Chapter 129: She Really Wants to See Him

The person in charge of the Bal Empire was one of the new Sages who had replaced [Angel] and [Holy Son] in the past three years, codenamed [Ancestor Demon].

But [Ancestor Demon], as a new Sage, did not have full control of the Salvation Church in the Bal Empire.

And West Town, as an important town, the Salvation Church cadre in charge here at present was the confidant of one of the original seven Sages, [Evil Duke], [Trick Rider].

When the Black Rose arrived here, she was actually a little angry.

It was in the sense of standing up for her teacher.

Because according to Mandosha Flower’s recent investigation, the person who had revealed the information that Hall and Christine might be in Saint Louis to the Red Queen was [Evil Duke].

Although the Black Rose also didn’t want Mandosha Flower to hide things from her, Lord Mandosha Flower must have had a deep meaning in hiding the information about the Angel and the Holy Son, right?

She would not question Mandosha Flower.

In that case, she had to question the situation of [Evil Duke] interfering.

Now, although the information that the Angel and the Holy Son were still alive had not been made public within the Salvation Church, from the current development trend, it was only a matter of time.

“Lord Black Rose, what is the purpose of your visit from thousands of miles away?”

Trick Rider’s base was in the west of West Town.

That is, in the hundred miles of barren mountains and wilderness that served as a buffer zone between it and the demon domain.

But this place was not actually a barren mountain and wilderness long ago.

A thousand years ago, it was the former Demon Lord who ruled the western demon domain—[Array Master Demon Lord].

The Demon Lord who regarded array mastery as an art—Naberius.

He had once set up countless array armors here, but they were broken through by the last Hero seven hundred years ago.

That earth-shattering battle had completely changed the environment here.

It was basically impossible for living creatures to survive.

But the underground was a usable source of magic power.

And [Trick Rider]’s base was established with this.

Its underground space was similar to a degraded version of the Demon God’s Labyrinth and was not a place that could be directly entered.

So one had to find a guide first.

At this moment, the guide, who was also a semi-high-ranking cadre of the Salvation Church, although he asked a question when he saw the Black Rose, did not have much change in expression.

The Black Rose guessed that since Trick Rider was a direct subordinate of the Evil Duke, he should also know the fact that Christine was the Angel.

As for Hall being the Holy Son, he might or might not know.

But no matter what, Christine was now in West Town, and Trick Rider would act next.

“Lord Mandosha Flower has sent me here to confirm an item with Trick Rider. That thing should still be in the orphanage, right?”

First, let’s talk about business.

We’ll talk about the trivial matters later.

“That thing?”

The guide was not sure what the Black Rose was talking about.

Because his authority could only vaguely know that Mandosha Flower had returned to West Town three years ago and had stored something in the orphanage where they were born.

It was something that could only be stored in the orphanage.

Now that the Angel had returned to West Town, and recently “feather” had often been mentioned by Lord Trick Rider, he couldn’t help but think of the feather on the Angel’s chest.

The guide had only seen the Angel once.

Although his rank here was considered high, the seven Sages of the Salvation Church were actually very secretive.

The work of leading the ordinary subordinates was all handled by the cadres.

“I want to see Trick Rider. Is he here or not?”

“He is not here at the moment. You can wait a little. The master has gone out for something.”

“Oh?”

Generally speaking, the cadres of the Salvation Church were not too busy.

After all, they couldn’t do too much in the open.

Now that many forces had gathered in West Town, she guessed that Trick Rider had probably gone to West Town.

“Indeed, Lord Black Rose. I am not deceiving you.”

“Since you don’t dare to deceive me, then you answer me. Has Trick Rider been trying to find out about the thing Lord Mandosha Flower stored in the orphanage back then?”

“Yes…”

The guide had originally wanted to hide it, but he wasn’t stupid.

The Black Rose had come to his door, so she must have already grasped the relevant information.

And now, the Salvation Church was not a monolithic block.

