Chapter 248: Wizard Catherine
Hearing this, Catherine didn't even turn her head, hurriedly pulling Doria forward.
"Miss, you're making it too obvious!" Doria lowered her voice. "If we don't manage to buy holy artifacts, we'll still have to go to Mr. Bellon in the end. It'll be so embarrassing for you then!"
Catherine's body instantly stiffened, and then she gave Doria's arm a light pinch.
"You don't have to say it out loud!"
Seeing that the two were about to squeeze into the crowd, things didn't go as they wished.
Bellon shot a look into the distance, and soon a black-robed exorcist bumped into them.
"Do you not have eyes when you walk, woman," the black-robed exorcist scolded.
"Hey, sir, please show some respect to these two ladies."
Bellon stepped forward first, blocking in front of Catherine and standing face-to-face with the black-robed exorcist.
"Hmph." The latter snorted coldly and left.
Bellon tried to reach out and help: "Are you okay?"
"I can manage myself." But Catherine dodged away.
"Doria, did you notice something?"
She suddenly looked at her female companion beside her.
"Wha... what is it?"
Doria looked confused but still instinctively cooperated with her master.
"Every time we meet this gentleman, I get 'accidentally' bumped into. Don't you think it's strange?" Catherine looked at Bellon with a smile.
"I... suppose."
Doria didn't dare to speak too bluntly.
After all, when her Miss couldn't buy holy artifacts later, she would definitely make her go to Mr. Bellon.
Bellon smiled, showing not the slightest embarrassment of being exposed, and instead changed the subject.
"Where do you two want to go today? The first round of witch recruitment for the Rosicrucian Order has ended. The intelligence area might have related assessment content."
Catherine rolled her eyes, thinking for a moment, and said: "The materials area. I want to see if there are any holy artifacts for sale."
Doria secretly tugged at the former's sleeve, constantly signaling with her eyes and shaking her head.
"Holy artifacts?"
Bellon raised his eyebrows.
"Hasn't Ms. Catherine always purchased them from me? What, is there a problem with those holy artifacts?"
Catherine said: "I'm just curious why, in such a large Exorcist Guild, only you have high-level holy artifacts for sale."
Bellon chuckled.
"Holy artifacts are inherently controlled items of the Church. I just happen to have a friend who has the ability to make them, which is why I can get so much stock."
He raised his chin as he spoke.
"As for the other stalls in the Guild, I can give Ms. Catherine a clear answer: they don't dare to sell them."
Catherine clenched her fists.
"Do all other exorcists only listen to your words?" she gritted her teeth and said.
Bellon said: "Hehe, of course I don't have that much charm, but..."
"Why talk about this and ruin Ms. Catherine's good mood."
"Your existence has already ruined my mood!" Catherine said angrily in her heart.
Subsequently, she still walked towards the materials area.
"No matter what you say, I'm going to try today."
Bellon smiled: "Of course, I can accompany you, just in case Ms. Catherine urgently needs holy artifacts later and can't find anyone."
Catherine didn't turn her head, but her body under the robe was trembling forcefully.
Just as she was about to lose control, she suddenly saw a stall near the center of the materials area.
It seemed to have opened not long ago, with a brand-new information board placed at the door.
And the content written on it made Catherine's face light up with pleasant surprise—Selling High-Quality Holy Artifacts.
"Doria! Let's go take a look there!"
Catherine pulled the latter and trotted over.
Bellon also saw that information board. He frowned, then quickly followed.
Jingle... Jingle...
As soon as Catherine pushed the door open, she heard a crisp sound.
She looked up and found a small bell hanging on the doorframe, and then she sized up the environment inside.
Compared to other stalls, this place could simply be described as "Rustic."
Despite occupying a cubicle with heavy foot traffic, the goods were pitifully few. There were only seven or eight glass bottles placed on the table, and the other display spots had nothing at all.
And the stall owner seemed completely unconcerned about her coming in, just saying "Feel free to look around," and then continued sitting on the stool reading a book.
"Wizard Catherine, there... probably won't be any here," Doria whispered.
Catherine came to the table displaying the glass bottles and spoke up: "Hello... do you sell high-level holy artifacts here."
William didn't look up, pointing at the table.
"The left one is five-year vintage, the middle is eight years, and the rightmost one is ten years."
Catherine originally held no hope, but the stall owner's words energized her heart.
After running away from home, in order to shake off the people tracking her, she had no choice but to use a forbidden witchcraft.
This spell formula could erase traces of her power; not even holy artifacts of the "Holy Relic" level could locate her.
But the side effect was that every once in a while, Catherine's body would show symptoms of corruption.
