Chapter 36
You Have to Play a Role Too, Right?
Eivass woke up to find himself in a place he was all too familiar with.
It was the Great Cathedral of the Candle Holder in the Red Queen District.
It wasn’t St. Genevieve’s Chapel, where he had previously studied Sacred Skill, but the bustling main hall. He wasn’t the one presiding over the ritual, but rather sitting in the back rows, praying in silence.
Eivass calmly lowered his gaze and found that his attire was no different from what he wore before entering the dungeon. He was still dressed in a white clerical robe, and he wasn’t even wearing an Episcopal Crown.
Was he a newly ordained priest?
… Strange, who am I?
As Eivass was contemplating this, a sharp, grating voice like fingernails on a blackboard suddenly echoed in his mind:
“You are Priest Giulio Alexander, twenty-seven years old.
“Your niece, Lisa, was murdered a month ago, but the Inspection Bureau was unable to find the killer.
“One month after that incident, you received a letter. The letter stated that you ‘did not do as they said’ and threatened to kill your son, Eivass Alexander, next – specifically, today.
“Fortunately, you are a student of Bishop Samuel Mathers, so you have come to the Great Cathedral of the Candle Holder for refuge today with your wife and child…”
The very next moment, a few lines of text appeared before Eivass’s eyes.
【Mandatory Mission—】
【Continue to play the role of Priest Giulio Alexander without being exposed or revealed by anyone other than your teammates (Points: 100)】
【Within four hours, ensure the survival of your son Eivass Alexander (Points: 500)】
【Bonus Missions—】
【Preserve Yourself: Ensure your own survival (Points: 100)】
【The Heart is a Sanctuary: Do not choose to hide in the Great Cathedral of the Candle Holder; proactively go to Law Enforcement Plaza (Points: 100)】
【My Unforgettable Nature: Save those who are bound to die (Points: 100 per person, maximum 300)】
【A Lasting Solution: Find, arrest, or kill the murderer (Points: Maximum 500)】
【My Dearest Jasmine: Ensure the survival of your wife Annie Alexander (Points: 500)】
【Live Longer: Among the nine ritualists, try to be among the last to live or die as late as possible (Points: Maximum 500)】
【The Beginning of Everything: Find the mastermind (Points: Maximum 1000)】
Seeing all of this, Eivass’s pupils contracted sharply.
He suddenly realized something. Eivass’s breath even paused for a moment.
He turned his head and saw his “wife” beside him.
She had platinum blonde shoulder-length hair, an elegant and dignified posture, and wore a pearl-colored silk dress. She originally had a face that exuded gentle intelligence, but at this moment, her face was filled with exhaustion and haggardness, as she prayed with her eyes closed, holding her child in her embrace.
And the boy she held in her arms had platinum blonde hair.
Because he was too young, his hair was still fine and thin, like the soft downy fur of a kitten or puppy.
He clearly did not know what he was about to face, sitting quietly and obediently in his mother’s arms, his sea-blue pupils wide open, gazing ahead in a daze.
Seeing “Eivass” look over, the boy’s eyes widened and he looked back.
“Dad…”
He lowered his voice, speaking in a childish whisper, “You’re spacing out, Dad. You can’t space out… you said.”
Eivass’s heart was in turmoil. He merely nodded hastily, without responding to Little Eivass, and lowered his head to continue praying.
It was then that he truly regained his senses.
1884…
— Wasn’t this 14 years ago?
Eivass was eighteen years old this year. Fourteen years ago, he was four years old. It was the year his parents died.
He was too young back then to clearly remember why his parents had died.
He didn’t even remember his parents’ faces, let alone their names. But in his vague and hazy memory, there did seem to be such a scene…
He was sitting in his mother’s embrace, and before him were many dark figures like giant trees. People were chanting something, and he felt a bit hot, dizzy, and nauseous.
Giulio…
Is this my father’s name?
So my mother’s name was Annie… and I had a cousin named Lisa.
Then, they were all killed.
— The voice said, “did not do as they said.” What did they say?
Why didn’t they kill “Giulio” but instead killed “Eivass”? Yet in historical reality, Eivass was fine, while Giulio and Annie died—what’s the difference here?
Even though that Apostle repeatedly emphasized that the ritual content was fictional… Eivass couldn’t shake the feeling that it looked familiar.
For a moment, he couldn’t distinguish what was real and what was fictional.
First, he needed to confirm… whether his hazy memory was correct.
Thinking this, Eivass looked back at Little Eivass, opened his eyes, and asked in a low voice:
“…Eivass, are you feeling dizzy now?”
