Sylvester did not randomly pick the boy to give money to. Instead, he looked for the one who looked the most vulnerable and hurt. So when he saw one boy with a patched tunic and pants, he felt some pity.
"Lord Bard! You're lord bard, right? I want to…"
'What the fuck is this?' Sylvester did not curse much, but at that moment, he felt a sudden rush of smell in his nose and mouth that curses came out themselves. 'Why am I feeling such a strong odor of death? It's like that cave years ago!'
Bitterness, so much so that it could affect one's mind and suffocate—Sylvester was alarmed.
Just then, he noticed the kid running toward him. Hands protruded out as if wanting to hug, but they didn't appear to be spread wide enough to embrace a man of Sylvester's stature. It was strange to do to a stranger, whether a kid or not.
That alerted Sylvester to the extreme, and he prepared to react at a moment's notice as he clenched the Spear of Infinity on his back.
He did exactly that when the smell of death increased the closer the kid got to him. 'It's him, right?"
But he still could not bring himself to simply kill the kid, seeing the boy was young, maybe ten at most. He wondered how a little boy could be deadly to him. What was the boy hiding, or was he some sort of a midget wizard?
However, soon the odor of death reached the same level as it did back in that cave years ago when he encountered the bloodling. This meant that he would die if he didn't do something, no questions asked.
'Fuck!' He instinctively thrust the spear… to kill.
Suddenly, Sylvester's hand was seen taking his spear and plunging it into the boy's chest, killing him instantly.
"What the… Max! What was that?!" Felix responded quickly and rushed to check on the boy drowning in blood. But it was clear that he was dead, for none could survive such a strike.
"Stay back!" Sylvester warned loudly, however.
"W-What's going on?" Gabriel questioned, knowing Sylvester never does things for no reason.
For that, only one answer was enough. "Assassins!"
Using the tip of his spear, Sylvester cut the dead boy's sleeves. As he suspected, both wrists had hidden daggers so that they could be taken out with a snap. What was amusing was the fact that the edges of the two blades seemed pitch black.
Sir Dolorem frowned and knelt beside the dead boy but didn't dare touch the blade. "This seems like poison… not any poison but…"
"Moonshade… a mere scratch can kill a dragon." Bishop Moris completed.
A small crowd started to gather at the scene of the killing. The town's guards also arrived soon, whistling with their wooden instruments to call for backup. But they stopped once they saw the Bishop's mitre on Bishop Moris' head.
"Why would someone wish to kill Max?" Gabriel wondered as the four glanced at Sylvester's face, not worried about the guards or the people.
Sylvester was thinking about it too. He knew that there were dozens of mercenary and assassin organizations around the world, and some of them used kids. But why would anyone wish to kill him? He had spent most of his life in the Holy Land and did not have many enemies.
"I don't know… but if they can get Moonshade poison, then I believe I've offended someone wealthy and powerful," Sylvester muttered loudly. "I need to inform Saint Wazir about this. An attempt on my life is a sin, after all."
Bishop Moris nodded and looked at the guards who had just arrived. "Don't just stand there. This boy tried to kill Cardinal Suprima just now. Pick the body and bring it with me. I must send it to Holy Land for examination."
The body would be checked thoroughly in the Holy Land to determine which assassin organization sent him, and hopefully, the church can pressurize them to reveal who hired them.
Sylvester, however, proceeded to what was planned and entered the tavern with the rest, but his mind worked overtime to try and think who could be this wealthy enemy. He could only think of a few names; none of them was good news for his young life. 16 was still too early to die, as he had not yet achieved the highest peak of his strength.
He had already scrapped the idea of finding eternal peace by buying land somewhere quiet. But if even kids were going to come after him as assassins, he wondered how he was even going to do his job.
"Don't worry, Max. I will ask my father to investigate too. He has many friends across the Sol." Felix tried to cheer his friend up, forgetting that he had already revealed he didn't get along with his father.
Moments like these were when Sylvester felt the rule of not drinking was infuriating. He just killed a child, and it scared him that he didn't feel even an ounce of pity. In fact, he had already put it in the back of his mind as if it was just another day.
"Anyway, are all these kids from Riveria? Isn't this too much? Why is Riveria not stopped from destroying the economy of another town?" Gabriel asked to change the topic.
Sir Dolorem responded with a sunken heart. "It's not just Riveria. Bishop Moris informed me about the happenings around the realm. Recently, the Grand Duke of the Patch ascended to the rank of Grand Wizard. With this, he has the support of two more Grand Wizards.
