Backlund, originally 18 Drahair Street in the Northwest District, now 32 Yule Street in the North District, in front of the "Demoness Gourmet Restaurant."
Longzerl stared blankly at the "home" before him that had long since become completely unrecognizable. He could no longer restrain his tears and broke down, crying loudly.
Beside him, Groselle, Shatas, Snowman, and Mobet all wanted to say a few words of comfort, but whether because they were poor with words, hot-tempered, only knew how to pray, or simply didn't know what to say, in the end none of them spoke.
They let Longzerl vent his sorrow freely.
After quite a while, Longzerl wiped his tears and asked Ebner, "I want to buy this house back… how much would it cost?"
"In this location, at least 900 pounds, and since this shop's business is extremely good right now, the owner will definitely raise the price." Ebner glanced at the 'Fool''s "Gourmet Blessed One" busy in the back kitchen and continued, "However, a few months later the price will definitely drop quite a bit. Buying it then would be more cost-effective."
Once war broke out, real estate in the city would immediately lose its value.
Hearing this, Longzerl seemed to regain his motivation and said earnestly, "Mr. Bryan, I will fulfill my promise and work for you… as long as you don't mind that I've become an ordinary person…"
The "potion ingredients" he had used to advance inside Groselle's Travels were all products of imagination. The moment he left the Travelogue, the characteristics disappeared, and he reverted to being an ordinary person.
"I can first provide you with a 'Arbiter' Beyonder characteristic. I believe you'll be able to master it quickly, and my territory happens to be lacking a capable 'Judge.'" As Ebner spoke, he had already arranged a job for Longzerl.
As for the cost of the Arbiter characteristic, it would naturally be deducted from his future salary.
"All right… I can take up the post at any time." Longzerl, once a Punishment Knight, was no stranger to the profession of judge. After all, he had deliberately played such a role in a rural court within the Travelogue.
"Don't you want to go see your family's descendants? They should welcome you back…" Ebner asked.
Longzerl fell silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Forget it… I have nothing now. It wouldn't be appropriate to go see those juniors like this…"
He didn't want them to take him for a fraud, or a poor relative who had come knocking, so he planned to accumulate some property before going.
Thinking of this, he knelt down, kissed the ground in front of his old house, then stood up and returned to Ebner's side.
Seeing this, Ebner didn't try to persuade him further. Instead, he glanced at the Fourth Epoch noble youth Mobet, then looked around and said, "All right, you all enjoy some food here first. I'll take Mobet and Shatas to meet one of Mobet's elders…"
"Why can't we go?"
"Why do I have to go?"
Two questions rang out in succession. The former came from the honest giant Groselle, while the latter was voiced by the irritable elf Shatas.
Speaking of which, all of them were currently under psychological invisibility. Otherwise, with Groselle's size and appearance, official Beyonders would have already come knocking.
Ebner first glanced at Shatas and said with a smile, "As Mobet's wife, you should at least go meet his elder, shouldn't you?"
With his eyesight, it wasn't hard to see that during the period after 'King of the North' Yurisian was taken down, the relationship between Shatas and Mobet had made substantive progress.
Hearing Ebner's words, Shatas immediately became embarrassed and furious, slapping Mobet on the head and muttering, "It's all your fault! I'm not ready yet!"
After being hit, Mobet smiled apologetically and said, "You don't have to go either…"
Before he could finish speaking, Shatas cut him off: "If you don't take me, who are you planning to take?"
Uh… the former Swindler Mobet immediately ran out of words.
Ebner ignored the couple's bickering. He looked at Groselle and Snowman and said with a half-smile, "The person we're going to meet is currently at the headquarters of the Evernight Goddess Church—the Serenity Cathedral… Are you sure you want to follow?"
"Then… then forget it…" Groselle scratched his head awkwardly, then asked with some concern, "But will Shatas and Mobet be all right?"
"Don't worry. I still have some standing with the Evernight Goddess." Ebner casually pulled open a teleportation gate, and on the other side one could faintly see a black, Gothic, spire-topped cathedral standing amid snow-covered mountains—the cliff where the Wintry County cathedral was located.
After briefly disguising Groselle's appearance, letting them enter a private room in the Demoness Gourmet Restaurant, and ordering a few dishes, Ebner finally said to Shatas and Mobet, "Follow me in."
Mobet took Shatas's hand and asked as they walked, "Which elder of mine are we going to meet?"
"Naturally, the 'old man.'" Ebner answered with a smile as he stepped through the gate.
"The old man?! He's still alive?!" Mobet exclaimed with emotion, then turned to introduce the old man's temperament to Shatas.
...
Wintry County, inside the Serenity Cathedral, the headquarters of the Evernight Goddess Church.
Leonard Mitchell, with black hair and green eyes, returned to his room and took off his black trench coat.
"It seems you passed smoothly…" At this moment, an aged voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
"Old man, you're awake?" Leonard exclaimed in surprise, then realized he was inside the Serenity Cathedral and lowered his voice. "But I always felt the inspection was just a formality…"
"It was just a formality… Do you really think your 'transformation' could fool the Evernight Goddess?" Pallez snorted.
Your 'transformation wand' was forged by Rhine—how could the Evernight Goddess possibly not know? Not to mention that although your two former colleagues have both established connections with 'The Fool,' they still believe in the Evernight Goddess.
Leonard's face stiffened, and he couldn't help asking, "Old man, you knew about that wand's effect all along?"
"Of course. I knew the moment you got it," Pallez replied with a voice tinged with amusement.
"Then why didn't you remind me?" Leonard demanded angrily.
"If I'd reminded you, would you not have used it?" Pallez retorted.
Leonard was instantly rendered speechless. Given the circumstances at the time, in order to directly see Ince Zangwill's location, he definitely would have used it.
"In fact, the reason I didn't tell you in advance was because I was afraid that at the critical moment you'd hesitate and miss the opportunity…" Pallez said, then suddenly changed his tone and laughed. "But in truth, your best solution at the time would have been to pray to 'The Fool,' asking Him to provide you with a way to 'see' Ince."
Leonard was just about to thank the old man for his thoughtfulness when he heard the latter part and almost burst out swearing on the spot.
But at that moment, the space before him suddenly rippled like water, and then countless patches of color—from light to dark—outlined the figures of two men and one woman.
Leonard only recognized the leading old monster Ebner Bryan. As for the other gentleman—with flaxen hair, deep brown eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips—and the woman with gentle features unlike those of the Northern Continent, her long hair tied into a ponytail, he had no impression of them at all.
As for Ebner's arrival, he felt both emotional and astonished.
What moved him was that Ebner dared to freely "move about" inside the Serenity Cathedral, acting as he pleased—clearly confirming how close his relationship with the Evernight Goddess was.
What astonished him was that he didn't understand why Ebner would bring two strangers to see him…
Hmm, on closer look, that woman even seemed to be a pure-blooded elf?
Just as Leonard was about to ask, Pallez's surprised voice rang out directly in reality for the first time:
"Mobet? You little brat—you're actually still alive?"
For this kind of greeting—hearing the voice but not seeing the person—Mobet was clearly very familiar. He glanced at Leonard, who was still in a daze, then pulled Shatas to perform a salute and said, "Old man, it's been two thousand years. You're still not dead either."
At the side, Ebner looked left and right and deeply felt that this might be the Zoroast family's unique way of greeting one another…
(End of chapter)