Chapter 166: Undercover (2)
Javier?
Lloyd was rubbing his eyes, and he almost poked his eyes with his finger. It was the only rightful response. The sight was that shocking.
And he tells me what? That he hates digging up someone’s background? He feels resentful because this job is below him?
Lloyd recalled the conversation that took place a few days ago. The moon was bright that night, and Javier returned to the lodging with a face overwhelmed with guilt and resignation. He had opposed Lloyd’s order to do a background check on Cannavaro. Lloyd had to soothe and persuade him to put him back on the scene. And it had been a few days since Lloyd heard from him. Now he knew why.
You were actually enjoying this, Javier…
Modest dress. Silky and straight silver wig. Light makeup. Lloyd sighed and let out praise at the same time. Since he was already a handsome, gentle, and noble man, a simple disguise was enough to turn him into a stunner.
Not to mention, he’s slim and muscular with little body fat. And so, Javier looks very fit when he’s dressed. Though he’s a bit too tall, I suppose he just looks like a supermodel to others.
Anyway, his appearance had made him wildly popular throughout the kitchen. Lloyd wondered for a second if he was at a meet-and-greet for a famous celebrity. Just then…
“Hey, mister.”
Someone tapped Lloyd on the shoulder from behind. He turned and found a refugee man shooting a nasty look at him.
“Seriously, if you’re in line, move faster,” demanded the man. “Why are you so slow?”
“Oh?” said Lloyd, dazed.
“Stop dazing out, move now. Come on.”
“Eh!”
The man began to shove Lloyd with his whole body, but it wasn’t just him. Dozens of people from behind moved forward with their whole weight pushing up the line, and the experience strangely felt familiar.
It’s like I’m on the second line at the train station in the morning
Lloyd was reminded of the Shindorim station during rush hour. It was far from a normal train station. All sorts of people pushed and shoved through each other, turning the platform into a battlefield, and it was also a mysterious place where movement didn’t require the exercise of two feet. The crowd moved you forward for you as they pushed ahead. That event was taking place right now to Lloyd in this world, who had scooted his way to take a look at Javier. And by some random turn of events, he found himself in the line for rations, and it was too late to slip out. Now stuck in the queue, Lloyd was moving forward as people became intimate with each other toward Javier, the goddess of the soup kitchen.
“…”
“…”
Javier blinked as he stared at Lloyd. The latter smiled nastily at the former. The silence was short-lived, however, for Javier put on his character and played his role.
“Your plate, please.”
“Oh.”
Lloyd picked up the wooden plate by reflex and held it to him. And Lloyd involuntarily asked a question to Javier.
“Excuse me, but what is your name, my lady?” asked Lloyd.
“Oh… It’s Ella.”
“Ella?”
“Yes. E-l-l-a. Ella.”
“…”
Lloyd figured that Javier was flustered just as much, given his unusually dazed response.
This bastard.
Lloyd knew Javier went undercover in this kitchen to learn more about this place. So, he left to ensure he wouldn’t make things more awkward for Javier.
“Thank you, Miss Ella. So long.”
He took the soup and chugged it in one gulp and removed himself from the scene, though it also required some struggle. Now freed, he was collecting his breath when the administrator approached him.
“Haha, Lord Frontera, I did not peg you to be a man of such character.”
“Excuse me?”
Lloyd tilted his head to the side, wondering what this man was talking about and his smile. The administrator flashed a grin that wrinkled his nose as though he was telling Lloyd to stop playing dumb.
“When I told you about this beautiful lady,” he said, “you seemed barely interested. But now, you are more forward than I am after you caught sight of her.”
“…”
“What was it like talking to her directly? What was her voice like? And her manner of speech?” the administrator urged.
“Goodness, check for yourself if you’re curious. Let’s get to work, ahem!” huffed Lloyd.
Lloyd gulped as he pretended to huff at the administrator. His mouth was itching to break the shocking news to everyone. All of you’re being deceived. Miss Ella is actually a man who is anything but gentle and lovely. Furthermore, he’s incapable of falling asleep without a lullaby because of his terrible sleeping habit. If Lloyd could do it, he wanted to spread this news to all corners of the city as he felt sorry for the people who worshiped Ella, not knowing her real identity. But Lloyd decided to stay silent for a greater cause.
Javier is undercover right now.
Javier wasn’t the type to make jokes like this, and there had to be a reason behind his actions. There had to be something fishy going on to explain why he was taking his disguise this far.
I should trust him for now.
Lloyd decided to leave him be and walked away. Now that he saw that Javier was working hard to fulfill his order, Lloyd thought he should do his part too. So, he went to the blacksmith at the administrator’s guidance and requested the anchor bolts. The blacksmith cocked his head at first, which was a natural response given the unfamiliarity of the anchor itself. But when Lloyd expounded the item with the help of his blueprint, the blacksmith finally nodded in understanding.
It’s a relief. Since he’s the most reliable blacksmith in the city, I can entrust him with the anchors. Though he won’t be as great as Sir Corgidus.
That was one less burden off him. Next, Lloyd went out of the castle alone and walked along the cliff slopes that surrounded the castle. He then activated the Subterranean Scanning, an optional skill of his surveying.
Since I have to plant the piles and anchor bolts around here, I should survey this place more thoroughly.
Lloyd looked closely at the construction area, particularly the location of the piles and the angle and depth of the anchor bolts.
Hmm, I should plant the piles in these flat roads and increase the overall structural stability. And I should install the anchor bolts in the slopes to prevent any slippage. Repeat this process from the upper area in the castle wall, to the lower part of the cliff, and that should do it.
