Chapter 504: The Potter Family

A lot of people from all walks of life came to the convenience store. He could often gather useful intel from their idle chatter. Besides, he wasn’t stationed at this one convenience store alone. He had a colleague here, someone his organization had specially dispatched to help him after learning he might be unable to return to his human form for a long time.

To avoid repeating past mistakes, the person the organization sent was more skilled than him and an expert at concealment. Although they still couldn’t secure long-term residency in Cadola Royal City, the city guards couldn’t find them to drive them out. One was in the shadows, and the other was in even deeper shadows. Working together, they quickly found a method of gathering intelligence suited to their current situation.

Every month, someone would come to restock the convenience store and, as a matter of routine, review the surveillance footage for shoplifters and the like. His colleague would use this opportunity to delete any incriminating footage and have him carried away under the pretext of “maintenance for an error,” moving him to a different convenience store.

He could actually move on his own.

If he could grow a hand to smoke, he could naturally grow feet to walk.

But for a vending machine, having a full set of limbs was a bit too strange, so he had to rely on his colleague to move him.

Hearing this, even Elvire, who disliked the smell of smoke and hadn’t had a good first impression of him, was visibly moved. A look of solemn respect washed over her beautiful face. A man this dedicated deserved her respect.

Sean also said comfortingly, “This must have been hard on you.”

“It’s nothing.” The man waved his hand dismissively. “I got used to it a long time ago.”

Life as a vending machine wasn’t all that bad. He had food and drink, all specially supplied. Whenever he needed something, his colleague would find a way to “restock” him. That’s why two different types of items, cigarettes and drinks, were being sold from the same machine. He hadn’t even tried to change back much recently. After all, his Talent was just average; he’d never become a Grand Mage. Living out his life like this wasn’t a bad option.

“Oh, right. My name is Wendos.”

The man remembered he hadn’t introduced himself yet.

Sean reached out and shook his hand, saying, “I’m Ain. And these two are my female… friends.”

‘…Damn it, I almost let it slip again.’

“Miss Owl told me you wanted to know about the situation here?” Wendos asked.

Sean nodded and briefly explained his confusion. “A friend of mine went to Witch’s Bay before, and the situation they described is different from what we’re seeing now.”

“That’s because they’re good at hiding,” Wendos said.

The residents of Cadola Royal City would be model citizens in any other city. They only remember what they’re supposed to remember. As for what they shouldn’t, they won’t utter a single word.

For instance, the Church Court’s cavalry entered the city two days ago, and Fan Ke’er, the person Sean is looking for, was among them.

Coincidentally, he wasn’t here two days ago. He was at a convenience store outside the city center, near the suburbs.

Not only did he witness Fan Ke’er and the others entering the city in a grand procession, but as they passed the convenience store, someone came in and bought a few bottles of beer from the vending machine next to him. The person wore a black-robed uniform with an embroidered emblem on the chest: a bare-chested worshipper, face turned to the sky, basking in the Holy Light. Wendos saw it clearly—it was the symbol of the Bright King’s Court.

Their bearing was stern and their aura sharp, as if they were a marching army. People on the street consciously moved to either side to clear a path for them, bowing their heads in respect.

It was obvious that these passersby knew Fan Ke’er and his group were from the Church Court, but afterward, they acted as if nothing had happened. They never spoke a word about it, not even mentioning it during idle chatter while shopping at the convenience store.

During this time, neither the government nor the Potter Family issued any related announcements.

In other words, the residents’ silence stemmed entirely from a mutual, unspoken understanding.

Something like this had happened before. It wasn’t the first time people from the Church Court had come to Cadola Royal City, and it was always like this. But with millions of residents in the city, it was hard to imagine what kind of method could have cultivated this sort of tacit agreement, passed down from one generation to the next.

Theoretically, even the strictest discipline will have a few who slip through the cracks.

It’s like an army. Even if everyone knows that desertion in the face of the enemy is a capital offense punishable by beheading, when the time comes, there will still be slackers and deserters.

But not this city.

No matter what methods you use—coercion, exploitation, torture, or even Mind Magic—you can’t pry a single piece of useful information from their mouths.

Without a doubt, there was something wrong with these residents.

And it was a big problem.

Their peaceful and prosperous life was just an illusion. This city was definitely hiding a monumental secret.

“What secret?” Elise asked.

Wendos shook his head. “I don’t know.”

He and his colleague had been here for over a decade and still hadn’t figured out what was going on.

It wasn’t that they were incompetent, but that they couldn’t investigate.

If they dared to investigate, the Church Court would dare to take their lives.

Because the secret was hidden in Elderidge Cathedral.

Every time people from the Church Court came, they always went to the Cathedral.

“The only thing I can tell you is that there’s a secret chamber beneath this cathedral.”

Wendos said, “A massive one. Big enough to hold thousands, even tens of thousands, of people.”

Sean’s interest was piqued. “How so?”

Elvire also asked, “Have you been there?”

“No,” Wendos said, tapping his head. “But logic tells me there has to be something under the cathedral.”

The reason is simple. Every time the Church Court sends people, it’s a considerable number—at least several hundred, including the cavalry. But by the time they enter the cathedral and come back out, that ‘several hundred’ becomes just a few dozen. I only just reported this to the organization a few days ago when they inquired. Sean and his group should know about this as well.