Chapter 165: Doubts

'This is not a mere coincidence, right?' Charles frowned for a moment and soon thought of the Life Church's main mission to the Unexplored Forest.

'They said that they were after the Divinity of Morality... At that time, I was the one who found the divinity inside the Winged-Devil statue. No, I broke the Winged-Devil state and found the divinity on another wooden statue... It was a female statue... That woman in the statue had long straight hair, a round face, a slim, curvy body, and appeared very sacred...That was surely a Goddess's statue...' Charles's lips trembled for a moment, and soon he came to a strange conclusion.

'Could it be Goddess Rodia's statue? That is highly possible. Rodia is a low-key Goddess who controls Day and Light domains. She always stays neutral and rarely shows her grace to the believers. Wait... The system's mission reward... The Goddess's gift...' He felt like he had already walked into a large pit.

'Team Leader Emilia also said that the more I learn about the reason behind these strange coincidences, the more I will face problems... But when did I attract this artifact's or Goddess's attention? Is she also the culprit behind my transmigration?' Questions whirled in his mind.

Soon, he calmed down a bit and started to think from Life Church's perspective.

'Andrew seems to have a 'Fate' or 'Time' related prophecy skill, and it also seems to be work randomly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to say such important information at that moment... After hearing his strange prophecy, Emilia must have searched for the clues behind the strange prophecy and somehow learned about the presence of divinity in the Unexplored Forest...'

'But why would a Goddess put her divinity in such a dangerous abandoned city? Isn't she afraid of being taken away by some Devil or a Demon? What is her aim? Wait... What if the Goddess planned the whole plot?' At that moment, he suddenly thought of another mysterious individual's identity.

'Historian Max Fireborn... He is also irregular, and he was the one who made some noise and created an opportunity for me to wake up from the illusion... He was also involved in the Red Prince's scheme and helped me indirectly... His appearance at that time was also too much of a coincidence.' The strange temple also appeared in Charles's mind.

'The Temple of Goddess Rodia... Historian Max... Andrew... I have a vague feeling that these three have some connection.' Charles furrowed his brows for a moment and continued to think.

'The Goddess might be pulling strings behind from the shadows... But why does she need to act sneakily? She is a Goddess, right?' He shook his head and soon thought of his fateful encounter with Rhea and the other kids.

'I did suspect that something was off at that time. But I didn't pay much attention to it. Wait... There is another possibility! What if this whole incident was the cursed artifact's doing? What if the artifact already locked its gaze on me when Andrew spoke the prophecy? It is possible... Hmm, this artifact or the one behind these strange incidents seems to have some big plan for Rhea. Is she going to be a sacrificial pawn? Or, is she going to be a Destined One?' Charles contemplated for a moment and soon sighed.

'Thankfully, I increased my wisdom and sensed the danger earlier. Otherwise, I would have ended up in a bitter position. Haa, if it is not for the mandatory mission, I would have already given up on it.' He wore a bitter smile and thought of his current strength.

'After my pseudo rank up, I can indeed kill multiple Rank-3 Mystics at a time... No, I can even manage to stall against a Rank-4 Mystics for some seconds. If I receive some help from the Holem's Crown, I could even stall against a normal Rank-4 Mystic for a minute or two! And if I construct all the Rank-3 spell models, my strength will rise exponentially.' Charles nodded inwardly and soon thought about his current problem.

'Destiny Lady... She will surely go to Eastford City once she learns about the appearance of a Fire Mage and would become suspicious of my identity. I also left Chester City during the Chaos incident. She might be looking for us to confirm. Unfortunately, searching about our whereabouts in this chaotic kingdom is more like searching for a needle in a haystack.'

'But... What if she managed to come to this town using the power of Fate? She is Destiny Lady, after all. Hmm, this is not entirely impossible.' Charles started to analyze for some time and soon frowned.

'No, I left many clues behind... She can indeed track our location with the help of information... If my guess is not wrong, she might be already on her way to this town.' He narrowed his eyes for a moment and silently left the Inner World.

Then, he stood up from the concrete floor and stealthily left the underground basement.

He then went to the town's western entrance and erased their return from the guards' memories.

After that, he returned to his house, told the kids to go to the underground basement, and sat on the old sofa.

Then, Charles turned his gaze towards the confused Ashley and spoke.

"Give me something to drink."

In the meantime, Ashley wore a startled look and asked in a nervous tone.

"Would you like lemon tea, My Lord?"

Charles thought for a moment and nodded his head.

"Make it two." He added.

Upon hearing his strange request, Ashley got even more confused, but she didn't dare to ask further and hurriedly went inside the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she returned with two glasses of lemon tea and placed them on the coffee table.

On the other hand, Charles raised his hand, pointed his finger towards the nearby Lawson armchair, and ordered.

"Place that chair in front of the table."

Ashley hurriedly went near the chair as she heard his words and did as he told.

Then, she took a few steps backward, appeared near the kitchen entrance, and stood there like a statue.

Not even her breathing sound was heard in the main hall!

After some time, Charles leaned his back against the sofa, closed his eyes, and muttered.

"You can go to the underground basement and stay with the kids now."

Her expression brightened as she heard his mutter.

She nodded her head, turned around, and hurriedly walked into the corridor.

On the other hand, Charles gripped the black cane's handle and waited.

The room remained silent for the next two hours.

Then, a fly suddenly appeared on the table, sat on the glass, and started tasting the lemon tea.

It then flew from there while making a buzzing noise and soon landed on Charles's shoulder.

It then flapped its tiny wings, flew towards his face, and soon landed above Charles's right eyelid.

Simultaneously, a sharp, tiny needle appeared out of nowhere and landed on its forelegs!

The fly then strangely gripped the needle using its forelegs, tried its best to move it up while flapping its wings, and then pointed the needle's sharp point at Charles's eyelid.

At that moment, a frown appeared on Charles's forehead.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He suddenly spoke.

The next instant, the fly dropped the needle, flew away from his eyelid, and soon returned to the table.

Once again, it went near the glass, tasted the citrusy lemon tea, and soon moved to the opposite Lawson Chair.

After that, it sat comfortably on the table and started rubbing its foreleg.

Finally, Charles opened his amber eyes, zeroed his gaze on the strange tiny fly, and curled his lips upward.

"I didn't place any trap here. So, you can come now."

The fly strangely tilted its head as it heard his voice and then nodded its head.

A moment later, its body turned blurry and was replaced then with the figure of a black-haired lady.