Stray

Since the Laddism Church was willing to provide a public luggage cart, Godwin and Debby didn’t intend to save much space for them specifically. Strength was important, but what they were about to face was an Abyss full of darkness and unknown.

A little mistake or self-righteousness could prove fatal— Horizon wasn’t a fledgling small mercenary group. After countless battles, they knew this well.

Godwin wasn’t prepared to skimp on props and protection at all. When the two from Horizon returned, the sun had already set, and a few stars could be vaguely seen in the night sky.

Because there were too many items bought, it wasn’t convenient to enter from the main entrance of the Central Church with steep steps. Godwin easily manipulated the cart with magic and decided to enter from the rear of the church.

“…Remember what I told you.”

The acumen of this mercenary king was different from ordinary people. Although Oliver deliberately lowered his voice, Godwin distinguished it from other noises, and he stopped subconsciously. Noticing the difference, Debby also stopped and listened intently.

“I know you don’t want to be left here, and I don’t want to leave you here either. Alas, after all, your identity is special… It’ll be inconvenient to take you down to the Abyss.” Oliver seemed to be talking to someone with an earnest and serious tone. “Be obedient, okay? When I come back, I will definitely come to you as soon as possible.”

Debby huffed, and she stood still with a serious expression on her face.

“Okay, don’t pester me.”

The distance was far enough that they couldn’t see anyone, only that Oliver’s voice came from a remote corner with a helpless smile.

“I won’t keep you here all the time. You can find a place with nice scenery to rest. Just don’t let anyone see it. You know, I have a way to find you. Don’t be coquettish, I know you don’t like Nemo, but I— Hey, seriously, don’t throw a tantrum! I don’t know how to explain it, but you guys are completely different. Can you understand?”

The girl stomped violently in anger and put the bag in her hand on the ground. She took out her staff from her pocket and rushed aggressively to the corner where the sound came.

Godwin manipulated the trailer to keep up, and finally caught up with his team member. He found that Debby was looking at a man and a horse deeply.

I see. The leader of Horizon sighed in his heart. Oliver Ramon even started to become crazy enough to have a serious conversation with a horse.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t touched when he found out Oliver was the same young boy who stretch out his hand to him in the past. The biggest concession Godwin could make for him was to move the investigation of Nemo Light into the shadows— Otherwise, they would always be on opposing sides as long as Light’s true situation wasn’t investigated.

Although Oliver swore that Nemo Light wasn’t a demon warlock, he still had the possibility of being deceived by Light.

If it weren’t for Debby Light’s insistence that her eldest brother didn’t have any magical talents, and the residents and archives of Roadside Town also proved this, Godwin would even instinctively believe that the opponent was a powerful superior demon.

Unfortunately, no superior demon would be stupid enough to make a contract with a person without magical talents.

But that was just a theory and Godwin didn’t plan to give up completely because of this…

Every time he approached Light, some kind of instinctive fear would overflow from his bones, as cold as ice water, leaving a tingling feeling behind. It felt very slight, but Godwin didn’t intend to ignore it.

Not to mention the instantaneous sense of oppression he felt during the witch’s incident that he couldn’t find the source. Regarding the incident of the Withered Castle, Godwin didn’t think Oliver could do that alone.

Combined with the information revealed in the Alban coup not long ago, it was impossible for him to believe with peace of mind that Mr. Light was just an innocent demon worshipper because of a mere oath.

Young people who were in love were usually blind and would subconsciously ignore the suspicious things about the other.

Oliver Ramon was very powerful. Godwin wouldn’t have volunteered just because of worry like Debby, but at the end of the day, Ramon was his last family member, and if Nemo Light was an outright liar, a demon that had been lurking for a long time, he couldn’t watch it lead his last blood relative to his death. Now that the Laddism Church had entrusted Tumbleweed with an escort mission, there was no better opportunity to investigate than this.

He may not be the Hero in the prophecy, and Godwin was no longer obsessed with this issue, but he won’t simply give up protecting himself and his loved ones.

