947 Last words
Raze could feel the energy flowing through him from Belil. He had already taken in a lot of energy; his dantian had felt full for a while now, and it was spreading everywhere else in his body.
His dantian almost felt overstretched, forcing it to expand, and it was painful, like a stomachache. He was sure that this wouldn’t just be it.
There was more pain to come, judging by how his body would reconstruct itself, according to Belil’s words. It wasn’t normal for a body to contain this much power without going through real experiences and growth on its own.
His body was being forced to go through these experiences, and it might have been where the excess energy was going.
Thankfully, with Raze’s energy filling, the wounds on his body from before were now healing, and his Blazer, as always, was doing its trick, taking care of his body nicely.
Now, since Raze could speak freely without much pain, he had questions for Belil—things he had to ask after everything was being done for him.
“Belil, I still don’t understand why you’re doing this for me. It makes no sense,” Raze said. “I am not the person you or Bofan think I am.”
“I don’t care about Pagna, and I don’t even care about Alterian. The only reason I did all of this was for my own selfish revenge. The only reason I want the Golden Globe is so I can go back to Alterian and kill those who ruined my life!”
Raze spoke with strong conviction and passion because he was afraid of something—afraid of the outcome of all that was taking place.
A weight was being placed on his shoulders without him even asking for it.
“You could have gone to the island yourself. You said it: you’re the strongest warrior; you could have dealt with them all and stopped them.”
“Even if you give me your power, I won’t be able to use it like you. It won’t be the same… and I could have grown stronger later!”
Although Raze had the energy to talk, there was still a strange force on his stomach, almost an attack of sorts from Belil, keeping him pinned down and preventing him from moving freely.
Belil laughed, as usual, at Raze’s words.
“I told you, I am following his will, and you are the closest person to it all.”
“Raze, Dark Magus, Demon, White Dragon, and my son—I want you to listen to my next words carefully. Right now, what I’m giving you is something that everyone wishes for.”
“Hundreds of years of cultivation obtained just like that, in less than an hour. The life of immortality is considered a boring one, but the truth is, I found myself changing even after a few hundred years!” Belil laughed again.
“I want you to look after my daughter and my son Dame. I tried to raise them correctly in this world, but they’re a bit too soft.”
“I do care about my other two sons, but I’ve already seen instances where they’ve done wrong. If they were to fall by your hand, then I would accept that, but maybe, if you could steer them in the right direction, like what happened to me, then that would be good. Think about it as well.”
“All of them run the clan, and they will soon all look up to you. Which means the Neverfall Clan and its legacy are practically in your hands now.”
Inwardly, Raze was shaking his head. The way the words were being spoken, the way they were trailing, he knew where it was going. Where all of this was going, he wanted to tell Belil to stop, to stop right now.
The thing was, he knew how stubborn old fools were, being one himself, and in particular, Belil as well; he had already made his decision in all of this.
If he interrupted him, he would be the arsehole in all of this.
“I listened to what you said—you don’t care about the world of Pagna, but I hope that at some point, you will. With my power, I’m sure you’ll have a long life, so there’s a chance you might change your mind. I’ve heard things have already been changing for you slightly.” Belil laughed.
“Lastly, it doesn’t matter that you don’t know my techniques; you have the Dark Edge Sword Arts. Now, with my Qi, you should be able to perform all eight techniques.”
“You will be practically unstoppable in Pagna, but Raze, I don’t know how strong your enemies are.”
“Maybe they’re as strong as those who wish to harm Pagna. They might even be stronger, based on how crazily you have been seeking strength.”
“So I have one last request: get stronger, get far stronger than Bofan or I ever did!” Belil let out a loud belly laugh.
His Qi was immense with each laugh, and the strength could still be felt around Raze’s chest, until the pressure was gone from his stomach.
Slowly, Raze moved his hand and placed it by his side. His body felt frozen, but eventually, he lifted himself up and looked at Belil.
His eyes were wide open, and he still had a large grin on his face, one that was permanently there. Now that he looked deeply into the smile, he realised, it was the same smile that he would always see on Belil’s face, a smile that was intimidating when they first met, but now it looked extremely friendly.
