Chapter 151: Fate’s Hand
Three days had passed in the outside world. Kailun’s return was a bit later than everyone expected.
On the afternoon of the third day, Carol was taking Bella, the dragon girl, on a tour of the Royal City. On their way, they encountered Saint Chrissy and the assassin girl, Helena, walking together.
The two groups met at a street corner. Upon seeing Carol, Helena immediately hid behind Chrissy.
Although she was an eighth-rank mage, every time she encountered Carol, she felt like she was about to die.
Besides Carol, she also noticed a girl with dragon horns. If the information was correct, she should be Bella, the Dragon Princess of the Abyss.
For some reason, upon seeing Bella, Helena didn’t feel fear but a stirring of excitement.
She touched her chest and realized that her dagger was still with Kailun.
“Staring…”
Perhaps sensing Helena’s gaze on Bella, Carol glared back with displeasure.
“I didn’t do anything!”
Meeting Carol’s gaze, Helena instantly cowered and hid behind Chrissy, trying to prove her innocence.
Chrissy: “…”
She stepped aside speechlessly, giving up her spot to Helena. “You’re an eighth-rank mage. How can you be so cowardly? Helena, what are you afraid of?”
“I… I don’t know…”
Helena instinctively wanted to hide again, but Chrissy stopped her.
Bella looked at Helena curiously. She didn’t feel much, only a faint, almost imperceptible resentment.
She wagged her tail hidden under her skirt and thought carefully. In her memory, there was hardly any information about Helena.
Since she couldn’t figure it out, she simply stopped thinking about it.
“If you’re looking for Master, I regret to inform you that he hasn’t returned yet.” Carol shifted her gaze from Helena to Chrissy.
“Of course, I know he hasn’t returned yet. I had someone ask this morning. You two seem to be planning to tour the Royal City. Mind if we join you? I’m quite free lately.”
Chrissy smiled. She was willing to befriend Carol.
Carol: “Aren’t you afraid that the people from the Temple of the Celestial God will find out if you get too close to us? If someone sees us, they might suspect that you betrayed the Temple. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
Chrissy pushed Helena in front of her. “It doesn’t matter. Her Holiness trusts me completely. If I’m suspected, I’ll just say I’m a double agent. You can ask Helena, right?”
Helena had no choice but to deal with this Saint who always forgot her name. She lowered her head and answered, “Her Holiness and the ninth-rank Koya have been successfully deceived. They both believe that Saint Chrissy is loyal to the Temple.”
“That’s right, they all believe I’m loyal. If you don’t believe me, I can even tell you the town where Koya is hiding.”
Chrissy puffed out her chest proudly. She believed that Kailun would praise her if he heard her words.
Helena was speechless. She disdained being associated with such a traitor.
Oh, right, she was a traitor too.
Never mind then. She might as well go along with it. Compared to betraying the Pope, she was more afraid of facing Carol.
In her mind, Carol was the true demon, a being ten thousand times more terrifying than Kailun.
She would rather be alone with Kailun than see Carol. So she secretly tugged at Chrissy’s clothes and whispered, “Can I go back and cook? I’m a great cook. Please~”
Helena pleaded pitifully.
“No, we finally ran into each other. Let’s go shopping and chat, talk about Kailun.” Not only did Chrissy refuse, but she also proactively pulled Helena towards Carol and Bella.
“May I ask if Saint Chrissy is also Lord Kailun’s lover?” Bella asked curiously. After recent inquiries, she had a general understanding of Kailun’s family relationships.
In Kailun’s household, his wife, Afra, and his maid, Carol, were in the first tier, while Hilna belonged to the pet and bottom tier. There were quite a few others in between, and she had only learned a little about them.
She was curious about the position of the Saint of the Temple.
“Sort of. We’re close partners, an inseparable relationship.” Chrissy boasted about her status without blushing.
“That’s amazing. How did you meet?” Bella looked at Chrissy with wide, curious eyes.
“Hmph, we met on the battlefield. To ensure the safe retreat of my comrades, I surrendered to Kailun. After that, I was subjected to his torture. Perhaps my fearless attitude towards a powerful enemy moved him…”
Chrissy abandoned Helena, ran to Bella’s side, linked arms with her, and excitedly recounted her “legend.”
To make her story sound more interesting, Chrissy embellished it quite a bit.
Carol didn’t expose Chrissy’s deception because she was keeping a close eye on Helena, who was trying to sneak away.
