novelraw Chapter 269: The Secret of the Sardin Matriarchy People
Chapter 269: The Secret of the Sardin Matriarchy People
"Alright, Mr. Fisher, then I can start dealing with the scene now... Oh right, those staff members of the Nazarene Development Company seemed to carry some high-ring magic that hasn't been used. If you want them, you can take them all. I can use other Cardinals to forge magical items."
Forge magical items?
That miraculous?
Before Fisher could open his mouth to ask, he suddenly noticed that, unknown when, dense, stacking micro-machines like a layer of black tide had crawled out from every corner of the room. Under his astonished gaze, those machines rapidly grabbed and pulled together the bloodstains and shredded flesh scattered everywhere on the ground, piecing those skins together, progressively turning into expressionless, sluggish-looking humanoid figures.
Looking at their appearance, they unexpectedly resembled the dead Development Company staff members and the Nazarene Overseas Covert Affairs Bureau members by eighty to ninety percent.
"Although there are still many differences in details, Mya doesn't recognize the people sent by Naris, this is already enough... And for the Naris people far away beyond the horizon, after Erwinde dies, those magics used for communication will also lose their effect. Ultimately, they will only push the blame for the casualties onto the Sardin Matriarchy and Mya."
After saying these words, the Lord Cardinal slowly floated to Fisher's side, handing him magical rings flickering with light one by one. Fisher didn't check exactly what magic was engraved on those rings, merely casually putting them into his pocket. Then, he walked up to that group of "simulated Naris people" composed of machinery, observing for a long time but finding no flaws whatsoever.
But just as Fisher was clicking his tongue in wonder while evaluating downwards, he suddenly discovered that the magic crest attached to the hand of one of the humanoid figures wearing the skin of the Nazarene Overseas Covert Affairs Bureau seemed to have been activated. At this very moment, ripples of the World's Echo were still slightly quivering above it.
This meant that the Nazarene Covert Affairs Bureau, or rather Erwinde who possessed them, had sent some message back.
Fisher's expression changed, and he opened his mouth to the Lord Cardinal, saying,"Wait, this magic has already been activated. Before this magic crest lost its effect, a message was sent back to Naris..."
The Lord Cardinal's swaying mechanical body paused slightly for a moment. He immediately flew to Fisher's side and incessantly evaluated the Cardinal wrapped in human skin flesh. But seemingly because his body was completely composed of machinery, no matter how he looked, he couldn't see that the magic had been activated.
The Lord Cardinal didn't express an opinion, but Fisher seemed to have already realized what Erwinde wanted to do. He rubbed his brow with quite a headache, sighing,
"This bastard... He knows about you and me on the island, and also knows we are highly likely to reach a cooperation. To avoid falling into the deadlock of being hunted down by the two of us joining forces, he probably reported my whereabouts through the puppets he possessed to the Naris headquarters."
"..."
The light on the Lord Cardinal's body blinked. After the database in the mind analyzed for several seconds, he then asked Fisher quite rigidly,
"The Lord of Fate hasn't specifically discussed your grievances with Naris to me, and I haven't updated my information database at this time, so I am unclear about the significance of Erwinde doing this... Mr. Fisher, are the consequences of Naris knowing where you are very serious?"
Because of their special functions, the cases the Nazarene Covert Affairs Bureau was responsible for were usually highly related to the nation. In the past, many high-level cases in the Covert Affairs Bureau required the heads of parliament and the king to jointly make a final decision.
But based on Naris's current situation, the object of their reporting would only be that newly enthroned Empress Elizabeth, whose power was like the midday sun... Moreover, I'm afraid that this afternoon, the news of himself fooling around with a group of female pirates on Patlusion Island would be delivered to Elizabeth's desk.
Thinking of this, Fisher instantly felt a piercing chill spread down his spine, because he knew deeply that Elizabeth would absolutely find him regardless of any cost.
"It's... not entirely fine."
Fisher inevitably felt somewhat guilty when stubbornly saying these words.
Mhm, anyway, up to this second so far it's still fine, just unknown if it will be fine later...
"That is good, Mr. Fisher."
The Lord Cardinal fundamentally couldn't decipher the emotions hidden in Fisher's words. However, Fisher originally didn't want the people of the Creator's Society to meddle in too many of his affairs anyway, even if they showed a certain goodwill towards him right now.
