Chapter 3202: An Additional Commission

"Potion Merchant" Mr. Sargent did indeed provide Xia De with unexpected intelligence. The circumstances of his ambush, his self-treatment, and his forced plea for help—Xia De had already pieced most of it together from Mr. Motis's and his own investigations, but some things only the gravely wounded man himself knew:

"While I was unconscious, I had a long dream. In the dream, I saw the longsword wrapped in black light that Elder Harald mentioned. Then I realized I myself had become an identical sword. I could feel that my eyes, ears, nose, and all my organs were still there, but my body had been compressed into the shape of that sword, and my skin was slowly hardening."

He sat on the bed wrapped in a thick cotton coat, his complexion growing paler and paler, then gave a violent shudder:

"If you hadn't woken me in time, my consciousness might have been assimilated directly into that demonic sword within the dream. After waking, I was certain that any individual infected by that sword would eventually become a sword. That would be my fate, so I beg you—if I truly reach that stage of transformation, please kill me.

I would rather die as a human than become a soulless metallic lifeform."

Elder Harald looked toward Xia De. There were things he couldn't say himself, so Xia De promised:

"If that moment truly comes, I will personally see you to your death."

"So this is the 'proliferation risk' Mr. Watson spoke of."

Elder Harald summarized. He looked to be in decent shape today; if Xia De hadn't seen the wound yesterday, he might even have thought the old man had never been injured at all.

"Yesterday we saw seven swords in total. Apart from one that may have come from elsewhere, the other six were very likely all living humans transformed into swords. Without Mr. Watson's potion suppression, both I and Mr. Sargent here would have become the eighth and ninth swords. Perhaps in places we cannot see, there are other victims currently undergoing transformation."

The old man let out a long sigh:

"The Church hasn't sent back detailed investigation information on the relic yet, but they've already issued a bounty on the black market and emphasized the danger of that relic. I suspect that demonic sword likely has no detailed containment record—otherwise, an angel-grade relic going out of control would be such a major incident that the containment record should have been sent here long ago."

"However, when Motis came to see me, he mentioned that he performed divination on the sword and my situation. That relic won't come after me again in the short term—its first priority now is to reclaim the sword the Church took away. But I'm not entirely safe either; it will come for me eventually. My transformation process is already quite advanced."

Mr. Sargent said in a weak voice. Miss Reinhardt raised an eyebrow:

"I have nothing against your friend, but Mr. Watson and my grandfather both say he's only a low-ring sorcerer."

The wounded man on the bed understood her meaning perfectly:

"Motis has a real gift for divination. Though his sorcerer rank isn't high, his divination skill is genuinely excellent. You see, the fact that he could precisely locate Mr. Watson's involvement in this matter speaks for itself."

The witch nodded lightly. Apart from Xia De, she truly couldn't think of a better candidate to involve in this matter. Elder Harald softly murmured about "fate" and such things, while Xia De wondered whether this was his own "destined encounter with the witch" fate at work, or whether Mr. Motis had sensed the stirrings of fate.

Still, talented diviners could indeed accomplish great things even at low rings—take Luvia, for instance, or Mr. Orlan Wilson, the bloodsucker being hunted by the 【Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu】 in Huntington City, who in his maddened state at the Blood Rose Hotel prophesied the "purple-eyed diviner" (Chapter 1085).

But he then thought again:

"If we follow what that person in the 【Fate Casino】 said—that my destined encounter with the witch inevitably led me to meet Mr. Motis—then all of this leaves traces."

In any case, the Sun Church, which had temporarily contained the confiscated demonic sword, was now preparing to deal with the enemies coming to seize it. Reportedly, this diocese had already requested aid from the Romari City diocese—an angel-grade relic appearing was no small matter, and it was entirely possible that a thirteen-ring sorcerer would be dispatched to resolve the problem. This was no exaggeration.

Since the sword wasn't here, the town at the foot of the snow mountain was still safe for now, but Elder Harald wouldn't feel at ease unless this matter was resolved before All Souls' Day:

"Claire, you said you'd ask your friends elsewhere about the sword. Have they heard anything?"

The old man asked again. The witch shook her head gently:

"I have one—no, two very wise and knowledgeable friends. They did find some information about that sword, but the actual content is much the same as what Mr. Watson mentioned.

The only additional information is that the demonic sword 【Sword Brood Nest】 originated in the Second Epoch. A mad alchemist wanted to create a metallic lifeform, and ultimately forged that sword in his experiments. Yes, strictly speaking, it is a living being, and its purpose from birth was to proliferate itself."

