CH 122

Chapter 122: False Information

This city wasn’t too big, but since the Mercenary Guild chose to establish a branch here, it wasn’t a small place either. In the afternoon, the town was extremely lively. The sound of horses’ hooves rolled over the uneven stone bricks. Vendors would pull their carts with two wooden wheels and sold cold jam tarts and rye bread, a serving for two, with a cup of sweet herbal soup. People hurriedly passed by the door of the Mercenary Guild branch, not bothering to look in this direction.

The entrance of the building cut a shadow in the blazing sun. The sparse adventurers were squeezing themselves into the shadows, swearing as they took off their hats revealing their red and sweaty skin.

Only one person was incompatible with the hot and dry atmosphere.

The black-haired young adventurer was dressed simply. His clothes were stained with blood and dirt. The soil had lost their moisture and crusted, becoming slightly whitish, which was particularly dazzling on the dark fabric. He was pulling a fuller goat full of luggage, standing neatly in the corner, away from others who were hiding from the sun.

This wasn’t uncommon. He was probably just an unlucky guy who had just completed an arduous task, but the black-haired young man’s appearance was so refined, several female soldiers who were wiping sweat with their sleeves couldn’t help but look at him a few times. Out of some kind of intuition, no one stepped forward to talk.

The hot breath stopped in front of that person. What stood there seemed to be just a fluttering illusion, without any noise and the vivid breath unique to life. He didn’t even sweat a single drop.

The ladies sighed one after another, regretfully peeked at him for a few seconds, then turned their eyes away.

Nemo could feel their curious gaze, but now he wasn’t in the mood to care about those non-malicious observation. Most of his attention was focused on the gray parrot that was lying on the ground. Bagelmaurus was still lying there, eyes wide open, as it rolled them to the back of its head while looking at him blankly.

After waiting quietly for a few minutes, Nemo breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the still motionless gray parrot from the ground and repeated patiently, “I can return your powers to you. Don’t you want it?”

“Of course I do,” the gray parrot muttered in a low voice, “but why?”

It only escaped not long ago, which wasn’t a commendable thing. Bagelmaurus knew very well that it was still here for only one reason— Light definitely had a way of tracking it, and it was undoubtedly a stupid idea to try to escape again. Since it couldn’t escape, it might as well give itself up.

Sooner or later, this piece of flesh on the surface will be gone. Bagelmaurus felt terribly distressed, but it firmly believed that it was only a matter of time. Besides, most its’ power had been snatched away by Light some time ago, and now it seemed that the hope of regaining it was extremely slim.

The loss of this part of his power was a forgone conclusion.

Even if it was the only superior demon out of all the Corewen Flat Snakes, the Abyss was very big, so it wasn’t difficult to hide. When the flesh on the surface is destroyed, it would definitely hide for a hundred, or two hundred years before trying to go to the surface world again. Light would never chase it to the Abyss.

Fear and trembling had become its habit that even Bagelmaurus began to feel numb. Just as it was patiently waiting for Light to attack it, a big fat pie had smashed it to the ground.

‘Okay, this dream is quite realistic,’ Bagelmaurus thought solemnly.

“Because I don’t know what might happen next, and your current strength is too weak,” Nemo said softly.

“Oh,” the gray parrot’s voice became louder. Its denial of reality filled it with inexplicable courage. “I tried to kill you in the first place though.”

“But you helped when we were fighting Witherspoon… We’re even.”

The gray parrot stared suspiciously at those silver eyes. “Then why did you chase me to the Abyssal Church?”

“We took on Mr. Virgil’s task and I just wanted to talk to you.”

“…Well, let me believe you for the time being. Why would you want to strengthen me? Do you want me to protect those humans in the team? Let me tell you, this is absolutely impossible—”

“Protect yourself,” Nemo said calmly. “…And just in case, we’ll have one more combat power.”

“It’s really strange. Aren’t you afraid I will change my shell after recovering my strength?” The gray parrot turned his eyes. “Human bodies are much more convenient than a parrot’s—”

“…If you do that, you know what will happen,” Nemo raised his eyebrows.

The gray parrot quickly shut its beak.

“Okay,” after a few seconds of silence, it muttered a little plaintively. “A parrot is a parrot. Give me power!”

Nemo quietly moved his finger and reconfirmed that the mute array around him was still stable. “About this, I have some theories… As long as I feel ‘voluntary abandonment’…”

“Almost. Isn’t it something similar to instinct? You really… Hey, hey. Why are you so stingy?!” Seeing Nemo bite his finger, the gray parrot forgot what fear was and raised its voice a few octaves. “Are you going to give me some blood? At that time, I lost—”

“It’s very little blood.” The wound on Nemo’s fingertips healed instantly, leaving only a drop of blood outside. “Don’t take it all. Just a dab.”

