Chapter 437 Searching for Isabel

With Philip's help, Aiwass arrived at the port at an extremely fast speed.

But of course he didn't look for them one by one... that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, stupid and extremely inefficient.

Aiwass immediately revealed his identity as Minister without Portfolio and, with an extremely tough attitude, ordered all ships to detain for six hours and conduct an additional round of comprehensive cargo inspections.

This is a perfectly reasonable request and falls within the Trade Secretary’s remit.

Now that the position of Trade Secretary is vacant, any minister can temporarily issue orders as long as he obtains the Queen's authorization.

Of course, Aiwass didn't have Isabel's authorization, but that could be fixed later. He didn't expect to stop the succubus Emma with such an order... But if Emma really wanted to leave with Yulia, then Isabel would definitely be on the only ship leaving. He could also determine the general area.

After eliminating the possibility that Emma secretly took Yulia away, Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief.

Minister Griffith had previously expressed his desire for Yulia's blood, and he was connected to the Eye Demon, who was connected to Emma. Emma's direct kidnapping of Yulia was likely motivated by the same goal.

If possible, he actually hoped to find the succubus Emma in the Lloyd's building. Based on what Aiwass had learned from his brief contact with Emma, ​​there was a high probability that she would hide "Yulia" in the Lloyd's headquarters and set a trap; or she would take "Yulia"'s blood, erase her memory, and send her directly back to Moriarty Manor; or she would bring "Yulia" to her side and then have a second round of negotiations with Aiwass.

If she had to get Yulia at all costs, then the other men at the port should have taken "Yulia" away directly, and then she would return to the Lloyd's building and pretend to be innocent to create an alibi.

Although the Great Guardian had no contact with Emma, ​​he was experienced and immediately considered these possibilities.

That's why he arrived at the Lloyd's building first and asked Aiwass to go to the port to check the situation.

If Emma had returned, she certainly wouldn't leave at will. Her conspiracy would either have to be completed here, or she would have to hide her actions here.

So there are only a few possibilities as to why Emma is not here - either she is on her way back but hasn't arrived yet, or she has set a trap and is lying in ambush nearby, or she has taken Yulia away, or she has killed or controlled Yulia and is taking her blood.

Considering that Emma has a more or less official status, Aiwass felt that Emma should not dare to do anything too extreme.

After all, when they met, Evans had directly shouted at her - at that time, Emma, ​​who was at the fifth energy level, did not dare to attack Evans, who was at the third energy level.

From this, we can infer that Emma should be the type with a timid personality.

She will likely adopt a relatively conservative strategy, prioritizing self-preservation over harming others.

Compared to fighting and killing, Emma prefers to use conspiracy and traps to weaken or control others... Of course, if she didn't have such a personality, she would definitely not awaken into a demon incarnation like "Succubus".

...Because of this, Aiwass always felt that there was something inexplicably strange about Emma's behavior logic.

Even if they wanted to capture Yulia, there didn't seem to be any need to do it during the Candle Festival, right? Wouldn't it be better to wait until she was about to leave, or after she had already left?

Aiwass was a little confused.

Precisely because this would do her no good at all and would only ruin Emma's original plan, Aiwass was a little unsure about what she wanted to do.

However, Aiwass and the Great Guardian have blocked Lloyd's headquarters and the port respectively.

Next, we just need to search one area at a time.

In this case, Aiwass can use the missing person prayer.

Fortunately, Aiwass was a priest and therefore knew a lot of messy prayer rituals.

The Ritual of Finding only works when the target or clue is nearby. The advantage is that if the clue is nearby, you'll definitely find it. You won't have the "should have seen it, but were blind" situation you experienced with the Eye of Avalon.

So, Aiwass asked Philip to fly high above the harbor.

He then took out the ceremonial knife, and after a brief prayer to sanctify it, he thrust the sharp and solid ceremonial knife forcefully into the palm of his left hand, with the tip of the knife even faintly protruding from the back of his hand!

