Chapter 963
Are You Here to Kill Me?
“…Young Master Eivass?”
Supervisor Cornelius heard the familiar voice and was suddenly startled.
He turned back abruptly and saw Eivass, who had appeared in the corner at some unknown time, slowly removing his hood.
Eivass’s eyes were not their usual clear, transparent emerald green, nor did they flash with a warm, sun-like golden red. Instead, they were infused with an eerie purple mist.
—Undoubtedly, it was Eivass.
Even though he wasn’t wearing the temple-style church attire at the moment, but simply a set of loose casual clothes convenient for movement… Oswald, who had watched Eivass grow up, would naturally not mistake him.
He was greatly surprised: “You… shouldn’t be…”
The old butler, like a wild wolf, suddenly realized something and swallowed the remaining half of his words.
“Should be what, Mr. Oswald?”
Eivass let out a light laugh: “Should be in the military camp, should be by the sea, should be inside the Spirit Tower?”
His gaze bypassed Oswald and looked towards his foster father, James Moriarty.
“—Is that what you were thinking?”
Eivass said word by word.
Old James looked unwell at this moment.
It wasn’t due to injury, illness, or lack of sleep… but his temperament had lost that light and mysterious feeling.
He seemed to be in a bad mood, the corners of his mouth slightly downturned, losing that unhurried, seemingly smiling yet not smiling demeanor. His temperament had become more solemn, more serious. It was like a nonchalant gambler who never took you seriously suddenly sitting up to play cards with you.
If anything, it was like a gray, phantom-like spider hidden in the depths of a spiderweb, transforming into a black, shiny rhinoceros beetle. The hazy, dream-like veil was gone, and the whole person had become clearer.
—Or rather, to put it more clearly, it was like a CG-like monster suddenly having a health bar underneath.
“Mr. Oswald temporarily lost some of his Path of Devotion power because he used his Devotion power on someone else.”
Old James replied calmly for him.
“Is that so, Mr. Oswald?”
Eivass looked back at Oswald calmly: “But if that’s the case—why do you look ashamed?”
Oswald’s already lowered head sank even lower. He remained silent, looking increasingly distressed.
Eivass’s words were not an interrogation, but a concern.
But for the old Elf, Eivass was more than just a child he had watched grow up. Eivass had once been the Pope, and although he had since abdicated, his casual words still felt like a stern reprimand from the Pope wearing the Supreme Holy Crown and holding the holy staff.
The systems of Professionals and Inheritors were fundamentally different.
Once the heart corresponding to a Path was lost, the Inheritor’s power would be lost. It was more idealistic; if someone believed firmly in a Path, their power would grow by leaps and bounds; but if someone originally believed in the Path of Devotion, and one day suddenly stopped believing in it entirely, then all their Path of Devotion power would dissipate as a result.
The Professional System from Great Philosopher and Hourglass was more stable. However, it hadn’t changed the mechanism of gaining power; instead, it solidified the Path’s influence on the human heart in a more mechanical and thorough way—that is, after reaching the corresponding Path level, the influence of the Path on one’s mind would continuously increase, thereby making it “not easy to suddenly lose the heart for the corresponding Path,” and thus not lose power. The side effect was a greater risk of losing control and becoming a puppet of the Path.
The Pope’s Guard naturally belonged to the Inheritor system.
Therefore, when a Guard’s power suddenly weakened, it meant he might have deviated from the Path of Devotion, and his mind had become impure—according to the Church’s rules, Oswald should be immediately removed from the holy scriptures and dismissed. Until he regained his strength, he could not carry out any external activities in the name of the Church, nor could he leave the Church’s sphere of influence—that is, leave the city.
This was essentially house arrest. It just happened to have the scope of an entire city, and one could also do some volunteer work or community activities to try and regain some form.
This was actually considered a relatively gentle disposition. If one completely lost their Path of Devotion power, they would be branded with a black mark and imprisoned.
This was terrifying within the entire social system of the Church. For Elves, who were very concerned about their reputation, this was even more painful than a death sentence. It would mean publicly declaring to everyone, “This person has deviated from the Path of Devotion, so do not believe anything he says from now on.”
Oswald could still use High-Tier Divine Arts, which indicated that he still retained at least some power from the Path of Devotion; he could fight Supervisor Cornelius to a draw, meaning his Path of Balance power had not been lost, and he was still a Fifth Tier.
Oswald definitely knew the Child of the Moon’s weakness. Even if he didn’t, Old James would surely tell him.
He could now not even use the Fourth Tier’s Burning Ray… this indicated that Oswald’s Path Power from the Path of Devotion had at least declined to the Third Tier, or even lower.
It had only been two months since Oswald was last seen in the Church.
…What had happened in these two months?
Eivass’s question landed, but Oswald did not respond.
After a perhaps brief, perhaps long silence, Old James slowly spoke: “Please excuse us for a moment, Mr. Oswald.
“Can you keep watch for us, to prevent anyone from approaching us?”
“But you—”
Oswald looked up in surprise at the old man beside him.
Old James smiled calmly, lightly passing his left-hand cane to his right hand: “This is a matter between Moriartys—it’s not appropriate for you to be involved.”
He looked at Eivass, as if asking for confirmation: “Isn’t that right, Eivass?”
Eivass could understand his foster father’s words.
The duty of a guardian Elf was to protect the “Moriarty” family from dying out, a contract established in the past. And the special inheritance mode of the Moriarty Family meant that there was essentially only one “Moriarty,” while the rest were merely nominal adopted sons and daughters.
Therefore, Oswald had always stayed by Old James’s side, always intending to protect this old man who had narrowly escaped death several times.
—His decision was, of course, correct.
And what Old James meant was…
“This is a battle between Moriartys. Whoever wins will be the new Moriarty. Therefore, as a guardian Elf, it is not appropriate for you to act against your old master, nor against the new master.”
In other words, what Old James meant was: “You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?”
“—You are correct.”
Eivass nodded gently with a smile and replied.
Upon hearing this, Old James not only did not curse or reprimand him, but instead smiled silently.
Oswald looked at Eivass, then at Old James. He suddenly shivered—because these two people, who had no blood relation, had such similar smiles on their faces.
It was like looking in a mirror.
The old Elf’s expression was complicated.
He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, or perhaps to offer a wish, or to beg for something. But in the end, he said nothing.
He swayed his body, as if something had been drawn out of his frame. The old Elf, like a withered tree, let out a low “Yes” in a suddenly hoarse voice, then turned and left.
—Besides this, he really didn’t know what else he should say.
(End of chapter)
