Chapter 3: Life Church
At that moment, approximately a dozen silver-armored guards were seated on the concrete path right next to the compound gate entrance while playing a game called 'Mystic Cards.' Even though the entire mansion yard was surrounded by darkness, they saw the card names through the nearby street lamplight.
"Hoo, mine is a Silver Knight card. It's a Grade-2 card with the rank number 45. Take your card and show it, Jimmy," said a slightly obese guy with wide eyes, rudely licking his lips.
Meanwhile, a lean guy named Jimmy gritted his teeth and cursed loudly. "F*CK! It's the Legendary Clown again!"
"Hahaha, Jimmy, you really are the Unlucky Star," the slightly obese guy laughed out loud and added, "It's my win again. Take out three silvers."
"Damn it! Let's try again. I won't lose this time, Henry," Jimmy said as he passed three silver coins to Henry. Those silver coins had an eye symbol on one side and a portrait of a lean woman on the other.
"You want to play again? But you already lost to Henry three times!" Another silver-armored guard looked at Jimmy in surprise.
"I won't lose this time. If I lose again, I won't play the 'Mystic Card' game for the next three months," Jimmy slammed his fist on the ground and announced loudly.
"What?! Jimmy, then how will we earn our daily pocket money? Change your resolution!" Another man protested.
"Yes, yes," other guards nodded and stared at Jimmy with expectant eyes.
"Real men won't turn back on their words," Jimmy stated with a smile and was about to turn his gaze to the left but suddenly froze. At that moment, he saw a dark shadow near the half-opened compound gate and stiffened up.
'Was that a G-Ghost?' He blinked in shock but soon noticed that no shadow had appeared near the gate.
'I almost freaked out!' He shook his head and picked up the dozens of cards from the paved ground. After that, he shuffled the cards like a real expert and stared at Henry with a confident smile.
Meanwhile, Henry stared back into his blue eyes and asked, "Are you ready?"
"I was born ready," Jimmy's smile widened further as he picked one random card from the shuffled deck and stored it in his pocket instead of looking at it.
On the other hand, Henry extended his right hand, picked up his card, and showed it to everyone. A picture of a naked woman appeared on the card, making others drool with lust. The picture of the woman looked very real and gave people strange feelings.
A huge smile appeared on Henry's face as he said, "It's the Card of Lust, Grade-5, Ranking no-34."
All those silver-armored guards stared at the card while gulping down their saliva and turned their attention toward Jimmy.
Even though Jimmy was shocked, he did not show it on his face and showed his card to others. He didn't even look at the card and patiently observed others' reactions.
Nobody moved for three seconds, and then a guy in the crowd muttered slowly,
"It's the Card of Spark, Grade-1, Ranking number-4. You are the Unlucky Star of Riverdale, Jimmy."
A heartbeat later, a burst of laughter echoed at the entrance gate. Jimmy groaned in displeasure and asked the nearby guard to change the topic.
"Jobs, where is Rick?"
Others also stopped laughing as they heard his words and glanced at each other in confusion.
"Didn't he go to take a leak?" Henry asked, furrowing his brows.
"But it had been 10 minutes ago." Jimmy stood up, holding the sword solemnly in his hand.
"Let's split up and search," another guard suggested, and soon the group was divided into two. One group moved towards the left, while the other went to the other side of the mansion.
...
Meanwhile, John walked along the gloomy street, stealthily approaching the large building at the end. Despite the dark red night, the building stood out, emanating warmth. Based on Charles's memories, John deduced that it must be Life Church.
"It feels rough to walk on this dirt road without slippers," he sighed, glancing at Eve, who was covered in blood, and furrowing his brows.
"How is she still alive?" he wondered, astonished. Her nightgown was soaked in blood, leaving behind a trail as she walked. Anyone could see that she was gravely injured and should have died due to the severe blood loss. But for some unknown reason, she was still breathing normally.
"Hmm, those guards will follow the blood trails soon," John narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He continued walking on the dirt road, occasionally looking at the surrounding buildings and observing the world around him.
The street was filled with rows of brick houses, shops, wooden houses, and huts, reminiscent of a medieval era. Reading through Charles's memories, John began to grasp his current situation. Riverdale City, located on the Eastern edge of the Arc Kingdom, was one of the small kingdoms in the Mystical World. The Baron, possessing extraordinary strength, ruled over the city, entwined in a secretive affiliation with the Arc Royal dynasty.
Twenty years ago, Baron became a Rank-3 Swordsman and obtained his noble title through various schemes. John learned from the memories that obtaining a class gem, which determined one's social status, required wealth. Without it, individuals would remain commoners for their entire lives. In this magical world, wealthy individuals such as Nobles, Tycoons, Royal Knights, and Merchants had more opportunities to purchase gems from various churches and enjoyed numerous privileges.
