Chapter 957 Getting to Know Each Other
Looking at the Judgment card in hand, Xio was taken aback.
“This greatly meets my expectations.”
Shrouded in the gray fog, The Fool nodded and calmly said, “The gathering is held here at three in the afternoon on Mondays, Backlund time. Be prepared.
“During the gathering, you can exchange information, ingredients, formulas, and knowledge. You can also pay a certain price to entrust missions to the other members.”
Xio recalled for a moment before nodding in enlightenment.
“Yes, Mr. Fool.”
Believing that this was all for the day, she heard the voice coming from the end of the bronze table.
“What did you do before being corrupted by that force?”
We really were corrupted… Xio composed herself and completely recounted her exploration of the ancient castle with Fors. She emphasized the bronze door which had been named the Door of Blackness, as well as the ancient castle’s guard that had been reduced to a wraith due to the corruption.
Then, she noticed Mr. Fool nod slightly as he said calmly, “Don’t enter that ancient castle again before you reach Sequence 4.
“It’s time for you to return.”
Xio then got up, and following the descriptions in the religious rituals, she bowed and said, “Your wish is my wish.”
Just as she said that, the dark red color surged in front of her. After everything dissipated, she was back in the real world and leaning against a thick tree.
Subconsciously looking at the back of her hand, she realized that the black spots were rapidly turning faint. Xio looked up at Fors who was staring at her worriedly.
As their gazes met, Fors was first delighted before revealing a smile. She opened her mouth but was at a loss for words.
Xio slowly exhaled and pointed ahead.
“Let’s first return to the town.”
“Alright!” Fors answered without any hesitation.
At this moment above the gray fog, The Fool Klein was tapping on the edge of the mottled table as he considered Miss Magician and Miss Judgment’s encounter.
The object or power sealed behind the Door of Blackness could still corrupt the guards and explorers outside, even without escaping. Just the mere thought of it was terrifying!
Furthermore, this corruption stemmed from the Spirit Body. To resolve it, Klein had only two solutions. One was to make the corrupted ent.i.ty hold a complete secret deed ritual as he used the powers above the gray fog and the Sun Brooch to complete a purification. The other was to directly pull the Spirit Body over, using the gray fog to “cleanse” them. As he didn’t have the luxury of time, he had chosen the latter.
What could it be?
The most corruptive power belongs to the Devil pathway… That place connects to the Abyss? That’s not impossible. Based on Little Sun’s description, during the early and mid-stages of the Second Epoch, Devils often left the Abyss and were active over the land. It was only when the ancient sun G.o.d appeared, causing ancient G.o.ds to perish one after another, did they retreat into the Abyss and seal themselves in. Based on that, it’s rather normal to have an underground ancient entrance in the Northern Continent to lead to the Abyss… It can also be imagined that a castle is built with men sent to watch over it…
But the problem lies in the fact that it’s been millennia. Why would there still be an existence slamming the door? Are the Devils planning on returning? Klein made a preliminary guess.
He temporarily had no plans on exploring the abandoned castle to verify his thoughts, because it was unlikely that there would be any changes anytime soon. After all, since it was news that came from the Sanguine, he could get The Moon Emlyn to do some gathering of information to figure out the history of the castle.
Reining in this thought, Klein removed the topaz chain from his wrist and divined if the matter regarding the ancient castle was pressing. He received a negative answer.
He immediately returned to the real world and waited for the local ruler, General Maysanchez, to send over the down payment.
At two in the afternoon, Feynapotter time, Haggis, with his hair combed backward while dressed as a Northern Continent gentleman, carried a black leather suitcase with a team of guards as he knocked on Dwayne Dantès’s door.
“Please come on in.” A warm and elegant voice sounded from the inside. It was first Loenese in a Backlund accent before it was changed to the local language of Dutanese.
Haggis turned the doork.n.o.b and entered. He saw Dwayne Dantès with his white sideburns and deep, blue eyes stand up from his reclining chair while pressing down the ends of his black vest.
“Good afternoon, my friend.” This Loen gentleman with good looks and bearings took two steps forward and extended his right palm.
This time, he switched to using Loenese.
Haggis replied using the accent of a Loenese n.o.ble, “It’s my honor to be your friend.”
After he shook hands with Dwayne Dantès, he surveyed the area and chuckled.
“Is this your servant?”
He pointed at a mixed-blood youth standing behind the arms dealer. In between the lines, he was asking if he was trustworthy. After all, Dwayne Dantès hadn’t brought any servants back when he visited the general’s residence yesterday.
“Yes, his greatest strength is the ability to keep secrets.” Dwayne Dantès smiled as he pointed to the leather sofa across the reclining chair.
With two guards following Haggis, he closed the door and sat down. He then said with a smile, “I’ve heard of an Intis proverb that’s said to be from Emperor Roselle.
“He said that dead men tell no tales.”
Dwayne Dantès said with a laugh.
“Emperor Roselle also said something else:
“Corpses can speak.”
“Is that so? This is my first time hearing of this.” Haggis enjoyed conversing with a Northern Continent gentleman, so they continued their conversation for a while before he lifted up the leather suitcase beside him and opened it.