Finally, someone who had been watching for a while now descended. Brack moved in cautiously, assessing the situation as he saw Raze just looking ahead.
“Is everything okay? I thought you might have been a goner there,” Brack commented.
When he got closer, he could see that Raze was just staring ahead at Belil, and only then did he realize that Belil hadn’t moved the entire time.
“What happened?” Brack asked, afraid to even wave his hand in front of Belil’s face.
“He’s… dead,” Raze said.
Right after saying those words, a striking pain shot through Raze’s body.
948 An Unexpected Distraction
Looking at Belil’s body, Raze realized that his worst fears had come true. A man who had achieved so much in the world of Pagna, who still had many followers, had given his life to him?
It was hard for Raze to understand. There weren’t many people he had gotten close to in years, and even in Pagna, if there were those he had been close with, he would never have suspected Belil to give his life—perhaps not even those he truly trusted.
He still didn’t fully understand; he couldn’t empathize with the feelings that Belil had, and right now, all he had was a deep regret, feeling unworthy of the gift inside him.
In the middle of his spiraling thoughts, the transformation had begun. Every part of his body felt like it was being stretched out. His muscles twitched, the fibers expanding, tearing apart, and being rebuilt.
This wasn’t happening over a long period of rest and recovery; it was happening continuously within Raze’s body to the point that he could only scream for a few moments before collapsing to the ground in pain, his body frozen.
“What is happening now?” Brack exclaimed, lifting both hands to his head. “First, the leader of the Neverfall Clan is just here dead, and now the Dark Magus is on the floor… why did you guys bring me along for this? Wouldn’t a physician have been better?”
Brack hurried to Raze, lying on the ground. There was nothing he could do about Belil, but maybe there was something he could do about Raze, and after all, he owed Raze for saving him last time.
As Brack got close, he reached to touch Raze’s hand, feeling his body tense like a rock, not only that but the sheer amount of Qi energy coming off just from touching his skin.
Brack felt like his entire body would be overwhelmed in a moment.
“Tell me what to do! Tell me what I have to do!” Brack asked.
Belil had warned that this would happen. He did not seem like a man who would lie, so if Raze went by what he said, this would last a little over two days.
The sun was already setting, and it was getting dark. When this day ended, there would only be one more day that the spell on the island would stay active, and on the third day, Raze would finally be able to move.
‘The others will have a head start on the island, and right now, I’m the only one who knows about it. Do I tell Brack to inform the others, to head to the island? But if I do that, there’s a chance they could all get hurt as well.’
‘I can’t do that. I’ll have to trust that Bofan has hidden the Golden Globe well and that it won’t be an easy task to retrieve. It’s the only thing I can do!’ Raze thought.
Eventually, he decided on something else—something that would keep the others busy and prevent them from looking for him. Magic swirled around his hand, and soon, something the size of a thumb, black in color, appeared in his palm.
“Take… this,” Raze said rigidly.
Brack looked at it and took the small device. He had no idea what it was; he’d never seen anything like it before.
“Hand it to the one named Anna… say it’s from Himmy… Don’t worry about me… I’ll be okay… keep everything here… secret… secret,” Raze reiterated the last word firmly.
How was Brack supposed to keep such big news a secret? They were in the middle of nowhere, and he honestly didn’t know how to deal with this for now.
“Fine, I’ll do as you say!” Brack concluded. “I’ll give this to Anna—say it was from Himmy. But once I’ve done that, I’m coming back here to check on you again.”
“I’ll… be… fine!” Raze answered.
“You better be,” Brack said nervously, glancing at Belil once more before rushing off. Seeing Brack run, Raze felt he had made the right decision.
The special device Himmy had given was meant to hold information about Raze’s past. Anna, being close with Himmy, would know what the device was.
If she got an order from Raze, as a way to help him, they would try to look into this, steering them far away from the troubles that would soon unfold on the island.
——
Brack sprinted back to the town of Flendon, but once he arrived, he realized he had to go even further. He needed to reach the Dark Faction, which was a somewhat long journey.