Not only would the skin all over her body rot and turn black, but she would even breed an evil aura.
If not dealt with in time, Catherine would completely lose her human identity, and it would also attract various evil spirits and demons.
The solution was also very simple.
First, cancel this witchcraft.
But once she did that, her family would immediately find her trail, so Catherine absolutely would not do this.
Therefore, she only had one choice, which was the second method—purifying the negative effects through holy artifacts.
But only holy artifacts of five-year vintage or above had this effect.
And she had already used up all the holy artifacts she brought from home.
Originally, Catherine thought it would be easy to restock in the Exorcist Guild, and at first, it was indeed so.
Not long after registering as a member, she ran into that Bellon.
The other party seemed to have many high-quality holy artifacts, and the prices were fair, so Catherine frequently patronized his stall.
But as time passed, the Holy Water Bellon sold became more and more expensive.
As a person who had snuck out, Catherine simply couldn't afford this price.
So she planned to change to another shop.
But only then did she find out that besides Bellon, no other stall was selling high-quality holy artifacts, which was obviously abnormal.
Catherine wanted to find other sources, but there weren't many holy artifacts circulating in the market to begin with.
And the negative effects of the witchcraft were becoming more frequent, simply unable to support her to look for other channels.
As for the Church's commercial streets, they belonged to the local churches and wouldn't receive guests other than Holy Clergy Members.
If she went there with the identity of a wizard, she would definitely attract attention.
Therefore, Catherine could only go to Bellon.
During that meeting, the other party readily lowered the price and promised they could trade according to this standard from then on.
It was then that Catherine realized something was wrong.
But she had no other way for the time being, so it turned into the current situation.
Time returned to the present.
Catherine carefully picked up the middle glass bottle. After pulling out the wooden stopper, powerful Holy Power surged from the mouth of the bottle.
"So dense! Even higher quality than the ones Bellon sells." Catherine exclaimed inwardly.
She sniffed it again.
This bottle of Holy Water even reminded her of the holy artifacts she brought herself, which were all from the Vatican.
Comparing the two, Catherine felt even more that what Bellon sold her were inferior goods.
And she had paid so many Resentment Points for them!
Suppressing her excited mood, Catherine picked up the rightmost bottle.
The next moment, her mouth widened.
"This kind of quality can only be possessed by Holy Water blessed on the Grand Holy Day!" Catherine thought to herself. "No... it's even slightly higher, already comparable to those unearthed from the Holy Land!"
She couldn't help but glance at the stall owner, curious how the other party could possess these.
But Catherine also knew the rules here, so she didn't ask further.
"Excuse me... how much is this bottle," she asked softly.
William tilted his head and glanced at it: "Ten thousand Resentment Points."
So expensive!
Catherine was startled inwardly, but she knew this price was well worth it.
"If I use Holy Water of this quality, it should be able to sustain me for a month!" she thought in her heart.
But her eyes immediately looked disappointed again.
Although she could afford these Resentment Points, she would have to frantically take on commissions afterward to maintain this high consumption.
This also meant she would encounter more danger.
"Do you have... slightly lower vintage ones, for example, six... years?" Catherine's cheeks flushed slightly, whispering.
After all, she came in looking for high-quality holy artifacts, only to backpedal now; this made her feel a sense of shame.
William was also momentarily stunned.
Why is this person like Bent...
If you want low-vintage holy artifacts, just say so directly; why beat around the bush.
He complained inwardly.
However, on the surface, he still showed a thoughtful look: "I'll have to look for it."
William started rummaging through the bag on the ground as he spoke.
He originally intended to sell all his low-vintage holy artifacts anyway, so he didn't plan to make new ones before returning to the House of Rest.
"No six-year ones." William placed a glass bottle on the table.
"Only one seven-year quality bottle left, seven thousand Resentment Points."
Catherine thought for a moment, then nodded: "Then this bottle."
Just as she was about to pay, the wooden door of the stall was suddenly opened.
Catherine turned her head and saw Bellon standing at the door.
She frowned.
Originally seeing this guy not follow in, she thought the other party knew when to back down, but it seemed she had overthought it.
Bellon saw the glass bottle in Catherine's hand at a glance.
Although he wasn't sure of this thing's quality, presumably it must be something that satisfied the woman.
This was not the result he wanted.
So Bellon walked to the opposite of the stall owner.
After greeting the two ladies, he looked at the man sitting on the stool opposite him.
"Sir, I wonder who gave you permission to sell high-quality holy artifacts here?"
William raised his eyebrows upon hearing this: "Why, can't I sell things here?"
