Ambrose eyed curiously the rowdy atmosphere in the tavern and saw all sorts of people—so were so tall that their heads almost touched the ceiling, so were so short that they had to stand on chairs to be seen.
In general, there were rough people who hadn't been blessed with a good life and others that looked like gangsters but were still well off, as if their criminal enterprise was booming.
Ambrose thought he blended well among the rough folk; that's why he didn't bother to wipe off the dirt from his face, as it gave him good camouflage and made him blend well with the crowd.
After a mont of scanning the room, he got seated on the bar counter and saw Eli filling the cabinets with bottles of liquor.
"The sa whiskey, please." Ambrose said and placed several gold coins on the counter.
Eli poured him a drink, handed it over to him, and stored the gold coins in his hidden pocket.
After getting his paynt, Eli moved to the furthest corner of the counter, as if he were intentionally going away from Ambrose.
Ambrose's eyebrow jumped in curiosity, but at that mont, he noticed that there was soone sitting next to him.
It was strange because he could swear that there was no one sitting there just a mont ago.
"My na is Casper Blackwell." The figure turned to Ambrose and extended a hand in greeting. "Nice to et you, Falco Arundell."
Ambrose's eyes widened in shock, and his heart started beating faster.
He then shot a glance towards Eli, who didn't look in their direction but was obviously listening with great interest.
'Of course…' Ambrose scoffed inwardly.
"Don't feel betrayed."
Casper said as he saw that Ambrose, in fact, noticed his connection with the bartender.
"Eli works closely with my organization. He is a man who knows plenty, as he is the owner of this tavern, where all sorts of people wander and where news travels faster than lightning.
"We made a deal with him. As long as he gives us so important news, we'll give sothing to him in return.
"Today, he inford us about a man, presud dead, walking into his tavern.
"It intrigued us, so I ca here."
"And what is your organization?" Ambrose asked with a suspicious glance.
"We are called the Black Hand." Casper said coldly. "We are the shapers of the world. Whenever we do sothing, the world will never be the sa. We do everything from assassinations to framing and even overthrowing the empires."
'What kind of evil plot have I stumbled into?' Ambrose's eyebrow twitched. 'They definitely don't sound very nice! Wait, assassinations?
'Maybe they were the people who originally killed Falco Arundell? I am not sure, but since Zane is a nobleman, I doubt he killed Falco personally. Maybe they have so answers for .'
"Why did you want to et then?" Ambrose asked.
"As you can tell, you should be dead." Casper looked at him deeply. "You're what we call a Deathwalker."
"Deathwalker?" Ambrose repeated the word, having no idea what that ant.
"Deathwalker is a rare genetic mutation that allows the person to co back to life after dying," Casper explained. "It is a very rare thing, but once that occurs, the person cos back to life, but only for thirty days."
"You think that happened to ?" Ambrose asked.
He wasn't sure whether he was actually a Deathwalker or if he simply reincarnated into this body. However, he had a feeling that he should let others believe that he was indeed a Deathwalker.
It seed to be important as soone from such a powerful, evil-sounding organization ca to seek him personally.
"That's the only explanation." Casper said calmly. "I want you to co with to Black Hand's headquarters."
"Why would I?" Ambrose asked curiously.
"We can fix it." Casper said. "You're basically alive now, but the Deathwalker mutation is killing you slowly. We can make it so that it won't kill you, and you can still live afterwards."
'What an amazing deal.' Ambrose scoffed inwardly. 'That sounds like a scam to be used on so weak-willed people. There is no way that they would do sothing like this out of the goodness of their hearts.
'They're after sothing, and that has sothing to do with being a Deathwalker.
'Also, this Black Hand organization is definitely evil! However, I might be able to get so answers out of them.'
After seeing that he wasn't speaking, Casper opened his mouth.
"We can also find who killed you and help you get revenge."
Ambrose glanced at him and looked like he was in a deep thought, but then nodded and said.
"Very well, take with you."
"Good." Casper nodded without a smile and stood up while fixing the hood to cover his face more. "We shouldn't stay idling around. Let's go imdiately."
Ambrose stood up after him and followed out of the tavern with him. They imdiately entered a shady alleyway tucked away behind the tavern.
As he continued to follow the hooded Casper a few steps behind him, he thought:
'I'll have to be careful. This world's Falco was probably considered to be a slightly naive and weak person, and that probably makes these people underestimate .
'That's why this Casper created quite a pathetic lie. I doubt they will actually cure ; maybe there isn't any way to cure at all. Anyway, I'll have to play along; if I get cured, great, but I'll have to keep my eyes open!'
For the rest of the night, Casper and Ambrose moved in the shadowy alleyways of the Great City, always moving without stopping for a single mont.
They didn't leave the alleyways, even for a mont.
The alleyways were like an enormous maze that they had to navigate carefully to not get lost, but Casper seed to know where he was heading.
When the first lights of the morning appeared beyond the horizon, Casper and Ambrose finally reached the dead end of the alleyway, which was narrow and completely blocked off by a large tal gate.
Beyond the tal gate, there was so kind of courtyard with a fountain in the middle and a few benches scattered around.
At that mont, a figure appeared behind the tal gate, as if he had appeared from the shadows.
Ambrose was taken aback for a mont, as it seed like the figure appeared from thin air.
'It looks like this world has so kinds of abilities, but I wonder how I can use those…'
Casper said sothing to the figure, and then the tal gate opened, and they were allowed inside.
After stepping inside the courtyard, the fountain started rotating like a cork being opened and revealed a spiraling staircase leading deep into the underground chamber.
"Follow ." Casper said to Ambrose and stepped down the stairs.
Ambrose looked around the courtyard, trying to find any building peaks or any landmarks to see where this place was currently.
And then, finally, he saw so kind of bell tower in the distance. It was clearly a tall building.
At that mont, the shadowy figure appeared behind Ambrose and shoved him gently to the staircase.
Ambrose quickly turned back to the staircase and followed Casper to the strange underground chamber.
As they neared the bottom, the place turned dark as the fountain rotated back to its forr position, locking them inside the underground place.
When they finally reached the bottom, there was another sizable tal door there, and two n in black armor with swords dangling from their hips were standing watch.
Casper spoke sothing to them, and at that mont, the tal door opened, and they imdiately entered.
After Ambrose followed behind Casper, his mouth slowly opened wide as an incredible view opened up in front of him.
There was an entire town spread out below, bustling with activity and life. Gentle, yellowish lights shimred in the distance, casting a warm glow over the entire scene.
It looked like a very cozy and welcoming place with wooden-
built buildings and cobblestone streets, with street lamps illuminating the place like a bright beacon in the night.
In a sense, it resembled Warhaven, but while Warhaven was a ssy, dirty place, this was a picturesque and idyllic town straight out of a storybook.
"This is Black Hand's headquarters." Casper said with a slight pride in his voice. "This is where we live, away from the evil of the world."
"This place is…" Ambrose had no words, as he had never seen sothing as beautiful as this.
'I would like Bella to see this place. It's amazing…'
Casper nodded and said, "I'll take you to the leader of the Black Hand. He'll have so questions for you."
"How many are living here?" Ambrose asked curiously.
"A few thousand," Casper said.
"Are they all mbers of the Black Hand?"
"Yes." Casper nodded. "So have started families, and even their children have beco part of the Black Hand. We beco stronger with each generation."
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