Chapter 99: Modest and Low

Since their superior said so, then they should really be fine.

Lin Jie heaved a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

As if!

Claude was well aware that these three were in deep trouble. There was no way they could still retain a normal mental state after recuperating for a few months or even for the rest of their lives.

Just from their outward appearance, the two police officers he had knocked out would forever have a deep-rooted fear as well as a majority of their desires stripped away.

The other officer, Sander Lyon of the Lyon family, seemed to be in slightly better condition, but Claude wasn't sure exactly which part of him had been stolen away.

And this included Claude's timely interruption. Had Claude been any later, there would have been three mindless zombies lying on the ground.

This especially beautiful-looking rose on the countertop was an extraordinary plant species once cultivated in the ancient elf kingdom. It was known as 'Seed of Desire'.

It didn't have a fixed appearance and could take on the shape of any sort of plant based on the desires of its planter.

But it was inherently an extremely invasive organism that fed on desires. As it had intelligence close to the level of a small dog, it was also occasionally kept as a pet.

These plants could become stronger by the desires they absorbed. Furthermore, the grades of 'Seed of Desire' were also dependent on their lineage and nurturing.

This particular plant before him was of a very high grade.

Claude himself didn't know this ancient plant’s species. Other scholars had research expertise in this area, but very few people knew about this ancient species.

This was important information that Joseph had specifically briefed Claude about.

To prevent him from accidentally offending the bookstore owner or getting hurt by some things within the bookstore, the former Great Radiant Knight Joseph had spent a great effort in instructing him.

In actuality, Claude didn't become a victim, but he had now become an eyewitness.

His heart sank with a thud when he heard that the Central District's Supreme Police Unit was conducting a large-scale questioning and immediately rushed over. However, he expected to still be late.

Secret Rite Tower hadn't set any restrictions on this district so as to not 'disrupt' the bookstore owner or upset him.

According to professional assessor Caroline's analysis, the bookstore owner had a rather mild temperament and most inquiries wouldn't affect him negatively.

However, Claude, who was a part of the organization itself, knew exactly how the Supreme Police Unit could be like.

That's right. In the world of transcendent beings, Claude was a Pandemonium-rank knight of Secret Rite Tower, Joseph's disciple and assistant, as well as the Deputy Section Chief of the Intelligence Department.

But in the world of ordinary beings, his identity was a young and talented first-class police captain within the Central District’s Supreme Police Unit that had relied on his own ability to rise through the ranks.

The convenience of this identity made it much easier for him to collect information for Secret Rite Tower.

Even though he didn't know how these police officers had offended the bookstore owner, it was fortunate that the owner just treated them as playthings to while away time.

This was merely a Seed of Desire guzzling their desires with no intention of causing any additional harm.

Claude once again raised his own vigilance, alarm sirens ringing in his heart.

Even though the bookstore owner was assessed as friendly, Supreme-rank beings couldn't be perceived using human standards and ethics.

A friendly joke—like the one now, to just 'scare them a little'— was capable of causing irreversible damage to ordinary people.

When dealing with such an entity, there were extreme limitations to what they could do.

But as a knight of Secret Rite Tower, it was their duty to help even if there were restrictions.

Claude looked towards the bookstore owner and said, "I apologize on their behalf if they did anything impolite."

Lin Jie shrugged it off. "It's not a big deal. They were just doing some routine questioning, just that my assistant's identity is being processed, so they asked a few more questions."

Claude turned to give his regards to the young girl standing silently at the side and made a mental note that the bookstore now had a store assistant.

As for a detailed inquiry...

The bookstore owner made it clear that 'her identity is being processed', which explicitly meant not to ask about it.

He didn't want to walk down the same path those three others did.

Naturally, Lin Jie wouldn't do anything to Joseph's disciple for he was a potential new customer after all.

But to think that Joseph's disciple was actually a first-class police captain of the Central District’s Supreme Police Unit. This really surprised Lin Jie.

However, when he thought about the sword given by Joseph, Lin Jie knew that he definitely wasn't any ordinary veteran officer, and having a high-ranking disciple was rather reasonable.

Meanwhile, Mu’en took the initiative to pour hot water into two cups and pushed one towards Claude who had taken a seat on the counter’s other side.

Lin Jie saw this and nodded, thinking to himself that this assistant was a worthy pick up.

Without having to do everything himself made him finally feel like a boss.

Lin Jie took a sip of tea and cleared his throat. "By the way, you probably came to find me for a different matter, right? How has Joseph been doing recently? He seems to be much more relaxed after he gave me the sword."

Since he was Joseph's disciple and had stated himself sending regards on behalf of his teacher, that meant that he had been sent here by Joseph.

However, Lin Jie couldn't help feeling that Claude was like a child being forced to visit and pay respect to elders during Chinese New Year.

Claude thanked Mu’en as he took the cup before he nodded. "Teacher sent me here to express his gratitude. He's been very good recently and it seems like he's showing signs of great advancement."

Lin Jie raised an eyebrow. "Then, I guess I have to express my congrats. Having a breakthrough at such an age isn't easy indeed."

Haa... I never expect Old Man Joseph to see the light that quickly. It's not easy to improve one's state of mind without some experiences. Looks like putting down that sword has really enlightened him.

Claude went on, "It's all thanks to your help that Norzin's safety levels have gone up considerably."

Since the bookstore owner didn't even reveal himself on that day, it meant that he probably didn't want anyone to know...

Claude probed cautiously, but deep down, he was rather certain of the truth. After all, it was only the demon sword Candela which Joseph gave away that could be linked to the ancient elf king.

Lin Jie blinked several times. What has Norzin's safety levels got to do with me?

But when Lin Jie thought back on Joseph's initial absolute abhorrence towards evil and the 'great advancements' he made after receiving guidance, Lin Jie was certain that Joseph had once more regained his sense of justice.

Just that this time it likely wasn't his obligation but genuine interest instead.

Thus, he chuckled, "Nahh, the one who truly put in effort was Joseph. All I did was slightly guide him in the right direction."

Indeed!

Claude had gotten his answer without any suspense. The one who acted on that day was the bookstore owner.

Using the demon sword Joseph had passed on to him as a sorcery tool, the bookstore owner had summoned the ancient martyr to accomplish the feat of god-slaying. Thus, he had said it was Joseph who did all the work.

The bookstore owner is being modest and keeping a lowprofile indeed, thought Claude to himself.

He then pulled out a thick stack of documents, placing them on the table as he declared his main objective for coming over today. "Teacher personally went through the archives and got these resources of ancient lost languages which said you talked about wanting before. However, because these languages were from a long time ago, the research progress of these documents is rather sluggish. There isn't too much reference material and only some original text from stone slabs. Hopefully, these will be of use to you."