Published at 20th of July 2020 9:21 am

Chapter 872 - Intelligence

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The Roasted Fish Hotel was as old and unpopulated as before in the late night. It seemed unchanged, but Fernando did not have the courage to approach. After leaving a mark in the agreed-upon area, he went into a slum not far away and hid on a tree, staring at the ragged houses down below.

When the moon rose to the apex, a person approached the ragged houses by stepping on the silver brilliance on the ground.

Confirming that nobody followed the guy, Fernando drifted down from the tree and said with a low voice, “Old man, you are not dead yet!”

“I’ll be alive even after you are dead!” The newcomer was Old Green.

As per President Arnold’s order, he stayed in the Roasted Fish Hotel and kept in touch with “Blue Grace” Sharp, but he was no longer involved in the relay and communication of the sorcerers within the Union.

Fernando snorted. “Old man, tell Sharp that we have decided to accept the mission to assassinate Alfonsol. We would like him to provide all the files he has on Alfonsol.”

“What? You’ve truly decided to kill Alfonsol? Has the president contracted your madness?” Old Green couldn’t be more surprised. In his eyes, it would only infuriate the Church, and there was not the slightest chance of success. If anything, the whole Union might be destroyed!

Fernando looked at Old Green in mockery. “Cowards do not understand the significance of risks.”

“You seem confident.” Having lived for almost two hundred years, Old Green had plenty of experience. He noticed the change in the situation from Fernando’s mockery.

“Cowards are also sensitive.” Fernando did not have the virtue of respecting the old at all. However, as a sorcerer who made it out of death and blood alive too many times, he did not forget to remind Old Green. “Don’t let Sharp know that we are kind of confident.”

He stressed “kind of”, not telling the whole truth even though it was Old Green he was speaking to.

Old Green scorned. “Do you think I am as reckless as you? However, why are you asking Sharp for the files? Are you not scared that he’ll set you up or secretly report you to the Church?”

“By the time we allure Alfonsol out, Sharp will have noticed that we’ve accepted the mission and are taking action. He can still report it to the Church by then. So, we might as well show him some trust right now. It is the foundation of cooperation and will save our time in intelligence collection.” At first, Fernando was quite bothered by that himself. He only decided to come because President Arnold and Douglas said it was okay. However, after considering carefully, he felt that he had found the key, although he was still not as confident as the old fox.

Perhaps the old fox kept something to himself, and that was why he trusted Sharp?

Old Green nodded. “Sharp has been staying in the Roasted Fish Hotel recently. He seems to be waiting for your reply. I’ll forward your words to him right now.”

“Right, those mathematical books and notes are the gifts of Douglas and me for Hathaway.” Fernando handed over a dozen books with black covers to Old Green.

“Do you really want Hathaway to embark on the dangerous path of magic?” Because of his relationship with Hathaway’s father, Old Green had never been glad about that.

Fernando chuckled. “Hey, is that something we can control? Old man, just drop your concerns. You should find a lady and have your own children while you are not dead. Don’t devote your redundant love to someone who doesn’t need it.”

He hid his vague caring in mockery.

Old Green was silent at first. He then heaved a long sigh. “I remember that you were such a lovely, vigorous, and stubborn kid when you just came to the magic tower. You even secretly cried when your teacher criticized you. Why is your tongue so rotten nowadays?”

Fernando blushed when his dark history was revealed. A terrible storm brewed in his eyes, but before he roared, Old Green had already vanished into the dark and returned to the Roasted Fish Hotel.

“What a wretched old man!” Eventually, Fernando could only curse in a low voice, fearing that somebody in the neighborhood would be woken up.

About ten minutes later, Old Green returned and said to Fernando solemnly, “Sharp agreed to provide Alfonsol’s files. They will be given to you tomorrow at this hour.”

“What’s his reaction when he learns that we’ve accepted the task?” Fernando asked cautiously.

Old Green couldn’t have neglected such details. He answered quickly without thinking, “He was a little bit surprised, but then he kept a smile of relief. Well, he also cursed, ‘What a bunch of arrogant rats who do not know how weak you are. I’ll watch how you get yourselves killed!'”

Fernando pictured the scene in his mind and noticed no anomaly in Sharp. So, he nodded his head. “I’ll hide in your hotel and secretly observe how he delivers the files.”

One couldn’t be more careful at such a moment. Fernando was not an inexperienced young man.

“Right. Here’s a letter from Hathaway to you and Douglas. It must’ve been written a couple of days ago. Sharp has been carrying it.” Old Green took out a thick envelope from his pocket.

“A letter to us? What did she write?” Fernando did not believe that Douglas and he had become Hathaway’s best friends after only talking with her twice. He was rather stunned.