“Helena, where are you going?” Carol smiled and took out a black collar.
Perhaps she had been too influenced by Kailun. Carol had learned a bit of his mischievousness.
Looking at the collar in Carol’s hand, Helena realized that her retribution had arrived.
……
Many things had happened during Kailun’s absence, but Afra had easily resolved them all.
It was worth mentioning that on the second day after Kailun left, a seventh-rank knight had caused trouble in the Royal City, but before he could escalate the situation, Afra had slain him with a single sword strike.
If there was any major problem, it was that Phils had been angered to the point of dizziness by Dean Edlin.
Their previous negotiation had been fruitless. Rose and Dean Edlin insisted on continuing the transaction.
If it weren’t for the fact that Duke Pit was already on his way to the Xiya Kingdom, Phils would have stopped them no matter what.
Now, she planned to leave this matter to Kailun and hoped that the two of them would be punished. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to swallow this anger.
No, if Rose and Dean Edlin were punished, but she wasn’t, she would be even angrier.
As for Ella’s Chamber of Commerce, after successfully weathering the first day’s ceremony, it was now flourishing. In just a few days, it had signed large transactions with many kingdoms and forces.
Under the growing influence of the Xiya Kingdom, countless books containing knowledge flowed into various kingdoms, tilting the existing balance once again.
More and more people learned about the Xiya Kingdom, and more and more people traveled there. Even the academy run by Kailson and the others had expanded several times.
Everything seemed to be booming. Without any obstacles, the Xiya Kingdom’s rise was inevitable.
But this prosperity was only superficial. Looking at the world as a whole, one could see that many forces were eyeing the Xiya Kingdom with hostility.
Influenced by the six mysterious ninth-rank vice presidents of the Balance Chamber of Commerce, many leading forces had united to become the fourth major power in the world.
It was worth mentioning that the Loya Ball, Isabella’s family, had also joined the alliance. This puzzled her greatly.
Why would they choose to join this unknown new alliance instead of befriending the promising Kailun?
With this question in mind, Isabella planned to go back and ask personally. In her opinion, although Kailun was a bad guy who had abandoned her, he was worth investing in.
Therefore, Isabella didn’t return to the Royal City. After leaving Kuye Town, she left the Xiya Kingdom directly.
Of course, before leaving, she contacted her guard, Jennice.
In short, great changes had occurred during Kailun’s absence, but Kailun, trapped in Kuye Town, was unaware.
He had already tied up the dog Paul and built a bonfire beside him.
Because there was no firewood in the tomb, Kailun had dismantled a valuable chair to use as fuel.
“Paul, what do you think eighth-rank dog meat tastes like?”
Kailun lit the woodpile, and smoke rose with the flames.
He poked the fire with an iron rod and said, “I haven’t eaten eighth-rank dog meat before. Maybe I should try it today?”
Kailun smiled wickedly. He was clearly intimidating Paul.
Not to mention that Kailun had no desire for dog meat, even Paul’s repulsive odor made him lose his appetite.
Even though he had done many things to Paul, Kailun still felt it wasn’t enough.
Paul’s betrayal was deeply etched in his memory. The pain of having his head cut off was still vivid. So until Paul died, Kailun would continue to torment him.
Paul: “Kailun, I’m the Saint of the Temple of the Celestial God. If you kill me, you will definitely face the Temple’s wrath.”
He smelled the smoke from the burning wood. Compared to ordinary wood, this type seemed to enhance the aroma of food.
“The Saint of the Temple of the Celestial God?”
Kailun couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s hilarious. If the Pope knew I killed you, she might even send me a gift. Did you know? She has long wanted to kill you and Henry. If you hadn’t run away so quickly, you wouldn’t have had the chance to reach the Xiya Kingdom. The Saint might be worth five million gold coins, but you? Forget it.”
“How do you know so much about the Temple of the Celestial God?” The bound Paul tucked his tail between his legs.
“Oh, you’re asking about that? Of course, it’s because I have a good relationship with the Pope. She told me personally.”
Kailun picked up the iron rod and looked at Paul with a malicious smile. “Do you know about barbecue? Usually, you skewer the food and put it on the grill. But I’m worried that your skin is too thick to pierce, so I preheated it first. What do you think?”
Watching Kailun approach step by step, Paul’s pupils constricted.
“Don’t come near me!”
Because Kailun was facing away from the fire, he blocked a lot of the light.
In Paul’s eyes, Kailun’s growing figure became darker and darker, the iron rod in his hand redder and redder.
