socalfunplaces Chapter 102 Strange Paintings
Chapter 102 Strange Paintings
Led by the employee, the three prepared to head to the property.
The three did not take the steam bus. "Sevier's Agency" has its own carriage, which is not as fast as the steam bus, but is much more comfortable.
During his journey, Suren noticed a group of people decorating the city by the roadside. Curious, he asked, "Is there some kind of festival coming up?"
"Mr. Dantès, it's normal that you don't know this since you're new to Librardton."
The employee smiled and then said respectfully, "Next week, Archbishop Anthony's wife, Elise, will be celebrating her 35th birthday, and the whole of Librardton will be holding a celebration."
"Anthony Fairfax has been promoted to archbishop?"
Suren couldn't help but marvel at the speed of the other man's rise, considering this genius had only been a member of the church for a little over 50 years. At the same time, he found it somewhat amusing: 'His wife is almost 30 years younger than him; it's truly an old cow eating young grass.'
……
Breton District.
Suren and Etherine stepped off the carriage and followed the middle-aged employee carrying a suitcase to a two-story detached house.
Suren looked around and found that the overall environment was not bad.
This street looks like a commercial street, with all sorts of shops around it, but it's not noisy.
The employee took out a key, opened the glass and wooden door, and led Suren and his companion into the house.
The furnishings inside were not as cluttered as Su Lun had imagined; in fact, they were almost too tidy.
The first thing you see is a long counter, and there's also a coffee table in the shop. On either side of the room are two clean and tidy cabinets.
It's less of a secondhand goods store and more of an antique collection exhibition hall.
The area behind the shop window wasn't empty; as the employee said, more than half of the shops remained there.
After a quick inspection, Suren found that the items were quite well-made and their value was certainly not low.
He frowned; this unusual phenomenon aroused his suspicion: 'This doesn't make sense. A merchant wouldn't abandon his own goods. Either he left in too much of a hurry, or there's something wrong with this shop.'
Suren remained outwardly calm, behaving like a collector, intently examining the merchandise in the store.
As he approached the third shop window, Suren's "Source of Knowledge" suddenly trembled. Suren knew that this was a sign that he had come into contact with some special secret.
"This shop is definitely not as simple as I imagined."
Suren didn't rush to investigate the source of the anomaly, as it wasn't convenient with outsiders present.
The employee was still enthusiastically introducing the advantages of the store, while Etherine, who was standing to the side, seemed a little impatient and pulled up a chair to sit down.
Suren hesitated for a moment. After all, with a problematic shop, no one knew if there was any danger lurking behind it. Just as he was about to tell his employees to look at other properties, he noticed that the "Tears of Ellie" on his chest had been emitting a dim light and was even trembling slightly.
He was startled: 'What's going on? Could this anomaly be related to the Aksha artifacts?'
With this thought in mind, Suren abandoned the idea of changing properties.
Afterwards, led by an employee, Suren toured the living area on the second floor.
The second floor is quite cozy, with a study, living room, reception room, bedroom, and even two guest rooms.
The house is fully furnished, which shows that the previous owner left in a hurry.
After a careful tour, Suren nodded in satisfaction and said, "I'm very satisfied with this shop. How much is the rent?"
"Mr. Dantes, the minimum lease term at Sevier's Agency is one year. Including furniture, the annual rent here is £175."
"That's expensive! A middle-class apartment costs only about 40 pounds a year," Suren thought to herself.
However, considering the store's decor and furniture, plus its good location, the price is reasonable. Moreover, Suren also got a lot of collectibles for free, so overall Suren made a profit.
Of course, we must also ignore the potential risks within the store.
Thinking of her £4000 net worth, Suren felt relieved and generously offered to rent it for a year first.
The employee was immediately overjoyed. He opened his briefcase and took out several documents.
Suren took the contract and saw that it was a pre-prepared contract. He couldn't help but chuckle: "This guy's pretty shrewd; he seems to have anticipated I'd rent it."
