The Devil's Apology.
At that moment, James Beyond stood motionless, holding old Herbert.
"Why didn't you say this, Mr... No, Uncle Herbert!?" James Beyond spoke sadly.
"James! I know that even if I told you this, you wouldn't be able to do anything about my condition, which has stumped the most experienced doctors in Frendenstream!"
"How do you presume I wouldn't be able to help you? Perhaps there's a solution if we go to—" James wanted to tell old Herbert about the possibility of treating his illness but was interrupted by him.
"James! You don't know the cause of this disease at all, so how could you treat it!" old Herbert shouted sadly.
"Yes, there is a possibility of treatment—" When James tried to speak, he was interrupted again.
"It's useless!" old Herbert retreated and pushed James's hand away, before taking off his brown coat and shirt, saying: "I contracted this disease from a person from the Plague Bearer path, when I fought him in the Western Jungle City... One of his deceptive attacks hit me, causing severe damage to my vital organs!"
"What in the world..." James was shocked to see those green spots mixed with purple on the skin of old Herbert's body, targeting the heart, liver, and kidneys!
'Hmm, the Plague Bearer path? It seems like a path created for killing!' Xiao Ping thought in his mind, looking at James Beyond. 'The expressions James shows, only half of them are real! He's a skilled actor!'
'Who is this person who managed to injure Uncle Herbert, formerly known as the "Spatial Hawk"? This doesn't bode well!' James thought and said: "Uncle Herbert, do you know what he called himself or his name? I mean the one who injured you!"
The old man put on his shirt and coat before answering: "I don't know his name! But I know who he worked for!"
"For whom?" James asked.
"He would say with every attack he launched against me, that it was 'the will of the Supreme Ruler,' and would chant unknown things!" old Herbert's speech was cold and low.
'The will of the Supreme Ruler! Is this what the organization worships, from which that person escaped before I took all his belongings while he was dead and rotting in the shack?' Xiao Ping muttered to himself and opened his ears to hear more.
'The Supreme Ruler again!' James screamed internally and clenched his hand until Xiao Ping and Herbert noticed.
'From James's reaction! I bet this Plague Bearer path person is a member of the same organization whose three members James fought today!' Xiao Ping analyzed every movement of James's body.
"It seems you've met one of their members before, right? You'd better stay away from these worshippers of the 'Supreme Ruler'; they are more than just a group of lunatics! But that's not all, there are hidden things about this mysterious organization that we don't know! What I'm sure of is that it has deep roots!"
'This is the same thing the entity said about that organization, that it has deep roots! I should really be careful, or something worse than what happened to that old man might befall me!' Xiao Ping thought and said: "James! You've provoked this organization before today, right?"
'Deep roots!' James was thinking to himself when he heard a voice that pulled him out of his thoughts. "Yes, I fought with three of their members, and because of that, one of my glasses lenses shattered, so I threw them away!" 'But how did Xiao Ping know about that? This is really strange, I moved them to a parallel dimension to fight, and Sticky happened to come with us! But Xiao Ping wasn't there!'
"So then, what was the strange thing you noticed in your fight against those three members? I may be curious, but I should know the information so I don't end up like old Herbert!" Xiao Ping fell silent, letting his words sink into the atmosphere, and said: "By the way, what level were you at when you fought the Plague Bearer path holder?"
"The fourth level! Why do you ask?" The old man stared at Xiao Ping with an angry tone; he had held some respect for this person before, but not now, he no longer respected him but hated him because he had mentioned his granddaughter with his filthy tongue.
'The fourth level? This means that if it weren't for his malignant disease in his vital areas, he would have crushed me like mashed potatoes! Worse than that, I offended him and threatened him with his granddaughter! To be honest, I didn't know he had a granddaughter until I saw his reaction to the truce conditions!' Xiao Ping thought to himself and said: "It seems I've offended this elder, I apologize." Xiao Ping tipped that hat on his head before saying: "James! Why haven't you answered my question yet?"
'What? Did this boy apologize to me? Is it out of respect for me? No, this person doesn't care about morals; it seems he apologized because he knows the power I used to possess before my injury!' old Herbert thought before saying: "I won't accept your apology just because you threatened me with my granddaughter!" old Herbert refused Xiao Ping's apology.
'My partner really has the ability to change his character very quickly, according to the situation he's in! I wonder if I've formed a partnership with a devil in human form, or if he's a devil to the core!' James analyzed his impression of Xiao Ping all this time and said: "So, Uncle Herbert, I hope you don't hold any grudges against my partner! This is just his nature!"
"Nature my ass! This person doesn't have any qualifications for partnership! I don't know what made you form a partnership contract with him, but... beware of his nature!.." The old man cursed loudly.
"Haha, you wouldn't believe if I told you how I chose him, but let's leave that and I'll answer your question, Ping!" James laughed while continuing: "Well, the answer to your question, Ping, is very simple, because what caught my attention about them was only two things: First, they never feel pain no matter what fatal blows they suffer... Second: brainwashing!"
"Brainwashing? Does that organization perform rituals that make its members extremely loyal to it?" Xiao Ping drew a conclusion from James's words.
"You're smart! And I like that very much, honestly! You're right, this organization has brainwashing rituals that may... force members to lose their minds and chant some of their strange sayings!" James spoke, remembering the words of that "Immortal" person when he told him that upon entering the organization, you no longer have the right to decide your death or survival.
