Only the scuffle that broke out was quickly extinguished by the rest of the crowd. It was lucky that the sides didn't start using magic and special artifacts.
«Can you keep your temper in check? - Sona hissed at him.
«That's it," Emeric raised his hands in surrender and just leaned back on the couch while Sona took the lead in the negotiations. It wasn't clear why she hadn't done it sooner, but apparently her friend just had that kind of charisma.
Izaiah whispered something to Zenovia, who had calmed down a bit. Actually, such explosions were not really her style, but apparently Emeric had struck at the heart of the matter, i.e. faith. At least next time she'd think of something better than accusing a demon of excessive "sin".
Now, listening to their little meeting, Emeric was beginning to understand the rough dynamics of the relationship between the three young exorcists. Izaya was a commander who had a lot of trust in his subordinates, despite belonging to a sort of different internal structure. If you listened to your premonition, it was not the first time they had worked together, but it was Zenovia and Irina who were the closest friends. No wonder, since both were wielders of Excalibur, who had most likely been trained together and by roughly the same teachers. In short, like sisters.
And there's obviously something wrong with Zenovia. Besides Excalibur alone, it's got the feel of another powerful sacred artifact. Something like Ascalon, or more likely Durandal.
Such "scans" are impossible to conduct in such a short period of time, but keep in mind that Emeric has much more "esoteric" ways of detecting anything obscure or wrong. It's incredibly difficult to hide anything from young Gremory's senses, at most a logic-defying intuition will work. It's like a Mary Sue of sorts!
All in all, the company was looking good. The original plan was to just leave them for Cockabiel to eat, but not completely. As if to help out when things got bad, like an alliance. It would serve the original purpose, that is, a rapprochement between the factions. And sensing all of their exemplary training, Emeric had to admit that they might be able to retrieve the lost swords solo. They wouldn't have gotten Cockabiel anywhere near that, but he wasn't likely to be in the same place 24 hours a day. So with a little luck they could have done it without their help. Although...
No, they're definitely not gonna pull it out. The other side has too much support. So the plan remains the same, watch them get their asses kicked, and then lend a hand and give Excalibur to the Church. And when Cockabiel comes to see this mess, Azazel will come out all white and punish all the infidels.
A great plan, reliable as a Swiss watch.....
«Mr. de Guisor," Sona began to speak when the passions had finally subsided, though Emeric still caught occasional "hot" glances from the blue-haired woman. He tried not to be too snide in response, in case he fell in love again. - We understand why you've come to our town," Sona glanced at him quickly. She, too, had been told that they were bait, and she didn't seem to mind. - You need to find the four Excalibur, don't you?
Izaya paused a little and set himself up for seriousness.
«That's right," he nodded. - According to our information, the Grigori representatives responsible for this are in this very city...
Emeric couldn't contain his curiosity. Were they the only ones sent after all?
«How are you going to deal with a big ten-winged fallen angel? - He inserted his question while Sona pinched his leg.
Zenovia, who by all appearances now didn't like him very much, had already joined in.
«We have our ways, demon," a look of determination met his eyes.
«Two Sacred Mechanisms, two Excalibur, and a Durandal," he pretended to think about it while Zenovia's eyes widened in surprise. He had hit the mark again after all. - No, something I can't imagine you coming out victorious... - Negatively, he shook his head.
«We... - The trio of exorcists looked at each other. - It doesn't matter," Izaiah shook his head. - The Church has given us a task, and we will fulfill it to the fullest.
«Good," Emeric nodded, met only with determination, the likes of which they had earned his respect. - Can you tell me exactly what they want to do with these Excalibur? According to my information, the carriers are rare, and mostly all of them are kept on the Church's pencil....
Indeed, Excalibur, even weakened, is not just an artifact that anyone can use. It has incredibly strict selection criteria for its bearer. If Emeric was not mistaken, there must be a lot of natural "holiness" in a person. In general, we need natural fighters against evil, and outstanding ones at that.
Izaya thought for a while, this kind of information shouldn't be available to enemy forces, but they would need support, or at least non-interference. The demons wouldn't be able to use this information anyway, and the Vatican had given some obscure hints about making contact with Gremory and Sitri.
«Have you heard of Valper Galileo? - Izaiah decided to reveal himself after all.
Sona shook her head negatively as Emeric remembered something.
«He was working on something in the Church," Emeric scratched his chin. - But later he seemed to have been expelled, and he joined Gregory....
«That's right," the blond nodded in confirmation. - He was in charge of the Holy Sword Project. It's a program that was created to discover the factor that allows the natural bearers of Excalibur to become themselves.
I see, another one of those not-so-pleasant experiments. Now I see why they need Excalibur. If the experiments were successful, they will be able to create "their" carriers and fully use these artifacts.
«Why was he expelled? - Emerick asked. After all, the research data must have been very valuable.
«We don't have all the information," Izaya shook his head negatively. - Most likely his research was against moral standards. There is a high probability that Valper Gagilei ruined many lives.
He seemed to say it all in a calm tone, but Emeric was willing to bet that Izaya knew exactly what had happened there. There was some inner tension that he was trying his best to hide, but there was no hiding it from Emeric. And the most curious thing is that his two girlfriends don't have this information, so it turns out he hid it from them as well. An interesting character, this Izaya de Guisor.....
«We won't get involved in the Church and Grigori's squabbles," Emeric took the initiative again. He seemed to give it to Sonya, but she was confused. - But you can investigate this case in peace, we won't interfere....
All the exorcists even got a little excited, but held back their reactions. The negotiations had gone better than they had originally thought.
«I'm even willing to give you data from our many scanning charms," Sona wanted to stop him, but changed her mind, apparently realizing that he wouldn't just do that. - But for that, I'll ask for information...
