Chapter 56

'Sigh, why is she so naive…? Had she told this to a villain character, then it would have remained a dream to even get the artifact back.'

She was recklessly following him thinking he wouldn't notice, but he was smart and knew the person tailing him was a novice, and only then did he dare to attack.

In fact, she seemed quite clueless at the moment. It might be due to the fact that she had come from the mountains and was still learning about the world. In the novel, she had later become a more intelligent person than she was now.

Seeing that the masked person was silent, Lucia felt anxious that he was not going to give it back to her. She would never be able to face her father again if she lost this…

"Unfortunately, I—"

"PLEASE! Please reconsider it!"

She bowed even deeper, clasping her hands together and looking at him.

"…"

"Could you stop cutting me off? I will just leave if you keep doing that," he said annoyedly.

"Oh… yes, please say."

"What I was saying was that I cannot give this artifact to you now."

Lucia felt depressed when she heard this, but her ears perked up slightly when she heard the word 'now'.

Confusedly, she glanced at him.

"You heard that right, I cannot give this to you now, but I can give it to you in the future when I am done with using it."

"Oh…"

Oliver looked at her and nodded internally. It was better to be in contact with her in the future. He might be able to have a positive relationship with the main protagonist in the future.

"But what do you need this stone for? Do you know about it?" Lucia asked curiously.

Even she did not know what this stone was used for. She had only heard her father emphasize its importance in the message. Never had she heard from him about it or its uses.

So, now that someone seemed to know about the stone artifact, she naturally wanted to know.

"It's… nothing."

He was about to say something but paused. She should come to know about this herself. If he told her about this, then it would only unnecessarily complicate matters.

"How could it be nothing? You were just about to tell something…? What is it?"

The blue-haired girl asked with an expression of intensity. She felt that he clearly knew what the artifact was and its uses but decided not to inform her. It made her feel more interested to know what her family heirloom did exactly.

"You will know in due time; ask your father about it, he will explain it to you better."

Oliver calmly said, which made her eyes widen.

"You know my father!?"

She could not believe that the person who had purchased the stone even knew her father.

This made her feel Oliver was definitely not a simple person.

While their family has fallen now, her father still considered himself a proud exorcist and had a very limited circle. The people he was in contact with were also not simple, so she was inclined to believe that Oliver was also not ordinary.

This somehow made her trust him more. Earlier, she was feeling uneasy that he might leave with her artifact and never return it, but now she felt that he might return it to her in the future.

If he knew about the artifact that was her family's heirloom, then it must mean he was close to either her father and mother, or else it was almost impossible to know such a deep secret about her family.

"You can think of it that way. Anyways, you ask your father later," he told her.

He thought for a moment as he stared at her deep eyes before saying, "I'll return this stone to you in a few years. You don't need to worry about how and why. And erm… if I am not wrong, you'll be attending the academy at that time."

Lucia was simply unable to speak anything at the moment. This person in the mask seems to have made a deep and long plan already. He even told her that she would be attending the academy at the time he'll return the stone back.

She had planned to enroll in the academy indeed, but this news was something she had only discussed with a few people in her family. So for him to know that she'll be going to the academy made her feel weird. Not to mention, she was not even sure that she would be accepted into the institute of such talented exorcists.

"Uhm, Sir… if I may, what's your name? You seem to know my family deeply."

She bent her neck a little and asked hesitantly. She felt that it was proper to address this person as sir; he was clearly a superior exorcist with great power.

She could not sense even a hint of espera from him!

"You don't need to know. I'll be taking my leave if that's all. Remember to train hard; the times about to come will be difficult but you must persist."

Oliver refrained from sharing anything with her at the moment. He encouraged her slightly to train harder so she could grow stronger faster and make the world peaceful with the protagonist quickly for him to live.

"…Ah."

Lucia seemed to want to say something more, but the words could not come out of her mouth. She felt a heated feeling in her heart; an expert exorcist actually gave her encouragement personally?

This was the same feeling she felt whenever her father personally supervised her training.

She felt motivated and energized. If possible, in the future, she would definitely like to know who it was.

She was a bit disappointed that she was not able to get his name considering she was thinking about asking her father about him later.

She took a deep breath and went her own way to look for opportunities to grow stronger and reply to her father's message about the current situation with the mysterious man.

She returned back and contacted her father and told him about the details.

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"A person I know took the [Stone of Sight] and said he'll return it to her some years later? He also seems to know what it's used for? He even knew she will be enrolling in the academy in the future??"

"???"

Lucia's father received the message from her daughter about the situation and was stunned!

"She even said that he was a close friend of mine??"

What's going on?

Why did he not remember anyone with a mask and cap on his friend list?

Was this friendship supposed to be one-sided?

"FUCK! She did not get scammed, right?"

He could not help but curse in anger.

The [Stone of Sight] was now in the hands of a complete stranger, and they had no clue who it was!

The situation could not be any worse.

"It's over… my family is now over… father, grandfather... I could not keep the one thing that you entrusted me with so much importance… it's over… all over…"

Lucia's father weakly fell onto the floor, his eyes unfocused and sunken…

"Dear, please handle yourself!"

His wife quickly supported him; right now, she was fuming with anger as well.

That stupid daughter!
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