Chapter 119: Coin of Destiny (1)
The fuming Colin had just taken a step out of his store, eager to prove his courage when he hurriedly retreated back.
Of course, this wasn't because he was overcome by sudden fear.
Instead, he realized he had forgotten to bring along his demon exorcising gear. He wasn't about to charge foolishly to his death just like that.
Even if he were to die, he needed to first expose that demon's true self!
In just the span of two weeks, Colin had turned his neighbor from an 'honest man' into an 'evil spirit' before upgrading him to a 'demon.’
Colin's plump body jiggled as he rummaged through the cabinets.
"Where is it?
"Where's my holy water?
"I remember that there was still a little left..."
After Father Vincent had left, Colin was both angry and afraid. In his bid to vent, he had smashed almost everything but his beloved television, sparing nothing and turning this place into a 'trash heap.'
The holy water was buried somewhere within. Fortunately, Colin had been rather prudent and had used a sturdy glass bottle to store it. Otherwise, he would have to concoct another batch... or leak it off the floor to turn his body into a sacred exorcism tool.
"Ah!I found it!"
Colin raised the bottle in his hand. There was still a fifth of holy water remaining in the transparent glass bottle.
This boss of the audio-visual store had a staid personality. He would sprinkle holy water conscientiously in all corners of the store three times a day, and his holy water consumption was rather large.
With some hesitation, Colin muttered, "Will it be effective enough with just this much left... It should at least cause some bodily harm to this demon, right?"
Making his normally lazy mind think hard proved to be somewhat difficult.
At this moment, he suddenly realized a gleaming object near his feet.
Colin bent down and picked it up.
It was a thin coin, about the size of two fingernails.
He vaguely recalled having heard something that sounded like the chime of metal falling when he had once kicked his sofa in a fit of rage just now.
Perhaps, this coin had gotten stuck between the sofa and wall some time ago and had gotten loose and fallen into this trash heap from Colin's kick.
And now, it had rolled out from amongst all this junk while Colin was rummaging through frantically.
No matter how troubled he was, as a businessman, Colin could recognize that this coin wasn't one issued by the Central Bank of Norzin.
Normal Norzin coins were about a millimeter thick and had a tiny version of the city engraved on its face and denominations ranging from cents to dollars on the back.
On the other hand, the coin Colin now held was even thinner and extremely light. Its face depicted three simple, concentric circles, with an upright spindle through its spindle, seemingly a tad ancient and mysterious.
"This coin seems somewhat familiar, like I've seen it somewhere before. How strange..." muttered Colin to himself as he studied the coin.
Soon, he remembered where he had seen it before.
This coin was an heirloom of his family...
When he was a boy, his father and former owner of the store, Colin Sr., was still alive. He would frequently show Colin the coin and tell him stories about it.
Colin's memories from then were a blur now, except that he remembered it was some magical lucky coin from which his family made their fortune from.
But the young and playful Colin had misplaced the coin and was given a beating by Colin Sr.
However, at that time, their family business had already dwindled to just an audio-video store, and the coin was just a little symbolic proof of Colin's family past heyday.
As for its magical good fortune...
If it really were effective, would Colin still be spending his days in this dump of an audio-visual store?!
"And having a demon for a neighbor!" He screamed in exasperation as his flashback came to an end.
With the coin in one hand and holy water in the other, Colin's little fears were replaced with inner anger.
While the myths of this coin weren't verified, Colin reckoned that they were mostly bogus.
However, it was still better than nothing! May the ancestors of the family bless this descendant!
"In any case, regardless of whether I go over today or not, that demon isn't going to let me off.
"So why not end it once and for all!
"I've had enough of living in fear every single day!
"I'm not going to continue waiting for the day the demon next door feels like having flesh and attacks me!
"It can't get any worse!"
Colin swore continuously, piling more rage to his anger.
Plucking up his courage, he once again walked out of his own store and ran straight next door. With holy water and lucky coin aloft, he kicked the bookstore's door open.
In Colin's imagination at this moment, he was like the mightiest warrior in the world.
Puffing out his chest, with his lines all figured out and shouting, "Demon, don't you dare look down on mankind!!!"
However, the scene greeting him from behind the door wasn't what he had envisaged.
There were quite a few customers in the bookstore right now, all of them seemed to be together. Approximately five to six people were standing in front of the counter, seemingly conversing with the owner.
As Colin had kicked the door ajar with a loud thud, the bookstore owner and this bunch of customers all turned over to look at once.
"Gakk?!" The heroic Colin froze up as he recognized the identities of this group who were wearing dark green coats with a giant tree symbol.
Norzin's largest organization for commodity and goods trading — The Ash Chamber of Commerce.
———
A while back.
Edmund pushed his gold-rimmed glasses higher up his nose as he surveyed the dilapidated bookstore without a signboard.
He then turned around and instructed, "This is Mr. Lin's abode. Proceed with utmost care, and do not look at or touch anything without permission. Our task is to meet all of Mr. Lin's requests as best as we can and help with the identification documentation. That is also the wish of our mistress."
The five others that followed behind him were Cherry's subordinates from the Ash Chamber of Commerce. They answered uniformly, "Yes, Sir."
That's right, the leader of this team was the butler of Cherry's household and a trusted confidant just like the head maid, Bella.
He looked about fifty, with graying temples and a mustache above his lips. He wore a smart suit, topped off with white gloves, and looked very reliable.
Edmund was the first to enter the store.
The store had just opened for the day a short while ago. The bookstore owner sat behind the counter reading, while a young girl beside him fiddled with a brass box.
Hearing the noise, Lin Jie put his book down and noticed the design of their clothes.
"Ash Chamber of Commerce? I've been waiting for quite some time."
Edmund put an arm to his chest and bowed. "Greetings, I am Miss Cherry's butler, Edmund Charman, and I am at your service."