Fire Mage

In the meantime, Charles and others went behind the couch and stood behind Emilia.

"Arbiter Willy, we came here to inquire about that strange incident. Can you give us some useful information?" Emilia turned her tone soft and asked politely.

"I detected the presence of an 'Irregular.' The strange coincidences must be his doing. Well, as long as he didn't cross my line, I wouldn't involve myself with that troublesome person." Saying so, he called out a male servant and asked him to bring something for the guests.

Meanwhile, Emilia pondered for a moment and then asked,

"Sir, then why did you go to Explorers' Association and argued with [Historian] Max?"

Willy grumbled as he heard that name and soon said in anger,

"That damned brat is the one who came to my doorstep and looked for trouble. If Max didn't ask my help to protect him in the shadows, I wouldn't have ended up offending the Watcher."

"Watcher?" Charles and Andrew glanced at each other and asked in unison.

"It's a Rank 3 class of Astrology class series," Emilia replied vaguely.

'Tycoon Addie, Anderson Black, Red Prince, and now this Watcher.' Charles furrowed his brows in puzzlement and soon asked,

"What is his aim? Why is he making these strange coincidences?"

"I think he is planning to confuse his real target. If he used his power to change one's 'Fate,' it will be easy for others to detect the anomaly. But, if he creates multiple coincidences, his real target will also get confused and lower his guard."

'Is he making these coincidences to lure the A-035 out of the shadows? Or, is he after another thing? What did those three [Historians] do to make him angry?' Questions whirled in his mind as he fell into deep thoughts.

In the meantime, Emilia nodded her head and asked more questions about the kidnapping incident. Most of them were vague replies, which made her sigh in disappointment. If it were another Rank 2 mystic, she would have used her authority to question him further. Unfortunately, Willy was not a regular Mystic. Emilia knew that only Rank-3 had the qualification to become an Arbiter and gave up pestering further.

While she was asking questions, a blonde-haired servant arrived near her and gave her a glass of grape juice. After that, he went beside her and passed other glass cups to Charles and others.

Taking a sip of grape juice, Emilia held the glass in her right hand and asked,

"Arbiter Willy, are you also after A-035?"

"Nope. I came here on another purpose, but I was unexpectedly involved in this incident." Willy responded in a heavy tone.

In the meantime, Andrew shook his head and corrected him.

"Coincidentally."

Furrowing his brows, Willy stared at Andrew for a second and asked in curiosity.

"Are you saying that I'm also a part of the Watcher's plan?"

Before Andrew could open his mouth, Emilia glared at him and then responded,

"He thinks too much."

"No. Your teammate might be right." Willy turned his face solemn and then added,

"Abandon this mission and go back to your office. Then, explain the current situation to your higher-ups and ask them to send reinforcement."

Emilia nodded her head without any refusal as he gulped the grape juice, placed the glass on the table, and stood up from the couch.

"I will report it to our Branch officer." Saying so, she bends her waist a bit and then turned around before walking out of the two-storied house. Charles and others followed her footsteps and soon walked out of Willy's house.

"Are we going to abandon the mission, Team Leader?" As they walked out of the white compound, Andrew asked in a suppressing tone.

"Do I look like a fool to you?" Emilia glared at Andrew for a moment and then shook her head.

"He is not telling the whole truth, Andrew. He didn't get involved in the kidnapping incident coincidentally." She paused for a moment and then added in a gloomy tone.

"He is also after the Series-A artifact. He told us to back down because he might have found some traces of A-035."

"What?!" Andrew widened his eyes for a moment and soon asked in anxiety,

"If we continue our investigation, doesn't that mean that we are offending the Eighty-seventh Arbiter of Storm?"

"Eighty-Seventh? No, he lied to us about him being an Arbiter of Storm. If he is a Rank-3 Mystic, our Branch Head Russell would have mentioned in the book. So, Willy might be just a peak level Rank-2 [Storm Bringer] class Mystic. Well, I'm not so sure about that, though." Emilia shook her head and entered the carriage. Others also followed after her, and soon the silk-curtained carriage disappeared from there.

...

