Past Grudges Must Never Be Forgotten

Iver carefully examined the usually low-key old ritual master in front of him.

Queen Sophia ascended the throne sixty years ago. She was not yet twenty years old at the time.

Since Old Ibn knew Sofia at that time, could we say that... he was only in his early twenties when he met Jacob Alexander?

He had a white beard, and his naturally curly hair was already gray. Even dressed in Avalon- style clothing, one could still vaguely discern the air of someone from another country in his features.

His once vibrant green pupils were now clouded with a gray veil due to his age. In his youth, he might have been a handsome young man with deep-set eyes, black curly hair, and a beard.

What did Jacob look like back then that made Ibn, who hadn't seen him for decades, feel that Iver looked familiar?

Thinking of this, Iver was momentarily dazed.

"Jacob Alexander ..."

He immediately focused his mind and answered softly, "He is my grandfather."

Ibn somewhat puzzled. "But I remember, you're not from the Moriarty Family..."

"James Moriarty is my adoptive father."

Iver explained, "When I was a few years old, my parents and all my relatives were killed. I was raised by my adoptive father."

"... Is that so?"

Upon hearing this, the old man slightly widened his already somewhat cloudy eyes and murmured to himself, "This kind of thing can happen in Avalon too..."

He was silent for a while, and looked as if he had aged a few years.

"They were all cursed to death."

Iver continued calmly, "According to my investigations over the years, my grandfather died of typhoid fever fourteen years ago."

"Ah. Typhoid fever..."

Upon hearing this, Ibn chuckled, "It must be the Typhoid Curse. That's the Spellcasting invented by Jacob... His philosophy on Spellcasting was to keep it as discreet as possible—ideally, to prevent people from realizing it's a curse."

"It seems that the person who killed him must have studied Spellcasting under him."

It's like an experienced doctor who, upon hearing students discussing a complex illness, suddenly laughs and interjects to provide a definitive answer.

The sigh of "I had no choice but to take action" is accompanied by a nostalgia for the past, giving people a calm and reliable sense of composure.

Iver had been wondering why the Court Ritualist of Avalon were so weak... After hearing Ibn tell his story, he thought that Queen Sophia only valued his character and morality.

But at this moment, the old man's strong self-confidence made Iver truly feel his confidence.

Even if the energy level is low, it does not mean that it is weak.

"At that time, all we at Scaleless Hand wanted was to help people deal with some wicked big shots, seek justice for them, or teach them a lesson. But Scaleless Hand didn't want to become too famous and become people's trust and reliance."

Ibn sighed, "This is the experience I shared with Jacob."

"...experience?"

"Yes, experience."

Ibn's eyes were deep, with a hint of lingering sadness. "If you become too famous, people will always come to you for help when they get into trouble. But we are not gods, and even gods are not omnipotent."

"Yet people dare not blame the gods, but they do blame us. They attribute failures to our lack of effort—which is true, but with more requests at hand, we inevitably prioritize. And if someone makes a request and we refuse, we are also blamed. Not only that, but we are even criticized and reprimanded by our colleagues..."

"Was it the fault of the person making the request? Of course not. But it wasn't our fault either, much less the fault of the critics. Everyone gathered together with good intentions, so why couldn't those good intentions lead to the same good outcome?"

Ibn seemed to be telling a story, or perhaps he was whispering something to himself.

"These are lessons I learned from my hometown. I shared these things with Jacob and made it clear to him beforehand—we were not the saviors of everyone from the very beginning. We can never save everyone, so from the beginning, we shouldn't set people's expectations too high; we can't accomplish everything, so we shouldn't let people trust us too much."

"Under Jacob's leadership, the Scaleless Hand has always maintained a low profile, existing as a secret society. Only a very few who know of our existence can ask us to do things. And these tasks come at a heavy price... It's not that we want to profit from them, but simply to prevent people from placing all their hopes on us. In my experience, that would only crush us."

"We usually only get a response from those who are willing to pay any price for revenge. Otherwise, we are usually the proactive ones—actively seeking out what we should do. We are free then, like the legendary chivalrous thieves."

The old ritual master sighed, "To be honest, those days were quite happy when I think about them now..."

He looked at Iver, chuckling lightly as if testing the waters and mocking himself. "But don't you think we're too heartless? We formed an association to help others, yet we don't accept their requests."

"... No, you are right."

