Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 121: Revenge Journey 7

Caesars walked to his seat and slowly sat down. He immediately produced a faintly glowing magic communication stone, placed it to his lips, and whispered a few words in a low voice. Afterward, he gently replaced the magic communication stone and began to enjoy the delicious meal before him.

At the same time, his eyes weren't entirely focused on the food, but occasionally glanced at the martial arts arena. The assassin was vigorously swinging his tool, trying to break the thick layer of ice that enveloped his body.

You must know that these layers of ice are not ordinary ice; they are condensed from a potent frost oil. This magical potion not only rapidly lowers the surrounding temperature but also inflicts severe freezing damage. As long as the scattered potions on the martial arts field have not completely disappeared, the low-temperature freezing state of this area will not be easily broken.

At this moment, Caesars casually picked up an exquisite wine glass and gently swirled the wine inside, letting the ruby-colored liquid swirl along the glass's walls. Just then, he inadvertently turned to look at Leonard, and was surprised to find that the beautiful Countess was also staring at him. However, unlike Leonard's eyes filled with anger and hostility, the Countess's gaze was filled with pure curiosity.

Rad, his hair already graying, swaggered back to his seat with a smile on his face. As soon as he sat down, he couldn't wait to ask Caesar, "Hey, Caesar! Why is that guy in the arena still standing there like an idiot?"

"Ladd, don't worry. That guy is just frozen temporarily. It will probably take another quarter of an hour for him to break free. By the way, Ladd, please invite the Countess to have afternoon tea tomorrow. I have something I want to ask her."

Rad nodded at first, but then said with difficulty: "This is a small matter, but... whether the Countess will accept the invitation or not, this is hard to say!"

Kaisas smiled confidently and responded confidently: "Don't worry, Rad. In my opinion, she should come!"

About a quarter of an hour later, the man in black leather armor escaped. He left without even saying goodbye to Leonard and without looking back.

At this time, the dinner was over and the minor nobles left with smiles on their faces. Only a few major nobles sat there with sad faces.

"Master, this is the detailed record of the gambling game just now, please take a look!"

After careful calculations, the three stewards of the Earl's Mansion finally delivered the account book to Earl Ronald.

"I don't want to see how many gold coins I lost today."

Leonard didn't look at the bill, nor did he dare to look at the numbers on it.

"Master, you have to hold on. Today we've lost a total of 1,623,500 gold coins!"

"How many?"

Leonard's right hand tightly covered his chest. He felt an unbearable pain in his heart, as if his heart was being cut by a sharp knife.

"Master, it's 1,623,500 gold coins!" the butler repeated.

"Why are there so many?"

"Master, the bets for the third game were all less than 10,000 gold coins, so that's the amount of gold lost!"

"Damn it! I'll get the gold back!"

Leonard roared, stood up and walked towards the castle, as if he had a trump card in his hand.

Caesars followed Rad back to the Bano family. In the backyard, a charcoal fire was burning. Liv, dressed in leather armor, seemed to be roasting meat, and there was a pile of food beside her. There was another figure beside the charcoal fire, tied tightly with animal skin ropes.

"Liv, why did you only take so little food with you from your trip to Castle Ronald?"

"I emptied the castle's kitchen, leaving not even a sack of flour. I discovered a treasure trove beneath the castle, but time was running out and I didn't get to it. I knocked this guy unconscious as soon as he left the Earl's Mansion. He seems to be heading east!"

"I'll interrogate him in a moment!"

Caesars sat on the subdued assassin, staring at the black snake tightly wrapped around his neck. The snake was as black as ink, gleaming with a chilling light. It was tightening its body in a strange and deadly manner, as if it could kill the person below it at any time.

"Saint Paul, relax a little. Don't strangle this guy to death all at once!" Caesars shouted, a hint of warning in his tone. The black snake relaxed its body slightly, raised its head and nodded.

