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After nonchalantly finishing their meal, Lucella and Ivar returned to their inn without anyone stopping them. The priest who served them bid them farewell, and neither the village chief nor the temple chief appeared throughout the entire dinner.

Upon returning to their room at the inn, Ivar opened his pocket watch. Seeing the gem on the watch face glowing, Lucella nodded, and from that point on, they didn’t discuss the village any further.

“Stop undressing so casually!”
“Oh… Is something wrong with it?”
“There is! You may have the body of a kid, but don’t let your guard down just because of that.”
“I-I mean even I’ll be careful in front of people I don’t know.”

There was no need for further discussion. They knew what they needed to prepare for and trusted that they would take appropriate actions no matter what happened.

“In the first place, why did they put us in the same room in this inn when there are still empty rooms available?”
“They might have thought you were my guardian…”
“Nah……No, wait. I guess I’m already at an age where it wouldn’t be strange to have a daughter of your age.”

Lucella and Ivar made preparations for sleep, turned off the lights, and got into their respective beds. However, they were ready to leave the room at a moment’s notice if needed.

“Don’t you have any plans to get married?”
“If I ever do, I decided it’ll be after I wash off the dirt from me. I don’t have the confidence to protect anyone else but myself. Well, now might be the right time, but there’s no one on the horizon. There were a couple of women I wanted to marry, but both of them ended up dead.”

The downstairs was a combination of a tavern and a dining area. After finishing their daily work, the villagers visited. The bustling atmosphere eventually turned into the sound of tidying up and then quieted down.

“Do you have a preference for women?” Ivar asked back.
“I…… never really thought about it.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
“Giselle was… special to me, but I’m still not sure if what I felt was that…”
“So, did you guys do it or not?”
“Are you asking to get roasted?”

As the conversation died down, Ivar started snoring like a sleeping person despite being fully awake. Lucella, without attempting to mimic him, remained still and quiet.

Around midnight, the temple bell solemnly rang, announcing the time. In response to this signal, footsteps were heard from below. The innkeeper was heading somewhere.

Lucella, without hastily getting up, scanned the outside for presences.

She sensed people moving outside the inn too. The footsteps were soft, but in the silence of the village at night, the sound of gravel beneath feet could be discerned with enough attention. After the movements outside had receded, Lucella quietly slipped out of bed. Ivar moved at the same time.

Without exchanging a word, the two of them, equipped with their adventuring gear, quietly left their room.

The village was almost empty. The gates were wide open, and there wasn’t even a guard on duty. This was highly unusual.

Following the traces and a faint presence under the starlight, Lucella and Ivar ventured into the nearby forest. As they entered the woods, they saw a vibrant bonfire through the trees.

“That’s the ‘Sacrificial Fire of the Black Fox,’” Ivar noted.
“Seems like it,” Lucella agreed.

It was magical flames that couldn’t be seen from a distance. You could see it from this close, but if a night rider passed by on the nearby road, they wouldn’t notice it.

“Are they here?”
“Yes.”

Lucella sensed the presence of many people, and as they approached the fire, a song-like incantation echoed through the woods:

Glory be, glory be,
Eternal is the swirling ring,
Forgive us, for we repent,
May the great one’s divine hand,
let us into the cycle of paradise.

In an open area in the forest, the villagers had gathered around an altar made from a massive rock. The temple priest offered prayers at the altar, and the villagers followed suit. Lucella and Ivar observed the scene from the cover of the trees. There was a peculiar, acrid scent in the air, at least according to Lucella.

“Hey, that… Is that the hide of the Bandit Lynx you killed?” Ivar whispered, pointing at what was placed on the altar.

As Ivar mentioned, placed on the altar was a desiccated fur riddled with holes. In that place, three villagers dressed in holy garments carried a large tub together. Furthermore, they dragged deer and boar that had been shot and began roughly dismantling them inside the tub.

Blood and entrails were extracted and they filled the tub with it.