Soon, both parties signed a contract and reached an agreement, and Suren officially moved into "Libraton".
As the employee was leaving, he even asked Suren if she needed help recruiting servants and shop employees. Considering her need for privacy, Suren politely declined his offer.
After seeing off the agency's employees, Suren returned to the shop, her mood brightening.
"Now, I can say I've finally established myself in Librardton."
He turned to look at Etherine, who was sitting there lost in thought, and couldn't help but chuckle, "What's wrong? So relaxed? Don't you need to go back to the mortuary?"
Etherine rolled her eyes at Suren and said, "So eager to get rid of me? Stop pretending, you still have questions to ask, right?"
Suren touched her nose, thinking to herself, "Was I that obvious?"
He cut to the chase: "When I joined, Ms. Elisa promised that she would provide me with relevant clues for promotion."
"I knew you'd ask." Aiselin snorted, then took two documents out of her pocket and handed them over. "Here, these are our internal documents for promoting agents, but you'll have to figure out the materials and rituals yourself."
Suren took the manuscript, glanced at it briefly, and used the [Revelation] to confirm that the manuscript had not been tampered with.
He carefully put the manuscript away and continued, "Estherine, do you know about the Akshair artifacts?"
"Aksha artifacts are quite rare. Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Etherine frowned slightly and asked in return.
Suren pointed to the "Tears of Ellie" on her neck, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Aiselin understood his meaning, paused for a moment, and said, "Impossible. Aksha artifacts continuously influence their wielders, making them extreme, but you don't seem like a madman at all. Wait..."
Seemingly realizing something, she exclaimed in surprise, "You wield the Akshair artifact?"
"Is this rare?" Suren asked, somewhat puzzled, since he didn't think that illusion was particularly difficult.
Etherine's expression was somewhat solemn, as if she was re-evaluating Suren.
After a long silence, she said softly, "According to the records I know, very few people can wield the Aksha artifacts. The success rate is extremely low; perhaps only one in a hundred people can succeed."
Suren frowned as he listened. Aksha production was already extremely low. If what the other party said was true, wouldn't that mean that only a few people had been able to control it over the past thousand years?
It was only then that Suren realized that the emotions contained in Aksha's artifacts were closely related to the state of the deceased.
"So if the emotion involved is hatred, in my current state, could I still control it?"
Thinking of this, Suren couldn't help but feel a chill of fear. It seemed that the success of "Ellie's Tears" was really just a coincidence.
Etherine then continued, "The concept of the Aksha Relic only appeared in the year 500 of the Holy Radiance Calendar. Since then, research on it has never stopped, and there are many different opinions about its ascension."
However, one thing is universally acknowledged: mastering the Aksha artifacts is the most difficult hurdle; once you overcome this, the rest is easy.
Suren blurted out, "Are there any successful examples in history that went all the way?"
No.
Etherine shook her head, pouring cold water on Suren's enthusiasm. Seeing Suren's disappointed expression, she smiled slyly: "However, there was once someone who upgraded the Aksha artifact to the fourth stage. Many people believe that if it is upgraded to just one more stage, it will reach the level of a divine artifact."
Suren was overjoyed and quickly asked, "What happened next?"
"He died later."
Etherine sighed and said softly, "The power of the artifact was too great; some powerful superhumans joined forces to kill him."
With his death, the Akshaya artifact turned to dust.
Suren was stunned; he hadn't expected it to end like this.
"So you absolutely must not reveal it! It will bring utter destruction!" Etherine warned. "You'd better not mention it to anyone else either, including the other members of the Knights."
Suren glanced at her in surprise, then smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to care about me so much, but remember to keep it a secret."
Etherine snorted and ignored his teasing.
Although he was joking, Suren couldn't be happy at all, since what Aiselin had just said wasn't good news.
"Luckily, I acted cautiously beforehand and didn't publicize it widely... wait, I think I mentioned it to Professor Derwent."
Thinking of this, Suren's heart sank: 'Professor Derwent may be friendly, but he's suspected of being a member of the Gate of Truth. There's a high probability he leaked this information to them.'
