Fire Mage

Chapter 40: A Perfect Disguiser

It was around 7.A.M.

A slim shadowy figure walked out of Wind Villa's guest house and soon arrived beside the compound hall. In the dim darkness, the shadowy female-looking figure moved its slim body, jumped towards the other side, walked into the dense woods, and soon disappeared into the darkness.

Two hours later, a long black-haired lady, around 25-years-old, entered Riverdale City by climbing the stone wall and soon went to Slum Street with a black iron suitcase in her hand. She had deep-set jade eyes, an oval face, tan skin, and trimmed thin eyebrows. She wore a black full sleeve top, black pants, and black leather shoes.

She was none other than Charles in his disguised form.

Charles walked on the muddy road and soon went in the direction where Slum Street was located. Although it would be dangerous for women to walk alone in the slum road, he didn't even consider the danger hidden in the slum street and went ahead with a calm expression on his face. Within few minutes, he entered the slum street and soon went to a random dark alley. But on his oval face, confusion and puzzlement could be seen he arrived in front of a random house door.

A few minutes ago, Charles used his [Magician's Hand] skill and stole a few silver coins from a random passerby. But to his shock, he found out that whenever he touches the silver coins, they disintegrated into ashes!

'Is this the effect of Amber's curse? Is that why I didn't find those two silver coins in my void pouch?' He stood in front of the wooden door with a dazed look and soon snapped out of it as he heard running footsteps from the other side.

A lean young girl around 15-years-old opened the gate in excitement and soon frozen stiff for a second.

After that, she took a step back and asked in a wary look.

"Who are you?"

Charles curved his lips upward and spoke in a caring female voice.

"My name is Edith Oliver. I'm new to this city, so I came here to ask if there is any house nearby for rent."

Upon hearing the pleasant female voice, the young girl looked more alarmed and slammed the door shut instantly.

Charles smiled wryly as he saw the other party's response and then went towards a different house. He asked the same thing to multiple house owners, but nobody believed his words. After roaming in the slum street for an hour, he soon arrived in front of a single-storied brick house and then knocked it twice.

A few seconds later, a blonde-haired lean guy with amber eyes opened the wooden door while holding a unique candle in his right hand and stared at the woman in a daze. He first stared at her seductive red lips, moved his gaze towards her bulging chest for two seconds, and soon shifted his gaze towards her bright oval face.

The blonde-haired guy wore a casual cotton shirt, brown trousers, and a unique red gem-embedded bracelet. He was none other than the Unlucky Star of Riverdale city, Jimmy Holmes!

"Who are you?" Jimmy asked while staring at the beautiful black-haired woman in surprise and soon froze as he heard Holem's Crown's warning in his mind.

'She is an anomaly! She has the blood of Nightwind family.'

Jimmy's body instantly got stiffened up as he heard the artifact's warning words and then stared at her warily.

In the meantime, Charles casually activated the [Mark of Imagination] by touching it and said with a troubled tone.

"My name is Edith Oliver, sir. I came here to ask if there is any house nearby for rent. You see, I have been roaming here for an hour searing for renting houses, but I can't even find a single one."

Jimmy's lips twitched as he heard her words and soon shook his head.

"I'm also staying in a rented house, ma'am. You can't get any house in the Slum Street at this hour."

Although her action showed that she really needed a house to stay in, he didn't dare to let his guard down. He also clearly remembered the Holem's Crown's earlier words and became unsettled inside.

'Don't be anxious, Jimmy. She might not have aware of my existence in this house. Do you still remember the consequence of changing one's Fate?' Holem's Crown asked in his mind.

'Coincidences? Are you saying that she came here due to coincidence?' Jimmy asked in surprise.

'Yes. It may be possible for more Nightwind members to come to this city and create variations in the Fate.' The Holem's Crown paused for a moment and soon added.

'A [Astrologer] series class mystic is pulling the 'Fate' strings from the shadows.'

'Should I close the door and shoo her away?' Jimmy asked while taking two steps into his house.

'Don't do that. Help her and make her stay near your house. Only then can I monitor her movement all the time and find out more about her.'

Widening his eyes a little, Jimmy went silent for a second and soon suggested with a hesitant look on his face.

"If you have no objection, you can stay in the backyard cottage now and search for a better house tomorrow, ma'am."

Charles heaved a heavy sigh, making the sponge-like breasts bounce a little, and bowed his head.

"You are a generous guy, sir. Would you please tell me your noble name?" He asked in a smooth voice.

Jimmy wandered his amber eyes towards her bulging chest from time to time and replied with a stiff smile.

"I'm Jimmy Holmes. Parting of being a person is about helping others, ma'am."

Charles smiled lightly and nodded with an admiration look on his face.

