"Ley! Thank you!"
Only after they had traveled some distance did Raphinia's soft voice finally carry over.
The young Knight was no fool — she knew that without
Every single adventure novel was a lie. Those dashing heroes and beautiful princesses didn't exist. What really existed were petty thieves and ogres that devoured living humans!
"So… once the fantasy is shattered, are you still going to continue on your so-called adventuring?"
Leylin asked curiously.
"Of course! This is my path as a Knight!" The young girl's voice was brimming with conviction. "As long as I keep persevering, evil will eventually be destroyed by my hands… and the world will be restored to its beauty!"
"…" Leylin rolled his eyes speechlessly. This daft roadblock showed absolutely no sign of wising up.
"What's with that expression?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking you'd make a perfect Holy Knight for the God of Justice! Really!"
…
Fortunately, the Goddess of Luck finally smiled upon Leylin's party this time, allowing the small convoy to safely pass through the ogre-ravaged area.
Otherwise, Leylin estimated that once surrounded by ogres, his only option would have been to abandon everyone and break through alone.
Everyone else — including the warhorse Nick — would have ended up as ogre rations and dried meat.
"Did their leader die, throwing them into chaos?"
Along the way, they encountered a scattered few members of the merchant caravan. There were even some petty thieves here and there.
Unfortunately, this time even Raphinia had learned to harden her heart. And the high-ranking young Knight, having recovered a portion of her strength, needed virtually no effort to deal with them.
Until this day. A small city with black stone walls appeared before Leylin's eyes.
"We've arrived — Dark Forest Fort. Beyond here lies the Central Plains of Dambraces, the king's directly governed territory…"
Upon seeing the city, Raphinia immediately let out a cheer, while expressions of relief washed over Hera's and Arani's faces.
Although the long journey was only halfway done, the hardships and scares they had endured were more than enough to haunt them for a long time to come.
"Stop! Halt for inspection!"
At the city gates, Leylin's group of adventurers, with their distinctive appearance, was immediately stopped by the guards.
"Hmm? These guards are quite capable? And they're already blooded professional soldiers?"
Leylin watched as Hera stepped forward to negotiate, his brows furrowing slightly.
With his experience, he could of course tell that the guards here were generally high-caliber — likely professional legion soldiers, far beyond anything they had encountered before.
Moreover, in the shadows, he could faintly sense dozens of elite archers already trained on this spot, giving even him a faint prickle of danger.
"To give me that sense of danger, those archers would need to be equipped with something like Mana-Break Arrows... They really do have money..."
Leylin discreetly glanced up toward the ramparts, then turned his attention back to Hera and the others as if nothing had happened.
After verifying each of their mercenary and noble credentials, a middle-aged officer who was clearly a squad leader approached them.
"There have been incidents recently in Dark Forest Fort. If you have no business here, don't linger!"
"Thank you for the warning, sir. Is it ogres?"
A hint of curiosity flickered in Hera's eyes.
"Ogres? They're nothing compared to real devils..." The middle-aged officer scoffed, then said nothing more.
Only as he passed by Leylin and the other mercenaries did he adopt a warning tone: "Once you're inside, don't cause trouble, or else..."
The thinly veiled threat immediately infuriated Raphinia, but Leylin and old Bam had seen this sort of thing plenty of times. They simply shrugged — whether the words actually registered was hard to say.
"Hmph..."
The squad leader didn't bother arguing with Raphinia. A glimmer of disappointment seemed to flash in his eyes before he waved them on: "Move along!"
"The strength of a legion like this is already on par with that ogre tribe we faced before..."
Ray lowered his head, the sharp glint in his eyes flickering continuously.
"So it really is true — national forces and legions are the mainstream among ordinary humans in the World of the
It was from them that Ray finally caught a glimpse of that multinational military bearing — swords standing like a forest, spears bristling like thickets, perhaps even backed by mages and priests. Even that mid-ranking officer from earlier had an aura nearly on par with a high-level warrior. What's more, the man had clearly been tempered by the crucible of war; that killing intent born of real bloodshed was something no common mercenary could ever match.
"Still, going by what they said earlier, something has obviously happened here too..."
After entering the city, the deserted streets and the strict security immediately drew a frown from Ray.
