Chapter 36: Hometown

Talice turned to face the airflow and shouted, "Where are you planning to go now? If you need to send Ayime to Alrasia first, it might be faster to stop by Einfast to grab three teleportation scrolls."

"I only came to the Whispering Forest to get enough Sunwell water to buy myself some time. Now I'm finally starting to do what I came here for..." Aza sat behind her, watching her slender, snow-white neck and the sharp contours of her profile. Suddenly, he felt something strange. After a moment of distraction, he remembered and asked, "By the way, aren't you going to ask me what that thing with the strange aura is? I thought you'd ask."

Talice replied indifferently, "If you're willing to tell me, then tell me. If not, I'll just keep following you. I know this journey of yours is for that thing. I'll find out and understand it eventually."

Aza smiled and remained silent for a while before saying, "Actually, it wouldn't hurt to tell you some of it. I'm carrying that thing to find someone. But I have no clues yet as to where this person might be..."

"Looking for someone? Then you should go to the Thieves' Guild and the Adventurers' Guild to post a bounty."

"A bounty won't work for this person. I've already asked the current leaders of the Thieves' Guild and Adventurers' Guild in the capital of Einfast, but the clues are vague. I've prepared myself to search everywhere, like looking for a needle in a haystack. That's why I went to the Whispering Forest to get enough Sun Well water. If all else fails, I'll have to go overseas to the Far East and figure something out..."

"The Far East?" Talice was stunned for a moment, then murmured, "I'll go too."

At this moment, the expression on the face of His Holiness the Pope in Celeste had finally reached a rare level of displeasure.

Since dawn, when he sensed that strange aura, the Pope's expression had not improved. Instead, it had gradually worsened, reaching its current state. At least, Adra had never seen the old man with such an expression before. Although he didn't show any signs of anger or agitation, the deep frown and the cold aura surrounding him indicated that his mood had deteriorated to a significant degree.

"Go and call Lancelotee for me," the Pope suddenly said to Adra.

Adra quickly bowed and left. In the presence of the current Pope, he didn't even dare to make a sound. The cold aura made his scalp tighten in waves.

The paladin soon arrived, led by the cardinal. The Pope didn't even wait for him to stand properly and salute before directly asking, "Lancelotee, tell me. What are the chances of you killing Knight Tamik?"

"No chance," Lancelotee's answer was simple and firm. "I might be able to defeat him, but I can't kill him."

Defeating someone and killing someone are two entirely different things. Especially for someone like Knight Tamik, who is accustomed to operating in the shadows.

"Hmm..." The Pope nodded, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "What about that guy named Grutt? Or if he teamed up with Theodorus, could they kill Knight Tamik?"

"Still no," Lancelote shook his head with certainty. "First of all, Tamik would never engage in a fight with this person. I know his judgment has always been accurate."

The Pope couldn't help but nod. He knew Lancelote was right. Knight Tamik's greatest strength might not be his combat skills, but his steel-like nerves and pure rational judgment. Such a person always knows which opponents to face and what strategies to adopt in different environments, like a precision machine. In some ways, even Lancelote couldn't compare to him.

As if to confirm this unwelcome fact once more, he asked again, "So, you're saying there's no one on this continent who can kill him?"

This time, Lancelote thought for a moment before answering, "I don't know... All I can say is, based on what I know, that's probably the case."

The Pope let out a long sigh, nodded somewhat dejectedly, and slowly said, "But I'm already certain that he's dead..."

Even Lancelote's expression changed slightly. He paused before saying, "After all... nothing in this world is absolute. Maybe there was some kind of accident..."

The Pope didn't respond. Instead, he stood up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the scenery. After a long while, he finally spoke slowly, "I've never been one to scheme or arrange things. I know that no matter how precise the calculations, it's impossible to control everything. There will always be unexpected events. I've always believed that as long as I can grasp the general direction, that's enough. But this time, the matter is too important, so I had no choice but to play these little games with some people..." He turned back and smiled bitterly. "But I don't know if my luck is just too bad this time, to encounter such a huge unexpected event. Knight Tamik..."

