Warlock Apprentice

”Wasteland City, is actually the old district of Paradow City,” Allen explained.

The urban architecture of Yirong Country as a whole is filled with reinforced concrete and omnipresent steam machinery, distinctly separating it from other nations.

However, not all cities in Yirong Country are like this.

The development of Yirong Country has seen such rapid changes only in the last hundred years. Many cities actually retain the style of the previous era. The architecture of that era was full of decaying religious flavor. The King of Yirong Country strongly demanded that each city undergo reforms. As a result, numerous cities now showcase two starkly different architectural styles.

On one side is the newly erected forest of concrete and steel, and on the other is the Byzantine style of ancient atmosphere.

Paradow City is just like that; its urban areas are divided into New City and Wasteland City. New City is the current main urban area where the majority of Paradow City’s populace resides. Wasteland City, on the other hand, is the old city district, which is nearly abandoned now with only a few Wanderers and some poor people living there to get by.

”So it’s right in the midst of the transition between old and new reforms,” Angel realized with a start. No wonder most cities of Yirong Country are often shrouded in haze.

After listening to Allen’s explanation, Angel asked, ”Is there anything special about Wasteland City?”

Allen shook his head somewhat despondently, ”Nothing, I walked around Wasteland City, and it was very calm. Occasionally, some crimes would occur, but as the young man said, there are only beggars and poor people there. Such incidents are inevitable.”

”But my sister wouldn’t fail to pay a young guide. She must have disappeared after entering Wasteland City... I am thinking if she could have encountered an enemy there.”

This was also the reason Allen came looking for Angel.

Now that the location of Irene’s disappearance was known, it was very likely that Irene had encountered an enemy in Wasteland City. Even if there were no traces of battle, there would certainly be remnants of energy fluctuations. If it had happened recently, Allen could investigate by himself, but now that it’s been over a month, he could only pin his hopes on Angel.

Allen looked at Angel with pleading eyes.

Angel pondered for a moment. He could visit Paradow City to have a look, but at least he had to understand the specifics first.

Angel: ”Since there are still people in Wasteland City, has anyone seen Irene? A month ago, if there had been a fight in Wasteland City, someone must have seen or heard something, right?”

Allen: ”There was no fight, but a beggar said he saw Irene.”

Allen paused as he said this, seemingly weighing his words. After a while, he continued, ”That beggar had shifty eyes, spouting lies. At the time, I was eager to find my sister and didn’t bother to discern.”

In short, Allen wasn’t sure whether the beggar was telling the truth.

”So, what did he say?”

”He said that day he was sleeping on top of an abandoned building and saw a woman with a very good demeanor heading towards the religious district.”

The religious district? Angel looked at Allen quizzically.

Allen explained: ”Wasteland City also has various areas, and the religious district is the zone where ancient religious activities took place, filled with churches and chapels. I went there too but found no trace of Irene, so I guess that beggar was probably lying.”

Allen, in order to find Irene, had offered a reward in Gold Coins, which the beggar probably lied for the sake of money.

Hearing this, Angel also roughly understood. After Irene entered Wasteland City, it was as if she had evaporated from the world.

If Wasteland City was truly where Irene disappeared, there might really be some residual energy there. It seems visiting Wasteland City is necessary to understand the full situation.

”The religious district of Wasteland City in Paradow City?” Just as Angel was preparing to go to Paradow City for a look, a voice full of uncertainty rose.

Angel and Allen turned their heads to look, and the speaker was one of the two Witches who had been quietly eating melon seeds on the side.

Moreover, it was Sharley, the witch apprentice that Allen particularly despised.

”Sharley, do you have any doubts about this place?” Angel noticed that Sharley’s tone was inquisitive, her gaze unfocused, as if she was recalling something.

Greya was also curiously looking at Sharley. She was purely bored and thought to listen to some gossip to pass the time, bringing along Sharley was just coincidental. Could it be that Sharley knew some inside information?

After a while, Sharley came back to her senses and saw everyone looking at her. She looked somewhat bewildered: ”Why are you all staring at me? Did I say something?”

Sharley didn’t appear to be in disguise; evidently, she had been muttering unconsciously just now.

Annoyed, Allen said: ”You were just questioning the Wasteland City district.”

”Did I say that?” Sharley muttered under her breath, and seeing Allen’s affirmative expression, she thought for a moment and then said: ”Alright, maybe it’s because the place you mentioned just now reminded me of something, and I unconsciously repeated the location.”

”You thought of something? What was it?” Angel asked.

Sharley shrugged: ”It’s nothing big, just that some time ago... well, it might have been a few years back, I was invited to perform in the capital of Yirong Country.”

”What’s with that look?” Sharley glared at Allen, who had a look of disdain on his face: ”I was the most famous magician in Yirong Country; even before I entered the Wizards’ Realm, I had already been touring and performing.”

In a low voice, Allen muttered: ”What magician? More like a charlatan, right?”

Sharley didn’t mind the title of charlatan; instead, she raised an eyebrow: ”You could say that.”

”Anyway, when I was performing in Yirong Capital, I saw a reward poster on the bulletin board. The content of the reward was about a horrifying case in the Wasteland District of Paradow City, hoping someone could provide clues.”

A reward poster from a few years ago in a mortals’ city? In Angel’s view, it should have nothing to do with Irene’s disappearance.

However, sharley, being a Transcendent, associating such an inconspicuous reward poster with the matter Allen was talking about, might also be a kind of... omen.

With this thought in mind, Angel continued to ask: ”What was the specifics of the case?”

”I remember it was a disappearance case, about over twenty people from a religious assembly, who vanished overnight.”

”A disappearance case? A religious assembly?” The moment Allen heard ’disappearance,’ his ears perked up.

”Yes, it seemed to be a very small and obscure religion, with just over thirty devout followers. Then, overnight, so many people disappeared, and consequently, the remaining Seed believers all pulled out. At the time, some said it was the revenge of the Evil God for worshipping a cult, others said they were taken to the Divine Country—anyway, none of it reliable. If there really was anything abnormal, Sky Mechanical City would have definitely taken over.”

”I think this matter probably has nothing to do with your sister’s disappearance,” Sharley concluded.

After listening to Sharley’s account, Allen also felt that the case was irrelevant to Irene. He still suspected that something might’ve happened to Irene in Paradow City involving some Transcendents.

During that time, many contestants who were going to participate in the New Star Competition rushed from all over to Sky Mechanical City; perhaps one of them was responsible.

As Allen was thinking this, Angel suddenly turned to Sharley, and with an odd tone of voice, he asked: ”What did you just say... Seed believers? What does that mean?”

Sharley was stunned for a moment: ”Back then, that’s how those people referred to themselves; it seemed the religion they believed in was called the Seed, and they called themselves Seed believers.”

”Seed... Seed...” Angel murmured softly, with a flicker of light in his eyes.

”What’s the matter, does this Seed have something odd about it?” Greya noticed that Angel’s expression became serious and thought there might be something wrong.

Angel shook his head, his eyes darkened: ”Nothing, I just thought of something that I need to confirm.”