It was a rare sight for Metello to see Maria embarrassed.

“Can I... come with you ?”

Even if Metello was happy to see her alive, he couldn't easily accept her presence while they were fleeing the mayor and his [Guards].

“What are you saying? We are not going to a picnic. Why aren't you with Mrs Richardson? How did you manage to come here ?”

Babayet voice interrupted the arguing.

“It's no time to debate now, youngsters. We shouldn't stay here waiting for long. As we can neither leave her here alone nor go back to the city, let her jump in for now. We'll decide what to do about it later.”

“Yay!”

The girl's dusty face lit up, but it was Babayet's youngest daughter who cried out in delight in the dark tunnel. A new girl around her age was allowed to travel with them, it was a rare thing. Maria threw a middle-size bag in the vehicle and followed it by jumping in. All her embarrassment was gone.

“Hello. My name is Maria, and I am Metello's best friend. Thank you for taking me with you.”

A small smile drew itself in the [Lux Acolyte]'s face as he heard how she presented herself.

“Josette, can you drive the horses for now ?”

Babayet's wife nodded, and the man came into the carriage to sit on one of the two three-places cushioned chests. The vehicle moved quickly after.

“I think we have to talk before you can rest a bit. Please, sit on the chests. Opale and Jade, settle down on the raw leather and let Maria come through.”

As his friend was coming toward them, Metello's smile had disappeared. He didn't wait for her to sit to resume their arguing.

“Why did you leave your brother alone? And Mrs Richardson ?”

Maria retorted in a blink as she sat at his side.

“If not, I would have left you alone too.”

Metello was flabbergasted. He hadn't thought about it that way. Babayet interrupted him before he could reply once more.

“Metello, look at her dusty face and clothes. She probably had already hidden under the carriage when we departed from the poor district area. It shows she was very motivated. Let her explain why she thought she had to endure this. Go on, young girl.”

“Thank you, sir. Actually, I know what the Warming Light Protectors' name means, even if I had to bug Jeffrey for several cycles before he finally told me. Now that I know what we'll have to face, I understand it better, and I don't want to go and hide with the other orphans, waiting for other people to protect us. I want to help fight Nox because every monster hunter counts as the [Menta Saint] said the last cycle. That is too important to leave it to others. As it is what you want to do from the start with your squad, I want to do it with you.”

Ianina's cheery voice followed closely.

“Well said, Maria! I agree. I like you, girl!”

The calm voice of Babayet added.

“Indeed, these are pretty good reasons. Josette and I could even say that we have the same reasons as her for willing to join your group. But we'll talk about it later. For now, what do you say about it, Metello? Do you think it was a good enough reason ?”

The [Lux Acolyte] reluctantly agreed, but he asked more questions to Maria.

“But you can't think about fighting monsters with us, are you ?"

“Why not ?”

“But you haven't come of age yet! And it will be too dangerous for you.”

“If it is safe enough for you, it will be for me too!” She calmed down before adding with an expectant face. “And, I hope that maybe you could gift me some monster cores. I would absorb them as you told me it was possible and unlock my class before my coming of age.”

Ianina answered while grimacing.

“That's a pretty bad idea, Maria. It is a possible thing, but there are consequences. I know a nobleman who did this as a child and got caught by a Nihil follower. He was stripped of his class and blessings. Now, he is around 45 years old and lived almost all his life without the gods' help. Some Nihil followers can do that. How old are you again ?”

“I'm 11, but nearly 12.”

“Maybe you can wait for a bit more than two years? You can work on your blessings until there.”

Maria grew frustrated.

“I am already doing this for a year now. And I want to help. I would only have to avoid meeting Nihil followers.”

Babayet took his turn to speak to Maria first, then to the three monster hunters.

“You can be helpful even without fighting at first. This way, you will be safer too. Well... If I already said that much, let's go all the way. I already told you three that I hope I can join the Warming Light Protectors, but it would have been more proper to say that WE as a family want to join you. We can offer you many small things apart from fighting. First, you could travel in this vehicle. Then, you could make us of my pretty wife's services as an [Animal Craftswoman]. Josette would take care of butchering your prey, crafting or repairing leather armors, and other kinds of clothes. Finally, as a [Traveling Merchant], I could offer different things too. For a start, I would hunt with you. I have all the skills you should know of a [Merchant], but as a traveling one, I have access to the [Warrior]'s tier one combat blessings as long as I use Aqua's weapons. I have a [Traveling Merchant] exclusive blessing that could be really helpful to you too.”

Babayet's hand reached into the air and pulled on an octagonal wooden shaft from a floating black hole until he held a 1,8-meter trident. He explained it to the owners of the four pairs of wide eyes.

