Chapter 18: The Children

Alastor's POV

It has been several days since Charles was crown as the new king of Ceadric. Because of the archduke's mutiny, the palace has been in disarray ever since. Charles has organized a big clean up to root out every last follower of the duke, interrogating every noble from the lowest to the highest.

And there was the matter of Bishop Terrick. Thanks to the documents I received from that mysterious woman, we had proof that the priest was conspiring with Archduke Veldor against the crown by supplying him with men and weapons. It was clear that the two were the one behind the attacks of the frontiers villages, most likely because of Terrick. In return the bishop would help Veldor to become king of Ceadric.

King Charles has demanded explanation and accused the Theocracy of Light for attempting to overthrow him, plunging Ceadric in chaos. But so far the Church has denied all involvement and stated that everything was caused by the Bishop alone. Unfortunately we did not have anything proof linking to the Church so that affair has been stuck at a dead end.

As for me, I learnt from Asmodeus and the others that apparently Veldor did indeed show up in the Abyss but he most likely ended up being beaten to pulp by the mysterious knight for trespassing his territory. I have tried coming down there to thank him but the door was shut close. As usual.

One thing was different though. I remembered that the first time I was here, on the gate was the image of a great tree divided into six branches, each leading to a circle. However now, under the tree, in one of its root, I saw a circle with the character "Slime" on it. It definitely was not there before. How did it get here? Then I recalled what Azureus gave me that day to unlock Devas' <Replica>. Could it be from that time? Did that mean that each time I consumed one of those Pure Bloodline Scions, it would affect this gate ?

I should talk with Azureus next time I met him. For now there were more important matters at hands.

"Stella you said that this Anima lantern was created by the Artificer right?" I asked Stella as I pointed to the lantern placed on the table. Together with Ikarus, we were in a room inside the palace. Charles has insisted that we should stay in the castle for now until everything would be clear up.

"Yes. Father has always been interested in magical artefacts that allow even people with no magic potential to be able to use magic. The most potent are called the Tempus Machina. It's a collection of seven artefacts that are so powerful Father has to sealed them away because of their danger to the world.

This Anima Lantern is one of them. Aside from the ability to transfer soul between beings, it allows the user to use a few unique soul magic spells. However..." Stella showed a reluctant expression.

"The lantern requires souls to function. It must absorb souls of people before it can be used. The stronger the souls the more powerful the lantern can get."

"What ? Then then that archduke has really killed several just to use this lantern?" Ikarus shouted in anger.

"Not several. <Soul Transfer> is one of the most powerful abilities this thing has. But it cannot be used against someone that is too strong for the user. But there is another way: the user must compensate the difference in strength by absorbing more souls. Since king Charles is quite a capable man of level Imperatus and the lantern did work against Alastor even though it failed in the end, the Archduke must have killed hundreds at the very least!" Stella explained.

"That bastard! Thanks God he was already executed!" Ikarus fumed.

Tempus Machina. Era of machine. So there were still six left of these scattering in the world. Stella managed to take the Lantern without alarming anyone but I just got the feeling that there was more to this. Based on what Charles has told me, Veldor has been convincing the court to launch a crusade against Ragna to eradicate the demons. This was most likely what Terrick asked him to do. But why?

"An invasion"

"What? What are you talking about Alastor?" asked Ikarus.

"They are planning an invasion against Ragna!" I said louder.

"How do you know?" said Ikarus, surprised by what I just said.

"The attacks on the villages. If the demons plan to invade Mara, they would have to pass through them.

The problem is that so far there is no sign of the demon lord yet and the demons have been inactive for a decade so no one cared about them. Especially now when there are a lot of tension between all countries. It will take too much resources to invade Ragna.

However by arranging the attacks to look like demons and monster' attacks, they are trying to pin the blame on the demons. These so called attacks would serve as an awakening call that the demon threat is still out there. This will give them the excuse to invade Ragna." I responded.

"But why now? Didn't the demon lord die only a decade ago? Usually it took at least 100 years for another demon lord to appear! There is no need for another crusade!" said Ikarus.

"No...it's precisely now that it must be done. The demon are weak after the death of the demon lord. Now it's no better time to eradicate them once and for all. I believe that this plan of theirs has been going on for years. To even have someone of the highest influence in Ceadric's court on their side...this is not your average organisation" I said.

