Chapter 41: Discussion
Hearing the Holem's Crown's suggestion, Jimmy nodded his head and started stalking her in the shadows.
In the meantime, Charles walked on the muddy road with quick steps and soon reached Slum Junction. After that, he stood at the junction for a few seconds and then started walking towards Brook's Street.
After a few minutes of walking, he arrived in front of 112A Brook's Street and stared at the two-storied building for few seconds. Charles then retracted his gaze, turned around, and started walking once again.
In the meantime, Jimmy hid in the dark alley and watched the woman's action in suspicion and puzzlement.
'Why did she stare at that building for a moment?' Holem's Crown asked in Jimmy's head.
'How would I know?' Jimmy grumbled inwardly in displeasure and soon saw a red-haired guy was walking out of the two-storied building. A second later, the red-haired guy stopped on the muddy road and then stared in the direction where Charles went before.
He then took out a gold coin from his pocket and tossed it upward.
With a chink sound, the gold coin flew up while flipping continuously and soon fell on his palm. The red-haired guy stared at the coin for a second and soon creased his eyebrows.
After staying like that for few more seconds, he nodded his head and went back to his house.
In the meantime, Jimmy and the Holem's Crown watched the red-haired man's strange action and got more confused.
'Strange... Hmm? Is he using some artifact to check if there is any variation in his Fate?' The Holem's Crown's voice echoed in his head.
'What should we do now?' Jimmy didn't dare to stay near the Red-haired man's house and asked while walking deep into the dark alley.
'Get back to the Slum Street now. I need to alter some changes in the plan before I cast my last 'Miracle' on Charles.' Holem's crown muttered solemnly.
At this time, Jimmy suddenly thought of Edith and asked in curiosity.
'Why don't you use your last 'Miracle' on that woman? She is also from the Nightwind family, right?'
'No, that is a reckless idea. Although Charles is improving at a fast rate due to my previous 'Miracle,' he doesn't have the strength to interfere with my original plan. He is the perfect target for my final 'Miracle.' Once I did that, I will return to your house with the reward, take full control over your body, activate the runic formation circle, and then escape from this city before others notice my presence.'
Jimmy let out a cough as he reached the Gold Street and soon raised his brows in suspicion.
'You told me that there is a time limit to activate the 'Miracle' ability, right? In such a short time, how do you plan on getting that much luck power?'
Jimmy's question made the Holem's Crown vibrate in excitement.
'You are wrong. My miracle ability works by stealing my host's luck. I put some time-limit before creating a 'Miracle' because of harming others and putting myself in danger. But if I notice some variable like last time, I won't hesitate to steal others' luck to finish the Miracle. As long as I don't kill anyone, the Churches won't come after me, and I will also get my full freedom.'
Jimmy went silent for a whole minute and then asked in a provocative tone,
'When are you going to reveal your presence to Charles? Are you afraid of being captured by the Life Church members?'
'Tch, I'm not afraid of the Life Church members. If I reveal my presence to Charles now, multiple powerhouses will take some notice by seeing the drastic change in his Fate. At first, I thought that contacting him was the right choice.
But when I saw that 'someone' led him to your own house, I knew that 'someone' is already aware of my presence in your house. The only reason he didn't act against me must be due to other powerhouses hiding in this city.
Although your family ancestor sealed my soul in a red crown, he didn't put any seal to restrict my power in fear of losing any of my skills. Moreover, I'm not some weak artifact. If the other party attacked me to gain complete control over me, I will retaliate with my full power and attract everyone's attention.' The Holem's Crown said in a calm tone.
Letting out a deep sigh, Jimmy nodded his head and went back to Slum Street.
In the meantime, Charles made a few turns after casting [Conceal] skill on himself and soon entered an abandoned house. After that, he removed the wig, facial makeup, breast pads, and dresses and changed into his original appearance.
Two minutes later, Charles wore hooded black top, black pants and waited for the Tan Skin potion's effect to go down. After 30 minutes of waiting, he noticed that his color changed from tan color to olive one and soon went towards Ivy Street. While walking, he also started adjusting his tune once again and tuned it to the original Charles's voice.
After that, he made a few turns by concealing himself and reached 35 Ivy Street. He then walked into the Withering Shadows reception hall and waited for Emilia. Hours went by as he sat motionlessly on one of the ladderback chairs and soon saw a gray-haired woman walking in from the outside.
Upon seeing her face, he breathed out a sigh of relief and greeted her. In the meantime, Emilia arched her eyebrows, went near him, and sat on the chair next to him.
Before she could ask about his arrival, Charles went straight to the point and told her about Amber's Curse.
"Amber's Curse?!" Emilia shouted in surprise.
"Am I in some serious trouble?" Charles wore an anxious look and asked her in nervous.
"Yes, you are really in deep trouble this time." Emilia took a deep breath and then continued,
"You should tell your mother about this and let her do all the financial works from now on."
Charles's face turned ugly as he heard her words. He then suddenly thought of the Red Mage Helen's words in Crimson Eye book and asked.
"Team Leader, do you know something about the Arcane Credit method? I read something about 'Arcane points' in a mage's book and thought of following that method."
