When Sylfie and I completed our studies and finished all our requirements for the coming days, it was already quite late at night.
The two of us thus went on our separate ways. I left the campus grounds and went into the city. Sylfie probably returned to her dorm to rest.
I still had things to deal with.
Seeing the Church of Prophecy was a bad omen. The pursuit of people who could see the future was never a fun thing to experience. Thankfully, I had been vague about my existence.
I did not throw my identity out there, and my soul was of a different world. No one could lock onto my existence through the name, Caelum Phricius.
And here I was thinking that I could introduce myself as Ambrosya again in the future. Perhaps when Lappei swallows up Hevendrone's concept, I could... But not now.
Leaving the beautiful greens of Aethercaller behind, I returned to the concrete jungle that was Aelthrie. The blue glow of mana-powered mechanisms shone in my eyes, giving the entire city a beautiful blue hue. Mana Vision added more of those blues into my field of vision.
It felt like I was in some underwater fantasy city. But without the fishes, the bubbles, and the colourful corals.
All I saw was brass, blue, white, and grey. A very lively yet dull set of colours.
Wait. White..?
That colour instantly drew my attention.
There was a priest of prophecy walking the streets, his eyes were scanning the populace like a vulture. He did not care for the discomfort he was causing and simply stared people down.
The commoners cowered under such a gaze, while the nobles found his presence ridiculous.
"Indeed," I muttered as I found a place to hide, "They're spreading like a disease."
I walked the streets of Aelthrie and discovered even more priests of prophecy loitering about. The further I got from Aethercaller, the more sparse they became.
They already had a general idea of where I was situated.
How terrifying.
There was nothing I could do against the prying eyes of prophecy. Much less Hevendrone's talent of future calculating. It was like a weaker version of the powers that Laplace's Demon had, after all.
The more that Hevendrone knew, the more he could calculate the future. This was the reason why he overpowered Lappei and assumed the throne of prophecy. He lorded over her because of his talents.
I had to tread more carefully from now on.
...
"You're here," King spoke as he sat at an empty bar. "The appearance of those white robes wasn't a part of the future that you dictated. Care to explain?"
Hearing King's words and taking in the beautiful smell of strong alcohol, I sighed.
"Similar to you, I did some things that could change the future." I sat on a high stool beside King. I then raised a brow at the glass of brandy in the man's hand.
"Care to share some?" I said, flatly, making it seem like it won't be a big deal.
"The legal drinking age for commoners is 18. How old are you?"
"16." I answered before rolling my eyes, "Let's just say that I'm a noble for now. Those kids get to drink when they turn 13 for all the banquets they have to attend."
King shrugged, "If you say so,"
He then poured me a glass. I took a sip and the flavours burst in my mouth and lingered throughout my throat. My next breaths allowed me to smell the drink and perceive its sting from my nostrils.
I could even taste the oaken effects that had been birthed from its years-long storage and aging.
"That's some good stuff," I remarked before gulping down a little more.
The headache I got from all the rage I was keeping inside me died down. I was annoyed by the existence of the god of prophecy, but what could I do? He was my own creation, and this course of events was born from my actions.
I had no right to be mad about anything, but that emotion was what proliferated in me right now. Instead of fearing for my life, I got angrier the more I saw obstacles appearing.
Though I wasn't angry at the obstacles, no. I was angry at myself.
Why did I have to make such a difficult world to live in?
"The Church of Prophecy is after me because I did a few things," I placed my glass down and gave King his much-wanted answers.
"Like what?" He pushed further, and I didn't mind telling him a little more.
"I have connections with the goddess of foresight."
But that would be it. Too much information in the hands of that man would be dangerous. And King seemed to have realised this as well.
The moment he heard that it was a quarrel between gods, he backed off.
"Ah," He sipped on his brandy, "I see. Well, good luck. Do you need any help?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I will need info on the movements of the priests and priestesses. I need to know who have they contacted, what they currently know, a chart of their movements, and a few other things. But make it subtle. And tell your subordinates not to bear even a single ounce of hostility."
I pursed my lips,
"Prophecy grows exponentially stronger when one is threatened."
...
After the short meetup with King in his HQ, I now had with me a list of people to kill. They were either criminals or people who were in the way of the Information Veil.
On the list were people no one would care about if they vanished one day. As for why I needed such a list?
I needed their blood and their flesh to feed and strengthen Aventine.
They would also make good live practice targets. I needed the experience to be a good assassin, after all.
"Since I can't really hunt beasts at this time of the night, and monsters are too cunning, humans will do..."
I mumbled as I went through the list and memorised different profiles.