"The first thing the Grand Duke did after ascending was to head across the Barrier mountain range and change the flow of the snake river, which destroyed a tributary river that went into the Sorrow Kingdom. For those who don't know, the Sorrow Kingdom was not called by this name a few decades ago. It was called the Blackhart Kingdom. There was no Grand Duchy of the Patch either. The whole southernmost area east of the Divine Desert was one nation.
"But then the mutiny ensued, and sons fought for what their fathers built. The Grand Duke of the Patch and the King of Sorrow Kingdom are brothers from different mothers. The Church initially tried to keep things in control and stop the war, but then the King of Sorrowland, Fyres Sor Blackhart, was betrayed by his top two commanders, the two Grand Wizards.
"The Grand Duke took all the good, fertile land of the Patch and even the only two Grand Wizards in the Kingdom. This left the Sorrow Kingdom weak, poor, and hungry. It's truly a tragic tale, even worse as the Patch has redirected the only river that flowed into the Sorrow Kingdom. I believe the Kingdom will starve to death—or be conquered by Desert Cannibals if not by Grand Duke.
"And because of all this, refugees from the Sorrow Kingdom are spreading everywhere."
Sylvester had read about things but had never heard such stories. No book tells how many powerhouses a nation has. "The Patch has three Grand Wizards, this means? How strong are other Kingdoms?"
Sir Dolorem lowered his voice while replying. "The Garcia Kingdom has 3 Grand Wizards, but it's suspected they have a Supreme Wizard in hiding too. However, only the Holy Father knows if that's true. As for Riveria, it's the strongest Kingdom right now, grown because of its extremely fertile soil and thriving industry. It has four Grand Wizards."
'Could Romel's father be behind the assassin?' The suspicion surfaced in Sylvester's mind.
Sir Dolorem continued after taking a sip of milk. "Further down, the Sorrow Kingdom has only one Grand Wizard, the King himself. Therefore, they are extremely vulnerable at this stage and are likely to be defeated by the Grand Duke."
"What about the kingdoms on the other side?" Sylvester asked as he was always fascinated about the world on the other side of the Divine Desert.
"Well, the Masan Empire likely has dozens of Grand Wizards and likely one or two Supreme Wizards, but despite being called an Empire, it's in the weakest condition right now. The Emperor is unable to control his Magistrates that govern kingdom-sized areas. So, albeit having so many powerhouses, they are weak.
"In fact, their greatest enemy is not in the East, but to their south. The Warsong Kingdom has war in its name for a reason. Since its inception, Warsong has fought against Masan and kept it at bay. Due to that, the whole society of Warsong is based on strength. It is, however, unknown how many powerhouses they have. As for the two more continents in the south, we don't need to think about them."
Felix laughed at the mention of the two continents. "They are a joke. The Sand Continent alone has more kingdoms than the whole Sol continent combined. Some are even as small as cities. There are some kingdoms inside kingdoms.
"There is a saying about that place. If one were to throw a stone in the air randomly, it would most likely hit a noble or some prince. It's madness over there. That's why it's called the Sand Continent, as nobles are like grains of sand there."
To Sylvester, it honestly felt intriguing because that place, even with so many kingdoms cramped in one place, the continent had no wars. How?
"And the Central Continent is always at war to get the Soul Tree in the middle in their possession," Gabriel added.
This one interested Sylvester more because he remembered the visions he had gotten at the Soul Tree in the Holy Land. 'Are those visions related to this tree? Is that girl child from the Central Continent?'
"I'm going to sleep." Felix yawned and got up suddenly.
"Wait, what about the Highland Kingdom? I was born there." Sylvester exclaimed as he remembered the name.
Sir Dolorem chuckled for some reason. "Hah, I kept it for the last. The Highland Kingdom is poor and small, and the King is a good man. The King and, surprisingly, his wife are both Grand Wizards. They are called the Power Couple across the world for this. His eminence was also born in the Highland Kingdom, and the King was devastated when he learned what happened to your mother in Deserte village."
Sylvester appreciated this little fact. "I would love to meet him someday then."
"And he'd love to meet you too. I remember he once tried to send a letter to the Holy Father, requesting so you may be allowed to be adopted by him and his wife." Sir Dolorem revealed.
"What?!..."
[A/N: I know, a lot of names. Check out this para comment for maps of the Sol Continent, Sand Continent, and Central continent.
Gimme your juicy stones.
500 GT = 1 bonus chapter.(Already half done)
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
800 Stones = Bonus Chapter.
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
