Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Over the next few days, something similar happened in several taverns found in many different towns found around the border between the aristocratic party and merchant party.

  News spread very quickly by word of mouth among the adventurers, more widely and more bizarrely.

  The rumor went like this. Starting from “Zhang San bought a painting of a tiger,” the rumor began to spread. Not long after, it became “Zhang San killed a tiger,” or “Zhang San was eaten by a tiger”—normal events were mostly spread as though they were bizarre events. Peaceful matters were more often than not spread as strange matters.

  So what about things that were originally dangerous and terrifying?

  Anyway, within a couple of days, panic pervaded the atmosphere along the border. Most of the cautious adventurers left. Those who stayed behind or rushed over were either adventurers who were brave and courageous, or rather reckless, as well as adventurers who were very ambitious. The civilians could not leave, so they had to be more careful. Many people would keep their doors tightly locked up even during the day. And villages had simply put together militia of civilians to form patrol teams. Day and night, there would be militiamen on patrol. Through such a method, they hoped to keep themselves safe from the crazy and dangerous heretics.

  But these methods did not achieve much effect. About ten days later, there was another incident of a cult offering.

  The incident was much more serious than the previous times because the heretics almost completed the entire offering this time around. If not for the prompt arrival of a paladin who was a follower of the God of Justice, the devil that had received the offering would even have had half its claw reaching out of that summoning portal.

  Fortunately, that paladin was highly skilled. His arrows were fast as lightning and shot down four nodes of the offering array at one go, thus rendering the summoning portal incomplete. No matter how the devil roared, it was unable to charge its way over. On the contrary, it lost a claw under the siege of the clergymen of Church of the God of Law who subsequently rushed over. Whether it was a gain or a loss for this devil, no one would know.

  This piece of news was supposed to be confidential, yet somehow it spread quickly again. Many adventurers rushed over to that village to see for themselves the traces of the devil that had been summoned.

  The clergymen of Church of the God of Law had driven out all traces of the abyss. But the traces of sulfur left by the summoned devil, as well as the bloodstains left by the massacre in the village, told the people of the terrible things that had happened there.

  Especially over at the small public square in the middle of the town. A large area was covered with fresh soil, but the ground still reeked of the stench of blood. This made the place even creepier than it actually was.

  Some of the adventurers who were not as audacious quietly left. They realized that they were in fact, not as bold and lacked confidence in themselves. In the face of a terrifying cult organization that could easily massacre an entire village, they decided it was better not to get tough and go head-on against such an organization.

  They could make money anywhere if they wanted to. There was simply no need to joke about their lives.

  On the other hand, there were also others with a different perspective gathering together. They felt that perhaps this would be a good opportunity.

  The devil might be terrifying. But making an offering to the devil was really a way for them to earn some benefits.

  Unlike these adventurers, the lords, sheriffs and the churches of the good gods felt deeply troubled. They had devoted all the energy they had and tried their best to track down the mysterious cult organization, but still, they were unable to find any more valuable clues.

  That bizarre cult organization seemed like it had wings. Every time it disappeared suddenly, even the most powerful paladin would not be able to find track it down.

  Every time they retreated, there would be clear footprints, hoof prints and tracks left behind. But after about a mile or two away from the village, all these traces would often disappear suddenly. Not even a single trace could be detected. It was like—these people really flew away.

  However, even if people could really fly away, the horses would not be able to. Even if the horses could grow wings and fly away, it was impossible for the entire carriage to grow wings and flew away too!

  Soon, a bounty was posted in every city and town. The reward prize of the bounty was constantly increasing. Correspondingly, the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense with all the soldiers clutching their weapons all day long. The adventurers shared the same anxiety and caution. Just a simple word of disagreement and swords would be drawn.

  Some lords and sheriffs with more discerning vision began to worry. They knew the situation would be terrible if things were to continue in this manner. Over time, this might cause a large-scale panic attack or even bring about a wave of migration. It might also trigger and lead to some intense conflicts.

  But…… if they were unable to apprehend those bizarre heretics, there was nothing they could do.

  This piece of news gradually spread far and wide. In the end, it even reached the ears of the exploration team that was braving the rigors of living in the wild mountains and sleeping rough on hard grounds in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Gold Coins.

  “Did you hear? There’s great trouble in the South!” Fira said to Hopes during lunch. In a mysterious tone, she added, “It’s very scary!”

  Hopes chewed on a carrot and looked at Fira doubtfully. Then he mumbled, “A war?”

  “Much more terrifying than a war!”

  “More terrifying than a war? You gotta be kidding me.”

  “How am I kidding!” Fira looked around him, and lowering his voice, he said, “On the border between the merchant party and aristocratic party, a cult organization is making offerings. It has already made several attempts!”

  Hopes froze for a moment, then he hurriedly finished off his carrot in two to three bites. He took a big gulp of vegetable soup to calm his nerves before asking about the exact situation.

  In truth, Fira was not very clear about the exact situation. He only learned of the news in the course of a chat with the man from the transport team sending vegetables. But in front of his friends, of course he would not say things like “Actually, I’m not too sure.” With his own imagination, he would try to envision and conceptualize the matter to make it sound specific and detailed as though he had seen it with his own eyes.

  Although most of his claims were quite bizarre, they were not too far off the mark when compared with the truth. This was because the man from the transport team, who told him about this matter, had originally made the story out to be that bizarre. It was certainly quite impossible for Fira to accept claims such as: “They summoned a terrifying devil with a head that was as big as a mountain, a nose that was spewing toxic smoke and flames and a mouth with countless poisonous bugs flying out. It took the concerted effort of a few hundred knights and Sacred Warriors to expel it back into the abyss.”

  Although he was not that strong, he was nonetheless, not an ignorant villager. He knew the theory where two negatives made an affirmative. The more bizarre the claims were, the closer they would be to reality.

  For this reason, the situation he depicted was more realistic. Hopes went back to talk to Rubey about this. Rubey, who was also an experienced veteran, pondered about it. It seemed to him, that maybe…… there was really such a possibility.

  Therefore, Rubey was a little worried. He made it a point to look for the adventurers from the trade caravans who were responsible for escorting their supplies to them. He wanted to make careful inquiries about the situation.

  He was finally relieved after clearing his doubts.

  “Don’t worry. This has nothing to do with us,” he told Hopes upon returning. He felt a great sense of relief as though a heavy load was lifted off his shoulder. He said, “The cult offerings are congregated at the border between the two forces. There are no signs of them spreading towards the north. Now, we are almost at the northernmost end of the merchant party’s sphere of influence; those heretics won’t be able to make their way here.”

  Hopes breathed a sigh of relief, but he did not feel completely freed from the burden. Instead, he was still somewhat apprehensive as he asked, “So…… were the heretics caught? Has their organization been exterminated?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I can’t help finding this terrible……”

  “Yes!” said Rubey as he sighed again. Shaking his head, he said, “I hope our work here ends soon. I really want to go back to the Republic soon. That’s the only place where it’s truly safe!”