“This is Void Pocket. It allows [Traveling Merchants] to arrange part of their merchandise in a personal space out of the world. With it at level five, I can stock and preserve around 1600 kg of goods. It includes monster's bodies, for example.”

Roger was the first to voice his opinion.

“It would be so damn useful! How many 15 kg ratman bodies does that make ?”

As Metello tried to calculate, Babayet replied almost instantly it was around 106.

“Wow!”

“So, please, keep in mind that we would like to join you, but you don't need to answer for now. You could answer when we are in a safe place. So, Maria, do you see how we can be useful even without fighting ?”

They continued talking about Maria's future further. Metello gradually accepted she would stay with him. Maria conceded not to force her class to unlock it and wait for it before hunting. All but Metello were impressed went Maria told them what blessing she already had at her age.

The carriage finally reached the end of the long tunnel after almost a two-hour trip in the dark, and Babayet sat back down in the driver's seat. The tunnel ended with a sharp turn and opened into an indirectly lightened area bordered by the river. The only way out was a moving bridge worked by its keeper who lived there.

The [Merchant] spoke to the bridge keeper who lowered the moving bridge. A few seconds passed, and they were back under the full sun. Metello looked outside the carriage despite the sharp northward cold wind hitting them. It was the first time he ever saw the vast plains spreading out under his gaze, with Ironholes' river running almost straight toward the too far Yellow River. Most of the space he could see was wild dry prairies. Only a few villages along the western side of the river broke the monotony of the landscape by showing some tamed lands and low houses. Far down the river, the Lux follower could catch sight of Bridgetown and his walls. It was their first destination as the road on which the carriage advanced was the sole one until there.

Then, Metello came back inside and sat again. He was still curious about how things unfolded on the orphanage side after the mayor talked about where he grew up, so he asked Maria.

“When I heard the message from the [Menta Saint], I was on the roof playing the flute. After that, I understood the prophecy better. I had heard some things before about the [Apostle] or undead horde, but never the whole thing together.

Then, when I heard the mayor's message, it angered me! All these Nox bollocks he told about you and the orphanage. If I could, I would have kicked him hard between his legs to bring him back to reality. I had not realized that we were in danger at the orphanage until Mrs Richardson called everybody with the loudest voice you ever heard from her. Even if she was at the orphanage entrance and I was above the dormitories, almost the farthest possible from the entry door, I jumped in surprise as I thought she was just a few meters from me.

A minute later, everybody was at the entrance, even Albert, the slug. Maybe, you could better imagine how motivating had been her voice knowing that. There, she explained that there would surely be people who would come to hurt us. She wanted us to stay inside but not far from her. She had barely finished telling us that a drunkard was here to insult us. He called Mrs Richardson a mother of monsters, this rat-sucker! If she had not prevented me from rushing in, I would have taken all his remaining teeth.

More and more people came around the orphanage, and Mrs Richardson chanted a Prayer of Calor to scare them, which mostly succeeded. But, I think it was a [Rogue] that still attacked. He had been nicely welcomed with a fireball to his head and went away with his hair burnt and smelling like a grilled rat. Mrs Richardson was so badass! More and more people came, and they called us Nox this, Nox that. Some more people tried to attack Mrs Richardson, but they were afraid to smell like grilled rat like the first one.

Then Jeffrey arrived. He was breathless. And he was so angered! If only you could have seen him. He checked with Carl and Isobel while catching his breath before shouting at the crowd. Which... had not been the best idea. The bunch of sissies became braver, and they approached us all together like good sissies. They were perhaps a thousand! I didn't count, but they were really a lot.

Then, Mrs Richardson made a Firewall to prevent them from coming closer. It was so beautiful! And hot too. That worked well for a few minutes. They still threw things at her, but she dodged right and left like a [Rogue]. It was almost funny. Then, a group of perhaps twenty [Rogues] arrived, with many former orphanage residents in it. I didn't recognize many of them as they all wore masks, but Finley and Anton came to speak to me. A bit later, a group of monster hunters came too, and things calmed down. The crowd dispersed.

But we were still angry about what the mayor told everybody, especially Mrs Richardson and Jeffrey. We knew the truth about you and spread it to the [Rogues] and monster hunters who didn't know yet. We quickly decided to try and free you. Only a few trusted the mayor to conduct a fair trial.

Jeffrey and some [Rogues] went to the Guardhouse to see if they could help you flee the building, but they couldn't. They concluded that the best moment to try and free you was when you would be on your way to the trial.

Mrs Richardson was sure that the trial would be a fake one. I didn't see it, so I don't know. You'll tell me what this zombie-brained mayor said, OK?

Yes, so for the trial... Yes, Mrs Richardson contacted her friends in the Nihil temple. She wanted the head [High Priest] to be there for the case to see it was fake and call the mayor out. That had been hard to manage if I heard it well.

