Chapter 620: Tortured
After thinking, Charlotte became aware of her rudeness and swiftly inquired, "I just realized, would you prefer coffee or tea?"
With a laugh, Charles responded, "If it's feasible, I'd appreciate some fruit juice, Lady Charlotte."
Charlotte smiled warmly at Charles and nodded. "Fruit juice it is. Please make yourself comfortable while I prepare it for you."
As Charlotte made her way to the kitchen, Charles took the opportunity to observe his surroundings. The main hall exuded elegance and sophistication with its polished marble floors and intricately carved wooden furniture. The walls were adorned with paintings, each depicting scenes from different eras, hinting at a rich history and a deep appreciation for art.
While Charles waited, his thoughts wandered back to the past and his encounters with Hunt, Emilia, and the others in Riverdale City.
Lost in his thoughts, Charles was startled when Charlotte returned, carrying a tray with a glass of refreshing fruit juice. She gracefully placed it on the coffee table before him and sat opposite him.
"I hope the fruit juice is to your liking," Charlotte said, her amber eyes filled with curiosity.
Meanwhile, Charles picked up the glass and sipped, savoring the sweet and tangy flavor.
He nodded appreciatively. "It's delicious, thank you."
"So, why did you choose to visit us? You didn't come here just to find out why we are here, right?" Charlotte asked.
Charles smiled, took another sip, and spoke.
"Half-right. Although I discovered your whereabouts due to sheer coincidence, I came here for a purpose. I want all information about the Sacred Cathedral and church members if possible. More precisely, I want information about Archbishop Victor and the Hawthorne family."
"You are after Archbishop Victor?" Charlotte froze for a moment and soon nodded.
"Although they aren't the Royal Family, they still hold considerable authority in this City and have a great background. So, we gathered all information about them too." She stood up and hurriedly went to the left side room.
Before long, she returned with many documents and placed them on the coffee table.
On the other hand, Charles picked them one by one and flipped through them. As he started reading the first document, he was genuinely impressed by their information-gathering ability.
Not only they recorded Victor's abilities, they even went further and wrote about his history, habits, hobbies, and even personal things.
"Impressive." Charles took the following document and continued reading it. But this was about Hawthorne family information. For the next three hours, he stayed in Charlotte's house and gathered all the information about Sacred Empire, Royal Family, Order Church, Truth Church organization, and all Church official members. Although he had an omniscient-like system to help him gather important information, he realized it only had records of important events.
For example, when he searched for clues about Anna's mother earlier, he found no clue.
'Alas, Life Church's information-gathering network is something else.' In truth, Charles had long known that Hunt and Charlotte weren't the only ones from the Withering Shadows Organization.
"How many of you are here?" He couldn't help but ask.
Meanwhile, Charlotte showed a hesitant look and soon sighed.
"I don't know why, but I can't bring myself to lie to you." She said with a weak smile and added.
"So far, 12 Official Squads are working in the shadows and helping us with everything. Besides that, 250 plus Low agents infiltrated the Sacred Empire around five years ago and are still doing their best to act as spies in every part of the City."
"Low agents? You mean?" Charles showed a puzzled look and asked.
"They are mortals with excellent battle skills. Some became servants, some married influential officials, and others became government officials. Even so, 99% of them will be discarded once this mission ends. In truth, a few are already facing misfortunes and barely clinging to their lives. This is the dark reality of being an agent of Withering Shadows." Charlotte suddenly turned her gaze towards the entrance door and continued.
"The agent staying in the opposite house also faces the same fate. She had a pretty good life until two weeks ago, and everything was perfect. Sometimes, she even said she would quit being a spy agent and live a happy life with the Inquisitor she had married. But for some unknown reason, her husband has tortured her like a maniac for the past two weeks. Although he is short-tempered and gets angry quickly, this is extreme. We don't know why he suddenly became so violent and ruthless. Although I want to go and intervene, I have no choice but to watch everything in silence."
She said with a hint of sadness in her tone.
"He found out her identity?" Charles asked.
"I don't think so. If he actually found out she was a spy, she would've long been transferred to the Radiant experts and become a corpse already. I feel like he was torturing her just to vent his anger on someone else."
