Chapter 20: Contract

Unlike the other brick houses, the town chief's mansion shone brightly in the dark, gloomy night. Hundreds of fire torches were lit all over the places and illuminated the mansion building in bright yellow color.

'Darwin must have spent hundreds of gold coins on building this mansion.' Charles mumbled inwardly and glanced upward towards the red sky.

One red moon peeked from the east while the other two moons had already hung in the center sky, giving Charles a sense of uneasiness.

Taking a deep breath, Charles shook his head to relieve the uneasiness and moved towards the Iron Gate.

He then opened the closed gate and went inside while glancing at the wounded soldiers and citizens gathered in front of the mansion. The weeping and cursing sounds of citizens echoed from the building entrance, making the place looked more like a battlefield. In a minute, he arrived in front of the mansion building, looked at the peoples, and soon followed their gazes.

Meanwhile, all those citizens' eyes were glued on the slightly obese man, who was tied on the porch pillar. Some cursed silently, while a few threw stones at the round-faced Darwin and the remaining people grieved silently in anger and frustration. They were angry at their town chief for colluding with criminals who killed their loved ones and frustrated for not having the authority to disobey the three mystics who saved Pine Town from turning into a ghost town.

Charles's eyes flickered as he stared at the trio and soon smiled.

"It seems you guys already killed the Distorted Shadow," Charles said while attracting everyone's attention.

"Charles?" Andrew and Luke turned their heads in unison and shouted in surprise.

"I thought the Shadow Guard killed you," Andrew said, and soon both stepped down from the elevated porch. On the other hand, Emilia smiled at him from the porch and then turned her attention towards Darwin. She then started frowning on her own as if she was reading the town chief's memories.

Charles also moved ahead, excluding the crowd, and soon arrived in front of Andrew and Luke.

"How did you escape from a Rank 2 Shadow Guard?" Andrew sized him up and down before asking him in confusion.

"I'm good at running and hiding," Charles replied with a chuckle and stepped up to the porch.

"Tsk, you are a lucky one to escape from Rank 2 Shadow Guard's eyes. But you have to be more careful in the future. It will not be the same next time." Andrew warned him and then gave an iron dagger to Charles.

'Tsk, so it was him.' He grunted inwardly and thanked him.

"Andrew found it near Elite Street. Although you didn't help us during the battle, you helped us luring out the Shadow Guard and even killed tens of Shadow Killers. That's an impressive feat." Luke said in an energetic tone and went beside Emilia.

"Team Leader, did you get some clue from his memories?" Andrew also followed after him and asked the confused Emilia.

"No, his memories are altered," Emilia said with a frown and soon shook her head,

"Our job here is done. Once we return to Riverdale City, I will submit a detailed report to the Branch Head and let him take care of the rest."

Saying so, she turned her attention towards Charles and said,

"You have done a good job surviving on your own, kid. Once you become an official member, I will give you a chance to become a member of our Aces Team."

"I'm honored, My Lady." Charles curled his lips up and bowed courteously.

"You don't have to act humble in front of me." She waved her hand and then shifted her gaze towards the citizens who gathered in front of them.

"Fellow citizens, I deeply apologize for your losses." She paused for a moment and continued with a sigh,

"We had already notified about the current situation to Riverdale City Lord. A squad of 20 soldiers will come and take over this town's security in a few hours. As for the wounded ones, the town's security will take you to the infirmary. I will come over there later and give you healing potions for 10 silver coins. As for this idiot's crime against colluding with nefarious cult members, Lord Ethan will personally come here and execute him tomorrow."

Upon hearing Emilia's words, all the citizens and soldiers nodded their heads solemnly and then dispersed in different directions.

Meanwhile, the Aces Team went inside Darwin's mansion after telling the town guards to watch after Darwin and began to take a rest.

The next day,

It was around 6 A.M. A loud horn sound echoed from the western gate and woke up the whole town. Aces team members then walked out of the mansion after a few minutes and soon saw a group of elite cavalrymen strolled on the mud road. Placing different types of swords on their waist, they rode their horses and soon reached the mansion entrance.

A second later, the leading cavalryman stopped his horse, dismounted from his white horse, and then removed his silver helmet. Unlike others, who wore simply leather armors, this soldier wore silver-plated armor and gave off a noble aura around himself.

After placing the silver helmet on the horse saddle, he turned his attention towards Emilia and said,

"Hello Mystics, I'm the First Knight of Riverdale."

After a pause, he glanced at the other three and then added in a cold tone,

"You and your team members can return to Riverdale City. We will take care of this town from now on."

Emilia wasn't affected by the soldier's cold attitude: instead, she let out a relieved sigh and responded,

"We will be on our way then," Saying so, she called out their coachman and told him to prepare the carriage.

A few minutes later, a silk curtained carriage exited from the mansion house and soon went out of the Pine Town.

...

After a few hours of travel, the luxurious carriage soon reached Riverdale city and moved to 35 Ivy Street.

After arriving, the coachman parked the carriage in front of the fence and informed the mystics.

One by one, four mystics in different attire walked out of the carriage while pushing the silk curtain and went inside the single-storied house.

Once they walked in, Russell greeted them at the reception hall and asked Charles and Emilia to follow him to his office room.

Both nodded their heads and went after Russell silently.

Once they walked in, Russell locked the wooden door from inside and went towards his office desk. After sitting on the wooden chair, Russell gestured them to come forward and spoke.

"Take a seat."

He then took out a monocle from the drawer, put it on his left eye, and placed his hands on the wooden desk.

