The Erratum-Chapter 40: Zeal Weapon.

Gazing upon the three members of the Helios Church walking around in the bustling streets of Lakalan and gathering attention from many, Reid immediately averted Elishia and Cetas’ gaze towards them.

"Lessen your gazes, we don’t want any officials to take suspicions against us."

"But with the amount of people staring, we probably wouldn’t ge-"

Reid covered Elishia’s mouth and dragged her to keep walking.

"Just shut it. I’m older, you should listen to me."

Seeing as she could do nothing about it, Elishia gave up and let Reid drag her and Cetas.

Reid let them go almost instantly, but he had to make sure that Elishia would avoid the gazes of the Church.

With him in front, he led the way to search for a gunsmith in order to get Cetas accustomed to different types of long-ranged weapons.

Seeing as he Elishia teased Cetas about how he couldn’t wield any short-ranged weapons properly, Reid determined that it was better for him to use a gun instead.

Cetas was already accustomed to one, after all. Even more so, he could learn at a very rapid pace!

Walking behind Reid, only a couple of steps away, he shifted his head towards Elishia, "Do you think they came from Seyil?"

"Hmm," Elishia placed her fingertips on her soft cheek, "There is a high chance. Skadi did mention that the members of Helios Church were arriving at Seyil soon. Seeing as they have bloodstains on their coats, I believe that they were the ones that are sent to investigate Seyil."

"Still, though.. They might’ve just come here after finishing an investigation or two. We can’t know for certain."

Cetas nodded, "Perhaps."

Overhearing this, Reid gave his thoughts on the matter, "If they were truly the ones that were sent to investigate Seyil, then it’d be more of a reason for us to stay hidden."

"Remember, the constitution of Zeal is vast, we don’t know if any of them possess any unique Zeal pertaining to tracking any evidence. Moreover, since I was involved with a bout in Seyil, it makes me more susceptible to being tracked."

Elishia shrugged her shoulders, "Your words actually make sense for once.."

Reid couldn’t help but click his tongue.

Crossing from road to road, the three traversed the large town of Lakalan. They encountered many stalls, shops, and even clothing boutiques that Elishia seemed so enticed to enter.

However, Reid prevented all of her attempts to go shopping for new clothing and dragged her arm towards the gunsmith.

The distance towards the gunsmith was not that far, actually, it was right beside the blacksmith that they had just entered.

But since Reid was in a hurry to not get noticed, he failed to heed the fact that the two weapon shops were close to each other.

In the end, Elishia looked at him with scorn, her eyes tilting as she let out a shrill voice, "..and you’re supposed to be the scout of the crew."

Gritting his teeth, Reid said with an annoyed tone, "I don’t want to hear it!"

Before they entered, Cetas gazed at them with a blank face.

Do humans usually act like this?

He shrugged his head and let the two banter for a while. Taking the lead to open the door, Cetas was met with an assortment of displayed guns - muskets, pistols, blunderbusses, and much more!

Reid and Elishia soon entered the shop and followed along behind Cetas. Walking around the aisles, Cetas followed the intricate patterns that the weapons had.

Nothing out of the ordinary piqued his interest though, as all of them looked quite the same as the weapons that the Aegir Pirates had.

Still, the three of them looked at the distinct types of firearms in the place. Every minute or so, the shopkeeper would provide unique information about the specific piece of equipment that was displayed.

After a few moments, Cetas finished analyzing the entire display of guns. Naturally, there was nothing that seemed to suit him so, he came towards the shopkeeper and asked:

"Do you have any Zeal Weapons here?"

Immediately, Reid and Elishia’s eyes turned wide. They swiftly ran towards Cetas and stopped him before he could say any further.

"Ahem. Excuse our companion here, he is.. not from Helios." Reid affirmed.

To which the shopkeeper replied with, "Ah.. I see. My apologies, but we do not have these so-called ’Zeal Weapons’ here.."

In a high pitched voice, Elishia imitated Jones’ tone, "Ah! That is the utmost understandability, now, pardon us for we will be on our way.."

Staring at her in disbelief, Reid’s thoughts were scrambled.

’What is she saying? That doesn’t even contain the same grammar and phonetics as Jones..’

Curious about their actions, Cetas turned around and asked, "Why can’t I-"

Again, Reid closed his mouth and smiled to appease the shopkeeper.

"Pardon us, sir. We are truly sorry for this.. confusion that we may have caused you. We shall be on our very ways.."

Dragging Cetas along with Reid’s hand on his mouth, the three made their way out the door. However, before they could make it halfway out of the store, they heard the shopkeeper sigh loudly.

"Sigh.. If you three really want to purchase ’those’ weapons, then head three streets across the road. Once you see a tailor’s shop on the right, enter it and describe the item that is displayed on their windows."

With a sense of confusion, Reid and Elishia turned around in embarrassment.

"Ah.. We understand, thank you esteemed shopkeeper.."

They immediately hurried out of the gunsmith and let out a deep breath of relief.

After a second, both Elishia and Reid glared at Cetas, their faces inches away from his.

Pulling back, the two of them gazed at one another and gestured as to which one were to tell him. Ultimately, Reid sighed and spoke to Cetas:

"Cetas, you can’t declare subjects pertaining to Zeal around human-populated areas. You might garner unwanted attention."

"First and foremost, I’m not sure if the Historian had told you this already, I’m guessing that he did, but, Zealots.. or Zeal as a whole isn’t really meant to be known in public."

