Chapter 44: Church of Mystery

The man who regained consciousness answered Shion’s question in a firm tone.

“I came into this country from Valenciu Kingdom. But when I was tired and tried to rest, the worm caught me”

“Must be hard to move with a full plate armor, huh?”

“I guess it was because I was overconfident in my physical strength. …… It also hurt that I left before dawn. The inn I was staying at near the church was a bad place”

“Church?”

“It’s near the border. …… Ah… no, …… you didn’t hear that”

The man lowered his eyes as if he had accidentally slipped up. There was no doubt that this was the inn Aria talked about, so Shion decided to find out forcefully.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I hope you’d tell me. I mean, if I’m not careful, the worm would have eaten me, too”

“…… Ugh. …… Can you promise me that you will never, ever tell anyone?”

When Shion nodded his head, the man reluctantly began to tell him what was wrong with the church.

The content can be summarized as follows.

The man had always been good at finding hidden rooms and traps, and he could smell it inside the church.

Out of curiosity, he sneaks in the middle of the night to investigate and discover a hidden room. The room leads to the basement, where many weapons and armor are stored, some even covered in blood.

Even more astonishing, he said, were the pointed ears that had been drenched in liquid.

“Those are definitely elf ears”

“Are they trying to make a longevity potion? …… Elf hunting is supposed to be banned everywhere”

The elves are a long-lived race, and there have been many rumors in the past that their bodies - especially their ears - can be used to make a longevity potion ……

The people who took this to heart went hunting for elves, which led to war in the sad past.

“I was surprised to see that there were people who believed that it even though it was a hoax”

“Right…”

Today, many people are educated to know that the story of the elves is a hoax.

However, Shion knows that it is not a hoax but the truth. He had taken care of a villain who was well over 200 years old because of the longevity potion.

“And all those weapons. No matter what I think, it must be a hideout of dangerous people. That’s why I got scared and ran away in the early morning”

“So, you’re saying the priest is the bad guy?”

“I don’t know. But he seemed sincere and kind. Well, that kind of person is more suspicious”

As Shion was talking with the man, Aria and the others who had noticed something strange walked up to him. When the man saw her, he jumped up and down, as if his heart had gone cold.

“Sh…Sh…Sh… She’s the Water Hero!”

“Yeah, we’ve been traveling together”

“Wait, that’s not good. I’m going to go now, so please don’t tell anyone about what just happened! Please, please, please!”

“Ah, oi…!”

The man felt guilty about breaking into the church in the middle of the night, so he hurriedly fled the scene.

“What’s that guy? He looks at me like I’m some kind of a monster”

“Hahaha …… I guess he thought you’d judge him”

“What, do I usually look that scary?!”

Because he felt sorry for Aria, who was in a rather severe state of shock, Shion told his friends the whole story and how it happened.

Haku, who heard the story, guessed that the priest was one of the bandits or something. Shion completely agreed with him.

He can’t say it’s a common occurrence, but it does happen. Bandits deceive the public by taking up other professions.

However, Aria had a slightly different idea.

“It could be one of the anti-social groups in our country. Once, there was a story that the church was a hideout, and my master raided it with the king’s soldiers. But they didn’t find anything, so he was cleared of all charges”

“We’re near the border in terms of location, and it’s relatively easy to send weapons to the cities. If the priest is a member, what’re you gonna do, Aria?”

“Capture him”

“All right. In that case, let us help you”

‘Yup, yup’

Aria uttered her thanks to Shion and Haku. We’re friends after all, he replied, and she smiled at the sweet sound of it.

Anyway, the three of them hurried to the church before nightfall.

They arrived safely in a few hours.

A church with a cone-shaped roof was built on top of a small hill, and nearby was a two-story house and stables that looked like an inn.

There seemed to be many traffic people, and the weeds on the road had been trampled down.

“I’ll go see if I can get a place to stay on my own first”

“Please do. I’m sure they know what I look like. I don’t want them to be wary and reject me”

‘Don’t be too reserved about me. I’m totally fine at the stables’

“I’ll try to negotiate with them, just in case”

When he entered the inn, four people were working inside: a middle-aged couple and a teenage man and woman. The youngest one was probably a child.

There were no other customers, and the owner, with a smile, welcomed Shion.

“Will you be renting?”

“I have one more companion and a quite huge Familiar”

“There are no other guests today, so the room is fine. However, as for the Familiar, please take them to the stables”

It seemed to be a rule that there was no room for bargaining, so Shion decided to follow it and got a double room for the night.

He asked for no dinner, just in case. He doesn’t want to be poisoned or drugged.

“Let me show you the stables”

There seemed to be space for the Familiar to rest there, and the master left the inn with Shion.

The first thing he does when he goes outside is to see Haku, which shocks him.

“Are you… a famous Tamer?”

“No, not particularly. This is my companion, Aria”

As he introduced her, Aria gave a small wave in front of her chest.

“Hello, I’m Aria Michlet”

“Huh!?”

The master opens his mouth so wide that I thought his jaw would come off. The reaction of ordinary people when they unexpectedly see a Hero varies from person to person, but they are usually either surprised or impressed.

However, even though they were surprised, few people would pull a face like this owner.

It was very similar to the face of the full plate man in the belly of the worm when he saw Aria.

He has something to hide——

Shion raised his wariness.