Chapter 31: Star Watch
Once the Aces team member walked out of the house, Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief, went near his wooden bed, and sat on it.
"Good acting, Jimmy." A creaky old man's laugh filled with evilness suddenly appeared out of the three-headed creature's painting, followed by a cloud of smoke. The smoke soon moved towards the red-gem embedded ring and went inside,
Meanwhile, Jimmy's face stiffened up. His body then started to quiver as an invisible force suddenly descended into the room and caused his body to lift in the air a little.
"Don't be sad. Your time hasn't come yet." A voice echoed in his ear like a devil's whisper.
"But nice try, though. You did try to give some hints about me, but those poor souls didn't notice that." The voice added in pity.
Meanwhile, Jimmy smiled bitterly, shook his head in dismay, and asked in confusion.
"Why didn't you reveal your true identity to your inheritor? If you had revealed your presence to Charles, you could have an easy time obtaining your freedom, right?"
"No. I did try to contact Charles but stopped in midway. I felt something strange about his arrival a while ago. Moreover, there is still some time to get my freedom, so I don't need to act rashly." The red bracelet shone as the voice echoed in his ears.
"But why did you reveal your personal matter to them? Do you think that they will show some pity and try to save you when the 'right' time comes?"
Meanwhile, Jimmy hung his head in helplessness. Yes, he did reveal his personal information to gain some help from Emilia in the future. But Jimmy knew that it was just false hope. Even so, he wouldn't give up his life quickly.
'I will find a way to save myself and then escape from this devil.' He clenched his fist and swore to himself.
"Your thoughts are leaking outside, Jimmy. I like your resolve to live longer. Too bad, I don't have any plan to leave any loopholes behind." After saying those words, the red bracelet dimmed for a second and then went silent.
Meanwhile, Jimmy sighed heavily and lay on his wooden bed. He knew that his end was nearing and became depressed.
...
In the meantime, Aces Team members entered the silk-curtained carriage, and soon the coachman drove the carriage from Slum Street.
Emilia opened the curtain as the carriage moved, looked outside at the scenario, and asked Luke's opinion about this mission. After that, she cleared her throat and said about the current mission's progression.
"After asking the four suspects, I came to a conclusion." She paused for a second and continued with a solemn tone.
"We have two more suspects. The first one is Jeffery's employer 'Red Prince,' and another is 'Watcher,' But we know nothing about them. We only have one clue, and that is that they both seem to be after A-035, an intellectual artifact. Now. If we want to find the real kidnapper, we need more details. So, I will go to the security department and search for them in the confidential files during the next few days. As for you guys, I will give you guys a separate mission, and you have to search for clues about the abnormalities on your own."
After that, she started to take out a blue quill and wrote a detailed report in a notebook.
As the carriage drove past Gold Street, Emilia finished her writing and turned her attention towards Charles.
"Charles, go and get the copy of Runal Language Book from Russell first. Higher-ups had sent that book two days ago, but that guy is keeping mum about it." Saying so, she leaned her back against the leather seat and closed her eyes.
In the meantime, Charles widened his eyes in surprise and soon nodded his head.
'Why is she helping me again?' Although he was puzzled by her motive, he didn't put much thought into it.
While he was in muse, the carriage reached the main street and soon went to Ivy Street. A few minutes later, Aces Team members walked out of the carriage as it arrived at 35 Ivy Street and went inside the building.
Recalling Emilia's earlier words, Charles walked into the reception hall and soon arrived in front of Russell's office room.
He stood there for a moment in hesitation and soon knocked it twice.
"The door is open," The Branch Head Russell's old voice came from inside.
Charles pushed the door open and walked in, raising his brows a little. In the meantime, Emilia also followed after him and soon walked along with him like mimicking his footsteps.
At that moment, Charles's gaze swept past the table and soon landed on Russell. He currently sat on the ladderback chair and appeared to be in the middle of reading a book while adjusting his monocle from time to time.
"Branch Leader, Charles is here to get that Runal Language Book. Did you forget to give it to him?" Emilia went near the wooden table as she spoke and placed a notebook on the table.
Meanwhile, Russell glared at Emilia for a moment, opened the cupboard, took out a black-covered book from it, and then tossed it to Charles.
On the other hand, Charles skillfully caught the black-covered book and placed it inside his leather bag.
"You can go now, Charles," Russell said while looking at Emilia's notebook for a second and then stared at her in confusion.
In the meantime, Charles bowed lightly towards Emilia and walked out of the office room silently.
Once Charles closed the reception door, Russell heaved a deep sigh and asked in a gloomy tone.
"Why did you tell him about the Runal language book? Don't forget that you are working under me, Emilia."
Upon hearing those cold words, Emilia curled her lips upwards and spoke with a smile,
"Is that so? Indeed, you are in a higher position than me, Branch Leader. But, that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want. Charles has potential, and I'm already planning to take him as an Aces team member. I don't care about your personal matters. But if you plan to make trouble for him, I won't sit back and watch as most members would."
Anger swelled up in his head as Russell glared at Emilia in an icy face.
"He has yet to become a member of Aces team, Emilia. The final decision lies with me."
A deep sigh leaked out of Emilia's mouth as she heard those words from Russell. Shaking her head, she took out a sealed letter from her backpack and placed it on the table.
"Haa, I'm tired of this nonsense. I know that you would say something like this. That's why I asked Archbishop Abel Wilson and got his permission from the Snow Cathedral."
A troubled look appeared on Russell's face as he heard her words. He suddenly remembered that the person in front of him was not an ordinary member but a woman from Wilson Family!
A slight pain appeared in his right side head.
"Why are you interfering, Emilia?" He asked in the same gloomy tone.
