RotDG Chapter 66: Underworld Investigation I

I hadn’t actually known that Sonia’s Bag of Holding was full of Artifacts of Death. It was an educated guess I made from the death magic I had sensed earlier. And while it was possible that her Bag of Holding was carrying something else that emanated that death magic— such as a few reanimated skeletons— that was highly unlikely, since I knew she was not a [Necromancer].

That was why I was confident in my assumption that they were Artifacts of Death. And that was why I wanted to keep them.

I wanted to learn more about the source behind these mysterious Avatars of Death. Since the Artifacts of Death were supposedly created upon their demise, I believed that studying these weapons would clue me into the origins behind the Avatars of Death.

Right now, I only had a single Artifact of Death in my possession. And not only did I not have much time to study it thus far, it was also relatively weak— a Lesser Death Dagger. So having more items that were like it to study would help me understand these Avatars of Death even further.

So I made my proposition.

“You’ll… help me?” Sonia said, staring at me with round eyes.

And I corrected her, repeating myself, “Only in exchange for your Bag of Holding and the items you have inside of it.”

Sonia nodded slowly in response. “R-right.”

There was a moment of hesitation where she said nothing. But it was evidently clear she was considering my proposal. So I just waited expectantly, remaining silent as she mulled this deal over. Finally, she spoke up as she averted her gaze.

“But do you even know what I’m after?” 

“No, I don’t,” I said with a shrug. “But will it really make a difference if you tell me what it is right now?”

“I guess not…” The black-haired girl shifted her feet uncomfortably. She tried to work her jaw, before shaking her head. “But why do you want these… items? What purpose do they serve you?”

“Well, they simply pique my interest,” I half-lied as I met her gaze. “I’ve always wanted to study them, and I never really had the chance. Until now.”

“I… see,” Sonia replied.

But I knew she wasn’t fully convinced by my explanation. Not that she had much of a choice here. She already knew that I was willing to use these Artifacts of Death to blackmail her if I didn’t get what I wanted. After all, even if I wanted them, she was the one who stole them. 

So if she ever reported me to the Holy Academy, she would be the one who was in bigger trouble. Besides, she was already willing to give them away to get what she wanted…

That was why I pressed her, because I already knew what her answer was going to be. 

“So have you made your decision?” I asked, raising a brow at her. 

Sonia took in a deep breath, looking like she was thinking it over one last time. And then, she sighed as she nodded.

“I accept your offer,” she finally said. “As long as you promise me you won’t use them for harm.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything bad with them,” I chuckled as I waved a hand off. I took a step back as I let the silencing spell dissipate, grinning at the black-haired girl. “Good, we have a deal.”

***

Since I was already in possession of the Bag of Holding, Sonia and I both agreed I should just keep it, since it was safer for the both of us that way. Besides, it was not like she was going to have to be worried about me running away with the Artifacts of Death— we went to the same school, and we saw each other every day. 

Before we left the alleyway, she also briefly filled me in on what she wanted to learn from Wyll. Apparently, she didn’t know who her father was, and she wanted any information she could get on him.

I found that to be a bit odd, considering she could just ask her mother that question. But I said nothing, since I wasn’t someone who should speak when it came to family matters— after all, I only experienced what it was like to have a family for only a single month just recently, before I left for the Holy Academy.

Anyway, we left the alleyway and returned to where Myrla was waiting. The city guards of Albus were already there, and the young girl just finished explaining what happened to the guard captain when we made our approach. She drew back and huffed when she saw me.

“...and these are the friends I was talking about,” Myrla said, crossing her arms. “Thanks for ditching me to deal with the hard part for you, Eli.”

I grinned back at her in response. “No problem. Next time I’ll have you do my homework for me too.”

She rolled her eyes as the guard captain turned to us. Even though he was a guard captain, his armor was not nearly as ornate or well-crafted as even a regular Inquisitor Guard in Lux. His chestplate shimmered with a protection enchantment, but that was about it. And just based on his looks, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was a mere Gold Rank.

“So you kids are from the Holy Academy too? And you can confirm what this little girl is saying?” the guard captain asked as he furrowed his brows. “Because, I’m going to be honest, all this sounds a little bit hard to believe.”

I opened my mouth, but a voice spoke up from behind him.

“Everything they’re saying is true.” 

Blinking, the guard captain spun around to see Kai emerging from the nearby side street. The Inquisitor shook his head as he turned to Myrla.

“I was there, and it is exactly as they said. These children did good work today. We should be thanking them for what they did.”

The guard captain straightened and saluted Kai. “Yes, sir! My apologies, sir!”