Rad, standing nearby, looked at the fallen figure with disbelief. His body trembled with extreme fear, like a candle flickering in the wind. Rad stammered, "He... he's the masked assassin from the third game!" His voice was filled with shock and disbelief.

Hearing this, Caesars simply glanced at the person on the ground, then responded confidently, "Rad, there's no need to make such a fuss. Liv is much stronger than me! She's a peak-level Paladin archer, and she's also proficient in some stealth skills."

Rad stared at Liv, who was flipping the barbecue, with wide eyes, a look of envy and regret on his face. He muttered to himself, "How could she, at such a young age, have already become a paladin? This is simply unbelievable!"

However, Caesars seemed a little impatient with Rad's doubts. He did not want to explain too much about Liv's true identity to Rad. After all, Liv's being an elf was still a strictly confidential secret that could not be easily leaked.

Caesar searched the assassin's body but found nothing.

"Liv, where's his storage ring?"

"Here, I've looked, there are only a few hundred gold coins in there!"

The magic archer took out a storage ring and threw it to Caesar.

"I'm not looking for the gold coins, I'm looking to see who he is!"

"How can we tell?" Liv asked curiously.

"Look at his clothes and stuff, and his books!"

As he spoke, Caesars opened his storage ring and dumped everything inside onto the floor. He picked up a book from it, a travelogue of Roland Continent. The book looked quite old, with yellowed pages.

Putting down the books, Caesars picked up a robe made of linen, a material usually only chosen by common people.

Caesars dropped his robe and continued searching. He found a page from a collection of poems that listed the names of some herbs. Most of them were high-grade herbs, with a few rare herbs from the Endless Forest.

"Kaissa, do you see anything?"

"Hmm!" Caesars nodded slightly, pointing to the linen robe and said, "He is of commoner origin, and the linen robe is proof of that!"

"Kaisas, can you tell from a robe?"

"Of course. Rad is from an aristocratic family. He has been wearing fine cotton and silk since he was a child. If you let him wear linen clothes, he will feel uncomfortable all over!"

As Caesars spoke, he patted Rad's shoulder, indicating that he should express his personal feelings.

"What?" Rad didn't understand.

"Rad, tell me about the first time you wore linen. You told me about it when we were in the Northland Tower!"

"It was my first time wearing linen clothes next to my skin. It was a real torture. My skin was itchy and painful from the rubbing!"

Rad recounted a sad memory of how new linen clothes were too rough and too stiff, not as soft as fine cotton. He had worn the linen clothes for less than a day before several parts of his body were rubbed raw.

"Is linen really that rough?" Liv didn't quite believe it.

"Not really. New linen is a bit stiff, so you need to wash it before wearing it. After it's dry, rub it before wearing it against your skin. If it's old linen, it's very comfortable to wear!"

Caesars said this, fearing that he would wake the assassin by hitting him, and then cast a word of truth on him. The assassin looked at Caesars with a confused look on his face, and when he saw the ropes tied around him, he knew that he had been ambushed.

"What do you want to do?"

"Tell me who you are. Don't struggle. Even if you can escape, it's useless. St. Paul, say hello to this guy!"

Seeing the assassin struggling to break free from the animal hide rope, the golden-eyed black snake raised half of its body and looked down at the assassin with its golden pupils.

"What do you want to ask?"

The sight of the terrifying golden-eyed black snake made the assassin break out in a cold sweat. Ordinary strong antidotes could only remove the venom of ordinary black snakes, but were ineffective against the venom of the golden-eyed black snake.

"Are you an assassin or a stalker?"

"He used to be an assassin, but now he's responsible for picking up and delivering goods!"

"You are serving the Saint Laurent Church, right? Don't deny it. Your book has already exposed your identity. It was printed by the Saint Laurent Empire, and the Saint Laurent Church's hidden pattern is printed on the paper!"

The assassin was not surprised. He sat up with difficulty and shook his head.