Perhaps his fear of Kailun had reached its peak, because Paul fainted with fright.
[Paul’s fear of you deepens. Goodwill -10, Total Goodwill -131]
“Is that all?”
Kailun tossed the iron rod to the ground with a clang, feeling a bit disappointed.
He glanced at the other high-rank mages in the secret chamber and nodded with satisfaction. No matter what, this quantity and quality were more than enough.
He wondered what would happen to Paul, the Protagonist of Fate, if he lost most of his fate. It was truly intriguing.
Extinguishing the bonfire in the room, Kailun closed the stone door of the secret chamber, set up a few magic barriers, and walked towards the main hall.
As before, he easily entered the hall without any obstacles.
Blanche, Fox’s grandma, had gone to the town to set up the magic circle she needed. This was the preliminary preparation. The final task would fall on Fox’s shoulders.
Under normal circumstances, only Fox could cast the core Destiny Magic.
Coincidentally, Kailun discovered that he could also cast these Destiny Magic spells.
What he lacked now was time. He needed to fully understand the remaining scrolls.
Arriving at the jade coffin, he saw the little fox still sleeping soundly, a pure smile on her lips. She looked incredibly adorable.
Kailun quietly flicked her moist red lips with his finger and sat down on the edge of the coffin.
[Your action has offended ???. Her resentment increases. Goodwill -5, Total Goodwill -35]
Right, he almost forgot that the one in the jade coffin still had consciousness. He had been careless.
The spot he was sitting on happened to be right above her head. What a coincidence.
But even knowing this, Kailun didn’t intend to change his position. After all, she was also one of the people using Fox. He didn’t need to be polite.
If Blanche hadn’t signed a contract with him before leaving, demanding that he not touch anything in the hall, Kailun might have lifted the jade coffin and shaken it violently to gain goodwill.
After all, she was a former powerhouse. Her goodwill was very valuable.
He had carefully examined her attributes and obtained intriguing results.
[Name: ???]
[Age: ???]
[Title: Eternal Second, the Unlucky One Buried in Time]
[Evaluation: Marginally useful, but don’t have high expectations. Apart from her extraordinary talent, she has no other merits. Even keeping her alive feels like a waste of food.]
For some reason, Kailun felt a sense of disdain.
Was she really that useless?
“Knock, knock, knock!”
Kailun tapped the lid of the jade coffin with his finger. “I know you can see what’s happening outside. I also know you can hear what we’re saying. And I know you dislike me a bit. But I don’t care about any of that. What I want to say is that I’ll be taking a share of the fate from this sacrifice. Of course, because I’m a kind person, I’ll only take half. After all, thirty percent would be too little for you.”
Kailun continued tapping the coffin lid rhythmically. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s what I should do.”
Fox specialized in Destiny Magic. Giving her half of the fate would maximize the benefits.
“!!!”
The one in the jade coffin was completely stunned by Kailun’s words. How could there be such a shameless person in the world?
If she had been half as shameless as Kailun back then, she would have already defeated fate and become the final victor.
How dare he? She had been waiting for this opportunity for ten thousand years, and he just asked for half?
[Your actions have broadened ???’s horizons. Goodwill -15, Total Goodwill -50]
The little grudge holder obediently completed Kailun’s task. This way, he could also get a share of the pie.
This trip to Kuye Town, he had not only figured out what had happened back then, but he had also gained a lot of goodwill, increasing his strength.
When the time came to reap the rewards, his strength would surely surge.
As for guilt?
Kailun took out the parchment scroll and pondered for a moment. He wasn’t sure himself.
The residents of Kuye Town were already dead. Logically, he was just following the original course of events.
In the original story, it was Fox who sacrificed the town.
But now, it was him who was actually casting the magic and performing the sacrifice. After all, he didn’t want the innocent Fox to do such a cruel thing.
To Fox, this was the town where she had lived for over ten years.
He was a bit conflicted. If he interrupted the sacrifice and prevented the original events from happening, would there be huge changes in the outside world?
This matter was not only related to the future but also connected to his past life. It was a rather brain-burning and tangled issue.
With this in mind, Kailun started to analyze the problem from scratch and re-examine the entire town.
It was as if he needed to find a reason.
He closed his eyes and allocated ninety-nine percent of his attributes to mental power. He recalled everything that had happened in recent days.
From what he had seen and heard before entering the town, to the information on the parchment scrolls, and the origin of Blanche’s scroll.
