Chapter 123 - In The Capital In The Kingdom Of Dawn (Part 2)

There was one end with several colored paper lanterns lighting the way, strange pink and white flowers floated in the lake with some fireflies shining under the water like stars in the sky.

Autumn did not seem to arrive there, as everything was colorful and vibrant in green, the perfume of the flowers was sweet and gently relaxed the teenager. To Theo, who never left the church's mediations, everything was new and even more magical, but that particular lake felt like a fairyland to him.

"Young Theo liked the place, I'm already flattered," Lee Ming said a little proudly as he watched the teenager marvel looking around as they crossed the bridge.

"The place is nicer than before" Louis also greeted and despite the indifferent tone, Lee Ming knew it was difficult for the butler to praise anything that wasn't related to the Darcy Family.

"Thanks for the compliment, with the Archduke's patronage things became easier to get. The new technology they sent us allowed us to create this environment and keep it as if it sprang all year long"

Lee Ming said adequately praising the Darcy Family, which pleased Louis and let Theo know a little more about the influence of Bishop Darcy's family.

"Here we are"

The handsome man in strange robes opened a sliding door showing the bedrooms, it was a medium-sized room that had a carved wooden partition with designs of birds with long legs and thin beaks, with flowers all over the wood, it looked like a piece of wood art for Theo than a simple room divider.

There was a double bed on one side and a single bed on the other, luxury seemed to exude from every point of the room and even the bed looked very expensive, although it was a little strange for being attached to the wall which was different from the beds of sweets from the Western nobles he had never seen and from the beds of the abbey and an inn that he had already witnessed with his beautiful eyes.

"I hope you enjoy your room stay. It's very late so the dining room is closed, but I'll send someone to bring two meals. Is there something specific you would like?"

"The usual for me... Add a little more dessert" Louis asked and then looked at Theo who was entertained going from one corner to the other observing the peculiar decor of the room. He added the desserts after a moment of distraction, so Lee Ming was about to retire to return to work, but the butler spoke again:

"Don't forget to go to the usual place later"

Hearing this, Lee Ming smiled and closed the door behind him. He seemed much lighter and even started to softly sing some songs from his homeland, it was undeniable that he was in a good mood once again.

In another place a little far from the bustling city, in the quieter and darker suburbs where bonfires lit here and there of homeless people warming them in the cold autumn night, in a big and even showy house for that kind of neighborhood, there was a fur elf dark as ebony with green eyes glowing in the darkroom.

The elf was tall and strong, he exuded danger everywhere, and the double-pupil eyes one dark and one yellow would make anyone afraid to enter, but the door was opened by someone hooded.

"Why is everything so dark?" the female voice sounded carefree and using a magic item she turned on all the lights in the room.

The elf who was sitting in a comfortable armchair glanced slightly at the woman, his expression as cold as a frozen lake.

"Don't look at me like that, I'll think you like me" the hooded woman scoffed a little flirtatiously.

"Information"

The man's voice held no emotion and his gaze coolly landed on the woman's body, there was no anger or interest.

The breeze came through the window shaking the woman's hood revealing that the woman wore a silver mask with strange oriental designs, the woman's short blue-black hair messed up a little.

The woman looked at his hair perfectly groomed and short but a particular color of pink that was a bit dark similar to the beautiful, delicate peonies, which didn't quite match the dark elf's attitude and apparent strength.

"He was sold on the black market by Duke Fontana, after that, I lost track of him. Which may indicate that he was sent into the interior of the country to some weak little nobleman, where no one cares about getting information, but..."

The dark elf looked silently at the masked woman waiting for her to continue talking, only he himself knew the rage and helplessness he felt at hearing this kind of horrible and at the same time useless information about the precious person he yearned to meet.

"There are strange things happening around Eral Bianco's county, at the Abbey Matteo. According to the information gathered, a team from the central church was sent to the abbey"

The dark elf still remained silent, the masked woman hoping to see some reaction felt a little disappointed and spoke again:

"I recommend you don't go there. There are some very powerful figures from the Aurore Empire housed there, if you get caught up in the mess going on you could end up getting killed. You must know well how prejudiced people in the Kingdom of Dawn are and pray for a scapegoat like you to show up to justify all their mistakes."

The masked woman said as a well-intentioned warning, the rumors have not yet spread in the capital or elsewhere, but there will no doubt be a major scandal that will break out at the Abbey Matteo.

After all, investigator Belinni who is one of the oldest and most experienced in the capital, despite working for the church, often helped the military brigade of the capital in civil investigations, and investigator Savoia, the next archbishop, the third brother of Marquis Savoia, who he was quite famous for solving three cases of alleged witchcraft and catching two serial killers who were actually possessed by demons.

The biggest concern was the investigator Savoia who would look for more merits to strengthen his candidacy for the archbishop in the capital, as the alleged witch cases ended suspiciously, the masked woman had reason to be suspicious of scapegoats in these cases.

The dark elf glanced slightly at the masked woman and pulled out a money pouch from his sophisticated dimensional item, tossing the money at her.

The gold coins overflowed from the leather bag that was on the floor, the woman stood there looking at the dark elf who started to ignore her.

"I'm serious, you better stay away from that abbey," the woman said after taking the money and putting it on her dimensional item.

The masked woman left silently and the dark elf went back to turning off the lighting items, remaining alone in the thoughtful darkness.

He pulled out a green crystal sphere that was unlit, he stared at it for a while, but there were no answers.

"God of Nature... I never thought I would pray to such a useless god, but... If I go after my brother will he survive?"

The anger contained in the dark elf's voice when he said, "Nature God", showed how disturbed he was with the information received.

He himself didn't know what to expect in response, it's not like he was one of the priests of the Temple of Nature, he was just a bastard-born noble.

The crystal sphere suddenly glowed and words floated and glowed green, which was a rune language used by the elves, the message seemed to stab the dark elf.

"Go North and try to find me"

Of course, the dark elf felt stabbed, he wanted a clear message, but he received a riddle.

The dark elf had two choices now, go north to "meet" the nature god and get answers, or go to Matteos Abbey and get answers putting his and probably his brother's life at risk.

In the street the woman in the silver mask still had other customers she had to attend to, she jumped from roof to roof until she reached something she and the others called a control tower.

People knew it as the Ancestral Clock Tower, which was managed by the city hall and not the church, as it was idealized by local nobles a few decades ago.

This was the point where most of those who exchanged information and sought out missions to find information met.

Of course, as the Information Guild and the Merchant Guild had their hands there, some nobles also had a hand in hiding this place from the common people.

The woman in the silver mask entered a trapdoor hidden by a statue of a noble representative, descending the stairs that were dimly lit, she stopped at a magical door.

She then took the Information Guild symbol which was an owl with a monocle in the left eye and inserted it into a hole in the door that had a celestial language rune that said "vision".

"Welcome Silver Owl"

A robotic female voice greeted the masked woman and the magic door lit up.