Please leave me, a little breathing space.

I just want to gaze at you……

Do you understand?

Just like the fir tree at the foot of a mountain, gazing at its zenith.

In those high places, will it be cold?



“Eh? You’ve caught one already? So fast?

Lloyd stared at them dragging a man back, a little stupefied. He himself has breezed through the day without any problems.

“…… I’ve also met one, but he escaped.”

Xiev muttered moodily.

“I saw one as well. They…… are all masked in black, aren’t they?”

Cassca simply pointed out the problem of this mission.

“…… Probably.”

Bayle responded. He started to pluck at his own hair, and spoke no more than that.

“I gave him some simple treatment, or else he would die on the way here. Treating enemies really gives off a bad vibe, whoo.”

Vik placed the man, who had been trussed up tightly in ropes, at the side as he briefly explained his condition.

“He’s unconscious for now…… Di, have you guys had any results?”

Leanne noticed that Indy’s mind was off in the clouds, and called him.

“Huh…… Ah? Oh, no.”

He was indeed absent-minded. It was only when Aidric lightly pushed him, did he respond.

“We’ve not met any…… or maybe it should be said that we didn’t discover any.”

Their minds had been preoccupied because of the covenant. It wouldn’t be abnormal if they had come across one, yet not noticed it.

“Okay…… We’ve at least gathered some results, having tied a man back here. Now…… we should knock him to his senses and interrogate him……”

“What, how are we going to do that? Who can?”

Everyone fell silent. A really good question was posed. From young, they have been raised and taught to become a priest of the highest order, hence it was evident that they’ll want to become someone aboveboard, and respectable. Who on earth will try to understand methods on interrogation? It’s not like everyone here has perfect personalities, but to do such a cruel thing, was still impossible for them.

“The crucial point is not who can…… but who will.”

“Then…… let’s do it all together!”

“How do we do it? Once we wake him…… we have to prevent him from committing suicide.”

“Let’s take a look at his appearance first, shall we?”

This was the only suggestion they could agreed on. Vik immediately removed the mask from the unconscious man.

He was a middle-aged man, with ordinary looks. His face was stained with blood, and an aura of evil could be felt emanating from his presence.

“Are people who were in contact with the dark faction like this? It’s like they’re poisoned, and that lingering evil aura…”

Everybody turned around, their attention on Aidric.

“What… what is it?”

“Nothing… you looked genuine and pure.”

“Not to mention, very handsome too.”

“… What do you all want me to do? Experiment with living matter? ”

Aidric felt totally helpless, and turned his gaze towards Lloyd.

“I think the job of interrogation should be passed to Nomunde, he seems to excel in anything…”

“Cidelis, you think too highly of me, I have no experience in interrogating people…. It seems like you have some misunderstanding about me; it’s like you’ve condemned me as a narrow-minded person?”

Not only was the issue of interrogating the captive not resolved, another suggestion is now raised.

“Is there a type of magic which will force one to spit out the truth? If not, we will have to put up a calm pretense; as if we are really familiar with matters of catechization… Seccaj, don’t you have powerful magical abilities? Is there any suitable spell for this kind of predicament?

“Ooh… I’m not very sure… The nature of pure magic is righteous and sacred. For this situation, dark arts should be a better remedy."

Everybody once again turned and looked at Aidric.

“Hey… don’t be like this! Can all of you stop trying to impose your ideas on me?”

“But you’re the ideal candidate!”

“There is no time to waste; this is urgent! Hurry, just think up a few spells to put to use!”

“As a team, cooperation is important; a person with capability must definitely try his best to help others. Make yourself useful, Cidelis!”

It’s so much easier to say than do. However, Cidelis no longer has any excuse to reject, and could only utter profanity in his heart.

This is all thanks to Nomunde. I’ll never let it slide… didn’t he previously say we shouldn’t reveal all of our abilities within the team?

“Okay. But… I would like to bring the hostage into the room before I conduct spells on him; I do not wish to do this in front of all of you. Is that alright?”

“Oh come on, don’t be like this, we really want to how the execution of dark arts works!”

“No! If not, forget about it and all of you can think of another idea.”

Aidric’s obstinate temper started to act up, and he refused to listen to anyone’s opinion.

“All right, we’ll place this matter in your hands.”

“…. Seriously, this morning, all of you act as if you are not in favour of performing dark arts; yet now, you’re persistently convincing me to perform it….”

