Chapter 258: Choices

Balthazar contemplated for a long time. Eventually, he took out the parchment with the curse inscribed on it. He couldn't master the magic well himself, but perhaps Charles could.

Once he made up his mind, Balthazar didn't continue wandering in the city. Instead, he drove back towards the agency.

As soon as he parked the car at the agency's entrance, an owl flew to the front of the car and dropped a letter it was carrying on the windshield before departing.

Seeing the owl delivering the letter, Balthazar thought it might be a response to the letter he sent to the Ministry of Magic. He got out of the car and retrieved the letter.

To his surprise, the envelope was empty. Frowning, Balthazar thought it was odd since even letters delivered by owls typically had the sender's name and address.

Without rushing into the agency, Balthazar leaned against the car door and opened the letter.

Upon reading its contents, his brow instantly furrowed, and he cursed, "Damn it, I knew it would be like this."

He then speculated, "Could it be that scene from ten years ago was also witnessed by Maxim?"

"Possible, after all, it was David who released him."

Without lingering, Balthazar walked into Charles's agency. He approached the front desk, where Iruka was, and asked, "Where's Charles?"

Seeing that it was Balthazar asking, Iruka pondered for a moment and replied, "Left about an hour ago."

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"I'm not sure!"

Without saying anything more, Balthazar turned and walked towards the training room. Entering the training room, he approached the round table, waved his hand over the Matryoshka placed on it, and it materialized.

Holding the Matryoshka in his hand, Balthazar fell into deep thought.

Not handing over the Matryoshka meant David, his disciple, and the bloodline successor of his teacher, Merlin, would meet a tragic end.

However, handing over the Matryoshka meant Maxim would release Morgana, and then the world would be destroyed.

Staring at the Matryoshka in his hand, Balthazar contemplated for a long time. In the end, he decided to rescue David first, then figure out a way to snatch back the Matryoshka before Maxim released Morgana.

With his decision made, Balthazar didn't hesitate any longer. He picked up the Matryoshka and walked out.

…

On the other side-

Charles arrived at a foundry.

"Ginny, how's the short knife coming along?"

Ginny took out a long box from behind her and opened it, revealing a short knife.

Charles stepped forward, picked up the knife, drew it from the scabbard, and inspected the already sharpened blade. Charles held it and swung it a few times before testing chakra conduction.

As expected, it was disappointing. While chakra could possibly attach to weapons, without chakra ore, the weapon lacked conductivity, and the chakra consumption was alarmingly high.

Seemingly sensing Charles's disappointment, Ginny asked, "Is it not good? I had the factory find the best alloy to craft the weapon. If it's not satisfactory, I'll have them forge it again."

Charles shook his head and then said, "No. The weapon is excellent in terms of sharpness and hardness. It can cut through iron like mud, very smooth. It's just that the chakra conductivity is somewhat disappointing."

It seems I'll have to find a way to acquire some Vibranium from black market traders. At least then, I'll know if Vibranium possesses chakra conductivity or if there's any Uru metal in the universe.

If none of these options work, Charles can only wait for the unsealing of the artifacts in the system. Inside, apart from the Six Paths Artifacts, there are seven giant swords from the Hidden Mist Village and some other weapons.

Charles directly stored the short knife in his storage space. Then he said, "Take me to see that 12-meter short knife."

"Don't you want to give your weapon a name?"

Charles shook his head, declining Ginny's suggestion. A short knife destined for elimination and not meeting his expectations wasn't worth naming.

"Alright, it seems you're not very satisfied."

"The other short knife is in the warehouse; let's go."

Then, Ginny led Charles and John towards the nearby warehouse.

Opening the warehouse door, it was empty inside. A 12-meter giant short knife was placed in the warehouse. While this knife might be just a short knife for Gamakichi, but to onlookers, it was a colossal weapon.

With a twelve-meter blade and a fourteen-meter handle, it stood as tall as a five-story building when upright.

"Boss, who could wield such a massive weapon?" Ginny asked in confusion.

"Gamakichi, this is his weapon. Next time, I can take you to meet him."

"Gamakichi?"

"Yes, he's a summoned beast, just like Aoda and Parker. This is the weapon prepared for him."

While talking, Charles walked up to the gigantic blade, touched the scabbard, and then allowed chakra to spread, enveloping the entire giant blade.

"Collect!"

Instantly, the giant blade disappeared in the warehouse. 

Charles clapped his hands and then said, "Done."

Looking at the time on his watch, it was already six in the evening. Then, he invited, "Let's go, my golden secretary, let's have dinner at the agency."

Ginny didn't refuse and directly got into Charles's car, sitting in the back with him. Ginny's driver followed in another car.

······

According to the address, Balthazar arrived at Drake's residence.

Opening the door, Balthazar walked in and looked at the murals on the wall, as well as various trophies displayed. Then he proceeded towards the room.

Entering the room, Balthazar reached a study. There were several maps on the table, with writings and drawings on them. Beside the table, there was an Matryoshka placed, pressed to one side of the map.

Balthazar went in for a closer look. The map had the words "Cannon Park" and "Revival" written on it. His gaze then shifted to the Matryoshka pressed on the map. It contained the sealed David, his apprentice.

Moving forward, Balthazar decided to take away the map and the Matryoshka on the table. However, as soon as he took a step, the carpet under his feet instantly turned into quicksand.

Struggling, Balthazar managed to take a couple of steps forward, but his body sank deeper and deeper.

Looking at the quicksand under his feet, Balthazar lamented, "It's the Persian Quicksand Carpet."

Glancing around, he spotted a nearby curtain, and with a wave of his hand, the curtain flew over.

Grabbing the curtain, hoping to use it to escape the quicksand, Balthazar pulled it forcefully. However, the curtain's connection to the upper rail snapped, and the entire curtain fell down.

Annoyed, Balthazar threw away the curtain and looked around to see if there were any other items he could use to escape.

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