The sounds coming from the now-distant Elkif were slowly becoming even scarier the further Glavas went. Every muscle in his body was telling him to go back and help them. After all, for him, it wouldn't be all that difficult. With Alma on his side and her power to hold practically any creature inside the sealing scroll, it almost felt like cheating. However, the hunter knew that at the moment, there was a unique opportunity that simply wouldn't be available any other time. Should he miss it, the situation would never get resolved. There would come other monsters, potentially even stronger and more horrifying than the Granitar. The city had to fend for itself for at least a little while. He had faith that with their sheer numbers, they would be able to hold their ground. And so with a freshly-conjured light-blue sickle in his hand, he wandered on. His eyes danced all over the ground and small flora, looking for any signs of footprints or stomps on the grass.

Eventually, he stopped. The tracks led elsewhere, but they were as fresh as they could be. Whoever Glavas was tracking was close. So close that they would most definitely be able to see him. After all, the hunter wasn't exactly trying to conceal his presence. So he simply stood there, waiting, staring into the distance. It didn't take long as the person in hiding grew curious. Such a reaction was predictable. After all, when one is being looked for by a potentially dangerous individual, they do their best to hide. However, when the search suddenly stops without any sound or reason, the individual in question often peeks out of their cover to investigate what exactly is going on. This, unfortunately, often proves their undoing.

A pale hand slowly reached around a tree, soon followed by a long-haired head. The man stared at Glavas for a few seconds. The hunter didn't seem to be moving at all. What happened to him? What did he notice? The hiding elf didn't have long to think about the possibilities. A powerful grip grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed him against the tree. The man inhaled, ready to scream for help, but before a single vowel could leave his throat, a sickle made of light-blue metal landed on his neck. He let out only a short yelp as the weapon's blade dug into the wood behind him, pinning him to the tree. One quick movement and he would cut his arteries against the sickle.

"One loud sound and I will decapitate you right here. Understood?" Glavas spoke quietly.

The man in white robes looked to the side. Just in time to see the apparition of Glavas that was standing stiff amidst the trees dissolving into numerous tiny glass-like shards.

"Mm-hm," the elven priest replied, too afraid to speak a word.

"Isitan... I really almost fell for it, you know?" Glavas smirked and slightly loosened the pressure on the weapon to give the man some more breathing space. "When we ran into you on the way to Elkif, I thought you came to greet us. Maybe to check if the terrifying Moonscourge was indeed coming back. If I knew what you were planning, I would've stopped you right there and then. Guess that part is on me."

"How did you..." he spoke slowly, making sure to not move his neck one bit.

"How did I figure it out?"

"Yes. Was it... the detective?"

"Clive? Nah! That bastard probably ran off to hide the moment something like a Granitar showed up. No, I found out about it when I noticed the yellow glow in the creature's eye."

"Ah. It was... visible."

"Yup. But that's not really your fault. A normal person would never get close enough to Granitar to spot something so small, let alone manage to run away and do something about it. But unfortunately for you, I am no normal person."

"I can see that. But... how did you... know it was me?"

"A priest from Elkif went on a stroll so far outside the city without any guards? Seemed kinda odd. And when we went on toward the mountain, you headed the opposite way. On foot. With no other city nearby, I wondered where you could be going. At first, I even thought you might've gone mushrooming. But no, you went for the Granitar, didn't you?"

The man did not reply. He stood there, shaking and avoiding direct eye contact.

"Seriously, what an asshole you are. Mind control. It can really be an answer to a man's every problem, as long as he's willing to abandon his morality. So, where is the artifact?"

"W-What artifact?"

"Don't play with me, Isitan! I am not your regular brain-washed Odimai. You can't use magic for shit, let alone something as powerful as mind control. So you used one of the artifacts the church has in store. Where is it?"

The priest slowly reached into his robes, rummaging through them, before pulling around a small glass orb with a golden ring running around it. In the middle, Glavas could see a tiny model of the Granitar, as if somebody carved it out of wood, painted it, and then sealed it in transparent resin.

"This? Wow, I expected something more advanced. Elkif really went with the cheapest trinket they could find, huh?" the hunter mocked him.

"I... I took that. Not Elkif."

"Huh?"

"It was... my idea. The priests, they... they don't know."

"Really? Well, that is one bad spot you found yourself in."

"Are you..." a few tears appeared in the man's eyes. "Are you going to kill me?"

Glavas smirked and stayed silent for a few seconds, enjoying a hundred shades of terror that colored the man's face. "Nah!" he eventually said and let the priest go. "But try to run or attack and I will fight back. Running especially would be difficult without a leg. Or attacking without an arm."

Isitan swallowed loudly. "Of course. I... I will not move unless you tell me to."

"Perfect! Makes it easier. Now, use it," Glavas tossed the man the small glass orb. "Tell the Granitar to return back home to its territory."

"I... I can't," he replied and his eyes widened with surprise.

"You can't?"

"It... It's unconscious. The creature is not responding."

"Unconscious? So they really did take care of it? Huh... Maybe I shouldn't have underestimated the Unodes so much. Well, then that is perfect." He reached into his holster, pulled out his gun, and aimed it at the priest. "March!"

"Listen, if you..."

"March!!"

Isitan no longer objected. He raised his hands to the level of his head, turned around, and began walking back toward Elkif.

"What were you trying to do anyway?"

"I... I wanted to... kill some Unodes."

"Now that's a boring reason. Why? What made you do it? Religious hatred?"

"No. Economy."

"Economy?"

"The money is... It is running out. Each year, more Unodes are born. Some Odimai even become Unodes willingly just to have families. Our Faith, our precious currency, is being watered down. Your kind is taking over."

"Why not make more money then? Is it that fucking hard?"

"I knew you would never understand. You are an Unode after all."

"And you're at gunpoint. I would consider your words more carefully."

"Right..."

"So? Why not make more? Answer."

"Because Faith was given to us by our Goddess. It is the perfect currency. Holy, blessed, cannot be stolen, and automatically transfers itself between heirs. It's self-governing. Unlike the coins you gain from humans and other species, which you so proudly carry around in big bags, Faith is pure. Greed cannot taint it."

"And it's also almost worthless outside of Elkif."

"Another benefit. It cannot be interfered with by outsiders. Don't you get it? It's revolutionary. Magical currency."

"You just don't know how to make more, do you?"

"Well... it was made by the Goddess..."

"That's what I thought. You can't make more and you're afraid to establish a new coin system because blah blah, the goddess would be angry, blah blah."

"I suppose you might say that."

"And you wanted to kill Unodes to... make their descendants and families richer? That makes no sense."

"The money of the dead would go to the survivors. They would become rich enough to become Odimai again. And the number of Moon elves would once again move closer to the determined maximum."

"You have no idea how much I desire to blow your brains out right now."

"Why haven't you then? What do you want from me?"

"To make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yeah. Do you have any idea why the rest of Elkif never interfered with us Unodes? Why they don't just slaughter us?"

"Umm..."

"Because there's more of us. If we wanted to change the way you govern things, all we would need is a tiny revolution," Glavas whispered into Isitan's ear. Shivers ran down the priest's spine. "But the Unodes don't do so, because they still believe in the goddess. They still want to be on her good side. But what do you think would happen if they found out that the church just tried to perform a genocide and wanted to disguise it as a monster attack?"

"You wouldn't..."

"You're right. I wouldn't. I don't want a revolution. People would die. On both sides. That would be tragic. Not to mention that neither the Unodes nor the church want that. You were just an exception. A lost extremist."

"So?"

"So, we will come up with a story. How I noticed the mind control magic and went to investigate. Let's say you were... trying to control the creature to stop it from getting too close, but you got trapped under some rubble, so the spell didn't work. I figured it out and came to save your sorry ass after about... let's say five minutes of you pathetically begging me to do so. And then we will never speak of this again. No more monsters. No more brainwashing." Glavas leaned even closer to Isitan's ear. "Because if something like this happens again. I will personally lead that revolution and watch as Elkif burns and crumbles along with the old regime."

"I begged. I begged for my life and you saved me."

"Good. Glad to know we understand each other."

They both remained silent for the rest of the trip back. Isitan would later recall this walk through nature as one of the most stressful events in his life. To be held hostage by a Moonscourge was an event that history books often described as a one-way trip, usually ending in suffering and death. Fortunately for him, the current holder of the title was an exception to the rule.

The surprise that awaited Glavas upon his return was so great that he almost dropped his gun when he saw it. The entire area of the forest was covered in settled-down orange spores. There, in the middle of them, lay the Granitar, peacefully snoring away, restrained by layers upon layers of magic, haphazardly thrown together in hopes to keep the creature from getting up again. What surprised the hunter even more though, was the fact that this entire conflict did not yield a single casualty. There were a few wounded here and there, but those were being cared for by all the doctors the district could spare. It was a victory as clean as it could be.