Skimming through the memories, John found interesting information about Charles and Eve. Charles was born into a renowned wealthy family in the Ember Kingdom, and his father held a special status within the family. However, fifteen years ago, an accident occurred. Charles's father, Harry Nightwind, was poisoned by a mysterious enemy in the Ember Kingdom and died in their house.
The Nightwind family accused Eve of the crime and disavowed her and Charles, but it was clearly a ploy orchestrated by the Nightwind family. Fearing another assassination, Eve fled the Ember Kingdom, taking Charles with her. John couldn't find any references to the "True Lords" mentioned by James in Charles's memories.
For the past fifteen years, Eve and Charles had lived peacefully in Riverdale City and had been accepted by the locals. They owned a two-story house on El Street and 23 hectares of land on the city's outskirts. However, John felt something was off about that land, although Charles did not know his mother's plan or its reasons.
A few months ago, the Life Church Bishop visited their house and offered to buy the land for 2000 Arc gold coins, three times the actual land rate. Despite Charles's shock and attempts to persuade his mother to sell, Eve remained adamant and declined the offer. After that, their relationship with the Life Church members became strained.
With her main class as a Level 5 Astrologist (Rank-1), Eve could do astrology and predict future incidents. Obtaining such a rare class gem was challenging, even on the black market. She was skilled at predicting dangers and had informed the Security Office about the impending danger the previous day, filing a detailed report. However, nobody took her words seriously, and she was sent back. It was evident that someone was manipulating events behind the scenes.
Upon returning home, Eve shared her predictions with Charles and urged him to escape from Riverdale City. Like many others, Charles didn't take her words seriously and locked himself in his room.
John found it perplexing that Charles didn't fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation and wished that Eve had taught him more about astrology. Many people didn't believe in supernatural powers like Fate, Luck, and Misfortune in this magical world and considered them illusions or tricks.
Due to their carelessness, James kidnapped them without any struggle and ruined their peaceful life.
Although Eve told him that she had hired a trustworthy Mystic using her savings, that powerful person hadn't arrived yet.
'Hmm, a trustworthy guard, huh.' John sighed deeply and started reading about Charles.
'Charles appeared to be more interested in archaeology and has a laid-back personality. He also planned to buy the 'Historian' Class gem from the auction in a few weeks from now on and seems to be planning to walk on the Explorer's path.' After reading the information briefly, he was a little disappointed.
'There is no clue about the Mystic World game from his memories. Even the places and kingdom names are unfamiliar.' He furrowed his brows and soon shook his head.
'I will search for it later.'
As John contemplated their predicament, he checked the time and hastened towards Life Church.
At the same tie, he pondered the "True Lords" and the circumstances surrounding Charles's father's death. Despite finding the name somewhat lacking, he couldn't figure out who they were or why they were after Charles and Eve.
Lost in his thoughts, John arrived near a dome-shaped building. Despite the eerie dark-red night, the building appeared beautiful, with four cylindrical pillars surrounding it. Multiple lamps adorned every corner of the white structure, casting a dim yellow glow on the surroundings.
Retracting his gaze, John checked Eve's pulse and continued walking, deep in thought. He couldn't help but wonder why James specifically targeted Charles's life.
'Is there any connection to Harry's death? Or the Nightwind Family Elders sent assassins after Charles for something else?'
He pondered as he arrived at the large white-domed building.
Two fair-skinned men, approximately 30 years old, stood at the entrance, holding spears in their hands. They appeared drowsy but quickly snapped awake as they noticed John approaching. Their spearheads instinctively moved toward his face, displaying a threatening response.
Unlike the guards in James's mansion, these two appeared stronger and commanded a more imposing presence with simple movements. John felt a sense of danger emanating from their cold stares.
A second later, both guards recognized John and widened their eyes in surprise.
"Charles?" one of the guards exclaimed, retracting his weapon.
He had silver hair, a rough face, and silver eyes, and he seemed around 30 to 35 years old. John's mind was filled with information about this specific knight.
'Hunt, a Rank-2 Holy Knight of the Life Church. He lives near Charles's house and is rumored to be having an affair with the City Lord's second wife,' John quickly processed the details.
The other Holy Knight had blonde hair, a round face, thin eyebrows, and blue eyes and stood about 170 cm tall. He appeared much shorter than Hunt and seemed timid.
'Rob, also a Rank-2 Holy Knight of the Life Church. Besides his name, Charles's memories provided no further information about him,' John noted.