At that time, the Holy Son, the Angel, Mandosha Flower, the three of them, and the Red Queen, who had also just been promoted, plus the three senior Sages at the bottom, could indeed make the Salvation Church develop rapidly.

But in the three years since the fall of the Holy Son and the Angel, there had been some differences of opinion within the Salvation Church.

Although the Black Rose had been on the border between Bal and the Papal State and had been far from these disputes on a normal day, she had heard of them.

“Make him stop. He must stop.”

That feather was probably a key item of Lord Angel.

However, at present, the Black Rose was not sure if the guide, as a subordinate, knew that Christine was the Angel.

“Then please come in with me first, Lord Black Rose.”

“Alright. At that time, I will tell him in detail.”

When Hall woke up this morning, he had a brief exchange with Lov.

“Himan has been staying at the church for the past few days?”

“Yes, Young Master. Miss Himan feels that Lady Christine is very likely to be attacked, so she said she would protect Lady Christine without leaving her side.”

“That’s good…”

When Christine went out, there would surely be a crowd.

He could watch from a distance.

In other words.

He wouldn’t run into Himan in the short term.

“Regarding the matter of going to her old home, has Christine mentioned it to Archbishop Malik?”

“Not yet, I think. At least not until after the blessing ceremony.”

“Mm.”

Hall felt it made sense.

Christine was meticulous.

If she made the request now, with Himan by her side, she couldn’t possibly take him there.

What’s more, after completing the blessing ceremony, Malik would have no reason to refuse Christine’s request.

After a few more simple words.

Hall planned to disconnect the magic book’s communication.

And Lov seemed to sense that Hall was going to do something else.

She said with a hint of regret.

“I bought some rare monster meat for the Young Master yesterday. It seems I won’t be able to give it to the Young Master to eat.”

“It’s fine, Lov. It’s good that you have this thought. You can make it for Himan and Christine first. It would be a waste if it went bad.”

Hall comforted her.

He had thought of the situation where he was caught, or to lay the groundwork for the future shura field.

Originally, he had hoped that Julia would help him balance the relationship between the several heroines.

But now it seemed that Lov was also a good choice, right?

If it really came to that, he would have Lov speak for him.

After all, Lov was definitely firmly on his side.

“Oh, I see, Young Master.”

He felt that the voice on the other end was a bit subtle.

“Mm, Lov. After this matter with Christine is handled, we’ll go to Sunset City for a trip, and then go back to Saint Louis.”

The other end of the magic book hesitated for a moment before a happy voice came through.

“Alright, Young Master!”

After completing the daily task of confirming Himan’s whereabouts, Hall let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

But just as he left the inn and went downstairs to order a specialty breakfast from the front desk, he saw Thorne.

The other party was also drinking hot coffee and looking at him, and soon waved at Hall.

Hall, who had originally wanted to ignore the other party, couldn’t avoid it when he saw this.

He cursed inwardly.

‘Old man, you’re not going to give the heroines a mission. What are you looking for me for?’

“Young Master of the Faxtius family, are you interested in a chat?”

When they were talking, there was no one else on the first floor of the inn.

The adventurers who lived here basically had to work hard to take on missions and earn money every day.

It was unlikely that they would waste time here in broad daylight for a cup of hot coffee.

“You know me?”

Facing this mysterious old man from the game, the “source of all evil” that had made the heroine start to oppose the church in some of the main lines, Hall did not pull back too much.

After thinking calmly, based on the vague memories, he confirmed that it was he who had come to West Town to take Christine and Mandosha Flower away back then.

He, who had intended to change his destiny by becoming stronger and increasing his power, had very likely also had some contact with Thorne.

Both the Wind’s Soul and the skill book for Dual Wielding LV9 were precious and extremely rare resources.

It would be a waste not to take them.

Besides, his close relationship with the Salvation Church had caused him to have some minor conflicts with the church in secret before.

“I know you. Do you still know me now?”

“Not really.”

Hall just hinted at his amnesia, not saying it outright.

The old man in the straw hat immediately smiled as if he understood and said to himself.

“I didn’t expect you and Christine to come back at this juncture.”