In the meantime, Jimmy locked his house door using a silver key and then asked Charles to follow after him. Letting out a relieved sigh, Charles lifted his black iron suitcase and followed after Jimmy with light footsteps. When they arrived in front of another brick house, Jimmy took a step forward, knocked on that house's wooden door thrice, and waited in dark candlelight.

Within seconds, a slightly obese guy with multiple scars on his face opened the wooden door and started at the visitors in surprise for a second.

"Jimmy? What are you doing here at this time?" He paused for a moment as his gaze swept past Jimmy and soon landed on Charles.

"Who is she?" He raised his eyebrows in suspicion.

"She is my friend, Henry." Jimmy coughed twice and soon added,

"Can you give the Mud Cottage's door key? She will be staying there tonight."

Henry stared suspiciously at both of them and soon went inside. After two minutes, he returned and gave a rusty, old iron key to Jimmy.

"Return it to me before tomorrow evening." After saying those words, Henry went back to his house and shut the door from inside.

Meanwhile, Jimmy passed the old iron key to Charles and led him to an old mud cottage. As soon as they went near the cottage, Charles's lips began to twitch uncontrollably. Because what he saw was not a cottage, but a hut! Although the surrounding stone walls looked sturdy, the top was actually covered in coconut and palm tree leaves!

Jimmy went near the single wooden door, put the rusty iron key into the padlock, turned the key to the left, and opened the lock with a click. After that, he turned around and said with a smile.

"You can stay here and rest, ma'am." Jimmy then gave him the candle and soon went towards his house, situated in front of the old hut.

In the meantime, Charles let out a deep sigh, walked into the old hut, and then closed the wooden door from inside.

After that, he placed the candle on the nearby broken table and looked at the hut's interior. Inside, a single stone slab at the center for sleeping, an empty large jug, few old clothes, and one woolen mattress was placed.

'Thankfully, I took the quilt, pillow, and bedsheet before leaving. Otherwise, I would have to endure the torturous cold night with a single thin cloth.' He muttered to himself as he took out those things from his void pouch and then placed them on the stone slab.

At first, Charles thought of removing the disguise when staying inside the hut, but soon he gave up on that idea.

He then arranged the bed for the next few minutes and soon lay on it while staring at the hut's cone-shaped roof.

'I thought my plan would go perfect. But I didn't anticipate the Amber Church's curse effect. From my earlier understanding, I can tell that they completely restricted me from using any coin. If I didn't find a way to lift this curse, I would face many problems in the future.' Charles rubbed his smooth chin in frustration and soon sighed. In this magic world, Amber Church was the one who controls the Wealth. Without the Amber Church's approval and their Goddess's symbol, no nation had the guts to make a new currency without an 'Eye' symbol on it. The only one who had done that was the former Arcane Empire's rulers. But all of them had already disappeared from the 'Time' itself.

'Is there still any alternative currency method available in this world?' He began to search for any useful information and soon thought of Fire Mage Helen's book. In that book, Charles read something related to currency and started to recall all the contents. If it were before, he would have faced many difficulties when recalling those minute matters. But the improvement in Wisdom points gave him a big boost and made him remember most of the things. He closed his eyes for a moment and started to recall the contents of the 'Crimson Eye' book.

After an hour of struggle, he soon recalled a word and then sat up with an exciting smile on his face.

"Arcane points. In that book, he said something about buying a rare material from a roaming mage using a magic credit system." He stared at the almost vanquishing candle for three continuous seconds and soon mumbled.

'I have to ask Lady Emilia about this. She already helped me twice and seemed to help me improve my personal strength. At least, she hasn't expressed any hostility towards me.' He thought to himself and soon closed his eyes.

...

The next day morning,

It was around 6.20 A.M.

In Edith's appearance, Charles woke up from the bed and brushed his teeth using a neem twig. After washing his mouth with the leather pouch water, he washed his face and started doing some makeup. After some time, Charles finished his disguising work and went out of the hut.

Charles walked forward on the empty land and soon stood at Jimmy's brick house's entrance.

Showing a hesitant look on his face, he raised his smooth hand and knocked it twice. But soon, his eyebrows arched upward as he didn't hear a single sound from inside and got puzzled.

'Is he not here?' He made his face looked disappointed and then turned around. He then walked on the small alley path, went to the Slum Street road, and soon moved towards Main Street.

In the meantime, Jimmy Holmes opened the door with a click and soon muttered.

"I can't tell if she is acting or not."

"Even I couldn't see through her real self." His red-gem embedded bracelet spoke in an eerie old-man voice and soon added,

"Follow after her."

Heaving a deep sigh, Jimmy nodded his head and started stalking her in the shadows.