"There were so many madmen in the ancient epochs."

Xia De sighed:

"For now, both of your injuries are temporarily suppressed. Tomorrow I'll find a way to obtain more 'Holy Blood' to keep them in check. I'm also asking friends elsewhere about that sword—I should have answers within a day or two."

Saying so, he gently stroked the cat lying on his lap and looked out the window at the towering Mount Fatumunst:

"Is there any evidence linking the demonic sword to last night's events?"

Elder Harald shook his head. The inexplicable events of last night had left no clues whatsoever—it seemed everything truly was just Miss Reinhardt's bad luck.

Then he rose again, gesturing for Xia De and Miss Reinhardt to follow him outside for a walk; there were things he needed to tell them.

Last night's events had caused no deaths. The witch's four followers had all been rescued afterward, and no cause for the 【Heartless Demon】's appearance had been found in the snow mountain cave. The puppet infected by the 【Heartless Worm】 seemed to have simply materialized in the cave out of thin air.

What Elder Harald wanted to discuss with the two wasn't that Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu. He led Xia De and his granddaughter on a stroll to the courtyard of the snow mountain hall. Miss Larson and several other young ladies waited at the door, watching the three of them stand together in the light of the setting sun.

"After Claire came back, she told me she'd found a source of corruption in the snow mountain cave, but that source was purified by you, Mr. Watson."

Xia De, watching the sunset with little Xiao Miya, nodded. Both the cat's and the man's faces were bathed in gold. Purifying the corruption was a minor matter among all that had happened last night. Xia De's most vivid memories of the events after midnight were only two segments: one was the extreme rescue on the sea cliff and the nun's interrogation, and the other was the "second half":

"It was I who purified it. Do you know what it was?"

"The holy mountain's scar. I don't like putting it this way, but the gradual deterioration of order in the material world is causing corresponding changes in Mount Fatumunst. When Claire left this island, this hadn't yet happened—it's an anomaly that only emerged in the past two years.

Its manifestation is much as you described: the silver-white snow and ice turn black, then the filthy blackness spreads, corrupting more of the mountain's land."

The old man looked up at the setting sun, which also illuminated his aged face:

"The most important thing about this All Souls' Day over these past two years has actually been using the All Souls' Day ritual to eliminate this corrupted snow and ice. I've also heard of the 'Mad Earth' in the Randel Valley region of the west—the two phenomena are very similar, though fortunately ours is milder and manifests specifically in relation to snow and ice."

The witch's platinum-blonde hair shone brilliantly in the setting sun:

"Grandfather, are you saying that currently, aside from All Souls' Day, there's no method to remove that corruption?"

The old man slowly nodded, then looked at Xia De:

"Although I don't know exactly what method you used, would you mind doing some additional work before All Souls' Day? We'll offer more compensation. The more filth destroyed before the festival, the safer this All Souls' Day will be."

Xia De agreed on the spot. This kind of task only required running around the map, and the "Earth Power · Healing Spirit" didn't consume an especially large amount of spirit at present, so this counted as the simplest of tasks:

"I can help, and I might even pick up clues about the 【Heartless Demon】's appearance along the way. But how many corrupted areas are there on the snow mountain now?"

The old man then gazed toward the snow mountain again:

"The mildly corrupted areas don't require your special attention. Only two locations are currently serious. I fear that driving out all the filth at once might trigger a worse problem, so you only need to go to those two places—one is at the mountainside, the other at the foot of the mountain. Tomorrow I'll have Kane take you into the mountain..."

The witch suddenly turned her head and said:

"Grandfather, let me take Mr. Watson into the mountain. Just give me a map, and I can find the places too."

Elder Harald glanced at her in surprise. Though the old man had entertained a certain idea, he hadn't expected it so soon. Still, he had no reason to refuse the suggestion, and gently nodded:

"Very well, the two of you will go into the mountain tomorrow, but be careful. Also, Claire—those young ladies who came to the island with you, the ones who call you 'Young Lady'... could they help out as well?"

"Yes, but they don't much care for men, so when arranging tasks for them, it's best not to assign men to accompany them."

The platinum-blonde-haired Miss said with a smile. So Elder Harald thought it quite fitting to have his granddaughter and Xia De go into the mountain together. The Fatumunst people, even in the present steam age, still maintained relatively traditional lifestyles, and their views were naturally somewhat traditional as well.

(End of this chapter)