Translator: SumTLMan
When Alex left the cabin, his face displayed a mix of reluctance and solemnity. However, the moment he closed the wooden door, the muscles of his face seemed to disband as if a meeting had adjourned. Each emotion returned to its respective place, leaving his face expressionless once more.
This swift change in expression didn’t escape Angel’s keen eye.
“You know, if you ever stop being a priest, you might consider becoming a stage actor,” Angel earnestly suggested, which elicited only a silent glance from Alex in return.
“If you’re interested in acting, I can introduce you to a place called the Torch Institute. The actors there are all quite exceptional.”
Alex paid no heed to Angel’s words, choosing instead to ignore them completely.
He took a moment to survey the surroundings on his own.
The area was forested but relatively flat. However, due to the dense foliage, visibility wasn’t very clear.
Eventually, Alex’s gaze settled on a cliff plateau not far away.
After a short while, he made his way up to the plateau. From this elevated vantage point, he could clearly see the cabin below as well as the surrounding forest, making it an excellent observation spot.
“Next, it’s just a matter of waiting,” Alex said calmly.
The so-called waiting is naturally for the arrival of the pursuers.
The abandoned forester’s cabin, where they are now, is actually quite far from where last night’s events unfolded. It’s in the opposite Direction of Ghust Town, to put it in stark terms.
Their next move is to see if the pursuing ghost will come here.
If Knight Reven and Camille do not find Lady Connie in a short time, it confirms one thing: the person controlling the ghost is certainly not from outside the cage barrier. After all, if the controller were observing from outside, they’d have an eagle-eye perspective and would grasp any movement within the barrier immediately. Lady Connie couldn’t hide even if she wanted to.
On the other hand, if they can’t find Lady Connie in a short time, it indicates a different issue: the controller of the ghost is definitely within the cage barrier. Furthermore, they can only detect someone touching the barrier the moment it happens. If that person runs, it would take considerable effort to track them down.
Therefore, Alex chooses to wait here.
If no one comes to execute Lady Connie in a short time, it would be safe to assume that the person is not from outside the cage barrier. That would be the real time for Alex to take action.
Because, once the controller of the ghost expends a lot of energy searching for Lady Connie, they’re bound to show their hand!
Alex has thought this through quite thoroughly. However, upon closer inspection, you realize that Lady Connie, who was just saved by Alex, is now once again being used by him as bait…
During the waiting period, Angel and Alex discuss various trivial matters, including local customs, social norms, language habits, and ethnic characteristics.
He hopes that these details could potentially give them a general idea of the location of Ghust Town.
Perhaps it’s because Angel saved Alex’s life last night; his demeanor is slightly better than before. As long as the questions do not involve Alex himself, Angel would answer anything he knows.
However, the town of Ghust doesn’t have any particularly unique customs, except for attending worship services at Church of Kruja during major holidays. This custom isn’t overly unique; it’s common in nations where religion and politics coexist. Alex has said that he’s unsure about which country Ghust belongs to, but he’s certain that the Kruja Divine Court is the only religious belief in this land.
Based on the information Angel currently has, he can’t pinpoint a specific location.
However, Angel speculates that he must still be somewhere in the Southern Region. After all, he only crossed that mysterious passage for a very short time, and given Angel’s understanding of spacetime, he likely remains within the Southern Region’s confines.
Moreover, the inhabitants of Ghust are humans, not humanoid creatures. Both the language and script are universally used across the continent.
Various clues suggest that this place is a part of the Wizarding World’s expansive civilization.
But there’s something Angel has noticed.
Although the residents of Ghust speak the continent’s common language, they do so with a distinct local accent. Alex, however, has a different accent than the locals.
When Angel inquired about this accent discrepancy, Alex had no recollection of his past and couldn’t provide any answers.
Nevertheless, Angel has a hypothesis. While he couldn’t identify where Alex’s accent originated from, he believes it likely comes from somewhere on the Vast Continent. From Angel’s perspective, both the local and Alex’s accents are understandable, but Alex’s is easier on the ear.
As the sun began to slant, Alex halted his narration. He took a sip of water from his leather canteen to moisten his throat and said, “Almost twenty hours have passed, and those two ghosts haven’t shown up yet. It seems my speculation was correct: there must be a ghost manipulator, and this person is definitely not outside the cage.”
Alex turned his gaze toward the distant mountains, where the outlines of Ghust’s buildings could faintly be seen.
“Perhaps, this person is hiding in the town, alternating between dual identities as if it’s a joke, carrying out the orders of the cage’s creator and mercilessly slaughtering those who discover the truth.”
Alex stood up and gave a slight bow to Angel: “Mr. Pat, thank you for your assistance.”
