Chapter 21: Miracle
'Hmm, what I lack now is strength.' He contemplated for a while and soon said,
"When my mother or I'm in danger, Life Church has to send a Rank 4 or above Rank Mystic to help us solve the problem once. If Life Church fails to do it, I will walk out of the Withering Shadows."
Upon hearing his words, Russell fell silent for a moment and then took out a silver ring from the cupboard. After that, he muttered a strange incantation to activate the ring and soon said few words in an unknown language. After a minute of silence, a male voice came from the other side, causing Charles's eyes to widen a little.
'Is it some long-distance communication artifact?' He wondered.
Without minding Charles's questionable gaze, Russell started discussing with the man from the other side.
After a lengthy discussion, Russell hung up the call and turned his attention towards Charles.
"Archbishop Abel accepted your condition. But it will be only valid for ten years. If you didn't use that request by then, the second request would be invalid later." Russell said solemnly.
"Okay." Charles breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded.
'My second request seems to be a simple matter for them. Well, I'm also losing half of my salary in return. So, it makes sense.' He thought inwardly.
In the meantime, Russell took a sealed scroll from the same cupboard and started writing those conditions in detail with a black quill. He then checked it for any mistakes and passed it to Charles.
Charles also checked the content for the next few minutes and signed it using the same black quill.
Like the last time, after he signed the scroll, the contract paper started to burn and soon disappeared from their visions.
''I will ask the higher-ups to send you a copy of the Runal Language book in a month,'' Russell said and then started explaining about his job.
''There are four adept teams and two elite teams working in Riverdale Branch. You have to come here daily before 6.A.M and deliver the present-day mission letters to different team members. After that, you have to go to Riverdale's security administration office and get the unusual case files from there. Then, you are free to do your work till the next day morning. Your temporary team leader Emilia will give an intro to those team members tomorrow.'' Russell paused for a moment and added while giving him a small book.
''Memorize the contents in this book before tomorrow morning. This book has names and details about abnormal Mystics. If you bump any of them in the future, you must immediately report it to your team leader.''
''Who are they?'' Charles raised his eyebrows and showed a confused look.
''Like your mom, these Mystics are also from big family backgrounds or some well-known organizations. We don't know why there are lurking in this city, but if they show any suspicious movement, we have the authority to apprehend them. They are powerful mystics. Unless they showed hostility, don't make any trouble with them.'' Russell warned him.
After that, he also told him about Charles's special missions.
''Once in a week, you also have to accompany the Aces team and participate in some random missions. After three months, I will check your battle capabilities again and promote you as an official member of the Aces Team.''
''Got it.'' Charles nodded his head and asked few more questions about Mystics.
After discussion for a while, Charles walked out of the office room with an official badge in his hand. It was an iron badge with a Life symbol engraved on it. The badge had a circle with a six-pointed star in it and looked much like a wheel.
While walking out of the Life department building, he met Luke and Andrew in the reception hall and discussed few words with them.
After that, he bid his farewell to Luke and Andrew and walked out of the Life department. His next destination was, of course, the Life Church.
After walking for a minute, he appeared in front of a dome-shaped building and noticed Holy Knight Hunt was standing at the entrance while holding a long spear in his hand.
"Good Morning, Mr. Hunt." Charles greeted him with a smile and walked into the church building.
''Charles, are you free now? I have to tell you something important.'' Hunt's question made Charles narrow his eyes for a moment.
He then halted his footsteps and looked back at Hunt in confusion.
'Hmm, did something happen to Eve when I was away?' He creased his eyebrows and asked in concern,
''What is it, Mr. Hunt?''
In the meantime, Hunt glanced around sneakily to see if someone was monitoring them and then spoke in a suppressing tone,
''Follow me. Father Reynolds wants to meet you in private.''
'Why is he acting like a thief?' He stared at Hunt's face for two seconds and said with a nod,
''Lead the way.''
Both went towards the Life Church's rear and soon arrived in front of a small one-storied building. It was a small brick house with a small porch in front. Hunt took the lead, soon arrived in front of the iron door, and knocked it thrice.
A few moments later, a 40-year-old man in a golden-lined white robe opened the door and invited them in.
Charles immediately glanced inside; his gaze swept across the reception room. This room was at least three times larger than his room. At the very end were a desk- Painted red and brown- and two large bookshelves. On the left side of the wall were three tables. They were black and looked rather old. There was a leather sofa set, a coffee table, and four wooden chairs.
At this moment, Bishop Reynolds sat on the sofa while opening a white-covered book in his right hand and gestured them to sit on the opposite chairs. Charles gave a polite nod and seated on the wooden chair. Hunt also nodded his head and sat next to Charles.
Nobody spoke for a whole minute and watched each others' faces in awkward silence.
After a minute, Charles got annoyed by their sneaky behavior and opened his mouth.
"I'm not interested in men."
Hearing his words, Hunt coughed loudly in embarrassment and soon spoke.
"We invited you here to discuss something about the Series Artifact."
Charles's eyes widened and soon turned his face serious.
"Is it about A-035?" He asked in a cold tone.
"It seems you used the [Inspect] skill wisely and gathered some information on your own," Reynolds said with a smile.
'He knew about the Pine Town incident?' Charles got startled inside and started to ponder.
'Did he also know about the mysterious Anderson's schemes? Something feels off here…Think… What did I miss… Wait… Is he also colluding with Russell? If so, why did Russell use the Observer's Dagger to probe my strength… Hmm, there are only four people who knew about my inheritance skill. The first is Bishop Reynolds, the second is my mother, and the third one is Sharon White. As for Russell, he-' Charles's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered Russell's behavior when introducing Aces Team members.
