Crown of the Saint

After Adel left, Adam continued summoning aberrants into the basement.

As he observed these aberrants, Adam also assigned them tasks to complete.

Most of them involved gathering information. Using them as combat power would only draw the Church's attention.

Through these interactions, Adam was also continuously collecting information on the aberrants, judging whether they could be brought into the elite organization he planned to establish later.

"Twenty-three in total. Counting the eight who came to the last gathering but did not come this time, that is probably every aberrant who survived in Roa's southern district."

Adam sighed. There were far more aberrants in the Holy Sound Kingdom than this, but for now, the aberrants gathered in Roa fell into two categories.

One group, like Adam, wanted to go to the Loken Kingdom. The other had lived in Roa for too long and intended to settle down here.

"Most of them are waiting for the Fourth Northern Inquiry War, or for Loken and Holy Sound to restore peace and reopen travel between them," Jin said. "Only then will there be an opening in Roa's border-wall defenses for them to pass through."

"But that depends on fate." Adam had never even considered such a thing.

Over forty years, there had been three Northern Inquiry Wars. The most recent one had been ten years ago, but that war had risen swiftly and ended just as swiftly.

Peace was impossible for the foreseeable future, while war did not seem likely to come anytime soon either.

"What was the fundamental cause of the last war?" Adam asked Jin.

Given Jin's strength, he might have held no low position in the Loken Kingdom back then and should know some inside information.

"Merits were one reason," Jin said. "The Loken Kingdom is a very 'young' nation. Its noble factions are extremely powerful, and some great families even possess knights whose merits have been accumulated over generations."

"The nobles of the Holy Sound Kingdom, comparatively speaking, have been suppressed terribly by the Church. That is why they appear so... rotten," Jin said. "In the Loken Kingdom, countless knights yearn to accumulate merits every year."

"War is undoubtedly the fastest path to accumulating merits. Without war, the kingdom's knightly talents either flow elsewhere or stir up trouble at home."

"For knights, the quality of the merit is unimportant. Whether it is the title of a great bandit, a demon who kills men, or anything else—as long as it spreads through a region and can solidify the force of one's life into the environment, it becomes merit."

"Thus, the Loken Kingdom can only be, and must be, a warlike nation."

"Count Ronnie's disappearance was a trigger back then, but even without that trigger, war would not have been far off."

"The Third Northern Inquiry War was much the same. The military yearned for war, and the Crown of the Saint happened to appear at that time. Thus, the war began."

"The Crown of the Saint?"

"Yes, an item connected to a god. It was said that the Human God once wore it," Jin said slowly.

"Man walked upon the earth and beheld the height of the sky and the vastness of the land.

"He was a descendant of Di, following ancient traces. He came before God and asked.

"'What is the meaning of life?' Di's descendant asked God.

"'When you don the Robe of Thorns, walk the Road of Flowing Rivers, drink the blood of the Son of Man, and wear the Crown of the Saint, you shall receive the answer,' God replied." —Divine Word: Records of the Son of Man

"Di's descendant ultimately accomplished all of it. He wore the Crown of the Saint and became God's spokesperson in the mortal world. The people called him the Human God," Jin said. "Then, ten years ago, we discovered the Crown of the Saint."

"So the Church of the Saint in the Loken Kingdom also became part of the pro-war faction, and the Third Northern Inquiry War began."

"And what was the final outcome?" Adam grew increasingly interested. He vaguely remembered that something major had indeed happened when he was three.

"I am not too sure. The Church of the Saint withdrew its troops, causing the Third Northern Inquiry War to begin like a tiger but end like a snake. As for where the Crown of the Saint ultimately went, it is difficult to judge from the current situation. But the Holy Sound Kingdom probably did not obtain it. Otherwise, the Third Northern Inquiry War would not have ended so quickly."

"But it does not seem that the Church of the Saint acquired it either. Otherwise, it would not have been a Northern Inquiry War, but a Southern Expedition War."