Understanding Alex’s intention, Angel gracefully descended from the cliff and arrived near the forest ranger’s cabin.
Peering through the window, Lady Connie was seen staring blankly at the setting sun outside the window, muttering the name of Knight Reven, with clear tear tracks on her cheeks.
With a simple gesture from Angel, a wave of illusion magic began to slowly spread, enveloping the abandoned forester’s cabin.
Atop the cliff, Alex personally witnessed the gradual disappearance of the cabin.
Though this was the second time he had encountered the power of “illusion magic,” he was still deeply awed. From where did this power that transcended mortal abilities originate? Could he, too, obtain such power?
While Alex was lost in thought, Angel had already completely concealed the forester’s cabin behind the illusion magic.
That is to say, Lady Connie was safe again, at least for the time being.
Previously, Alex had intended to use Lady Connie as bait to investigate the manipulator of the undead.
However, now that he had assessed the depth of the enemy’s abilities, the task at hand was to delay the enemy from finding Lady Connie as long as possible. By doing so, their actions would inevitably become more pronounced, making it easier to catch them off guard.
Therefore, Alex had asked Angel to hide Lady Connie, thereby delaying the enemy’s discovery of her.
And throughout all this, Lady Connie was blissfully unaware; whether that was fortunate or unfortunate was hard to say.
After concealing Lady Connie with the illusion magic, Angel returned to the cliff and said, “Due to the absence of a stable power source, the duration of this illusion won’t be very long. If it’s not disrupted by external forces, it can last about a week.”
Alex nodded, “A week is already enough.”
Walking in the evening glow, they followed a secluded path back to the town of Ghust. By the time they reached the town, the curtain of night had already fallen.
Angel led Alex through deserted routes, taking several turns, finally sneaking back to the Church of Kruja.
The escape of Lady Connie was definitely an unexpected event for the puppet master behind the scenes. Upon deep reflection, it’s clear someone was assisting Lady Connie, perhaps even unraveling the true nature of her confinement. This made it likely that the townspeople would be scrutinized, which is why Alex was exceptionally cautious on his return.
When Alex opened the door to his room, he furrowed his brows. He looked around the room and fell into deep thought.
“What’s the matter?” Angel inquired.
Alex: “The note I left, the position of the pen, even the fine dust on the door frame — nothing has changed. This means that Father Bertrand hasn’t visited my room today.”
Angel glanced at Alex’s desk where a note was pinned under an ink bottle. The note, penned by Alex, read: “I plan to go to the riverside to recite the Holy Scriptures and may return late.”
According to Alex, he had drifted to Ghust Town along the river. He occasionally visited the riverbank to recite the scriptures in an attempt to regain his memory and express gratitude to the Father God. Father Bertrand was aware of this, so Alex had used it as an excuse to leave the note the previous night.
However, the night passed, and Father Bertrand hadn’t visited his room.
“Ordinarily, Father Bertrand visits me every morning to receive Father God’s teachings. Why didn’t he come today?” Alex was puzzled.
But his question was quickly answered.
A series of commotions came from the front yard. Alex opened the window to look, and saw that the church, which usually had only a few lamps lit as night offerings to the deity, was suddenly ablaze with light.
“Let’s go take a look,” said Alex as he took off his dust-stained clothing and donned a more formal set of priestly robes, making him appear more dignified and sacred.
Once dressed, Alex adjusted his expression slightly and made his way toward the House of Kruja.
Before he even entered the church, the sound of wailing from within reached his ears.
Pushing open the door, Alex saw a crowd of people surrounding Father Bertrand, who was doing his best to console them. Upon seeing Alex, Father Bertrand addressed the gathered crowd: “By the grace of the Father God, please calm yourselves. The Lord will surely lift the dark cloud hanging over us.”
With that, Father Bertrand whispered something to a sheriff wearing a rounded hat. The sheriff took over the job of comforting the crowd, allowing Father Bertrand to join Alex at his side.
“Alex, why are you just now showing up?” Father Bertrand asked quietly.
“I apologize. I’ve been engrossed in the Holy Scriptures all day and wasn’t aware of what was happening outside,” Alex replied, intentionally omitting where he had been studying the scriptures.
“Studying the scriptures is good, but you must also pay attention to the concerns of the faithful,” said Father Bertrand, his expression softening slightly.
From Father Bertrand’s reaction, Alex quickly understood that the priest wasn’t aware he had been absent from his room all day. It seemed he wouldn’t need to use his excuse of reading scriptures by the riverside after all.
“Father, may I ask what has happened? Why is everyone so distressed?” Alex inquired, putting on an expression of sorrow.
“Sigh…” Father Bertrand recounted the events that had transpired.