"Charles Blois? What is that lunatic doing there?" Basil quirked his eyebrow as he pondered about the information he had just heard. "He shouldn't have intervened until the Fifth Outbreak..."
As he wondered whether his actions had caused some changes or, in fact, there was nothing changed—it was just him figuring out the occurrence he didn't know in the past—Basil hummed to himself.
He was convinced that it was something different from the past however, since he had never heard that Chester had ever been to the Sacred Ground in his past life.
If the Chester of the past had indeed ever visited the Sacred Ground, after all, he would've also encountered Charles at that time.
It might be a little bit harsh for Basil to say this to someone he respected, but if that had been the case, Chester would have died sooner.
One might wonder what about now—how Chester could escape Charles—but Basil knew that Chester didn't actually escape Charles. Charles was just temporarily letting him go; Basil was sure Chester was currently chased after by Charles' disciple.
"Mr. Chester didn't say anything about which Sacred Ground Charles is in, however luckily, I can look for him myself."
As curiosity got the better of him, Basil decided to use [Visualization] to look for Charles' whereabouts.
He couldn't, however, directly look for Charles, since he hadn't seen Charles directly yet in this life, so he needed to check all of the Sacred Grounds one by one.
Starting from Northonham Viscountcy, he found many interesting things along the way. One of them was Jacinda being in Westerheiss.
Since he had also seen the other Mages and Knights who were crowding the Viscountcy, he could immediately understand what was happening—why they were there.
Anthony was using the existence of Sacred Grounds as. a pretext to bind them to the Kingdom. He made a really good move, but unfortunately, the existence of the Sacred Grounds was soon to be public due to Charles.
In other words, the shackle he had put on the unaffiliated Mages and Knights wouldn't work after the Outbreak ended.
Basil couldn't help sneering at that, but he soon forgot the matter entirely since that wasn't the reason why he had used [Visualization].
Moving on to check Southevile Viscountcy, he soon found what he had been looking for. He could see Charles Blois smiling in front of the unaffiliated Mages and Knights stationed there... With Redford on his side.
The fact that the people could accept Charles' existence was weird enough, but Basil didn't even blink at Redford's appearance. He knew that Charles had a capable enough disciple that could transform into anyone they wanted.
What made him wonder however was how crappy the impersonation was. If his memory serves his right, after all, the disciple that could transform into anyone utilized an Art to do that.
What he was seeing, however, was definitely not Art. It was a mediocre Bewitchment that would be able to fool the eyes of the dense Mages, but not the eyes of the sensitive Mages.
For people like Blake, it should be easy to see through it, which made it strange, because Blake was completely fooled by it.
'What is fooling the people's eyes?'
[Bewitchment: Reality Altercation. It is a Bewitchment Spell that allows the caster to put an inescapable Bewitchment...]
It wasn't until Basil asked the Guide what was actually happening to the people did he understand why the crappy Bewitchment worked: there was a stronger Bewitchment cast on them.
For the old people who had met Redford directly, appearance alone wouldn't be able to fool them, therefore Basil was sure [Reality Altercation] was cast to make them "feel" Redford's presence.
That was the reason why the Bewitchment that was used to imitate Redford's appearance was such a half-hearted one.
It still made Basil wonder however, since he was sure no matter how unimportant imitating Redford's appearance was, he was sure the disciple of Charles he knew would still utilize their Art.
Curious, he saw through the Bewitchment, and figure out the real appearance of the person behind it.
He had never met this disciple of Charles directly, but he had heard that his only disciple that was good at impersonating people was a woman. Therefore when he found that the person impersonating Redford was a man, he couldn't help quirking his eyebrow.
'Now that I think about it... Mr. Chester must be being chased by Charles' disciple right now. Charles is supposed to have only three disciples. I have killed two of them in the Regional Tournament, so he should have only one disciple left.'
Basil wondered why Charles still had a disciple beside him. He was sure Charles wouldn't let Chester just go away like that—he must have sent his disciple to chase after Chester—so going by that logic, he shouldn't have had anyone beside him anymore.
Basil didn't even consider Charles not sending anyone to chase after Chester—it was impossible, so the only possible explanation for this was, Charles had just gotten his fourth disciple.
In other words, there was another change he had caused.
It still amazed him how his action could affect so many things—sometimes even unrelated to what he had done—but he didn't muse long about it. In the next moment, he quickly used [Visualization] to find where Chester was.