For his part, Jeffrey ran everywhere! He went to Ianina's bodyguard, then to Roger's friends. He spoke to people at the House too, I think. He found all the allies he could and got back all he could from your belongings. They discussed the plan altogether, but I couldn't hear much of it. Andrea caught me and made me go away. But, you know what? I think Mrs Richardson is a member of the [Rogue]'s Guild.”

“Are you sure ?”

“Not quite. But it doesn't matter for now. I have almost finished.

I don't remember when Babayet came to the orphanage, but when I understood he would be the one to lead you out of the city, I decided to hide under his carriage. I think I stayed under it for two hours! But I think I leveled up Hide thanks to that. Haha!”

After the tell, Metello could only think about one thing.

“How much did your Hearing Sense upgraded with all this eavesdropping ?”

She replied and stuck her tongue out, looking pleased.

“Only once.”

As they arrived in Bridgetown, the three monster hunters had somewhat rested a bit on the move. They could not stop and rest yet as they were afraid to be chased still, so they had to pick a direction to proceed. There were only two options: the Farport road to the west and the Little orc road to the east. Babayet stopped the carriage, which woke up everyone. Then, he asked.

“Which direction ?”

Ianina and Roger didn't mind much, so Metello gave his opinion.

“I'd like to go to the east. My parents' family should be in the Saint John Empire, to the east, and I'd like to try and find them.”

Roger was as surprised as the asking Ianina.

“You still have a family? I thought you hadn't known your parents.”

“Yes, but I got some information from the murder files in the Guardhouse. I don't have much, but I still want to try.”

“Right. If nobody objects, let's go east then.”

Some hours later, they stopped some distance away from the road in a hollow in the landscape. It was finally time to rest for good. As Babayet helped him settle his leather camping bed, he thought about something.

“I wonder, why did you choose us ?”

“Choose you ?”

“You could have asked more experienced hunters to accompany them, couldn't you ?”

“Ah! This. I don't know how much you know about [Merchant] blessings. We have one called Sense opportunities, which is mainly used to detect large monetary gain potentials. It helps when investing in a type of goods or when you need to find a [Craftsman]. But in fact, it depends on the goals of the person. When I came into the town, mine was not to make money but to find people to help me and my family hunt and grow stronger. My blessing flaring up twice as we met each other is the reason why I think the Warming Light Protectors are fated to great things, and I want to be part of it.”

A few minutes later, and before falling asleep on a small pile of leather under the carriage with Roger, Metello said a quick Prayer of Status. He counted several times the number of levels in his Lux blessings with a tired smile.

"Only one more to become a [Priest]."

Status : Metello Level : 3,12 Ether : 1388 Class : Lux Acolyte (basic) Stamina 6,7/69,9 4,5/h (regeneration) Divine energy 101,2/103,2 6.7/h (regeneration) Statistics Base Effective Class bonus Strength Upper 8 9 4% Lower 8,1 9,1 4% Agility Body 9 10,1 4% Hand 10,7 12,7 4% Resilience Body 8,6 9,7 4% Mind 11,1 (↑0.2) 14,6 10% Mind Intelligence 8,7 9,8 4% Imagination 12,8 16,8 10% Faith Power 10,5 14,8 10% Control 11,8 16,6 (Lux : 17,4) 10% Perception Sense 10,1 12 4% Memory 10,6 11,9 4% Social Comprehension 8,9 (↑0.1) 10 4% Expression 8,5 9,6 4% Blessings Bestower tier level Lux Blessings Lux Lux devotee 2 1 passive Lux Prayer of Beam 2 1 active Lux Light artist 2 1 passive Lux Prayer to Lux 1 5 active Lux Sight sense 1 2 passive Lux Hiding 1 3 (↑1) passive Lux Graphic arts 1 2 passive Lux Rapier Handling 1 3 passive Lux Spear Handling 1 1 passive Lux Light resist 1 2 passive Lux Identify Art Quality 1 3 active Battle and prayer support blessing Fulgur Ranged Prayer 2 1 passive Petrus Shield Handling 1 1 passive Other Prayers Fulgur Prayer of Thanks 1 3 active/passive Nihil Prayer of Status 1 3 active Aqua Prayer to Aqua 1 1 active Aeris Prayer to Aeris 1 1 active Calor Prayer to Calor 1 1 active Vegeta Prayer to Vegeta 1 1 active Anima Prayer to Anima 1 1 active Other Petrus Resting 1 3 passive Aqua Cleaning 1 1 passive Menta Reading 1 4 passive Menta Counting 1 3 passive Menta Writing 1 1 passive Menta Focus 1 2 passive Nihil Absorb core 1 2 active