Chapter 421: Chapter 421 The End of the Fairy Tale_1
The next day, Rose Iron Prison, warden’s office.
"That outfit suits you well, great merchant." Aiden raised his teacup in greeting to the guest sitting on the sofa across from him.
Heinz Hofman, wearing a wig, a fake beard, and a monocle, met with Aiden dressed as a wealthy businessman.
"Thanks to you, the whole city is hunting for me, I had to put a little thought into visiting the jail." Heinz touched the fake mustache glued to his face.
"Let’s skip the small talk, here are the details for the second phase of the trade." Aiden handed over the prepared sheet of paper.
He had written down some personal information about Mr. Blood Robe and Professor Dodge that he knew.
Their last exchange involved their sacred words, and the second phase of the trade was for Heinz to dispatch the royal secret police to Sunset City in Gistas to help Aiden find someone, in return for the help he had given regarding the affair in Sera.
"The Empire’s Professor Dodge has fled to Sunset City?" Heinz frowned as he looked at the paper, he too had heard of the name of this instructor of the Empire’s heresy tribunal, "Is this information reliable?"
"Have you traded with the Smiling Scales before?" Aiden asked.
"This information comes from them?" Heinz looked at Aiden with interest, "Those information peddlers charge a fierce price, even I feel the pain; it seems, warden, you’re quite generous."
Aiden thought to himself that the only generous one here was Heinz; he had to work hard to get his sources of information.
"The latest update was a year ago, the one before that, two years prior, same location. It’s highly likely that Professor Dodge is lingering in Sunset City." Aiden said.
"I’ll do my best to look into it, but... Professor Dodge was once wanted for studying forbidden arts and never got caught, even managed to break out of prison. The Empire’s military police aren’t all useless; this fellow won’t be easy to catch." Heinz said.
"There’s no need to catch him, you won’t be able to. Just find out his whereabouts and don’t spook him."
"That’s fine. But what’s with this cult leader? No name, just a few sentences describing his appearance... only a self-proclaimed title?" Heinz looked puzzled at Aiden, "With just a criminal record, it’ll be hard for us to help you find him."
"He once bought information about Professor Dodge from the Smiling Scales, I surmise that he also wants to find Professor Dodge, so he’s likely active in Sunset City as well." Aiden said.
Heinz’s expression changed slightly, "He’s not planning to start another cult, is he?"
"Highly possible. However, his influence probably won’t be as great as it was when he was in the autonomous state, since the Blood Moon Cult he led back then broke away from an old established cult," Aiden replied.
Mr. Blood Robe has experience in manipulating religious groups, and being a saint of the "hatred" authority, he could easily perform some miracles to gather followers and start a small cult to aid in achieving his goals.
Aiden speculated that the influence of this cult couldn’t surpass the Blood Moon Cult at the time, but the main reason wasn’t what he had just mentioned, but because the goddess of the original Blood Moon Cult had already been imprisoned.
"Such a dangerous character operating in Gistas... Well, even without our trade, knowing this, I have to find a way to investigate," Heinz said, nodding at the paper, "The information you’ve told me is sharable, right? I would like to let the Heresy Tribunal know, they’re more experienced in this matter."
Heinz thought that the information Aiden shared wasn’t everything he knew; the information on this paper was what Aiden was willing to be known.
"If you’re willing to lend a hand, I could only be too grateful, but you might not have what it takes to stop him."
"Hindering his activities should be enough," Heinz said.
"That will be sufficient," Aiden nodded.
"Then I’ll keep this in mind," Heinz said and then tore the paper.
"You won’t need to look at that?"
"I already have it memorized clearly enough," Heinz placed the paper in the ashtray and lit a match to burn it, "May I see Sera now?"
"There’s no need to inform me of visits that comply with regulations, just apply directly," Aiden gestured towards the door with a "please" motion.
"Seriously though, have you not considered..." Heinz tried to persuade Aiden again, "With your capabilities, entering politics would definitely allow you to make a difference."
"I’ve truly not considered it," Aiden repeatedly waved his hand, "Political struggles, I’m sincerely not interested at all. I earnestly hope you can settle matters soon, and let the princess leave my prison at the earliest opportunity."
"It’s a bit of a pity," Heinz rose to his feet and picked up his hat, "Thanks again, Mr. Galt."
"Goodbye," Aiden waved his hand.
After Heinz left, Aiden returned to his desk and started tidying the documents on it.
To tell the truth, Aiden wasn’t optimistic about the future of Heinz and Sera; the future they sought conflicted to some extent with the two factions that held true power in Gistas. A king who had already ascended to the throne was not so easily overthrown, and it was also not easy for the opposition’s influential figures to be manipulated by them—it was possible, but very difficult.
Reality and fairy tales are different, even if they have confirmed their true hearts to each other, it is still an extremely perilous path.
However, Aiden wasn’t concerned about whether their ending was good or bad; it was their own choice, and he had only given them a push from behind. He wasn’t the author of their story, at most, he was just a secondary character within it. The real ending would have to be written by them.
"Speaking of which, I should also send a submission over." Aiden suddenly remembered this matter.
He opened a drawer and rummaged through it, took out a notebook and flipped open the pages, which contained many titles of fairy tales from his former life: "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," "The Princess and the Pea," "Iron Hans," "The North Wind and the Sun"...
A good number of the fairy tale titles had been crossed out. Aiden looked up and down and decided to cross out "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp" and then made a note in his reminder book.
This time he’d send that story, Aiden thought to himself.
"Childhood Dreams" was a quite decent charitable magazine. He wasn’t good at creating stories, but he recalled a significant amount of classics from "Grimm’s Fairy Tales," "Aesop’s Fables," and "One Thousand and One Nights" from his previous life.
Transcribing some fairy tales from memory wouldn’t take much effort, and he could manage this small contribution.
Once all these fairy tales were submitted, "The Watcher" as a pen name would likely no longer appear in the magazine.
At least for now, it looked like he would be able to continue submitting to this monthly magazine for a few more years.
After copying the work and finishing his shift, he’d just find any mailbox in the city to submit it, he thought as he pulled out a sheet of paper.