"We should rest here for a while. We might also need to buy a carriage and recruit a few mercenaries..."
Once they found an inn that was still open, Hera addressed Ray and the others with a trace of weariness on her face.
"Mm, we really do need a new carriage!" Raphinia wholeheartedly endorsed the suggestion. Now that they had finally reached a human city, she was also eager to get some proper rest.
For a noble lady, nothing was more intolerable than filth and grime. Unfortunately, the journey had never been short of either — especially for mercenaries.
That poor Raphinia hadn't been driven mad by it all was thanks solely to the iron will forged through her training as a Knight.
Bam agreed as well, practically itching to trade the ogre ears he had collected for his commission and, while he was at it, stock up on a fresh supply of rum.
"Alright then, we'll meet back here in three days!"
Ray nodded without much one way or the other. He was curious about what had transpired at Darkwood Fortress.
"Ray, wait! Your friend needs your help! My injuries need a priest's healing..."
When the time came to part ways, old Bam grabbed hold of Ray, his eyes brimming with tears.
Seeing him like that, Ray could only shrug and bring along the old man with his broken leg. Bam worshipped the God of Warriors, and the temple wasn't far from the mercenary guild anyway.
"Divine Arts — [Moderate Wound Healing]!"
In the Temple of the Warriors, sacred light cascaded down from a priest's hands. The wound on Bam's thigh quickly knit itself shut, fresh new skin even sprouting over the injury.
"The healing fee is five gold krona!"
The priest's face radiated holiness — but the price of healing had not been reduced by even a fraction.
Casting divine arts to heal the injuries of believers, then charging fees in return — this was the common operating model of nearly every temple.
Divines also needed wealth, to build magnificent temples, and more importantly, to attract believers with more generous terms.
Old Bam, who was usually stingy beyond compare, paid the bill without the slightest hesitation, not daring to haggle even a little. Only after they had left the temple did his face twist with regret.
"If our employer didn't need to set out in the next few days, Old Bam would much rather have gone to a physician or an apothecary. Damn it, five gold krona — how many bottles of rum could that buy? ...Oh! By my god, Old Bam didn't mean it..."
Old Bam kept muttering under his breath: "No way! This expense has to go on our employer's tab! You'll back me up on that, right? Lei?"
Leilin pretended not to hear any of it and walked through the doors of the Mercenary Guild alongside Old Bam.
Old Bam rushed off to exchange the ogre ears and recoup his losses, while Leilin made his way to the mission hall.
The hall here was considerably smaller than the one in Aimon City, with mercenaries scattered sparsely about. Both in number and in quality, they seemed somewhat lacking.
This abnormal atmosphere found its explanation the moment Leilin laid eyes on the mission board.
"High-rank mission — track down the trail of devil cultists! This mission is extremely dangerous — please choose carefully before accepting!"
"High-rank mission — investigate the dark god ritual at Lord Vorko's estate!"
"High-rank mission — investigate the cause of Baron Feren's death..."
Row upon row of high-rank missions hung on the board, making for an impressive sight. Unfortunately, very few mercenaries dared to take them on.
"Interesting — devils, huh?"
A smile suddenly tugged at the corner of Leilin's lips. Connecting this to the unusual military movements from before, and the worried look on that mid-ranking officer's face, everything clicked into place.
So the reason Dark Forest Fortress had seemed so off lately was actually due to the activities of devil cultists.
Missions of this difficulty had always been the domain of temples and national armies. No wonder the mercenaries here had so little enthusiasm.
But their lack of interest didn't mean Leilin shared it.
In truth, Leilin had always been deeply curious about the Hell and the devils of this world.
Though through
According to the other party's memories, Hell as a whole consisted of nine layers, each ruled by its own lord, along with several public zones… And to be able to breach planar restrictions and come to the Primary Material World to spread faith… at the very minimum, this would have to be something only a Hell lord of the same rank could accomplish…
The
No wonder that merely the discovery of a few traces had thrown the entire city into a state of dire alert.
That scene of the soul seed projection from back then once again surfaced before Leilin's eyes.
"I wonder how that little fellow Tifa is doing now? After all, he received the power of my main body's soul seed. If he was able to adapt, his strength should be quite respectable by now…"