"It's an unauthorized currency method mostly used by the mages. Due to the deep conflicts between the First Arcane Era Mages and Churches, the Plane Alliance members completely banned this currency system and also prohibited other mages from using it. But there is one city still following this method." She deliberately paused for a second and was about to continue, but Charles interrupted her.
"Are you talking about the City of Miracles?"
Nodding her head, Emilia placed her finger on her nose tip and said.
"Yes. It's a city filled with all types of mystics and mages. Unlike other Kingdoms and Empires, this city has no Churches or any other religious temples and is filled with blasphemers. They are still following the unauthorized Arcane Credit method and are completely isolated from the rest of the world."
"Arcane Credit Method...Why the Lawful Churches put no restriction on them? Forcing them to summit to the Plane Alliance is not a hard thing for Churches, right?" Charles asked in confusion.
Emilia gave him an in-depth look and then said with a sigh,
"Although the 'City of Miracles' looks weak on the outside, many powerful mystics are hiding in that city. If the Lawful Churches uses force on them, they will definitely retaliate and cause massive destruction all over the world. Moreover, the City of Miracles is also the Home Town of the Sun God. So, Churches won't send an inquisitive army to that city and force them to submit under them."
'Sun God... He is an Irregular who killed three foreign Gods during the last Planar Invasion.' A grim look appeared on Charles's face as he thought of such a terrifying God.
'Is he also a transmigrator?' He furrowed his brows and soon changed the topic.
"Team Leader, what should I do now? Even to rent a house is impossible for the current me."
Emilia also went silent upon hearing his words and began to ponder deeply.
After a long silence, she stood up from her seat, went to the storage room, and soon returned with many silver and gold coins. But these coins didn't look like the Arc Kingdom's official currency and had no eye symbol on them. She went near Charles, sat beside him, and then passed those coins to him.
"These coins are the official currency of Life Church and are rarely used in the market nowadays. You would only found these types of coins in Life Church Cathedrals and the Holy See. Although the Thirteen Gods formed an alliance and created a peaceful era in name, there are still some frictions happening in between the churches due to personnel benefits. So, all the Churches use their own currency systems to restrict the Goddess of Wealth from gaining full control over the Financial World. You can use these coins for now but don't take change from others. If you did that, the coins will only turn into ashes."
Charles nodded his head in seriousness and soon glanced at the silver coins. Unlike the other currencies, these new silver coins had Wheel symbols imprinted on them and looked sacred with the power of life hidden in them.
"Thank you, Team Leader." Charles turned his face towards the wrinkled old lady and nodded.
"Don't thank me yet. This is just a temporary measure. If you really want to solve the problem, you have to talk to the Amber Church higher-ups and resolve them yourself. If you had signed the contract after joining the Withering Shadows organization, we would have used some reason to force the Amber Church and made them remove the curse. Unfortunately, you signed this contract beforehand and we have no authority to intervene in this matter." Emilia rubbed her temple and said in a solemn tone.
Charles also turned gloomy as he heard her words and began to think.
'Why the Amber Church is looking for trouble from me? Although I can solve this problem by talking with the higher-ups, would I be happy after that? If I did that, wouldn't it look like I'm admitting defeat?' He let out a wry smile and shook his head.
'I can now use other churches' coins, so there is no need for me to go and lower my head to the Amber Church higher-ups.' He thought for a moment and asked.
"Team Leader, can you talk to our Branch Head and tell him to give me Life Church coins as a payment instead of the Amber Church's logo imprinted one?"
"I will go and talk to him later." Emilia nodded her head and soon changed the topic.
"What about your mission? Did you find anything odd about Jimmy?"
Charles thought for a moment and shook his head.
"No. If I find something abnormal, I will come here and report it to you." Although Emilia was nice to him, he didn't dare to say more information about the Holem's Crown at all.
"Then, you should go to Slum Street and do your job properly." Emilia paused for a moment and soon asked,
"Is there anything you need for this undercover mission?"
"Yes, I need 10 bottles of Tan skin potions, few packs of dry bread, and ladies' clothes for disguising," Charles said while blinking his eyes with an innocent smile on his face.
Emilia rolled her eyes at his acting and then sighed.
"Slum Street is a dangerous place for a woman... So, don't get caught by some thieves and expose yourself to others. Don't get banged by them." She then paused for a moment and soon added with a smile,
"I do hear that some thieves have some unique taste about having sex with men and all, so you better watch your back."
"Yes, Team Leader." Curling his lips upward, Charles nodded his head and then asked in a quiet voice.
"Did you manage to find out about those two guys?"
"Nope. They are very careful and didn't leave any clues behind." Emilia shook her head and then talked about her search mission in the security department records.
Suddenly, Emilia thought of something as she took out a pocket watch from her void pouch and clicked the crown area. A second later, her eyes turned white for a moment and soon returned to normal.
Noticing his questionable gaze, she shook her head and muttered with a frown.
"Your life is in danger." She paused for a moment and soon continued with a sigh,
"I will follow you in the shadows." After saying those words, she once again adjusted the pocket watch's crown area and smiled.
"You may go now." Emilia then waved her head and shooed him away.