"Why are you suddenly so worked up…"
Loren didn't answer Caroline right away. He stepped back a bit, afraid she might spray food on him.
"Before I ca out, I always lived in the Whispering Woods, where there wasn't even a decent fruit tree. We ate all sorts of weird wild fruits every day, so sour, so bitter, and so outright poisonous. Compared to here, life there wasn't fit for a person…
"There were all sorts of dangers hidden there. Better to be your dog here than to go back to being a human…"
"That's not it. Even if I support you, you don't need to be a dog. You can still be a person…"
Loren couldn't fathom why Caroline was so insistent on being a dog. He thought Mirrorheart hadn't interacted much with Caroline either…
"Not a dog… fine. In any case, as long as you can feed , I'm happy!"
"I feel like you think not being a dog would actually be a loss…"
"It really would be a loss."
Mirrorheart chid in at that mont, which made Loren a little exasperated.
During their chat, Caroline inadvertently revealed sothing very important.
"The Witches' Church hideout was originally in the Whispering Woods…"
Whether Caroline was careless or completely unguarded with Loren, Loren couldn't tell.
Caroline was a bit dim, but not actually stupid, so Loren leaned toward her being unguarded.
The Whispering Woods were dangerous, with many strange magical beasts lurking, though witches could manage to survive there with their powers.
Loren had once thought of retreating there to live in seclusion. The Whispering Woods were basically uninhabited, only so elf tribes lived there.
But Loren wasn't particularly interested in the elves. In this world, witches were essentially an advanced replacent for elves—prettier, longer-lived, more loyal, even more naïve.
After the al, with nothing better to do, Loren started teaching Caroline to read. He didn't expect her to learn much, only that when he mailed her a secret letter next ti she wouldn't be illiterate.
The next day, because her injuries were too severe, Koranda didn't visit Loren. She rely had Church mbers relay a ssage and report what had happened last night. Nothing had changed since yesterday.
The more nothing happened, the more Koranda felt sothing big was being hatched, and she warned Loren to be careful.
After weighing the pros and cons, Loren decided to bring Koranda a few bottles of magical potions. They wouldn't heal her completely, but they'd restore considerable combat capability.
If they really ran into Greed Worshippers, Loren didn't plan to handle it alone; the main damage output would still be Koranda.
Loren also evaluated Koranda's combat power. She was arguably the strongest in the Gedlan Kingdom right now, but there was still a significant gap between her and Loren. Without the Justice Card, she would have been killed by Loren twice over.
So even if she regained fighting strength, it wouldn't significantly affect Loren.
"Let's go. Take to see Koranda. I have sothing to give her."
Loren put on his black robe and prepared to leave with the Church mbers.
He didn't even need to fetch the potions explicitly, the robe was already stuffed underneath with all sorts of magical potions.
"Yes… Master ntor!"
The Church mber who ca for Loren was unusually excited. Escorting the Master ntor was a big deal. Although the route was short and this feat might not be enough for promotion, it would surely be good bragging material among colleagues.
Along the way, the Church mber focused intently; he even began chanting magic in advance, though his strength was weak. Chanting required vocalization, and anyone nearby could notice it—so sneaking up on soone was out of the question.
This was the level most people operated at in this world. Loren had fought mostly high-level battles so far, so even seeing people with normal ability made him a little uneasy.
"We're almost there, Master ntor."
Koranda's residence was remote, requiring a long walk, and most people didn't know its location, including openly known Loren.
"Alright."
He replied, then watched the Church mber start chanting again. Loren couldn't do even silent chanting, much less chant while talking.
There weren't many people around, and at that mont Loren's intuition suddenly triggered a warning.
"Careful!"
Loren warned, but it was already too late. An arrow pierced the Church mber's skull. He collapsed, blood gushing out. After chanting for so long, he never got the chance to cast his spell.
"Master ntor, you're also within range. Hope you'll be careful."
A Robed Figure stepped out from behind a tree. Looking at the figure's attire, Loren thought maybe he should change his look; black robes like these were everywhere.
But that was Loren's intention: common attire drew no attention. Still, every ti he saw so small fry dressed like him, Loren felt a twinge of annoyance.
Loren raised his hands and glanced toward the arrow's trajectory. On a distant tree stood a Robed Figure holding a bow. He had been the one to kill the Church mber.
"Who are you, and what do you want?"
Loren responded calmly. He knew his disguise had worked; the arrow's speed looked ridiculously slow to him. Even with such a gap in ability, they dared to attack him.
They truly thought Loren was powerless, which was the persona he'd always cultivated.
"We want you to tell us how to continue the ritual. Your thod has blocked our ceremony too many tis."
Greed had stripped them of reason. They even dared to abduct Loren from the Bountiful Church's base.
"……"
Loren feigned indecision and didn't answer imdiately. His goal was to buy ti; he didn't plan to deal with these Greed Worshippers himself.
These people were unlikely to be the main force. Even Greed Worshippers wouldn't be stupid enough to send out all forces to do sothing so blatantly suicidal.
Koranda's house happened to be nearby. Even badly injured, Koranda could handle these few Greed Worshippers easily.
Loren glanced into the air. Mo v ila, who had been hovering, understood his intention and flew straight toward Koranda's direction.
Koranda knew Loren kept many crows in his ho; the arrival of crows tapping on her window would tell her Loren had co.
"Hope you understand the current situation."
A Robed Figure in front of Loren approached with a dagger, face cold.
Loren knew the attacker wouldn't dare kill him, but he didn't want to provoke him. He waited quietly.
The man pressed the knife against Loren's neck, but the blade was instantly shredded into pieces by vines that sprouted from the ground beneath his feet.
"Heretic! How dare you attack the Master ntor!"
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