Chapter 90: Minor Troubles
A few minutes later, the group arrived in front of 50A Harpy Street and soon met a middle-aged woman.
She stood there at the entrance, blocking their path, and stared intensely at Charles and the kids.
She was none other than the Inn owner. She looked around 35-40 years old, had curly black hair, a lean body, and brown eyes, and wore a simple linen gown.
"If they want to stay here, each needs to pay 10 gold coins." She crossed her arms together and said in a cold tone.
"Is that so?" Charles narrowed his amber eyes and soon shook his head.
At first, he thought of hiding his mage identity, but now he dismissed that thought.
'Why should I need to hide when there are hundreds of mages roaming in this city? Strength is all that matters.'
"They will stay here for free from now on." He spoke coldly in a Lark Language and raised his old wrinkled hand.
A moment later, a small yellowish flame appeared above his forefinger and soon enlarged into a human-sized one!
The fire moved under Charles's thoughts and soon turned denser.
Not only that, but the heat emitted from the fire also raised higher, which caused the customers to step back in anxiety and fear.
After Charles continuously explored his 'Inner world,' he also learned to borrow the fire elements from it, manipulate it to some extent, and gained a deep understanding of Fire Magic. Although this fire didn't have the power of the Rank-1 [Incinerate] spell, it was still a fire that could harm mortal bodies to a certain level.
Upon seeing such terrifying fire magic, the black-haired woman gulped down her saliva and wiped the sweat on her forehead. A moment later, she nodded her head and backed away.
Shaking his head, Charles let out a heavy sigh and walked in.
Within two minutes, Charles brought the kids to his room and told Titus to place Jessie on the foldable cot.
"Let her take some rest here." He said as he brought them outside and continued while leaning his back against the wall.
"You can call me teacher or Mr. Oswald from now on." He deliberated for a moment and continued with a smile,
"Introduce yourself one by one."
Meanwhile, the trio nodded their heads solemnly and started introducing themselves.
Except for Rhea, the other three were Sweet Village residents and were raised by a Blood Priest from childhood. The Blood Priest not only taught them how to read and write, but he also taught them close combat skills, swordsmanship, marksmanship, stealth skills, and so on. Although the kids didn't learn those skills, Charles felt that they might really learn them if they were given enough time.
As for their families, Charles found out that none had any memory of their family members and got confused.
'Something is not right… Did the priest erase their memories about their parents? It is possible. It looks more like that priest raised them for some purpose. If not, why would a rural priest teach those combat skills to some kids? Hmm, too bad, these kids end up in my hands.' He grinned inwardly and soon turned his gaze towards the black-haired girl.
Noticing his cold eyes, Rhea hid her nervousness and responded in a polite tone.
"Around two years ago, Blood Priest came to the Iron Kingdom and save me during an incident. Hmm-?" Suddenly, she wore a confused look on her face and muttered in a puzzled tone.
"I think it is an assassination incident. For some reason, I can't recall anything about the place or my close family members. Except for my mother's and dad's faces, I couldn't remember others' faces. After he saved me, Blood Priest brought me to Sweet Village and raised me along with Jessie and others."
Charles blinked his eyes in surprise and soon nodded his head.
'Their memories were indeed manipulated. But what is his purpose?' He thought for a moment and soon shook his head.
'It doesn't matter to me. These kids are educated, intelligent, and appeared very honest and they are my perfect targets. I can't lose a single pawn.' He instantly made a decision and spoke.
"Go and ask the Inn owner to allocate two rooms to stay for the next two weeks." He paused for a moment and then added with a solemn look on his face.
"After that, go and take some rest."
After saying those words, he dismissed those kids and began to think deeply.
'Those thieves might not be after Rhea's ring. The Blood Priest might have sent these four kids for other purposes and those thieves must have some link with him. If not, why would they come to Main Street on that specific day? Yes, I have never seen a thug entering Main Street to look for targets in the past 30 days. Why did they come today?'
