Terry’s body was dismembered by the hobgoblin while the two goblins eating his flesh. Fortunately, he was no longer living after the hob crushed his head to a pulp. Max couldn't move because of the shaman’s magic snare, the bloody feast was happening right in front of him. The gore was too much for the boy and he threw up, overwhelmed by the sight and smell of the gruesome horror.

Am I going to die like that?

The hob glanced at Max’s direction and the hulking monster approached the paralyzed boy. Max was consumed by despair, he’d lost all hope and ready to accept his death but fate had other plans for him.

“Haaaahhh!”

A person wearing white armor appeared like lightning, long golden hair swayed behind her head. Her arrival was accompanied by a silver flash then she slashed with her sword, the attack cleaved the hob’s towering body diagonally. It couldn't react at all to the woman’s swift attack. The shaman looked surprised and let out a shriek, but it was cut short, the woman already stabbed its throat.

She turned her head and met Max’s eyes, the sun was rising from behind her. Max could see the figure of his rescuer clearly then felt his heart pierced by lightning. Max thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, a golden-haired beauty with eyes blue like the sky, wearing silver-white armor. She was holding a kite shield on one arm while wielding an elegant sword coated with red blood on the other. The sun’s light divinized her presence in Max’s eyes, it made her looked like an angel from heaven, sent by the Goddess to rescue him.

“I’m sorry, I wasn't able to save your friend... are you alright?” She said with concern on her face.

Max who was watching her with mouth wide open, was brought back to reality by her angelic voice.

“Y-Yes… t-thank you! For saving me.”

So beautiful, and she’s so young! She should be only five years older than me, tops.

“It was the Goddess’ guidance, I merely did what should be done. What happened here?”

Max explained what happened as best as he could, near the end of his explanation, Viers returned, carrying Farley and Paina. Viers returned because he saw her coming and saw the demise of the goblin duo.

“...Silver Legion...” Muttered Farley softly, without an enhanced hearing, Viers wouldn't be able to hear it.

“Viers!!” Max roared angrily.

When Max saw Viers, he approached him. Viers put down the girls from his shoulders for he already anticipated Max’s reaction. Using all of the strength he had left, Max punched Viers on the cheek.

***

Viers did not resist, Max vented out his frustration about Terry’s death while he was punching him but he didn't really put his words on his head. After the second punch, Farley and Paina stopped Max from lashing out further, then a hand grabbed Max’s shoulder.

“It is unfortunate about what happened but blaming him won't bring your fallen friend back. Now, there are still some villagers that can be saved if treated quickly, could you bring them to me? It wasn’t my specialty but I can provide some healing for them.”

She said calmly while treating the kids’ wounds using light path Arte. Farley’s broken arm was visibly mending back, all of their wounds were swiftly healed. After they recovered, the four of them brought the wounded villagers to her to be treated. The mother and the baby came after the situation calmed down, she cried over the lifeless body of her husband. About ten villagers managed to survive the goblin attack. After she was done giving them first aid, she spoke to all of them.

“Apologies but I must depart now, some of the women were taken by the goblins, yes? I must rescue them quickly before it's too late.”

“I will come with you!” Max’s volunteered.

“Thank you for your bravery but I alone am enough, take care of your friend’s remains and report this to the guild. We each have our own duty to fulfill. Farewell young adventurers, Goddess willing, we would meet again.” She put her right hand on her left chest and offered a slight bow but before she could turn her body, Max asked her a question.

“Wait! M-May I know your name, m-my lady?” Max said, with a tinge of red on his face.

“Ciel, Ciel Valentine.” She replied while smiling, before going on her way.

Seeing the love-smitten boy, Viers didn’t need the Spring of Wisdom to guess the inside of Max’s mind and heart.

***

The journey back to Luxore was a silent one, a striking contrast to their departure which was filled with laughter. There were five of them walking this road yesterday, now they walked that same road with one less. Max carried Terry’s remaining body while the others carried their own luggage and Terry’s.

There will be much drama after this, sigh… how troublesome.

As he suspected, dealing with the guards at the town’s entrance, the guild, and the people at the dorm took a lot out of him. He felt it was more troublesome and tiring than fighting the goblins.

Night had fallen, Viers didn't even want to remember the exhausting things that happened after his return to Luxore. He was currently meditating on top of his bed. After becoming a level 0 Path-seeker, he had no difficulty gathering Mana for strengthening his Intio from the environment around him. He already tested that using ordinary water no longer gave him any more benefit than what he was doing now.

Currently, my situation of Mana-mastery is like having to fill a big bucket but I only add one drop of water every five minutes of meditating. Not impossible to accomplish but so inefficient and time-consuming. Three ways to improve this situation, move to a region richer in Mana and train there, find resources full of Mana that suitable for me like super water or something, and lastly, use Mana crystals.

“Fuu...”

Viers exhaled and stopped his meditation, he didn't spend too much time on his meditation lately because of the inefficiency. He approached the window to gaze at the two moons.

Terry’s matter isn’t over yet, there’s still the funeral… will his parents blame me and make things difficult for me? So annoying… sigh. Terry, Terry, Terry, I don’t want you to die but what else could I do? Truthfully, I’m sad you’re dead… but your death won’t change my way of life. Can’t you just be a star in the sky and bless me like the dead from other stories? Farewell Terry, may you find peace.

