Evan stopped in his tracks at her question and turned around.
“A monstrosity?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I heard from Priestess Millia that you were the first to discover that altar.”
Evan met her gaze and considered her accusation.
If she meant the Twisted Chalice by “monstrosity,” then she had caught on quite well. But the Mediator had already destroyed the Twisted Chalice. It no longer existed.
No, even if it did, he would never hand it over.
‘That thing should never have existed in this world in the first place.’
There was no way to tolerate a Chaos Item of such power running loose.
All the more reason for him to manage it himself—and if possible, eliminate it.
Entrusting something like that to ignorant people was madness.
Besides, even though she was a priestess, he had no trust in her or her cult.
“How rude. A priestess questioning me like this with no proof.”
She flinched but quickly regained her composure and said, “This concerns the safety of this world. Though you are a son of the Baron’s family, we do not consider status when it comes to what has been decided as evil.”
“Do you mean to say that neither the Baron’s family nor the kingdom itself will bend?”
Jena held her tongue.
It was a silent confirmation.
Evan smiled with amusement at her expression.
‘Is the cult’s influence really strong enough in this world to make an entire kingdom its enemy?’
But even so, Jena shouldn’t have acted like this.
No, he disliked the mindset that the cult alone held the truth.
He had seen enough of people like that in his previous world.
How those who try to do everything within the framework of religion end up causing disastrous consequences.
It was laughable.
“They speak as if they know everything, and arrogantly brand themselves as the ultimate ‘good.’ Truly, they are insufferably arrogant. To me, they’re just human like anyone else.”
Evan’s words made her frown.
“You don’t understand! History has been brutal and tragic because of people like you who think this way. You only cause more chaos. And the Saintess herself receives divine oracles. You need not worry about that.”
“Divine oracles?”
“Yes. There is a prophecy within the barony… Anyway, the Nervan Cult is openly active here, so cooperate.”
The moment she uttered “prophecy,” she immediately tried to backtrack, her expression betraying regret.
Evan caught it without missing a beat.
“Prophecy? What do you mean by that?”
Jena furrowed her brow and remained silent for a moment before reluctantly answering.
“There is a prophecy foretelling something bad will happen here. It will be discussed and delivered later by the Southern Holy Alliance. If you don’t believe me, you can contact the Baron’s family in advance.”
Evan showed displeasure on his face.
‘They’re playing their drums and cymbals all on their own without even informing the concerned party.’
But he didn’t press further.
For them, there was no loss in withholding information.
Though it was unpleasant, he decided to let it slide.
What he needed to focus on now was the prophecy they spoke of.
‘Who exactly were these oracles received from?’
He himself received quests from the Mediator of the World and was involved in maintaining the world’s balance and peace.
Whether he liked it or not, he had learned much from that.
She claimed to stand for the protection of the world, but from Evan’s perspective, it was laughable that ordinary people would do something about it.
Their level of knowledge barely reached the tip of his toes.
He wondered if they, too, received information through the Mediator, but that was impossible.
The concept of Awakened Ones didn’t exist here.
Even to meet the Mediator, a Soul Stone was absolutely required.
‘Still, could there be some connection?’
He couldn’t just let it go.
Evan used his clairvoyance to check her status window to gather as much information as possible.
< Jena Refrain >
[Alignment: Good]
[Race: Human]
[Gender: Female]
[Affinity: 0%]
[Potential Abilities: Holy Power, Divine Magic, Light Attribute]
[Skills: Holy Power Lv.100, Blessing of Purification Lv.50, Hand of Healing Lv.91, Holy Shield Lv.88, Holy Attack Lv.95…]
[Soul memories can be accessed.]
Her abilities viewed through the status window were indeed impressive.
All her skills related to Holy Power were exceptional, befitting a priestess.
If he were to confront her now, she might be somewhat troublesome.
‘The good news is that her level is fairly advanced.’
This time, he was able to access her memories.
‘She said there’s a prophecy.’
He wondered if he could glean more from her memories.
As he accessed her memories, a holographic window appeared before his eyes.
< Soul Memories >
[Venus Order: Senior Priestess or above]
[Prophecy concerning Kerthen County: Holy Power 3,200 or higher]
[Valhalla: Holy Power 5,000 or higher]
[Purification of the Capital of the Bellerian Kingdom: Holy Power 90,000 or higher]
He was able to view about ten memories in total, but what he needed was the prophecy related to the barony.
‘Luckily, it’s among the accessible memories.’
The moment Evan selected her memory, it flowed into his mind.
It was a memory of her conversing with some elderly men.
They appeared to be high-ranking cult officials.
“Fourth tooth of the Golden Lion, one of the five sons of the sleeping night will awaken…”
The prophecies she had heard.
Roughly interpreted, it meant that somewhere in Kerthen County, the seal on an ancient evil beast would be broken.
And it was the Nervan Cult behind it.
Evan could guess the culprit.
