Chapter 92: Interrogation (1)

After what happened at the auction market, Angele asked Harland and Tinos to track down the young man named Anyua, however, there was no trace left.

It seemed like the two big families came to an agreement and stopped fighting in the city. They did not announce anything regarding Ness and Anyua's disappearance.

One month later.

In the reading room of Tinos' manor.

Angele was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, sipping green fruit wine from a glass.

Tinos and a middle-aged nobleman sat on the other side, calmly discussing the Holy Gear.

"Holy Gear is a high-rank concept gear. However, the man disappeared before we could even notice it in the auction hall. Effects like that were probably not from the life energy drained by the concept gear. Only Wizards can manage to do something like that," the nobleman said, scrunching his eyebrows.

People like him hadn't noticed the time stopping at that moment. The only thing they knew was that Anyua and Ness disappeared in front of their eyes.

"Stone of Lisa was the concept gear, that was the most surprising thing to me," Tinos said. "A witness said he saw Anyua and Ness leave the city and go into the forest. I think we should just let them go. Legendary gears like that won't suddenly come to us, and we shouldn't waste too much time on them. Also, the curse on the Holy Gear will turn its owner into a killing machine. I don't really want it anyways."

"Without the gear, Anyua's family is definitely weakened," the nobleman sighed. "A concept gear changes the destiny of the whole family."

"Let's leave it there. How long will you stay in Lennon, Mr. Monti?" Tinos asked.

"More than ten days I think. I'm waiting for my people to come back from the docks." Monti scrunched his eyebrows again. "Master Angele, I heard you were from Ramsoda College. May I ask you a question about a strange plague?" He turned to the side and stared at Angele.

"Sure." Angele nodded, he was listening to their conversation quietly.

Monti sighed. "In the southern provinces, there is a plague going on. Within three days, blisters will grow all over the infected patients' skin, and inside the blisters, it would be not body fluid but blood. After the three days, all the blisters will explode, and the patient will die due to blood loss. Have you ever heard of a plague like that?"

Angele's expression turned serious after hearing Monti's description.

"Are you sure it is blood inside the blisters?" he asked.

"Yes." Monti nodded. "The high-class nobles have already noticed how serious this plague is, and they sent a bunch of doctors to check the situation in the infected area, but none of them have figured out what caused the infection. I think thousands of people are already infected, so the situation is bad. The plague has already wiped out a large territory."

Angele still had the serious look on his face.

"Mr. Monti, please trust me on this. Don't go close to the infected areas," Angele said in a deep voice. "If I'm not mistaken, the plague is called Blood Boil Blisters. One must have a body similar to a Knight level warrior's to survive that."

Monti's expression changed again, and he nodded. "I will make sure I don't go there. I feel uncomfortable just by listening to the rumors."

"I think about 100 years ago, around the year 1430, there was a Blood Boil Blisters breakout in Santiago, and about 100,000 people died. Many people escaped Santiago, and it took a long time for it to recover. I'd suggest controlling the infection area as soon as possible, otherwise..." Angele did not finish his sentence, but the other two knew what he was trying to say.

"I understand. The plague is being controlled," Monti explained. "The quarantine area has already been set up."

"Good." Angele nodded.

"Also, I collected some potion formulas you asked for a while ago. I'm not sure if they are what you were looking for," Monti continued. "I collected them on my way here from the capital. I didn't know why Tinos suddenly asked me to look for potion formulas until I met you."

Angele smiled. "How many formulas have you got there?"

"More than 30." Monti smiled. "I will ask someone to send them to your place."

"What's the price?" Angele nodded.

"Mr. Tinos will take care of that. He will pay me by the end of the year." Monti was not even a Knight, just a normal noble, and so was interested in meeting people with special talents. He would not ask Tinos to pay him because money was the easiest thing for him to get. He knew that it was best to do them a favor for free.

Angele earned a lot of gold coins by selling the parts he obtained from the Glowing Elephants and had decided to ask Tinos to get him some potion formulas. He knew Tinos' friend, Sir Monti, was coming from the capital, and he would be able to collect the formulas along the way. Angele had already prepared the money, not knowing that Tinos would pay for it.