Recalling every person in the town, Kailun could clearly remember their words, expressions, and appearances.
Something wasn’t right.
Now that he thought about it, there were many abnormalities in this town. It was bustling but lacked mobility.
Except for Fox’s grandma, almost no one had left the town. Their living space seemed to be confined within its boundaries.
From the innkeeper’s words, he had learned that fewer and fewer people had entered the town in recent years. Her inn hadn’t had any new guests for a long time.
This was also a problem. If this was a special point in time, so no one else could enter, what about the previous times?
Thinking carefully, there were many illogical things. Because most of his attention had been on other matters before, he hadn’t thought about it deeply.
This disharmony was hidden within the seemingly normal operation of the town. Kailun couldn’t quite grasp it for a while.
To verify whether this was caused by the current special environment or if it had always been this way, Kailun left the hall.
With just an Instantaneous Movement spell, he appeared at the entrance of the town.
His gaze swept over Shirley, who stood out from the crowd, and he carefully observed everyone once again.
Because his mental power was enhanced to the extreme, Kailun noticed more details.
But just observing with his eyes wasn’t enough. He entered the inn he had stayed at before and found the innkeeper standing at the counter.
“Do you need anything, guest? Lunch won’t be ready for a while. Please wait a moment.”
She smiled kindly, looking very benevolent.
Kailun shook his head and asked, “Excuse me, have you ever left the town?”
The innkeeper smiled. “To be honest, I’ve lived for so long and have never left the town. I don’t even know what the outside world looks like.”
“Oh, is that so? But I’m curious about something. This question is even more presumptuous, but I hope you won’t be offended.”
Kailun nodded, his gaze fixed on her, carefully observing every twitch of her facial muscles.
“Please ask. I’ll answer anything I know.” The innkeeper’s smile remained unchanged.
Kailun smiled faintly. “Do you remember where your husband is buried?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Kailun noticed a distinct change in her expression, as if she had frozen.
However, this abnormality only lasted for a moment. She quickly darkened her face and said, “That’s too much. I don’t want to talk about these sad things. Please leave, guest.”
Getting the answer he wanted, Kailun smiled even wider. “Excuse me, I apologize for my rudeness. Goodbye. I hope to see you again.”
As he left the inn, Kailun’s steps were lighter. In fact, he had been overlooking a very obvious problem.
When he first entered the first layer of Kuye Town, he had seen his own grave. Although he didn’t know if it was real or not, he had flattened it.
But after entering the second layer, he hadn’t seen any other graves except for the “question mark” tomb. This was clearly illogical.
The normal cycle of life and death in a town would inevitably result in many graveyards. There should be quite a few within a fifty-mile radius, but Kailun couldn’t find a single one.
This was a huge anomaly.
In fact, when he first saw the innkeeper, Kailun had felt that she was somewhat similar to Fox’s grandma. This wasn’t a similarity in strength but more like a weight of life.
But Blanche had lived for five thousand years, while the innkeeper was just an old woman less than a hundred years old. This was clearly inconsistent.
To verify his guess, Kailun walked down the street and chose faces from his memory that had a certain degree of similarity to ask.
But he received interesting answers. After the innkeeper, their answers were more fluent, but they all shared a certain similarity.
“No comment.”
“Are you annoying? Go play somewhere else.”
“Go away. This is not a question you should be asking.”
“A hundred gold coins is impressive, but I just don’t want to tell you. No one can poke at my wounds.”
“…”
One person’s answer might be a coincidence, and many answers might not be comprehensive, but not everyone could resist the temptation of money.
A hundred gold coins was enough to make an ordinary person happy for generations. Everyone refused. Kailun couldn’t think of any other reason.
[Reminder 1: Changes have occurred within Kuye Town. The nature of the changes is unknown.]
[Reminder 2: The “Outside the Narrative” attribute is still in effect. Only one day remains until it expires.]
[Reminder 3: You have attracted the attention of fate again. Fate has cast its gaze upon you. It has been blocked.]
Someone had kindly provided the answer. The mastermind behind this was clearly related to “fate.”
No wonder the question mark(???) in the jade coffin could only be second. She didn’t even know that her lair had been raided.
Making a bold guess, Kailun even felt that this “fate” was raising “fish.”
If the sacrifice was performed normally, what would be the impact?
Kailun took out the parchment scroll again and compared it with the one Blanche had copied.
This time, Kailun’s eyes gleamed with amusement.
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