Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-187

Chapter 187: Fooling

Charles returned to his small room on the third floor and started to take a rest.

After sleeping for a few hours, he woke up from the loud banging noise and sat up.

"Who is it?" He asked while yawning.

"It's Jessie, Teacher. A few Life Church members came here a while ago and said that they want to meet you," She suddenly paused for a moment and added.

"Destiny Lady of the Tower of Elements also came, Teacher."

'Oh? They took longer than I expected.' He nodded thoughtfully and touched his red gem-embedded bracelet.

'Mr. Runeth, change into a black cane. If Lady Emilia is among the group, she would definitely identify you.'

Saying so, he stood up from the cotton bed and spoke.

"Tell them to wait in the main hall. I will come in a few minutes."

Then, he took a white towel from the wardrobe and started walking towards the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Charles walked out of the bathroom, went near the wardrobe, and wore a neat white shirt, black pants, and a red tie before putting a formal frock coat over the white shirt.

Then, he went near the shoe rack, took a pair of black leather shoes, and wore it.

Following that, he took the black cane from the bed, gripped the handle, and started walking towards the wooden door.

Then, he walked on the left side corridor, appeared near a spiral staircase, and went downstairs.

After a few minutes, he appeared near the red-carpeted bifurcated staircase and started stepping down.

Each of his steps was so smooth due to the presence of the carpet and made no sound.

Placing his left hand on the railing, he stepped downward and soon saw a group of four people seated in the main hall.

They appeared to be in the middle of chattering.

Among the four people, three were familiar faces!

'Andrew…Emilia… And, Destiny Lady.' He soon zeroed his gaze on Andrew and cast [Cryptic Analysis] on him.

'Oh? His sub-Class is Rank-2 [Traveler]? A Dreamer Class Mystic? Hmm, let's see what his sub-class skills are… Dream Invade… Night Prophet… and Imaginary Grip… Eh? Imaginary Grip? Wait… it must be the one that caused Rhea's heart to beat faster earlier… So, that young child is a Dreamer Class Mystic, huh.' A flash of surprise appeared on Charles's face.

He and soon turned his gaze towards the last person.

He was a man in his thirties and had short blonde hair, oceanic eyes, and looked slimmer.

As Charles focused his gaze on him, he also used [Cryptic Analysis] skill and confirmed his identity.

'He is a new member, huh.'

At that moment, a maid walked towards them with a plate full of wine glasses and gave each one.

As Emilia picked the glass, she instantly saw a white-haired old man, who was walking from the bifurcated staircase, and got surprised for a moment.

"Greetings, Mr. Oswald." She stood up from her seat and greeted him politely.

Unlike others, she showed a calm and composed expression on her face.

There was also a trace of confidence in her eyes, which caused Charles's pupil to shrink slightly.

Meanwhile, Andrew, Destiny Lady, and the blonde-haired man also stood up from their seats and greeted him.

"It seems you guys have some doubt," Charles said in an old man's voice and sat on the sofa, placed on the opposite side.

At that moment, Emilia adjusted her curly black hair and spoke.

"Yes, Mr. Oswald. We want to know if Charles is currently under your protection."

This time, Destiny Lady also straightened her back, turned her face solemn, and nodded her head.

A bitter smile appeared on Charles's face.

"No, he is not. I'm not sure about his whereabouts either. If I had known, I wouldn't have sent her to you." He paused for a moment and soon frowned.

"Wait for a moment. I will check if I get some clue about his current whereabouts."

Without waiting for others' reply, he raised his hand, closed his amber eyes, made a few strange hand gestures, and spoke in a deep tone.

"Strange… He seems to be searching for someone… No, he is hiding from someone… Hunger… Pain… Hurt… Like a wolf, he is licking his wound and waiting… Waiting to release his wrath… As I expected, he is in a bad condition."

A heavy sigh leaked out of Charles's mouth as he leaned his back against the sofa and smiled.

It was not a pleasant one but filled with bitterness, pain, anger, and helplessness.