As Aidric lifted the hostage, he could not help but grouse, disgruntled.

“When there is an urgent need for it, of course we wouldn’t care any less!” a blunt remark was made; an unrecognizable voice.

Rendered speechless, he brought the hostage to his room, whilst the others followed behind him and waited outside the door.

“There’s no guarantee it will work, is there?”

“… …” Indy closed his eyes. “I can feel it…”

“What?”

“The magical field of dark arts is activating....”

It seems like only Indy, whose spiritual prowess is formidably strong, could feel it. His face then abruptly paled.

“…… It gives off an eerie chill, just as I imagined”

It wasn’t long before Aidric opened the door. That man seemed to have awakened, and was admonising the Priests-to-be.

“You bunch of rascals, release me at once! My comrades will definitely deal you the punishment you deserve! Moronic believers! You should all die! ……”

Before he could finish, Aidric swiped at his neck. That man’s ramblings broke off in mid-air, and could not even express his astonishment before his mandible was twisted. Everyone could hear a ‘crack’. The jaw was dislocated, and his mouth couldn’t close together. All he could do was utter weird noises, ‘gu lu gu lu’.

“So noisy…”

Aidric furrowed his brow in disgust, while everyone else stared at him, their eyeballs about to pop out of their sockets.

“You still dared to say all that…… Your methods are deft and skilful, you’re sure to be brilliant with interrogation!”

“Aren’t you misunderstanding something? Interrogation means forcing him to speak, while I just made him incapable of talking.”

“Who cares, so what information did you manage to obtain from this man?”

“… Do you have paper? Give me a few.”

Indy rummaged through the room, and managed to dig out a few slips of paper. Aidric took them, and raised his right hand.

“Astaque…… Jasgera……”

The words he uttered seemed to have some mystical power immersed in them. As he enunciated those words, the fingertips on his right hand started to glow. His fingers traced the paper slowly, and upon their touch, words and symbols started to surface. When the three papers were filled, the glow on his fingers vanished, and that strange vibe was lost.

“This is everything he knows of, all the relevant details are here……”

“…… A-amazing…… This seems like a spell of an exceptionally high level.”

Indy picked up the paper to take a look, and exclaimed in amazement.

“How did you do it?”

“…… I just used magic to selectively copy and extract important details from his memory.”

He tried to explain with his hands, but stopped once again.

“Forget it, I don’t feel like elaborating further. The crucial point is, I have the information in my hands now.”

Lloyd looked at him, the corners of his lips curling into a little smile. No one noticed it.

Everyone passed the papers around, as they processed the information and contemplated it.

“All right, I understand the situation now. They have sent people to spy on us. There will subsequently be approximately 30 people incoming, and among them, five are of a higher stratum. These people will be assembling at the third congregation point, towards the west, which is also stated on the map…… That man knows really little.”

After condensing the information given, all that’s vital came down to only these few lines. It’s no wonder they dismissed it as little. Nonetheless, this information would still serve some help. It’s definitely better than having nothing on the upcoming situation.

“So what should we do with the man now?”

“Do I say it outright? He’s still conscious, wouldn’t it frighten him?”

“It would be better to let him hear it. Just look at the way he cursed at us earlier, it was really unpleasant.”

“Leave this to me.”

Lloyd offered, smiling to show his willingness to take care of the matter.

“He has already served his purpose, keeping him alive would only be an eyesore. I shall let him rest in peace.”

“You’re seriously going to kill him?”

“Or Cidelis, do you know of any brainwashing technique that would enlighten him towards the right path as a believer of god. We can consider letting him go if there is one.”

Aidric shook his head at Lloyd’s question.

“I don’t know that much, only the basics.”

No one knows whether he’s speaking the truth, yet, no one can prove that he’s lying.

“Since no one has any objections…… I’ll take this man away.”

Lloyd smiled, lifting the man off the ground as he walked out of the room.

As Lloyd left the room, the man kept uttering meaningless sounds. A young man carrying a person trussed up this tightly, was bound to receive suspicious stares from passers-by. Lloyd only responded with a smile, and continued to walk nonchalantly.

When they’ve finally reached an isolated spot, Lloyd let go of his hand and the man flopped onto the ground. Lloyd squatted down, smiling, as he focused his gaze on him.

