Chapter 442 - 208: "Isn’t It Normal to Get Shot Twice in a Free Country?

And everything he said was the truth.

As for his origins, the reason he was being hunted, and so on—that was all personal privacy. Out of professional ethics, Gomez didn’t press for details. It was just like when he had tested Sean; Gomez only cared about his allegiance. As long as he wasn’t an enemy, nothing else mattered.

This, however, left Hoyev and his friend a bit stumped.

So Chris wasn’t an infiltrator, just genuinely crazy??

Sean wanted to laugh when he heard that.

After so many years, he knew his old friend all too well.

Chris wasn’t crazy at all; in fact, he was very smart. He knew perfectly well that in this strange new world, the safest option was to stick with Hoyev and his friend, the only two who had shown him kindness. He was just playing the fool, answering what needed to be answered and not saying a word about what didn’t. At the same time, he was using a very novel method to ask Hoyev and his friend to take him in.

And things did indeed go as Chris wished. After Gomez confirmed he was not a threat, he was allowed to stay in Blake City. Since Hoyev was the one who had saved him, Hoyev naturally became Chris’s "Guide."

Just like Elise and Sean in False Heaven.

After getting to know him, Hoyev discovered that aside from his occasional bouts of madness, the guy was great in every other respect. He was humble, eager to learn, and diligent. He would practice a simple Hardening Spell for an entire day without eating or drinking. And though the results weren’t great, Hoyev appreciated his hardworking attitude, believing it could make up for his lack of talent.

Over time, he and Chris became friends.

His shop didn’t really need another hand—he could manage just fine on his own—but thinking about how Chris had no income, he put him on the payroll and had him help out.

Although Blake City was an Underground City, it had its own sun and moon. Once you got used to it, you’d find that life there was no different from the outside world. People worked when it was time to work, and in their free time, they’d chat with the neighbors. Life was relaxed and pleasant.

Most importantly, it was safe.

Chris smiled a lot back then. Seeing him get along so well with everyone, Hoyev felt a sense of relief and pride, like a father who had successfully raised his son.

「Until one day.」

Without telling anyone, Chris accepted a mission from the Church and left Blake City alone.

And he never came back.

"I’ve looked for him many times," Hoyev sighed.

The search for Chris’s trail and the hunt for Wides for revenge were carried out simultaneously. Because he had started cultivating his identity and company early on, Hoyev had a pretty good network in the outside world. He knew people in the aristocratic circles of many major cities. But even now, though he had finally found Wides, there was still no news of Chris.

It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth, just like the others on the missing persons list.

But Hoyev had checked. The mission Chris had accepted was a simple gathering task. With Chris’s Tier One Magic Power at the time, the Church would only assign him that kind of mission—go to some forest to pick a few mushrooms or go to the seaside to catch a few fish. Although these mushrooms and fish were no ordinary items, the task shouldn’t have been life-threatening. So how could Chris have disappeared without a trace?

Hoyev couldn’t figure it out.

Sean was silent.

He hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to tell Hoyev the truth.

"Chris is dead," Sean said.

Hoyev: "?"

"Dead??"

"How did he die?"

"Did you see it with your own eyes??"

Hoyev was getting agitated.

It was clear he truly considered Chris a friend.

Sean said, "The people who were hunting him found him."

Hoyev’s pupils contracted. "You mean... he really was being hunted back then?"

Sean: "Didn’t Mr. Gomez already confirm that?"

Hoyev: "No, Mr. Gomez didn’t tell us that part."

He wasn’t Lauden; he wasn’t qualified to witness the "interrogation" process of a major figure like Gomez. He only received the result: Chris could be trusted.

"I see." Sean nodded in understanding. "Well, now you know. He wasn’t lying to you."

At least not about that.

Hoyev’s eyes suddenly turned fierce. "Was it the people from the Church Court?" he asked.

"Yes."

Sean replied.

Combining Hoyev’s description with the information he already had, a picture began to form in Sean’s mind—

One day, a few years ago, Chris arranged to go exploring in the Black Fruit Rainforest with his club members, just as they usually did.

