Chapter 414 - 195: The Statue Flew Away

Sean rolled his eyes. "In your dreams."

Time trickled by as the two of them bickered.

The sounds of searching soldiers drifted in from outside from time to time. "Go check over here," a voice would say, followed by, "Go check over there." But they never entered the building, and Sean never got the chance to unleash the Truth Technique he held ready in his hand.

It wasn’t until evening, when the sky began to darken, that they stopped.

The two of them fell silent in tacit understanding.

It was time to go.

"You know the Invisibility Spell, right?" Sean asked.

Elise nodded. "I do."

Under the cover of night, the Invisibility Spell would be at its most effective. As long as they didn’t run into a Grand Mage or walk right into someone’s face, they were unlikely to be discovered.

"Come on, this way."

Sean found the building’s emergency exit and led Elise out through the small door.

In the past, he wouldn’t have acted so cautiously.

If he were discovered, so be it. At worst, he’d just have to fight his way out, or come back good as new after a respawn.

But now he knew that the Saintess was Olivia. And since Olivia had already done so much for him and for the Holy Sanctuary over the years, Sean didn’t want to cause her any more trouble.

The Kovri Restricted Area was over a hundred kilometers from Selona City—a long way to go on foot. Fortunately, there were plenty of vehicles on the highway. Sean and Elise found a truck, snuck aboard, and successfully slipped into the city.

The city hadn’t changed much since his last visit. The only noticeable difference was that the Day of Abstinence was over, so the circus put on by Wizards was gone. But since it was the weekend, the streets were still bustling.

Sean led Elise to a vintage-looking newspaper stand.

Elise asked, "Are you buying a newspaper?"

"No, I’m buying information," Sean said. "These kinds of newspaper stands are all run by Wizards, so they’re relatively well-informed. The last two times we came to Selona City, we came to stands like this to ask about things."

With that, Sean leaned into the window and asked in a low voice, "Boss, anything fresh happening lately?"

The word "fresh" was the precise keyword to trigger the owner.

The owner, who was wearing a flat cap, pulled the brim down and replied with a hint of excitement, "You bet."

"Number 15 Planck Street. A new batch of call girls just arrived. Every single one of ’em is a real looker!"

Sean: "?"

Elise: "..."

She gave Sean a suggestive look.

’Is *this* what you came to ask about the last two times?’

Sean looked embarrassed and shot the owner a glare. "I’m asking about serious business!"

The owner was instantly displeased. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Those girls all have business licenses. What’s not serious about that?"

Sean: "..."

Fine, he would rephrase.

Sean took out a money pouch, placed it on a stack of newspapers, and asked, "I want to know about all the major events that have happened in and around Selona City in the last two months, including in the restricted area."

"Major events, eh..." The owner glanced at the money pouch and said with a grin, "You should’ve just said so."

"Selona City has been peaceful and prosperous lately. Nothing much has happened aside from the Florist Family being reassigned by the Church Court. But there was one rather strange incident in the Kovri Restricted Area. If I recall correctly, it happened last month."

Sean’s heart skipped a beat. He asked, "What was it?"

"You know of the Hall of Truth, right?" the owner asked.

As soon as Sean heard "Hall of Truth," his expression turned serious. He nodded and said, "I do. It’s said to be the largest Heresy organization on the continent."

The owner continued, "Their leader is named Carl Black. There was a statue of him in the hall at Kovri. Not long ago, an explosion went off inside the restricted area and blew the statue to smithereens. It was a huge commotion, even alarmed the Church Court. The Church Court even ordered the nearby highways to be closed for several days."

Sean was stunned. "Blake’s statue could be blown up?"

’Who could be powerful enough to destroy even his statue?’

"That’s what they say, but in my opinion... heheh." The owner gave a strange laugh. "That statue was probably stolen. Ninety percent chance."

"What makes you say that?" Sean asked.

"Think about it," the owner said. "Back when the Church Court wanted to wipe out the Hall of Truth, how many Grand Mages did they send? The statue wasn’t destroyed even under that kind of massive bombardment. How could a single little explosion possibly blow it to bits?"

Sean nodded along cooperatively. "That’s true."

Then he asked, "So, do you know who stole it?"

The owner rolled his eyes at Sean. "If I knew, would I still be sitting here?"

’The reward for reporting it would be enough for me to chase after "fresh" news every day for the rest of my life. Would I still need to be running a small-time business selling information?’

Sean said, "But I know who did it."

The owner: "?"

He asked reflexively, "Who?"

Sean lifted his chin and rubbed his fingers together.

The owner was in the same line of work, so of course he knew the rules. He understood immediately and placed two bills in Sean’s hand.

Sean pocketed the bills first, then beckoned the owner to lean in. He whispered in his ear, "Holy Temple Remnants."

The owner: "?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

’Besides the Holy Temple Remnants, who else would have the guts to do something like this?’

"Wrong," Sean said mysteriously. "What I mean is, perhaps this wasn’t done by that bunch of Holy Temple Remnants."

The owner was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

’If not the Holy Temple Remnants, then who could it be?’

As the owner thought about it, he was suddenly shocked. "You’re saying... it was an inside job?!"

"Shhh." Sean immediately made a hushing gesture, gave the owner a look that said ’figure it out yourself,’ and patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, I’ve said what I needed to. I have other business to attend to, so I’ll be going. Pleasure doing business with you."

The owner: "Pleasure doing busi—"

’Pleasure my ass!’

It was only then that he realized the nature of their relationship—he was the vendor, and Sean was the customer. But Sean hadn’t paid him a single dime. Not only that, he’d even paid Sean two hundred bucks!

It would have been one thing if the information was worth two hundred, but the key was that Sean had only said three words—"Holy Temple Remnants"—and the rest was up to him to guess. What kind of intelligence was that?!

"Hey! You, in the shirt! Stop right there!"

As if Sean would stop.

He grabbed Elise and ran, disappearing around the corner in the blink of an eye.

Elise, panting, cursed laughingly, "Mr. Writer, you’re really something else."

He’d come to ask someone for information, but somehow managed to trick the guy into paying *him* two hundred.

When she saw Sean take out the money pouch earlier, she had wanted to ask where he got the money. Now it seemed the pouch was likely fake, probably filled with nothing but individual written characters.

"Can’t be helped, we have to eat," Sean said with a shrug. "Besides, I didn’t lie to him."

"I really do know who did it."

Elise: "Huh?"

"You really know?"

Sean nodded and said a name that was completely unfamiliar to Elise: "Lauden."

"And who’s that?" Elise asked.

"An old friend. You’ll know when you meet him," Sean said. "You were right. Things really aren’t as bad as I imagined."

Not only were they not bad, they were wonderful.

The "cause" he had sown a few months ago had borne "fruit" today.

Lauden had actually managed to bring the statue back to Blake City for him.

’That kid... is surprisingly reliable.’

Sean had a plan for a long time: Mr. Blake was going to be "resurrected."

Now, that plan could officially begin.

"We’ll stay here for the night, get our papers sorted, and fly to Blake City tomorrow," Sean said.

"Wait a minute." Elise was still completely lost. "What’s all this about a plan? I don’t understand."

Sean said, "Let me ask you, don’t we desperately need resources right now to help us become Grand Mages?"

Elise: "We do."

Sean: "Then where are those resources going to come from?"

Elise pointed at the ground beneath her feet. "Here?"

"Exactly," Sean said. "Let’s not worry about how to transport the resources for now. First, we need to get our hands on them."

As for how...

It was simple.

It could be summed up in one sentence—

Sean puffed out his chest, held out his hand to Elise, and declared, "I, Carl Black. Send money!"

Elise: "???"

...