"Why?" Cetas tilted his head, naturally curious about the reason for this. If he thought hard enough, his mind would familiarize itself with the concept of society.

However, right now he decided not to so that he could gain experience about the matter.

"Why?" Reid moved closer to Cetas, lowering his tone and voice, "It’s because humanity despises Zealots."

*

Heading three streets across the gunsmith was no big hurdle. Actually, due to the fine planning of whoever the engineers and architects that directed the roads of Lakalan are, the entire journey seemed as smooth as stone.

There were many people along the way, of course, but the scenery itself looked to be quite soothing especially for people that wanted to go for a walk.

There were trees planted alongside the sidewalk every 7 meters or so. The pavement below was developed with smooth stone. Fences made out of thin iron were placed near the road to prevent any accidents,

Taking their leisure time, Cetas, Reid, and Elishia, walked while casually interacting with one another.

Well, only the latter two were engaged in conversation. Cetas stayed quiet for most of the journey.

Having walked 2 streets now, Cetas broke his silence and asked the two, "If humanity hates Zealots, then what are their opinions on the Church?"

The corners of Elishia’s lips rose, "Well, not to slander the Church or anything.. but the people of Helios perceive them as the fated heroes of the kingdom."

Cetas tilted his head, "Isn’t that quite... how do you say this.."

Racking his brain to translate a word from Depth-dweller language to Heliosian, Certas gradually found a familiarized word in the back of his head thanks to the Historian’s blessing.

"Hypocritical?"

Elishia burst into laughter, holding her stomach firmly so as to not fall on the pavement, "Exactly! I guess that’s how you describe them!"

While deep in their conversation, the three of them had already arrived at the tailor. Displayed on the window was a formal tightly-knight, high-waisted black dress with a frilled skirt and layered top.

Noticing this, Reid studied the style that the dress layered upon. Utilizing his eyes, it didn’t prove to be quite a struggle to memorize the intricate details of the dress.

The three of them entered the tailor’s shop casually, seeing as there were also other people inside. Most of them belonged to quite a distinguished background, looking as if they were wealthy and successful.

Brimmed hats, silk dresses, high-quality garments, fur coats, and much more were worn by the people.

Correspondingly, the clothing displayed on the racks looked to be quite similar but there seemed to be quite a uniqueness that is portrayed on them.

Cetas in particular noticed that the threads used on the clothing utilized a different type of ingredient than the fashion of the people inside the tailor’s shop.

It seemed more exquisite - more high quality. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Cetas didn’t know much about fashion so he glanced over to Elishia and immediately saw her wide-eyed gaze at the different varieties of clothing. Her eyes gleamed at the sheer amount of high-quality garments in front of her.

She wanted to look around and try on some of the dresses hung above the racks, however, that was not what they came here for.

Upon entering the shop, a worker wearing a black formal wear came by and greeted them.

"Welcome to Taylor’s.. How may I assist you?"

In response, Reid described the dress displayed outside, channeling it down to its last details.

After 10 seconds, the worker nodded and said, "Very well. Right this way."

Guiding them to a room close to the counter, the worker twisted the door handle and entered the changing room. Going further from the rooms designed for changing, he opened another luxurious door.

Now entering the storage room, where prototypes of high-quality dresses and suits were being made. Silk, linen, and cotton were layered upon one another, and different tools made for dressmaking lay on the numerous tables.

Ignoring this, the worker turned right and faced towards another door. This time, it looked casual and normal, dissimilar to the prior luxury.

Lightly knocking, the door opened widely, revealing varnished wooden stairs that reflected the unsuspecting light coming from outside the door.

The worker stepped aside and raised his arms to point his hand below, looking dignified and full of manners.

Reid took a step inside first, however, before he could go all the way, the worker abruptly stopped him in his tracks.

"Do take care and wear these, esteemed guests," In his hand, he held three blank white masks, "It will help you remain anonymous.."

Bowing his head, Reid expressed his gratitude and continued to descend down the varnished wooden stairs.

Cetas, who donned a black cloak to cover his skin, looked even more ominous due to the mask.

After all, who wouldn’t be intimidated if an individual wearing a mysterious cloak and a blank white mask suddenly entered the room?

Compared to Elishia and Reid, Cetas looked as if he were one that perpetrated a crime casually.

Among the three, he looked like the leader of the two, commanding them to do his bidding.

The stairs were not that steep and it did not take too long to descend them. Upon reaching the base of the stairs, Reid, Elishia, and Cetas, were met with a magnificent sight in front of them.

Many other individuals wore blank white masks inside the basement, each of them donning unique clothing.

There were some that possessed normal white blouses, and brown trousers. However, among the few people underground, some looked to have quite the appeal.

Particularly, one individual possessed such a distinguished look.

One belonging to a lady that was dressed in a tight black gown, encapsulating her curves and her slender legs. On her head, a black veil flowed down to her neck.

She held a black pouch on her smooth hands, clearly looking filled to the brim with Solis.

Although her face couldn’t be seen due to the mask, Cetas imagined her to have a fair face.

In spite of that, Cetas paid her no mind and followed Reid.

In each corner of the room, several individuals with blank black masks sat behind desks, assisting customers and selling many distinct products to them

Heading towards one of the individuals in the far middle of the room, Reid inquired about a few things.

"What are the Zeal Weapons in supply?"