The middle-aged woman was sincere when she said she would treat the party well.
She got up early, drew water from the well, boiled bathwater for the party, and prepared breakfast. She was busy moving around.
Thanks to her, the party filled their hungry stomachs and washed their bodies clean. They started to get ready to leave with satisfaction.
Ruon approached the woman who was tidying up and held out his hand.
“Here.”
“Oh, yes.”
The woman hastily put her palms together and stretched them out.
“Huh?”
Her eyes widened as a handful of silver coins poured onto her palm.
Ruon said,
“You worked hard to prepare everything since morning. You must have had a restless night because of us.”
As he left the woman with a blank expression behind, Kyle and Igor, who had finished their preparations, came to Ruon’s side.
Kyle, who had strapped a shield to his back, said,
“We can leave as soon as Strabo arrives.”
As the saying goes, speak of the tiger and he will appear. They saw Strabo walking towards them with a bridle in his hand and horses behind him.
“I guess I came just in time. Let’s go!”
The party moved their feet towards the dwarf who was waving his hand playfully. Behind them, they heard the couple’s voices.
“Please take care.”
“May the gods you believe in protect you…”
Strabo approached Ruon, who was waving his hand without looking back, and made a mischievous face.
“You had a blast yesterday, huh?”
He whispered, covering his mouth with his hand.
“I heard everything. You were so annoyed when you were called out in the middle of the night.”
Ruon frowned as he saw Nightmare in the direction Strabo was pointing. The black horse flinched and pretended to be innocent.
“How did you end up with that cursed beast…”
“It was nothing.”
Ruon cut off Strabo’s words with a short answer and climbed onto Nightmare’s back.
He roughly ruffled the mane of the black horse, who was flinching as if expecting a slap on the head, and said,
“Let’s go.”
As he moved forward on the galloping horse, Ruon turned his head at a strange presence.
A man was leaning his hand on the wall, staring at them intently. It was Philip.
-Thank you.
Ruon nodded lightly as he read the man’s dry lips.
The wind had swept away the dark clouds that had occupied the night sky the day before. The clear sky was quietly watching the party leave.
The journey went smoothly.
As the monotonous days of leaving at dawn and resting at dusk piled up, there were no threats to the party.
“It was uneventful today.”
Kyle, who was rotating a stick with cheese and jerky on it over the campfire, said. Strabo stuck out his tongue.
“Kyle, uneventful means boring.”
The dwarf grumbled at his voice. Igor, who had just finished his prayer, sighed and said,
“Why is it boring when there are no incidents or accidents? It’s peaceful.”
Strabo scratched his bushy beard and muttered,
“…People will gossip about our achievements and bards will sing songs about them, but the process is too dull.”
Kyle handed the roasted skewer to Ruon and shook his head.
“You’re hopeless. Anyone who sees you would think you’ve already chopped off Belducius’ head. Right?”
He added with a thoughtful expression.
“By the way, who were the adventurers who killed the Archdemons? Do you know anyone?”
As soon as his words ended, Strabo’s eyes sparkled and he said,
“Wungrim, the warrior of the ancient furnace, and his comrades defeated Ferazie, who was polluting the mines and gathering an evil army. Have you never heard of the song of the unbreakable steel? It’s a song that honors their achievements. It makes your chest swell with pride just by listening to it. Since we’re talking about it…”
He immediately started humming a tune. Kyle looked at the dwarf with a blank stare.
“That’s too far-fetched. It’s the achievements of people from a hundred years ago.”
Ruon, who was nibbling on the skewer, suddenly blurted out a question.
“Why doesn’t the church directly deal with the Archdemons?”
Igor, who realized the question was directed at him, opened his eyes wide.
“To answer that question, I have to tell you first what kind of beings the Archdemons are.”
His soft voice made Strabo stop his song.
“…The Archdemons were not always called by that pronoun. They had different lifespans, but they were once humans, elves, and dwarves. Of course, they could have been monsters, too.”
Really?
Ruon put down the skewer he was eating.
He was intrigued by Igor’s story, since he had thought that demons were a single race.
The story continued.
“The only thing they have in common is that they are beings who have succeeded in gazing into the abyss.”
“···The abyss? What is that?”
Igor shook his head at Strabo’s question.
“I don’t know either. I just read what was recorded in the scriptures of Tivela. But it must not be a symbolic meaning. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain the origin of the evil beings that have appeared endlessly throughout history.”
