Chapter 1485: Chapter 1479: Searching for the Holy City

"..."

The awakened man took quite some time to understand the change in his situation.

After Ronald explained everything to him.

The man neither cried about his misfortune nor thanked Ronald and Nicole for saving him.

He just sat there, smiling bitterly:

"Haha, so that’s how it is..."

"Hahaha!"

From the previous information, Ronald and the others knew he was a young man.

But now, his face was wrapped in a weak and aging air, as if an old man had specially put on youthful makeup.

This weakness originated from his mind and soul.

Even though Ronald had helped him regain physical health using his vitality, the help for his inner self was very limited.

"Ugh—cough cough cough!"

Amidst the laughter filled with bitterness, the man suddenly started coughing violently as he couldn’t catch his breath.

Nicole was the first to be unable to bear the sight.

The investigator girl stepped forward, grabbed the man from the ground, and spoke with an undeniable tone:

"Hey, unless I’m mistaken, you should be from Gred, right?"

The man, who was pulled up, barely showed any desire to resist and began nodding obediently to Nicole’s movement.

"I am, I am from Gred."

"Then it’s settled!" Nicole released him so he could stand properly and then pulled out an investigator’s badge from her shirt pocket and displayed it in front of him, "I am an investigator affiliated with the Gred Mysterious Event Investigation Bureau. According to the laws of our country, I’m responsible for safely escorting you back home, understand?"

"..."

Upon hearing Nicole’s statement, the man’s laughter and cries both stopped.

He examined the investigator’s badge in front of him carefully.

Although he spent the first half of his life as an ordinary person, during his time in the southern continent and interaction with the Nine Commandments, he had come to understand what the Investigation Bureau signified.

Could he really be going home?

Upon realizing this reality, he began to sink to his knees before Nicole.

Yet, in the moment his body leaned forward, the investigator girl caught him.

Skillfully using her shoulder to support the man’s body, Nicole immediately headed towards the direction of leaving the fortress.

At that moment, the investigator girl heard the man’s sobbing.

She sighed almost imperceptibly, then turned her head halfway toward Ronald and said:

"Ronald, I would also love to accompany you a bit further, but..." Nicole was a little sheepish, "As you can see, I can’t just leave someone like this unattended."

Ronald shrugged, showing understanding of Nicole’s viewpoint.

After all, both from a personal conviction and actual duty perspective, Nicole wasn’t the kind of person who would leave such a person uncared for.

Before parting, Ronald asked with concern:

"Nicole, are you sure you don’t need to rest before setting off? You used quite a bit of magic power just now."

Nicole waved her hand indifferently:

"Don’t worry about that; I have created a rune that can speed up recovery, and now there’s no problem."

As her words fell, the investigator girl and the rescued figure gradually faded away.

A few breaths passed, and other than the sound from the front, "Hey, be careful—if you fall again, I’m not helping you up!" the two figures disappeared from view.

"Then I wish you a safe journey..."

Ronald softly sent his blessings, then turned to Costate beside him:

"Costate, we should be on our way too."

The maid quickly understood, raising her gaze upwards.

A strong air current suddenly whisked through the dark fortress, tearing open the fragile ruins above the two of them and revealing a passage leading outside.

...

The Book of Interpretation and other trivial matters had been dealt with.

Ronald and Costate’s next objective was naturally to leave the capital and search inland for the core members of the Nine Commandments in the holy city.

Previously, in the capital of the Nine Commandments, the duo had collected substantial intelligence from their actions, not to mention the findings from the island ruins.

Though pinpointing the exact location was impossible.

They had a rough sense of direction and distance; Ronald and the others were somewhat aware.

Leaving the canyon fortress to fly inland, by midnight that day, the pair arrived before a plain.

The junction of the plain below and the mountains behind was covered by an extensive forest area, giant trees towering here, some reaching over a hundred meters high, requiring several people to encircle their bases.

In this land, there were no signs of any human activity.

Only a long river flowed from the west, threading through the plain and forest, and making its way toward the distant sea.

Considering the developmental level of the southern continent, they indeed lacked the economic capabilities to develop cities here.

Perhaps only adventurers with enough courage would follow the river deep into this vast land and eventually find the source below.

This scene entered their eyes, and Costate immediately spoke:

"Sir, it should be nearby."

"According to previous intelligence, the holy city is located near the plain."

Ronald nodded slightly, chanting spells to expand his reconnaissance scope.

The Magic Power of Astronomy Master recorded the terrain and landscape, while Divine Comedy mainly searched for humans, identifying the locations of the Nine Commandments casters.

"..."

Time passed by minute by minute.

Ronald pushed his spell range to its limits, yet couldn’t find any traces of the holy city here.

This land lay quietly beneath them.

Neither the depths nor the forest-covered areas yielded any signs of city remnants, or leftovers in the Star Chart!

In contrast, Divine Comedy had some findings.

High up, overlooking downward, this place was an untouched area with no human traces; in fact, a five-person team was advancing inland along the river’s direction.

This finding wasn’t exactly good news.

Because Ronald perceived no magic fluctuation from these people, only courage and curiosity for adventure.

They weren’t involved in the mystical realm; they were adventurers in the real sense!

"Sir, did you encounter a problem?"

Costate noticed the change in Ronald’s expression and inquired from the side:

"If there’s anything I can assist with, I’ll act immediately."

Ronald directly shared his findings:

"My two reconnaissance spells yielded no results; aside from one adventure team nearby, there’s nothing suspicious."

When replying to Costate’s query, Ronald didn’t abandon hope, instead relying on spells for further action.

He set the target of Greed’s Sin to the holy city.

The spell process immediately fed back the following information to Ronald’s mind.

——[Holy City]

——An ancient city inhabited by clergymen.

——Due to the distance, further details about the target are currently unattainable.