Even though Inquisitors were not actually part of the Sanctus Empire’s military hierarchy, they were unofficially recognized as a part of it, since they worked closely with the Sanctus Empire anyway. This was unlike the Templars who were seen almost as a rival military by the Sanctus Empire, making them regularly clash with one another.

Not that I knew much about any of this back in my previous life— these were all things I had been told ever since I arrived here to study at the Holy Academy of the Church of Life.

Kai continued to debrief the guard captain as Sonia, Myrla, and I watched from the side. Myrla leaned over to me as this happened, whispering into my ear.

“So what did you learn?” she asked curiously.

But I just waved a hand dismissively in response. “Well, it’s complicated. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Hey, you can’t just—” she started.

However, she was cut off when Kai approached us after finishing his conversation with the guard captain. “Well, they’ll still have to write up a report. But none of you are in trouble. In fact, your achievements today will even be reported to the Holy Academy. So you should all rest easy.”

“Thanks, Kai,” I said as I nodded gratefully at him. But then I looked down the side street he came from and tilted my head. “But what about that thug who ran off? Did you catch him?”

The Inquisitor pursed his lips as he answered, “Unfortunately, I searched the area, and I couldn’t find any trace of him. Not only that, but the two other thugs you mentioned were already… dead when I got to them. So I’m not sure we’ll be discovering what their motives are any time soon.”

“I see…” I tapped a finger on my chin as I ignored Myrla’s half-glare behind me. “Do you really have no idea what they could have been after?” 

Kai pursed his lips. “Well, I cannot say anything for certain, but…”

He glanced around the partially-destroyed street, before sighing. He met my gaze as he explained.

“Well, recently there has been some things that have been going on here in Albus,” he said as he scratched the back of his head. “And I’m not someone who really delves into the whole underworld scene of the city either. But I’m sure you’ve heard of the Sapphire Stalkers?”

“Aren’t they a famous gang or something?” I said, pretending to not know much about them.

In truth, I was well-aware of the Sapphire Stalkers. In fact, I had even once worked alongside them in my previous life— but they weren’t ever truly my allies. Our interests simply aligned back then.

“Well, they’re more of a syndicate,” Kai corrected me as he waged a finger. “But I’d rather term them as… a criminal empire. Arguably the largest and most influential one in all of Parvos, and they are based here in Albus.”

“I see.” I nodded, listening along as he continued.

“But, recently, there has been a new… organization that has appeared here in Albus that has challenged the Sapphire Stalker’s influence. And they are causing quite a lot of trouble for the city guards— gang members from both sides clashing with each other in the open street, many of them Gold Rank or Platinum Rank too.”

“A new organization? What are they called? And how are they related to this incident?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

The more information I gathered here, the better— it would help me with figuring out how to find Wyll. 

“They call themselves the Crimson Covenant, and their leader calls himself the Prophet Of Change,” Kai said as he shook his head. “They are rumored to not only use blood magic in combat, but they also summon demons to aid them in battle. Which is why the city guards of Albus have been enlisting the help of us Inquisitors to quell their activities.”

I placed a hand on my chin when I heard that. “And is that why you were here in the outer city?” 

“No, I was just passing through. I’m actually part of the teams of Inquisitors who are usually helping Aria the Lady of Light in dealing with the Avatars of Death.” Kai spoke proudly, puffing up his chest.

He knows Aria, huh? My curiosity was piqued when I heard that. Perhaps I won’t even need the Luna Gez Sect’s help to meet her if I can get close to him…

But that was not my priority as of right now. Instead, I needed to gather as much information as I could.

“So you think this ‘Wyll’ works for the Crimson Covenant?” I asked, rubbing my chin.

“That’s my only guess right now. Unfortunately, I can’t know for sure. It’ll be up to the city guards to investigate and figure that out.” Kai shook his head and drew back.

It seemed that that was the extent of everything I could get out of Kai. He turned to Myrla as she piped up to ask him a few questions— mostly about what he was even doing here. But it was nothing relevant to finding out more about Wyll.

And I was right. Eventually, the conversation ended, but Kai still offered to escort us all the way back to the Holy Academy. I was grateful for that, since Myrla couldn’t pester me with questions about what happened with Sonia while he was still around. I was going to have to figure out what I would tell the young girl later— if I just told her a half-truth, or lie about the entire situation.

But that was not the most pressing concern for me at the moment. Because I knew that I was going to have to do some investigation of my own to even track him down.

Fortunately for me, I had quite a few resources I could use to help me in this endeavor…

After all, not only was I the leader of the Blood Swords, I was also an ally of the Luna Gez Sect. So I was certain I would be able to learn enough about Wyll to find him by the end of the week.

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