"Don't worry about the money, Angele, you are my friend you know?" Tinos smiled.

"Still, thanks a lot," Angele responded.

Those potion formulas had nothing to do with the Wizard potions. They were used to craft basic potions for daily use. Angele wanted to collect data from them. They would cost him several thousand gold coins at the most.

*****************

After leaving Tinos' manor, Angele jumped into a black carriage, heading to the manor he had just purchased.

He had moved from his shop to the manor this month after paying about 10,000 gold for it. He had earned about 500,000 gold coins from the Glowing Elephants, so 10,000 gold coins were not a big deal to him. As dor the meditation, his Mentality was much more stable compared to before with the help from the potions. However, his Stamina decreased by one due to the side effects of Black Lead Potion and the sequela of the negative energy infection.

Angele did nothing besides experimenting with potions and spells recently. He also meditated and taught Tia sword skills several times. His only social activities were all related to Harland and Tinos.

Angele's Mentality stopped increasing awhile ago. Although he had gotten some more Night Honeycombs, it seemed like his body had started to resist the potion's effects, and meditating did nothing to him as well. Angele thought he had already reached the limit of an apprentice and already met the requirements to become a Wizard. For that reason, he was preparing to make sure he did not miss the summons of his school.

He still needed the Water of Asu and the defensive spell in order to break the limit. Returning to the school would be the fastest and easiest way for him to acquire them. However, there were no rumors about Ramsoda College, and Angele did not want to miss any valuable information.

It was already winter. Angele sat in the carriage, rays of sunlight hitting his hands through the window, but he could barely feel the warmth they brought. The chilling wind was blowing over his face.

"It's 1542 already... Winter is not the most pleasant season for me." Angele pulled his collar up and peeked outside through the window.

Most of the leaves had already fallen off the trees, and the pedestrians were wearing thick coats. Everything looked gray and white, even the sunlight was pale as well.

"What's the date today, Tom?" Angele asked.

Tom was the coachman specially hired for Angele by Alford. He did not know his last name and thought 'Tom' was probably just a codename.

"November the 18th, Master," Tom responded.

"18th? I think Harland is prepared then." Angele nodded. "Take me to Twisted Blue Prison. I'm not going home yet."

"Understood, Master."

The carriage sped up and turned left at the next fork in the road. Its wheels made the dry leaves dance on the ground.

***********************

Twisted Blue Prison, the only prison that held prisoners that would be executed.

The prison was at a remote location, surrounded by the forest. Many buildings were built for it, and the place was deadly silent.

Those buildings had sharp roofs, their appearances identical to those of churches. Wood fences were built outside the buildings, and there were teams of guards patrolling the area. The guards had no expressions on their faces as they walked wearing heavy black armor suits. Most of them held swords in their hands, while others had iron hammers on their back.

There were prisoners being executed every hour, and their dying screams could be heard from outside the buildings.

A black carriage was traveling toward the prison, then slowly stopped in the parking area.

"We are here, Master." The coachman was a tanned middle-aged man.

Angele opened the door and jumped off the carriage. He was wearing a black hunting suit with long leather boots.

A team of guards walked toward the carriage.

"Master Angele?" the leader asked.

Angele nodded.

"Mr. Harland already informed us, so you're allowed to enter the prison. However, the coachman needs to stay outside." The leader's face was covered by the helmet, and his voice was a bit unclear.

"I know." Angele walked past the fences and headed towards one of the buildings inside. He could hear prisoners yelling and screaming.

The atmosphere here was cold and heavy.

Angele looked around and asked Zero to analyze the energy flow in the area.

"Necromantic negative energy particles. Concentration: 65.72%."

"Nice place," Angele mumbled.

The lawn was soft, and Angele felt like walking on a carpet. He stopped by a building and knocked on the thick brown gate.

*Knock Knock*

A small window on the door was opened, and a guard peeked through it.

"Master Angele, you are finally here. She's dying," the guard said and quickly unlocked the door.

"It's good as long as she's still alive," Angele responded in a cold voice.

Inside, there was a hallway with black stone flooring and sunlight coming through the small windows from both sides. The place did not smell good; it was wet and cold.