Chapter 298 The Lord Said: It's Time for Us to Leave

Chapter 298 The Lord Said: It's Time for Us to Leave

The nobility is truly corrupt.

For everything they do, there are maids by their side to lend a hand. If they are really lazy, they can even let the maids groom and dress them.

Leonard refused such kindness and went to wash up himself. Then he followed the maid to the restaurant on the first floor to enjoy a sumptuous breakfast. 

There were two more maids waiting to serve him. Facing their curious and admiring gazes made Leonard feel uncomfortable.

He hurriedly finished his breakfast and went to the back garden where Hastur was.

This back garden was huge, comparable to a small forest. When Leonard learned that this place and a large area of land nearby were all Hastur's territory, he fell into deep silence. 

With such good material conditions, why did he need to go and seize 008? Just lying at home and enjoying the family inheritance would be enough to live a prosperous life, as long as he didn't mess around randomly.[1]

"Come and taste the local mountain tea."

In the pavilion, Hastur invited Leonard to taste the tea.

Leonard sat down and drank a cup of hot tea that Hastur had just poured. The rich aroma stunned him at the first sip - it was the first time he had tasted such a concentrated tea fragrance. Even though he preferred drinking alcohol to tea tasting, he still had to admit that this tea was excellent, probably priceless.

"This tea only grows on the cliffs of that mountain, nurtured by rain, wind and frost to brew such a taste," Hastur said poetically, but Leonard only felt it was extravagant.[2]

Tea growing on cliffs meant that every time the tea leaves were picked, the farmers' lives were at risk, more worthless than a piece of tea leaf.

Leonard shook his head, suppressing these melancholic thoughts. 

After drinking another cup of tea, he finally revealed to Hastur the real purpose of his visit.

"I hope you won't take offense at this. It's just a very normal routine inquiry. You just need to answer my questions frankly," Leonard said, without being completely explicit.

Hastur nodded, indicating that Leonard could start asking questions.

"Do you know Lord Stedten?"

"No."

"You had a conflict with him after you arrived at Port Puning on the second day, do you remember this incident?" 

"Oh, it was him. I remember, he wanted to bully my traveling companion, so I taught him and his attendants a lesson."[3]

"After that, did you meet him again?"

"No."

Leonard's heart relaxed a little, but soon he frowned again.

He knew Hastur would not kill someone over such a trivial matter, so Lord Stedten's death should have nothing to do with him.

But there must have been something between him and Ince Zangwill .

Following the lead of Lord Stedten would not reveal anything, but if he followed the lead of Ince Zangwill , he would definitely be able to investigate some more valuable information.

Leonard pondered for a long time, but still did not ask Hastur if he was involved in Ince Zangwill 's death.

After all, the arrangement given by the Eye of the Goddess was to pursue the lead of Lord Stedten.

He had asked in detail, and Lord Stedten's death had nothing to do with Hastur, which was enough for him to report back.

Hastur smiled and asked, "Not asking anymore?"

"Yeah, that's enough," Leonard smiled wryly.

Hastur poured him another cup of tea, then calmly said, "I did see Ince Zangwill in Port Puning once."

"?!" 

Leonard looked at Hastur in astonishment. He had already planned to drop this topic, but Hastur brought it up himself.

Hastur continued, "On the night when the fiery meteor fell in Port Puning, he was being chased and killed."

Leonard put away the surprise on his face and asked solemnly, "Did you really see that?"

"There's no need to lie about this. That night, it was because of the abnormality of the falling fiery meteor that I rushed over to take a look."

Leonard asked seriously, "Then what happened?"

"Then I saw Ince Zangwill fleeing." 

"You didn't chase after him?"

"Ince Zangwill and I had no grudges, nor were we very familiar. Why would I take an unknown risk?"[4]

Leonard fell silent, his brows furrowed slightly. It was indeed possible for Hastur, who was not close to Ince Zangwill , to choose to stay away from this matter.

But he still felt that things were not that simple. If it were an ordinary person, they would indeed not take the risk. But could someone like Hastur really suppress his curiosity?

"Is this mission urgent?" Hastur casually asked.

Leonard nodded, but did not choose to reveal too much information about this matter, as it was still an internal secret of the Church that could not be easily told to outsiders.

Hastur did not ask further, his gaze turning to the flowers and plants not far away, where a gardener holding large shears was trimming protruding branches.

The skillful technique looked like a butcher carving an ox, quite a sight to behold.

Leonard did not ask anything else either. After staying for another half an hour, he bid farewell and left, as he still needed to report on the progress of the mission.

When he got into the carriage and left the castle, the old man's voice finally echoed in his heart.

"This friend of yours is not too bad to you."