“If you’ve the guts to do this kind of thing, you should always be prepared. That death is inevitable when you meet an enemy stronger than you.”

“ @#!@... @^$@%....”

He is probably still cursing at me. Lloyd ignored him and continued.

“A few of your comrades are still in the vicinity? I can feel it, and you…… think they will show themselves to rescue you? That’s impossible. If they reveal themselves, they will irrevocably face the same outcome. Hence, they would only look from afar, and return to report on their observations.”

The man’s breathing became heavier. Lloyd grinned, and bent down to whisper to the man.

“Birthed from the decree of the Death God, all who believes in her are destined to die. I beseech you, demon of Sanderas, to guide us out of the darkness……”

Only a few lines were uttered, and no one else heard them. However, the other party’s eyes widened like round saucers, and the sounds he muttered started to falter.

“So I say…… Foolish man, you’ve got to learn…… to protect yourself.”

He stood up. The smile he revealed, was strangely terrifying.

“I’ll grant you a majestic death! Be grateful for it.”

He paid no heed to the increasingly agitated cries of the man, and voiced out the commands.

“God’s Decree, ExquisiteDivineFire!”

Within seconds, beautiful, vibrant flames burst forth and surged to the skies. The crackles of the blazing fire filled one’s ears, completely drowning out the screams of the man. Crimson, golden flames flickered and danced, illuminating its surroundings. The moment these flames subsided, nothing remained. 　　　

“I hold faith in what I call justice, even if people deem it evil. For this cause, I am willing to die. To attain immortality, I shall hold no regret.”

These words left his lips in a light whisper. His eyes reflected only an icy cold.

“Failures can only take this path, comrades……”

It was already night when he returned to the inn. Everyone happened to be gathered together, luxuriating in dinner.

“You’re back, Nomunde. Was the matter taken care of?”

“Yeah, I’ve granted him the opportunity to rise to heaven to meet God. So now God can deal him his punishment. I think that’s a good thing for him.”

Smiling amicably, Lloyd pulled out a seat. He then grabbed a piece of bread and munched on it.

“…… He’s dead?”

Indy’s expression spelled fear. He definitely doesn’t have the courage to kill.

“Secaaj, you don’t have to be afraid. You’ll experience it eventually yourself.”

He didn’t mention if he was referring to killing, or meeting death. But, Indy was afraid of the former.

“I do hope that even if I have to…… the day would come as late as possible.”

Indy still harboured escapist sentiments. Even if he had to cower behind people’s backs…… he would still want to avoid it……

“Well, I think we should find the place stated on the map as quickly as possible. Let’s go after eating, shall we? They may escape if we don’t hurry.”

“Okay, I don’t mind all that.”

Aidric sipped at his water, and answered casually.

“Then hurry up and eat, especially you, Nomunde.”

“Ah, I don’t mind going without food. I eradicated that man earlier using fire. Seeing the barbequed meat on the table reminds me of that incinerated corpse. The smell of burning… ”

“Yuck! Don’t say any more!”

Vik clasped his mouth, with a look that he’s about to barf. Indy’s face turned ashen, and he put down his fork. Meanwhile, Xiev, Cassca and Bale continued to dig in, their expressions unchanged as they relished their food.

“Nomunde, do you want to upset everyone’s appetite?”

Leanne gave up on nibbling her half eaten ham, and glared at Lloyd accusingly.

“It won’t. Look, Ciernardo, Lido and Nile are still indulging in their food.

Lloyd waved his hand dismissively, and started to chew his bread.
“……”
Aidric sipped his water again, his appetite for even bread lost.

And so, the dinner ended quickly, with half of its people still rather insatiated. They gathered at the entrance of the inn, and set off to the third congregation point.

“We’ll probably have to start fighting once the door opens later on. Are you guys prepared for this?”

“Yeah.”

“No, no……”

Indy could be said to have no combat experience whatsoever. He was quivering in fear, completely clueless on what he should do.

“Don’t worry.”

Aidric gave him a pat on his thin shoulder.

“I’ll help you.”

Indy peered at him, and felt more at ease, as warmth transpired within his heart from Aidric’s words.

“Indy, I’ll also lend you a helping hand.” Leanne turned her head to reassure him, apprehensive that Indy’s good impressions of Aidric would increase.

…… Honestly, even without enemies in front of them, being in this team seemed like a constant battle……

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