CHAPTER 42: THE GEOCENTRISM SECT GATHERING

Isabella’s stomach seemed like a bottomless pit. Her appetite far exceeded Veryl’s expectations, and the inadequate preparation led to many pauses between servings of food.

It wasn’t because of a lack of food reserves. The Lando family ran banks and weren’t short on money. There simply weren’t enough chefs to serve food at a speed that matched Isabella’s plate-clearing. Veryl felt like he had disgraced his master.

That was how Veryl saw it. His oversight had led to unsatisfactory service to their guest, embarrassing both the mistress of the family and the young master. Wayne didn’t see it that way. He spent the entire time watching Isabella wolf down food, too shocked to think of anything else.

***

Back in the living room, Isabella sank into the sofa as soon as she sat down. Wayne pretended not to notice like a proper gentleman and retrieved the report on the Geocentrism Sect, handing it over along with the promotional pamphlet.

He first explained who Wesley and Hood were. “Wesley is from Londan, a fairly renowned detective commissioned secretly by an intelligence agency to investigate the Geocentrism Sect in Enrod. There, he met Hood, a local detective...”

“When Hood contacted me, Wesley had already gone missing. Realizing that he was being followed, Hood hid the report and got in touch with me...”

“I can’t reach Hood anymore—both detectives have disappeared.”

Isabella listened quietly without any comment. After reviewing the report and the pamphlet, she said with a slight frown, “The intelligence isn’t sufficient to determine the sect’s goal. It’s possible that the gathering in five days is just a smokescreen. Do you have the home addresses of the town’s high-ranking officials?”

“No, but if you want them, I can have the butler find out.”

He knew what Isabella was planning. The report clearly stated that the Geocentrism Sect had likely controlled the town hall, as proven by how they were able to hand out eggs on the street without interference. She just had to find an official and extract more accurate information by using compulsion magic.

If that didn’t work on one person, she could always try another.

If none of them knew anything, she would follow the trail and use the officials to lure out the sect’s leadership, beating the plan of the sect out of them. Only by knowing their plan could she sabotage it, or she would just be running around like a headless chicken.

“Make it quick. I’m going out tonight,” Isabella said.

“So urgent?”

“Yes. Windsor’s intelligence agency has a certain reputation. I’ve heard plenty of jokes about them in Franc. If they know there’s something wrong with the Geocentrism Sect, it means that the sect has been up to no good for a long time.” Isabella stated the facts without mincing words.

Is there a chance that it’s just Franc people stereotyping Windsor?

Wayne opened his mouth but caught himself. Although she was clearly biased, there was truth to her words. Windsor’s intelligence agency was pretty useless. He couldn’t refute her criticism when it was based on facts.

He asked Veryl to collect the home addresses of the town hall officials as quickly as possible, without alerting anyone and giving the sect time to prepare. Currently, the sect only knew that two detectives were investigating them. With Wesley missing and Hood drawing attention, Wayne and Isabella could stay hidden and maintain the element of surprise.

Veryl bowed and left to handle the task. As a Windsor native and a former senior agent of Windsor’s intelligence agency, he felt little goodwill for Isabella. She was too direct—not tactful at all!

Late that night, Veryl returned with dossiers on the mayor and four other town officials, including their home addresses, phone numbers, mailboxes, and details about their family members and occupations.

His thoroughness seemed like an attempt to prove something.

Isabella skimmed through the files and memorized the five addresses. She said to Veryl with an impassive look, “I only need the addresses. You prepared an overly lengthy document and wasted valuable time.”

(ಠ灬≖)

He didn’t like this Franc woman!

Isabella left the manor and began her secret investigation that night. A follower of the Goddess of Nature had a full set of skills under their belt, especially for gathering intelligence. Hallucinogenic spores would make sure no ordinary people could hide anything. They would answer any question she asked.

Veronica had used the magic before. Back then, she had to create magical items to use a simplified version of the spores due to her magic being sealed by her curse. That was why she fed people mushrooms.

Isabella didn’t invite Wayne to come along. She had received two missions from Silvia: first, protect Wayne, and second, investigate the Geocentrism Sect and decide if she was going to destroy the sect or take Wayne away.

She didn’t have much time. Tonight, she would gather intelligence, and tomorrow morning, she would look into the sect’s leadership, deciding how she was going to complete mission two based on all her findings.

Since she didn’t ask for his contribution, Wayne didn’t volunteer. Self-awareness was crucial for survival. He knew he would only drag her down by joining her.

***

The next day, Wayne woke up early and meditated with a rejuvenated mind. The meditation process was tedious, but growing stronger brought him joy. To make himself even more joyful, he pretended he was a villain, using every means possible to capture the elements.

He found an accomplice in the fire elements. They served as his informants and helped him locate the three other elements hiding near the manor.

He was ruthless, and his heart filthy.

It was only natural. The written characters for the heart coincided with the derogatory word to describe a corrupted mind[1]. The coincidence had to mean something. It was an ancient wisdom passed down by his ancestors in his original world.

Wayne believed in that wisdom. Since everyone had a corrupted heart, there was no reason for him to pretend to be a gentleman. He promised the fire elements that if they helped him find the other three elements, he would reward them handsomely. This made the tedious meditation much more enjoyable.

As expected of the embodiment of desires, the fire elements eagerly betrayed their fellow elements.

Isabella didn’t return the second night, nor the third, fourth, or fifth day.

“Could she have starved to death out there?”

Seeing more and more followers of the Geocentrism Sect handing out eggs on the streets—even the maids sent to gather information returned with baskets full of eggs—Wayne was getting restless.

Tomorrow was the day the followers were gathering, yet Isabella had not returned with news. Given her impressive weight class, she should’ve made a big splash if she had been thrown into a river somewhere.

Feeling uncertain, he called his master, who told him to focus on training and not question Isabella’s competence. She was an experienced mage, and her silence had to mean that she had discovered something and was thus lying low and waiting for the chance to deliver a fatal blow.

Silvia’s complete confidence in Isabella left him with nothing to say. He asked a few questions and resumed his meditation.

On the second of April, the Geocentrism Sect held a grand gathering at their headquarters. The Enrod officials attended, and even the mayor showed up to give an impassioned speech.

On the streets, thousands of followers flocked together, cheering, applauding, and shouting in thunderous choruses. The enthusiastic atmosphere reached feverish intensity. Many non-believers joined the gathering as well, partly for the excitement and partly for the free eggs. The chance to get free ingredients attracted many housewives.

Word was that eggs were given out regardless of age or gender. Everyone would get five eggs. Thus, many families showed up in groups.

Keeping some distance from the crowd, Wayne, wearing a black trench coat, observed the people surrounding the sect’s headquarters. He pressed down the brim of his hat and walked toward the town hall.

It was D-Day. He couldn’t hold back anymore. If Isabella had met her demise, wouldn’t he be sitting around waiting for death by doing nothing?

1. In Simplified Chinese, heart is written as 心脏, which can refer to the heart and describe someone’s dirty/corrupted mind. 脏 can mean both ‘organ’ and ‘dirty’. However, in Traditional Chinese, organ is 臟, while dirty is 髒. The two characters aren’t actually the same originally. ☜