Guarding the gate went smoothly until the shift ended. Zach tidied up the chess board and a few drinks while his two partners tended to the last passing carriage.
After doing all this Zach grabbed his round hat and put it on, took his crate and exited the inner outpost.
At the same time, Santos and Ramius had also finished taking care of everything. Another gatekeeper seemed to have come to take over the task.
"It's only 5 pm, we can have a drink first" Santos again offered, considering that the previous day this plan had to be postponed.
Zach was about to agree because the meeting with the Boreas clan was about to be held at 8pm when Ramius took a deep breath and then said, "As you know, I have to return home as soon as possible. My wife will be very angry if I'm late..."
Santos clicked his tongue as he glanced at his colleague sarcastically, "After all, did your wife give you permission to carry out a joint investigation?"
Ramius' expression became strange as he sighed for the second time, "Not yet..."
For that reason, Zach and the others chose to postpone it again until the next day.
After the shift change, Zach parted ways with his two comrades as he walked down Green Grass Street to return to his house. Since he wasn't in such a hurry, he would slow down his pace while looking around.
Several places really caught Zach's attention, especially Pillow Bakery which is also in the city of Obsidia and Amethyst which he and Emma visited.
Long pensive without him noticing, he had arrived at his home complex. When he arrived, he did not immediately enter the house but instead chose to walk straight to where Vanders lived.
He was planning to ask a few things regarding the meeting as well as planning to tell Vanders that he had successfully sealed an Astral. Previously he kept this a secret because he felt that something bad would happen to him.
But when he thought back, The thing that raised a reminder of that Mysterious existence was when he wanted to talk about offerings. The fact that he managed to seal the Astral was impossible for him to keep secret.
In the future he will definitely seal in front of people. So it became impossible for that to trigger the reminder of the Mysterious Existence.
After walking a short distance, Zach again felt strange when he saw the Vanders residence blending in with Vandash City. There is no element of antiquity.
Zach knocked several times without receiving an answer. "Is he out?"
Since there was no answer from Vanders, Zach decided to return to his house.
As usual, Ilya would be on hand and help Zach tidy up his black Coat and hat and Wooden Chest.
"Mr Clourfuss, you got a letter from my father" Ilya said as he gently helped Zach remove his leather coat.
Zach frowned "For me?"
After confirming it was for him, Zach sat down in the living room slowly unsealed the letter and took out its contents.
A yellowish white paper entered Zach's vision. It folds neatly with snug curves.
Ilya didn't ask further, when she observed Zach reading the letter seriously.
"I've done some research into the book you're referring to. You said that the girl who gave you the book lived on Redcloud Street. However after searching, we found nothing. There's no one who fits your description. Neither anyone know her
"I don't know what's going on, but it seems like this is something I shouldn't be digging deeper into. I sent the book to you along with this letter. If it's with you, I'm sure there will be something to point to."
"Besides, I asked several researchers and historians for information about this book and none of them knew about it. They claim they know all of Dwayne Clourfuss's books but have never heard of the book you have"
"Well, I hope this information can make you remember more about what the book actually contains."
That was the contents of the letter that Zach read. After digesting everything, Zach came in a state of confusion. "No one? I'm not sure if she lives in Redcloud Street or not but I can confirm that she shows up there all the time. The fact that no one recognizes and notices her is unacceptable"
"I also forgot to ask her name.." Zach felt sorry.
The contents of the missing book had actually been Zach's priority from the start. Because he was certain that it contained information regarding the sealing medium and the peculiarities contained within.
But knowing that he had hit a dead end, made Zach seem to be back to square one when he didn't know anything.
Zach refolded the yellowish-white paper as he realized Inside the envelope there is another piece of paper. Zach checked it and found a similar piece of paper but with a different content.
"I carefully considered whether I should write this letter or not. This is a secret of the church, and I understand that you might not be very interested in this. But after all that has happened, I decided to tell you. Bad things will happen soon. I don't know what it is, but my guess is the appearance of shadow creatures. Or even this continent will return to the dark ages. I can't tell you the details because it will take a lot of time while I don't have much time, Most importantly this is a warning from me If chaos or the Age of Darkness returns to the Stonefield Continent, then our only hope is for you Guardians."
"If that happens, please protect my daughter"
"Actually I wanted to visit you in person, but the conditions inside the church are currently chaotic which means I won't be able to leave anytime soon. Well, that's all I can tell you, once again please protect my daughter"
After reading this, Zach turned to Ilya and stared at Her for a few seconds before folding the paper back up. Put them in an envelope and throw them in the trash.
"Now I know why the letter was addressed to me and not his daughter directly"
After that Zach lifted his lips to ask, "Was there a book sent with the letter?"
Ilya nodded and took out a brown covered book from under the table. "Yes" Ilya gave it to Zach.
"I will make you tea" Ilya stood up letting her hair down.
Zach nodded slowly, glanced at Ilya's face which had a scratch scar that was almost healed then condensed his mind on the book in front of him.
It has a thick brown Cover. After opening it Zach sighed as he saw an empty book without ink. Flipped several times without getting different results.
Time passed as Zach leisurely drank the sweet tea. Thinking back on the letter from Jack Miller. "Bad things are about to happen... Isn't it already like that? The appearance of the shadow creatures already proves this point... What could be worse than this?"
"Second dark age" Zach relaxed his body leaning back in the chair while closing his eyes thinking about this sentence.
At 6 pm, Zach went to the bathroom to clean himself. Wearing a white shirt and gray vest and trousers that match his vest.
At 8pm there will be a meeting so Zach decides to get ready at once.
After a quiet dinner, the clock struck 7. That meant it was time to leave. Ilya wore a gray dress to match Zach's. It made Zach feel weird.
When the sky was covered in darkness and with the help of the dim moonlight, they got out and walked towards the Vanders house.
After knocking, they again got no answer. The lights in the Vanders house were also off. This creates a new problem. "If He's not there then how are we going to the meeting?" Zach groaned casually.