Chapter 3272: [Jester Troupe]

The restrained fourth-level ring mage was quite panicked:

"I'm not a bad person, and the attack I made from behind you just now wasn't in a fatal position! Believe me, absolutely do not touch that ring directly. I came here precisely to track this ring. That ring is not just an alchemical prop; it has been tainted by the power of a demon.

I know you are very strong, very strong, but absolutely do not touch it directly."

"Oh?"

Xia De raised an eyebrow, but he still squatted down beside the unconscious black-haired man. However, he didn't have any rebellious psychology, so he didn't go to touch the ring, just frowned and leaned in to observe.

With his current perception ability, even without contact, this distance was enough:

"This is..."

Xia De turned his head and looked at the fourth-level ring mage again:

"Introduce yourself, I need to know what the situation is now."

And the other party could also see that he had really encountered a strong person in a big city like Tobesk this time:

"I belong to the 【Jester Troupe】. I don't know if you have heard of us? Our group is not particularly large, and we have always been active with the City of Art, 'Atek City', as the center."

Xia De had heard of the other party. Last week, when the leader of the 【Doom Cult】 attacked Miss Reinhardt near the spring, her guess about her identity included the 【Jester Troupe】.

Most members of this ring mage organization appeared wearing jester masks. It was said that the main body of the organization was a troupe specializing in jester performances—this was similar to the 【Golden Dawn Opera House】. They belonged to relatively neutral ring mages. Although they were distributed with the City of Art as the center, they were actually active all over the Old Continent.

But the purpose of their actions was quite puzzling. Xia De had limited understanding of them before, only knowing that they were always doing strange things, but he hadn't heard of them doing truly bad things.

"I have heard of you."

Hearing Xia De say this, the ring mage crawling on the ground felt much more at ease. At least their reputation wasn't bad:

"My companion and I accepted an order to track down a group of followers of evil objects in the towns north of the City of Art. The other party was spreading a terrible ideological plague. Before the Year-End Festival, our troupe had a great battle with the other party and barely drove them out of that area.

But many dangerous things in the hands of those followers of evil objects flowed into the hands of ordinary people. I was ordered to track all the way from the west coast of the Old Continent to here to recover one of the more dangerous items."

He tried to sit up, and after finding that Xia De didn't stop him, he signaled that what he was looking for was that ring:

"On the surface, the ring was only attached with a 'Strong Charm Spell', but in reality, anyone who touches it will have their soul uncontrollably corrupted. Yes, anyone! From the investigation I've done all the way here, the final result is either turning into a pile of wriggling meat, or being transformed into a terrible thing that looks like a human on the outside but is not a human on the inside."

He tried his best to show his sincerity to Xia De:

"Only high-purity gold can isolate this influence. If you believe me, find a gold container to pack it up. Or if you have a way, destroy it now. After all, I tracked all the way here, not to recover and use it."

After finishing, he wanted to see what this strange "strong person" would do, but found that Xia De was looking at him with a probing gaze. After staring at each other for a moment, Xia De asked:

"What evil object?"

The ring mage shook his head:

"I can't say. If I say it, both of us might be targeted. The other party is very ancient and very powerful. Have you heard of the Pantanal Swamp? The evil objects that once appeared there can't compare to the one I'm talking about. If you don't believe me, I can..."

"No, I believe you."

Xia De frowned and looked at him:

"You just need to answer one question for me—is the follower of the evil object you mentioned an 'Apostle of Desire'?"

"You know?"

The strange ring mage was shocked:

"Wait a minute, the follower of that thing, wouldn't it have already appeared in a big city like Tobesk? Have you fought with the other party?"

"No, Tobesk doesn't have this kind of thing yet. I encountered it in other places... they can't appear locally in a short time."

That mermaid knew Xia De was in Tobesk; she wouldn't easily expand her forces here.

The restraint of the bright yellow moonlight was lifted, and the ring mage of the 【Jester Troupe】 finally regained his freedom. He put away his dagger and stood up, wanting to thank him, and then saw Xia De bend down and take off the ring on the black-haired man's finger.

Xia De had even swallowed the flesh and blood of desire; the ring with only its slight power certainly wouldn't have any effect on him. Direct contact allowed him to finally confirm completely that this thing was indeed related to that mermaid. But it wasn't personally blessed by that thing; it was just related to its power.

