Hoofbeats thundered along the forest road as the three riders maintained their punishing pace. Edmund and Lord Zen kept their passengers supported across the saddles, allowing neither the men's unconscious weight nor the turns in the road to draw them far behind G6.
After nearly two hours, Grain Town's arched entrance appeared through the trees. Daunt slowed beside Kira and dissolved into a blue shimmer that drew beneath G6's hair, returning to the chained rose behind her right ear before they reached the gate.
They reined in just long enough to establish their route through the town.
"Where is our first destination?" G6 asked without turning.
"The town infirmary, I should think. It is adjacent to the temple."
G6 glanced toward Lord Zen and motioned for him to lead. He urged his horse ahead, with Edmund and G6 following onto the broad road reserved for carriages and mounted travelers.
Grain Town was smaller than the Capital's main district, but its streets carried much the same energy. Merchants called across the road, wheels rattled over the paving, and the smell of baking bread mingled with the musk of animals moving between the crowded buildings.
Lord Zen kept them clear of the busiest streets, turning into a quieter passage that opened before the wrought-iron gates of a substantial temple complex.
A young priest in black robes had been sweeping the courtyard. At the sound of their approach, he looked up, his gaze falling immediately on the men lying across the saddles.
"G-good morning! Are those injured?"
"Good morning. Yes, we found them on the road," Edmund answered.
"Oh, my! Look at their pallor! Please, bring them this way to the infirmary, quickly!"
The priest dropped his broom and hurried toward the entrance. Edmund dismounted while Lord Zen steadied the man across his own saddle before following.
"So, the priests manage the infirmary?" G6 asked.
"Yes. The temple is an independent institution," Lord Zen explained as he began lifting his passenger down. "It originated in the Holy Kingdom, with branches established in every realm to spread faith in the gods and goddesses."
He and Edmund carried the unconscious men inside after the young priest. G6 dismounted and gathered the horses' reins, leading them clear of the entrance before securing them beside the path.
Only then did she look properly at the building.
Its imposing architecture reminded her of the Vatican structures she knew from her former life. Beyond the temple's rear walls, trees rose close enough that their branches nearly concealed the boundary between the grounds and the forest.
"Hmm. Looks like the temple's back borders the forest."
"There is only one central temple in each kingdom," Daunt told her through their bond. "This one was founded by the first missionary priests to arrive in the Magic Kingdom."
G6 leaned against Kira's warm side and folded her arms.
"Einston Kingdom, you mean?"
"That is its name now. It was simply the Magic Kingdom before."
"Hmm. Zero mentioned the Holy Kingdom earlier. If they can establish temples in every realm, they must be genuinely disinterested in political games…"
"Indeed. We serve only the divine will and follow the voices of the heavenly beings."
The unfamiliar voice came from behind her.
G6 turned. Her eyes widened slightly behind the tinted lenses, and the ease left her posture before she could conceal the reaction.
A priest stood a short distance away, his expression welcoming.
"Hello there. Did I startle you?"
Why… why does he look like him…?
She studied his face.
No. This is a bizarre world. And this man… he clearly belongs here.
Black hair framed blue eyes, and elegant white vestments fell over his athletic build, their gold detailing catching the morning light. He appeared to be in his twenties and stood about six feet tall. G6 took in each feature without allowing her gaze to linger anywhere long enough to reveal what had caught her attention.
"Do I look startled to you?"
He offered a faint, warm smile.
"Well, I cannot see you clearly with that hood shrouding your face. Are you the one who found the spiders' victims?"
"We are."
G6 lowered her hood. Rose-gold hair slipped free around her face, but the sunglasses remained in place as she looked directly at him.
"We are adventurers from the Capital."
"Hmm. It seems you are no ordinary adventurer."
"I didn't ask for your assessment… Priest."
"Ah, forgive my manners. I am Archbishop the Second, Tolentino Xyril. I am next in authority here at the Einston Kingdom Temple branch."
His smile deepened, apparently undeterred by her response.
"Is that so?"
"In any case, it seems you are a party of only three. Are you here for the Venomous Spiders?"
"We are."
"I see. You are not the type who enjoys conversation."
Archbishop Tolentino paused, examining her with an interest she found increasingly tiresome.
"Forgive my direct approach. I was drawn by a… potent divine presence around you. Are you, perhaps, also a priest?"
"I am not."