“A little, Dad…”
The little boy replied obediently.
“What?”
Hearing this, his mother Annie suddenly started, opened her emerald-green pupils, and quickly placed her hand on Little Eivass’s forehead, scolding in a low voice, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“How is it?”
Eivass immediately leaned over.
Annie frowned and tested her forehead again with her hand.
She said uncertainly, “It seems… a little warm. But I’m not quite sure…”
“It’s alright, let me,” Eivass said gently, taking the younger ‘himself’ from Annie’s embrace into his own arms.
He reached out and placed his hand on Little Eivass’s heart.
— Illuminate Spell.
The next moment, a soft, water-like radiance seeped from his palm. Warm energy poured continuously into “Little Eivass”‘s body.
Fortunately, they were sitting in the back row and did not disturb anyone else.
The moment he cast Illuminate Spell, Eivass immediately realized… he was using his own Mana Pool, not his father “Giulio”‘s.
A priest should at least have completed their first advancement. There was no way they would only have a meager seven points of Light Mana.
He poured in a full point of Mana before stopping his Illuminate Spell.
Eivass’s mood grew heavier.
Because he did not feel any trace of illness from “Little Eivass.”
If it were someone else, they might have assumed it was Little Eivass’s imagination or that the child simply didn’t want to be there and was speaking casually.
But precisely because it was Eivass, he knew that “Little Eivass” was not speaking randomly… in fact, he was being conservative.
He remembered.
His head was foggy then, and it felt like something solid was hitting his skull. He felt intensely hot all over, his breathing became difficult, and even the air he exhaled from his nose felt like it burned his nasal cavity. It was like when you have a cold, and you’re tightly wrapped in a blanket, rolled into a solid blanket roll, and every beat of your heart is clear, reaching all the way to your fingertips.
However, Little Eivass was a strong child.
He sensed his parents’ anxiety and thus did not vocalize his discomfort, enduring it silently.
Later, the younger Eivass gradually lost consciousness.
Seeing this familiar scene, the memories in Eivass’s mind were gradually pieced together.
More and more details became clear:
He realized that the problem his “son” was facing was definitely not simple. Being able to directly cause unconsciousness, this was already a potentially fatal condition.
However, he indeed couldn’t detect any illness from Little Eivass…
“It’s not an illness?”
His wife, Annie, seeing this, frowned with some anxiety.
She looked at her child, unsure of what to do.
She fidgeted and moved closer, her brow furrowed in thought, and proposed a possibility: “I was wondering… is there a possibility that the person who sent you the threatening letter actually used a curse?”
Hearing this.
Eivass’s movements suddenly paused.
He looked deeply at his wife “Annie.”
— Her perspective and stance in saying this were clearly not right.
Eivass held the younger Eivass in his arms, letting his face bury into his chest.
Then, Eivass looked at “Annie” and leaned close to her ear.
He spoke softly, word by word, in a low voice, “I think… you are ‘Lulu,’ aren’t you.”
Seeing Annie’s emerald-green pupils suddenly widen with panic, her legs immediately pressed together, she sat up straight, and her body subconsciously shifted away from Eivass.
Eivass couldn’t help but sigh, feeling an inexplicable sense of guilt for bullying a child.
…It was too easy to guess.
Clearly, a girl who had never been a mother.
There were too many loopholes… Aren’t you a “prodigy” of The Path of Beauty? Don’t prodigies learn acting?
But conversely.
It was precisely because he had so easily identified “Lulu” beside him that he truly realized the ritual had begun.
So, he immediately perked up.
Eivass did not want to reveal that the child in his arms was the younger ‘himself.’ Therefore, Eivass showed no sign of anxiety or concern in his heart, but instead displayed a confident and composed gentle smile.
He gently pulled “Annie,” who was subconsciously leaning back to avoid him, back to his side.
“Don’t move. If I’m not mistaken, your mission also involves ‘playing a role’… You are my wife now.”
His deep, magnetic voice echoed word by word in the ear of the panicked-looking “Annie”:
“Don’t be afraid, I am ‘Fox.’
“I believe you definitely didn’t choose to abandon ‘Devotion,’ did you? I will protect you. This is my mission.”
…Among them.
Eivass added in his mind.
I asked the editor, and the update schedule for the new book is too aggressive; it can’t wait until the first of next month to go on sale, so it’s been moved up to the 23rd of this month! I’ll try to update more then!
Remember to keep reading, my brothers and sisters!
