likable?"
"These are not lady-like paintings, Jimmy." She paused for a moment and soon spoke while furrowing her brows.
"But it only has three heads, though."
"The legends say that devil has six heads, My Lady. Three in the front while the other three in the backside." Jimmy added.
On the other hand, Emilia nodded, shifted her gaze towards the next painting, and asked.
"Oh? Is it the Abyssal Rose? How did you know about it?"
"I heard about it from my father, My Lady. He worked as a gatekeeper of Twelfth Chaotic Zone at the Unexplored Forest and knew some things about those chaos creatures." Jimmy's tone went down as he talked about his personal life and shook his head.
"7 years ago, a group of demons raided the Twelfth Chaotic Zone and killed hundreds of guards. My father, Evan Holmes, is among those hundreds of guards." He paused for a moment and continued with a gloomy tone.
"Before his death, he left me twenty gold coins, one small hut, one [Soldier] class-gem, and some land. I spent my first few months doing nothing using those gold coins and soon realized that I would die out of starvation in a year or two. After some thought, I sold that small hut to a nearby villager and came to Riverdale."
It was the first time Emilia heard about his background and got somewhat surprised.
"What about your mother?" Andrew interjected.
"I have no memory of her. My father once told me that she died after giving birth to me, but I once heard from other villagers that she ran away with another man." Jimmy turned his face grave as he responded gloomily.
"Hmm, how did you get the Unluckiness?" This time, Charles asked in curious.
A complicated expression appeared on Jimmy's face as he turned his gaze towards the three-headed creature's portrait and shook his head.
"I don't want to talk about it. It's not a pleasant memory for me."
Although Emilia could order Jimmy to tell her about it, she felt it was not a good idea.
In the meantime, Charles also stared at the unique painting and soon cast his [Inspect] skill on it. A moment later, he sighed in disappointment as he noticed that it was just an ordinary stone wall.
"Why did you tell us about yourself now? We asked about your background multiple times, but you didn't even say a single word. But why now?" Luke straightened his back a little and asked in the same cold tone. Even Emilia was surprised by his cold attitude and got puzzled.
On the other hand, Jimmy let out a chuckle and said with a bitter smile.
"Truthfully, even I don't know why I said that. What am I? Do I have any future? I don't have a girlfriend, nor do I have someone to lean on their shoulders. What if I die in a few days and no one knows about my personal life? Would someone remember me after a year or two? No. I might even fade away from my friend Henry's memories one day. I told you guys about my personal life because I wanted to. There is nothing there to hide it any longer."
Meanwhile, Aces Team members got stunned inside.
Emilia suddenly stood up from her seat and said in a solemn tone.
"Don't worry too much about your future, Jimmy. If you are okay, I can recommend you to work in the Life Church, and you can have a normal life like others. Although the Slithering rowdy gang members will come and look for troubles, I will ask Father Reynolds to look after you. What do you think? Are you okay with that?"
Jimmy blinked his eyes in surprise and soon spoke in a thoughtful look.
"I will continue my job for the next three months. Once I manage to solve my problems, I will come and look for you."
Emilia's lips curled upward as she heard his words. She nodded with a pleasant smile and said while walking past him.
"I will be waiting for you then."
In the meantime, Charles and Andrew also stood up from the bed and followed after Emilia. Only Luke stood with a frown on his face and soon shook his head.
"Don't cause any more trouble." Saying so, he stored the notebook in his void pouch and walked out of Jimmy's house.