Dingggg!
The loud sound of the bell resounded to signify that it was now the middle of noon.
Chromie who had been chatting with Olga for a while smiled: "I've hired a few people to manage the manor, but they would most likely not arrive until tomorrow. What do you say we head out today for lunch?"
"My pleasure" Olga smiled and replied.
However, as Chromie saw Olga's smile, he somehow felt that it seemed fake, or rather, as if it was a dream.
Three years ago, he silently disappeared, confined to the church's prison. It wasn't until the Church's Reformist faction gained the upper hand that they founded the Saint Hunters, whose aim was specifically the most wicked among the wicked. His enlistment into the Saint Hunters took him to other regions to fight, which lasted for three whole years.
Never did he think that Olga, who he assumed had already left, would still remain here in Lohr, waiting for a man whose survival wasn't even confirmed like him to return.
All of this seemed like a dream.
"What's the matter?" Olga's voice pulled Chromie back from his chaotic train of thought.
"It's nothing, let's go" the two of them slowly strolled along the street while heading towards a certain restaurant. For the most part, restaurants of Lohr only served customers during the day, as nighttime was the time of chaos.
In the past, nighttime used to be the time when monsters of sin would emerge due to the lure of the ominous moon, out to hunt all living beings they saw. If not for the Night Watchers, these monsters would turn their gazes towards the citizens in their own home.
But at the present, nighttime in Lohr had become even more dangerous, almost as if it was an actual battlefield where various organizations and forces emerged to vie for supremacy. Night Watchers, Saint Hunters, church patrols, anti-church organizations, unusual lifeforms, as well as blasphemous entities who had been showing up more and more during this period.
From destroying the headquarters of the Hermit Order in another region, Chromie had learnt quite a bit of information, all of which pertained to these newly occurring blasphemous entities, which was also the reason why the Saint Hunters had sent him back here.
While accompanying Olga on their stroll, Chromie noticed that some things simply couldn't return to how they used to be. Right now, the first thing his gaze tracked were the corners and roofs of the houses, as well as various other locations suitable for hiding.
Unlike before, where the only thing his attention laid on was surely none other than Olga herself whenever he took a stroll with her.
Furthermore, he could no longer focus all of his attention on Olga, but rather had to divert some of it to ponder his own matters.
Gears of Blasphemy, were you the one who created these things that blaspheme life itself?
The form of Negary who Chromie had witnessed within his Spirit Vision resurfaced in his mind. Perhaps out of his own selfish thoughts, or from some other inexplicable emotions, Chromie ultimately decided against reporting his contact with the founder of the Hermit Order, Negary, to the church.
While chatting happily with Olga, Chromie was more concerned with observing the visible scars left all over the town of Lohr itself, which filled his head with nothing but his own work.
This was the ability, or rather, side effect of his latest sacrifice. He had gained inexhaustible stamina, which allowed him to do many things continuously without feeling tired.
At a far corner of the street, two teenagers were happily chatting with one another as they approached him. They were wearing common clothes, the kind that you'd see on the sons of any normal family; they seemed like they were enjoying a rare chance that they didn't need to help out with their family business, or that their work was already finished.
As soon as the two of them appeared, Chromie had immediately put part of his attention on them. Ever since he joined the Saint Hunters, he had naturally offended quite a few people, including but not limited to the church's Conservative faction, the Impure Hermit Order, the Soundless cult, and other organizations big and small.
Their means were dirty and shameless, as long as they could eliminate their opposition or take revenge, they wouldn't hesitate to use any sort of unsavory means.
The most audacious among them was the retaliation of the church's Conservative faction. In order to mentally strike Chromie and those they called 'blasphemous non-believers' who had entered the church, they had people dig up the church's burial grounds and excavate Chromie father's ashes, using it as a trap.
If he didn't have the help of his good friend at the time, Chromie would have truly ran into danger.
Due to constantly being within such a dangerous environment, Chromie had nurtured a naturally cautious personality that treated everyone that approached him as a possible assailant. He would observe every possible assailant to judge how much danger they posed.
In fact, Chromie had even observed Olga, finally concluding that she was an ordinary person. Although her tone and gestures had slightly changed, she was still undoubtedly the same person he knew.
They're only ordinary people, but I will need to keep my guard up.
Chromie made his preliminary judgement, but did not loosen his guard. Where he previously worked, quite a few evil cultists had brainwashed adolescent boys and girls whose perception of the world hadn't fully formed and used them as suicidal soldiers. Taking advantage of the natural human instinct to sympathize with children, this tactic proved extremely successful.
While his eyes appeared to look straight without doing anything, his left eye had actually been constantly observing the two teenagers and collecting their information. After sacrificing his left eye, Chromie transplanted the eyeball of a certain monster to make a glass eye that gave him the ability to observe in a wider range.
The two young men swiftly walked past Chromie and Olga, although they snuck a few glances at them, nothing noteworthy actually happened.
There were no unusual power fluctuations, nor did they carry any unusual substances, including through their breathing.
Perhaps I'm a bit too paranoid.
Chromie thought deprecatingly.
"From a certain point of view, Lohr sure is peaceful and quiet" Chromie sighed and commented, but before he could open the door of the restaurant, Olga abruptly uttered a curt scream, her eyes turned completely white before she collapsed on the sidewalk.
Chromie hurriedly observed his surroundings, then crouched down to put his finger on the artery near Olga's neck.
Heartbeat and breathing have both become unsteady, all signs of life are quickly weakening.
Chromie quickly made his evaluation, then used the Fearless Spirit he obtained from a sacrifice without hesitation.
As a red glow appeared around Chromie's body, he had become affected by the Fearless Spirit. In this state, Chromie was able to observe another aspect of the world, which allowed him to see spiritual bodies as well as damage them. Because of this, he soon discovered Olga's irregularities.
Her soul was no longer residing within her body.
Chromie looked up to see the two teenagers from before standing on top of a roof, smiling casually before mouthing something.
As Chromie understood how to read lips, he knew what the other party was saying.
[Greetings from the Hermit Order!]
"What blatant retaliation" watching the two teenagers, Chromie's expression went completely sour, but he didn't panic. The main cause of panic for most individuals was fear, fear that they would lose something. Having already lost his sense of fear, Chromie managed to stay completely rational and contacted the Saint Hunters through some patrolling knights of the church.
The most urgent thing right now is for me to find Olga's soul.
Since her body still isn't dead, both her soul and soul shackles have clearly remained intact.
But how did they do such a thing right in front of me?
Taking away Olga's soul without displaying any signs of taking action.
Chromie fell into thought. He was completely unable to notice anything at all, if Olga hadn't uttered a curt scream and collapsed, he wouldn't have noticed that Olga's soul had vanished in the first place.