"Why aren't you searching for him, Mr. Oswald?" This time, Andrew stared into his eyes and asked.

At that moment, Charles's smile vanished in an instant and was replaced with a serious one.

"Tell me, young man. What would you do if someone killed your mother and even started chasing after you to eliminate the root of the problem?"

Andrew got startled a bit, but soon he turned his face into a normal one and spoke.

"I will lay low for some time and wait for opportunity."

"Correct. Then, would you accept if some powerful expert lends you a hand to kill the enemy in your stead?"

"N-No. Although it is a smart choice, I would feel empty. Only when I feel no chance of willing, I would rely on the outsider's help." Andrew said in an embarrassing tone.

At that moment, a proud smile appeared on Charles's wrinkled face.

"That's right. Real men should never rely on outsider's help when it comes to personal things. I hate that devil to the core, but I won't go after him and hinder Charles's plan. This is his fight." He deliberated for a moment and then added.

"If my prediction is not wrong, Charles will definitely appear in this very city after some time and cause another grand chaos. Go and wait for that day."

"Could you please tell us the exact time?" This time, Destiny Lady was the one who asked the question.

"Aren't you an Astrologer Class Mystic?" Charles couldn't help but ask.

A forced smile appeared on Destiny Lady's face.

Earlier, she didn't have enough information, so all her predictions ended up as failures.

She felt like she was searching for a ghost in this kingdom!

'I think it might work now. As long as Charles's original goal is related to this, I might grasp find the exact Fate String and predict his arrival.' She muttered inwardly and closed her scarlet eyes.

A moment later, hundreds of red strings appeared in her mind and started to spread everywhere like a spider net!

At that moment, she started applying the gathered information and began searching for the correct Fate String.

A few seconds later, she soon noticed an odd-looking string and directly grasped it.

The next instant, she saw an appearance of a crimson masked person.

'Charles Nightwind! He really is going to appear.' A look of awe and wonder appeared on Destiny Lady's face.

Without wasting any time, she focused her attention on the time of this Fate String and soon muttered out loud.

"August 30th, Year 6400, 11.P.M, Royal Castle."

'Stop playing with these kids, lad. Even I'm feeling sorry for this poor girl. A Rank-4 Fate Warden is being played to be a fool by a Rank-3 Mischievous Man… She really is not suitable for this manipulative class.' The Holem's Crown muttered with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Charles also quickly marked the exact date and nodded his head.

After that, Emilia and others exchanged few words with Charles and left silently.

Once he saw then walked out of the building, he breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up.

'I need to be extra careful of Emilia. She is a crafty one and might have already found out that I'm a fake Oswald.' His face turned gloomy.

'You didn't leave any clues behind, right?' The Holem's Crown was surprised.

'No, I did leave some clues. Still, those clues were not enough to make her suspicious of my identity.' He paused for a second, took a deep breath, and then continued.

'But there was a trace of confidence that appeared in her eyes. This means she knew that I'm a fake one, but wasn't sure I'm another person, or Charles himself… Where did I leave such a big mistake…' He frowned for a moment and soon widened his eyes.

'What if she met the real Oswald Raven? No, Hearth Kingdom is far away from the Arc Kingdom… The possibility of her going to search for Eve's father is very slim… Wait… There is another person who would have gone after Oswald… Red Prince! After he found out about Oswald's appearance in Riverdale City, he must have gone there to search for me…'

'Does that mean he already killed him? No, from Eve's memory, that old man is not a simple man. If so, Red Prince should have injured before he came to the Tower of Elements, right? Why did he appear uninjured? How did Emilia know that the real Oswald is in the Hearth Kingdom?' At that moment, the black-haired Lightning Mage's face appeared in his mind.

'So, that explains a lot. That woman must have chased after Red Prince and met Oswald Raven.' A look of understanding appeared on Charles's face.

'Hmm, Emilia Wilson… She is a troublesome woman, indeed.' He let out a deep sigh and started walking towards the red-carpeted stairs.

'Are you going to kill her?' The Holem's Crown couldn't help but ask.