Midnight—the time when people were asleep.
Several shadowy figures surrounded a small, privately owned clinic. They glared at the building, hate filling their eyes. It was clear at first glance that they weren’t after its money or belongings.
“Barbarians who refuse the true teachings!”
“Unforgivable… That man is undeserving of mercy or compassion!”
They were remnants of the Claritists. Living a hidden life among the townspeople, they were tasked with observing the demi-humans. In other words, spies. Though they weren’t openly religious, their devotion was genuine, and they had a deep loyalty to the remitter Yaesar.
They couldn’t believe their ears when they heard the news of Yaesar’s defeat. Impossible. He had indomitable faith and indomitable strength. His feat of defeating a group of thirty-strong demi-humans from Striggo by himself was still talked about to this day.
And a mere mercenary defeated him?
“For Lord Yaesar!” A man at the head of the group raised his hand to signal the rest of the group—
“That’s as far as you go.” A deep voice echoed through the night.
“Huh?!”
Two shadowy figures suddenly appeared before the faithful: a large man, an adventurer whose bald head shone under the moonlight, and a silver-haired woman in robes.
“Just like you said,” the bald man laughed as he rested his battle axe on his shoulder. “This kind of cunning is what makes them so dangerous.”
The woman had a blindfold on and yet seemed to be able to see them perfectly. She had a club at her side. “I see. So, these are the guys who snitched on Zig. What a pain in the ass… You really do have to watch your words.”
Bates and Elsia. The two had been on the lookout, prepared for would-be assailants to attack Zig while he was asleep. A former Claritist herself, Elsia’s prediction had been proven right when the assailants appeared under cover of night.
“Are you friends of the sinner?!” The man barked at them, confused by their sudden appearance and annoyed at being ignored. The mercenary was said to have many enemies after causing trouble left and right. No one should be around to help him.
However, the two weren’t exactly who the man thought they were. “I wouldn’t say we’re friends exactly…” Bates said. “Maybe close acquaintances?”
“Hah! What a bad joke. We almost killed each other the other day,” Elsia quipped back.
“Then stay out of the way. That sinner must die!” The leader pulled out his sword, and the others followed suit. A fight was about to break out.
However, Bates and Elsia remained calm and stood there with dubious expressions on their faces.
“Well, we can’t have you do that. I owe him a favor.”
“What he said. I need to pay him back for picking up my blindfold.”
“So, you’re going to make enemies out of us?” That was a threat and not a question. A matter of whether all the adventurers wanted to turn the Claritist Church against them.
“What are you talking about? We’re just defending an innocent physician from heartless bandits.”
“That’s right. We’re just passing by. Besides…did you really think you’d walk out of here alive?”
A beautiful yet menacing glint shone under her blindfold. The assailants froze like frogs under the snake’s gaze as their lives flickered like a candle in the wind.