Charm

The second floor of House Number Seventeen was pitch-black, with only moonlight by the window. The courtyard walls here were already high, and though candles were not in short supply, Will had only just bought this place.

If a priest saw candlelight without knowing the place had been bought, then came over to question them, it could very well cause further trouble.

Adam pondered the events of late, his expression somewhat grave.

Traveling at night was, in truth, a gamble on luck—a gamble that the Church's experts were not watching, and that his luck was good enough for him to reach his destination safely.

It was not that Adam had been unaware of this before. He simply had no other choice. This was, after all, the Church's home ground. Traveling during the day was even more dangerous; once he did anything that did not match his identity and someone reported him, he would face the Church's investigation.

But after succeeding in traveling at night so many times, Adam had become a little carried away. He had vaguely sensed that something was off before, yet had not thought deeply about it, overlooking the risks of nighttime travel.

"This is a lesson. I must remember it." Adam silently committed the matter to heart.

"At the same time, I need to prepare a safer way to travel." Adam frowned. Roya City enforced a curfew, and only two kinds of people could travel at night: patrolling troops and patrolling priests.

"Some nobles can also obtain the right to travel at night." Quite a few Church priests had ties to the nobility, and they turned a blind eye to certain nobles' overreaching actions.

If he could obtain a noble's help, perhaps nighttime travel could become safer.

"But come to think of it, this kind of wartime patrol cannot last much longer." Adam lightly tapped the mask on his face as he thought. "The nobles have plenty of interests that cannot be brought into the light, such as smuggling."

"The night is the best cover for the activities of the aberrants, and it is also when nobles profit from those interests. If these sweeping patrols go on for too long, I fear the nobles themselves will step in and make the Church exercise restraint."

"Sir Rube is a point of breakthrough." A new idea formed in Adam's heart. Mansla was currently at a critical juncture, and he could not allow others to meddle with his smuggling operation.

Yet Rube had always wanted to compete with Mansla. If handled properly, Adam believed that, given the nobility's all-but-nonexistent moral bottom line, they would certainly cooperate with aberrants.

"And this can also provoke Mansla, making him loosen his control over the smuggling operation. Perhaps I can use Jin to intervene in Mansla's smuggling operation."

"The key is how to convince Rube that we aberrants can help him surpass Mansla." Adam calculated inwardly.

Originally, there had been no such title as knight among the nobility; the lowest noble title had been baron.

But as time passed, the merit rituals of some barons had fallen away, and their standing had declined. Though the merits of these nobles could still take effect, they were far less effective than before. Thus, the rank of knight came into being.

"For any knight, their greatest goal is restoring their ritual." When Jin had later explained the nobility in detail, he had briefly mentioned knights, and Adam had formed a plan.

"Mr. Riges?" A crisp voice sounded. Adam did not turn around to look at the newcomer, continuing instead to gaze out at the night beyond the window.

The person came to Adam's side, carrying a faint fragrance of perfume that made Adam frown.

For aberrants, any trait that exposed one's identity was best concealed. An overly heavy perfume scent was an extremely obvious characteristic.

"It can also be used for tracking." Adam was certain that so long as he did not take precautions and had even slightly intimate contact with the newcomer, a difficult-to-remove scent would be left on him. If the other party's sense of smell was equally sharp, they could follow that scent and track him all the way.

Though he had not looked at her, Adam had already memorized the characteristics of every aberrant when he had swept his gaze over the room earlier.

Golden hair, a gorgeous face, and a beauty mark at the corner of her eye—she possessed inexhaustible charm. Combined with her lovely figure, merely standing there could stir irrepressible desire in others. Before Adam arrived, most people's gazes had rested on her.

"Did you leave the symbol at the entrance?" Adam sensed a similar aura from them both.

"Just a little trick." The woman covered her mouth and laughed softly. "I, Leijana, run several clothing stores and have a modest amount of wealth. I wish to obtain the Tears of God Ritual from Mr. Nesser."

People unfamiliar with one another addressed each other by surname. Only those who were acquainted used given names.

"You can go to Will."

"But I want to obtain more..." Leijana spoke skillfully. Her voice was crisp, yet her words always left something unsaid, creating an air of ambiguity that invited endless fantasies.

Considering her identity as an aberrant, Adam even suspected that she might be a relatively rare succubus—or a banshee.

Her slender hand looked unusually fair beneath the moonlight as it reached toward Adam in a teasing manner, yet it stopped as it drew near him, unable to advance even an inch further.

Something invisible enveloped Adam, and the instant she touched it, an explosion rang out within her mind.

The next moment, Adam turned his head, and his figure completely filled her vision.

The night wind stirred Adam's priestly robes. The dull gray mask upon his face seemed to come alive, and Adam's eyes were reflected in Leijana's heart.

Beneath the moonlight, Adam merely stood there, yet he was a perfectly composed scene.

Set off by his priestly robes and the moonlight, Adam seemed at that moment like a holy being untouched by a speck of dust. Yet when faced with that increasingly terrifying mask and those placid eyes, everything became so strange.

Like a fusion of holiness and bewitching beauty, those opposites existed harmoniously within one person, erupting into an indescribable charm.

Compared to that charm, the allure Leijana had displayed earlier seemed not worth mentioning, even vulgar.

Before such a person, Leijana even felt a powerful sense of inferiority.

"He's smiling. He's definitely smiling!" Though the mask stood between them, Leijana seemed able to sense Adam's blurred features at that moment, as well as the slight upward curve of his lips.

Her heart was pierced through by an arrow and ceased beating.

Only when Adam turned back to gaze into the night once more did Leijana seem to come back to life. Her heart began pounding madly, and two flushes instantly bloomed on her pale face.

"Th-then, Mr. Nesser, I-I'll take my leave first." Leijana lowered her face and spoke with a slight stammer before hurrying downstairs.

Adam shook his head. He truly did not know who had given her the courage to try and charm him when her charm was not even as high as his.

As Adam sorted through his thoughts, he suddenly spotted a wildflower in the courtyard blooming under cover of the night. Temporarily setting aside the tangled thoughts in his heart, Adam admired the flower as it bloomed.

As the flower opened fully, Adam smiled, and a simple joy rose within his heart.

He committed that joy to memory, reined in his emotions, and looked toward the entrance to the second floor.

The old human man who had led Adam inside earlier was standing there respectfully.

Only after Adam turned around did he bend at the waist and speak softly. "Mr. Will has already completed the ritual. Due to his physical condition, he asked this old servant to pay his respects on his behalf. Do you have any further instructions, Lord Riges?"

"Make a list of everyone who attended this gathering and give it to me at the next gathering," Adam said. "After things settle down, I will leave notice of the next gathering here."

"Understood, Lord Riges." The old man said earnestly, "Should you require anything, you may also call directly for this old servant."

"Go on." Adam nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Watching the old servant leave, Adam began considering how he should depart from here and return to the Boku Family.

At daybreak, the curfew would be lifted, and many townsfolk would come out to work. As long as he removed his disguise, he could blend into the crowd and return.

But that could easily leave a flaw. After all, if someone suddenly walked home early in the morning, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Then Adam's gaze settled on a wooden bucket in the backyard of a household some distance away.

After daybreak, Adam had already climbed out through the second-floor window.

"Adam, you're out fetching water so early today?"

"Yeah, I didn't sleep very deeply. It seemed quite noisy last night." Carrying a water bucket filled to the brim, Adam headed toward the Boku Family while greeting the neighbors.

"The Church priests were arresting people. I heard they caught quite a few..." Chatting about all sorts of dubious gossip, Adam returned smoothly to the Boku Family.