He might not even get there until early morning the next day. The only good thing was that with his speed now as a middle-stage warrior, he was covering much more ground than he would have before.
Brack had underestimated his speed; it was close to midnight when he finally arrived at the Dark Faction academy. His legs didn’t stop moving, worried that Raze might be in trouble.
In some ways, Brack thought what he held in his hands might be the answer to helping Raze. After entering the academy, Brack asked around, looking for Anna, but no one seemed to know where she was.
He even approached Amir, who said she was out. Wandering the academy, Brack eventually made his way to the library, where he spotted three students he recognized from before, sitting quietly.
They looked a bit bruised and battered, likely from the special missions they had been undertaking recently.
“I need… to meet Anna, as soon as possible,” Brack asked, huffing and panting.
“Anna? I think she’s the only one who didn’t come back. Everyone else said they were done with that… business,” Simyon answered. “Wait, who are you?”
“It’s not important,” Brack said. “Raze gave me this, and he asked me to find Anna. Can you contact her somehow?”
Safa and Simyon turned to Liam, who was closest to her, thinking he might know how to reach her.
“I don’t have any idea where she is! How am I supposed to know something like that?” Liam said, standing up. “Just because we share the same system doesn’t mean I’d know where she went.”
Curious, Liam approached the strange device in the man’s hand and took it for a moment.
Brack didn’t think it would be a big deal since he didn’t think Liam would just run off with it.
“Huh, what’s this?” Liam said. “The system is saying I can access this thing?”
949 An Early Fall
In a small harbor town where several ships docked, ready to set sail around the vast continent, two powerful people had met.
No one quite knew the strength of these two individuals as their faces weren’t widely known, and one’s face couldn’t even be seen.
Yet they both held strength in their hands that could change the continent of Pagna forever, and both had boarded a ship.
They looked at each other for a moment until Lince eventually jumped down.
“It’s quite obvious that you forced your way onto this ship?” Lince asked. “One can tell by their injuries, but might I ask where you wish to head, and let’s not waste time—you might as well tell me why.”
Lince, leader of one of the strongest Demonic Faction Clans, was on board the ship because of what a particular man had told him.
Only a couple of days ago, he had paid a visit to Belil. Lince knew the truth; he knew who Belil was but didn’t know his plan until two days ago.
He had learned of the sacrifice Belil was going to make and why—for the sake of all of Pagna—and with that information, Lince was free to do as he wanted.
In the end, he decided to set sail to the special island. He still wasn’t sure if Belil’s story was true, but even if there was a chance, he felt he needed to.
To avoid the attention of others, he was moving on his own, but now he had met someone else, who had forced their way on just like him. There weren’t many that would do that, especially here where the ships were mostly run by pirates, some were even warriors, making him guess they were doing the same thing.
‘I have to be careful. This person doesn’t look like a typical warrior, not from one of the larger clans. There’s a chance he could be from Alter? Or that Bonum Society—both are not very good options for me. It might be best to get rid of him now.’
Lince’s hand was moving towards his back, but he noticed that the stranger was keeping an eye on him.
“I promise you, you don’t want to fight against me,” Zon replied. “If we’re both heading to the same location, then it shouldn’t be a problem as long as we don’t get in each other’s way, right?” Zon asked.
“I’m afraid that’s not the case, and the fact that you’re speaking so confidently to me is annoying,” Lince’s tone had changed, and Qi started to swirl and surround his body.
The system Zon was using indicated the fight wasn’t going to be easy, but Zon now had a new item, and right then, he used it.
He disappeared and reappeared right behind Lince, his hand moving lightning fast as he grabbed Lince’s wrist before he could reach for his dagger.
“There’s a reason I’m confident. What do you have against me heading to the island? Is there something you’re looking for as well?”
Lince was stunned; he was keeping a clear eye on the strange man, waiting for him to move, but saw nothing. Not only that, but his strength was high enough to grab Lince by the wrist.
Even with his regular strength, he was unable to move unless he forced a high amount of Qi.
It was best if the two didn’t fight.
“I’m from the Demonic Faction, the Lost Clan,” Lince answered. “I’m there to stop someone from getting something.”