Last autumn, when he was in the Vesta Woodlands, Xia De had already discovered that the mermaid was expanding its influence. Besides the Moon Bay where its main body was located, followers had also partially appeared in the woodlands in the hinterland of the Old Continent. Although that noble lady at the time gave him some help, Xia De still understood that "desire erosion" was absolutely not a phenomenon beneficial to the world.

With a click, the ring was bent directly by Xia De's two fingers, and then the ruby attached with the mermaid's power was crushed into powder by his right hand. Holding all the fragments in his hand, after a flash of silver moonlight, the residual power disappeared.

But this wasn't the end. Xia De looked at the unconscious black-haired man again, hesitated for a moment, and then asked the ring mage of the 【Jester Troupe】:

"If I want to use him to warn the church that a terrifying ancient evil object is eroding civilization, is it enough to just throw him to the church?"

"The Orthodox Church should already know about that terrifying enemy, but you can still leave him to the church. The church will check his body and know what kind of power he encountered. The appearance of this kind of thing in the core area of Delarion, I think, should make the church pay more attention to that thing."

"Then why are you hostile to that thing?"

Xia De stated his question. Although Xia De had lifted the other party's control, the fourth-level ring mage didn't think he could leave at any time, so he answered honestly:

"We call ourselves 'Jesters'. Jesters don't need to know their purpose; we just need to perform according to the script we get."

However, he paused and added:

"The action of tracking the followers of that thing only started in the summer two years ago. But our progress hasn't been great. The infiltration of that thing's power into the city is quite hidden. Once discovered, it basically means a large nest has already appeared.

We have cooperated with the Orthodox Church several times because of this, but these things won't be publicized. If you understand that thing, you will understand that the more people know about it, the more powerful its power becomes."

Xia De completely agreed with this point. "Desire" didn't seem to have been idle in the past two years. And Xia De only noticed its movements in various places last autumn, which was also because its power infiltration was indeed quite difficult to detect.

The vast majority of its corruption targets were ordinary people. It had no interest in spreading any thoughts or ideas, and even less interest in creating destruction and damage. It just let ordinary people enjoy "desire" and then brought that ultimate enjoyment to more people. Sometimes even if the police discovered them, they would just think it was a dirty party held by nobles.

Xia De even felt that perhaps the mermaid never thought of developing any "followers." It did nothing, and humans just spontaneously followed it after it broke free from the seal of Cold Water Port. It was the deepest brand in the soul of intelligent life. Even Xia De, after experiencing so many things, didn't dare to say that he now had higher resistance than when he first saw it.

Perhaps the Outsider had lower resistance to the "mermaid" than two years ago.

"Then you can leave, take this guy away."

Xia De pointed to the black-haired man. The "Jester" nodded and carried him. Before leaving, he said again:

"I won't mention your appearance to the Orthodox Church. Also, please keep this."

He threw a playing card to Xia De. The card was a size smaller than a standard Luo De card. The back was pure black, and the face of the card was a "Jester" pattern:

"Since you also don't like that thing, then you are our friend. If you encounter our people in the future, just show this jester card, and others will know you are a friend of the Jester."

He thought again of the scene where Xia De touched the ring directly and then crushed it and burned it. He originally thought this would cause a big problem, but now nothing happened. The 【Jester Troupe】's purification of this kind of item used rituals passed down from ancient times... or just threw it to the church:

"Our people aren't spread very much all over the Old Continent, but it's possible we will meet again."

He nodded to Xia De for the last time, used invisibility to hide, and carried the man away from here. Xia De looked down at the playing card in his hand, and then thought that before the Year-End Festival, he had promised to participate in the Luo De card tournament after the festival. The special card that Vice President Mark promised to leave for him hadn't been given to him yet:

"This counts as a small disturbance. Tobesk shouldn't have other changes because of this kind of thing. But the ring with that thing's power appearing in front of me, is it a coincidence, or is it..."

This trip to the washroom took a long time. Xia De was originally worried about how to explain it after he went back, but when he returned to the VIP lounge, the ladies at the same table just looked at him with strange eyes. When Tifa helped him pull out the chair and let him sit down, someone was still covering her mouth with a fan and laughing.

"What happened?"

Xia De wondered curiously, confirming that his illusion state had been lifted, and there were no abnormal traces on his body.

He tried to ask Miss Jia Lin Na with his eyes, but the Duchess, who should have had a tacit understanding with him, deliberately avoided Xia De's eyes. After all, she understood Xia De's personality. Perhaps some people would be proud of it, but Xia De wasn't the kind of person who wouldn't be angry when people talked about his strengths everywhere.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3273 =====