Godwin shook his head and used magic to pull up the cart again. He decided to leave the matter to Miss Light and Ramon to solve it alone, and he left as soon as possible from the embarrassment of the two in front of him.

He delivered the things ordered by Nemo Light to the kitchen, then went back to the room to pack his bags and organize his equipment. There was no movement next door. Most likely Debby went with Ramon to see Light.

Godwin lowered his gaze. He might be happy for Debby, but there was always a taste of worry mixed with this happiness. If Light was really just acting…

Forget it, he thought to himself. At least for now, Nemo Light would still be a “good brother”.

Staying alone until dinner time, Godwin finally returned to the small auditorium again, intending to enjoy the last calm dinner before the mission began.

However, before he could open the door, he heard a scream.

The leader of the Horizon instantly drew out the holy sword and broke in.

“No—!” Light’s nominal envoy, the gray parrot of Tumbleweed, was squawking sadly. Jesse had caught it by its feet as it flapped its wrings frantically. “Let me go! Let me go! I want to leave this shithole!”

“This is a special service.” Jesse’s tone was gentle. “Seeing that my sweetheart isn’t here, I just whispered to you the answer… You asked me, so I thought you wanted to know?”

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! …What did I do wrong?!”

“My heart is about to break, my dear Bagelmaurus. Obviously, you used to like me so much.” Jesse grabbed the struggling gray parrot and forcibly rubbed its cheek with his face. “And you and Mr. Light are also very close. What is this, discrimination?”

“Help!!!” All the gray parrot’s feathers exploded into a ball. It was shaking so hard that it couldn’t wait to shrink its head into its body.

Dinner was ready, but the only person in the room was the diviner of Tumbleweed. Nemo Light and the former knight commander wasn’t there. Godwin put away his sword and suddenly felt tired in his heart.

“Oh, welcome back.” Jesse index finger rubbed against his lips as he gestured a “hush” to the gray parrot then he threw the sobbing parrot to the sofa.

Godwin rubbed his temples and was speechless for a while.

“If you are worried about your teammate… the lovely Miss Light and our leader just went to the kitchen to find Nemo. As for my sweetheart, well, if I’m not mistaken, Adri must’ve gone for evening prayer.”

Godwin didn’t have much affection for Tumbleweed, the notorious sea scorpion level group. He barely smiled. Before he could think of anything to say, the four people who squeezed in through the door succeeded in taking away Jesse Dylan’s attention.

Debby rubbed her face, with some traces of embarrassment still remaining on her face, Oliver was curiously whispering something to Adrian, while Nemo Light put on a hot white cloth bag not far from the dining table. The rich aroma of baked goods wafted from the opening of the bag.

“You’re so thoughtful dear Mr. Light. These people didn’t meet the Pope, so the table is full of light things. They didn’t prepare desserts at all.”

Jesse immediately ignored Godwin. He rubbed into bag, picked up a piece of snack shaped like a ring, and took a crisp bite.

“The taste is great, but it’s texture is a little rough.”

“Because it’s a treat for horses.” Nemo even sounded a bit serious.

“It’s okay. I don’t think it will blame me.”

Seeing Nemo stepping into the door, the gray parrot suddenly opened its throat and let out an unpleasant squawk.

“…Did you tell it?”

“I told it.”

This team wasn’t normal. Listening to these incomprehensible conversations, Godwin felt confused and lost his ability to judge. He pulled away the chair that belonged to him, decided to get rid of the nonsense and squawking in his ears, and focused all his energy on the food in front of him.

Time quickly slipped to noon the next day.

Unlike Horizon, who was exceptionally well-funded, everyone in Tumbleweed didn’t prepare too many magic props. The fuller goat was allowed to enter the small auditorium, and the burden on its back wasn’t heavy.

Although he had determined that it could enter the Abyss normally, Nemo was still a little nervous. He thought they would be teleported to the vicinity of the Abyss, and then enter the abyss from the entrance…

“Everyone will be teleported to Return Town.”

Several clergies spread out a huge carpet painted with a teleportation array on one side, and Felix, the Preceptor, stepped on it.

