Chapter 117 Acting

Toward dusk, Viscount Verde, who had suffered from diarrhea the entire day, was returning to his manor by carriage from the residence of his mistress, Lisa.

This viscount in his fifties had a sallow complexion and deeply sunken eye sockets, looking completely drained and exhausted.

As the carriage turned onto Queen’s Avenue, he casually glanced outside and noticed a middle-aged man standing by the roadside. The man wore a loose Warlock robe and a pointed hat, had a long bridge to his nose, a long beard, and leaned on a wooden staff.

Viscount Verde felt this person looked remarkably like the warlocks of common folklore, so he gave him an extra look.

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang beside his ear: “You have been having terrible luck lately.”

Viscount Verde jumped in fright: “Who’s there?”

“What is it?” The bodyguard sitting opposite the viscount was startled as well.

Viscount Verde took a deep breath and asked, “Didn’t you hear someone speaking just now?”

“No, I didn’t.” The bodyguard said, somewhat baffled.

“Never mind, it’s nothing.” Viscount Verde assumed his mind was simply playing tricks on him due to exhaustion.

Yet right at that moment, he saw another middle-aged man wearing a loose Warlock robe and a pointed hat standing by the roadside. The man had a long bridge to his nose, a long beard, and was leaning on a wooden staff.

The viscount rubbed his eyes. Whether in clothing, appearance, or demeanor, this figure was identical to the Warlock from moments before.

At the same time, the voice sounded in his ear once more: “The river of your fate is in utter turmoil. A great calamity is about to befall you.”

Viscount Verde’s hands trembled violently. This time, he was certain it was not a hallucination. Someone really was speaking to him.

And judging from the bodyguard’s expression, the guard still could not hear it: “Stop the carriage! Stop the carriage at once!”

He suddenly realized that it was very likely the Warlock from before speaking to him through extraordinary means.

The window of the carriage behind them opened, and Beavis cast a cold glance at the Warlock by the street.

“Follow us any further, and I won’t be polite.” He said coldly.

His spirituality could sense that the man was a Beyonder, and that he seemed to have used an extraordinary ability just moments ago.

Because Beavis sensed no danger, and his employer had not ordered an attack, he simply issued a warning.

The Warlock by the street was, of course, none other than Odis.

After returning to the herbal shop, he had rested briefly before asking Kain and several customers who came to buy medicine what a Warlock looked like in their minds.

Synthesizing everyone’s thoughts, Odis summarized three key features: a long beard, a staff, and a pointed hat with a loose wizard robe.

Thus, Odis designed his Warlock persona… A long beard reaching down to his chest covered half of his face, he used props to lengthen the bridge of his nose, and with a touch of eyeliner, he took on a rather sinister and brooding demeanor, creating a vast contrast with the aura of an herbal shop owner.

The voice Viscount Verde had heard speaking beside his ear just now was actually Odis conversing with him using his newly devised Whisper spell.

While this sorcery seemed miraculous, its principle was quite simple: it was just an undead-type spell that allowed him to speak directly to another person’s Spirit Body.

Aside from keeping the conversation concealed so others could not overhear, this spell could neither harm the target’s soul nor produce any psychological cue. So it had no other function whatsoever.

It was, however, perfect for playing the charlatan…

Ignoring Beavis, Odis spoke toward the carriage ahead carrying Viscount Verde: “The guidance of destiny has brought me here, Salcy Verde! Son of Antonio! The glory of your ancestors…”

“Seize him!” Beavis roared, having already climbed down from the carriage.

“Wait.” Viscount Verde was certain this was the very voice that had just spoken directly into his ear. Opening the carriage window, he said, “Let him finish.”

Odis’s earlier Whisper had already convinced the viscount that he had encountered a true Warlock.

Still, while Odis was an actual Warlock, the warlock in the viscount’s imagination was not quite the same as one from the Beyonder domain.

In folklore, warlocks were mysterious and formidable figures who always hid away in gloomy hamlets or deep, secluded forests, brewing potions with strange and wondrous effects. They were even rumored to concoct elixirs of immortality.

They also seemed to possess a certain insight into destiny, capable of foretelling the fates of certain people and events.

Furthermore, few common folk ever knew a nobleman’s full name, yet the Warlock before him had spoken the name of the previous Viscount Verde, who had passed away roughly a decade ago.

This made the viscount even more convinced that the Warlock before him possessed abilities akin to divination or prophecy.

The Beyonder bodyguard Beavis immediately said, “Viscount, please don’t be misled by his word–”

“Let him finish!” Viscount Verde insisted again, his voice weak.

Today’s ordeal had left him rather dissatisfied with Beavis, who had failed to notice that his master had been poisoned with a laxative, and had likewise failed to catch the culprit.

Helpless, Beavis could only step back two paces, making way for the charlatan.

Odis continued, “The glory of the Verde family ancestors will very likely show signs of decline in the near future.”

“Is there any way to resolve this?” Viscount Verde asked hastily.

“There is,” Odis said, “Impurities have mingled into the river of your destiny. As long as the source of these impurities is found, it can be resolved.”

“How do we find it?”

“By searching your home.”

Lacking energy, Viscount Verde offered weakly, “Please, get in the carriage.”

“No need,” Odis replied calmly, “Go ahead, I shall follow shortly.”