“I just came back to protect her and complete the blessing ceremony. When she leaves West Town safely, I will also leave.”

Hall did not hide this point.

“Is that so? Don’t you want the things in the orphanage? I thought you and she both came for that.”

“I’m interested, but I know that’s a topic that can’t be touched. So it would be best if I can get it, but it doesn’t matter if I can’t.”

He answered ambiguously.

“It seems you’ve become more cautious now.”

“Someone said that a while ago. It was Christine’s older sister.”

Hall mentioned Mandosha Flower.

“She hasn’t been back for more than three years either. Look at me, this old man. When girls grow up, they tend to run off with outsiders…”

Thorne coughed twice.

From his appearance, he was already in his seventies, but Hall knew that his body was still quite sturdy.

What’s more, this blacksmith had the skill book for Dual Wielding LV9.

If that skill book was not obtained by accident, then it meant…

He suddenly realized a very terrifying problem.

But Hall didn’t expose it.

He just said, “Since grandpa and Christine had a good relationship before, and my mission now is to protect her as a knight, can you help me?”

Considering the turbulent situation in West Town, improving his combat power was the most urgent matter.

“What help does the young master of the Faxtius family want? With this old body of mine, I may not be of much help.”

“I heard from Mandosha Flower that you have a good weapon here, grandpa. I heard it’s called the Wind’s Soul. I’d like to borrow it to protect Christine.”

Hall directly pretended to have amnesia and threw the blame on Mandosha Flower.

After all, he couldn’t possibly challenge the limit now and directly oppose the church.

Christine was also still a Saintess Candidate.

How the plot of this world would develop and how to determine his stance were all matters for the future.

He would do what he had to do now.

“Hehe, alright. Come with me to get the sword later.”

Thorne smiled.

“Alright, old grandpa. I’ll pay for this morning’s bill.”

It was quite nice to be able to use a legendary-grade weapon for free.

But Hall’s intention was not just that.

After a while, he patted the scabbard at his waist and said, “I actually have another legendary-grade weapon now. I wonder if old grandpa can let me control both swords at the same time. This way, my combat power will be greatly increased, and Christine will also be safer.”

He wanted the skill book for Dual Wielding LV9.

This was the key.

Thorne also knew what Hall meant.

“Then let’s go for a walk.”

Thorne was already used to the young master of the Faxtius family and the blacksmith’s.

Thorne ran a weapon shop and a blacksmith’s shop.

In the southwest corner of the relatively poor area of West Town.

When Hall arrived here, he did not see the moss-covered threshold from the game’s CG.

The eaves and the roof of the weapon shop were also not worn out, as if they had been renovated.

But the walls were still slightly mottled.

It was the same house from the game.

Seeing Hall’s observant gaze, Thorne didn’t say much.

The simple renovation of this house had been done by Mandosha Flower and Hall for him, this old man.

Although Thorne didn’t care much about his living conditions, the day he had gone to the demon domain to collect some rare materials and returned, the simple renovation outside had already been done by the two of them.

When he returned, he had told the two children not to work so hard, but his heart was still happy.

“Go in and take a look. If you need any other weapons, you can also take them. Protect Christine well.”

Thorne led Hall into the weapon shop.

In the glass cabinets and wooden cabinets here, there were quite a few blades that looked a bit old, and some were even damaged.

Hall knew that in the game, besides getting the [Wind’s Soul] by doing missions, the old man also sold some rare to heritage-grade weapons.

He also provided repair and maintenance services for blades.

Normally, Thorne should have made a lot of money just from trading with the adventurers in the town all these years.

But the house the old man lived in, besides not leaking when it rained and not being drafty in winter, was not particularly luxurious.

“No need, just the Wind’s Soul will do. I will give it back to you before I leave West Town.”

Hall walked around the weapon shop a few times, and a memory seemed to surface.

He had been here before, but his perspective of the weapon shop in his memory was lower than now.

At that time, he was probably about twenty centimeters shorter than now.

“As long as you don’t break that blade, you can do whatever you want with it. I’m too old to use it.”

