That was a new sensation. I had to admit that being sucked on my arm hurt more than my neck for some reason. And Mia's scary face that looked like she wanted to lock me in jail with her didn't help either.
Thankfully, she was satisfied after two gulps of water and returned to the tower to help Lucy. I gave her five tubes of my blood that were still in my inventory to let her go through her days without stress.
I meant… I didn't want to get sucked again. Never. That somehow broke through my defense. Even my HP decreased by 2 after she was done, something that had never happened since I arrived in this world. I healed the hole with <Heal> and went to my next destination.
'Vampires are amazing.' I thought as I walked through a dark alleyway toward where the assassins from the Den were supposed to stay.
It was a slightly large three-story house that looked like a medieval inn. Just by counting the windows, I guessed there were more than 30 or 40 rooms available in this building, enough to accommodate all the assassins in the Den.
'There were more than 30 people before, but there are only 24 now. So some chose not to join Old A or had an incident on the way.'
Anyway, I just needed Old A to begin with. The others were just a bonus for this knowledgeable old man.
I hoped I could talk to the Elf elder again regarding the Hell's Cult, but I believed that Alesia had the same idea and went back to Elf Village without me requesting her.
These people from Hell's Cult could hinder her plan if they succeeded. Or they could be used to make two Kingdoms in peace depending on how we manipulate the information.
When I got close to the building, a beautiful Vampire in a similar gothic costume and dark hair stepped out of the door and looked at me.
The Vampire bowed deeply, and I could see her cleavage from this angle, but she didn't seem to mind. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Miranda." She raised her head again and smiled softly. "The guests are inside, My Lord."
That was a new one. I had never been called my lord before, and it sounded a bit strange, but it made me happy for some reason.
'It sounds like I am her real master? Or something like that.'
I nodded at Miranda and approached her.
"Don't let anyone enter when I am inside," I said as I passed by her.
"Certainly."
Miranda bowed once more, and I pushed the door open. Connected to the entrance was a lounge where many tables and chairs were put around, with a kitchen in the back. A soft magic lamp lit the interior, giving warmth to this building surrounded by darkness.
Standing in the kitchen was an old man with wrinkles covering his face. His gray hair fell, and his bangs covered his unfocused eyes. He boiled water using a stove magic item and poured it into a cup, making coffee.
"This is a nice place." He suddenly spoke as he raised his cup, turning around and looking at me with a smile, "I must say that you have my deepest gratitude, Your Holiness. May I know if I can be of service right now?"
"Yes. And I don't need coffee or tea before you're asking." I nodded and sat on the nearby chair near the entrance. I gestured for Old A to sit across from me.
He smiled gratefully and followed my gesture. His smile disappeared after putting his cup on the table, and he turned serious, waiting for me to continue.
"Old A. If I remember correctly, you were part of the church in the past, right? And you mentioned you knew Viscount Steelwill from a generation ago."
"Indeed. That is correct." Old A nodded firmly; his gaze remained unfocused as if he had trouble seeing.
It wasn't like that back then. Old A was sharp and wary. His condition was slightly strange, but I ignored it for now.
"My questions are related to that. I couldn't ask this back then. You mentioned that living as a shadow squad wasn't for you, but… Isn't the way you live right now worse than them?"
Old A smiled bitterly at my words.
"You don't need to say it clearly like that, Your Holiness." He said, clenching both fists. It seemed like he still regretted what he did back then. "But you're correct. And I assume you would ask this later, but your assumption is also correct. There is another reason why I left the church and became an assassin."
"So there is indeed a reason." I leaned against the backrest and took out a glass of wine, swirling it around in my hand before sipping it slightly.
Raising it, I looked at Old A's figure through the transparent wine and continued.
"And I believe now you're willing to tell me the real reason? I have proved my integrity and trustworthiness, and you have proved that you needed it. So I am expecting a return in the form of information."
"That's reasonable." Old A nodded, smiling slightly. "Your Holiness, do you have a magic item or a skill to make us isolated from the outside world? I am afraid there will be someone spying on us as this information is slightly… sensitive."
"I do."