Because of the intense pain, Aiwas' face turned pale, he trembled violently, gasped for breath, and his body twitched uncontrollably twice.

Enduring the intense pain, Aiwass closed his eyes and prayed solemnly word by word: "I solemnly call upon you, the noble fire thief!"

"The god whose holy number is three, the god who binds the body with thorns of sin, the god who burns himself to chase away darkness—the Stag of the Candle!"

Although in theory, all priests are first and foremost followers of the Candlelighter.

But it was the first time that Aiwass was so devout to the candlelight master.

His pupils shone with a golden-red glow, and between the fingers of his left hand, which was tightly gripping the ritual knife, tiny flames ignited. "I beg you to descend into this blood and fire!"

"I am a follower of the Way of Devotion, a minister of the Ennead! I am Aiwas Moriarty!

"Please guide my path and tell me if there is any trace of the person I am looking for around me!

"I now offer my blood in prayer for true knowledge. I swear that this blood is shed for the benefit of others. Please, Candlelighter and his apostles, respond to me—"

As Aiwass spoke, he suddenly pulled the blade out of his palm and raised his left hand in front of his eyes.

A surging blood-red flame ignited from the palm of Aiwass's hand, and Aiwass's long hair and clothes were blown and shook violently by the sudden storm.

Staring at the crimson flames, a vision suddenly appeared in Aiwas's vision.

He felt as if he were standing before some flame, with a sacred bonfire crackling before him.

Please, Sizhu...

Today is the Candlemas—she disrupts your ceremonies, bewitches your priests, and harms the innocent on a sacred day...

But soon, the storm roared past. The flame in Aiwass's hand gradually dimmed and extinguished, and the hallucinations in his eyes and ears gradually dissipated.

——There is no answer.

The instructions are not here.

"Not here, please move back a little."

Aiwass patted Philip on the back.

Philip said in a deep voice: "No problem, I'll fly slower, and you can stop as soon as you say so."

"Okay, right here—please stop."

Aiwass quickly gave the order.

This is a place that feels somewhat familiar to Aiwass...or rather, it is where the dream began.

Because he was standing right now, right where the previously sealed-off "Pelican Bar" was. The bar had been sealed off for a long time, and everything inside had been cleared out. It was now an abandoned warehouse, storing some stone materials.

Aiwass used the quest ritual for the second time.

But this ceremony had a different reaction——

The flames gushing out of the left hand that Aiwass held in front of his eyes formed a brief illusion in Aiwass's eyes.

In a dark alley, he saw a little girl huddled helplessly.

Beside her was an overturned basket, which seemed to contain something. She was clutching something tightly in her hands, her shoulders hunched inward, her arms folded, and her back pressed against the wall, as if trying to protect something.

As people slowly gathered around her, her eyes were filled with fear and unwillingness. She seemed to be afraid of being beaten, but she didn't use her hands to block her head...

The illusion lasted only a brief moment, and the flame in Aiwass's hand dissipated.

But Aiwass was extremely excited and didn't need to repeat the ritual to confirm it: "It's working! I know the way--"

He did recognize the alley in his illusion.

——Not only he knew it, but the crow that was now perched on Aiwass's shoulder also knew it.

Because that was the alley where the demonologist of Noble Red tried to sacrifice Aiwass and summon the Shadow Fiend.

Under Aiwas's guidance, Philip quickly arrived at the exact location given by Aiwas under the storm.

What Aiwass saw in his hallucinations before was not something that had already happened, but something that was happening.

The poor people who surrounded the little girl were blown away by the storm that came from the sky before they could hurt her or complete the robbery, and they fell to the ground in a mess.

They got up from the ground and saw the huge, noble, white griffin. They didn't even dare to say a word and fled backwards in fear - they didn't even dare to shout. They just ran away without making a sound and crawled away.

Philip's majestic and complex gaze followed their fleeing backs.

Aiwass jumped off the griffin and tried to comfort the girl: "It's okay, it's okay..."

