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Chapter 171: The Moment of Serenity
"What?" Arthur frowned. "Where did you get this information? I’m sorry, young master, but if you don’t give me an answer, I’ll take it as slander against the church’s reputation, which would affect our relationship," Arthur said, his voice sharp.
"I’m glad to see you still have that spirit and loyalty, that’s good. But I’m not joking about this. I got this information from a traitor on the dwarves’ side. There’s going to be an uproar in this kingdom because a few of their nobles are actually traitors. You know what I mean?" Aldrian replied.
Arthur raised his eyebrows. "A few nobles of this kingdom are traitors? Alright, let’s hear your story first. I still don’t understand this sudden twist with a traitor."
Aldrian then told Arthur about the ’ball’ that the devils used to conceal their demonic traits, explaining how he tracked down its creator and learned how it was made. He also revealed Duke Badin’s involvement, describing how the duke had aided the devils in creating this ’ball.’ Within Duke Badin’s memories, Aldrian found that, besides him, the devils had enlisted only dwarves already under their control to assist in crafting the ball. At one point, the devils even mentioned to him that there were individuals from the Alchemist Association and the Heavenly Direction Church who helped refine the ball into a complete infiltration ’device.’
Most of the pieces of the puzzle were almost in place. The blacksmith was from the Forgeheart Kingdom, and he had already captured him. The alchemist belonged to the Alchemist Association, and the one wielding holy energy was from the Heavenly Direction Church—something unimaginable to him. How could the devils have convinced someone from the church, someone blessed with holy energy from the heavens, to help them? And that traitorous fool had actually accepted the devils’ offer? He could only uncover all the reasons if he could meet the traitor and ask them himself.
"If what you said is true, then I can’t simply report it to headquarters because of the unknown traitor. Whether they’re working alone or not, I have to inform His Holiness myself," Arthur said.
Aldrian nodded. "I’m counting on you. The sooner this traitor is caught, the sooner we can move freely without any hidden knife waiting to stab us in the future."
"Alright, but if I think about it, if there are traitors within the church, they’re likely below the rank of archbishop. The devils seem unaware of your existence, and within the church, only my envoy group from that time, the three archbishops, and His Holiness, the Pope, know about you," Arthur said thoughtfully.
Aldrian raised an eyebrow. "So secretive?"
Arthur glanced at Aldrian. "Isn’t that what you wanted? To avoid attention? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to be in the limelight?" Aldrian responded with a nod.
"The problem is, even if I tell His Holiness, he can’t just mobilize the church without solid proof. And again, we don’t know who the traitors are," Arthur added.
"It’s alright. If the church can’t act freely, at least you can make His Holiness aware of this hidden poison," Aldrian said.
"Anyway, that’s all I wanted to tell you. I’ll be going, then—"
"Wait." Before Aldrian could say goodbye, Arthur cut him off, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"You’re close to King Douwin, right? I need his help to get a look at the sword that’s causing an uproar across the continent—the middle divine-grade sword," Arthur said.
"Hm? You mean the Eternal Spirit?" Aldrian replied as he took the Eternal Spirit Sword from his storage ring.
The moment the sword appeared before Arthur’s eyes, he sensed its extraordinary aura—something he’d only felt when standing before one of the church’s legacy artifacts. Arthur’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at Aldrian in bewilderment.
"This is... the new sword? The middle divine-grade sword? Are you telling me you’re the one who possesses it? How is that possible? Was Duke Valiard or even the king really so generous as to give such a valuable sword to an outsider?" Arthur asked, disbelief evident in his tone.
"I own this sword, but I also helped create it, so Duke Valiard and King Douwin let me keep it," Aldrian replied, placing the Eternal Spirit back into his storage ring.
Arthur slapped his forehead, muttering to himself, "You’re a blacksmith too? What is this? Not only does he have extraordinary swordsmanship, but he’s also a blacksmith who can help create a divine-grade artifact? Who are your parents to have given birth to such a monster?"
Aldrian could only smile at Arthur’s reaction and waved his hand.
"All right, I’m really counting on you for this, Sir Arthur. I’ll be off," Aldrian said before vanishing, leaving Arthur stunned. Despite keeping his senses focused on him, Aldrian seemed to disappear into the void without a trace. Sighing, Arthur scratched his head in exasperation. He was inclined to believe what Aldrian had said, as he saw no benefit for Aldrian to lie, so he decided to take the matter seriously.
"Well, looks like I need to head back to headquarters," he muttered. With the sword now in Aldrian’s possession, he had no further purpose here. He resolved to depart for the church headquarters tomorrow before dawn.
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Aldrian then teleported back to his room in the inn, finally able to relax his mind and body. The past few days had been filled with action, leaving him no time to unwind. However, as he appeared in his room, he sensed a presence. He was stunned to see a woman already on the balcony, her back facing him. He found himself mesmerized by her curvy figure and beautiful golden hair, which cascaded down to her waist.
She wore a casual green-and-white robe that reached her thighs, and when she sensed his presence, she turned to face Aldrian. Her face was illuminated by the moonlight, enhancing her beauty, which seemed otherworldly. She smiled at him, and he returned the smile; though no words were exchanged, Aldrian could see a look of relief in her eyes.
"Why are you here? Were you waiting for me?" Aldrian asked.
Sylphia simply nodded and walked toward him. Now much shorter than Aldrian, she had to look up to meet his handsome face, even though it was still disguised. Aldrian gazed deeply into her eyes, and the floral fragrance surrounding her filled his nostrils, feeling refreshingly sweet.
She then turned and walked toward his bed, speaking to him as she did.
"I’ve already heard from Sir Xin Haotian about what happened to you and what you did. You truly are a man who can’t do anything in a ’humble’ way," she said as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Well, what can I do? Fate seems to have thrown me into moments where I need to act grandly to solve the problems," he replied, walking over to the bed and sitting beside her. There was a moment of silence before Sylphia asked him again.
"Sir Xin Haotian mentioned that this continent will face a catastrophe in the future, and its fate is uncertain. He said you were the one who told him."
"Hmm, we are facing an unprecedented catastrophe that could bring this continent to its end. To prevent it, I need to unite the entire continent to face the challenges that will befall us," Aldrian said as he looked at the ceiling of the room. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand touch his head, guiding it to rest on Sylphia’s thighs. He looked up at her, noticing how beautiful she seemed, her usual cheerful demeanor nowhere to be seen. He found himself appreciating this side of her and continued to gaze at her face from his position.
However, Aldrian could also see that Sylphia was shy, her face turning red. Yet she held her composure as her hand touched his forehead and stroked it gently.
"You always do something extraordinary on your own. You never stop moving, and even after all the time I’ve spent with you, I still can’t fully understand what’s on your mind. What makes you seem so rushed? What are you trying to pursue that keeps you moving without stopping? Is it the catastrophe? I don’t think so, because it seems you only just learned about the kind of catastrophe that might befall us in the future," Sylphia asked in her soft voice.
Aldrian was silent for a moment before finally speaking.
"I have a few secrets that even I don’t know how to explain, so the only thing I can say is that once I’m ready to share them with you, I will. But to put it simply, I seek to uncover the mysteries around me—the truth about myself."
Sylphia looked into Aldrian’s eyes as she replied, "It’s fine if you can’t explain it to me right now. But at least can you show me a secret that you can share with me right now, like..." She then touched his face.
"Show me your real face."