'I still remembered his meaningful smile. Did he purposefully act to find out my inheritance skill's name?' The more he thought about it, the more sure he became.
'That means Bishop Reynolds might be on odd terms with the Branch Head Russell!' A look of realization appeared on his face.
In a second, he organized his thoughts and asked the most important question.
"Father, do you know anyone called Anderson? He might go by the name 'Mr. Black.'"
"Anderson Black? Are you talking about Russell's grandfather? Where did you hear his name?" Bishop Reynolds closed the book and asked in a serious tone.
'Russell's grandfather?' Charles felt that the whole puzzle began to link together and soon realized his situation.
'Did I walk into a lion's den?' He turned his attention to Bishop Reynolds and then clicked his tongue.
'This man… He appears to have already known about Russell's scheme. Did he purposefully hide my inheritance skill name to learn more about Russell? Possible! If Russell had known about my inheritance skill, he wouldn't have given the Observer's Dagger as a gift.'
Without any delay, Charles unsheathed his iron dagger and passed it to Hunt.
"Branch Head gave this dagger as a present."
Meanwhile, Hunt stood up from his seat and went near the sofa before giving Bishop Reynolds the dagger. After that, he went beside the leather sofa and stood there calmly like a statue.
At this time, Bishop Reynolds inspected the dagger with his [True Eyes] skill and soon turned his face colder.
"My guess is right." He curled his lips up and handed the dagger back to Hunt.
"Can he spy on us now?" Charles's deep-blue eyes glinted as he stared at the Observer's dagger in a cold look.
"Using this eye-like gem, he can indeed monitor your movements. But that won't work here." Bishop Reynolds curled his lips upward and then added,
"This house is built using some special stones, which prevents any abnormal energies from getting near it."
Upon hearing Bishop Reynolds's words, Charles breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded.
"Charles, do you want to know more about the situation you are in?" Bishop then looked at Charles and asked with a solemn look on his face.
"Yes." Charles nodded his head and waited for Bishop Reynolds to continue.
"A-035. It's a series artifact with mysterious powers hidden in it. Except for your ancestor Eddie Nightwind and Myers Collins, nobody knew about its abilities. Some say that the Holem's Crown has the ability to create a 'Miracle', while others say that it could see through the 'Past' itself. But nobody, even the Divines, knew the answer." He paused deliberately for two seconds and continued with a wry smile,
"But twenty years ago, a mysterious person sent anonymous letters to Life Church, Amber Church, and few other organizations and revealed some confidential information about A-035 to all. He mentioned in the letter that A-035 had already chosen its master, and it would reveal its presence to the world soon. He also mentioned the exact location and date of its future appearance in the letter." He finished the sentence and then looked at Charles with shining eyes.
'Old man, your stare gives me a creepy feeling.' Charles stared back at Bishop Reynolds for a second and asked,
''Did you manage to find out any information about this mysterious person?''
''Nope. We used some unique methods to track his origin and guessed that he might be an Astrologer Class Mystic. As for his strength, we know nothing about them. But-" He paused for a moment while looking deeply into Charles's deep-blue eyes and added,
"We found out who is A-035's successor.''
''How are you so sure about me being A-035's successor?'' Charles straightened his back and asked, without losing his calm.
''It already helped you and revealed its presence to everyone. Now, it is hiding among the citizens and is searching for a chance to meet you.'' Bishop Reynolds said mysteriously.
"When did it help me?" Charles felt numb for a moment and soon muttered in confusion.
"Don't you remember? It can create a 'Miracle,' Charles. A-035 used its power to change your personality and made you a cold-blooded killer. That itself is a 'Miracle.' We all felt a strange, mysterious power sweeping down the whole Riverdale city during your kidnapping incident. After that night, I sensed that something was not right. I seem to have lost something precious." He paused for a second and added in a grave tone,
"I, No. We, the Riverdale Citizens, might have lost our 'Luck.'"
"Luck?" Charles's expression went stiff as he heard Reynolds's words.
'Is that even possible to steal one's luck?… Moreover, 'Miracle' is it? Is my transmigration also related to A-035? What about this strange game system residing in my body? Did A-035 create this system using the so-called 'Miracle'?' A chill went up to his spines as he shuddered in anxiety.
'I heard from Ian that A-035 is a dangerous artifact… But why is it helping me? Damn it; I need to find a way to get out of this situation.' He grumbled inside in dissatisfaction and soon asked,
"But you look normal to me, father Reynolds. Even after losing your 'Luck,' nothing bad happened to you, right?"
A weak smile appeared on Reynolds's face as he heard Charles's words. He didn't say anything; instead, he took off his golden-lined white robe and revealed his upper body to Charles.
The next instant, Charles held his breath and squinted his eyes sharper. Because what he saw was not a well-built muscular body. Instead, he saw strange dark-red lines, flesh wounds, and pus appeared all over his body. Some dark-red lines even penetrated his deep wounded areas and made his body messier!
Widening his eyes, Charles stood up from the chair, took three steps forward, and looked closer.
He saw that those dark-red lines were tangled one another and appeared to be moving on their own. Those dark red lines appeared to be sucking Bishop Reynolds's blood!
"What are these things?" He asked out loud.
"A curse. It's a curse I got from the [Sinful Demon] Class member during the last battle." Bishop wore the golden-lined white robe and said gloomily.
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