In the small harbor town of Foret, news of the hero and saint returning was already faster reaching Evian than they were.
There were rumors that Lord Carteyn himself had gone to greet them, or that the bishop, Poby, had gone along too, but the more astonishing news was—
“Honestly, it seems even the Divine doesn’t have a good eye for talent.”
“You crazy fool, just blurting out nonsense.”
“It’s true, isn’t it? That tiny little brat is a saint? It’s kind of a strange fit.”
“Well, you know—”
The priest, Vigrind, who was famous for different reasons than Yona, had officially been ordained as a saint.
That she was really a saint.
The news sent ripples through Evian, spreading far and wide.
The incredible feats shown by Ludvik certainly left a deep impression among the gathered adventurers and knights, and since he had already claimed to be the hero, it wasn’t too surprising.
However, while Vigrind had been appointed by the Divine, the whole situation felt so unreal that doubts began creeping in—was it really her? And why her of all people?
“Stop saying weird things.”
Amidst the murmurs, Mary set down two mugs of beer.
She placed the brews down carefully, the foam threatening to spill over the rim, wearing a bored expression.
“If you keep chatting like that, you’re gonna raise eyebrows. The cathedral knights are already wide-eyed, waiting for the hero and saint.”
“Hey, Mary. Honestly, don’t you think it looks a bit off?”
At that, Mary fell silent.
To be fair, the image of a saint was largely shaped by the first saint, Sonia, and her ample bosom was almost seen as a symbolic representation of what a saint should be.
So, it was only natural that everyone would have questions about Vigrind now being a saint.
A saint appearing after hundreds of years.
Yet, the fact that this saint was nothing like everyone’s image was something they all thought but wouldn’t say out loud.
“Still, don’t just throw those thoughts around. You’ll raise eyebrows.”
“Alright, alright. So, are they finally opening the Catacomb?”
“Well, who knows? The hero will have to check that out.”
Mary shook her head with an indifferent expression and headed back to the reception desk.
He shook his head and headed back to the reception desk.
Were there four adventurers who died last time…?
If it weren’t for the badges brought by the search parties, they would have been treated as missing persons instead of casualties.
Hearing that news, Mary felt her head in a jumble.
It had been quite a while since the headless knight demon was subdued in the catacomb.
The so-called hero, a gold-tier spear-wielder, had defeated it, and afterward, the heavenly deity descended and even appointed a saint that day. Since then, the catacomb had been opened up for adventurers to purge the remaining monsters and collect loot, transforming it into a so-called dungeon.
However, it was not long ago that the catacomb suddenly changed again.
Not just inside the catacomb, but gradually, gray mist began to spread from the catacomb to the surrounding areas, and soon the mist started to expand.
It was so dense that once you entered, you couldn’t distinguish your surroundings anymore.
And those who ventured into that mist never came back and vanished into it.
That sudden emergence was beyond the reach of Evian.
Despite the priests coming forth at the request of Lord Carteyn to perform blessings, it was only a temporary fix before the mist quickly filled the space again.
They even tried to perform blessings around the misty area, but there weren’t enough priests to surround the expanded mist zone, so that didn’t solve anything. Adventurers who boldly shouted, “When have I ever cared about my life while making money?” started dropping like flies one by one.
Ultimately, the guild had to strengthen its defenses around the misty area and started conducting regular search parties, yet those who recklessly charged in bravely continued to meet their doom without end.
“What the heck are we supposed to do, Mary?”
“Right? Emerson, don’t even think about going there.”
Mary glanced sideways at the archer leaning against the reception desk and replied in an annoyed tone.
Though it had become a running joke in Evian about whether there would come a day with a shortage of adventurers, that could very well turn into a reality.
“Sigh… I won’t go, I won’t go. If only Kaiyak were here, but all the gutsy and skilled ones are lying down, right?”
Emerson replied while picking his ear with his pinky finger.
When Mary stared at him in confusion at the mention of lying down, Emerson casually blew away a pea-sized chunk of earwax he had pulled out and answered nonchalantly.
blowing away a pea-sized chunk of earwax nonchalantly replied.