“It’s the boundary between the Abyss and the surface. Strictly speaking, it’s the limit zone that the surface teleportation array can reach. If there are people who have a poor tolerance to abyssal magic, it’s best to take medicine now, or wear protective gear.”

The small auditorium, which was slightly empty last night, was overcrowded at this time. Counting the Preceptor, there were sixty Laddism believers were standing on the edge of the blanket with serious expressions. They wore different uniforms. Although they were theoretically clear about the composition of the position of the Laddism Church, Nemo could only immediately recognize the Knights of Judgement among them.

“Return Town is safe. The Knights of Judgement will go first, then the fire-bearers, choir, escort, and finally the assistant priests will bring the supplies.” Preceptor Felix instructed.

The teleportation array lit up on the weird carpet, and the knights in armor formed a line and quietly stepped towards the center of the magic array.

“Fire-bearers? Choir?” In order to prevent unnecessary confusion caused by overly similar faces, Oliver dutifully put on the skeleton helmet. He approached Nemo and asked in a low voice. “I have heard a little about the choir.”

“The fire-bearers are their mages.” Nemo also lowered his voice. After all the Knights of Judgement entered and disappeared from the teleportation array, the monks in red robes learned on their staffs and walked forward quietly. “It seems to be these people.”

Then apart from the simple assistant priest who manipulated the magic cart, the remaining person in white should be a member of the “choir”.

The young man was sitting in a weird armchair floating off the ground. His trousers under his white robe empty.

A few wide belts went around his waist and abdomen, fixing him to the chair so that he would not fall from the seat. The young man was wearing a weird white hat— The hat was painted with complicated golden patterns, and the brim was extremely low, directly covering his eyes.

Before Oliver had time to take a few more glances, he had to keep up with the steps of the Laddism mages and step into the shining teleportation array.

This was a good thing, Nemo thought blankly. Oliver’s entire interest was in the choir member, forgetting for a moment his nervousness, and temporarily forgetting that he was dizzy from the teleportation array.

When they arrived in Return Town and stepped on the land of the abyss, Oliver even forgot his weakness.

As the son of an innkeeper, growing up among the bragging chatters of various adventurers, Oliver naturally heard of Return Town. If Roadside Town was the closest human town to the Abyss, in a sense, Return Town was the closest human town to the surface.

He knew that Return Town was located in a deep mountain pass in the Ash Mountain Range but hearing about it and seeing it with his own eyes were often two different things. Even after hearing countless adventure stories, he was still shocked by the scenery in front of him.

There was almost no sunlight here.

Trying to raise their heads, they could only see a little bit of sky light. From this distance, the vast cave entrance was very similar in size to the sun, but the light couldn’t illuminate the ground at all.

Return Town was built on a cliff, and the entire town had no “ground” in the normal sense. Compared with an ordinary town, it was more like a castle made of wood and metal with stone walls on the sides, huge but rudimentary. Buildings were stacked on each other, and countless bridges and ladders were intertwined. The stacked rooms revealed bits and pieces of warm light.

The teleportation array connecting the Central Church was carved on a stone wall perpendicular to the wooden “ground”, and people even thoughtfully erected wooden platforms and steps around it.

But in the crevices of the building, Nemo could still see the dark void under his feet.

The two members of Tumbleweed froze in front of the teleportation array. If they hadn’t been dragged off the wooden platform by the enthusiastic Debby, they would have been hit by the magic cart that followed closely behind.

Until everyone was in place, the two of them were still in a daze on the edge of the platform— Except that Oliver stretched his neck to look at the sky above his head, while Nemo supported himself on the railing on the edge of the wooden platform and looked into the depths of the Abyss without saying a word.

“Welcome to the Abyss, everyone.”

A hoarse and unpleasant voice sounded not far away.

“The Laddism team arrived last, which is very good. Now all three reconnaissance teams are here.”

The author has something to say:

It’s officially going to the abyss!!

Now only the honest knight commander and honest Ann doesn’t know who Jesse is (……

——

Godwin: The sand sculpture of Tumbleweed prevents me from analyzing it normally……

Jesse: The horse treat is delicious

Pope Horse: *Whines* (Expletive)