There was also the mysterious woman whom I met at Terrick's residence. Was she in cahoot with them? It could be that she came to take care of the bishop since he screw up. No! She gave me the proof I needed to link Terrick to the Archduke so perhaps she belonged to a third party. And seeing the abhorrent state his corpse was in, there seemed to be more than just a common murder. If she only wanted to shut him up, there was no need to do it that way. It took too much time. It looked to me more like there was a personal motive behind.

Too much unknowns, I did not like this one bit. I needed to get some fresh air. Perhaps a tour in the city would do me some goods.

I decided to go alone. For the time being I asked Stella to hold onto the lantern. She and Ikarus would go through again all the documents in Terrick's chamber. As for me, I was currently in the streets of Cedra. Though the palace has suffered some damages from the rebellion, the common folk of the capital seemed to be doing just fine. The market quarter was noisy as usual. I have been there a few times during my stay at Helios and it was always like this: prosperous and busy as ever.

As I walked through different avenues, I stumbled across an impressive building.

"So this is the Guild's headquarter in Ceadric. Since I am already here, might as well check it!"

I opened the door to enter a big hall. Inside there were fours different reception desks. Near them was a tall board showing every available quest on it. I was familiar with the system on how the Guild worked. Take a request down from the board and register it from a reception desk. However most requests had a minimum level of requirement for the adventurers and only those with the appropriate rank could do it. It was a rule put in place to minimize the casualties, especially for newbies to avoid dangerous quests like high level monster slaying. From lowest to highest rank, F E D C B A S. So a B rank quest could only be accepted by B rank adventurers or above.

As I looked through the abundant amount of posters on the board, I saw a curious poster.

"Request: Need demon blood for making medicine. Please bring it to the apothecary at the southern outskirts at Cedra. One hundred gold coins for each vial."

So much for only a vial? And why demon blood? I have never heard of any medicine that required demon blood. And who would take a medicine made from demon blood? Everyone avoided demons like plagues and demons sure as hell wouldn't take it.

I took down the poster and brought it to the reception, placing it on the table.

"Excuse me miss! Can I ask for some further information on this quest?" I asked her.

"Oh you are so cute!" the woman patted on my head "But I am afraid this quest is a little to high level for you. You have to look for demon monsters lurking in the forest and they are usually quite dangerous, you know? What rank are you?"

"I do not have a badge yet. Do I have to?" I faked innocence.

"Of course you do dear! Normally you need to pass a small verification on your background first to make sure that you are eligible to do quest. Then a small test to determine your initial rank. As you do more quests, your rank will escalate." the plain lady said.

"Oh... *hic hic*" I pretended to sob.

"Oh oh don't cry! Just for a you I will give you a badge ok? A F badge should do since you are small. F ranks normally do delivery stuff so there is no danger for you. Here how about start with this quest? You just have to deliver a pack of supplies to the orphanage in the south of Cedra. It's right outside the southern gate."

"Thanks pretty lady!" I smiled at her.

Not really what I wanted but I guessed this should do.

"Be careful! It's quite heavy!" said the lady.

I took the large supplies bag with ease and off I went, leaving the reception lady and the adults around in shock. That apothecary should not be very far from the orphanage so after I finished this quest, I should visit there. Though I did not receive the quest, nothing would stop me to go there since I was not interested in the reward.

To shorten the excursion, I jumped from roof to roof then tree to tree. It made the job so much easier. In just a matter of minutes, I was already outside. After a short walk, I arrived at the orphanage. Not a very impressive building, rather poorly built but I guessed it was good enough for these orphans to have something called home.

I knocked on the door. A man in a white priest attire opened the door. Could the Church make a different uniform for once? They all looked exactly like each other except for their face and stature.

"Hello! I am here to deliver the supplies you ask from the Guild." I said.

"God bless you child! You must have come a long way! Please come in! I will make you a cup of tea!" the man bowed to me.

The priest guided me to a large room with a lot of tables and seats. This should be where the children ate. As I took a sit and looked around, I spotted a few small heads poking out from the door looking at me curiously. While many looked human, some even had something like cat or fox ears. Could they be beastman?

Then a few of them decided to come my way. They were around five or six years old.

