A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 15 Ankuya

In the distance the church bells rang, twelve long, distant tolls.

The lights in the streets and alleys of Ashwell gradually went out, and the bells spread like a hazy wave, gently passing by the sleeping people, announcing the end of the day.

"This is the bell of the Dragon Cult of Eternity and Time."

The handsome white-haired man sat on the sofa, holding a glass of whiskey mixed with ice, and said slowly, "Twelve bells mean twelve o'clock. Wherever you can hear the bells is the parish of the Eternal Church. Because the West City District of Ashwell has a complex population, you can basically find branches of all the cults here."

Quinn sat on the other side of the sofa. A wall lamp, connected to the gas main, illuminated the tabletop. On it lay a map of Eswell, far more detailed than the one Quinn had seen at the goblin's. The map was heavily marked with pen, marking the spheres of influence of the major religions and the residences of some of the upper class.

"Your first priority is to synchronize your culture with the junior high school students."

The handsome guy waved his wand, and a pile of books floated from beside the sofa to the desk, which made Quinn stare.

There are "A Brief History of the Continent of Tamilan", "Biographies of the Kings of the Southern Continent", "Observing the Luos: The Hidden Rules Behind Old-Fashioned Behavior", "Britain: A Portrait of a Nation", "Landmarks", "Encyclopedia of Travel Notes and Customs", "Economic History of Ashwell: The Rise and Change of the Arcane" and even a few literary works.

"Finish reading these books first. There are canned goods and flour in the next room, and water is available in the bathroom from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Don't go out for a week."

The house, located in a block far from the police station, was an apartment building for middle-class workers. The decor reminded Quinn of Victorian-era homes, with old but adequate furniture, a living room, two bedrooms, and a small bathroom. The key was on the table.

Quinn nodded.

Memory is his strong point, and he can even memorize most of the books in a week.

"I have a few questions."

"Ah."

The handsome guy took a sip of whiskey, holding the crystal glass as gracefully as a noble, but his sitting posture was extremely casual, leaning back on the sofa.

"Are you a demon? Or are you one of the humans who have 'demon faith' as ​​the Demon King said?" Quinn asked bluntly, "Did the Demon King ask you to save me?"

After the handsome guy said "Praise the Demon King", Quinn felt just like Chen Ze who met General Yu by chance and saw his relatives.

But Quinn was still cautious, fearing that the other party was cheating him, so he did not respond.

Grindelwald Arcane Academy's School Affairs Commissioner sounds like a handyman position, but he actually forced out the priest of the Church of Light and even refused to give face to Xia Dai'er's brother.
This shows how high the status of Grindelwald College is in Ashwell and even in the world.

Quinn followed him to the apartment, and neither of them spoke on the way. It was not until they entered the door and the handsome guy locked it that he spoke:

"You're quite cautious, so keep it up. His Majesty gave us a code in the oracle for contacting you. Let me think about how to pronounce it. Okay?"

Quinn instantly dispelled all his doubts. This was the old BJ accent!

"First and foremost, I am human."

The handsome guy raised his hand and gestured at his head. "Let me tell you how to identify them. Although demons look basically the same as humans, they have a very distinctive feature: a halo floating above their heads."

"Halo? Why doesn't the Demon King have it?" Quinn asked in surprise.

He had only seen Ruby as a demon.

"That's because Your Majesty is a Demon King—the best of the demons can conceal their auras, appearing no different from humans. However, if such a powerful individual were to enter the human world, they would be immediately detected by the major religious cults. Therefore, there are basically no demons active in the human world."

"As for demonic beliefs, first you need to understand one concept: 'demonic beliefs' are very broad and don't necessarily refer directly to the Demon King. They can also refer to certain primitive religions, totem worship, esoteric beliefs, or worship of natural spirits with demonic characteristics. These are all considered heretical by orthodox religions. However, not every heretical cult is demonic, so you don't need to understand too much right now. Prioritize learning the common sense of this world."