At that instant, there seemed to be overflowing golden l.u.s.ters. Under the illumination from the sunlight outside, the entire room seemed to brighten significantly
Haggis then looked at Dwayne Dantes and said, “5,000 Loen gold pounds, as well as 5,000 gold coins and gold bars.
“This is the down payment.
“I’ll bring along the remaining 30,000 pounds in cash and gold the entire time, and will hand it over when the arms deal is completed.”
Dwayne Dantès scanned the stacks of cash, the gold coins, and gold bars in the leather suitcase before retracting his gaze and saying with a smile, “When do we set off?”
Haggis closed the leather suitcase and handed it to Dwayne Dantès’s servant and said simply, “Tomorrow morning.”
He paused for two seconds before saying, “Mr. Dantès, the general has a guest who would like to meet you.”
Dwayne Dantès’s expression didn’t change as he fell silent for a few seconds.
“When?”
“Now,” Haggis said without daring to show any signs of being perfunctory. “He’s downstairs.”
Dwayne Dantès nodded slightly.
“Please invite him up.”
Haggis immediately heaved a sigh of relief and left with his guards. They followed the stairwell down.
Before long, Lucca, in a simple white robe with bra.s.s lines adorning it, walked up. His silver hair had been combed very neatly.
When he arrived by Dwayne Dantès’s door, he heard a voice from the inside just as he raised his hand.
“Please come in.”
This time they spoke using ancient Feysac.
Lucca’s expression didn’t change as he naturally pushed open the door.
He then saw the middle-aged gentleman who had rather good looks and qualities from yesterday standing beside a reclining chair facing him.
And sitting on the reclining chair was a young man. He had black hair and brown eyes, with a thin, cut face. He had a cold temperament.
Lucca was taken aback as he took a step forward, entered the room, and closed the door.
After he sat down on the sofa in a composed manner, his gray-green eyes clearly reflected the young man in front of him.
“Gehrman Sparrow?” Lucca addressed him with a rhetorical question.
Gehrman Sparrow curled the corners of his mouth.
“Directly addressing others by their full name is impolite.”
Lucca nodded and said, “My apologies for my faux pas. I recall that you advanced to Sequence 5 less than half a year ago, or it might have only been three months. Yes, it should have been completed when you were in the ruins of the battlefield of G.o.ds. I never expected… that you were already a demiG.o.d. It left me a little bewildered.”
Gehrman Sparrow smiled without giving any explanations.
After a brief moment of silence, he said in an unhurried tone, “Why are you visiting me?”
Lucca calmly replied, “I don’t know.”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned somewhat odd. Gehrman Sparrow seemed to forget that there was an elderly man sitting opposite him that needed him to speak again.
Lucca indiscernibly nodded and said, “This is the thing: I made a prophecy by chance not too long ago. In that prophecy, I will be in a rather th.o.r.n.y situation in the future. And one of the people I met with over these few days will help me deal with it.
“I’m not sure if it’s you, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. So I decided to meet you and get to know each other.
“My name is Lucca Brewster, a clergyman who serves the G.o.d of Knowledge and Wisdom. I’m presently in charge of various matters in West Balam.”
Gehrman Sparrow nodded and said, “Not bad. I now know you. I don’t believe I need to introduce myself, right?”
“Of course,” Lucca thought and said. “You should be a Bizarro Sorcerer. I recently received some intel that there has been some reshuffling among the Secret Order in Intis.”
He didn’t see Gehrman Sparrow reveal any looks of shock. This powerful adventurer, who was famous across the Five Seas, said after a moment of silence, “Zaratul has returned.”
The look in Lucca’s eyes changed immediately before being restored to normal.
Then, he stood up and nodded.
“Since we’ve gotten to know each other, it’s time we bid farewell.”
After saying this, he walked to the door, twisted the doork.n.o.b, and left the room.
Sitting on the reclining chair, Gehrman Sparrow watched as his figure was concealed inch by inch by the wooden door until he completely disappeared. Then, he chuckled.
“What a charlatan.”
“Yes.” Dwayne Dantès, who was standing beside the reclining chair, found a seat and sat down. Then, he picked up a cup of tea and sipped from it.
With white sideburns and deep blue eyes, he and the thin, angular-faced Gehrman Sparrow exchanged looks and smiled in unison.
On Monday afternoon, Dwayne Dantès took out his golden pocket watch, opened it, and said to Haggis opposite him, “We’re almost arriving at our destination. I believe you and your men need some rest.”
“An excellent suggestion,” Haggis was rather agreeable.
Dwayne Dantès pointed at the street ahead.
“There’s a hotel ahead. Let’s rest there for half a day before we set off again tomorrow.”
Haggis didn’t object to it as he turned to the front and instructed the carriage driver.
After checking into the hotel, Dwayne Dantès declined Haggis’s invitation for afternoon tea by using an afternoon nap as an excuse.
Slightly more than half an hour later, above the boundless gray fog, Klein sat in the seat belonging to The Fool.