Zon could tell he wasn’t lying.
“So you’re not from Alter?” Zon asked.
“If you’re asking that, I guess you’re not from Alter either?” Lince replied.
Zon let go, knowing this man wasn’t the enemy, but he was still curious why he wanted to go to the island. They both were.
“I’m here to look for someone and something as well, and I’m helping the Dark Magus out,” Zon finally answered.
“Oh?” Lince raised an eyebrow. “Maybe the two of us should talk after all, then. I have a feeling it might be important that we get to know each other.”
Through conversation, they both made their positions clear. They were practically there for the same reason, and Lince claimed he was somewhat a supporter of Raze.
He was helping him in a way, but not directly. The conversation flowed easily without Lince having to explain much, as Zon could confirm whether Lince was lying.
Since they both knew what was possibly ahead, they agreed to travel together. The next day arrived, and Zon looked out at the island, noticing a change in the distant clouds.
“We need to set sail!” Zon shouted. “It’s changing… it looks like we’ll be able to reach the island in a few hours.”
“What?” Lince said. “But Belil said it wouldn’t be until tomorrow?”
“If the island has been like this for many years, then there’s a chance his guess could have been wrong. It’s surprising he was only off by a day or two.”
Lince felt a little nervous about Belil’s plan if that was the case, and it was a good thing he had come along. He just had to hope the new friend by his side was strong enough to face what was to come.
In the Light Faction, there was movement on the beach as they readied to board their large ships, heading to the island.
They weren’t the only ones who noticed.
“Red!” Heino called. “The mission is the most important above all else. Do your job well.”
Red smiled as he joined the other warriors and started boarding the ship.
In the Light Faction, in the same city, one man stood out, looking at the island from afar.
“Oh, it looks like something’s happening. Strong energy. I guess I should go and see what’s happening. After all, since I came down from above, things have been a bit boring,” Mosak said.
Remembering when he first appeared in that room, summoned into this foreign mage’s body—a divine warrior unrestricted by the world’s rules.
Chapter 950 Harvey’s Last Clue
Brack had heard what Liam said, but he didn’t fully understand. What did he mean by reading something so small? How could anyone read something like that?
Whatever it was, it was clearly important if Raze had asked him to pass it to this Anna person as well.
“Can you do me a favor?” Brack said, fidgeting with his fingers and shuffling his feet. “It looks like you guys have figured something out, which is good. My guess is that maybe he wanted Anna to have this because she’d understand it better than us.”
“You seem close to her too, so if you see her, hand this over. It’s important. I really need to get back.”
Brack turned, ready to leave, but he hesitated, wondering if he’d done the right thing or not. In the back of his mind, he was extremely worried.
“Wait, you said Raze gave this to you, right?” Safa asked. “Is everything okay? You look a bit worried.”
“Everything’s fine!” Brack answered nervously. “He’s just having a meeting with a very alive Neverfall Clan leader. They’re doing some secret stuff, so Raze will be back soon. Since he’s going to be away for a while, he really wanted Anna to have that.”
With that explanation, Brack didn’t even give the others a chance to respond. He left in a hurry, his mind still troubled. Already, one leader of the Demonic Faction had perished, and if Raze were to disappear as well, the state of Pagna would spiral into chaos—if it wasn’t already heading that way.
With Brack gone, the three left in the room were stunned.
“Okay, he was definitely hiding something, right?” Simyon asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or is he just always like that?”
“I guess none of us even know him that well. And why was he with Raze in the first place?” Safa said, inching closer to Liam.
As she got closer, the vibrant scent of her hair wafted toward Liam, making his face flush a bit. Noticing this, Simyon clenched his fists.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. Why would Raze have something like this with him?” Safa asked.
“Isn’t the real question why Liam could access it and read it, when the rest of us couldn’t?” Simyon asked. “Maybe it’s because you two are the same?”
“Oh, right, because of that system thing,” Liam replied. “Makes sense. No wonder he gave it to Anna. But what could he trust Anna with that he wouldn’t trust us?”