'Apart from everything, this boy is really very smart.' Old Herbert was impressed as he returned to his small desk before sitting down and looking at James and Xiao Ping.
"Well, let's not talk about such things and change the subject!" Xiao Ping spoke when he saw the silence in the store.
"So, Uncle Herbert! Have you heard or seen anything suspicious these days?" James spoke and added: "I forgot to mention this, but how is your daughter? Is she well? And how are her studies?" James asked.
The old man wiped his glasses and looked at James, saying: "She's fine, thank you for asking! She visited me a week ago and told me she would enter a closed study for about half a month, due to exams that will determine her future as an archaeologist!" He fell silent for a moment and this time looked at Xiao Ping, continuing: "She told me some suspicious things, like the disappearance of the gardener at her college!"
"And did they find that gardener?" James spoke, expecting another unsolved case to be added to their cases, even though he had received an investigation invitation from a high-ranking noble, but he didn't receive that invitation as an individual; he had been alone without partners, so... he tried to find a partner and work on it, but he was surprised to learn that that noble had distributed many invitations to many investigators.
In Frendenstream City, in fact from all cities of the country, to investigate the case of Antonius Myros's escape with important archives belonging to ship contracts and shipping lines controlled by the royal fleets, like the "Dogma" developed personally by the King to become a terrifying nightmare for all pirates in the three known seas currently: the Sea of Nothingness, the Sea of Fog, and the White Whale Sea, and these are out of seven legendary seas!
"I researched this matter through my information network and learned that they found him sliced into strips of meat in the sewer drainage!" old Herbert spoke before continuing: "But this isn't the first victim; there were many victims last month who disappeared in the same way but met their deaths in different ways... There was a person found hanging above one of the private churches, his hand holding a paper... bearing the victim's own blood according to analyses! But it wasn't writing, but... symbolic and geometric shapes!"
"The language of the Aelythians! Your description of the shapes on that paper in the victim's hand resembles it; it's an ancient and rare language, relying on hieroglyphic symbols or geometric shapes to represent concepts, not letters. It's said in the legends of the Second Era, when this language was at its peak, its words could change the 'text' of reality!"
'The Second Era was mentioned this time? And also the language of the Aelythians!? What exactly is this language? And why must it be only a language in this world that is this powerful? And why does it remind me of its pronunciation in Ancient Greek from my previous world? The existence of two languages I don't know about in this world makes me lament my inability to read only; if the memories of this body's owner were restored to me! That would have been great support for me in this world, but this is really strange.
Why haven't I retrieved the memories of this body yet? Isn't it supposed that upon my transfer to this world, I would possess the memories of this body's owner? Or is it just a trick by writers to facilitate narration in their stories?' Xiao Ping thought to himself before saying: "Are there other victims who possess the same paper written in their blood? Or is it only a special case for this person? Also, are there any commonalities among the victims? Like what were they doing before they disappeared and died?"
Old Herbert was still angry about Xiao Ping's previous behavior, but with things calming down now, he could no longer show his anger openly, as that would make him seem weak-willed and pitiable too, so he said with complete ease: "Yes, three other people were found, and strangely, they were also dead in different ways, but they shared the location and the same paper; according to my humble information, the three people were found dead above churches belonging to different groups of official ability holders! They also held papers in their hands bearing symbols and geometric shapes, known as James said 'the language of the Aelythians,' and there is a common point among all these people!"
"Which is?" Xiao Ping asked coldly.
"That they are from the poor of the people!" old Herbert spoke while looking at Xiao Ping and added: "And their hearts were also torn out; I know I didn't mention this before, but you didn't require the details precisely!"
'He didn't tell me this important point! Just because I didn't ask for the answer in the most detailed terms?... I don't know why I'm now remembering my struggles with artificial intelligence when I ask it to summarize some documents!' Xiao Ping mocked inwardly and said: "Is everything you said about them being from the poor of the people and having their hearts torn out, the only commonalities?"
"No, that's not all!" old Herbert denied this and said: "There was something that united them all, which is that they went to one of the notorious casinos in Frendenstream City, won some money there, and deposited it in their bank account... and then suddenly disappeared!"
"Is that really all!?" This time it was James who asked, not Xiao Ping, because he knew old Herbert was doing this deliberately just to anger Xiao Ping!
"And there is one last thing! Which is that they cast their votes to make the noble Friedrich Kolassen, governor and lord of Frendenstream City!" old Herbert's words carried a deep meaning.
'This is the second time I've heard this noble's name today! But who were they voting against? Or who was the candidate for the city's leadership other than the noble Friedrich Kolassen? And did Friedrich win it or that other competitor?'
"It was none other than his eternal rival, Julian Faust! He holds the rank of Count, and Friedrich holds the rank of Viscount (i.e., lower in rank), but in terms of influence, he could rival a Duke! And also, this is besides the immense wealth he possesses... It's said he funded half of the Prince's projects with his money alone!" old Herbert replied with a profound face before continuing: "But due to Julian's arrogant nature, unlike the beloved Count Friedrich Kolassen, not many people voted for him, and therefore the noble Friedrich Kolassen won the elections and became the mayor of Frendenstream City!"
"Yes, I remember that well; it happened last year!" said James, looking at old Herbert and adding: "There were many riot cases in the city... because of what happened the previous year!"
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued.