"Is she the culprit?"
"Yes."
Seeing Loren approach, Anna sheathed her knife and fell in step behind him.
Loren also spotted the missing little girl among the group. Even without Anna's explanation, he understood everything.
"Where are you taking the children?"
The Dwarf didn't answer, continuing to sing instead. So, Loren had to first find a brick and knock all her teeth out to help her calm down.
Only after the brick was stuffed into the Dwarf's mouth did she finally stop singing. The children following her also regained their senses. The sudden change frightened them, their cries erupting and drawing the attention of the adults.
"Master ntor... what's going on?"
In their eyes, Loren and the Dwarf had appeared out of thin air. Recognizing Loren, they hurriedly asked their questions. In their view, there was nothing in this world Loren didn't know. Asking him would yield an answer.
"I found the mastermind behind the children's disappearances. It's her."
Loren removed the brick. There was no point in her singing anymore now.
Even though Loren had beaten the Dwarf to this state, her expression still hadn't changed much.
"Where were you taking the children?"
"To return them to the embrace of the God."
The Dwarf clasped her hands together in a gesture of prayer, her face devout, even though Anna had already chopped off her fingers.
"Which God do you believe in?"
"The God of Happiness. Only the God of Happiness can free people from suffering and grant them true happiness."
She seed to genuinely believe this was the right thing, her faith in the God of Happiness unwavering.
"Where is your base?"
Movila's village was still so distance away, so it was unlikely she ca from there. Movila didn't recognize her either, aning there must be other places around here that worship the God of Happiness.
"I cannot say, unless you sincerely convert to the God of Happiness."
The Dwarf extended her fingerless hand toward Loren. Her face, missing one ear, actually displayed a hint of divinity... or perhaps madness.
This was nothing major. Loren was long accustod to it. There were many such fanatics in this world, whether for evil gods, Outer Gods, or even Orthodox Gods. In fact, fanatics of the Orthodox Gods were the most nurous.
Requiem left its sheath. The Dwarf's Achilles tendons were severed directly. She collapsed uncontrollably to the ground. Fear flooded her heart, and the Dwarf's expression finally changed.
"Where is your base? How many people are there?"
Requiem pressed against her neck, breaking the skin.
The Dwarf still didn't answer. She knelt properly, hands clasped, gradually losing her vitality. She didn't reveal a single piece of information, even unto death.
"Tch, troubleso."
Although Loren hadn't extracted any information through interrogation, it still gave him so understanding of the God of Happiness. At the very least, he now knew the God of Happiness was a complete and utter bastard, deserving of death.
"......"
Movila remained silent. After all, she had genuinely helped the believers of the God of Happiness before.
"How could the believers of the God of Happiness be like this? The people in the village weren't like this..."
She suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity. Loren had only been here a short while and had already helped the villagers solve a major problem. Loren's efficiency was just that high, leaving Movila a bit unable to process it all.
"If people from the Bountiful Church ca near the village, what would the villagers do?"
"Most would hide in the tunnels, then pretend this place worships the God of Bountiful Harvest..."
"Have you ever been in those tunnels? Or have you seen them hold large-scale rituals?"
"......"
Movila didn't reply, but she more or less had the answer in her heart. She had always felt the God of Happiness was no good, but she never imagined they would go to such lengths.
"Are we still going?"
Loren sensed Movila's inner conflict and asked.
"Yes. At the very least, let see what actually happened... and see their true faces..."
"This whole situation..."
This world was just a ss. After all this ti, Movila had never paid close attention to the village's true state.
A large part of the reason was because Movila focused all her attention on Loren. She was very clear about everything Loren did, but conversely, she hadn't paid much heed to the village's affairs, rely serving as an alarm.
Besides, sacrificing living people wasn't strange. The Orthodox God churches did it often too. It's just that the Orthodox God churches wouldn't sacrifice children, and the offerings were all voluntary—a mutual choice, that's all.
Having transmigrated for so long, Loren had grown accustod to various churches sacrificing living people. But voluntary and forced were two completely different concepts. Loren didn't believe those children were sincerely volunteering to be offerings.
"Alright, the culprit behind the children's disappearance has been found. Let's continue on our way."
Loren twirled his blade in a flourish before sheathing Requiem. It served no practical purpose, but it looked cool.
Amidst the villagers' cheers, Loren re-boarded the carriage. The woman holding her child wept by the roadside, thanking Loren. Others who had their children returned did the sa. Even those without children in their families showed Loren the highest respect.
Such honor was just part of Loren's daily life. He didn't pay it much mind. In contrast, Movila was sowhat moved:
"This is the first ti I've ever been thanked by soone..."
"Didn't the people in your village ever thank you before?"
Loren, who was driving the carriage, asked. He actually knew the answer already, but he was giving Movila a chance to vent.
"They would only thank the God of Happiness. They thought everything I did was what I should do. Most of those offerings were also for the God of Happiness..."
Having lived such a life for so long, Movila had grown sowhat numb. It was only recently that she even rembered she was human.
She was very grateful she had chosen Loren. Otherwise, she might have truly spent her entire life as a crow.
Perhaps, after a few hundred years, she would have forgotten human language, forgotten she was actually a Witch, and ultimately truly beco a flock of carrion-eating crows.
The carriage continued forward, leaving the village and traveling onward through the wilderness.
The sky gradually darkened. This was still the territory of the God of Bountiful Harvest. Plants could still be seen around, as well as wild animals. Occasionally, so Magical Beasts passed by.
They wouldn't actively provoke humans. Over the years, the Church had made them understand the terror of humans.
Blood-red moonlight spilled onto the earth. With no smog, visibility at night was still fairly clear, though sowhat eerie.
"There's a village ahead. Let's rest there."
Loren glanced at the map. The village ahead was still within the territory of the Bountiful Church and likely also worshipped the God of Bountiful Harvest. Loren could stop there to rest and resupply.
The horse had been running for a long ti, and it hadn't rested for long in the previous village either. It was ti to let the horse rest for a while. Even a Magical Beast couldn't withstand this kind of treatnt.
User Comments
0 comments from readers