After examining the letter with magic, he unfolded it carefully. The handwriting was enjoyable and feminine, but there was not a single word other than the copied mathematical questions!

“Hehe…” Fernando could only chuckle dryly about that.

……

The next day before sunset, Fernando snuck into the Roasted Fish Hotel and hid in the kitchen behind the counter.

About half an hour after dinnertime, Sharp, who seemed to have a lump on his nose, came alone and threw a sheaf of crinkled paper to Old Green. “All the details I’m aware of are on it.”

He was no stranger to assassinations, and he knew what files were useful. After all, it was not uncommon for the knights to work with the clerics to kill sorcerers during the rise of the Church.

He snorted heavily when Old Green stared at him without saying anything. “If you question the veracity of the files, you can test them yourself. I am a customer, not a servant.”

Then, he opened his hand. “Where’s the letter?”

“What letter?” Old Green was briefly stunned.

“The letter to Hathaway. The odds that they fail are very high. If I don’t get a letter back from him one of these days, I will never get a letter from him.” Sharp despised Fernando and his colleagues’ capabilities just like before. Fernando, who was peeping from the kitchen, clenched his fists in fury.

Old Green took out the letter that was full of answers and gave it to Sharp solemnly. “You really want to kill Alfonsol?”

He keenly sensed the earnestness and the pretended I-don’t-care in Sharp’s attitude because they had known each other for years. Fernando, for one, couldn’t notice it at all.

“What do you think?” Sharp asked back without giving a straight answer. Then, he took out another letter from his pocket. “These are Hathaway’s questions after yesterday’s learning.”

Fernando did not need to read the letter to know what was on it.

After Sharp had a glass of liquor and a roasted fish and was about to leave, he suddenly winked at the wall of the kitchen.

“He discovered me…” After a while, Fernando walked out of the kitchen and said at the darkness where Sharp disappeared.

Old Green chuckled. “When we were on adventures in the past, he was always best at discovering the hiders. Or maybe he has special tricks. I forgot to tell you earlier.”

Fernando had no time to roar at him. He read the intelligence provided by Sharp carefully.

……

“Based on Sharp’s files and other sources of intelligence, it can be seen that Alfonsol is a very tough man who loathes sorcerers. He is rigorous if not ferocious. He’s good at battles, with many famous cases. He’s very unfriendly to the nobles. It is because of his contradictions with the Violet family that the pope dispatched him to our place…” Two days later, in the underwater relic, Fernando briefed Alfonsol’s situation to President Arnold.

Besides them, Douglas was the only person in the heavily guarded chamber. Ramon and Veronica, who were not involved in the operation, had been kept out for the sake of confidentiality.

Arnold browsed through the files and listened to Fernando. In the end, he nodded. “The intelligence is very valuable. The operation will begin probably in a day or two. You should not go out anymore. Optimize your status and wait for my message.”

“Alright. I haven’t noticed anything wrong about Sharp so far.” Fernando tailed and observed Sharp in the past two days. He was rather proud that he was not discovered.

In the next two days, Douglas and Fernando exchanged knowledge and items with other people in the underwater relic like the other sorcerers did, showing no sign that they would take part in an important operation soon. However, when they were free, they did not discuss the exhausting questions anymore but kept themselves ready for battle.

After midnight of the third day, Fernando and Douglas received Arnold’s order through Whispering Wind. They left the relic and entered the woods nearby.

“Mr. President is here.” Douglas discovered Arnold earlier than Fernando did.

Before his voice died down, Arnold walked out of the darkness with a grave face; his usual smile gone. “Alfonsol has left Rentato with at least seven senior-rank red robes and divine knights. He did not ask for the cooperation of the nobles.”

Douglas nodded first, but then he slightly changed his expression. “This is…?”

It was not until then that he realized that a man covered in a black cloak was standing in the shadow next to Arnold. Vague black mist surrounded the man, making him look creepy, and he was holding a long scythe in his hands. Douglas did not sense the man at all previously!

Fernando was even more surprised. He did not realize the mysterious man with the intense air of death until Douglas reminded him!

“It’s my servant of death, a supernatural creature that equals to level nine. It is best at stealth. To be honest, I barely used it before, and few people in the Union know it. However, this operation is too important. I can only bring out my trump card first, hoping that we can finish Alfonsol in one battle…” Arnold’s graveness was gone, and he introduced it with a smile. He also told Douglas and Fernando how to cooperate with himself and the servant of death.

Douglas and Fernando both nodded in relief, glad that the president was trying his best without any reserve.

“Let’s go to Sherwell County in the north.” Arnold turned his eyes to the north.

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