A few minutes later, a silk-curtained carriage drove past the Amber Church and soon reached the Slum Street Junction. Because of the densely populated area, the Bowler hatted coachman stopped the carriage at the junction and spoke in a heavy tone,

"Lady Emilia, I think you guys should go by walk from here on,"

A heavy sigh leaked out from the carriage, and soon a gray-robed lady walked out from it. A second later, Charles and others also stepped down from the carriage and curiously glanced at the rows of mud houses, huts, few cottages, and poorly constructed buildings. Although cleaners well maintained the mud road, they still got nauseous by the urine and feces smell. Charles looked around the people in curious and soon noticed that most of them looked pale and skinny.

"Follow me closely," Before he could take a good look at the slum citizens, Emilia said in a loud tone, causing the nearby citizens to turn their heads at her. She didn't mind their stare, though. She just walked on the smelly road and soon entered into a narrow alley. Charles and others followed after her for a while and soon arrived in front of a one-storied brick house.

"He is home now." She commented casually and then knocked on the door thrice.

After a minute, the door opened with a click and soon revealed a blonde-haired male figure, who looked around 25 years old. The blonde-haired male had a lean body, an oval face, amber eyes, and was around 175 cm tall. He wore a regular grey linen shirt, linen pants, and a unique red-gem embedded bracelet in his hand.

He stared at them in wariness for a moment and soon asked in an anxious tone,

"Lady Emilia? Why are you here?"

In the meantime, Charles cast his [Inspect] skill on the suspect and then squinted his eyes.

[Inspect has been cast...]

[Wisdom Check...]

[Inspect is successful!]

...

[Name: Jimmy Holmes (??????)

Race: Human (????)

Rank: 1

Class: Level 4 Soldier (0/337)

Sub-class: None

Title: Unlucky Star.

Health Points: 61/61

Attributes:

Strength- 11

Dexterity- 12

Constitution- 11

Wisdom- ???

Charisma- 11

Class skills:

Charge-33

Fearless Body-24

Weapon proficiency (Basic melee weapon proficiency)-38

Sub-class skills: None

Unique skills:

Knowledge Seeker-45

...

'Knowledge Seeker skill? How did he get the [Historian] class skill? Inheritance gift?' He got confused inside and soon noticed the question marks in Name, Race, and Wisdom.

'Something is wrong about this guy.' He stared at the blonde-haired man for a second and soon retracted his gaze.

Meanwhile, Emilia took a step forward and spoke in a polite tone.

"As usual, we are here on an official matter, Jimmy." She paused for a moment and then added, "We would like to ask you some questions regarding the kidnapping incident."

Jimmy heaved a deep sigh upon hearing her words and soon invited them in. The Aces team members' gaze swept past the entrance and soon landed on the small room filled with two chairs, one small cabinet, and one bed. On the right side were the kitchen and storehouse, while a small attached bathroom on the left side.

Jimmy hurriedly went inside and started removing the messy clothes on the chairs and beds before gesturing them to sit. Emilia glanced around the small messy room, filled with strange paintings for a second, and soon turned her gaze to Jimmy as she sat on the wooden chair. Charles and Andrew also went near the old wooden bed, sat on it, and then glanced at the strange paintings.

Charles stared at a picture of a three-headed strange humanoid creature for a second and then turned his gaze towards another rose-like plant. He then shifted his gaze towards the next portrait and got confused.

'Why did he draw the strange creatures?' Puzzlement crossed his face.

While he was in deep thoughts, Luke stood leaning against the wall and took out a small notebook and a strange blue-feathered quill from his pocket. He then glanced at Emilia and waited for her to ask questions.

"Did you witness the kidnapping incident?" In the meantime, Emilia made a soft smile and asked. Her tone was calm and contained an aura of arrogance.

"I was sleeping here at that time, My Lady." Jimmy didn't dare to look into Emilia's eyes and replied while lowering his gaze.

"Oh? That's disappointing." She said with a sigh and soon asked with a frown.

"If you don't mind, can you answer us another question?"

Jimmy raised his head a little and asked in the same anxious tone.

"What is it, My Lady?"

"Did you go to Pine Town during the last two weeks?" Emilia crossed her legs and asked.

Jimmy didn't mind her strange question and nodded his head as he answered in a polite tone.

"My friend Henry asked me to accompany him to his hometown, so I agreed to his request and went along with him."

"When is it? Can you tell us the exact time and date?" This time, Luke raised his voice a little and asked in a cold tone.