G6's brows drew together, but her attention had already shifted beyond him.
What's this sudden shift in the atmosphere…?
The familiar presence of natural mana had been there a moment earlier, distinguishable beneath the ordinary movement of the morning air. Now she could no longer feel it.
"Reise, do you feel it? It's gone."
Daunt's voice had sharpened.
"Yeah, I feel it. This is going to be bothersome," she answered privately.
"I will stop drawing from your mana."
"Alright."
"Is something the matter, my lady?"
Archbishop Tolentino had noticed the change in her expression. G6 returned her attention to him.
"Hey. What can a priest actually do?"
The abrupt question gave him pause.
"Well… we wield divine power. Primarily healing and defensive blessings. We are not typically an offensive class."
"You don't feel it?"
"What, precisely?"
G6 studied the uncertainty in his face.
"Aren't they divine, too?" she asked Daunt.
"Do not be silly. Their divine prowess is nowhere near that of a mythical divine creature."
Before G6 could question the Archbishop further, hurried footsteps sounded from the temple. A priestess came running through the entrance, her robes fluttering around her legs.
"Your Holiness! Your Holiness!"
Archbishop Tolentino turned toward her.
"Slow down, Priestess Kalia. What is wrong?"
She stopped before him, struggling to draw enough breath to answer.
"It is terrible news—the Holy Grail's light has gone out!"
G6 remained silent.
"What do you mean, Priestess? That is impossible. The Grail is powered by the land's natural mana. Why would its light disappear? We are surrounded by forest."
G6's fingers twitched against her sleeve.
Hmm. A tool that can immediately detect when natural mana disappears…
"I am not lying!" Priestess Kalia insisted. "We were praying at the altar when suddenly the light enveloping the Grail simply vanished. What is happening? This is catastrophic!"
The Archbishop's smile was gone. He looked toward the entrance, one hand rising to the simple silver pendant at his chest.
"This… cannot be."
The words escaped quietly before his gaze returned to G6. He regarded her far more closely now, the timing of her earlier question apparently settling into place.
"You. Adventurer. You asked what was wrong. You felt something before she spoke, don't you? What do you know?"
A slow smirk touched G6's mouth. The fish was not merely on the hook; it was jumping into the boat.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
She slipped her hands into her pockets. Archbishop Tolentino's expression made it clear that he did not believe her, but he had more immediate concerns than pressing a stranger who had decided to become unhelpful.
"Why lie, Reise?" Daunt asked privately.
"I don't plan on getting involved with them."
Archbishop Tolentino turned to Priestess Kalia.
"This is a matter of national concern. Go to the communication room and contact Headquarters immediately. Inform them of the situation in full."
The priestess nodded and began turning toward the temple.
"It will be troublesome if those holy people get involved, you know," Daunt murmured into G6's mind.
Edmund and Lord Zen emerged from the infirmary before she answered. Lord Zen's gaze moved from the anxious priestess to the Archbishop, his attention sharpening at the tension that had developed during their absence.
"Trouble, Captain?"
Edmund remained silent. He examined the same faces, then looked toward G6, waiting for her assessment.
"You two, come here."
She motioned toward a quieter corner of the courtyard before addressing Archbishop Tolentino.
"Wait a moment, Priest. Hold that messenger."
"What are you—?"
Archbishop Tolentino stopped himself and raised a hand toward Priestess Kalia. She halted before reaching the doorway, looking between him and the three adventurers as G6 drew her companions several paces aside.
Lord Zen lowered his voice.
"What is it, Captain?"
"I'll explain this to you later, Zero. But Ed, remember the dead zone back at Oak Village?"
"I recall it vividly."
"Well, it's back. Just a few moments ago. Apparently, the temple can tell immediately if the natural mana disappears because of this 'Holy Grail' they're talking about."
Edmund's expression tightened. Lord Zen glanced toward the waiting clergy, then back at her.
"You should help the town as a whole, Reise," Daunt suggested through the bond. "Perhaps the temple holds records that could explain the demonic script you showed me—the one I could not decipher."
"Not 'could not.' You couldn't read it at all."
"I do not fully understand," Lord Zen interjected, unaware of their private exchange, "but if you are saying a holy artifact is failing and mana is disappearing, this is indeed a state-level crisis. What the hell is happening?"