“Maybe he still sees us as kids,” Simyon said, sitting back and shrugging. “It’s annoying, but you have to remember that Raze is actually an old man. You know, like one of those people on the street that look like raisins but are nowhere near as tasty.”
“Anna’s older than us, so it makes sense he’d trust her more. Just because he looks the same age as us doesn’t mean he’ll actually trust us like that.”
“So… should I read it then or what?” Liam asked.
“I mean, if Raze wanted Anna to see it, wouldn’t it be rude to do something like that?” Safa said.
“Too late,” Liam said, as he activated the system to access the information on the small thumbnail-sized device.
As his system decoded it, information started flooding into Liam’s mind.
“What is it?” Safa asked. “What can you see? Or did it not work?”
“No, I can see it,” Liam said, tapping the side of his head, trying to organize his thoughts. “The information includes detailed reports on several different cases.”
“I’m using the system to figure out a theme. It looks like it’s about a large number of deaths in several cities and towns.”
Safa’s heart pounded a bit faster. Was this the reason Raze wanted Anna to look into it? Could it somehow relate to what happened to her and her real brother back then?
“There’s even a case… on you and Raze,” Liam said, hesitating as he wondered if he was prying into things he wasn’t meant to see.
“It’s okay,” Safa said, glancing at Liam uneasily. “Simyon already knows about what happened. That was when Raze… well, when he was no longer Raze.”
“When my brother left me. My mother and father were killed, and I had to hide. In the end, the two of us were the only ones to survive. Or maybe… it was just me.”
Hearing this and seeing that the others couldn’t know what he was seeing, Liam’s curiosity got the better of him, and he continued looking over the information.
He began to think carefully, trying to understand the link between the cases. He wasn’t going to read everything and attempt to piece it all together alone.
His mind wasn’t too sharp for that kind of detective work—or at least, he believed his old mind wasn’t capable of it. As he thought this, the system began to process the data, working it out for him.
It provided valuable information, and in the end, it even gave him insight into the connection between the cases.
“Hey, Safa, I’m guessing you never really found out why all that happened, right?” Liam asked.
Safa nodded. “There were even people chasing us after that, still trying to kill us,” she replied. “But it doesn’t happen anymore. Maybe it’s because we’re part of the academy now; it’s well-protected.”
“Well, I think I might have found a link,” Liam said, his voice lowering as he tried to process the gravity of it. “This information—it’s from Himmy, that Alter guy you met.”
“With this system, I can see the common links, and I think it’s something he missed. It’s small, but something happened with each of these cases—a common occurrence.”
“There are two things: first, every one of these cases occurred within five miles of a church belonging to the Rylon religion. On top of that, eyewitnesses claim that even if there wasn’t a church in the town or city, they saw people from the Rylon religion entering the area,” Liam explained.
Safa’s eyes widened in shock, and Simyon stood up as well.
“This is something we need to investigate,” Simyon said firmly. “Something you need to confront, Safa. Your past, and your real brother’s past. We need to uncover just how he was involved in all of this.”
Safa swallowed hard, her mind racing as she thought about the connection between her family’s past and the religious group that seemed to linger around these tragedies. This revelation only deepened the mystery, making her question the extent of her brother’s involvement.
“We should start looking into this,” Liam added. “If there’s a link between the deaths and the Rylon religion, there could be more people involved as well?” Safa took a deep breath. “You’re right. This could explain why Raze wanted Anna to see it. If she could help make sense of it all…”
—
Chapter 951 Where are you Himmy?
In the Dark Faction, in one of the medium-sized villages, a short young woman was walking down the open streets. There were market stalls on either side, and the smell from the meat being cooked in the open wafted into her nose.
She placed her hand on her stomach to suppress the sound. ‘Shut up, alright? I only have a few bronze coins left!’ Charlotte slapped her stomach, but it didn’t do much to ease the pain.
It was strange, since escaping from Alter along with Himmy, she had been going from place to place. She had no idea where would be safe.
After all, Alter was an incredibly large organization, with secret members everywhere, even members she wouldn’t know about.
All she could hope for was to lay low until Himmy figured something out. Every time she turned a corner or looked up, she hoped she would see Himmy, telling her it was finally over.