Anyone connected with the Nervan Cult was obvious.
‘Heres and Hilton—they dragged the Nervan Cult in and turned things upside down.’
The fuse was likely lit the moment Hilton began dealings with the Nervan Cult.
***
Evan snapped out of his thoughts and fixed his gaze on her clear eyes.
“Believe it or not, the monstrosity you mentioned has already been destroyed.”
At Evan’s answer, Jena’s face contorted with anger.
“…Are you really going to say that? Keeping that monstrosity won’t help at all. You won’t even be able to use it properly, and its power is evil.”
“Yes, I know. That’s why I said I destroyed it.”
“Don’t joke! That’s not something that can be easily destroyed. And if you have it, those scoundrels will surely come for the Young Master.”
“So you still don’t believe me. How can I make you believe?”
As Evan wore a troubled expression, Jena sighed deeply.
“Then let’s do this. I will determine, with the Goddess’s power, whether what you say is false.”
With that, she held out the staff she was carrying with both hands.
“Place your hand on it, and I will ask again. You can answer then.”
“All right. Let’s do that.”
Evan gently placed his hand on the staff she offered.
Then Jena began to channel her Holy Power.
Fwahhhh!
A golden light radiated from her entire body.
“Now, answer my question again. Where is that monstrosity?”
Evan answered simply to her question.
“It has been destroyed.”
“You continue with such lies… huh?”
But surprisingly, no reaction appeared on Evan.
If he were lying, a brand would have marked his tongue to force the truth out.
“W-why…”
Seeing that Evan was perfectly fine, Jena was flustered and at a loss.
He really wasn’t lying.
“Now can I remove my hand?”
“Ah, yes? Yes…”
“Since there’s nothing more, I’ll be leaving first.”
Evan turned with a displeased expression and walked away.
“Young Master!”
Her voice came from behind, but Evan didn’t stop.
Of course, she had no intention of following him either.
“What is going on…?”
***
Evan moved toward the training ground, deep in thought.
‘…Judging by the circumstances, the prophecy seems real.’
He recalled the contents of the prophecy from her memories.
He didn’t fully trust the prophecy, but considering the barony’s main quest and the Nervan Cult’s involvement, it fit perfectly.
‘Anyway, the big win is that I now know their goal.’
The problem now was to find what they intended to unseal.
‘Where could it be sleeping?’
He had no clues at all.
Moreover, since Heres and Hilton were already captured, they would be on high alert.
“No, never mind.”
But Evan shook his head shortly after.
There was no need to overthink.
‘If it’s connected to the main quest anyway…’
He just needed to progress the quest quickly.
‘By completing the quest, I’ll eventually reach the conclusion.’
And this was something that could be solved by roughly assigning a Subjugation Mission through Andre.
“Before that, today…”
When Evan arrived at the training ground, he saw Alan and Reynold sparring.
But unusually, there was one more person.
Celia was sitting on the ground, panting heavily and sweating as she rested.
‘Oh, right, Celia was here too.’
She had said she’d be accompanying them for a while.
It was a bit bothersome, but judging by her skills, she seemed to even surpass Alan.
After all, she had served as a Knight Commander like Andre.
‘Well, since we’re going to tackle the dungeon from now on, she’ll be useful.’
As Evan approached, Celia spotted him first and greeted him.
“You’re here, Young Master?”
“Did you spar a bit?”
“Yes. It was nice to stretch after a while, but…”
She looked at them with disbelief and continued.
“I won several rounds, but in the end, I got exhausted and surrendered. Their stamina is no joke.”
Evan chuckled softly and looked at Alan and Reynold.
Their bodies were filled with dense auras.
They purposely trained with their bodies weighted several times heavier than normal.
At first, they had struggled to adapt, but their family had forced this training from the time they came here.
Now they could move for a long time, and their physical abilities had improved dramatically.
It was one of Evan’s usual training methods.
Of course, forcing aura density was dangerous.
It placed tremendous strain on the body, and if not controlled properly, it could cause serious harm.
But that was a story for beginners.
Evan had handled it steadily in his previous world.
He was slowly increasing their limits by explaining this to Alan and Reynold.
“Watch closely. If you’re going to work together from now on, you need to get used to it.”
“Huh?”
“Today is the first time. You should rest.”
At Evan’s cryptic words, Celia made a displeased face.
Evan approached Alan and Reynold, who were still sparring.
“It’s been a while. I’ll warm up too. Both of you, come at me at the same time.”
He picked up a wooden sword and gestured.
Alan and Reynold nodded as if it was familiar.
Celia just stared, confused at first, then watched in horror as the two versus one spar unfolded.
“Y-Young Master?”
Evan was facing both of them alone.
He was enveloped in aura and fighting at full power but was easily blocking their attacks.
Time passed, and the hellish spar showed no signs of ending.
“I-it’s insane…”
Celia’s pupils trembled like an earthquake.
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