After concluding this conversation, the expressions of that group of "Naris people" disguised by machinery wearing human skins gradually became vivid under the Lord Cardinal's instructions, and they each walked to various places in the room to sit down properly. The previous attack and the hideous bloodstains all over the floor seemed to have completely never happened, even the smell in the room was cleaned up perfectly clean.
The traces that might have been left behind in the room were swept away completely. Their natural movements further made the entire room vivid, making Fisher and the Lord Cardinal suspended in mid-air look like two invisible passersby watching a perfect play.
The Cardinal Completion Handbook, huh...
Fisher silently took this bizarre scene before his eyes to heart, then turned his head to look at the Lord Cardinal and asked,
"Oh right, how should I contact you when I arrive at the Northern Border... Or will you know as soon as I land on shore?"
"No, if it were before the great battle with the Lord of Life, perhaps I could still achieve this. But I lost too many Cardinals in the previous battle with him. And right now I temporarily have no way to manufacture new Cardinals, because the raw materials for manufacturing Cardinals have all been used up, and there is no way to replenish them in a short time..."
"However, after you arrive at the Northern Border, you can use this Beacon Card to contact me. It will guide you towards the Cardinal closest to you. At that time, I will sense your consciousness, there is no need to worry."
As the Lord Cardinal spoke, he also controlled Arinur, the Cloud Cat-kin behind him, to hand him a card made of metal. There was still no light whatsoever above the card, but just like the card he gave him previously, it only needed a press on the card's surface to activate.
"Understood."
"Alright, then we shall see each other again in the Northern Border, Mr. Fisher. Later I still have to bring this group of Cloud Cat-kin back to their tribe, this is a troublesome matter... You should also quickly handle the aftermath and leave here, the service staff below will also recover consciousness very soon."
The Lord Cardinal swayed his body. A round, eyeball-like body making such an action looked somewhat comical. After Fisher nodded towards him, he flew back into the arms of the Cloud Cat-kin Arinur, and quietly left the room following them.
And Fisher in the room originally wanted to open the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook to confirm the rewards he obtained just now through researching the Cloud Cat-kin. But sensing the presence of that group of "Naris people" beside him, he suddenly recalled the advice regarding paying more attention to keeping the Completion Handbook hidden that the Lord Cardinal just told him. So he had no choice but to also exit the room, preparing to leave the hotel.
Outside the hotel it was silent. It was unknown where that group of Cloud Cat-kin and the Lord Cardinal had already gone to. The service staff completely devoid of consciousness below hadn't awakened yet at this time, still lying haphazardly in the hotel lobby. And according to the Lord Cardinal's words, after they awakened, an extra piece of memory would be added to their minds as a replacement.
Fisher just pushed the door open and walked out of the hotel. Then he wrapped Ocie's cloak around himself again, walking quickly into a deserted alley beside it. Only after he had aimlessly walked through quite a few streets did he lean against a deserted alleyway margin, opening the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook in his breast.
Still like usual, several lines of illusory text emerged into his line of sight again.
[Cloud Cat-kin Biological Research Stage One Reward Unlocked]
[Constitution +2, Cold Resistance +10, Snow Mountain Affinity]
[Snow Mountain Affinity: Your attraction towards the Phoenix-kin and the Snow Mountain Familiars has obtained a minor enhancement. Hurry and research more snow mountain demi-human girls! (Pant pant)]
[Snow Mountain Familiars Research Bonus: When you encounter the next demi-human of the Snow Mountain Familiars, you will obtain an extra reminder; the rewards obtained from the next research of Snow Mountain Familiars are increased by 20%]
Originally, Fisher directly skipped over the Constitution that had been increasing previously without any noticeable changes. Yet unexpectedly this time, along with the lighting up of that illusory text, Fisher suddenly felt his entire body become abnormally scorching, just like countless erupting volcanoes bursting out their heat within his body.
He took a deep breath and leaned against the edge of the wall. The muscles on his body also tensed inch by inch along with the transmission of that scorching heat. Feeling the power surging wildly like a volcano within his body, he gently closed his eyes, until a very, very long time later, did he slowly exhale a breath of hot air, relaxing down...
"Ahhh! Fisher! Did you throw me into the fire!? You ungrateful bastard, you stinky human, you can't just because I said a few facts about you... Eh, you're right here. Wait, what exactly happened just now? Why was I... what's wrong with you again?"
"...Shut up."
Right at this moment, Eimhart, who had been shocked into unconsciousness by the Lord Cardinal previously, violently popped out from Fisher's pocket. While cursing, he turned his head looking for Fisher's figure, only to discover that he had flown out from Fisher's body.
