Ugh!
The old man groaned as he regained consciousness, staring at the figure of the middle-aged woman who held him, trembling in fear as all her attention was focused on the Kjallar.
She looked ready to sacrifice her life to protect the old man. In contrast, the Kjallar stared at the canal water, its eyes trailing across a couple of fish swimming within as it drooled. It only seemed interested in gobbling the tasty marine creature.
"You woke up!" The middle-aged woman said in relief upon seeing the old man regain consciousness. But, before she could say anything else, Iota approached them and stood within arm's distance as he crouched before the old man and smiled.
"W-Why are you doing this…" The middle-aged woman asked, turning silent upon seeing her words fall on deaf ears. Iota had conveniently ignored her existence.
"What did you do to me?" The old man observed his trembling hands as he stared at Iota in fear, "Why…do I feel this way towards you?"
"You're pretty much dependent on me for survival from here on," Iota curled his index finger, beckoning for him to get up.
The old man felt offended for a moment before sensing the urge in him to get up and obey Iota's words. He felt a sense of subservience towards Iota on a subconscious level. His eyes then trailed over to the back of the middle-aged woman who hid a knife there.
Her hands stealthily slipped there, intending to stab Iota with it the moment he was within her range. Just as the middle-aged woman intended to attack him, the old man grabbed her arm, increasing the strength in it subconsciously until she whelped in pain and let go of her hold over the knife.
"To perform a sneak attack, you must first mask your intentions perfectly." Iota grabbed the knife casually and trailed its bladed end over the middle-aged woman's neck, observing the fear in her.
He stared at the old man and asked, "Is she important?"
"Yes," The old man replied instinctively.
"Well, good for you." He stared at the middle-aged woman for a moment and retracted the knife. Just as she was about to heave a sigh of relief, he stabbed a syringe into her neck and slammed her head on the ground forcefully, knocking her unconscious.
"What the…?" The old man intended to protect her but he was unable to resist Iota. Moreover, his Fear had been completely exhausted. So, he couldn't use his abilities.
"It's just a light wound. She'll heal thanks to my injection." Saying nonchalantly, Iota observed the old man before grinning, "The Sect has been active for a long time in this city, right? So, start by coughing out some valuable information."
"I am…" The old man let out a sigh in defeat, watching him reveal secrets involuntarily just because Iota had asked him so, "I am the younger brother of the previous Sickle Deity, Molido Garobu."
"Damn," Iota whistled at the reveal as he urged the old man to continue speaking, "How is Merku Garobu related to you?"
"I'm his uncle," Molido Garobu recalled his past, saying, "When I was born, I was hidden as a reserve to take the seat of a Spirit. But when the Fisherman Devil was born, my older brother, the then Sickle Deity told me to infiltrate the Fisherman Devil's group and spy for information."
"Since I'm from a bloodline that served in the Garobu Faith for generations, we were confident that even if I become a Shaman, my loyalty would remain with Garobu City." Molido Garobu said, "We were partially right about that."
"Were you successful as a spy?" Iota asked.
"Yes," Molido nodded sullenly, "But I was also successful as a Shaman. The fact that I became a Laurel Shaman is enough proof of the atrocities I committed…"
"Leaving that aside, come to the meat of the information." Iota behaved like a true native that originated from a technological society. He skipped the lore and came to the important segment.
"Thanks to the data I supplied, we managed to kill the Fisherman Devil. I brought all the surviving Shamans into the Sect." Taking in a deep breath, he spoke slowly, "I'm not the first of my kind. Even in the past, we have infiltrated the inner circles of Devils to gain their power. Once we return, we formed the city's darkness and got rid of any pests that disrupted Garobu City's functions."
"Truly power hungry," Iota said in praise, "Even the Shamans in the city are controlled by the Garobu Family. That's a smart move."
"So," Iota's eyes curled up, "Come to the point."
"Yes…" Molido Garobu couldn't drag on any further as he said, "Treasures that couldn't be stored in the palace are safeguarded here. That is why I remain here and guard the sole entrance into the Sect."
"What kind of treasures?" Iota asked, smiling as a result. Since the Sect was the sole underground organisation operating in Garobu City, it was bound to have amassed a significant fortune. Even just money would have been useful, since he realised that currency trading was an option here after talking with Yuddu about the issue.
That means, Iota would be able to have a stable foothold no matter where he went in this world, since he could steal and make all the Sect's wealth his own. But now, it seemed he had truly underestimated the Sect, since it was an organisation that followed the Garobu Family, at least the branch in Garobu City did.
"Banned items that we stole from rival groups, organs of Spirits from other Faith…"
"The Guild Branch Leader is also one of you, right?" Iota caught on quickly.
"Yes, he's my cousin." Molido nodded as he was carried by the Kjallar and brought into the Sect. within the dome, there didn't seem any indication of a path that would lead to a treasury.
But upon arrival, Molido only closed his eyes and seemed to be in prayer. Two minutes later, a path opened that took them underground, far below the hill within which the Sect had been established.
"There are plenty of dangerous Rave Beast eggs that we hold onto in case we wish to destabilise another Deity's territory…" Molido continued to give a long list of items in the Sect's possessions, the details of which were known only to him and the Sickle Deity.
"What's the most valuable treasure here?" Iota asked once they entered the treasury, gawking in shock at the mountain of items there. 'How long have they been accumulating them for?'
"That…" He felt pain as Molido pointed at a cylindrical container that contained the corpse of a sickly man, filled with injuries. Staring at the entity within the container, Molido shuddered in fear as he proclaimed slowly, "That's the entity that terrorised this city 27 years ago,"
"The Fisherman Devil."