Shocked, when I turned around, I saw several men dripping blood and leaning against the door as if they could collapse at any moment.
Even though they all wore thick breastplates, I could still see sharp tears through the chest area of their armor. Blood was flowing like water from the gaps.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just one. All five people who entered were in the same state. Because of how miserable they looked, everyone was stunned. The one who received the most amount of shock was the inn’s owner. From how he reacted, he seemed to be familiar with the five gravely injured men.
“How… Just what in the world happened?! Emyr, head out to the temple and bring a priest, now!”
The Champagne Mercenaries acted as well. Harol carried over the men who had collapsed and began inspecting their injuries.
“Now’s not the time to panic! All of you, move! Make room for them to lie down! Their wounds are serious, so we need to stop the bleeding! Do you have any sort of hemostasis medicine?”
“I do, but it’s only for minor wounds. It’ll be ineffective for something like this.”
“We’ll use whatever we have, so bring it here! Bring clean cloths as well!”
The tavern burst into activity. Because we could not transport them to the rooms, we laid them on the floor. One similarity I noticed in their wounds was that none of their bones seemed broken. Instead, they all had deep gashes all over their bodies. Some of their cuts were so deep that I could see the bone.
While he pressed down on the wounded areas with cloths, Hosane worriedly asked, “What happened? These wounds aren’t from swords… Were you attacked by a monster?”
“Khckk. Y…Yes.”
At his words, the faces of the other mercenaries suddenly hardened.
Hosane once again asked, “What kind of monsters put you in this state? Were there too many?”
“Cough. Five…it isn’t five men. It was eleven. We are the only survivors. Also, the number was no more than two.”
“!!”
*Gasp*. At his words, the onlookers drew in a sharp gale of breath. To think that a party of eleven was decimated by only a pair of monsters! However, Hosane and the Champagne Mercenaries seemed to have calmed down. Have they noticed something?
After examining the wound for a long period of time, he finally spoke.
“These wounds are made from claws. The ones over here are from fangs. Multiple locations were attacked at the same instant… Was it truly only two?”
*Nod*
They no longer had energy to even answer. All they could do was move their head to answer.
“Then this means that the creature possessed multiple heads. Looking at these claw marks… I have to say that they were attacked by a Hell Cerberus.”
“Dear God. That’s ranked Superior among the strongest of the Upper Class Monster bosses! Why would they leave Demise Forest and come all the way out here? And two of them added on to that!”
Demise Forest was located far from here. To reach it, a person had to cross the ocean to head to Alphon Empire. That place could be described as utter hell. Because it was a gathering place for monsters, the concentration of Upper Class creatures were ridiculously high. Therefore, it was considered a no man’s land and entry was forbidden.
According to some rumors, it was actually the domain of the Demon Clan. Therefore, residents of Soltere Empire that worshipped the Demon God considered it a sacred place.
Harol, who shouted out in desperation, was cut short by Hosane’s response.
“Not all Upper Grade monsters live in Demise Forest. It’s possible that they lived in the mountain peaks and just came down. Two of them… This is dangerous…”
“Dangerous doesn’t cut it. You know how many Silver Grades are needed to take down a single Cerberus. Ten people! Ten!!! And even if we do send ten for each, the odds are still not good. Fighting is no different than digging our own graves!”
Harol, who usually begged for monsters to appear, was now screaming in panic. But I guess the fear is reasonable since it would take ten Silver Grades to take down one.
The owner, who had been busy treating wounds, also shook his head in worry.
“You’re right. To be honest, these people were hired to eliminate the rumored Upper Class Monster that had been seen near the city. They are all at least at the Silver Grade. Despite that, more than half were killed. We may end up losing the southern gate this rate.”
“Southern gate… This is bad. That’s the only path to Kalmore.”
At Matey’s words, the faces of the mercenaries became ugly. To think that it would come in our direction of destination. Our luck could not have been any worse.
At this moment, the worker who left the tavern to bring over a healer returned. The owner raised his head in relief, but that was short-lived. After a brief exchange of words, he began shouting in rage.
“Damn it! They only sent a novice, disgusting bastards.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“As I said, they sent a novice. I’ve seen his skills, but his abilities are so miniscule that it is practically nonexistent. If a noble were to be injured, then they would have sent the priests with the highest quality of skills. But because they are only mercenaries, they only gave us him! With his level of skill, it’ll be a miracle for him to even heal a bruise!”
The priest who ran in immediately began to back away with his face flushed red in embarrassment. The surrounding people scoffed at him in annoyance. To think that the temple would send a novice when people’s lives were at risk!
When the priest felt glares in every direction, he helplessly raised his head and arrogantly opened his mouth.
“Rude. Is this how you treat a person who has come to save lives? As a servant of God, I have no reason to receive this sort of treatment from you all. Take me to the patient.”
“Ha-? Can you not see them in front of you? Why don’t you try if you’re so capable?”