"Your Holiness, please put your mind at ease," Adra quickly said. Only he understood what Knight Tamik's death meant to the Pope. If the Pope had to choose between losing a hand or losing Knight Tamik, he would never choose the latter. In fact, he might even be willing to lose both hands.

"Of course, I must put mind at ease. What else that I can do..." The Pope sighed heavily again. As if he had made some decision, his expression, though not completely cleared, no longer carried that dark cloud. "Since small schemes have failed, we'll have to make some bigger moves..."

The Pope turned to Adra and said, "Go to Alrasia and call Inham back for me. I need to discuss some things with him."

"Yes," Adra bowed and left. Only now did he truly feel convinced. The loss of his most trusted confidant and most capable subordinate, such a huge blow, had only briefly upset the Pope. He was almost immediately able to move on from the pain of this loss and make plans for the next steps as if nothing had happened.

Reaching the pinnacle of power on this continent wasn't just a matter of luck or chance.

I wonder how he would react if I died? The cardinal suddenly thought of this and couldn't help but shudder. He knew he would never be as important to the Pope as Knight Tamik had been.

Halmondale Village, a small, inconspicuous place in the perpetually fog-shrouded Kalendor Basin. This little village had originally been completely unknown, not just to outsiders, but even to most people within the isolated Kalendor Basin.

But a year ago, this little place had gained quite a bit of notoriety. The blacksmith's son from this village had somehow become the murderer who assassinated the Empire's Bishop Ronis and Duke Murak, making him the most wanted criminal in the history of the continent.

For this matter, the capital had sent a knight corps to investigate, turning the small mountain village upside down and nearly arresting the entire village as accomplices. However, in the end, the investigation inexplicably came to nothing. No substantial findings were made, and it was rumored that several officers had been seriously injured during the investigation, either from falls or being hit by rocks. The young knight leading the investigation had to be carried out of Kalendor.

After the incident with the wanted criminal, adventurers and bounty hunters had continuously come to the village to investigate and inquire about the details of the 5,000 gold coin bounty. However, as the year passed, such visitors gradually became fewer, and there were even rumors that the capital was considering canceling the bounty.

But all of this had not brought much change to the small village. The idea that such an earth-shattering figure could emerge from their remote, backwater village was as unbelievable as a fire-breathing dragon suddenly appearing in a roadside puddle. This kind of thing was far beyond the villagers' comprehension.

It must have been a mistake. There are plenty of people who look alike. This was the shared understanding among all the villagers. Due to the inherent reticence of Kalendor Basin residents, they were unwilling to let their thoughts stray beyond the boundaries of their accustomed lives. Apart from accepting the silver coins offered by the bounty hunters during their inquiries, the villagers maintained a very ordinary attitude toward the matter. Over the past year, aside from the improved living standards brought by the bounty hunters' questions, the village remained as it had always been.

Today, three young adventurers—a man and two women—arrived outside the village. However, instead of rushing into the village, they first stopped at the graveyard outside. The villagers didn't show much curiosity. Such visitors weren't uncommon, as long as they didn't dig up the graves. There had been a group of adventurers who tried to do just that in search of clues, but the dwarves, upon hearing of this, were outraged and severely punished those who disrespected the dead and the earth. Since then, no one had dared to repeat such actions. In Kalendor, no one dared to oppose the dwarves.

The soil around the graves had been reinforced and expanded by the dwarves. The tombstone remained the same, with the name roughly inscribed on it. It was a very ordinary grave.

The area around the village cemetery was rarely visited. Aza removed his mask, and his skin, which hadn't been exposed to the air for a long time, looked somewhat pale. Although the magical mask was cleverly designed and breathable, it wasn't the same as having his face bare. Aza seemed to feel the familiar scent of charcoal, the unique humidity of the basin's air seeping through his pores into his body and mind.