Meanwhile, Emilia chuckled lightly, stared at him in amusement for a second, and soon asked.
"Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I try to recruit a member of the Nightwind family into my team? Do I look like a dumb idiot to you?"
Meanwhile, Russell's face stiffened.
"You knew about his background? How did you find out?"
"My brother came here to see me yesterday and told me everything about Charles's real Identity."
Upon hearing those words, Russell went dead silent for a while.
"Archbishop Abel..." He gritted his teeth as he mumbled Archbishop Abel's name and soon turned his attention towards the notebook.
"Did you finish your mission?" He asked while raising his brows and picking it up with both hands.
He then flipped the pages, skimmed through the notebook for the next few seconds, and then stopped his hand.
"Where did Jeffery go?"
"How would I know?" Emilia didn't even look into Russell's eyes and responded casually.
Letting out a helpless sigh, Russell started reading the notebook page by page and soon finished it.
"Strange coincidences? Are you suspecting that there is a high-rank Mystic manipulating everything from the shadows?" He stared at Emilia's face for a moment and asked.
"I'm not 100 percent sure. But, I want to dig further and find out the truth about the three [Historian] Class Mystics' disappearance." Emilia turned her face solemnly and said.
"Are you sure about this? This case looks more like a normal one to me." Russell frowned.
"Nope, we got two more clues." She paused for a second and soon added,
"We would like to do some research about those clues. To do that, our Aces Team members need a permission letter from the Branch Leader of Withering Shadows."
A worried expression appeared on Russell's face as he stared at her for ten seconds before raising his hands in defeat.
"I will give the permission letter to you in an hour. But, don't cause trouble in the city." Saying so, he leaned back on the ladderback chair and adjusted his monocle.
"You can go back now." He then said in a tired tone.
Emilia stared at Russell with a hesitant look on her face and said in a low voice.
"I'm not done yet, Branch Leader."
Russell almost shouted in frustration as he glared at her with daggering eyes and spoke.
"Say it."
"I also got a permission letter from my brother to use the 'Star Watch,'" Emilia said while taking out another letter from her leather bag and passing it to Russell.
"Impossible!" Russell stood up from his seat while slamming his fist on the wooden desk and stared at her fiercely.
"You are not its owner, Branch Leader. The 'Star Watch' Artifact belongs to Life Church, and I have the permission to use it now." Emilia stared into his eyes without minding his angry stare and said calmly.
"Why don't you ask your brother and replace my place?" Russell got infuriated inside and thundered.
'I already submitted a replacement form for that.' She muttered to herself and waited patiently.
In the meantime, Russell opened the nearby cabin unwillingly and took out a silver watch from it. It was made from rare titanium metal and looked very ancient.
Unlike the other watches, the outer glass was made of a rare 'Time' elemental crystal, which could even resist the power of 'Time' and 'Fate.' The ticking sound echoed loudly in the office room as he took out the watch from the cabin and placed it on the wooden desk.
"Take it," Russell said as he glanced at the watch for a moment and then sighed heavily.
In the meantime, Emilia locked her gaze firmly on the silver watch for three more seconds and picked it up with both hands.
She then looked into the glass-like crystal and furrowed her brows as she noticed a difference.
Instead of needle hands, numbers, and dials, she saw countless star-like dots inside.
"Don't stare at it too much; it will pull your consciousness into it and show you what really a 'Time' can do," Russell spoke as he noticed her action and warned her.
Nodding her head, Emilia shifted her gaze hurriedly from the silver watch and asked in confusion.
"How can I use this?"
"Our church hasn't completely studied the secrets of this 'Star Watch' yet. From the guide, the wielder can activate two abilities now. The first one is an ability called 'Fog of Time.' If you activate this ability, you will be able to completely erase your presence from the world, no, from the 'Time' itself. Even the Churches' divine spells or strange 'Fate' spells won't affect you. Unless you reveal your presence on your own, no one will be able to notice you. Hmm, I omitted the Divines and the Taboo Existences. They might have a way to track your location using their strange spells.
The second ability is called 'True Vision.' You will see one of your most possible futures when you activate this ability. But that future might not come true if someone sensed the change in the trajectory of 'Fate' and interfered with it. Both abilities have a cooldown of seven days. So, use it carefully."
Emilia's eyes went wide as she heard Russell's explanation. She then skillfully put the watch on her hand and spoke while placing her hand on her forehead,
"I forget to say goodbye to Charles." Saying so, she turned around hurriedly and walked out of Russell's office room with fast footsteps.
"Are you a kid?" Russell shouted at her and then sat on the ladderback chair with a depressed face.
He then took out a silver ring from his cupboard and started muttering in a weird tone.
A few seconds later, the ring shone brightly in yellow light and formed into an illusionary figure of an old man.
He had white hair, a wrinkled, pale face, oceanic eyes, and a long nose. He wore a golden robe and appeared to be in the middle of eating.
"What is it?" The golden-robed man stopped his fork and asked while staring sharply at Russell.
"A change has been occurred, Grandfather." Russell paused for a second and soon started informing Anderson about Emilia's sudden actions.
Upon hearing his words, Anderson fell into deep silence for a whole minute and soon spoke,
"Let her be for a while. Offending her will be more like offending Archbishop Abel himself, and it won't do any good for us." Anderson said while stroking his long beard and soon added,
"Although the 'Star Watch' is in her hands now, it can't perceive one's accurate future like [Astrology] class members. Be careful of any abnormalities in Riverdale City. The time is nearing." After saying those words, he tapped his wrist and closed his eyes. A heartbeat later, the whole illusionary image began to dim and soon disappeared, leaving Russell alone in the office room.
...