“I’m lying down. In that tomb.”
“…Ugh, that’s just disgusting.”
Watching Mary freak out, Emerson chuckled to himself.
The more Mary disliked it, the more he wanted to go on, but he had to hold back lest he get kicked out.
“Right, who was that goblin mage again? Why not give it a go like he said?”
“Freaky, right?”
“Yeah, Freaky.”
Mary pondered Emerson’s words for a moment before shaking her head.
Freaky, a disciple of the Alebians, was quite a capable mage.
If one were to compare her with another mage, Viola would come to mind, but she had recently been dragged out as a corpse from the fog, so frankly, Freaky was now the most experienced mage around.
The method she suggested was none other than arson.
Considering that fog and flames are polar opposites, her proposal was to set fire to the foggy area.
It was quite an enticing proposal, and there had been discussions within the guild to give it a shot, but surprisingly, the Cathedral had declared an absolute no.
The catacombs were originally a relic of the Cathedral, and since the artifacts were all related to the history of the Church of the Celestial God, the idea of setting fire was utterly out of the question.
However, that logic was unimpeachable, making the discussion about setting fire go silent.
“…Once the Hero and the Saint arrive, it will be resolved. Yes, it will be resolved, so let’s wait a little longer.”
Mary smacked her lips.
Although a lot of adventurers had been dying, many were coming in, but most of the newcomers were about the same rank.
At this rate, the balance just wouldn’t work.
‘When will Yona and Alex come back?’
They’ll come back.
Mary thought that as she organized her papers.
Looking at their prolonged absence, she figured they’d be… well, she actually hadn’t thought about whether they would come back, but anyway.
It was an afternoon where she particularly missed Alex and Yona.
*
The weather was clear and bright, but it didn’t match at all with the back alleys of Evian.
The dingy houses, worn to the point of collapsing, squeezed together made this back alley a slum.
People who couldn’t earn a living after losing a limb or two while adventuring,
Those waiting to die from diseases after selling their bodies in the red-light district,
Those waiting here,
Ruinously managing a business, struggling just to survive day by day.
In this slum, where those who couldn’t withstand the tempests of the world gather, there stood a building that could be considered a sort of community hall.
It was merely a two-story structure with a somewhat spacious wooden floor, but still, people would gather there when aid came to the slums.
Right now, that community hall had thick wooden planks nailed over its windows.
While it boldly claimed suspicious activities were happening inside, the folks living in the sunny front alley of Evian didn’t even bat an eye at what transpired in this filthy back alley.
“The hero and the saint are coming.”
“Hmm.”
A man, his deep brown hood pulled low, spoke with his forehead pressed against the floor.
He was bowing on a round carpet that was so full of cigarette burns and fraying threads it looked downright shabby.
In the spot where he bowed, there was a low, dwarfish desk.
“Is that so?”
In response to the man’s words, the one sitting at the dwarfish desk answered with a tiny voice and nodded.
He was also wearing a deep brown hood, and his voice was so androgynous it was hard to tell if he was a guy or a girl.
He raised his arm.
From his oversized robe, a long, thin arm popped out like an ancient tree branch, and as his twig-like fingers spread, they began to draw stars in the air.
Not purple lines, but dark red lines followed his fingers, tracing stars in the air.
As the stars were drawn, they began to spin, and in between, branches stretched out long.
Holding a slender twig that looked as dry as a bone, as if it hadn’t seen a drop of water all winter, he slowly raised his body from his sitting position.
“This is just the beginning. It’s about to start.”
The twig silently dug into the ground.
Holding a twig that seemed fragile enough to snap with just a touch, it unexpectedly pierced through the floor and began digging deep into the earth.
– Zzzzzzt…
Roots stretched from the twig, burrowing in like veins.
As if it were sucking up moisture and nutrients lurking underground, the twig began to redden with a healthy hue.
“It begins, it’s just the beginning.”
Like a broken clock, he chuckled softly from beneath his hood.
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