Iver's fingers tapped unconsciously on the armrest of his wheelchair as he said softly, "No one is omnipotent... therefore, not all requests can be granted. If you are dragged into an unfamiliar professional field because of sympathy, efficiency and success rate will actually be much slower."

Iver certainly wouldn't blame them. He just felt as if he'd been punched in the face by words.

Isn't he himself just like that?

It's just that Iver is lucky and hasn't encountered anything that would dampen his enthusiasm; or perhaps he's strong enough to always fulfill other people's requests.

—As long as it's a winning game, we're all good brothers.

Iver wasn't unaware of this principle. It's just that, having never failed before, he had become slightly arrogant due to wishful thinking.

but...

So my grandfather was doing this kind of thing back then? No wonder my father took the Path of Dedication and became a pastor...

"So, do you have any clues about the manuscript Jacob left behind?"

Having finally met someone who knew his grandfather, Iver pressed further, "Some say he might have been murdered because of the manuscript that was about to be published."

"Manuscript? This..."

Old Ibn looked guilty, a regret stemming from wanting to help but being unable to. "I'm sorry. The Scaleless Hand was founded during the Era of the Hanging King, and I joined two years before he passed away. The Queen Hanging King only recently ascended the throne when I was arrested. After that, I was taken away by Her Majesty."

"I also went back a year later... because I discovered that Her Majesty Sophia and the ' Hanging King ' were not the same kind of people. Perhaps we could make Avalon better and heal people's misfortunes without having to rebel against the royal family anymore. At that time, I planned to form a team of ritual masters for Her Majesty, and through this opportunity, I could also give the Ritual Mage of the Scaleless Hand a legitimate identity."

"But when I went back to find Jacob and the others, I discovered that our old base had been abandoned. All means of communication had been cut off, and I received no response to my letters. Presumably..."

The old man seemed choked by memories as he spoke. His pent-up emotions transformed into a long, drawn-out sigh, like the granular sound of a bellows.

—They must think I have already betrayed them.

Although Ibn didn't say it aloud, Iver had already guessed what he was thinking.

Rationally speaking, this is quite reasonable. We cannot naively entrust the survival of our other companions to Ibn's conscience simply because of feelings and trust.

But even so, it's still quite hurtful.

... However, that must have been sixty years ago.

The Scaleless Hand gradually disappeared, replaced by the Noble Red —this happened roughly fifty years ago. In other words, Ibn seemed genuinely unaware of what would happen ten years later...

Unfortunately, the trail has been cut off again.

Iver somewhat disappointed.

But clinging to a sliver of hope, he continued, "My parents also seem to have been wiped out because of that manuscript. According to my investigation, they were killed by the Iron Hook Demon."

"... The Iron Hook Demon?"

Ibn frowned. "Shouldn't there be professional Curse Master? Could it be..."

"No. Probably not someone with the Scaleless Hand."

Iver explained, "The Curse Master's name is Aziz. Aziz Ben Abdul. Do you have any leads?"

Upon hearing this name, Ibn's expression changed drastically.

It was like an aged lion suddenly opening its eyes and staggering to its feet. Or like a wolf, weakened to the point of death, opening its eyes under the moonlight; the desolate yet resolute killing intent sent chills down one's spine.

Where is he?

"... He left long ago. It is said that he crossed the desert and went to some country in the East... maybe Parthia, or maybe Horus."

Iver answered the question first, then paused and asked, "Do you know him?"

This was an unexpected turn of events.

He had originally thought he could ask Ibn about his grandfather... but to his surprise, Ibn knew very little about his grandfather, yet he actually knew the Curse Master who had killed Alexander and his wife.

"A fat, dark-skinned guy, right?"

Ibn countered with a question.

"Yes. He had a dark brown face and was somewhat hunchbacked."

Iver nodded in agreement, recounting the appearance of the person he had seen during the advancement ceremony. "He was wearing huge gemstone rings on all ten fingers... a dozen years ago, he was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties. He must be in his sixties or seventies now."

"... It's him."

Ibn remained silent for a long time before saying softly, "I was betrayed by him when I was in Parthia."

"He is my junior brother and my nephew. At the same time, he is also a slave I rescued after the city was destroyed."

"He betrayed us, the wanted criminals, and used our information to gain the status of Free People, a large house, eight female slaves, and became Curse Master serving a benevolent lord..."

"... He's come to Avalon too."

Around 2 PM, Chapter 2 Meow~