Chromie let out a sigh and disembarked the horse carriage.
During this period of time, he had been on a horse carriage more than he had stood on solid ground, having travelled all over Lohr.
After liquidating all of his family assets as money, he began to investigate both Birosius and the Soundless cult.
His schoolmates who accompanied him to Lohr had already left one by one, if the only thing he needed help with were mundane issues like finances and such, they would have been more than happy to aid him.
But since Chromie was trying to fight an evil cult to the death, they could only choose to leave.
The only schoolmate left who remained in Lohr with him was Olga, the young girl who held affection for him.
"Is this the place?" Chromie pressed down on his hat and knocked on the large door. For the past few days, he had been visiting a variety of places, which included private investigators, information brokers, Night Watchers, and even a few knights within the church.
He simply wanted to find as much information on Birosius and the Soundless cult as possible, but the results weren't particularly outstanding.
Birosius apparently had exceptional anti-reconnaissance abilities, and was also an expert at disguise, so it was easy for him to hide, not to mention the existence of the sewers as a last resort.
While the Soundless cult was even more difficult to investigate. Being the largest evil cult of Lohr, they were a mysterious bunch.
Any normal citizen in Lohr could be a member of the Soundless cult, even the homely next-door old lady who walks her dog every day.
There was a lot of information and rumors about them, but when it came to their exact hideout, or membership, or even how to contact them, everything drew a blank.
Chromie wasn't a stubborn person who would throw himself at a hopeless wall, he soon came into contact with a few particular people, who had claimed that there was nothing in Lohr that they couldn't help with. Whether it was to make someone disappear, or find someone's hidden location, as long as you can afford it, they claimed to be able to send you into the Sun Shadow church's training barracks or saint academy itself.
This is a mysterious organization, and a dangerous one at that.
Chromie silently commented, after meeting his point of contact, he was more assured of this fact.
…
Right now, Brian had already changed his identity, becoming an artist of Lohr, as for his Night Watcher self, his Attendant had died in his place and his name removed from the church's records.
This forced him to spend 5 contribution points to exchange for a new Attendant.
After taking on this artist identity, Brian had gotten to know many people of status in Lohr, then used the Hermit Order's power to help them resolve their issues; at the same time, he took advantage of these people of status to resolve issues for the other members of the Hermit Order, from which he earned his contribution points.
Compared to his previous identity as a death row convict that was forced to join the Night Watchers, it was like heaven and earth.
At some point, when a few wealthy people began to join the Hermit Order, money and contribution points started to become interchangeable, as they used money to buy contribution points from other members; after all, against supernatural forces, wealth wasn't necessarily as useful as contribution points.
Brian was now in need of money, so Chromie who had been constantly squandering away his fortune naturally entered his sights.
…
This person is no artist.
Chromie instantly recognized this. He had originally thought of this organization to be a supportive organization formed by a few wealthy people of Lohr, but after coming into contact with them, he finally realized how dangerous the other party was. The man in front of him was essentially a monster, one that might be even stronger than a Sun Shadow church's knights.
However, that has nothing to do with me, as all I want is revenge.
After paying a large amount of money, Chromie soon obtained the clues for Birosius' whereabouts, as well as some hidden information about the Soundless cult.
The Hermit Order was growing day by day, to the point that their reach had infiltrated almost every aspect of Lohr. In fact, in particular situations, the Sun Shadow church might not be as mobile as the Hermit Order due to how high-and-mighty they were.
If the Hermit Order was to come into light, the title of 'Lohr's largest evil cult' might change owners.
…
Negary closed the book in his hand.
Following the Hermit Order's explosive growth, the biggest benefactor was none other than him, as a large amount of supernatural knowledge naturally gathered to him.
〖 Should I say, 'as expected of the calm and peaceful town of Lohr'? 〗
He had obtained too many dangerous magical rituals to count; even some mundane or not necessarily dangerous magical rituals, due to them being incomplete, turned out to be even more harmful than those intended to be dangerous.
These rituals and powers then unknowingly became intertwined with Evil Gods, causing the user to not only harm others but also themselves.
〖 The analysis of the axle ritual going well, and the power of Impurity as well 〗
Reaching his hand forward, Negary manifested a cluster of dark fog within his grasp.
The concept of 'Impurity' usually referred to being unclean or polluted, which naturally referred to dirty objects and entities, but it could also refer to females getting tainted by things that they should not have come into contact with.
When pure substances become mixed with too much of something else, they could also be considered to be impure.
When the human body was too dirty, they could also be called impure; but when a human comes into contact with too many dirty thoughts and are influenced by them, they could also be said to have an impure mentality.
Because of this, relatively speaking, 'Impurity' was merely the increase of certain factors to a certain degree, causing certain compositions to be more complicated.
From this, it could be inferred that the essence of 'Impurity' was actually the change of a closed-system to become more chaotic and unpredictable.
〖 This power is quite terrifying, from certain points of view, it could even be considered to represent the entropy of the universe. If this power continues to be developed, it might actually become a considerable force 〗Negary pondered.
Naturally, this was only the potential of this power. Things like the electromagnetic force, gravity, etc. any of the fundamental forces of the universe could become a formidable force when developed to their peaks.
But there were many people who wouldn't necessarily become strong enough, even if the ability they obtained had limitless potential.
〖 Only by truly understanding the essence of a force, as well as applying it appropriately, would one be able to truly become strong 〗Negary understood this very well. His understanding of his powers weren't weak, in fact it could be considered extremely strong, but his execution was severely lacking.
One's understanding of power could be considered to be their leverage, but if the force applied to the leverage wasn't strong enough, then the leverage would need to be longer and more stable in order to move heavier things.
Conversely, if one's understanding of power wasn't strong, then it would require a lot more force to accomplish the same task.
This was how Shennai was, his understanding of the essence of 'Impurity' was limited to being dirty. If Negary had the same power he had, or even a little bit less, Negary was fully confident in being able to completely curb-stomp him.
〖 So Chromie has gotten into contact with the Hermit Order, huh? 〗Negary listened for a while, then unrolled a scroll and smiled: 〖 Simply keep monitoring him, there's no need to get involved further than that 〗
A faint shadow behind Negary slightly moved before vanishing. With Negary's current understanding of Mysticism, even if someone did not release their [Origin], he would still be able to grant them power comparable to someone at the second stage of release. The shadow behind him earlier was a Shade Attendant he created from using a certain magic ritual.
〖 I still need to wait a bit more…〗Negary touched his face with his hand and muttered in a low voice.
