Chapter 242 The Fall of the Innocent
"I don't know who lied to you." An ominous glint flashed in Jean's narrowed eyes. "I'm an honest craftsman who follows Hephaestus' teachings down to the letter. I never possessed that map or anything demonic!"
Luna's lips curled into a smirk behind the hood obscuring her face. She walked to the counter, her slender fingers caressing the polished wood.
"Astaroth and his goons created the map..." She let a tense silence settle as Jean trembled before she continued. "No matter how well you hid it, its energy left traces."
Green flames engulfed her fingers as she tapped on the counter, causing Jean's legs to buckle in horror and his eyes to tremble.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Dread's icy fingers wrapped around his heart as he observed green lines spreading along his ground, walls, and displays. His breath caught in his throat when he noticed the demonic particles melding with dust in the air—another proof of his guilt.
Powerless, he dropped to the ground and covered his sweaty forehead, his mouth opening and closing yet unable to produce any sound.
Despair gnawed at his gut, and the shop spun in his vision, but a reassuring hand met his shoulder.
"We're here to offer you an opportunity, friend, not to cause your ruin." Bart patted his back, showing him he had nothing to fear.
Meanwhile, Luna sat on the counter, crossing her legs and resting her head on her palm as she scrutinised Jean.
"This rotten city will fall in two weeks." She smiled as his eyes widened. "But the weight of this fall is in your hands. Will you help us and save thousands of innocents or stay loyal to your slavers?"
Her voice chilled, and two bright green lights filtered through her hood's fabric, adding intensity to her words.
"Now, choose, apprentice Jean!"
An oppressive silence wrapped around Jean as he bit his lip, the taste of blood filling his mouth. Why did this happen to him? He was just an enchanter... Tears welled in his dim eyes as he cursed his senior for selling him the map and Adam for telling those mercenaries about him. Even worse, the tyrant who ruled this city with an iron fist would never lose. Yet he had to help them in their folly.
After a moment, he sobbed through his tears.
"What do I have to do?"
"Nothing." Garduck's guttural voice echoed by the side. "We'll use your shop as our base of operation for the next three days."
Simultaneously, he saw the demonic particles permeating the shop swirl above the woman's palm. He trembled as she closed her hands, erasing them without fear of consequences, meaning...
His eyes rolled, his consciousness slipping as he understood who—or rather what they were: demons.
Yet, Bart's comforting hand rose and flicked the back of his head, the stinging pain anchoring his consciousness as Luna continued.
"This realm is changing, Jean, and fear will only hinder your future. Judge by yourself."
She retrieved a stack of parchments from her coat and threw it before him.
He almost crumpled the first as he grabbed them before his brows rose in confusion.
He scrutinised the bustling city drawn on it, its clean streets striking him. But they were nothing compared to the towering buildings in the background and the happy citizens. Where was this place?
Terrorised but curious, he placed the first drawing on the ground and leapt to his feet when he saw the next.
"Durgrim?! Didn't he die in his shop? And how did his hand regrow?!"
Unable to stop his hands, he flicked to the next parchment, seeing Miranda, one of the city's best tailors, a smith and his apprentices pounding metal in a rain of sparks, and an old farmer ploughing the fields with dozens of youths. But his eyes almost popped out when he noticed horned demons working with them.
"What in Hephaestus' name is this heresy?!"
The genuine smiles in the portrait made him doubt his rationality for a second before he shook his head. Stay connected with empire
However, Luna's voice cut through the only explanation he could come up with.
"They're not forged. But I won't try to convince you. Just know that you can move to this place if you wish."
Her smile broadened as she revealed Adam's true goal in approaching Jean.
"My lord invites you as a teacher for our territory's first academy! Sleep on the offer and deliver us an answer in the next few days."
Without sparing him another glance, she pushed herself up and gestured for Bart and Garduck to follow her into the shop's backroom.
The crackling fireplace cast a soft glow onto their coats as they locked the door behind them. Finally at ease, Luna lowered her hood and sat by the worktable.
"What a coward." Sneering, she massaged her shoulders and focused on their mission. "You gather information on that disgusting city lord with Shadow, Garduck. Bart, you visit that idiot slaughterhouse owner." Her eyes narrowed into fiery slits, her knuckles whitening. "Teach him about butchery and the price of scamming our lord."
A drop of icy sweat rolled down Bart's twitching temple. But he nodded, wondering if Shihan would be as vindictive as Luna.
Meanwhile, Garduck tucked his fingers around his chin, his pensive voice echoing.
"So you really believe you'll find demon worshippers in this city?"
"Hestia has lost her grip on her realm. First with the kobolds, then with the cultists." She drummed on the workbench, her green eyes sparkling. "If you want my opinion, she either gave up on this realm or played a dangerous game."
Even weeks later, she still couldn't understand why Hestia didn't command her believers to attack them. Something strange was going on, and she had to find out what. As for the cultists? She scoffed.
"Trust me, every human city has lost sheep believing that demons can bring them salvation. The more corrupted and heartless it is, the more we'll find." Her voice darkened into an ominous presage. "And Foliaris doesn't lack in those departments."