Chapter 110: Red Cloud

"Stop right there, criminal scum!"

"He's a thief! Get him!"

"Somebody stop him!"

A commotion ensued at the wet market on the Southern Borough. The culprit, a thief clad in a peasant's clothes ran towards the direction of the Yang Bridge. He was so fast and so powerful that the burly seamen that tried blocking his way were sent tumbling backwards.

"What in the Goddess's green earth are you doing?! Don't run! You better compensate me and my wares!"

It was an understatement to say that the culprit was fast.

He was so swift that the seamen who wanted to have him compensate for the losses of the merchants whose wares he destroyed abruptly stopped on their tracks realizing that the man's speed didn't seem to be the speed of a human.

The only person pursuing the thief at this moment was Calvin.

Realizing that there was no member of the Cavaliers on the lookout in this area.

He pursued the thief in a leisurely pace that wasn't slow, but also couldn't be considered as fast.

If there was a third-party looking at him right now at this moment, they would think that Calvin was just window shopping through the wet market.

Although his eyes never left the back of that thief.

Crossing over the Yang Bridge and arriving at the Center Borough.

The elusive thief took a turn to a nearby dark alleyway and Calvin stopped his pursuit.

He abruptly stopped beside a beggar asking for alms and asked, "Do you know any person that acts like a Robinhood these days?"

"Robinhood? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"If you're not going to give me any money, then scram!"

The beggar suddenly became infuriated and kicked Calvin away.

Calvin closely observed the beggar and found nothing strange on him.

But he didn't go away as per the beggar's instruction. Instead, he smiled at the beggar and asked in the politest tone that he could muster as much as possible, "Why are you doing all of these?"

"Huh?" The beggar raised an eyebrow and looked quite irritated at Calvin's strange questioning. His white beard that looked dark and brownish due to years worth of soot accumulation from the smog that circulated around the city of Ashmelion made him look like a true beggar.

But Calvin begged to differ.

"The soot coming from the chimneys of Ashmelion has a distinct smell due to the unique attributes of the widely-popular wood that everyone uses here in their chimneys in the city of Ashmelion. It's tough being a beggar, not only you're constantly being exposed to the elements of this shithole, but you would also be quite malnourished..."

"Yet, you..."

"Your eyes look perfectly healthy to me..."

"I can't see any trace of jaundice. You're thin, but you are built quite strong. Your skin also doesn't have the dark shade that most residents of Ashmelion have— due to prolonged exposure to the elements and the sun..."

"Do you want to know what does these mean?"

"It means that you're a foreigner..."

"Who are you?"

"A foreigner couldn't possibly be in this city due to the city's strict rule regarding immigrants and if you managed to bypass that rule then it should be through the use of bribes."

"But that doesn't make sense..."

"A person that could bribe the guards couldn't possibly be a beggar..."

Calvin now had a light smile on his face as she said.

"And being a beggar, you're awfully inconspicuous."

"See that Yang Bridge right there? Count the number of beggars that you can see on the sidewalk."

"You can't count them anymore, right? It's because there are too many of them. Those beggars are there for a reason. It's to increase their presence and visibility to the people passing by..."

"But you why are you standing near this dark alleyway? It is as if you don't want people to notice you..."

"Hehehe..." Calvin let out an evil chuckle, "All of these clues make me think that you're not a beggar at all..."

"Am I right, our elusive thieving doppelganger?"

"You..." The old beggar abruptly froze.

The anger and irritation on his face were gone.

It was replaced by fear and uncertainty as he turned to look at Calvin and said, "The merchants placed a contract on me?!" He exclaimed and then pushed Calvin backwards.

He then stood up and made a break for it to the nearby dark alleyway.

His movements didn't resemble an old man at all.

He was agile and fast, similar to the thief that Calvin pursued earlier.

"You have nowhere to run, my friend... Just surrender. I have some questions to ask from you."

"A mighty doppelganger can take on the form of anyone they wish. It shouldn't be that hard for you to earn a living through other means apart from stealing, yet why are you doing all of these?"

"Also, are you the one who sacrificed a lot to prevent your location from being discovered through the use of Spiritualistic Magic?"

"Items, ingredients, oils, and beast cores necessary for the success of Spiritualistic Magic are not cheap. If you can afford them, I'm sure that there's no need for you to steal a few loaves of bread and some coins. It's just not worth it fighting against the law for something like those, you see?"

"That is why I want to ask..."

"Who are you working for?"

"Imitators may be scary due to their innate abilities, but every doppelganger's nature is pure and kindhearted. All the doppelgangers that I met in the past even offered me to stay in their huts no questions asked for three days, all the while giving me all the food that I needed!"

"It was only after three days did they ask me about what am I doing in their territory."

"That is how hospitable and kind doppelgangers are! But what are you doing? You're not only shaming yourself for doing these petty crimes, but you're also shaming your parents up to the eighteenth generation of your family!"

Calvin fiercely scolded.

"Shut the fuck up!"

The doppelganger finally couldn't take it anymore as he turned around and glared at Calvin.

"What do you know about me? You've met my kind? That's impossible! They are long extinct! You can't fool me with those lies, evil human!" The doppelganger cried out in anger before transforming into a humanoid beast that radiated a strong smell of rust.

"Oh, you've encountered a Vampire in the past, eh..."

"That's right, I may not be able to defeat you since I don't have any silver with me..."

"Hehehe... You may be a liar, but at least you do know your limits. Without silver, there's no way that you can defeat me!"

The doppelganger boisterously laughed. Madness in the form of red tendrils that formed a cloud-like image appeared within his eyes.

Calvin scrunched up his eyebrows the moment he saw the red cloud.

"You..."

"You made contact with those people?"

"You've made contact with the Red Cloud?!"

Calvin glared at the doppelganger.

Memories flashed across Calvin's mind.

In an instant, he had recovered relevant memories related to the Red Cloud.

The Red Cloud was a secret organization that believed in an Unorthodox Subordinate God known as the God of Sloth.

They were madmen who believe that magic is a science and art that changes depending on a person's perspective and desires. Their philosophy was to take the shortest path possible to their goals. As an analogy, if one of them wanted something from another person...

They would analyze the shortest path possible to taking that item from the person.

If the results told them that the shortest path to their desired item was murder, then they would mercilessly murder that person without giving any care to the ramifications of their actions.

This was the reason why the Red Cloud was a feared secret organization.

If they desired something, they were relentless in their quest for it and they would do anything just so they could get the item.

Who knows how many heroes of humanity died from the hands of Red Cloud from the past?

Knowing that the doppelganger was a member of the Red Cloud...

Calvin now had no intention of letting this doppelganger go.

Since everything had already gone too far, then Calvin had to clean the mess up.

Taking several pieces of crumpled paper from his pocket, he imbued them with the Mana from the air and hurled two of them onto the ground in front of him before chanting...

"Oh, our Beloved Goddess Grace..."

"The Magister of Light and the commander of compassion..."

"I invoke your name with my essence, bestow blessings upon your lowly servant..."

"Infuse my fist with your might, let your wrath become my strength as I purge the world from tainted beings..."

"Like I'd let you!" The doppelganger was stunned silly from the sudden chanting.

When he awakened from his trance, Calvin was already done with his chanting, but this didn't stop him from flying towards Calvin with a murderous look on his face.

Calvin bit the insides of his cheeks that had just recovered several months ago. Blood immediately gushed out of his mouth as he spat them onto his only remaining functional arm. Then afterwards, he took a stance and punched out with his left hand.

"The Rozenstruik Empire's Hand-to-hand Combat Arts, First Style..."

"Asalraalaikum!"

A fully-concentrated strike was unveiled.