"She truly is unfortunate, then. Will all agents be discarded once the mission is over?"
"Yes. When we finish our mission, the Sacred Empire will retaliate and start the mass hunt. At that time, these mortal agents will be the scapegoats for us to escape."
"The Life Church is ruthless. Can't they also escape with you guys?" Charles asked.
"It's a very risky move. What will happen when hundreds of people suddenly quit work and leave the City? It will not only raise suspicion, it might even expose us." Charlotte said calmly.
"Hmm, what a trouble job you guys are doing." Charles truly felt pity for all the scapegoats and shook his head.
"Anyway, I think this information should be more than enough," Charles said as he stared at hundreds of enclosed documents before him and slowly stood up.
"You are leaving already? Hunt will be overjoyed if he knows you are here, though." Charlotte paused for a moment and soon asked.
"Why not stay here today? We may celebrate our little reunion."
"Although I want to enjoy our little reunion, I'm also on a tight schedule, My Lady. But I'll stay in this City for the next two years so that we can celebrate another time." Charles said apologetically.
"That's a relief." Charlotte nodded her head and also stood up from her seat.
After that, Charles bid farewell to her and quietly left the house.
But as he walked out of the fence gate, he slowly turned his attention towards the single-storied house on the opposite street road and scanned it.
His' wisdom power' enveloped the house in a blink and observed everything.
At that moment, a young woman in her mid-twenties lay on the bed, butt naked, and seemed to be sleeping in the bedroom. No, he saw her legs and hands were tied, and she appeared to be beaten badly.
Charles halted his footsteps as he saw bruises all over her back and even burn marks on her chest.
'She was indeed pitiful.'
Charles knew she would be in deep trouble if she were left untreated.
'It's Erwin's house, right?' He also saw Inquisitor's marriage portrait in the living hall and confirmed his guess.
"But why is she in this state? I thought he loved her truly, though. Wait, was it due to my provocative words?" He couldn't help but feel guilty. In truth, she wasn't in a secret relationship with Hunt at all. He actually made that up to provoke Erwin.
When Charles searched for information about Inquisitor Erwin, he learned that his wife was a follower of Life Church and a spy sent by Withering Shadows five years ago to gather information about the S-13 Intellectual Artifact.
And she was one of the low-rank mortal agents.
'What should I do now?' If he saves her by casting soul fire, it would not only raise suspicion, but it might even expose Hunt's and Charlotte's identities.
'Tsk, why am I even hesitating?'
Charles glanced around to see if someone was watching him and quietly entered the nearby alley.
A second later, he cast [Flame Teleportation] spell, disappeared from there, and reappeared inside the single-storied house's living room.
Then, he took a step forward and moved toward the left side. Before long, he entered the bedroom and arrived closer to the young woman.
Upon closer inspection, he observed her dire state. Her disheveled crimson hair framed a pair of dark brown eyes, while her fair skin was marred with numerous bruises. A celestial nose, once intact, now bore the visible signs of a fracture. The wounds that covered her body obscured any trace of her once-beautiful face.
After a quick scan, he conjured a ball of blue flame and tossed it onto her body. A second later, the blue flame suddenly enveloped her body as a whole and started healing her wounds and bruises at an incredible speed.
Before long, not a single bruise on her skin remained.
"Good," Charles commented as he removed the ropes on her legs and hands.
A gasp leaked out of the young woman's mouth as she felt the disappearance of the pain and slowly opened her beautiful eyes.
The next instant, she touched her face, hands, and all other body parts and soon burst into tears.
But she soon realized another person was standing before her and hurriedly covered her naked body with the quilt.
"W-Who are you, Mister?" She stuttered before realizing something and then asked.
"Are you the one who healed me?"
"Indeed," Charles nodded and inquired, "But how did you end up in this state? Who did it?"
A bitter smile appeared on her face.
"W-Who else do you think? Of course, it's my Erwin." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to hold back her emotions and continued.
"I-I don't know what happened, but he suddenly became violent. Whenever he returned home, he started abusing me and never even talked about it once. I pleaded with him every day, but nothing changed."
As she spoke, she buried her face in the white quilt and wailed like a small kid.
On the other hand, Charles waited for her to calm down and soon asked.
"What's your name?"
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