Jin had been gravely wounded and near death in Roa back then, so he had not participated in the latter half of the Third Northern Inquiry War. By the time his injuries improved, the Loken Kingdom had already withdrawn its forces.

For certain reasons, he had also been unable to contact the Loken Kingdom, so he knew little about what happened afterward.

"In other words, unless some divine object like the Crown of the Saint is discovered again, the next war will not begin anytime soon," Adam said with certainty.

There had been three great wars in forty years. Even if the third had begun like a tiger and ended like a snake, it had still consumed considerable strength from both nations.

Even if there were a fourth war, it would not begin within the next ten years.

After thoroughly grasping the aberrants' circumstances one by one, Adam quickly selected the first batch of candidates. Once they completed their tasks, he would pick the talents he needed from among them with great care.

"You lived in Roa for ten years. Did you not come to know any powerful aberrants?" Adam asked.

"Other than special cases like me, what powerful aberrant would remain here for so long?" Jin smiled helplessly. "No one wants to live with their heart in their throat."

"The aberrants in the Holy Sound Kingdom are either born from the natural environment, like Will—aberrants who were born in this country by nature—or they are created by powerful aberrants who infiltrated from abroad."

"Because groups of mages are tightly controlled by the Church, there are actually not many aberrants transformed from mages."

"The lack of aberrants also leaves many mages without research material, which means mages in the Holy Sound Kingdom basically do not live long."

"Are you hinting at something?" Adam felt Jin's final turn had been somewhat deliberate.

"You should know that most methods mages use to extend their lives are related to aberrants. Vampires alone make it clear that the easiest method of immortality, with the fewest side effects, is to plunder aberrants."

"If a practitioner who also worked as a mage used aberrants as ingredients for an 'Elixir of Immortality,' it would be an entirely proper and natural thing to do."

"You mean Count Ronnie's disappearance was Alva's doing?" As Adam considered it carefully, he realized it was far from impossible. Rather, the possibility was extremely high.

The timing of Alva's incident was not far from the timing of Count Ronnie's disappearance. Anthony had said they had committed an irreparable sin, and that matched the claim that they had destroyed the balance between the two nations and created the fuse for war.

Moreover, when he heard the words "Elixir of Immortality," he had sensed the malice conveyed by that name, and it was connected to his own bloodline.

Judging from all the signs, there was an extremely high chance that the Elixir of Immortality had been made by Alva and the others using the missing Count Ronnie.

"There are still some questions, though. For example, why did Anthony fake his death and hide in the Reflection Tower? His relationship with Alva and the others also seems quite strange. And there is also Ai's share of the Elixir of Immortality." Adam felt there were still many hidden truths in this matter that no one knew.

"But using this to fool Doug into increasing his investment should not be a problem." Adam's original excuse had been to claim that the medicine required rare materials found only in the Loken Kingdom, encouraging Doug to get involved in smuggling.

Now, it seemed that persuading him in the name of aberrants would be more convincing and carry greater force.

"You do not seem very surprised. Had you already suspected it?" Jin asked. "Judging by your age, that missing Count Ronnie might have been something like your great-uncle."

"Alva may very well have traded his life for immortality. Do you not intend to say anything about that?"

"I was not familiar with that count. In fact, I was not even familiar with my father," Adam said indifferently. "My current goal is to leave Holy Sound. Alva and the others are a force I can make use of, nothing more."

"If necessary, perhaps I will make use of this identity." Adam viewed the matter calmly. "Besides, this is still only speculation for now."

Without concrete evidence to support them, these speculations would remain no more than speculation, though given the present circumstances, this was the most likely possibility.

Vaguely, Adam realized that his contact with Alva and Anthony had gone far too smoothly. Whenever he dealt with Alva and Anthony, luck seemed to stand on his side.

Anthony's attitude toward him was also a little too intimate. It all seemed to be telling him something.