At first, things weren’t too bad for her. The hunger she could ignore, as she was too afraid of people catching up to her. But then the painful pangs set in.
It was strange, though, because after that, the hunger disappeared completely. She had gotten used to it, but it seemed to be a dreaded cycle, and now the pain had come back again.
‘I need these coins to stay at an inn somewhere. I’ve been moving too much and haven’t even recovered my energy. At some point, my spell is going to wear off, and with no energy, how am I going to keep up my appearance?’
Her bright, vibrant orange hair made her stand out even in the world of Pagna, which was why she had cast a spell to make it black.
She was sure it was because of this spell that Alter hadn’t quite found her just yet.
“Hey, are you going to buy something or not?” the large woman shouted from behind the counter.
In the middle of her thoughts, her feet had taken her to the stall, where skewers hung out on display. She could see the fat dripping off them onto the ground, and reluctantly, she handed over her last few coins.
It didn’t take long for her to gulp down the food, and she regretted it instantly, wishing she had savored the taste a bit more. Eventually, her feet started to hurt, and she found herself at an inn that served drinks and food.
Since she didn’t have enough to stay the night anymore, the only thing she could afford was a drink using her very last few coins.
The inn wasn’t busy, as it was the middle of the day. Most people were out working, which was better for Charlotte as she sat in the corner and twisted the large glass several times.
“I better savor this and make it last as long as I can. Otherwise, I’ll have to go outside in the cold again.”
Charlotte was starting to lament what she should do now, where she should go, and who she could even trust in the situation she was in.
She was sure that Alter would now target Raze and the rest of his friends, so it wasn’t safe for her to go there.
But how was she going to make money or find a place to stay without using her magic? How would she feed herself?
At this rate, she might even starve to death before Alter caught up to her.
For a moment, she thought about breaking the taboo. Maybe using her magic for other means—to steal or gather information.
She was no longer part of Alter, so what did it matter? She started small by expanding the Wind magic around her, allowing her to hear more from her surroundings.
Then she could hear two tables around her, with a group having an odd conversation.
“I think it’s best we get out of this place.”
“What do you mean? Did you receive an order?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter if we’re going to lose our lives. Didn’t you hear? The Clans are calling all sorts of Alter groups for various tasks, and then they’re never seen again.”
“What? You think the Dark Faction is targeting Alter all of a sudden? No way, that’s crazy.”
“It’s true. No one can even get in contact with the base to confirm it. I’m telling you, something or someone is after us. Don’t accept any requests, and let’s just head out of the Dark Faction.”
“Should we go to the Alter base or just leave it? And what about our missions?”
“Some are just refusing requests and delaying missions, but who knows when we could get caught up in all of this? If we head back now while Alter is saying nothing, they can’t blame us for it.”
Hearing this news, Charlotte didn’t know how to feel. Should she be happy that her pursuers were being killed off, and that maybe she would be safe?
That they had bigger problems to worry about? Or should she be worried that her former colleagues were being killed, and that there was now a chance another group was after her life as well?
“Ahh, I can’t even think straight!” Charlotte groaned, slamming her head on the table. “I wish Himmy were here.” She started to sob, but realized that maybe crying in this situation wasn’t a good idea, especially when she was still partly dehydrated.
But she kept thinking of Himmy and how he would look after her, guide her, and tell her what the right thing to do was. She just needed someone like that right now because she was completely lost.
It almost felt like when she first arrived in Pagna, all alone and different from everyone else. Only now, people were after her life.
“You seem to be having quite a lot on your mind,” a soft voice said.
Charlotte looked up and saw a man wearing yellow clothing, a bright smile on his face.
“We at the Rylon religion help anyone who is in need, so please tell us if there is anything I can do to help ease your troubles,” the man smiled.
Chapter 952 Everyone Here Will Die
A large number of hopeless thoughts swirled around in Charlotte’s head. As the days went on, her situation worsened, and she felt increasingly hopeless.
She wanted someone to lean on, someone to pull her out of the situation she was in. Maybe that was why she had taken the offer given to her.