"Old man, you finally deigned to speak. I called you half the night yesterday, how could you play dead like that?" Leonard raised his voice in dissatisfaction.

"After such a long journey, shouldn't an old man get some extra rest? You called out so hard, weren't you afraid of disturbing my sleep?"[5]

"..."

Leonard smiled awkwardly, then changed the subject, "By the way, old man, what did you mean by that remark just now?"

"Which remark?"

"Why did you suddenly say that Hastur is not too bad to me?"

"Didn't your friend treat you badly?"

"No, I didn't mean that," Leonard hurriedly denied, still puzzled, "You wouldn't say something like that for no reason."

"Then you can just take it as the reason why I didn't get enough rest last night."

"...Old man, don't you know something?" Leonard would not believe such an obvious evasion.

"When you ask this question, shouldn't you think about what you really want - the truth or to maintain the friendship?"

Leonard fell silent for a moment. This was also the reason why he had been reluctant to face Hastur.

"Wait, are you implying that Ince Zangwill 's case is related to Hastur?" Leonard grasped the point from that remark.

"Heh, I didn't say that."

Leonard gritted his teeth in anger, "Old man, you always like to be vague like this. Were you a coffin seller in your previous life?"

The voice in his heart disappeared briefly, and finally only one sentence came through:

"You should be grateful that you have a good relationship with Mr. Hastur, since you were able to walk out of that castle alive."[6]

"?!"

That remark made Leonard's heart itch, but no matter how he asked, the old man no longer answered his questions.

When he returned to Port Puning around 4pm, Lady Ilya had not come back yet, so Leonard rested in his room first. 

Around 6pm in the evening, Leonard found Ilya and reported to her the content he had inquired about this time.

How Hastur answered, he reported exactly, without mixing in his personal views.

Ilya nodded calmly, "Yeah, we've also investigated what happened that night. It was indeed a mysterious group chasing and killing Ince Zangwill ."

Leonard's heart relaxed a little, and he curiously asked, "Have you found out which organization the members belong to?"

"No, but we have some clues." Seeing Leonard's puzzled look, she added, "The information on cults collected by the Church has not been updated for nearly a hundred years. Organizations that are not long-established or influential enough will not be included in the records."

Leonard made an understanding sound, then asked about his next mission.

"You've all worked hard during this period, so take a short two-day rest here."

Ilya gave Leonard and the others a short vacation. She wanted to use this time to summarize the information and send it back to the St. Cemuel Church to see what instructions they would receive.

Back in his room, Leonard sighed. A few days of rest would have been a good time to visit Hastur.

But after last night's sudden visit and investigation, he no longer had the heart or face to go for a second time.

...

In Tamu Town, the loyal guardian of the Lord's incarnation vessel, Mr. A, was still found by the Aurora Order.

The leader was another Divine Messenger, Mr. S.

"Where did you take the Lord's share of divine power!"

Facing Mr. S's cold rebuke, Mr. A remained calm and unperturbed. 

As the Lord said, he was destined to bear the sacrifice and misunderstanding. If so, why bother explaining anything?

"I originally wanted to give you a chance to come to your senses, considering our many years of working together. But not only have you betrayed the Lord's faith, you also refuse to repent. Are you going to become the Lord's enemy?"

Mr. A remained silent. Such misunderstanding was an inevitable process for him. He would not argue with a pitiful believer who had not received the Lord's favor.

Seeing that Mr. A still did not say a word, Mr. S had no intention of asking further.

He would kill Mr. A first, then search his memories to find the whereabouts of that divine power.

As fellow Divine Messengers of the Aurora Order, both having attained the rank of 5th Shepherd through the Inverted Crucifixion sequence, this battle would compare the quality of the souls they shepherded and whose supernatural abilities were better combined.

But this would clearly not be a fair contest. While Mr. A was preoccupied, other Aurora Order members began searching every corner of the house.

Not wanting them to disturb the Lord's slumber, Mr. A could not help but be distracted. He tried to break away from Mr. S's entanglement, but failed.

In the end, he had to sacrifice his left arm to temporarily drive Mr. S back and rush to the house they were searching - under that house was the Lord's bedchamber.

As the Lord's most loyal follower, he would fight to the death.

When Mr. S arrived later, he sneered coldly, "It seems you've hidden the Lord's share of divine power in the basement of this house."

As a fellow Aurora Order member, he was well aware of the purpose of the basement.

Mr. A still did not speak, continuing the bloody battle. At this moment, he was like a warrior returned from the realm of the dead, guarding this house and refusing to retreat even in the face of death.

Just as Mr. A was resolved to die, he heard the Lord's familiar voice:

"Leave, it's time for us to depart."

(End of chapter)