novelraw Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter 6. Promise
West of the city, the Adventurers and Merchants District.
Inside a three-story orphanage building covering 200 square meters.
The mottled yet tidy walls, a small courtyard swept spotlessly clean, five sets of tables and chairs, and several swings and seesaws already worn and old. This was the first scene O’Brien saw when he walked into the orphanage.
“Sir, the children are still asleep… Do you need me to wake them?”
Zack looked somewhat nervously at the powerful man who had stood motionless ever since entering the orphanage.
“No need.”
Before coming in, O’Brien had already clearly taken in the heartbeat of everyone here.
His purpose in coming was merely to confirm the authenticity of the situation. Aside from a few children in weaker health, most were quite healthy, which showed they had been well cared for.
That was enough!
“Tell me about your matter. What task did that vampire assign you?”
O’Brien sat down on the bench in the courtyard and closed his eyes to ease the fatigue of the long day.
“Sir, please wait a moment. I’ll prepare some tea for you first.”
Zack hurried into the kitchen on the south side of the courtyard, took out some tea leaves and utensils, then hastily heated water. After placing the brewed tea on the table before O’Brien, he cautiously continued:
“Sir, it’s like this. That intelligence merchant told me that about 30 nautical miles southeast of Coral Reef Island, on the seabed, two boxes of magical scrolls from the Silver Scale were buried. But in that stretch of sea, there’s an enormous number of Ghost-Eyed Sharks.”
“That lord told me to recount my entire situation to you truthfully, and then you would help us… That’s all the information I currently know.”
Zack poured out in one breath all the information he had obtained from Kyle.
“Oh, right!”
He suddenly slapped his forehead, took out the grimy cloth pouch from his chest again, and carefully placed the three dim magic crystals onto O’Brien’s table.
“This is the consultation fee that lord returned, and it’s also all the money I have right now, to be used to purchase salvage equipment.”
After speaking, Zack held his breath and quietly waited for O’Brien’s reply.
O’Brien slightly opened his eyes, his gaze lingering briefly on Zack’s tense face. Since he had already confirmed there was no problem, he naturally would not go back on his word.
“Then make preparations to set sail as soon as possible. Inform me before departure. I’ll be staying at the Rhino Tavern these few days. You should be able to find me there at night.”
O’Brien rose and vanished from the courtyard as if teleporting, without any intention of exchanging pleasantries with Zack.
Zack stared blankly at the still-steaming teacup, unable to recover for a long while…
When he confirmed that this hope—capable of saving the team, saving this ‘home’—had finally found its footing, the exhaustion from days of running about, the grievances and pressure, seemed to erupt all at once. Zack collapsed onto his back in the courtyard as if his bones had been pulled out of him, indescribable relief and joy washing over him.
His eyes could no longer hold back the tears. He laughed and cried at the same time. After a while, thunderous snores echoed through the courtyard.
————
With Kyle, the local snake, around, Caitlin and her little boyfriend Dean naturally no longer needed to stay in that cramped inn.
Kyle directly brought them to a secluded villa in the wealthy district of the eastern city. This was his largest foothold here.
If O’Brien were here, he would surely curse Kyle as a liar full of nonsense.
And Kyle would certainly curse right back. A dignified Grandmaster (Earl) blacksmith, dressing like a beggar every day—what was he pretending to be poor for!
Exquisite sculptures, magnificent magical fountains, and paintings hanging along the corridors that were clearly the work of masters. Such an extravagantly luxurious villa—perhaps the entire Coral Thorn City could hardly find a few places that could rival it.
The spacious villa had no servants or butlers at all. It was entirely maintained by expensive alchemical puppets, so there was no need to worry about being disturbed.
“My dear little brother, is this where your sister will live from now on?” Caitlin’s eyes sparkled as she hugged Kyle tightly.
“Stop pretending. If you liked living in a place like this, you wouldn’t have run off to that remote little town. The family owns so many properties—pick any one at random and it wouldn’t be worse than this, and it would be much safer.”
Kyle shook his head helplessly. “But since you’re here this time, just stay at ease. I’ll regularly send over fresh plasma. I guarantee it’ll be a hundred times better than the inferior stuff you drank in that backwater place.”
“Don’t worry, it’s all bought with real gold and silver. I hold shares in all the major hospitals and clinics in the city.”
Seeing his sister looking as if she was afraid of being misunderstood by Dean, Kyle could barely stand to watch. Women in love were truly beyond saving…
“Take these two.” Kyle handed Caitlin a magic bracelet and a pitch-black wooden token.
“This isn’t like your remote countryside. There are countless hidden experts here, even I can’t see through them all. This bracelet can effectively reduce the suppression sunlight has on a vampire’s physique, and it can also conceal dark aura and disguise appearance. As long as it’s not some freak like a Paladin, even a Witch Hunter standing face to face would find it hard to detect your vampire identity!”
“This wooden token is the credential of my ‘intelligence merchant’ identity. I’m fairly well-known here, and the strong here will more or less give me some face. Besides that, you can use it to seek help at any shop in the city bearing the Silver Moon mark. It’ll also keep blind forces from harassing you.”
After arranging matters for his sister, Kyle turned his gaze to Dean, who had long since grown dizzy from looking around. The young man, who had never seen the world, was staring at the luxurious decorations with a face full of curiosity.
Yet no matter how curious he was, he only craned his neck to look and did not think of reaching out to touch anything. It seemed his sister’s education of him had been quite successful.
What was this? A child groom?
But since he wanted to become a son-in-law of the Aiven family, there was plenty he would need to learn.
“Kid, if you don’t want your future Paladin mentor to beat you to death, you’d better wipe that worthless look off your face!”
Dean quickly composed his expression and scratched his head. Seeing all this for the first time indeed struck him strongly, but whether he liked it that much was another matter.
He preferred that small town nestled against mountains and water, and its peaceful, tranquil atmosphere. This empty, desolate villa devoid of human presence made him feel very insecure.
Especially those exquisite sculptures and paintings—at night, if his sister weren’t here, he would probably think he had walked into a haunted house…
No wonder stories always said vampires’ residences were gloomy and terrifying, enough to scare people half to death. This simply didn’t look like a place meant for humans to live in.
Kyle did not care about Dean’s little thoughts and continued on his own:
“I’ll help you find your teacher. It may take some time. But whether he accepts you or not isn’t something I can guarantee, so prepare yourself mentally! The requirements for a Paladin are far harder than you imagine. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a legendary profession comparable to that of a mage.”
“Big Brother Kyle, don’t worry. I won’t disappoint Sister or you!” Dean promised very solemnly.
“Then that’s it! You and Caitlin rest first. I have things to attend to!”
Kyle flashed Dean a wicked smile and, amid the latter’s horrified expression, transformed into a puddle of blood and vanished······