“Hm? Where are… Huck! You…you don’t mean these people?”
At a glance, it seemed almost like a mystery as to why these mercenaries were not dead yet. When he saw the severity of their wounds, his eyes opened in shock. In the end, he sheepishly stated that this was beyond his abilities and that we should look for a different priest.
As if to avoid the continuous stream of resentful gazes, the novice priest ran out like his life depended on it. No matter how much of a novice he was, when he fled without even spending a single ounce of Sacred Aura, the eyes of the people present were filled with wrath.
“To think that those bastards call themselves servants of God! Just what is this world coming to?!”
“Khck, now’s not the time for this. Contact the priests of other temples!”
“It’s pointless! They’re all the same! They won’t even spare a glance at common folk like us! It’ll be better if we call a doctor instead.”
The faces plastered with guilt became paler and paler. I panicked and glanced at Trom-Well. He shook his head adamantly.
-But Trom-Well…
-No. Did you forget? You must not use your powers till you receive a Stigma.
-Can’t I just say that the Stigma is underneath my clothes? What if they die…?
-Still no. This place has many priests. If someone were to use such a powerful heal, the temples would definitely notice and begin to investigate. I told you before that priests that are highly ranked have their
Stigmas in easily seen areas. A person who has a Stigma in a place that is not easily discernible cannot possess such a powerful healing technique. - …
I knew that he was just worried, but I still couldn’t get rid of this burden in my heart. While I bit my lips in worry, I suddenly remembered the existence of one person.
“Ah! Harol! Which tavern do the members of the convoy reside in?”
“Hm? It’s a little far from here? Why do you ask?”
“We have Kai! He can help!”
“Huh? That priest? You’re right! If it’s him, he should be able to heal them… I’ll go call him over!”
But Harol had no need to do such a thing. The moment he was about to leave, as if by a miracle, Kai entered through the tavern door. When he leisurely entered, he nearly ran into Harol who was sprinting towards the door.
As if he could smell the blood in the air, his complexion turned dark and he headed toward the injured.
When he got close, he displayed Elwien’s Stigma to the tavern owner who was on guard towards the stranger.
“I am a servant of Elwien. Just what happened?”
“What? El…Elwien’s Priest? Huck! Thank you, dear God! Thank God you’re here, Lord Priest! Please save these men! They were attacked by monsters and barely escaped death! I’m willing to pay any amount!”
The fact that priests of Elwien were skilled at healing was a fact well known by even the common folk.
Furthermore, seeing how the Stigma was on his wrist, they could discern that this man was a fairly powerful priest.
As if he was worried Kai would refuse, the owner hurriedly offered a reward even when he wasn’t asked. In response, Kai smiled and shook his head.
“I’m here on a pilgrimage. Furthermore, if I were to accept such a thing, I would earn the scorn of my God. Don’t worry about such a thing and pay attention to the patient.”
“Huck! Thank you! Thank you!!”
While receiving blessings, Kai began to pour Sacred Aura into the bodies of the wounded. But because the wounds were too deep, droplets of sweat formed in his brows and, even though he was pouring a waterfall-like stream of power, he was unable to completely heal their injuries. After treating the gashes that were life-threatening injuries first, he decided to let the rest heal naturally for now and took a deep breath in relief.
The people in the surroundings, who had been dead silent for fear of disturbing his concentration, now exploded with cheers.
“S…Sir? Are they okay now?”
“Hoh. For now, I treated the most dangerous ones. The rest of the wounds are mild. I managed to recover their vitality so any common doctor should be able to take over from here.”
“Ohohoho! Thank you, Lord Priest! I won’t ever forget this debt!”
“No worries… Rather, you should thank Lord Elwien instead. If he hadn’t told me to go find El, then things may have gone the other way.”
Huh? Me? Surprised, my eyes met Kai’s who just smiled. After the crowd dispersed, he dragged me over to a corner and began to smile.
Looking around to make sure no one was present, he opened his lips.
“To be truthful, in midst of prayer, I received Elwien’s will. He is waiting for you to come to his temple.”
“Huh? El, Elwien…?”
Huh? Now what does this mean? Elwien’s will? Is he spying on me from above?
When I sputtered out my lines, Kai nodded confidently. He also mentioned that this was the first time he had received such a direct and clear message from Elwien.
“He expressed his wish to see you as soon as possible. Also, I have a favor to ask of you. May I escort you personally to the temple? You were going to head to the temple once we arrive at Kalmore anyways, correct?”
“That’s true, but did Elwien really say that he wanted to see me?”
“Yes. This will wasn’t just sent to me. It was sent to every servant of Elwien of the temple. We were also told to treat you with respect as well.”
“…”
Holy crap, Elwien. Are you planning to ruin my adventure? Treat with respect? To hell with that!
Even though Kai looked earnestly at my eyes, I could see that he was trying to pry into my identity.
It was at this moment that my future looked dark.