“Animal flesh…?”

The moment Lucella thought, an eerie presence rose from the earth, and Lucella felt as if a cold hand had touched her back.

“Bless…”

The High Priest took the dry fur reverently and soaked it in the blood and flesh. The transformation happened immediately. The flesh and blood began to boil and take shape.

“Grooooaar!”

The roar of the beast echoed through the forest. A bloodied creature crawled out, its head, front legs, torso, and hind legs being woven together by the flesh of the dissected animal, one after another.

The villagers watched it in fear and prostrated themselves.

“Is that creature… an emissary of Lord Hapshal or something?”

Good gods who watched over the human race sometimes had some animals as their messengers to keep contact with them. Similarly, the evil gods also used monsters as their messengers.

If it was their own creature, it wouldn’t be out of the question to resurrect it with some wicked miracle.

“If that’s the case, Lord Hapshal or whoever is not some benign god or foreign god. It’s definitely a devil or some sort of demon god.”

Ivar’s words were very close to a sigh.

Among Ivar’s acquaintances who worked in the underworld, there were probably evil sorcerers who had made pacts with devils. In that sense, he might not have the same aversion to cults as ordinary people, but in return, he knew how troublesome they could be.

Monsters were the natural enemies of the human race, and evil gods were their protectors.

However, for various reasons, humans sometimes offered prayers to these evil gods. This was a sin that tilted the balance of the world in favor of the monsters, leading the entire human race toward destruction. At least that’s what the temple taught.

Such beliefs were a grave crime when exposed, but to make people want to believe, evil gods often bestowed significant benefits upon their followers.

Therefore, cultists had strong faith, banded together with their fellow believers, and wielded the divine protection of their gods as a weapon against any enemies that threatened their faith. Going against them could be quite troublesome.

“Perhaps we were supposed to be the ones there,” Ivar muttered as he looked at the soup of flesh and entrails.

Tastes varied among gods, but it wasn’t uncommon for evil gods to demand sacrifices.

The fully regenerated Bandit Lynx shuddered, shaking off the fresh blood. There was a sense of malevolent intelligence in its eyes. It was the malevolent intelligence that knew what it had to do as a tool of the gods.

“Vrrrr…”

The beast bared its fangs and growled, gathering strength in its limbs.

“Oh, please, please calm your anger.”
“Grruaaah!”
“Eek!?”

Seeing the ominous turn of events, the High Priest immediately tried to pacify it. However, the Bandit Lynx paid no heed and leaped over the High Priest, pouncing on one of the villagers who had been in attendance.

“What’s going on!?”

Everyone present. Not only Lucella and Ivar but also the villagers and even the High Priest himself were taken aback.

The Bandit Lynx that had pushed the young man to the ground thrust its fangs into his throat, broke his neck, and then tore off his head while sinking its teeth into his abdomen.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!”

A scream echoed as the horrific scene unfolded before their eyes. As if in response to the scream, several voices emerged from the surrounding forest.

“Screeee!”
“Scree-screaaah!”

The cries of bird-like monsters, creatures that shouldn’t have been awake at this time, and the sound of flapping wings intertwined and resonated. Dark shadows darted through the air, and several villagers fell, their foreheads and shoulders slashed.

“Awooooo!”

Furthermore, a distant wolf’s howl rumbled. The howls entwined and echoed like spirits in the woods. Many wolves were heading in their direction.

The wolf monsters in this area were known as the Legion Wolves. They were skilled hunters with powerful bodies and formidable teamwork. Even a small pack of them was more than enough to annihilate the villagers in this situation.

“For now, I’ll defeat the monsters!”
“You’re going to help?”
“Judging criminals is the duty of the authorities, and inquisitors are responsible for judging heretics. Not me!”

Lucella leaped out of the shadow of the trees.

The bonfire that had been knocked over flared up, and flames leaped out from there. These flames split and soared like shooting stars, piercing through the flying monsters.