Then there’s Ciel, Farley whispered Silver Legion… if past Viers’s memory is not wrong, Silver Legion is the Est Church’s military organization. Est Church or just the Church for short, is another name for the faith of Estelle, what people call the Goddess. The Church is the most prominent religion in the Coalition, maybe even the whole continent. Weddings, funerals, and any other religious services are all done by the Church’s people. The Church’s teaching is very similar to Christianity on Earth, do good things and don’t do bad things, it will lead you to the path of happiness, salvation, and you go to heaven after you die.

Well, I’m okay with people doing good so no problem from me. In other stories, the religious organization is actually run by bad guys and depicted as a villainous organization, I wonder what would be the case here? Once an organization becomes big enough, corruption becomes inevitable. I hope the big shots are not horribly incompetent or corrupt so the Est Church remains a force of good.

Viers heard the sound of a flute coming from above him. The melody was infused with a grieving tune, a calming chain of tunes of elegant sadness. Viers listened to this melody, he felt the sound was being carved inside his heart. It had been a long time since he heard a piece of good music, not since he reincarnated in this world. He listened in silence, afraid of interrupting the musician's performance of eulogy. He waited until it was over, then Viers addressed the flute player.

“It was beautiful, Terry would be glad… I didn’t know you are a musician, Paina.” He stuck out his head of the window while looking upwards.

“Viers? You were listening? Thank you for the praise… I suppose. I just wish to do something, for Terry.” Paina also extended her head to talk with Viers below her.

“It wasn’t your fault, how are you holding up?”

“I… I don’t know how to answer that question, others have asked that same question and I answered that I’m fine but…”

“Get some sleep Paina, you’ve had a stressful day,” Viers said to the girl whose eyes got puffy because of too much crying.

“I know, good night Viers… and Viers?”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t said my gratitude to you… Thank you, for carrying me. If you didn’t, I might be dead by now.” She meekly smiled at him.

“…Don’t mention it.”

They didn’t speak anymore, Viers heard the sound of window closing from above him. He didn’t go red-faced for Paina heartfelt gratitude like in the anime, he’d rather bet all of his money on a black and red roulette than expecting a girl to fell in love with him. He didn’t expect love nor did he want to do anything involving love at this point.

A man should never think he knows what a girl is feeling, I made that mistake once on Earth… it was a catastrophe. Just focus on getting stronger Viers. Love or affection is a dangerous thing, like nitroglycerin.

Just when he wanted to sleep, someone was knocking his door. Viers opened his door and found Farley standing in front of him.

Farley? What does she want?

“Far-”

Before Viers could speak more words, Farley used her hand to cover his mouth then forced her way inside Viers’s room. Farley then closed and locked the door, she took out a pendant from her chest that was hidden by her shirt and she activated it. The instant Viers saw the pendant, he dashed for his sword, confusion changed to a sense of crisis. He unsheathed the sword and ready to invoke his defensive Arte. He watched Farley as if she was a dangerous beast barging into his room.

“Whoa, whoa, relax. That pendant will isolate all sound from coming out from this room, it’s not dangerous… why are you ready for battle?” Farley said while putting her hands halfway up.

“Explain yourself.” His voice was cold.

“You already got some inkling, yes?” She said sheepishly.

“Nope.”

“A girl came into a boy’s room late in the night after he saved her this morning… you need more explanation after that?” She started to play with her shoulder-length brown hair.

“Yes, what you’re implying is too good to be true. I’ve learned that if it’s too good to be true, that means it’s a scam. Start talking and don’t make sudden movements,” Viers was in full combat readiness.

“…”

Farley was silent for some time, then she smiled. The mask of an embarrassed girl that she wore this whole time fell from her face and her expression changed into a genuine smile.

“It seems my eyes didn’t deceive me. At first, I wanted to seduce you to make things easier but you’re more vigilant than I thought, this is even better.”

“Start. Talking. Sense.” Viers felt he was in a situation outside of his control, it made him very uneasy.

“Oh, phooey, so impatient… alright, alright, I’ve come to invite you to my cult.” Farley pouted, she put her hands on her waist as she talked.

“A cult? No thank you, you can go.”

“We can give you power, money, and improve your tier 2 talent.”

“!”

She said calmly, like dangling a bread before a starving beggar. Viers was shocked by her offer, she offered three things that he desired the most.

“And what do you want in return?” He frowned.

“Your service, we will give you rewards equal to your contribution to our cause.”

“Do I have to sell my soul?”

“What’s your soul got to do with it? No.” She tilted her head in confusion.

“Do I have to agree to a contract that binds me for eternity?”

“Our cult beliefs in freedom and power so we won’t make you our puppet or brainwash you. There are some covenants for higher-ranking members but for a new recruit like you, only two. You don’t tell anybody about our cult and don’t do anything detrimental to our cult as a whole. And it’s not for eternity, only until you die.” She snickered.

“Now that you’ve already told me about all this… I don’t really have a choice, am I right?”

“Yep, you can’t refuse or you will be killed. You're good, most people don't realize that until we spell it out for them.” Farley smiled brightly like an innocent child.

Viers looked into her eyes, she had a different feel from the Farley he knew. Viers weighed his options, he didn't think that joining the cult would be a simple matter. He didn't simply believe Farley's threat of death but he didn't make light of it either. If this cult had some strong Path-seekers, he wouldn't be able to avoid death and killing Farley right now wasn't an option.

“I’d like to hear the details before submitting my application.”

“Perfect. I welcome you, to the Cult of Dumuzin. You won’t regret it.”