“Even if you’re a complete superior demon, this is an insult!” The gray parrot stopped dissatisfied on Nemo’s forearm, staring straight at the drop of blood with its yellow bird eyes.

“I confirmed in the Abyssal Church that I’m not a complete superior demon…” Nemo said carefully.

“Really? Really? B—But I told you there couldn’t be a humanoid demon that exist—”

“I’m the Demon King,” Nemo’s voice became even lower.

The fuller goat was ruminating in ignorance a few steps away, the mercenaries not far away were still laughing, and the vendors’ wooden carts had just turned around. The gray parrot’s outstretched tongue was about to touch the drop of blood when it suddenly fell, whizzing to the ground like a weaver’s tape measure.

The abnormal dark purple tongue was stretched about a meter long. Nemo moved a few steps to pick up its tongue, rubbed the bead of blood on its tip extremely carefully, then slowly stuffed it back into the parrot’s mouth. He pinched the stiff thin tongue, determined to temporarily hide the fact that “the Demon King of all generations have always been the same” for the time being.

Two minutes later, he finally stuffed all the gray parrot’s drooping tongue back as unnoticed as possible, just like stuffing a protruding cloth back into a lamp bottle. The effect was immediate, and he could instantly feel the change in the momentum of the gray parrot. Like a half-dead branch that stretched out again, and the top of newborn leaves bloomed full of spiked flowers. Its momentum came alive and it was no longer a speck that wasn’t worth mentioning and the dim star that Nemo perceived suddenly became shining.

“Ah,” the gray parrot said weakly, with two small claws firmly holding Nemo’s forearm. “……Ah.”

It didn’t look happy at all but was extremely listless. Nemo didn’t dare to move. He just stiffened his arms and let the gray parrot continue to sway on it.

“Ah—” The gray parrot continued as if it had become a crow. It didn’t scream. It just continued to squawk weakly.

“Letting me know what you are…” After a dozen sounds, the gray parrot finally muttered. “A piece of flesh for this kind of opportunity; This trip is enough. Alright, let’s just end it here.”

It laid proudly on the stone brick in front of Nemo and tightly closed its eyes. Although the claws of both its feet was still twitching, they seemed to have stiffen.

However, Bagelmaurus waited for a few minutes but there was no attack. It opened one eye and saw Nemo stood there quietly, without any hints of anger. Even his eyes were a little red.

The gray parrot jumped to its feet and raised its head giving a look of giving up as it looked at Nemo suspiciously.

They were in a stalemate for a full minute.

It may be there it found that Nemo really didn’t show any killing intent. Bagelmaurus clicked its mouth, as if it made some major decision. It looked at Nemo in front of it in silence for a while, then spread its wings.

Is it going to run away? Nemo closed his eyes and tried to suppress the chill in his heart.

The gray parrot did flutter its wings and flew into the air, but unlike what Nemo had guessed, Bagelmaurus didn’t fly far. It just few high weakly

Then it stopped on Nemo’s head.

“…” Nemo didn’t know how to react for a while. He couldn’t understand what was going on in Bagelmaurus’ head.

“It’s worth it,” the gray parrot said solemnly on his head. It was a very slow tone, just the right mix of despair, self-abandonment, and subtle pride.

Then it picked up a strand of Nemo’s hair and pulled it tentatively. Seeing that Nemo didn’t respond, it even added a bit of strength.

“I’m really strong!” it finally announced in a broken voice.

Nemo was a little worried about its mental state for a moment, but then he found that its magic fluctuations weren’t abnormal. Its behavior was undoubtedly sincere. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the bird by the neck and pulled the gray parrot off his head.

Just like when they first met.

Nemo put Bagelmaurus back on his shoulder. “Help me keep this a secret,” his voice was extremely low, but his tone was more soothing than before.

“Oh,” the gray parrot who was no longer afraid of death said, “then… Can you call me Lord Bagalmaur—”

“No,” Nemo replied firmly. There was a even a hint of smile in his voice.

In the Mercenary Guild branch, the progress of the others wasn’t as smooth.

“…I’m willing to pay for my private post, no matter how much. It’s not enough for me to write an IOU,” Ann said to the communication crystal that was set up by the guild. “Answer me Fenrir. I remember that you have connections to the Insular Court. After all, he disappeared right before my eyes so it’s my responsibility.”