Seeing this, Catherine frowned and said: "My transaction with this gentleman isn't finished yet. According to the rules, you shouldn't come in."
"Sorry, Ms. Catherine, I was afraid you were being deceived. After all, the origins of the things here are unknown."
Bellon smiled as he spoke, but there was not the slightest hint of "Apology" in his tone.
William sized them up back and forth for a moment.
"It couldn't be one of those 'Rich young master asserting dominance' tropes again, could it..." he thought inwardly.
"But the problem is... I haven't done anything!"
William's mind was full of question marks.
His attention had been on the witchcraft introduction in front of him all along, which was also in preparation for taking the Saint's Remains later.
From when this... woman came in, William's interaction with the other party was purely limited to the transaction itself.
He didn't even know what this woman looked like, although her voice was indeed very gentle.
Under these circumstances, what reason did this kid have to question him?
Therefore, William's tone also turned cold: "What? Must all holy artifacts go through your evaluation to prove their authenticity?"
Bellon sneered: "Of course."
"If I guess correctly, this should be this gentleman's first time setting up a stall here, right?"
William narrowed his eyes and didn't answer.
Bellon seemed completely unconcerned: "If so, then you should know that in the materials area of the Exorcist Guild, no one is allowed to sell holy artifacts above a five-year vintage."
"Oh?" William chuckled softly.
"I wonder where the relevant rule declaration is posted?"
"No need for those. If you want to do business here, you just need to comply," Bellon said.
William raised his eyebrows. He hadn't seen such an arrogant guy in a long time.
If he wasn't an ignorant fool, then this guy's confidence definitely came from somewhere else.
So he guided the other party again: "Does the Exorcist Guild know about 'your' rules?"
William deliberately placed emphasis on the word "Your."
Bellon sneered: "You can go and appeal to the Guild, but I think the result won't change."
"Appeal?" William asked back. "You mean, because of one sentence from you, I should waste my own time?"
He looked at the other party with a cold gaze.
"You might have some misunderstandings about your own importance."
Bellon's eyebrows frowned tightly together.
William continued: "I neither plan to appeal, nor do I intend to stop selling."
"Before I get up and kick you out, you'd better scram quickly."
This guy didn't have any identity badge; there was a high probability he knew some high-status figure in the Guild.
However, this couldn't threaten William.
He didn't need to enter the upper echelons of the Guild anyway, so he completely didn't care about the feelings of the higher-ups.
If the other party wanted to play dirty tricks, William's practice along the way wasn't just for show.
Besides, looking at Manager Farlin's service attitude and the various facilities here, the Exorcist Guild was obviously not that kind of stupid organization.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to establish so many rules beneficial to the growth of exorcists.
In this way, even if there really was some scum inside, it couldn't represent the Guild as a whole.
It might just be a blind spot under the lamp, only bullying some weak exorcists.
As soon as William's voice fell, the room fell into a brief silence.
Bellon's face was as gloomy as water, but ultimately he didn't say anything, merely turning around and leaving the stall.
"Sorry, it's all because of me that made you..."
Catherine took off her hood, her face full of apology.
"Sorry, sorry," Doria aside also whispered.
William raised his eyebrows. He really didn't expect such a pure and beautiful face under the robe.
However, business is business, and this woman did bring him trouble.
Therefore, William's tone remained flat: "Since the transaction is complete, you may leave."
A moment later, those two were still standing there.
"Um... if I still want to buy holy artifacts in the future, how can I find you?" Catherine asked weakly. Despite the slight unpleasantness between them, she had finally found a channel for holy artifacts, so she didn't want to just give up like this.
William shook his head: "This is all for low-vintage ones."
He was telling the truth.
Of course, among the reasons was also not wanting to get too close to this troublemaker.
Hearing this, a flash of disappointment crossed Catherine's eyes.
"Then... sorry to bother you."
She took Doria and took her leave.
At the same time, in the Guild's private lounge.
Bellon sat on the sofa. In front of him was a landline telephone.
"Archbishop Zadok, sorry to disturb you. There's been a slight problem with that woman." His tone was unusually respectful.
A moment later, a voice came from the other side of the receiver: "Speak."
"According to your instructions, the sale of all high-vintage holy artifacts in the Guild is currently controlled by us. But... today someone publicly sold high-quality Holy Water."
"Oh?"
"Reporting to Your Grace the Archbishop, before questioning that person, I went to ask the people below, and the rules haven't changed."
The other side of the receiver fell silent for a moment.
Just as Bellon was about to speak, the voice came from the other side again.
"Let that manager deal with it. Catherine must be kept in our hands."
"Understood, I'll go arrange it right away."
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