Right now, she was walking through the streets side by side with a stranger she had met only thirty minutes ago. She thought she might have gone crazy.
Who knew if this man was someone from Alter in disguise? But she was too tired to care. If this man really was from Alter, then so be it—that was just her fate. She couldn’t continue the way she was anymore.
Through their walk, she learned a little about the man. His name was Carl, and he called himself a Meister, a member of the Rylon Religion who worked at the church.
Carl had stated that it was his duty to help people like her, those who appeared lost and without focus, with no way out of their situation—perhaps even people who had run away.
Carl didn’t ask Charlotte to explain her story, which made her trust him more, and on top of that, he had even bought her a nice meal at the inn where they had met.
A combination of these things led her to eventually leave with him.
“The church will give you shelter, a place to stay, and food to eat. We do have certain programs to help people get back on their feet, but we can’t just freely give individuals money,” Carl explained.
“After all, many of those on the streets end up in particular situations due to some part of their own actions in a way. So before letting them back out, we wish for them to have the skills to survive in the world.”
“How is the Rylon Religion able to do all this?” Charlotte asked. “Are they expecting me to join the religion? Because I don’t want to take advantage of you, but I have my own beliefs.”
Carl looked at Charlotte with a bright smile, the same hopeful smile she had first seen as she was losing hope.
“Our churches help many people, and we have many donors, including those we’ve helped in the past. There is no obligation for you to stay, and there is no expectation for you to join us either. Feel free to decide after you see the place,” Carl continued.
Charlotte didn’t want to feel like she was taking advantage of the man, but she thought it was a safe and good hiding place for now.
She thought back to all of her missions and couldn’t remember Alter ever looking into the Rylon Religion or involving them in anything. Which was why she believed it was the perfect place to hide from Alter as well. There would be nothing that troubled them, and there would be no Alter members there.
Charlotte was in a medium-sized town. It wasn’t a city, and therefore the church wasn’t that large either. It was, however, located a bit away from the main town center.
There were a few fields and hills one would have to pass, but the town was still visible from the church-like building. The outside was built with gray stones, and there was a spire on top.
She also noticed many glass-pane windows along the walls. What also caught her attention were the many people outside wearing the same yellow clothing.
They seemed to be cleaning the area or doing fieldwork, and there were even adults walking in and out of the entrance.
“Don’t worry, these are mostly followers of the religion that come here. As I said, we get quite a lot of different individuals, so we understand others’ situations,” Carl explained.
“The sleeping areas are private from the rest.”
Following Carl, he gave her a small tour. There was the main prayer room with benches lined up, as well as ornaments displayed on the walls.
On the back wall, there was a large sun painted, with strange streams of heat coming off it, touching the ground and other areas.
The same workers outside, dressed in orange clothing, could be seen inside as well.
After passing the main room, Charlotte saw them walk past the kitchen and several other areas, including a staircase leading both above and below the building.
After showing her a place where she could wash herself and grab clean tunics and shorts, he then took her to the sleeping area for guests.
Carl opened the door, and the room wasn’t empty by any means. There were already four individuals lying on their beds.
One was a frail-looking woman, who was even rubbing the sides of her arms.
Then there was a teenage boy with a bandage wrapped around one of his eyes. There was also a small child, a boy, who looked to be around six years old.
Finally, there was another man, who didn’t appear frail but had an unshaved, messy beard. He wasn’t paying attention, just staring out the window.
“This is the only sleeping area we have for guests, but I assure you, everyone is fine. Sunder, the teenage boy, has been here the longest, so if you need anything, you can ask him for help.”
The boy with the bandage waved at Charlotte and gave her a small smile.
After that, Carl excused himself, saying he was busy. If she needed anything, she could speak to Sunder for the time being, and he closed the door.
‘Well… it’s not perfect, but it’s better than being on the run and sleeping on the streets,’ Charlotte thought.
Walking over, Charlotte was getting ready to introduce herself, as she didn’t know how long she would be here with these people.
Just as she was about to say hello to the young boy, the woman rubbing her shoulders spoke.
“Leave… leave this place… otherwise, you’ll die… just like everyone else. We’re all going to die.”