His words suddenly paused for a moment.

Looking at the dirty, skinny, thinly dressed girl, Aiwass suddenly realized that he seemed to know her.

This was the little girl who came to buy flowers from Aiwas when Aiwas was in a wheelchair and was taken to the Pelican Bar by Haina!

Although Aiwass was not wearing a priest's robe, the girl selling flowers recognized him immediately: "It's... a kind-hearted big brother!"

——It was obvious that not everyone was kind to her during her flower-selling days, so she kept in mind the few Aiwasses who were kind to her.

She suddenly made up her mind and seemed to have figured something out.

"Big brother, I have money... I have money now..."

The girl said, and she handed the stack of White Crown coins she was holding to Aiwass with a sad heart: "This money is for you... I'll just take one..."

She realized that she had no way of keeping or spending the unexpected money she had received.

But she would not be willing to give them to those evil people who wanted to hurt her.

At that time, Aiwass gave her a red coin, and before asking for change, she returned the nine copper coins to Aiwass very seriously, simply because she didn't want to accept charity - although she was only selling some flowers of poor quality or wild flowers, she was not a beggar after all, nor was she standing out to sell them.

Even though many of her peers were engaged in that kind of business, she was not. She earned money through labor, and even though it was not enough to fill her stomach every day, she still had dignity.

...But that kind of dignity was shattered the moment the beautiful sister with a gentle smile handed him a hundred white crown coins.

If it was just one red coin, she could return it. But if it was one white coin, she would be troubled. Not to mention that it was one hundred white crown coins.

A luxurious meal of fried sausages, a fried egg, and a bowl of mashed potatoes cost only four copper coins, while one white coin could buy fifty of these delicacies. She couldn't even calculate how much a hundred white coins could buy. She only knew that it was a huge sum of money that would keep her from starving for a long, long time... maybe even allow her to move out of the dangerous Lloyd's Quarter and into the prosperous and safe metropolitan area!

She can also invite a pastor to cure her mother's illness, and even go to school or buy a new set of clean and warm clothes!

Maybe there were other things she could do, but she couldn't imagine them at all.

This huge sum of money made it impossible for her to return the money, so she could only accept it with tears and sobs.

She knew she had to hide this huge sum of money, otherwise she wouldn't live to see the next day. But she couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement... and her reaction was so strong that she was targeted by other gang members who were idle and had nothing to do during the Candle Festival.

Soon, that beautiful dream shattered like a broken mirror. She woke up and realized that she had no power to change her fate and might even die soon...

So she only thought about giving the money to the very few people who were kind to her.

——It’s better than having them taken away by those who bully you!

She clenched her fists and thought so in her heart.

But when Aiwas saw the money, he was suddenly stunned.

One hundred white coins... Who would suddenly give such a huge sum of money to a poor person?

Either they are kind-hearted noblemen who know little about Lloyd's Quarter and think they are doing a kind charity; or they are bloodthirsty spectators with ulterior motives who want to watch the fun.

Plus my own searching ritual...

The figures of two people emerged in Aiwass's mind.

Isabel, or Emma.

So Aiwas immediately asked the girl: "Who gave you the money? Was it a beautiful sister?"

"right!"

The girl selling flowers suddenly brightened up, and her hand, which was struggling to hand over the money, became much more relaxed: "Brother, give the money back to her! I can't take so much..."

Aiwass just pushed the money away and asked, "What color is her hair and eyes? How tall is she?"

"She had white hair, very white, like snowdrops. And red eyes, a little scary, but also very beautiful, the color of roses... She was a little taller than me."

The girl answered obediently, gesturing: "Just a little bit..."

Aiwass immediately confirmed that it was Yulia!

Or rather, it was Isabel dressed as Yulia!

——Finally found it!

The girl got her money but it hasn't been taken away yet, which means she probably hasn't gone far.

So Isabelle is alive and safe!

Aihua suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and felt as if the whole world became brighter in an instant.

(End of this chapter)