Charles felt puzzled by their current cold attitude towards Jimmy and glanced at Emilia for the answer. Noticing her gaze, she moved her forefinger a little and gestured him to stay put.

Although he was confused by her order, he didn't dare to raise any questions and silently listened to Jimmy's answer.

"I went to Pine Town on June 28th." He paused for a moment and continued with a bitter smile on his face.

"Five hours before the killing incident."

Upon hearing his words, Charles's mind went blank for a second.

'It's not some mere coincidence, right?' Doubt appeared inside his mind.

"Don't think much about it. We already used to your Unluckiness." Emilia said before standing up from her seat, noticing Jimmy's bitter smile.

"But if you have any plan on going to another defenseless town, inform it to the security office before you depart. We can't predict when your unluckiness title would act again." Saying so, Emilia turned her gaze towards the new strange paintings and asked in curiosity.

"Why are you drawing strange paints on the walls? Won't your house owner scold you?"

Jimmy scratched his head as he heard her question and then replied with a timid smile.

"I recently got some interest in painting, so I thought of practicing inside to improve my skill, My Lady. Did you find it likable?"

"These are not lady-like paintings. Was it the Abyssal Rose? How did you know about it?" She waved her hands and posed another question.

"I once heard about it from my father. He worked as a gatekeeper of Twelfth Chaotic Zone at the Unexplored Forest and knew some things about those chaos creatures." Jimmy's tone went down as he talked about his personal and shook his head.

"7 years ago, a group of demons raided the Twelfth Chaotic Zone and killed hundreds of guards. My father, Evan Holmes, is among those hundreds of guards." He paused for a moment and continued with a gloomy tone.

"Before he dies, he left me twenty gold coins, one small hut, one [Soldier] class-gem, and some land. I spent my first few months doing nothing using those gold coins and soon realized that I would die out of starvation in a year or two. After some consideration, I sold that small hut to a nearby villager and came to Riverdale to live."

It was the first time Emilia heard about his background and became somewhat surprised.

"What about your mother?" Andrew interjected as usual and asked Jimmy.

"I have no memory of her. My father once told me that she died after giving birth to me, but I heard from other villagers that she ran away with another man." Jimmy turned his face serious as he responded gloomily.

"Hmm, how did you get the Unluckiness?" This time, Charles asked in curious.

A complicated expression appeared on his face as he turned his gaze towards his unique red-colored bracelet and shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's not a pleasant memory for me."

Although Emilia could order Jimmy to tell her about it, she felt that it was not a good idea.

In the meantime, Charles also stared at the unique red-colored bracelet for a second and soon cast his [Inspect] skill on it. A moment later, he sighed in disappointment as he noticed that it was just a normal bracelet.

"Why did you tell us about your personal now? We asked about your background multiple times, but you didn't even say a single word. But why now?" Luke straightened his back a little and asked in the same cold tone. Even Emilia was surprised by his cold attitude and got puzzled.

Jimmy let out a chuckle and said as he stared at the white ceiling with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Truthfully, even I don't know why I said that. What am I? Do I have any future? I don't have a girlfriend, nor do I have someone to lean on their shoulders. What if I die in a few days and no one knew about my personal life? Would someone remember me after a year or two? No. I will fade away even from my friend Henry's memories. I told you guys about my personal now because I wanted to. There is nothing there to hide it any longer."

Upon hearing his reply, Aces Team members became stunned for a moment.

Emilia suddenly stood up from her seat after a second and said in a solemn tone.

"Don't worry too much about your future, Jimmy. If you are okay, I can recommend you to work in the Life Church, and you can start a normal life. Although the Slithering rowdy gang members will come and look for troubles, I will ask Father Reynolds to look after you. What do you think? Are you okay with that?"

Jimmy blinked his eyes in surprise for a moment and soon spoke in a thoughtful look.

"I will continue my job for the next three months. Once I manage to solve my problems, I will come and look for you."

Emilia's lips curled upward as she heard his words. She nodded with a pleasant smile and said while walking past him.

"I will be waiting for you then."

In the meantime, Charles and Andrew also stood up from the bed and followed after Emilia with fast footsteps. Only Luke stood with a frown on his face and soon shook his head.

"Don't cause any more trouble." Saying so, he straightened his back and walked out of Jimmy's house.