When Basil found Chester, he was moving very quickly and it was very clear that he had been exhausted. Sweat covered his entire existence, and the color of his face was pale enough to make him look like a ghost.
It was apparent that Chester was fearing for his life, but his expression remained tranquil as ever. Basil smiled lightly at that, and immediately looked for the chaser in the next moment.
It took him a few seconds, but when he found the chaser, Basil couldn't help blinking his eyes. He wanted to laugh in amusement and disbelief at the same time, but he eventually shook his head calmly.
"To think that she is the famous Wicked Impersonator ... No wonder she holds so much contempt for the people of this Kingdom. What a funny thing fate is..."
Basil didn't know the woman personally, however he knew who she really was. He didn't know her name, however he knew her true identity, and therefore he couldn't help smiling.
Taking out his Transmission Talisman, he sent a message to Chester. "You got a company, Sire. I have notified my family of your expected arrival, so may you head towards the east."
Basil had just basically told Chester to come to Raneil Barony. He might risk exposing his family to Charles, but that was currently the only way he could save Chester.
One needs not to be afraid of Basil disregarding his family's safety for Chester; he knew what he was doing. He could do something about the chaser—this was why he had dare to tell Chester to join his family.
"With that settled, now I have to focus on the problem in front of me." Basil looked at the horde of Demons coming his way. "All of them seem to be specifically aiming for me. Isn't that funny?"
Basil smirked as he took Caliburn out of one of the Solomon's Rings. Swinging it lightly to the side, he carved a shallow trench on the ground.
As he infused his consciousness inside the sword, he could, once again, see the Sword Realm he had visited a couple of hours earlier. The only difference now was, he could take himself out whenever he wanted.
Other than that, he could also see someone there, who wasn't the annoying Solomon. It was a young man with a glowing golden hair, and an extremely pale skin, which made him look like he was dying.
Basil didn't need to ask who the young man was; he knew the young man was the Sword Soul of Caliburn. Judging by his features however, the young man was a Fairy, so Basil wondered how could there be a Fairy based Sword Soul.
'Was Caliburn previously held by a Fairy or did Solomon put a Fairy's soul inside of Caliburn?'
As Basil pondered about the origin of the Sword Soul, said Sword Soul extended his lithe hand. Basil didn't even think twice to grab it—in the next moment, he could finally hear the voice of the Sword Soul.
"It is an honor to meet my first Master." The sound of the Sword Soul was as soft as how he looked. "My name is Caliburn, and I hope I am strong enough to help you, Master."
"I am your first Master?" Basil quirked his eyebrow. "Do you mean it as you having a second Master or me being your very first wielder?"
"It is the latter, Master." Caliburn lightly bowed. "I have never been wielded ever since the day of my creation, and I have been waiting for this moment to come. I am so elated that my day of being wielded by the Fated Child has finally come."
"How did you... Tsk. Let us know about each other better." Basil was about to ask about how Caliburn knew of his "status," but he shook his head in the end. "There is a battle I need to win, so I hope you can help me."
"You can count on me, Master." Caliburn bowed politely with an elated smile on his face.
Basil looked at Caliburn for a couple of seconds before eventually deciding to get out of the Sword Realm. He was still curious about how Caliburn knew of the Fated Child, but he had promised himself to slow down.
He still had many things he could do in the present—like fighting the horde of Demons that were already just 100 meters away from him—so he should temporarily stop looking far away to the future.
Everything will eventually fall into place, so he just needed to be patient.
"Were you a Fairy before becoming a Sword Soul, Caliburn?"
[I am still a Fairy, Master. I have just chosen to live inside a sword.]
"Is there a reason why you chose to live inside a sword?"
[For the greater good, Master.]
"Is that what your view on serving me?"
[Indeed, Master. I am sure that you yourself know that you are carrying the fate of the world in your hand. For me, to be able to serve such a person is a great honor.]
"Enough about that." Basil lightly frowned. "Did Solomon know you only wanted to be picked up by the Fated Child?"
[No, Master.]
"How did you know I was the Fated Child?"
[You have the scent that is unique only to a God, Master.]
Basil went silent afterwards, and the conversation entirely stopped. He gave a light scoff, which conveyed amusement, bewilderment, and ridicule not long after, then immediately dashed towards the Demons who were already 10 meters away from him.
Befitting of its name, Sword of Light, Caliburn illuminated the entire battlefield with its light the moment Basil swung it at the Demons.