As Thorne spoke, he walked through the worn curtain behind the weapon shop.

Behind the curtain was the backyard, which was the place where weapons were forged.

Hall followed, but his mind was analyzing the meaning of Thorne’s words.

It was almost impossible for a legendary-grade weapon to be broken.

Then the only explanation was that he had once liberated the [Wind’s Soul] and summoned the [Wind] hidden within to assist in fighting enemies.

From this perspective, based on the game’s settings, Thorne’s favorability with him and Christine was very high.

Relatively speaking, their favorability with the church was very low.

“Isn’t that obvious? I’ve already invested in the Salvation Church.”

The black-haired youth was in deep thought.

It was still explainable that he had continued to be the young master of the Faxtius family after losing his memory.

But Christine’s transformation from one of the Seven Sages to a Saintess Candidate was a bit incongruous.

It could only be said that it had returned to the original setting of the game.

“What are your plans for the future? I heard you had some minor troubles in Saint Louis two years ago, but you’ve been doing very well recently. Do the people from the church intend to make you a key figure in the Black Knights?”

The old man in cloth clothes took out a sky-blue scabbard from the backyard foundry.

And suddenly asked a question that made Hall a bit strange.

He immediately realized that Thorne, despite being in this remote small town, was also keeping an eye on the news of Saint Louis through some channel.

“Although the captain of the Black Knights is not bad, and I can surely inherit the family business and title after some seniority, but let’s see. Actually, I want to find a stable city to live in for my retirement.”

Hall said faintly.

“Not bad.”

The old man hesitated for a moment before commenting.

“It is indeed not bad. But now I have a fiancée from the Xia Kingdom, and Christine is a Saintess Candidate. She won’t be too safe before the Saintess election is over. I have to deal with and solve all these things. I feel this year will be quite busy.”

Since it was clear that his old friend from before had taken Mandosha Flower and Christine away, and Mandosha Flower and Thorne had always told him to protect Christine, he certainly couldn’t just ignore everything.

Now he was just preparing for a stable escape.

“It’s good to be busy… since you’re so busy, this old man won’t bother you young people anymore. This is the weapon you wanted.”

The sky-blue scabbard was thrown to Hall.

After catching it, Hall also said without any hesitation, “I heard from Mandosha Flower before that you also have a technique for dual wielding, grandpa.”

“This is for you too.”

Thorne took out an ancient book with a strange aura and a rather old look from his pocket.

“Thank you very much, old grandpa.”

“It’s very fast to learn this. You should be able to master it tonight.”

Thorne added, “Go back to Christine’s side early. At this point in time, she needs you.”

“Mm.”

He had also seen the newspaper when he was eating.

Tomorrow night would be Christine’s blessing ceremony.

This was actually quite fast, and after Christine’s blessing ceremony, he should be able to enter the orphanage.

And after Hall left.

Thorne actually held back a sentence.

—Because you’ve already learned it.

“Lady Christine, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. We’ll hold the blessing ceremony as planned by Archbishop Malik tomorrow night.”

“Oh… I feel like there’s no need to be in a hurry. Our schedule still has a surplus.”

Maria was a little worried.

It was now dusk.

After an afternoon of rest, Christine’s complexion had recovered a lot.

She also looked relatively normal.

But she was still worried.

“It’s fine, let’s just do it tomorrow night. After it’s done, I still have to go to my old home to take a look.”

Christine’s heart was beating, beating very fast.

After half a day of digestion, as intelligent as she was, she roughly understood what those memories were about.

She really wanted to find Hall and talk to him.

To communicate with each other in a way that only they understood.

Talking about the past, even for her, whose heart was already calm and indifferent, she could not hide the throbbing in her heart.

If before, it was because she had met Hall that she had wanted to find his fun.

Now, she wanted to take the initiative to go and see him.

Even her saintly and artificial nature could not smooth out that emotion.

She really wanted to go and find him.

She had so many things to say.

But Himan, Himan she could not go.

So Christine said, “Where is Miss Himan?”