They entered that patch of woods and discovered the Spring of Enlightenment within.

The Spring of Enlightenment itself was a trap deliberately set by the Florist Family, a legitimate-sounding excuse to hunt more Wizards to report back to the Church Court. So, as soon as Chris drank from the Spring of Enlightenment, he was immediately besieged by Witch Hunters.

The Witch Hunters’ firepower was too intense. Left with no choice, he jumped into the pool of the Spring of Enlightenment to evade the storm of bullets. Unfortunately, he was still too slow. A Newborn, someone who had just become a Wizard, could hardly outrun bullets, so he was still wounded.

But what Chris didn’t expect was that this pool, filled with the water of the Spring of Enlightenment, was not just a pool but also a passageway to another world.

This was just speculation for now; there were still many parts that didn’t quite add up. But deduction doesn’t require evidence, only convictions do. As a writer, Sean had no shortage of wild imagination. If he assumed the pool of the Spring of Enlightenment was a passageway, then Chris’s appearance in the "New World" would be perfectly logical.

By the same logic, the later Chris also returned to the farm through this passageway.

The Black Fruit Rainforest was under constant surveillance by the Florist Family. When Chris reappeared, he naturally wouldn’t have escaped their notice. Even if he wasn’t spotted immediately, he would have definitely attracted the attention of the Witch Hunters while leaving the Black Fruit Rainforest. That’s why he was hunted a second time.

Thinking of this, Sean felt he no longer needed to go to World’s End.

Nor did he need to use the "official channel" that Elise and her sister had taken.

The pool containing the Spring of Enlightenment could simultaneously satisfy two needs: "positive and negative positioning" and "investigating the state of the passageway."

"Where did you guys find Chris back then?" Sean asked.

’Finally, you’re asking the right question...’ Elise complained inwardly. Sean and Hoyev had been talking for so long it was making her anxious. Although she hadn’t thought it through as much as Sean, she knew this was the heart of the matter. No matter how many doubts there were, wouldn’t they all be solved by just going to the place Chris had been and seeing it for themselves?

Anna, however, remained silent.

She had already guessed where the place was, but it wasn’t appropriate for her to be the one to answer.

She also didn’t want Sean to go.

"Austin Castle," Hoyev replied.

A thoughtful look appeared in Sean’s eyes.

He recalled the map of the "New World." The name "Austin Castle" was written quite large on it, but it was a bit far, on the other side of the Winterless Sea.

"You guys traveled pretty far," Sean commented.

Hoyev scratched his head. "Business demanded it."

They had been searching for a deserted island deep in the Winterless Sea. It was said that Mr. Blake used to go fishing there often, so they wondered if there might be some treasure left behind by him. It didn’t have to be real treasure; as long as it was something Mr. Blake had used—even a fishing rod, a fish basket, or even a sock Mr. Blake had left behind after washing his feet and forgotten to take with him—it would hold extraordinary significance for them.

"..."

Sean was speechless.

He continued, "Which family administers that area?"

"You want to go take a look?" Hoyev asked. "I don’t think that’ll be a problem. It’s much safer than you going to stir up trouble with Fan Ke’er, the Captain of the Forbidden Guard."

"How so?" Sean asked.

"Because your friends are there," Hoyev said.

Sean: "My friends?"

Hoyev nodded. "On paper, the masters of Austin Castle are the Potter Earl Family. But in reality, there’s another, much larger family right next to it."

Next to Austin Castle is the Medanzo Flame Territory.

When a Count Family and a Duke Family are neighbors, the kind of relationship that develops goes without saying. Hoyev was confident Sean would understand.

Sean: "Huh?"

"So Austin Castle is actually the Blazing Angel Family’s territory?"

"That’s right," Hoyev said. "Don’t you know people from the Blazing Angel Family? Just reveal your identity when you get there, and no one will dare to touch you."

Sean: "..."

’Would no one really dare to touch him?’

Sean glanced at Elise beside him, then thought of his sister-in-law who was still mad at him.

’Why did he have a feeling that revealing his identity would lead to an even more miserable death?’

...