By scanning charms, he meant access to their intelligence network that stretched over the entire city. And in the meantime, that network had turned up a lot of suspicious places that had only recently begun to appear. They were perfectly concealed, but those very charms had been improved by Emeric personally, so they couldn't hide their operations completely. It was really hard to just sit still and not go kill them right here and now, but for the sake of his sister's plan, he held back.
«What kind of information? - Izaya asked a little tensely. I guess he thought he was trying to get some exclusive secrets.
«No, it's nothing terrible," Emeric started to wave his hands in a negative manner, and then looked directly at the redheaded exorcist. - Irina, you were Ichika's childhood friend, weren't you?
Irina was slightly confused by the sudden attention, but nodded her head, glancing over to Ichika, who was surprisingly very quiet.
«That's right...
«You lived here with your parents?
«Yes," she continued to answer cautiously.
And Emeric tried with all his might not to betray his tension.
You can't just become the owner of Excalibur! Even if you have the right "holiness" factor in your body. In order to be "given" this priceless artifact, you must have complete trust! That is, deep roots and ancestry, which is why most trusted exorcists were raised from the time they were in diapers. In the case of Izaiah, or Zenovia, they were orphans!
And Irina had parents! That means they were probably exorcists too! Add in the fact that she lived here about ten years ago and she herself may possess the artifact. Now we have to remember what Greyfia told him....
...About ten years ago, a pair of Excalibur wielders lived in this city for a while. Apparently, Cockabiel sent the Fallen to retrieve something from their old base...
These are the very possessors that Greyfia was talking about! I mean some parent of Irina's! She lived in this time period and most likely knows what was going on here!
Emeric sighed slightly to relax his nerves a little. The next question would be one of the most important. Claria and Masaomi, the people who hadn't left his thoughts for a very long time. A mystery whose answer he would most likely get right now! An abandoned church basement, an obscure love story, and a Japanese swordsman. He could feel it all starting to come together in his liver!
«You," he licked his parched lips, probably from exertion. - Do you know someone named Masaomi?
Irina quickly jumped up, staring at him with eyes full of shock.
«How do you know that name?!
Bingo, motherfucker! She knows exactly who it is! It was an acquaintance of hers, and judging by the reaction, a close friend! Most likely an exorcist who worked with her parents!
Emeric froze for a second, to quiet the internal orchestra. The most important task now was to extract from Irina who Claria was!
«I just heard him a couple times," Emeric held up his hands conciliatorily. - You see," he thought for a moment, wondering how to keep his interest from being too great. - I'm just wondering who ran the city before me, and what happened to her....
Irina, still reeling from the shock, slumped back in her seat. It was clear that the topic was not too far away for her.
Now you need to gather what he knows and try to hit the bullseye again. If she realizes that he doesn't know much, she may shut down and refuse.
«There were," Emeric leaned back and stared directly into her eyes to add weight to his words. - Romeo and Juliet, weren't they?
Romeo and Juliet, a story as old as the world itself. A pair of lovers who were separated by their opposing families. Those could not bear to be separated because of family feuds and in a series of events died because they could not live without each other. A classic of all world dramaturgy. Shakespeare's masterpiece. With a question like that, he was summarizing that story with Claria and Masaomi. Judging by Irina's reaction, Masaomi was close to her, and Claria was a demon. A typical example of love that everyone around them wanted to stop.
Irina lowered her gaze sadly.
«Yes," she nodded gently. - Yaogaki Masaomi was my father's disciple..... - It was obvious that it was hard for her to tell. - He fell in love with the caretaker of this town, so we were forced to...'' - She stopped her speech and started shaking her head vigorously. - It was my father's duty as chief exorcist, but I know that he gave a 'slack' in his 'retribution'. It was the demon side that didn't let something like this go down.... - Tears began to roll down her cheeks. - Uncle Masaomi... He betrayed the Church for the sake of his love for a demoness... Uwaaaah...
Further speech was cut short by Irina's tearful crying. Zenovia began to comfort her friend, not forgetting to send flaming glances in his direction. The surrounding girls had wet eyes, apparently such stories still tugged at their delicate souls. Even Ichika joined in soothing her childhood friend. There's a reason Romeo and Juliet is still relevant even hundreds of years later.
But Emeric didn't care. He was too close to this clue. He waited until Irina had more or less recovered and continued his questioning.
«I'm sorry...
«No," Irina shook her head. - I'm sorry, it's just old wounds.....
Emeric nodded and asked the burning question as casually as possible.
«And the caretaker of the city," Emeric squared his shoulders, showing that it was a question out of pure curiosity. - Do you remember her name?
«It was a long time ago," Irina thought deeply. - Something on her tongue...
«Claria, I think," he held his breath. - And the last name...
«Yes, that's right! - She finally came to life. - And the last name... Belial, I think! That's right! Her name was Claria Belial!
An emotional pit began to form in Emerick's stomach. Emeric just froze in place, trying to comprehend what Irina had said. He wasn't ready for this revelation.
It was all starting to come together....
«Claria, all I care about is your safety... - the male silhouette took the other's face in his hands. - You're all I have left.
«But...
«Claria!
«All right, all right! - The silhouette waved its arms. - I promise! Brother, you're a real sissy.....
A memory from a distant childhood. First meeting with the Emperor...
«I have a younger sister, she'll be older than you.....
A locket given to a favorite sister, Claria, and the donor's initials "D. B.".
Dichauser Belial.
Ten years ago, Claria Belial was the caretaker of this city.
Ten years ago, the Emperor's only sister was murdered because of her love for an exorcist ...
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