"Could it be another man-made dungeon, Captain?" Edmund asked. "Like the one at Oak Village? If so, it would explain the sudden appearance of the Venomous Spiders."
G6 looked past them toward the trees bordering the temple. She had not yet entered that part of the forest, much less found anything that could account for what had just happened. Nevertheless, the familiar absence gave her a reason to investigate before someone else decided how the matter would be handled.
"Let's stop the holy people from stepping in. That dead zone is ours first. I have my own questions for this one, too."
"If that is your decision, I will follow, Captain," Edmund said.
"The same goes for me," Lord Zen added.
They returned to the Archbishop. Priestess Kalia had moved back to his side, awaiting the order that would send her to the communication room.
"Adventurers, what is it?" Archbishop Tolentino asked. "We are in a dire hurry, you understand."
G6 faced him without allowing any uncertainty into her voice.
"Your Grail problem and our spider problem share the same root. The local mana has been siphoned. That's what's driving the monsters into a frenzy and starving your artifact."
"Siphoned? By what? How could you possibly know this?"
"We're from Scutum."
The answer came without hesitation. Archbishop Tolentino's eyes narrowed as he considered it.
"Is that so? That… makes sense. The forests near the Scutum border are lifeless wastelands."
He examined her again, finding something more plausible in the claim than in her earlier denial.
"Can you truly help us? This is a grave threat to the entire region—eventually, the entire kingdom."
Looks like our fake hometown is really paying off.
G6 allowed him to wait. His suspicion had not disappeared, but hope had begun competing with it, and that gave her room to direct the conversation.
Her gaze passed over the temple doors before returning to him.
"Your Holiness. You were about to contact your Headquarters. Tell me, what happens then?"
"They dispatch an investigation team from the Holy Kingdom. Senior archbishops, perhaps a Paladin contingent. They will quarantine the area, conduct rituals—"
"How long?"
"Two weeks for them to arrive. Then days, perhaps weeks, of ceremony and analysis."
"While the mana-siphon continues. While more monsters are driven mad and pour into this town's forest. While your Holy Grail stays dark and the people panic."
G6 left no space between the consequences for him to interrupt.
"You want to wait that long for a committee to have a meeting?"
"The protocol is—"
"I'm offering you a different protocol."
Archbishop Tolentino fell silent. Behind G6, Edmund and Lord Zen waited, their attention fixed on the Archbishop as she made her offer.
"Give me until noon. Halt your report. Don't contact anyone. My party and I will go into the forest, find the source of the siphon, and sever it."
"You cannot be serious. A three-man party against an anomaly that can drain a holy artifact? That is suicide!"
"Hey, you're a priest, and you're talking about suicide. Is that okay?"
G6 glanced toward her companions. Edmund gave a small shrug, and Lord Zen offered no defense of the Archbishop's choice of words.
"Anyway," she continued, turning back, "you felt the 'divine presence' around me earlier. You know we're not ordinary. You know we're from Scutum, where people live next to that Charnel Land."
She leaned slightly closer.
"We have… experience with dead zones."
They call them dead zones? Archbishop Tolentino thought.
She had supplied a name for the condition and claimed experience with it, but he still knew almost nothing about her. The presence he had sensed remained unexplained. Her refusal to answer him honestly a few moments earlier remained equally difficult to dismiss.
Yet she had noticed the change before Priestess Kalia brought the news.
His fingers tightened around the pendant as he weighed the proposed delay against the darkened artifact inside.
"And if the Holy Grail's light has not returned by noon?"
"Then you send your message. Light your signal fires. Call your Paladins."
G6 shrugged.
"But if, by noon, the Holy Grail is lit and the forest quiet… you report a minor mana fluctuation, now resolved. No investigations. No outside teams. This stays a local matter between the Temple of Grain Town and the adventurers who fixed your problem."
Archbishop Tolentino looked at her for a long moment.
She was not merely asking for time to help. She wanted the severity of the incident concealed afterward, and she expected him to participate in that concealment. The offered result was simple enough to recognize; the terms attached to it were not something he could mistake for an ordinary act of charity.
"Why?" he asked. "Why the secrecy? What are you hiding?"
G6's smile remained slight.
"Let's just say it's too bothersome if word gets out. And your Holy Kingdom's 'investigation' would involve a lot of questions for me and my party. Questions we find… bothersome."
Her tone made the final word less dismissive than threatening.
