[Vol. 8] Chapter 226: The One Who Came Back from the Dead
“Of course, this is just a trend for now. After all, the church in Saint Laos City still exists. As long as nothing major happens, the city shouldn’t completely fall into chaos.”
After saying that, the dragon girl licked her paw and flicked her long tail behind her. She didn’t continue speaking. Knowing her dragon’s personality well, Violet understood that this meant the useful information she brought today was pretty much over.
“Not bad. For someone new to this place, being able to gather so much information in just one day shows they’ve worked really hard.”
Still not giving too much of her own opinion, the priestess turned her eyes to Bevis Bernard, who was sitting on the other side. As someone who had once lived and trained under the White Dragon King, and indirectly took part in the myth-level war among divine beasts 300 years ago, he naturally knew what truly important thing lay beneath the ruins.
“What about you, Sword Saint? Did your student find anything yesterday?”
“Heh, he found a little something, I’d say.”
The Sword Saint smiled. He wasn’t one to drag things out, and without wasting words, he spoke directly:
“The young man who calls himself Aiden is the heir of the largest local merchant group in the city, the Eternal Frost Merchant Guild. And the young lady named Vera, whom he surrounded with his people in the marketplace yesterday, seems to have a very mysterious identity. Rumor has it she’s somehow connected to Heimdall, the archbishop who’s been missing for over two weeks, but no one knows the details.”
“She could be an illegitimate child, an adopted daughter, or someone with an important background. Even Aiden, the young master of the Eternal Frost group, doesn’t know for sure. What’s certain is that while Heimdall was still around, he treated Vera very well. After she arrived in Saint Laos City two years ago, he personally arranged a manor for her and often visited her in private. He even assigned a private guard unit to protect her using his authority as archbishop.”
“Although Vera has been living in Saint Laos City for almost two years now, she has kept a low profile and rarely sees outsiders. Even someone with influence like Aiden, backed by a major group like Eternal Frost, has only seen her a few times in public events.”
“All we know is that Vera Merrick seems to come from the west. Although she looks similar to people of the Holy Empire, she likely lived abroad before. She’s not a follower of the Goddess Church, but instead believes in another mysterious religion. As for the details… Aiden doesn’t know much.”
As he said this, the Sword Saint instinctively glanced around. Although the tavern was quiet that morning, there were still a few drunkards passed out at their tables. Some were just waking up and had already noticed the three of them, whose clothing and aura didn’t match the surroundings at all, and were looking at them with some curiosity.
“Whoosh—”
Without any visible action, a gentle breeze flowed from Bevis’ body, silently forming an invisible barrier of sword intent around their table, blocking out both sound and information.
“Nice trick~”
The priestess smiled and gave a small compliment, but the Sword Saint simply waved his hand, neither agreeing nor denying it.
“Just a simple trick. Compared to Miss Violet, who once used holy magic to seal the core of the Chaos Magic Valley and confined Miss Xiao Guang's world-shattering dragon-spell to such an incredibly small area... my little display is nothing more than scratching the surface.”
“Next, I’ll talk about a secret Rowan heard from that kid Aiden. It might not mean much to us, but for the Eternal Frost Merchant Guild, stuck here in the small corner of Saint Laos City, it could bring about a disaster.”
“So before this matter is fully resolved, I hope you two won’t spread it around. We wouldn’t want to betray the trust that young heir placed in my foolish student.”
“Hmph, I’m not interested in gossiping behind people’s backs, especially about a few mere mortals. What do you think dragons are like?”
Miss Dragon glared at him a little unhappily, while Violet just smiled and nodded with an expression that seemed to say, “I get it, I get it~.” Seeing this, Bevis also smiled and didn’t waste any more time. He nodded and went straight to the point.
“Since I’m sitting at the same table with you two, of course I trust you. Here’s the thing, you both probably remember that yesterday at the market, Aiden publicly mentioned someone named Ricardo, right?”
“This person is one of the guards responsible for protecting Miss Vera’s estate. He’s a personal guard, not from the private military force dispatched by Archbishop Heimdall, but someone who has been by Vera’s side ever since she arrived in Saint Laos City. Every time Miss Vera appears in public, he’s always there protecting her. I’ve heard he’s quite strong.”
“But after the ancient ruins were discovered, Ricardo suddenly left Vera’s side. One day, he joined a temporary team of explorers and went deep into the ruins. No one knows what they encountered in there, but rumor has it, the whole team was wiped out and never came back.”
“Ancient, unexplored ruins are full of unknown dangers. It’s normal for adventurers to risk their lives and sometimes never return. So although this caused a bit of a stir, it wasn’t anything especially unusual.”
“But then, something strange happened. One day, someone unexpectedly saw Ricardo, the very man believed to have disappeared with the team, sneaking around near Miss Vera’s estate.”
“Clearly, Ricardo didn’t die. He somehow made it back alive to Saint Laos City. But the question is: why was he hiding his actions? And why was he the only one who returned?”
“For some reason, this seemingly unimportant matter began to spread throughout the city, likely pushed along by people with hidden motives.”
“Some say Ricardo’s team found an unbelievable treasure in the ruins, and he killed his teammates out of greed to take it all for himself. Others, knowing his connection to Miss Vera, believe the whole thing was her idea from the start, that she sent him into the ruins to find something specific.”
“After all, as her personal guard, there’s no good reason for Ricardo to suddenly abandon his duty and sneak into an explorer team unless he was following her orders.”
“And here’s the kicker, the explorer team Ricardo joined? Their sponsor was none other than the Eternal Frost Merchant Guild, the biggest local business in the city and the one Aiden belongs to. According to their contract, the sponsor covered all costs for supplies and equipment, but any profits found in the ruins would be split fifty-fifty.”
“This is a kind of business deal. If the team really died in the ruins, that would’ve been the end of it. The Eternal Frost Merchant Guild would’ve just written it off as a loss. But now that someone saw Ricardo alive and back in the city, and he hasn’t gone to the company to settle the account, the whole situation looks very different.”