The moment the people spotted Glavas escorting the priest back, they nearly drowned the two in questions. "Where have you been? What happened? Who is that guy?" The hunter kept his responses as short as possible. After quickly spurting out the story about how he saved the "kind" priest who only wanted to help, his attention turned to the children.

"Don't worry, they're fine. I'll take you to them." Glint's words were like soothing cold waves over the burning flames of Glavas' worries. The two then immediately headed off deeper into the city, leaving Isitan to deal with the people however he'd see fit.

"Guys!" Glavas called to them and rushed over to their side. One of the healers was just finishing their work on the small cut on Alma's forehead.

"Are you okay?"

"Where the hell have you been, old man?! Surdi had to do all the work!" Alma scolded him.

"Surdi... Wait, the orange spores..." Glavas' mind slowly pieced together the evidence, finally giving him the answers he desired. He slapped his forehead, leaned back, and started laughing. "Hahaha, wow, and here I thought licking a poisoned blade was not a legitimate training method. Wow... So scary. He actually managed to bring that colossus down. What a terrifying kid." He came closer and sat down beside the young dragon. "I'm proud of you. You did better than I ever could." The hunter patted him on the head and turned back to Alma. There was much he still had to explain to her.

"Man, I am so fucking tired," Glavas sighed when he finally fell to the chair back at his home. The events of the day were more stressful than was to his liking. Not to mention the several-hour-long trip when he and the children went to make sure the Granitar would safely return to its natural habitat. That, followed by the journey back and quickly destroying Isitan's artifact, completely drained him. Because of it, he was more than happy to finally arrive home, where the celebration of Glint's Extinguishing was already in full motion. Friends from around the city and even the most distant of relatives have all gathered to spend their final moments with Glintwood. As a price for entering, every visitor had to bring their own celebratory food for everyone else to try.

"Mmmmmmm! That is awesome! Maybe a little salty, but the fish wonderfully complements the tomato sauce! Maybe with some added herbs on top, it would be even better. I'd give it like a solid eight out of ten," Glavas complimented one of the visitors after stuffing his mouth with their gift for the evening - slices of wholemeal bread with fish and tomato spread. "What do you guys think?" he turned to the children, who were just finishing their plates.

"Salty, yeah. I don't like it. But the tomato flavor is really nice. I'd say... maybe more tomatoes and less fish next time?" Alma added her own evaluation of the snack.

[The saltiness is fine, but it's just fish and tomato with some butter and a tiny bit of cheese. I'd add something more. Maybe more of that cheese would be nice and give it a better texture.]

"Seems fine to me," Clive dismissed their suggestions and instead of going for another plate, reached for his cup of coffee.

The guest had no idea why his gift was suddenly the topic of discussion among what appeared to be a club of amateur food critics. Out of his sheer confusion, the man simply replied "alright" and put the plates on the table before quickly disappearing into the crowd, looking for someone he might have at least a bit more pleasant conversation with.

"Man, that was great!" Alma sighed and leaned back in her chair.

[What should we try next?]

"Hmm... let's see..." Glavas's eyes slid over the table full of food. If there truly existed paradise in the afterlife, his would look exactly like this. "What about this one? Layered potatoes!" he exclaimed and pulled closer a few plates with something that looked like a stack of potato peels piled together and then covered in something orange and sticky.

"Yeah, let's go!" Alma smiled and reached for her utensils.

[What flavor should we expect?] Surdi asked and licked his lips. The involuntary nap only made his appetite grow, so whatever Glavas handed him, he wished to taste it.

"Sweet on the outside due to the sauce, but slightly spicy on the inside with a little bit of a seed-like taste." The moment he finished, the kids dug into the meal without a second to waste.

"Ugh... I'm stuffed. How the hell can you eat so much?" Clive groaned and took another swig from his mug.

[How the hell can you not?] Surdi replied and grinned at him before bringing the fork up to his mouth.

"Glavie? Do you have a moment?" Glint approached him from within the crowd.

"Oh? Yeah, sure. You two eat up ahead. But don't touch my plate if don't want to lose your fingers," the hunter instructed the children and followed his father into the bedroom, away from all the noise and commotion. "So, what is it?"

"Sit down, Glavie." Glint did so himself and patted the spot on the bed right next to him, inviting his son to his side.

"Oh no... this is the talk, right?"

"Yeah. I feel like we have a lot to discuss."