"The goods were indeed delivered to the Saint Laurent Church, but I'm not from the church. I'm just a delivery middleman!"

"Middleman? You're delivering the goods for Leonard!"

"No, I deliver for the former Patriarch of the Church!"

"One of the four great leaders of the church, the Patriarch, who is as famous as the High Priest?"

"It's the former Patriarch. He's old and is hiding in Violet City to survive!"

Within the Church of Saint Laurent, the Patriarch holds a highly respected and important title, holding supreme authority within the Church. All priests within the Church are subject to his jurisdiction, wielding immense power. According to the strict and well-defined hierarchy within the Church, the Patriarch stands on equal footing with the revered and almighty Pope, even surpassing the powerful high priests of the Court of Arbitration and the Court of Discipline by a full level!

"The previous Patriarch actually fled to Violet City to live in seclusion in order to save his own life? Such rumors are simply unbelievable!" Caesars said with a look of suspicion on his face.

"It is indeed true. The former Patriarch reached some kind of compromise with the High Priest of the Discipline Institute in private. He was willing to leave the center of power in the church and promised to continuously supply high-quality premium herbs, just to exchange for a peaceful life for the rest of his life." The assassin, who knew the inside story, explained in a low voice.

The assassin in charge of the delivery hadn't lied, for the Power Word spell cast upon him hadn't produced the slightest sign of a disturbance. Even the usually calm and composed Caesars was astonished upon witnessing this scene. If all of the above were true, then there was no doubt that serious problems had arisen within the Church of Saint Laurent, and perhaps a massive storm was about to sweep across...

"How did you, an assassin, get in touch with the Patriarch?"

"I used to be an assassin for the Church, sent to kill the Patriarch. However, the former Patriarch, Depero, was too powerful, and I was captured before I could even make a move. He told me a lot about the Church, healed my wounds, and then claimed to have killed an assassin. Since then, I have disappeared from the Church and become a free man!"

The assassin took a deep breath, his gaze far away as he continued to recount his long-forgotten experiences. It turned out that he was a native of the Saint Laurent Empire, his fate having been predetermined since childhood—to enter the mysterious and solemn Saint Laurent Church and become an apprentice undergoing rigorous assassin training.

During their time in the church, the assassins' training was hellish. Day after day of intense physical training, the mastery of dangerous weapons, and the relentless pursuit of stealth and assassination techniques were all daunting. Furthermore, injuries were common during training. Minor injuries like scrapes and sprains were manageable, healing with potions. However, serious injuries were a completely different story, requiring the personal intervention of experienced priests and the powerful healing spells of experienced practitioners to save lives.

The Assassin still remembered the time, in his youthful vigor, when he was tasked with carrying out an important and extremely dangerous mission. He had never imagined that the operation would lead to a well-laid trap set by the enemy. Outnumbered, the Assassin suffered a mortal wound. By the time his companions risked their lives to carry him back to the Church, he was already on the verge of death.

At this critical moment, Depero, who happened to be passing by, observed the tragic scene. Without hesitation, the venerable High Priest unleashed his Great Healing Technique, instantly enveloping the dying assassin in a dazzling white light. A miracle occurred! Under the powerful influence of Depero's healing technique, the assassin's life force, which had nearly extinguished, reignited.

But this was only the beginning. In the days that followed, the Patriarch of the Church personally took over the assassin's subsequent treatment. To ensure the assassin's full recovery and even greater strength, the Patriarch racked his brains and devoted all his energy. In addition to conventional healing spells, he also skillfully utilized a variety of ancient and mysterious healing methods, supplemented by precious and rare alchemical potions.

Time passed quickly, spring turned to autumn, and after more than a year of meticulous recuperation and treatment, the Assassin finally shook off the shadow of his injury and recovered as normal. Even more surprising was that after this ordeal, the Assassin's physical strength had been enhanced to an unprecedented level, with a qualitative leap in strength, speed, and endurance.