“Since you’re talking about this,” the voice of the leader of the Steel Wolf Mercenary Group came from the other side. “Fine. I can help pull some strings… but this is a formal transaction. You have to be mentally prepared for the price.”

“You’re still talking about that. As much as I can,” the female warrior murmured as she squished the corpse of the surveillance bug in her pocket.

“You need to wait a bit… Thorne, Thorne!” the voice on the other side of the crystal became distant and distorted.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Help me find the mission report of the previous mission of the Insular Court.”

“No problem. May I ask who is on the other line…?”

“Savage, you should remember,” Fenrir muttered. “Okay, hurry up. She’s in a hurry.”

Ann guarded the communication crystal and waited for a full hour before finally getting the communication channel guarded by the Insular Court. She anxiously connected the big communication crystal in front of her, licking her chapped and bleeding lips.

“Fenrir Troy?” an old and unpleasant voice came from the other side of the crystal. “Do you have someone the Steel Wolf wants to send over?”

“No,” the female warrior cleared her throat carefully. “Hello, I want to ask you something… The reward will be transferred to you by Fenrir Troy.”

“Oh— It’s a young lady.” The old man on the other end dragged his tone. “What do you want to know? You need to know that if your little lover or anyone enters here, they are not allowed visitation.”

“I know, I just need to determine the status of a person.” Ann ignored the other party’s teasing. “Oliver Ramon. Please help me check the situation of this prisoner if there is such a prisoner.”

The old guard at the Insular Court scratched the crystal embedded in his face. He turned his face and glanced at the empty short-term cell. How terrible, he thought. The Gatekeeper was in a terrible hurry this time that the court hadn’t completed the relevant formalities yet.

In case the person on the opposite side was fishing, this matter would become troublesome. According to usual practice, the above would put all the responsibility on him alone.

“There is such a person named Oliver Ramon,” he replied neutrally. “He’s still here. This young man’s information is not complete, so it needs to be reviewed carefully. You see, we have to go through all the formalities—”

“Charges?” the female warrior on the other side of the crystal asked dryly.

“I don’t know,” the old guard coughed a few times, “but no matter what happens, he has to stay here for at least three weeks… If that’s what you want to know.”

“Thank you,” the girl on the crystal side replied solemnly.

“Don’t forget the remuneration,” the old guard responded immediately.

Ann cut off the communication crystal and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t intend to fully accept the words of the guard alone. The female warrior walked quickly to the mission desk and began to release the task skillfully.

She must keep an eye on Alban’s prison to ensure Oliver wasn’t suddenly transferred. Although the Gatekeepers intervened, according to regulation, they must follow procedures of the Insular Court, otherwise, they would be questioned. They could discuss this matter later and see if there are other ways to obtain information.

On the other side, Adrian Cross also got want he wanted…

“Regarding the task you requested… The current information is here, dear guest.” The female receptionist handed a thick leather notebook with both her hands, moving it softly and courteously. “The guild is not responsible for the authenticity of the information in it. Please consider it carefully and accept it yourself.”

Adrian Cross nodded and took the hardcover book with both hands.

“Are you teasing me?” Jesse Dylan curled his hair. “I’m right here, right in front of you, but you’re holding onto a lot of information on me… Oh, how romantic.”

Adrian continued to look through the information book without raising his head.

“I heard that a Knight of Judgement cannot lie, so I want to ask some questions.” The blond young man got closer. “Do you like me? Even only just a little bit…?”

“No.” The knight commander continued reading solemnly.

“Then I’ll have to ask it every day.”

“Do as you want.” Adrian frowned at the information in the book and turned a few more pages.

The world wasn’t peaceful at present. This he knew very well. He also knew that many refugees of unknown origins were displaced. However, anyone who was human would always leave some traces in this world.

However, Jesse Dylan not only didn’t leave any traces that could be confirmed, but all the information he had was messy and ambiguous. After removing a pile of contradictory information that was floating on the surface, there was only a blank space left.

Adrian continued to flip through the material, trying to find more useful clues.

“You’re really not enthusiastic at all,” Jesse muttered next to him, stretching his neck, trying to take a look at the information on the page. “I have a good idea. Do you want to go for a drink at night?”

The former knight commander closed the book with a snap, and he finally looked at Jesse. His brows tightened.

“Alright,” he said.

The author has something to say：

The gray parrot may be the only pure idiot in Tumbleweed√

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Grey Parrot: Anyway, I’m already scared to the max, so I can’t be scared anymore!

Grey Parrot: …I still think I’m super good!

Nemo：………………………… (Even I’m a little moved. What’s going on?)