In the meantime, Charles and Emilia walked ahead and sat on the chairs placed near the wooden desk.

"How is the mission?" Russell turned his face serious and asked.

Emilia took out a file filled with brown papers from her void pouch, passed it to Russell, and then started to explain everything in detail. She told him about the Divine Order organization's suspicious movements and asked him to report it to the higher-ups.

Once she finished her explanation, Emilia glanced at her side and added,

"Charles is skilled in sneaking and hiding and has the qualification to become an official member, Branch Head. He survived the chase of a Rank 2 Shadow Guard, which itself is an impressive feat. He is powerful enough to kill tens of shadow killers, so you don't have to worry about his battle skills."

"Oh? That's surprising." Russell shifted his gaze towards Charles and nodded.

"I will promote him to an official member then."

Saying so, he took out a bunch of papers and spoke in a calm tone.

"To become an official member of the Withering Shadows, you have to sign a contract, Charles."

"Contract?" Charles's brows shot up as he stared at Russell in vigilance.

"Yes. It is to prevent betrayal." Russell added with a smile.

'Betrayal? Then, why didn't it work on you?' Charles scoffed inside and began to read the contract documents.

Most of them were about rules he heard from Bishop Reynolds, but there was one rule that caught his attention.

'Rule 53: If the Withering organization failed to keep their words, official members have the right to leave the organization. But, they have to sign a special contract not to divulge any of the organization's secrets to another party.' Charles narrowed his eyes for a moment and nodded.

'Hmm, keep their words, huh. Can I add some requests before signing the contract?' He thought for a moment and spoke,

"I want to add some requests before signing the contract. Is it okay?"

Russell squinted his eyes for a moment and said while showing two fingers.

"You can add two requests. But in return, we will reduce half of your monthly salary."

Charles paused in surprise for a moment and soon asked,

"How much is my monthly salary?"

Russell thought for a moment and said,

"All official Rank 1 members will get 10 Arc gold coins per month. But if you add requests when signing the contract, you will get only 5 Arc gold coins."

Charles went silent for a moment and soon remembered Amber's Curse.

'I can use that request to remove the curse placed by Amber Church. Although it isn't affecting my growth, it is still affecting me in another way.' He still remembered the amount left in Ian's void pouch and began to contemplate deeply.

After thinking for a minute, he organized his thoughts and spoke.

"I want to add some requests before signing the contract. But before that, do you know anything about these characters?" He took a quill pen from the table and started drawing a few characters on the blank paper while asking.

In the meantime, Emilia and Russell looked at the paper in confusion, and soon Russell's eyes went wide in surprise.

"Runal?! How did you know about Runal Language?" He asked in a startled tone.

'Runal language? It seems he knew something.' Charles smirked inwardly and lied without blinking,

"I saw these characters in one of the history books at Wisdom Library, and it piqued my interest. You should have read about my records, right? I'm an Archaeological student, and I'm more interested in history-related things."

Russell went silent for a moment as he heard Charles's words and replied with a solemn tone,

"Runal Language was a holy language for Mages during the First Arcane Era. Unlike now, First Arcane Era mages used this language as a medium to understand the secrets of laws and even laid their hands on divinities. They believed that their holy language had some deep connection with the Law powers and had done many forbidden experiments while hiding themselves from the churches' eyes. Their action infuriated the Divine Ones. That's why twelve Gods sent their avatar from their divine kingdoms and destroyed the First Era's Arcane Empire. Because-"

"I want to know if I can get Runal language book from somewhere." Charles interrupted him and revealed his intention.

Russell glared at him for interrupting his talk and nodded,

"It is possible. The First Arcane Era's remnant mages are still hiding in this world. So, if you encounter any of them in the future, you can try asking them to help you learn their language."

'Future? I don't have time to go on a journey to search for those mages.' He grumbled inwardly and asked,

"Do you have any other information about them?"

At this time, Emilia turned her gaze towards Charles and asked,

"Have you ever heard of the Destiny Conquerors?"

Her question made Charles's expression turn solemn.

'Destiny Conquerors... I do read some information about them in the library.' He thought inwardly and nodded his head.

"Are you talking about the group of unruly mages who destroyed a whole kingdom using some strange curse magic a millennium ago?" He asked in surprise.

'If I'm not wrong, churches had already placed a large number of bounties on those mages.' He pressed his lips together and waited for her to continue.

"Yes, they are also a part of the First Era's remnant mages. During the Magic Plague incident, Life Church caught a few lunatics and confiscated their belongings, including their books and artifacts. If you use one of your requests, the church may give you the Runal Language book." She said while staring at him meaningfully.

In the meantime, Charles widened his eyes and nodded in confusion.

'Why is she helping me?' He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment and soon dismissed the suspicion in his mind.

'At least I got a lead now.' He heaved a deep sigh and asked,

"Branch Head, I want to borrow the Runal Language book from Life Church in exchange for the first request? Can you help me with that?"

Russell got surprised by Charles's decision and asked,

"Why are you wasting such precious requests for some forgotten language book?"

After noticing Charles's silent response, Russell shook his head and added,

"If you plan to walk on the path of First Era Mages, I will advise you to think twice. Although Life Church doesn't forbid anyone from using that language as a medium to build spell models, the higher-ups will be dissatisfied by your action. Moreover, using that language to build spell models in your mind is more like walking on a rope. A single mistake when constructing the spell models will put you in deep shit. The backslash will also affect you both mentally and physically."

"It's for research purposes. I won't use Runal language to construct spell models," Charles responded while pinching his chin and started pondering about the second request.