'To their worst luck, these kids ended up catching my attention. If my guess is not wrong, the Blood Priest might have already aware of my actions and might be sweating about how to deal with me. Hehe, will they send a thief to lure me out and finish me off stealthily?' He let out a chuckle and soon changed his attention to his main problem.
'It's been already a month since I left Riverdale City. Red Prince must have realized that I escaped from the Unexplored Forest and might have started his search. But he doesn't have much influence in this kingdom and doesn't have any clue about my whereabouts. Even if Red Prince searches for me using the Nightwind family's blood, he won't get a single clue. Once he noticed that something was wrong with my disappearance, he will turn his attention to Charles's grandfather, Oswald Raven…
Hmm, if Charles's memory is not wrong, Eve once mentioned that Oswald is also a high-rank Mystic… Hmm, the Red Prince might go to the Herald Kingdom and look for Oswald Raven to know my location. That will be quite a show. Moreover, it won't be easy for Red Prince to get information from Eve's father. There is also a possibility that Oswald Raven might have already learned about Eve's death and started his search on his own…
Oswald and Red Prince would be bound to face each other in the near future. Then, I also created another enemy for the Red Prince. That Lightning Mage will never give up on avenging Eve. So, I'll be safer for more than six months in this city. Even if Red Prince arrives here earlier, it will definitely alert one of the Five Tower Masters, Destiny Lady. I also heard that she is Rank-4 [Fate Warden] and has a deep hatred towards the Arc Kingdom.' He halted his thought for a moment and soon frowned.
'But she will also be a big obstacle for my plan. Although regular crimes and anomalies won't alert her, if I plan to create something extraordinary, she will definitely see a variation in the Fate of this city…
Hmm, I already exposed myself as a Mage, so I should stick with that and find a way to enter the Tower of Elements. I heard that the kingdom placed several old treasures- No, I should stop thinking about it in the open.' He instantly halted his thought.
'Mr. Runeth, can be thinking about certain things change a variation in 'Fate'?' Charles clearly remembered Addie's action before he was killed and felt suspicious.
'It looks like you indeed started to learn quicker on your own. Yes, thinking outside of your inner world will definitely cause a variation in your 'Fate' because your consciousness already entered the mortal body. This human body is not a powerful one to block the Fate strings.
But in the Inner world, it is entirely different. In a sense, you are a God of that inner world, so 'Fate,' 'Luck,' 'Time,' or any other supernatural forces doesn't have the power to enter it. Well, there are exceptions, though. If a powerful person seized the control of your inner world with the help of the 'Will' of a plane, they would have a chance to learn everything about you.' Charles could feel the bitterness in its tone, but he simply shrugged his shoulder and nodded in understanding.
'It seems I need to be careful when thinking about my future plan. Wait… Does that mean the game system also learns everything about me? Hmm, looks like I need to find a way and take full control over it or eliminate it in the future.' Although the game system constantly supported him to grow stronger, Charles felt that this artifact was not under his control and felt troubled.
While he was in muse, Titus and the other two kids returned with two keys and went to the nearby room. After that, they moved Jessie to the nearby room and started talking rest in the allotted rooms.
Charles also returned to his room and entered the 'Inner world' through the [Flame Body] spell model.
A moment later, his illusionary figure floated in the dark world, and soon he cast his gaze on his illusionary memories.
'From now on, I have to be very careful and think about my true goals only in this Inner world.' He nodded his illusionary head and soon landed on the ground.
He then stood in the same gloomy forest and started to think.
'First, I need to find a suitable sacrifice. Buying a sacrifice with money is out of the question. That leaves me with one other option, and that is to steal it. But stealing in this well-secured city is not an easy matter. But with these kids' help, I might have an easy time. Before that, I need information.' He thought to himself as he flew towards the spell models and started comprehending the [Incinerate] spell model.