Priestess Kalia looked toward the Archbishop. Archbishop Tolentino kept his attention on G6, apparently waiting for a more acceptable explanation that she had no intention of providing.
"A deal, then."
She extended one hand between them, presenting the terms rather than inviting him to shake it.
"Your silence until noon. Our efficiency. We solve your problem; you keep your mouth shut about us."
Archbishop Tolentino looked at her hand, then at Priestess Kalia and the temple entrance beyond her. The Grail remained dark inside. Two victims had just been carried into the infirmary, and the forest from which they had been taken bordered the grounds where he stood.
His duty gave him ample reason to distrust the bargain. It also left him responsible for the people who might suffer while the proper authorities prepared their response.
At last, he nodded.
"Until noon. May the gods have mercy on us all."
G6 withdrew her hand.
"Save your prayers. We work faster."
She turned toward Edmund and Lord Zen, the negotiation giving way immediately to instructions.
"Eddie, Zero. We move. Now. The clock's ticking. Primary objective: find and exterminate the Venomous Spiders. Secondary objective: locate and neutralize the mana siphon at its source."
Both men turned with her toward the waiting horses.
"Wait—"
G6 stopped and looked back, impatience already settling into her expression.
"What is your name, adventurer?" Archbishop Tolentino asked.
"G6."
She watched his face.
The name produced no flicker of recognition. His concern remained fixed on the crisis, with none of the surprise or familiarity she had been looking for.
You are not him, after all.
"Miss G6."
The Archbishop approached before she could turn away again.
"Please… take two of my priests with you."
G6 said nothing. Archbishop Tolentino glanced toward her companions, then continued more quietly.
"Not as overseers, I swear it. But as support. You are walking into a mana-dead zone, toward frenzied monsters. Even if your power is considerable, healing on-site could mean the difference between a wound and a fatality. Please."
G6 looked toward Edmund.
He gave a slight, practical nod. Lord Zen considered the request for a moment longer before offering his agreement as well. The men they had brought to the infirmary had required more than the potions could provide, and neither had reason to dismiss the value of a healer once they entered the forest.
"You have two minutes to get them ready with horses."
Relief eased Archbishop Tolentino's expression, though he wasted none of the time she had allowed.
"Thank you. Priestess Kalia, hurry to the stables. Take Priest Felon with you. Equip yourselves for field support—potions and basic supplies. Now."
"I understand, Your Holiness!"
Kalia gathered her robes and hurried toward the stable yard.
G6 returned to Kira and drew her hood over her rose-gold hair before mounting. The familiar face behind her disappeared from view as she settled into the saddle and turned toward the forest.
Edmund and Lord Zen mounted their own horses. Their movements were decisive, but the long ride had left its strain in their shoulders and the care with which they settled their weight. Daunt remained concealed, his silent presence close enough that G6 could feel his attention turning toward the same stretch of trees.
For a little while, nobody spoke.
Tack jingled as one of the horses shifted. Hurried voices carried from the stable yard, followed by the sound of hooves approaching across the paving. Morning sunlight lay over the courtyard, but it no longer brought the familiar sense of natural mana that had accompanied their arrival.
G6 watched the passage beside the stables.
Two more riders meant two people whose movement would have to be accounted for in the forest. She had no measure yet of their endurance or how well they would follow instructions under attack. Their healing was worth taking, but it came with people she could not simply put away until she needed it.
Priestess Kalia emerged first, leading a sturdy temple mount. A young, serious-faced man followed with another horse, his supplies secured hastily for the journey.
Priest Felon glanced toward the waiting adventurers before moving to his saddle. Both priests wore white and grey, conspicuous beside the trio's black cloaks.
"Time's up," G6 announced before they had fully settled. "Stay close. Do what we say. Fall behind, and we leave you."
She did not wait for an acknowledgment.
A light pressure of her knees sent Kira forward at a swift trot. Edmund and Lord Zen fell in on either side, and the two priests hurried to mount properly as the three adventurers approached the gates.
G6 kept her attention ahead. Behind her, Kalia and Felon urged their horses after the departing party, closing the distance before the temple walls began to fall behind them.
The hunt was no longer only for spiders. Somewhere beyond the trees lay an absence G6 recognized and a source she had not yet found. Their hoofbeats carried onto the forest road, and with every turn away from the temple, the time she had demanded drew closer to noon.
—To Be Continued…—