The Greatest Sinner

"The price is... memories?" Evan was puzzled, he didn't understand why the informant would need the memories of a complete stranger. Moreover, Evan didn't understand how the memories could be a price, though he assumed it was all about the man's unusual eye.

"Yes, it is.  And if that doesn't suit you, then get out of here. How many of your memories I'll look at depends on the price of the question. The more valuable the information is, the more memories I'll want to look at."

"So you're not going to steal my memories. You're just getting inside my head, but why do you do that? What's the use of a random person's memories?" Evan asked.

"AHAHAHAHAHA, it's obvious, I'm a collector! I collect memories, I think I'm the only one of my kind." The man replied loudly.

At that moment, Evan realized his question had been a foolish one.

<Damnit, he's an informant, obviously, by looking through the memories of others, he can learn about a huge number of things. His strange conditions confused me a little. What's more, from the looks of it, he's not going to use any special spell, his eye will do all the work. I wonder how he's got that ability.>

"You do charge an unusual fee, indeed. But I'll ask my question first." Evan said calmly. If the informant would tell him how to find the "Demonic Tree" members, he was willing to let this man look at his memories.

The man didn't answer anything and just nodded affirmatively.

"I'll be brief, where can I find members of the "Demonic Tree" and how do I join this organization," Evan said coldly. If the informant didn't give him an answer, Evan would just kill him.

The man looked at Evan with a thoughtful face and said slowly: "Your question really isn't an easy one. I don't know where the members of the "Demonic Tree" are now, they're a very secretive organization, and they don't leave any witnesses. But, there have been some rumors recently that will definitely interest you."

"The price?"

The informant smirked: "I want to look at all your memories, you're pretty young and hardly had time to see much of this world."

<Maybe, kill him and be done with it?> Evan thought after hearing the informant's demand.

Evan was puzzled by request. There were a hundred times more memories in his head than the informant could have even imagined. Moreover, they were the memories of three different people: his former, his present, and the memories of the body's previous owner.

Evan smiled and said: "Okay, I think you'll be surprised, but goods first or you'll get nothing. I assure you, you will regret it if you miss this chance."

The informant hesitated, normally the customers didn't put any conditions on him. He was always the one in charge of the whole process. In his opinion, though, Evan wouldn't be able to go away anyway. There were many more formations set up in this building, and unlike the one in the hall, they were combat, not a simple test for the clients.

"Okay, you win. But, don't flatter yourself, it's just a rumor, and most of what I'm about to tell you may be just fiction."

"As I said before, the "Demonic Tree" is a very secretive organization, and they conduct their business very quietly and inconspicuously. If you've delved a little deeper into the matter, I think you've already known that there is something they're looking for. It's an easy guess. The only thing left to do is find out exactly where the "Demonic Tree" members are right now.

So far, Evan hadn't heard anything new. He had indeed long since realized for himself that the "Demonic Tree" was doing some kind of research and searching.

"For starters, there are ancient ruins in the "Hills of Bloody Falls," and they are definitely of interest to the members of the "Demonic Tree." But if that were all I knew, I wouldn't charge you even a copper coin. A monster of the third rank guards the entrance to the ruins, and the group that was sent to the ruins can't deal with it yet. They are preparing some kind of powerful formation, and they need time to do it."

"Moreover, I know what this monster is. It possesses an extremely dangerous poison. Even if the group can kill the monster, one of them will definitely be seriously injured. That person won't die, but he will have to retreat and heal his wounds. They don't have a powerful antidote that would kill the poison instantly. It's up to you how to proceed. Again, the data can change at any moment." The informant finished his lengthy monologue.

Evan immediately asked: "How many days are they planning to start this operation?"

The man held his hands apart, "I don't know, there's a chance they've even gone by now. That they're in the "Hills of Bloody Falls" is just a rumor. But, if it's all true, it might take a few days to prepare such a powerful formation. If I were you, I'd move out as early as tomorrow. By the way, they are unlikely to go back to the nearest base for resources, they can buy everything they need in this town."

<This is more interesting... even now, some of them may be in the city, but I have no way to find them, and it makes no sense. If they need to use a formation to deal with the monster of the third rank, that means they're at the stage - "Two-Pointed Star." I won't be able to deal with such strong opponents right now.>

Evan nodded and calmly said: "Okay, you can start."

He was curious to know how this procedure would work, Evan also wanted to ask this informant something else.

The informant smiled: "You don't have to do anything, just relax. I'll supervise the whole process."

The next moment the seal on the man's left eye glowed brightly, Evan was immediately hit with a highly unpleasant sensation, as if someone was getting inside his head. However, compared to when life was being taken out of him as payment, the sensation was not as disgusting.

The informant was surprised at Evan's restraint. Usually, the other clients were more emotional and even aggressive in such situations. Some of them the informant had to knock out forcibly.

<So, let's see what we have here...>. The informant thought, and his consciousness was transported to a strange space. There was nothing there but a single door.

That door was the entrance to Evan's memories. The informant opened it and found himself among thousands of shards of constantly changing images. These shards were Evan's memories.

Because the body's previous owner had spent almost his entire life in prison, some of the memories were monotonous and dull. But, Evan had recently memorized the contents of 20,000 books. It was a tremendous amount of information, and thanks to the demon's power, Evan remembered the contents of each book perfectly.

Whoosh.

Hundreds of shards headed toward the informant. He absorbed the information like a sponge, now he knew what and when Evan did, every detail.

After a while, the informant emerged from this space and returned to the real world, and his eye stopped glowing.

Nevertheless, he did not notice another door in that space, dark and unusually creepy.. Behind that door were Evan's memories of his past life.