I put down the wine glass and took out a black gem. This was a barrier-type magic item but enhanced with a skill derived from <Space Magic> called <Isolation>. The effect was similar to the <Soundproof> skill used by Alesia when she tried to intimidate me that day.
It blocked all kinds of <Clairvoyance> and any tracking skill.
Because this magic item was hard to produce, I only had around 500 in my inventory. That was way less than the other duplicates of magic items I had, considering this was a one-time-use item, and I had all items owned by players in Horizon Online.
However, this information seemed to be related to the Hell's Cult and the church, so I was willing to use this magic item.
'The Goddess isn't suspicious, but there might be traitors in the church like that piggy Archbishop that Beatrice turned into a Devilkin.'
A black dome-shaped barrier surrounded me and Old A as soon as I activated it. The excited and loud sounds from outside disappeared, and silence reigned between us.
Old A looked around curiously as his jaw dropped.
"This is impressive." He exclaimed, trying to touch the black dome. When his finger touched it, a bolt of black lightning struck, surprising him. He immediately pulled back and rubbed the tip. "I can't get out, huh? Can we be heard here?"
"What do you think?" I smirked, moving my finger around as I sipped the wine I had taken out earlier. "We are completely isolated for 3 minutes. Feel free to tell me everything."
"Very well." Old A nodded and rested his arms on the table. "I ran away from the church because I discovered something in one of my missions. It was to investigate a strange incident five decades ago."
When I heard that, I couldn't help but squint my eyes and stop him.
"Don't tell me that you're not actually exited from the shadow squad but become an outer member instead because of something you found."
Old A's smile softened a little bit.
"So you knew."
"It's not that hard to guess."
I meant… If what he found was truly what I thought of, it was natural for him to go his separate ways with the church. Not only did Old A become a dangerous individual who could spread a heretic cult, but it was better if he also appeared not affiliated with the church to get a chance to join the cult.
'I didn't see the title of Hell's Cult member or something in Old A when I used <Appraisal> on him, and I only saw [Covert Agent]. Well, that's why I also left that note before I teleported back to Cecil that day.'
"Continue," I said.
"Yes."
Following that, Old A told me about his story. What he found out was a group of people dressed in purple robes with blood covering their bodies trying to summon something. At that moment, Juriel was still slightly active. And she, with church knights, raided that place and eradicated them.
However, they discovered that the hiding place was just camouflage, not the headquarters. The group's name was Hell's Cult, and knowing what Hell was, Juriel wanted to keep them secret.
Being a servile figure, Old A volunteered to investigate the group himself and was given a revival chamber. That was why he could get that revival chamber used by Assassin's Den and called me 'Your Holiness.'
Also… Viscount Steelwill from a generation ago was his friend and helped him prepare a hiding place.
In other words, the last Viscount was actually a servant of the Goddess. But for some reason, his son and grandson became the followers of Hell's Cult. How ironic.
It seemed like Old A didn't know about it but had an inkling that something was wrong and cut off connection with the Viscounty for a few years.
There was no need to tell him about that. He continued his explanation, and I listened quietly.
Assassin's Den was created as information dealers. Using his vast connection, Old A kept the news about Hell's Cult away from the Underground but was unable to create any result until now. The Hell's Cult stayed silent as if they had disappeared from the world.
The last sighting was in Vampire Hunt a decade ago.
'The Hell's Cult and Vampires… Are they connected?' I asked in my mind but arrived at a roadblock.
Soon, three minutes had passed, and the barrier disappeared.
"That's what my real reason is, Your Holiness."
"I see." I nodded, taking out a notebook and a pen.
"Write down everything you know about Hell's Cult and give it to Lucienne, the leader of the Vampires. Don't worry. She's trustworthy and will forward the information to me. And these are magic items. Only the writers and the one they permitted can see the content written in the notebook by the pen."
I stood up and pulled up my hood, preparing to leave. Before I turned around, Old A chuckled softly.
"You don't seem so surprised." He commented. "Have you met with them before?"
"Curiosity kills assassins, Old A," I turned around and walked away. "Just do your job."
"My apologies, Your Holiness. It's a habit."
I nodded without looking back and teleported back to my mansion using [Teleportation Gem]. That was good information that I and Lucy could work with.