At this time, dense specks of scorching steam were constantly rising from Fisher's body, scalding Eimhart who was originally leaning against his body awake.
"Oh, heavens, this isn't right. Why does it feel like the body of yours has become stronger again? I've never seen such a situation of rank rapidly sliding upward... you guy, no matter where you look, you're perfectly in line with a Dragon-kin! The reproduction desire, physical strength..."
Fisher looked toward his palm. He gently stretched it. With the passing of that numb and tingly sensation, he increasingly felt his body light, with boundless strength, just like the noticeable effect the very first time he obtained a stamina bonus from the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook here.
If Fisher previously only had the level of the lowest constitution of a rank 7 Dragon-kin, now he had more or less reached the average constitution of an adult Dragon-kin, which is rank 8, belonging to the level of just breaking away from the beginner stage of the Transcendent rank.
Seeing Eimhart darting glances here and there at his much stronger body, to prevent him from asking all sorts of questions regarding his losing consciousness just now, Fisher hastily took out the Cangniao-kin sigil he just obtained from his breast and placed it before his eyes, asking him,
"Do you recognize the text on this thing?"
"What? Are you joking? Who am I? I am the great Sir Book Artifact Eimhart! What text is there that I don't recognize... Wait, let me see. This is the ancient Cangniao-kin clan emblem! Where did you get this from? This thing was a treasure bestowed upon those six tribes by the Phoenix King back then, the proof of their allegiance! Quick, let me see what's written on it? I already can't hold back, quick, move it a bit closer!"
Sure enough, after Fisher took out that sigil written with ancient text, Eimhart's single eye lit up just like the streetlights by the streets of Naris at night, throwing all previous matters to the back of his mind, impatiently reading the content on it.
As a relic used to record content, reading and recording unknown knowledge was Eimhart's innate instinct.
After all, he didn't need to eat and drink like other creatures, so he was a bit interested in these things.
And the re-relaxed Fisher returned the Completion Handbook back into his breast. While hurrying towards the location where Alajina and Ocie were previously with Eimhart, he listened to him recount the content on that Cangniao-kin sigil.
"Ahem, this records some matters regarding the Cangniao-kin following the Phoenix-kin to defeat enemies and receiving fiefdoms. So the six familiars enfeoffed back then had a ranking, the Cangniao-kin was exactly ranked first... Hmm, then, they were dispatched along with the Giant Troll-kin by the Phoenix King to assist the Ice Prince, who loved fighting the most among her three children."
"Ah, the Ice Prince's fiefdom was at the southernmost tip of the Northern Border, seemingly to prevent the second invasion of the Chaos-kin? Strange, could it be that the Chaos-kin came from within the sea back then?"
Listening to Eimhart's introduction, Fisher's footsteps suddenly paused.
"Giant Troll-kin?"
"That's right, Giant Troll-kin... Hmm, humans nowadays probably rarely hear this term anymore. Their numbers are so scarce they can be compared to the already extinct Phoenix-kin. However, in certain miscellaneous biographies of the Northern Border I've recorded, it seems quite a few humans who entered the snow mountains have seen traces of the so-called 'Yeti' inside... I don't know if that's the Giant Troll-kin."
Actually, Fisher felt puzzled not because it was the first time he heard this term. As early as when he encountered Eliog previously, she had mentioned this sort of demi-human. And based on a great demon like Eliog's characteristics, demi-humans that could appear from her mouth were generally the type that were quite capable of fighting...
In actuality, he suddenly caught a bit of inspiration.
He still remembered when researching the Lion-kin previously, the Lion-kin had a tag called [Yin and Yang Reversal], which was why the phenomenon of females being much stronger than males appeared among the Lion-kin. The Giant Troll-kin equally possessed this tag.
The problem lay in that the place where the Giant Troll-kin were enfeoffed was exactly located within the borders of today's Sardin Matriarchy. And for generations, the phenomenon of women being much taller and stronger than men appeared among the people there, which was how the female-superior customs Fisher saw today were formed.
Then is there a possibility that the humans of the Sardin Matriarchy are all the offspring born of humans and giant trolls? Because the Giant Troll-kin's rank is higher than humans', as long as they bear offspring with humans, they will continue to retain their ancestor Giant Troll-kin's traits?
Fisher opened his mouth, suddenly feeling for a moment that this conclusion was highly possible. He seemed to have discovered a secret regarding the people of the Sardin Matriarchy, completely forgotten by history.