Quinn nodded, not quite understanding, "So what do you believe in?"

The handsome guy smiled slightly.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Other demons are unworthy of my following." "A few days ago, I received an oracle from Your Majesty, telling me to prepare to welcome you. But I don't know where you will descend. As I said before, the demons' beliefs are very diverse. There are five groups around Eswell alone that are capable of performing rituals. The Orthodox Church keeps a close eye on them. I didn't expect you to appear in the Goblin Cave. I'm afraid the Church didn't expect either. Who would monitor a group of goblins?"

He picked up his wand and waved it lightly. The wine bottle on the table floated up out of thin air and filled the glass with golden wine.

"It's exciting, isn't it? If you were any later, you would have been arrested. The Vatican has arrested many people for interrogation in the past three days, and I've been exhausted from investigating. Fortunately, that kid from the Branson family came to me. May His Majesty bless you." The handsome man paused and looked at Quinn approvingly. "However, you handled it very well, too. It seems that the hero His Majesty is looking for is not a mediocre person."

Quinn suddenly realized.

Wow, awesome, Ruby, is this all in your calculations?

The prospects of following the Demon King suddenly became brighter.
"Second question." Quinn looked at him curiously, "What should I call you?"

The handsome guy was stunned.

"Haven't I introduced myself yet?"

He gave a slightly apologetic smile, waved his wand, and handed the half-empty bottle of whiskey to Quinn. "You can call me Ankua. I think we will be working together for a long time. I hope you will give me your guidance in order to kill the hero."

"Please give me more advice," Quinn complained secretly, "What a childish word."

"Please give me your advice."

An Kuya raised his glass towards him. It must be said that this guy is really handsome. The way he raised his glass was like a gigolo.

"Anything else you want to ask?"

Quinn described what happened in the interrogation room.

"I want to know why there's a gray mist coming out of my handcuffs, and why I swore by the sun and nothing happened."

Ankua shook his glass slightly and frowned.

"Gray fog. Impossible. With Father Mod's expertise, he definitely wouldn't be able to detect your previous contact with His Majesty. Those handcuffs are High-Sequence Sealed Artifacts, right? Did you encounter anything strange in the Goblin Cave?"

Quinn thought about it and asked, "Does prayer count?"

"prayer?"

He spoke the demon prayer of the Goblin Cult.

"No wonder," Ankuya suddenly realized. "That gray fog was caused by prayer. Don't pray carelessly anymore. Your soul bears His Majesty's mark. Every time you pray, you build a bridge to that place, making it easy for the church to detect you. In the worst case, you might even bring on curses you can't bear."

Quinn calls the groove's weird powers so dangerous?
"The goblin's prayer is incorrect. If you want to pray to His Majesty, you must be fully prepared. I will teach you later." Ankua warned sternly, "Remember, you must never perform demonic rituals without preparation, not even by praying in your heart. And don't mention His Majesty's name anywhere, as it will attract attention. Humans are far more wary of demons than you can imagine. Do you understand?"

Quinn nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

As the saying goes, people can't teach others, but they can learn things easily. You can't just remember to wear a condom when you don't have money to buy milk powder. Quinn doesn't want to be targeted by the Vatican again.

"As for the sun," Ankua said, taking a sip of his wine with a melancholic gaze. "Who knows? Perhaps this priest's abilities aren't up to par, or perhaps His Majesty has a backup plan for you, helping you deal with this kind of oath inspection. Oh, the sun is busy patrolling the human world and won't pay attention to a mortal like you."

Quinn leaned back on the sofa, his head tilted back, sipping from the bottle. He replayed today's events over and over in his mind, the fear that surged up in him was suppressed by alcohol. The incandescent light reflected in his pupils. Grayish-white pipes lined the wall, supplying gas to the gas lamp. The metal grille and glass lampshade surrounded the flame, swaying as it did, reminding him of that bright sun.

Ankuya

"Ok?"

"Does this world really have gods?"

(End of this chapter)