He gulped down the water from the canteen, as if his throat was burning, and looked at Ruon.
“You asked me why the church doesn’t move directly, right? I can’t figure out their intention exactly, but I think that killing the archdemon is not a fundamental solution. The result is not directly linked to peace, compared to the sacrifice required to defeat the archdemon.”
It’s not worth it, he meant.
Ruon nodded his head and recalled the names of the gods he knew.
Tivela of mercy, Ganax of courage, Altwin of wisdom…
There were many churches that worshiped the famous gods, but none of them took the lead in hunting the archdemon.
Of course, if something unpleasant happened in the place where they had influence, they would promptly send paladins and priests to solve the problem, but that was it.
In other words, they would punish those who crossed the line, but they wouldn’t bother to pull out the root of evil.
It’s not easy to pull it out, and even if they do, it’s like a weed that grows back…
Ruon squinted his eyes as he vaguely realized why the grand church maintained a lukewarm attitude.
He couldn’t tell if they were protecting themselves, or preparing for something.
Then Kyle opened his mouth. He looked cautious, as if he was wondering if he could bring up such a topic.
“If that’s true, then the church is too…um, I mean…”
Igor cut him off with a faint smile.
“They don’t look very altruistic, do they?”
“Huh? Uh…yeah, kind of.”
“I’m ashamed as a priest.”
Kyle scratched his head awkwardly at the bitter answer. It was Strabo who broke the silence that settled for a moment.
“Igor, you’re trying to kill Belducius, aren’t you? What do you have to be ashamed of?”
Igor blinked his eyes at the relaxed face of the dwarf who was snorting his nose, and then chuckled.
“Is that so? If I kill Belducius, I can confidently demand a seat from the church, right?”
“Of course! That’s why you should propose to hunt down all the archdemons!”
Kyle frowned at Strabo’s reckless words.
“···What have you been listening to?”
“Why? No? The churches that worship such great gods are backing off for some reason, so we need someone who can turn things around. Someone like Igor who acts directly. That’s the true romance!”
Ruon smiled involuntarily at the dwarf’s simple logic that everything ended with romance.
He said.
“Let’s talk about that after we kill Belducius. Whether it’s the reform of the church, or the romance you’re obsessed with. Before we kill him, they’re all futile things.”
As if agreeing with him, Ruin began to tremble.
The next day, the party cleaned up the campsite and followed the faint energy that Ruin sensed.
They arrived at a huge ruin around the time the sun was in the middle of the sky.
In the barren field, there were stone houses arranged at regular intervals, as if to tell that this place was once a village.
Beyond the pile of stones, there was an old and huge building with traces of time, and it looked like a temple, with vertical stripes carved on the pillars that supported the roof.
Ruon, who was holding the handle of Ruin, who was trembling, opened his mouth.
“That’s it.”
At his words, the party got off their horses without hesitation.
Strabo, who seemed to have developed some resistance to motion sickness, pointed his thick finger at the temple.
“There are a lot of people there?”
As he said, there were quite a few people moving busily inside the temple.
“Are they also following the trail of Belducius?”
At Igor’s question, Kyle dusted off the pale dust and answered.
“Who would be stupid enough to face the archdemon with a pickaxe and a shovel?”
“···Right. Then, are they tomb raiders?”
Ruon, who had been listening to their conversation, said.
“Let’s go and ask them.”
With that, he took the lead and approached the temple.
The first to notice the party approaching the temple was a laborer who was checking the rope of the winch. He made a sound of surprise and tilted his head, and the soldiers leaning on the pillars pushed their bayonets. One of them shouted.
“Stop.”
Ruon, who had no intention of causing trouble, casually raised his palm, and the soldier coughed and added.
“Um, what’s your business? Oh, no, what’s your identity?”
Igor stepped forward to the soldier’s clumsy interrogation.
At times like this, there was no one more suitable than him, who had a verified identity as a ‘priest of Tivella’.
“Our party is serving Tivella. We are traveling to practice her mercy in person. We just happened to find the temple, and we have no ill will, so you don’t have to be so wary.
He finished his graceful explanation (mixed with some lies), and one of the soldiers who saw a faint glow rising from his hand hurriedly ran somewhere.
Another soldier asked.
“Are you saying you’re a paladin and a priest?”
Strabo, who noticed the suspicious gaze directed at him, pounded his chest and said.
