Right, Hebrew.
The words hit Arthur's heart like a heavy hammer. He looked at Parish with trembling eyes, unable to say anything extra. He constantly remembered why his parents had died — it was because of the exposure of the Hebrew surname. Now, for the first time since Old Ford, someone else had called out that name, and Arthur couldn't help but feel fear and a murderous intent born of his instinct to protect himself.
Arthur's murderous intent was unmistakable, so much so that even Night Hawk could sense it. But being neither a wizard nor a human, the werewolf tribe's Night Hawk didn't quite understand the emotions Arthur was feeling.
Parish's smile didn't waver. Instead, he calmly explained how he knew Arthur's identity, "Simply put, I can sense water-like resources in the human body. As for why I know your identity, it's because I came into contact with your blood earlier." Parish referred to when he had healed Arthur and drawn his blood back into his body. "I also came into contact with your parents, Joe and Jane."
"You knew my parents?" Arthur's tense body slowly relaxed, but his wariness didn't lessen.
"Aren't you supposed to answer my question first? Earlier, your brain waves were abnormal. Did something I said trigger a thought?" Parish met Arthur's eyes, and the two were at a stand-off, neither willing to budge. It was Night Hawk who broke the silence first. "Arthur, why don't you just tell us? I'm curious too."
This was Night Hawk trying to ease the tension. Though Arthur didn't want to appear weak in front of Parish, especially with someone whose allegiance was uncertain, holding onto a deadlock wasn't going to help either.
"I just heard you mention the Houston family, and suddenly I saw a scene I had never known before," Parish gestured for Arthur to continue. He leaned comfortably against the wall and listened.
"I saw myself as a child, my grandfather."
"Mr. Albert?"
"Yes, he gave me something, I don't know if it was a pendant or something else," Arthur's head began to throb slightly, though he was careful not to mention the scene with the dwarven-forged object that he had witnessed.
The pendant... Parish's brow furrowed slightly. In fact, the reason he had gone to the Rose Manor was to investigate potential relics of the Hebrew family.
"Your turn to ask," Parish said. "Aren't you curious about my relationship with your parents?"
Arthur didn't realize he was unwittingly following Parish's lead. "What's your relationship with my parents?"
"We were companions," Parish answered with a single word. "Now it's my turn again. Have you had any other sudden memories like this before?"
Arthur didn't notice anything odd. He recalled how, when he first woke up, he had a vivid memory the last time such a scene occurred, it was the first time he had heard the term 'Fallen Gods.' So, he directly shared the memory with Parish.
"Elikrom..." Arthur spoke, remembering the last word he heard before passing out, though he wasn't sure who had mentioned it. He looked around the cramped room—aside from a few cabinets and benches, there were only the three of them. If anyone had infiltrated Parish's mirrored world magic, he would have noticed.
Arthur decided to share what he knew with Parish, as he was lacking too much information himself:
"Elikrom, do you know what that word means, wizard?"
Before Parish could respond, it was Night Hawk who answered.
"Elikrom? That was once the leader of our werewolf tribe, the Giant Wolf God. We were also known to call him the God of Fear. How do you know this?"
"A purple-skinned elven girl taught me," Arthur thought to himself, wondering how Night Hawk would react if he knew he had learned this in school. Judging by Night Hawk's reaction, Arthur realized that normal schools wouldn't teach such stories about gods who once walked the earth. If they did, it would probably be about the Earth Goddess of Brighton City, not the Giant Wolf God.
Why was Elikrom referred to as the Giant Wolf God? Arthur had heard of other gods named after concepts like humanity and the earth, but why was Elikrom referred to in such a tangible form? The title "God of Fear" seemed more like something the werewolf tribe had given him. What exactly was a god? And if gods were indeed as described in records and dictionaries, beings above the rules and masters of matter, why had they been destroyed by humans, elves, and others who had just acquired natural powers? A mystery within a mystery.
After a long pause, when Night Hawk didn't get an immediate answer, he waved his hand and nudged Parish to continue.
Parish was deep in thought, but his thoughts were different. For the past four years, his main task had been to protect Hobik Houston and return him to the Houston family estate to open the gates. Dodge had once mentioned that Hobik's identity was special and that he had forgotten his own name, which was linked to the Houston surname, much like the Hebrews. This family had been destroyed at one point, and the only way to ensure safety was to forget one's name. Four years ago, Parish had found Hobik and worked to protect him from organizations tracking the Houston family.
The Houston family estate, much like the Rose Manor, was under local authorities' obstruction, and no one lived there. In fact, people from organizations watched over it. Parish was certain there was something inside the estate that both dwarves and high-level humans needed. But he had been unable to find that item, so he had set up traps to lure people who knew about it to go there, hoping to acquire the secret treasure.
Parish had spent four years bringing Hobik and his 'partners' into the tightly guarded Houston family estate by the dwarves, and they had obtained an item. However, Parish didn't know its exact function. He hadn't learned how to use it when he visited the Houston estate. This time, he thought about the Hebrew family. If the Houston family had a secret treasure, then the Hebrew family surely had one as well.
If the Hebrew family also possessed such an item, acquiring it might lead to events even Parish couldn't predict. No matter what, he had to obtain these relics of battle power. Parish's smile turned cold; what he sought was a higher ideal.
"Speaking of which, I just remembered something," Night Hawk, noticing the silence between the two, took over the conversation.
"Before I left the werewolf tribe, I heard an old wolf tell a legend. It was said that when Elikrom died, he was struck by a human wizard who broke one of his teeth, and that tooth was said to bring nightmares."
A god's relic? Both Arthur and Parish looked at Night Hawk, who quickly waved his hands, "I told you, it's just a legend. Just a legend. Haven't you two heard enough about gods' relics and legends?"
Arthur had never heard of it. He had only heard bits of such rumors from Livlan, who was quite free with her words, but there was no one else around him who dealt with such things.
The world truly was vast, Arthur thought, and he understood one of Mrs. Lily's teachings: "More friends, more knowledge."