The viscount nodded, instructing the carriage to move onward while continuing to observe the Warlock.

As the carriage pulled further away from the Warlock, the man raised his staff, murmured what seemed to be an incantation, and then appeared to scatter a pinch of powder.

Then, a miraculous scene unfolded. The Warlock strode forward, and as he walked with broad steps, he suddenly and effortlessly stepped into midair. Gliding forward in flight, he swiftly caught up with the carriage.

Just as Odis had deduced, Viscount Verde was an intensely superstitious man. After witnessing the Warlock’s performance, he nearly scrambled out of the carriage to prostrate himself in reverence.

The bodyguards also wore expressions of astonishment, with only Beavis sneering under his breath, “A cheap trick.”

…

When Viscount Verde’s carriage entered the courtyard of his luxurious villa on Queen’s Avenue, the bodyguards, servants, gardeners, and others inside were completely dumbfounded.

Someone had actually flown in alongside the viscount’s carriage! As the carriage ground to a halt, the figure floating in midair also landed with steady grace.

Supported by his bodyguards, Viscount Verde climbed down from the carriage and smiled, saying, “Mr. Warlock, please, after you.”

Odis gave an ostentatious grunt of assent and strode forward, taking the lead.

The moment he stepped through the door, he gave a slight nod to an aristocratic lady who had come to greet them, “Greetings, Viscountess.”

With a wealth of intelligence at his disposal, Odis didn’t even wait for the noblewoman to react before striding toward the living room.

He went straight toward the manor’s parlor without hesitation, sat down leisurely on the sofa, and waited for Viscount Verde and his wife to catch up.

This display surprised Viscount Verde once again. That this Warlock could recognize his wife without an introduction wasn’t particularly startling… he might have deduced it from her attire, after all.

Yet the sheer familiarity with which he navigated the house, as though he had visited many times before, left the viscount entirely at a loss.

‘How did he manage it?’ He wondered.

In truth, this was all thanks to the advanced intelligence network Odis had built. He possessed the floor plan of Verde’s home. The locations of the parlor, bedrooms, and even the washrooms were all crystal clear to him.

Across all the intelligence organizations in Loen, aside from MI9, which possessed such a sophisticated system, other networks had at most written descriptions of building layouts and functions…

Once Viscount Verde had taken a seat beside him, Odis was still in no hurry to bring up their main topic.

Instead, he addressed the visibly frail viscount, “Your illness remains severe. You’ll need at least two or three days of bed rest.”

Viscount Verde’s personal physician had already been treating him for an entire day, yet the toll of severe dehydration still left him suffering terribly.

Viscount Verde evidently did not know an Apothecary. Otherwise, an Apothecary would have required only a single dose of herbs to restore him to full health.

Hearing Odis’s words, he grew somewhat excited, “You know what ails me?”

‘Nonsense, I’m the one who dosed you. Of course I know.’ Odis thought to himself.

Still, he didn’t answer the viscount’s question directly, but said, “Have someone fetch a small bowl of black sesame seeds from the kitchen.”

Viscount Verde knew the Warlock intended to use his witchcraft to heal him, so he quickly instructed the butler to fetch the sesame seeds.

Before long, the butler returned with the seeds.

Odis stood up and scattered a handful of green powder over his staff. The staff, carved from withered wood, actually sprouted fresh branches and leaves.

This sight stunned everyone in the room. A few servants rubbed their eyes, scarcely able to believe what they were witnessing.

“Yu mo gui gwai fai di zao…” Odis muttered under his breath, looking entirely the part of a charlatan, while alternately waving his wide sleeves and stroking the air near the foliage as though encouraging its growth.

The branches rapidly lengthened and put forth blossoms, and within a few seconds, a peach actually grew from them.

This demonstration surprised even the knowledgeable Beavis, for it was yet another piece of witchcraft Odis had devised himself, something Beavis had never seen before.

Odis plucked the peach, and its flesh instantly turned illusory, dissolving like scattering peach blossom petals until only the pit remained in his palm.

He then cracked open the pit to reveal a plump kernel within.

Meanwhile, the peach branch on his staff rapidly turned illusory, eventually vanishing without a trace.

Before anyone could recover their senses, Odis set down his staff, grabbed a pinch of sesame seeds from the bowl held by the butler, combined them with the peach kernel, and rolled them between his hands into a single sphere.

Finally, he held it out to Viscount Verde and said, “Eat this.”

Having suffered a bout of diarrhea just this morning from eating indiscriminately, Viscount Verde felt a twinge of reluctance.

However, recalling the miraculous feats the Warlock had displayed, he ultimately took the pellet, chewed it briefly, and swallowed it down.

A few seconds later, he felt strength returning to his limbs. Though he hadn’t fully recovered, he no longer needed anyone’s arm to support him when walking…

In truth, this was a folk-like remedy Odis had acquired after his advancement. It was capable of effectively alleviating the symptoms brought on by dehydration.

At this point, Viscount Verde no longer harbored any doubts. He rose, grasped Odis’s hand, and said, “Mr. Warlock, please help me! I’ve been down on my luck far too much lately.”

~~~

{T/N: ‘Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao’ is the iconic magical banishing chant used by our beloved Uncle. It’s from the animated series ‘Jackie Chan Adventures’.

The chant isn’t actually included in this story. I just decided to add it here because, in my mind, it seemed like a perfect fit…}