“Why? Do I have to serve Duermer just because I’m a dwarf? Long live the goddess of mercy!”
“…”
Then, the soldier who had run away came back and said to the party.
“Please follow me.”
It was obvious that he meant to take them to the person in charge, and Ruon nodded to the party.
“Let’s go for now.”
As they followed the soldier through the long corridor, Ruon took in the sight of the workers who were busy inside the temple.
They seemed to be at least dozens of them, and they were moving in an orderly manner, but they didn’t look like grave robbers who were sweating.
“Here we are.”
The soldier pointed to a direction where a makeshift tent was visible.
Ruon, who felt no need to ask for permission, walked into the tent without hesitation.
There, a middle-aged man with a scruffy face, sitting on a rocking chair and stroking a cat, greeted him.
“Welcome.”
The man added.
“My name is Gulan. I’m the owner of a not-so-small shop. I hear you’re the ones who serve Tivella?”
Ruon did not answer Gulan’s question, but rather asked back.
“This temple, is it your property? Your men seem to be rummaging around like crazy.”
Gulan started to laugh out loud at the question that came back to him.
“Ha ha, why? Did we look like grave robbers who occupied the temple without permission? Unfortunately, this is my property. I bought it with a lot of money. If you don’t believe me, do you want me to show you the certificate?”
Kyle tilted his head and muttered.
“…Bought it? From whom?”
It was a very small murmur, but Gulan, who somehow heard it, answered.
“Who else, of course, His Majesty the King. All the buildings that have lost their owners in the territory of Aniara belong to him. This abandoned temple is no exception.”
Then he added something he didn’t ask.
“Usually, these kinds of ruins are places where you can’t buy them even if you pay money… But this time, when the war broke out and the military funds ran out, the kingdom started to dispose of them! I was lucky enough to win the bid.”
Gulan, who clenched his fist, looked at Ruon, who asked.
“So why did you call us?”
Ah, he said, and looked at the faces of the party.
“I thought you might be helpful if you were the ones who serve the goddess of mercy.”
He continued to stroke the cat, which was crying softly.
“I’m very interested in these ruins. There are a lot of stupid people who try to scratch my nerves by saying I waste money… But that’s nonsense. There’s nothing more thrilling than discovering the legacy of the forgotten past. And you never know, right? Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find some relics stored underground?”
He was quite ambitious.
Ruon snorted inwardly. That was hardly different from saying he would pick up a gem that was accidentally thrown away in a pile of garbage.
He asked.
“So did you find any great relics?”
Hearing that, Gulan erased the smile that had been on his face and answered.
“No, instead… I found a suspicious entrance that leads underground.”
His eyes sank deep.
“Immediately, a selection team made up of the best of my men entered. And now… Only one of them came back alive. And he’s gone crazy and spouting nonsense.”
Nonsense?
Ruon hardened his expression at the meaningful words. Gulan didn’t know, but the party knew that this place had traces of Belducius.
After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Ruon asked.
“Didn’t you say you were a merchant? Why are you telling us this information without any compensation?”
Gulan took a sip of the tea in his teacup and smiled again.
“It’s a merchant’s intuition. I have a feeling that the party that claims to serve Tivella didn’t just happen to visit the temple.”
He added.
“What do you think I was thinking while waiting for my men who never came back? I was certain that there was something beyond the entrance I had found. And then you showed up here. I guess you knew there was something in this temple, didn’t you?”
The silence was brief, but Gulran nodded his head as if it was enough of an answer.
“I thought so.”
Ruon chuckled and said.
“So, now you want to hire us? You want us to investigate what’s underground?”
Gulran nodded again.
“That’s right. All I have left are some laborers and a few half-baked swordsmen. No one dares to go down to the underground that swallowed my men. But if you are warriors who serve Tivella, I can trust you. Aren’t you the ones who wield the power of the goddess?”
He folded his fingers except for the index and the middle one and continued.
“Twenty percent. That’s the share you’ll get if you find something inside. Of course, I’ll pay you separately for your service. How about it?”
Ruon looked at the merchant’s face, full of curiosity, without a word.
Could he still smile like that if he knew there was a great demon beyond?
The underground of the temple, Gulran’s missing men, the crazed survivor.
Ruon was sure that there was something lurking inside this desolate temple. The curious merchant might think this was just a game.
Well, as long as their interests aligned, that was fine.
He smiled faintly and nodded.
“Deal. But I need some advance payment.”