With such a plan in his head, Lloyd obtained the data of the terrain, sweeping through every corner of the foundation rock and collecting every detail. As he did so…
Hmm?
He was looking into the ground with his optional skill when he detected something strange down there.
What is that?
About 20 inches under the ground, Lloyd found something that at first glance thought was a rock. But it wasn’t. The upper part was white and round while the lower part was rugged.
Is that a skull? What’s it doing here?
Lloyd frowned. It really was a human skull buried underground. But no matter how much he looked at it, this place hardly looked like a suitable area for a grave. Not to mention, there was only a skull here and no other bones.
Could it be that those who were beheaded have been buried down here?
Lloyd shrugged nonchalantly. After all, he was around a large, historical city. All sorts of things must have happened throughout the years. There was no reason to fuss about a skull as it could be the result of execution. Thinking so, Lloyd ignored it and resumed focusing on his work. He activated the optional skill and moved around until, sometime later, he discovered another skull.
What the?
Lloyd frowned. It was very similar to the previous one. Similarly, a skull without a body was buried about 20 inches deep in the ground. This time again, Lloyd brushed the thought away, simply cocking his head to the side.
This doesn’t feel good. Or is my luck just off today? If I were in Korea, I’d have bought lottery tickets.
He scoffed at the sudden thought, which allowed him to dismiss the bad feeling away. He then got back to work again. Ten minutes later, however, the smile on his face was completely gone.
What the heck? Another one?
Once again, there was another skull buried in the same depth. However, this time Lloyd found that upon a closer look that the skull was buried upright, facing the city, just like the previous ones.
“…”
Lloyd stared behind him with a serious look and observed the points where he first found the two skulls. As he used his surveying skill, he shockingly noticed there was an even distance between each skull.
Something’s going on here.
Now, his previous theory of skulls being buried as the result of execution proved to be false. Plus, the three skulls faced the same direction in the same depth. Not to mention, the interval between them was almost all the same. The difference was only about five inches.
It looks like someone used a ruler to bury them. So, it wasn’t buried here randomly or by chance. Something’s really going on right now.
Lloyd hurriedly raked through his bag and fished a foldable pickax. He then dug the area with a lot of effort until he excavated the skull. He stretched out his hand to pick it up.
Bzzt!
“Argh!”
An electric shock hurt his fingers. Lloyd quickly withdrew and observed the skull.
Magic?
Lloyd didn’t feel any magical force when it was under the earth. But now that it was out in the open, he could feel it. And the Asrahan Core Technique allowed him to discover that the mana, which was extremely gloomy, dark, and evil, was highly concentrated in the skull.
Wait a minute. Could this be…
Lloyd started to rack his brain. Skulls are buried in regular intervals. A high concentration of gloomy mana. Lloyd theorized, predicted, and considered the facts at hand without anything amiss. The evidence and phenomenon that appeared before him were put to inference and estimation. At last, as the small pieces of puzzles were put together, Lloyd slowly reached a conclusion.
These were used to make Namaran’s Wall.
Chills ran down his spine at the realization. He recalled the scene with Namaran’s Wall in the novel, where Javier experienced dramatic growth after a series of suffering and despair. The story only focused on his heroic feat, not on the mechanics behind the wall.
Yes. This is it. Skulls with black magic. They were buried around the city’s perimeter.
Lloyd stared at the skulls and thought that he could eliminate the dark magic in them if he could dissipate the mana. And he’d be able to prevent the erection of the Namaran’s Wall.
Let’s give it a try.
Lloyd observed the amount of mana concentrated in the skull, and he inspected the Asrahan Core Technique.
Triple Circle level two.
Would mobilizing everything here allow him to discard the concentrated mana inside? Lloyd searched for an objective answer.
I can do it.
He found his answer. And so, there was no need to hesitate.
Ziiing! No one was looking at him just in time, so he activated the Asrahan Core Technique and turned the mana absorption skill to the max. When the tips of his fingers touched the skull…
Hmph.
Exceedingly depressive mana flooded into him like a tsunami.
I can’t eat this. I’ll get sick.
He rotated the three-stranded circle as much as he could, sending the depressing mana flowing into this body to the other side of his hand. The process was delicate and thorough, like untangling a ball of yarn. The mana was sent out into the air little by little. A few minutes later…
“Whoa!”
Lloyd sighed heavily, and though his face turned slightly pale, he wore a satisfying smile on his face.
I did it.
Lloyd wondered if this was what it felt like to be part of the EOD. Thankfully, the three circles held up very well in absorbing and discharging the mana. Now, the gloomy mana, heavily concentrated in the skull, was completely gone. He picked it up to get a closer look.
Clack. Just then, there was a jingling sound inside the skull. He heard something small and hard rolling around.
“Huh?”
Lloyd’s eyes widened when he looked at the inside.
“A jewel?”
Lloyd found a jewel, which looked like an obsidian, placed inside. It was the size of a thumbnail. With one look, Lloyd noticed its glossiness. The jewel looked super expensive.
Hold on. So, the skulls were just a box that held the jewels, and the jewels were what held the concentrated mana. Okay, so since this jewel is normal now that I washed the mana away… Thank you. It’s mine now.
Grin. A capitalistic, avaricious smile appeared on Lloyd’s face, and his heart started to pound at great speed. From then on…
Time for a treasure hunt!
Lloyd’s feet profusely sweated as he ran around the cliff slopes, like a puppy panting as it searched for a bone or a child fishing for bacon in a bacon salad. His eyes reddened as he searched the ground. To resist the evil plan of the dark magicians, to send a stunning gift to his enemies, and to pocket some expensive jewels and fatten his wallets, Lloyd gave everything to this greedy race in the name of justice.