However, there was nothing that could be done about it, since Suren had no idea what the Aksha artifacts were back then; even the name was something Professor Derwent told him.
"Sigh, there's no use worrying about this now. Let's just take it one step at a time." Suren had no choice but to accept reality.
Looking at Suren's furrowed brows, Aiselin's eyes gleamed with a strange light. She pursed her lips, as if she had made up her mind.
"Actually, I do have some clues..."
Upon hearing Etherine's voice, Suren was overjoyed. He subconsciously looked up at the girl in front of him, waiting for her to continue.
Looking at Suren's expectant face, Etherine couldn't help but chuckle: "Our organization actually has a fragment of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls,' specifically the third volume."
I've read it, but because of its peculiar nature, I only remember that besides some myths and legends, it also contained information about Aksha artifacts.
Because Suren had investigated Charles's goods, Etherine assumed he knew about the Dead Sea Scrolls and didn't offer any further explanation.
Suren's heart stirred, and he began to ponder:
According to Charles, the Dead Sea Scrolls were likely written by survivors of the Cataclysmic Era. If Etherine's statement is true, does it mean that Akashic artifacts existed before the Cataclysmic Era?
Suren grew increasingly curious about that era, but he calmly looked at Aetherine and asked, "The Dead Sea Scrolls are, after all, important documents within the Eternal Covenant. I imagine there must have been a price to pay, right?"
"Of course I can't just give it to you for free. If there are any important tasks later, I'll try to get you the opportunity to read it," Etherine said with a smile.
Suren was somewhat surprised; he felt that Aetherine was being a little too enthusiastic. He asked suspiciously, "Why are you helping me?"
"It's a secret~" Etherine smiled slyly.
Hearing the other person mimicking his tone, Suren couldn't help but chuckle.
He didn't dwell on that topic, and instead asked another question: "Did you sense anything unusual in this room?"
Aiselin looked around in confusion, but ultimately shook her head.
Suren stroked his chin, thinking to himself, "It seems the anomaly in this house is quite well-hidden. It's only because my supernatural abilities are particularly sensitive to secrets that I was able to detect the anomaly."
He closed his eyes, trying to use the "revelation" to obtain clues.
Having spent time with Suren before, Etherine knew he had a similar ability to find clues, so she didn't disturb him.
After a while, he opened his eyes again, but there was some doubt in them, because the images and words he had just received were quite fragmented.
This means that the "information barrier" behind the hidden dangers in the house is higher than he imagined.
However, it wasn't all for naught; Suren still gained a clue from the [Revelation] just now.
"Is there something wrong with this house?" Etherine asked curiously from the side.
Suren did not answer, but walked directly to a door. According to the employee, this was the shop's storage room.
Pushing open the door to the storage room, the interior came into view.
There weren't many things in the storage room, and sunlight streamed through the small window, illuminating the tiny space.
The room was covered with a thin layer of dust, indicating that no one had entered for some time.
Suren stood at the door, not daring to rush in, because his "Source of Knowledge" was trembling even more violently, which undoubtedly indicated that the source of the anomaly was this storage room.
He quietly entered the storage room and carefully observed the interior.
The storage room contained some cleaning tools and some old tables and chairs, with only a shelf in the corner remaining.
After careful inspection, Suren concluded that the most likely source of the anomaly was still that shelf.
After a moment's thought, he walked towards the shelves. Etherine followed behind Suren, cautiously observing their surroundings.
There weren't many items on the shelf, just a few exquisite handicrafts and some miscellaneous things, which didn't look very valuable.
One of the paintings caught Suren's attention.
The painting is about the size of two palms, and the frame is very simple, like the cheap craft paintings commonly seen on the roadside.
The painting is quite realistic, but the content of the painting seems somewhat eerie.
Inside the painting, a man in a formal suit is dismembering the body of a young girl. His face is blurred, but a sinister smile can still be seen at the corner of his mouth. Tall, twisted demons stand around him.