"Who are you?" one of the kids asked. She had a pair of black cat ears and a long black tail flinging around, showing her curiosity at me, someone whom she never met.

"Don't bother the big brother Shana! He is our guest! Look at all the food he brought us here! Call the others! We will have dinner shortly!" The priest then turned to me " I know we don't have much but would you careto join us for dinner ...hum"

"Alastor. Just call me Alastor. I am afraid I..." I wanted to refuse. This place made me feel a bit awkward. Perhaps because I sympathized with these orphans since I was similar to them?

But the kid earlier, the girl Shana, pinched on my cloth and did not let go when I stood up. Looking at her reminded a bit of Alice, except if it was her, she would forcibly drag me to her own rhythm.

"Why not? I will take you on your offer." I patted on Shana's head. She smiled at me with her eyes closed, her tail jiggling in excitement.

Then the others kids started coming to me. There was at least about a dozen kids here: human, beastman and even a few elves. How did they end up here?

"Most of these kids here used to be beggars in the city. Some were slaves who managed to escape. Others were abandoned by their own parents. But the Church welcomes everyone!" said the priest to me while the others kids were busy eating. Shana was still right beside me.

The hall was filled with laughter and children talking to each other. A rather soothing atmosphere.

We quickly finished dinner. The sun has already went down for a few hours so I needed to go back before Stella and Ikarus started to worry.

"It's late so I think I need to go now! Don't want to make my family worry or anything!" I said to the priest.

"Of course! Let me walk you to the door!" said the priest.

As I stood up and walked to the door, the little cat girl called out.

"Will you come back big bro?"

"Of course I will!" I smiled at her.

* * *

Ikarus' POV

Alastor has been a bit odd these early days. He sneaked out without telling us where he went and only came back late at the evening. Even more, he seemed to be more cheerful. I wanted to ask what he was on lately but I supposed if it made him happy we could let it slide. He, or rather all of us, have been through a lot so a nice break shouldn't any harm.

While I did say that, I have been spending our days going through the documents at the bishop's house. The room was seriously messed up by that woman. Not just the shelves but all the blood on the floor. She really did ransack the whole place good.

Nonetheless, there wasn't anything really worth mentioning. Most were about religious teachings of the Church. Such an hypocrite! Spouting words of Gods then planning betrayals, killing innocents lives.

Yet there was one particular tome that caught my attention. I did not understand what was written in it but I felt a strange chill reading it.

"

Day 1

We have gathered enough resources that we need. With this, the Orphans of Dark shall ascend.

.....

Day 20

The test proves to be inconclusive. Subject 13 claimed to have heard voices in his head and something like water dropping before starting convulsing. Subject dies shortly a few hours after injection.

.....

Day 43

Ten failures today. All subjects either died from the reaction or killed themselves to escape the pain.

.....

Day 157

Another failure but we discovered a new type of reaction today. A few hours after injection, subject 47 began to mutate. We will call this reaction Metamorphosis. If only we could find what made this different from the previous subjects. Still this proves that we are one step closer to the Child of Dark. Unfortunately the subject was too hostile and attacked one of our staff so we had to put him down. At least his corpse might be useful for future experiments.

.....

Day 243

The purity of the substance seems to have an effect on the subject. The more powerful the source and the more compatible it is to the subject, the better the chance to reach a better result. We need to switch to a more suitable source.

.....

Day 340

Subject 100 showed great result today. She has already surpassed others with Metamorphosis. Perhaps we may discover a higher state. She just might be the Child of Dark.

.....

Day 489

Maria was such a disappointment. Just another Orphan of Dark. She failed the final test miserably. I had Javis to put her back to her cell together with the others surviving failures. While she was not the end result we are looking for, she could still be useful for her talents.

.....

Day 501

I have found another replacement, much more promising than subject 100. Perhaps this time it should work. No It must!

.....

Day 656

The Child of Dark is ready for the ritual. Soon we will have God on our side, a living God in the flesh."

That was the last entry. I tried to look for others tomes but nothing mentioned about what happened next. Just what was Terrick doing? It was so creepy everything that was written inside this journal.

Orphan and Child of Dark. Those words just kept repeating itself. What exactly were they looking for? Who or what were the Orphans of Dark?

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