“Ah?”

The topic jumped too fast, and Maria was stunned for a moment.

“Miss Himan has been missing since you went to dinner last night. But she said she will definitely protect you in West Town and said she has a general grasp of the demon’s actions.”

Speaking of Himan, Maria’s impression was still very good.

After all, Himan was now living next door to Christine, in a room that was originally used to store miscellaneous things.

For a young lady of a ducal family, that room, even after a large-scale tidying and cleaning, still seemed a bit gloomy.

“Oh, alright. Tell Miss Himan that after the blessing ceremony tomorrow night, she doesn’t have to be my guard anymore.”

Christine just wanted Himan to leave.

She wanted to have a two-person world with Hall.

“Lady Christine, Miss Himan said this town is very unsafe… it’s always better to have one more guard.”

“Then Maria, who do you think is stronger, Hall or Himan?”

“Of course… Hall is stronger.”

Although she didn’t want to admit it, it was true.

One Hall could fight at least two Himans.

“So you see, I tricked Himan on the train in the imperial capital of Bal. If she doesn’t leave, Hall can’t be by my side.”

“I see, Lady Christine.”

Maria could understand.

She actually supported all of Christine’s decisions.

So she prepared to tell Himan these words when Himan came back.

…

And at this moment, Himan was in a cold drink shop in West Town.

Opposite her sat Lucy.

“Miss Lucy, what a coincidence. We’ve met five times in this small town.”

“Yes, it’s a coincidence, Miss Himan!”

Parousia tried hard to get close to Himan.

But she really wasn’t good at talking, and besides, her mind was now completely hooked on the plan Hall had bluffed her with yesterday.

She wanted to make a big move and help her Prince get the things in the orphanage.

So she wasn’t very attentive to Himan, and just came over to chat with her as usual.

But she didn’t know that Himan was not stupid.

Lucy, whom she had been suspicious of for a long time.

‘This person, could she really be a vampire?’

‘A vampire, approaching her time and time again. Why?’

‘Could it be that she wants to get information from her?’

“Does Miss Lucy have something to do?”

“My goal is very clear. I just want to make friends with Miss Himan. From the first time I saw you at Princess Frida’s place, I wanted to make friends with Miss Himan.”

This was the mission Prince Vier had given her, but her words really couldn’t convince Himan.

“Then why did Miss Lucy come to West Town?”

Himan took a sip of black tea.

To be honest, she felt that the black tea here was not as authentic as in Saint Louis.

“I am…”

Parousia had no more lines.

She was a little at a loss for how to answer.

“Then why did Miss Lucy go to see Princess Frida? When you were talking to the eldest princess, you were behind a screen…”

Himan continued to ask.

She was a straightforward person and didn’t have much patience.

What’s more, she was ninety-nine percent sure that Lucy was a vampire.

And Parousia, who had dealt with one problem, was even more at a loss in the face of the second question.

It was beyond her ability.

Prince Vier hadn’t taught her how to answer.

She had only let her be fully responsible for making friends with Himan.

“Then one last question, Miss Lucy. You are actually a vampire, right?”

Before her voice had finished, her blade had already been drawn as Himan’s right hand began to move.

The pure white oath was drawn.

At such a close distance, the Saintess’s blessing on it made the big-breasted vampire very uncomfortable.

Sensing that her identity had been exposed, Parousia, after subconsciously blocking Himan’s first thrust, directly smashed through the glass of the cold drink shop and rushed out.

“Don’t run! Catch that vampire!”

Himan would not let go of this hard-won clue.

And in West Town, most of the people were adventurers.

Parousia also did not dare to be careless and ran directly towards the area of West Town where the houses were complicated and relatively poor.

But she happened to run into a familiar person.

“William, William, help me!”

“Help you with what?”

Hall was stunned.

He thought to himself, Parousia couldn’t have been coerced by Prince Vier again, could she?

“Your friend is chasing me! Quickly go and lead her away for me!”

“Who is it?”

“Himan! She found out I’m a vampire!”

“?”