Chapter 527 CH 511: ONE CHOOSE VIOLENCE, THE OTHER CHOOSE KINDNESS
Chapter 527 CH 511: ONE CHOOSE VIOLENCE, THE OTHER CHOOSE KINDNESS
(AN: For the sake of making things simpler, even if they are talking in French, I will write in English. Otherwise, it would be quite complicated for you guys. If you see [0] then this means they are actually speaking in French. Of course, I won't use [0] in every dialogue. Only at the start to signal that they are speaking in French.)
___
Adam was not the only individual trying his best to spread his influence in the city of Paris and get vital information from the city's supernatural inhabitants. The other members of his team were also slowly organizing their connections and means to try to understand the underlying matters of this mission and their environment in their own characteristic ways.
Among them, the team consisting of Elysia and Luvia was on the move at the moment. The two girls, who looked almost identical in their disguise, were seated in a Taxi as they traveled to their intended destination— a place to gather information. Elysia had, for some reason only she knew, chosen to sit in the passenger seat of the car, leaving Luvia with no choice but to sit on the back seats of the car by her lonesome.
The taxi driver was a relatively old man with African-American features. His voice was friendly and jovial as he conversed with the duo in his own way. Meanwhile, Luvia was busy surveying their surroundings with clear wariness in her gaze, even going as far as to pre-chant some spells and keep them prepared for any signs of danger. Sometimes she would steal glances at Elysia, directing a questioning look towards her when she saw how carefree and lax she was behaving. When she realized that Elysia was not paying attention to her at all, she could only sigh and make preparations of her own. Better be safe than sorry.
Elysia, on the other hand, seemed utterly relaxed as she started conversing with the taxi driver with a disarming smile on her face. As usual, she was wearing a mask of kindness while speaking to the elderly man who was trying his best to earn his living even at his wisened age. Elysia had worn masks of different kinds practically all her life and by now, it had become hard for her to differentiate her true face from the fake ones she had been using as camouflage.
In the current situation though, it did not really matter if she couldn't differentiate. They had no time for some internal introspection now and her masks would be more than a little useful in obtaining information and socializing with the French people.
"How may I call you?"
"My name is Ousman. What about you, young lady?"
Ousman was speaking in English. However, it was very broken and hesitant, trying his best to pronounce it in a fluid way, though it was able to get the meaning across to Elysia just fine.
"Elysia. Happy to be of your acquaintance, Ousman. If it doesn't bother you, I have a few questions."
"Questions…?"
He asked as if he was mulling her words before nodding, "I… am… listening."
Elysia's smile was unchanging throughout the conversion. Her voice was calm and soothing as she slowly posed her question to the elderly driver,
"So you are saying you drove many tourists like us in recent times?"
"Oui. Les touristes sont… I mean. Hum. The tourists? are…"
"Oh. Vous pouvez continuer en francais. I can speak both languages quite comfortably, you see." [0] - Starts conversing in French from here
"Hah. That's quite surprising. Your accent is also quite good, almost like a resident."
"Thanks. I worked hard to learn French."
"You did well. It's a very beautiful language. Hahah."
The man guffawed in pure joy, clearly happy to hear his country's language being praised by the beautiful foreigner. This made him more than happy to share and answer any of her questions,
"Well, about the tourists. Usually, this period of the year isn't really good for tourism, you know? It's cold and it rains a lot. No one is happy to come to my beautiful country. So we bring people from the inland to the airports and they go to the hotter parts of the world. This year though, everything seems to be the opposite. So many people are coming from different countries."
"I see. Was there anyone of interest among the individuals?"
As she spoke, she pushed a few bills of 10 toward his shirt pocket, causing the man to stop laughing and look at her with curiosity before he took them in his hands and shoved them inside.
The bills she was giving him were not euros but the paper version of Credits from the Supernatural World.
Those with those bills could be exchanged for achievement points from any part of the world and the amount on them was quite substantial, to say the least.
When Luvia saw Elysia give money to the man, she relaxed on her seat, only slightly though as nothing could bring down her wariness in a potential enemy territory. The reason she had been so tense from the get-go was because she had noticed that the man was quite certainly not the normal kind. Though she could not pinpoint exactly what about him made her feel a sense of danger, she had been prepared for a fight to break out any moment.
"So. What do you want to know?"
"Your tone has become less friendly, my friend."
Elysia chuckled to which the man merely shook his head, "I am friendly to humans in general. They are weak and cute. Even the rude ones are interesting to have a conversation with. I have less love for people from the other side."
"Fair. So I will not make this inconvenience last more than necessary. Tell me everything you know about the 'tourists' who came and any features worth remembering."
The black man sighed, "I don't want any trouble, okay? I like my business, I get good money and no one tries to kill me here. Don't make this complicated for me, is that clear?"
"Don't worry. I only want information. Even if superficial. I will not take back the money."
"Very well. So, most of the guys who came were wearing disguises. But like you, they choose my taxi to get some information. So I will mention in advance that if someone else pays me, you two will be part of the information being circulated. If you don't want to, take back your money and I will treat you guys as simple humans for the rest of the ride."
He gave Elysia a meaningful look while speaking those words and she understood that he was already giving her some precious information.
Someone or some organization was pushing supernatural creatures to appear and share information with everyone.
This made Elysia think about the plethora of events and places she had found suspicious along the way.
Since the news of the statuette being a possible Divine Weapon was leaked out in the world, why was Moriarty still proceeding with the Auction? No matter how strong Moriarty was, a Divine Weapon would always be a significant power boost. Even more so one that could potentially affect probabilities itself.
In the first place, how did the news even leak? Who leaked it?
'This case is becoming interesting. Then again, I guess this was to be expected from a case of this caliber.'
She hoped she was looking too much into it but her instincts were telling her that she had grabbed an important point of this mission and needed to capitalize on it to the best of her abilities.
Someone was stirring shit from the darkness, creating a large web to attract as many hunters as possible.
This could potentially lead to only one outcome…
'A large-scale sacrifice?'
She muttered to herself inwardly. The argument was plausible, far more than it should be with the information of the Old Ones' cults moving in the shadows.
This whole operation seemed like a very big trap and if nothing was done… The number of innocent lives lost might just be incalculable. An extinction-level event was looming on the corner. This was something that she could not accept. Her duty was to save as many life as possible and even do the impossible to save even more if this was deemed necessary.
She could not save everyone.
But she would make damn sure she could save more than anyone could think. She would not let the tragedy repeat.