We finally arrived back at the tent where I have been sleeping. All of us then went and spoke up about our thoughts on the tailor's story.

  Lily: Since the story of someone from the church fighting an enemy in the town have been confirmed by two people, we can deduce that that is most likely true. The rest of the story is up in the air unless we find a second opinion on them.

  Since it was Lily speaking, everyone else agreed with her opinion of the matter. From what we heard, there was an order to send off the dark races. This fact is quite easy to confirm with a check. Even so, we should still check it just in case. Finally, there was the st part he said where the ruins of the bar should still be in pce and that if we asked it might be accessible.

  Just in case we should ask around for the overall reputation of the person. Even if their outward reputation may not be their whole story, it will give us a good idea of the person. Especially for the people around that area, they may have secret tidbits about the person to tell us.

  Having confirmed our current goals for now, we went to the knights around the lord's office and asked around for anyone who was around as a knight twenty years ago. This search eventually turned us to find a retired old knight who was staying a little distance away from the lord's mansion. This old man is the father of one of the knights who were on duty so they invited us when they heard we were asking for a knight active twenty years ago.

  We all agreed with his invitation and headed to a more secluded part of the town. We eventually arrived at a neat and homely house in the outskirts of the more residential area of the town. We arrived and the knight first knocked boldly on the door. Soon, we heard a shifting noise coming to the door and a little peephole was opened.

  After seeing the face of the guest, the elderly man quickly opened the door and greeted the knight. After seeing us, he was surprised for a moment and the knight asked him to invite us in.

  We were then invited in and sat down on an old and cushiony sofa in a rge living room. The pce was quite rustic with even a firepce actively in use.

  The old man then went and brought a tea kettle and some tea cups before finally asking the knight what was going on.

  Knight: These are the valued guests in the church's delegation. I heard they wanted to find a person who was active as a knight here twenty years ago and since they saved my life I chose to bring them to you.

  The old man showed an expected expression and then turned to us slowly before eventually stopping at my face.

  Retired Knight: You must be the leader of this group. Alright, you can ask me about most things. Of course, any secrets must remain secret so I won't tell you of any things like that.

  I thanked him for the opportunity to speak and began asking about what we wanted to know.

  Sean: We wanted to know more about what happened twenty years ago. We heard from somewhere that there was a church delegation here twenty years ago and that there was a big battle between a padin of the church and an unknown vampire who pupated people.

  When he heard what I wanted to ask about, he showed a surprised expression. I have been getting that tely. Is it that surprising I wanted to know of that time frame?

  Retired Knight: So that is what you want to ask about. Good thing you eventually came to me. I was one of the people involved in that incident that are still alive. What you know of the incident is quite accurate, but the situation is a little different from that. First of all, the vampire was one of the elders of the Dark Race Alliance. It was the puppet master Zariel who was plotting to lead an army of monsters to destroy the city by controlling the leader monsters in the area outside. It was that padin who, along with the lord, found out of the plot and had us encircle the area.

  The old knight then showed a look of extreme sorrow. He quietly sat and stared down at the tea cup in his hand.

  Retired Knight: What we did not know time was that the news we had received was purposefully sent to us to let us send some combat power out to deal with the potential beast raid. Because the lord and church sent some people to strangle the swarm at its core, we did not have enough guards at the prison and a prison break broke out as the puppet master began taking us knights and controlled our actions. We were then forced to watch as we began sughtering outside of our control. It was only nearly an hour ter that the lord and padin found out it was a diversion and rushed back to see the pce ravaged.

  Hearing this story, we were all quite shocked, including the young knight who brought us here.

  Knight: Dad, you haven't told me about this!

  Retired Knight: This story is my greatest failure as a knight. Although I won't go out of my way to mention it, I will not stop anyone from asking me. It is my greatest failure as a captain of the knights to not see through their ploy. Because of this failure, I was demoted from being a captain of the knights and spent a few years teaching the next generation of knights. Now you see where I have ended up. Although we just experienced such a travesty, we should always be on guard and careful of any incidents from popping up. Do not be like me and make the same mistakes again.

  He then took a moment to get a breather and finished the tea in his cup. After he refilled his cup, he began narrating the aftermath of the situation.

  Retired Knight: Because of that incident, there were many casualties and even the former lord was severely injured in the fight so the current lord had ascended to his current position. In order to calm the unrest, he announce that any member of the dark races were to be expelled from the town shortly after. Many stores and the like were closed down as a result. Although it was a helpless decision for the time, it was what had to be done to calm down all of the civilians living here. Even some of my friends who were knights had to be sent away.

  He finished his perspective of the events that happened and asked us if we had any questions on the subject. Although it was a little offensive, I still asked to get some of the more gritty details of the incident. The more details we can get from this, the more we can imagine and analyze of the situation. We even asked a bit about the previous lord.

  After finishing asking our question, we thanked the old man and let the two stay there and talk as we left for our tent again. When we arrived, we all exhaled a sigh of relief and got in a circle once again.

  Since we had a lot of information to digest now, we started chatting amongst each other about what we think of what we have heard. Because we had a direct recounting from a participant from that time period, we just need to confirm that he was indeed there at the time and whether he would lie to us or not. If he is not deliberately lying to us then the emotions that he showed should prove his story true.

  Verifying whether he was a participant in that war is quite simple. I just need to ask a few more older members and as long as they are not all teaming up to fool me than it should be trustworthy. Secondly, checking if he has any reason to lie to us is also a good idea. This was suggested by Lily who thought that we should remain prudent and check it another time herself.

  So, we all went around to the knights to ask about other older knights. When asked about why we needed to talk to more of them, we merely replied that we wanted to hear from multiple perspectives.

  A few days passed like this. After two days, we had already talked to enough people and were recounting all of this new knowledge to Farrell and Marianne. Compared to the others here, we trusted Marianne and Farrell the most of anyone here. After hearing all of our records of those stories, Farrell wanted to write it all down to keep at the Church's library as an extra record and we agreed.

  It was after we said all of this that Marianne asked us a new question.

  Marianne: Now that you know all about that situation, what do you want to do now?

  Hearing her inquiry, we all looked at each other and then expined our next pns to her.

  Sean: First of all, we apologize to you. We said that we wanted to follow you and help support you, but we want to find out about the situation that I have gone through. Since I had suddenly went through such an illusion, whoever made it must be targeting us so I do not want it to affect you both and your mission.

  Marianne shook her head and said that I do not need to apologize. She looked mencholy as she expined to us.

  Marianne: Bringing you with us was a short term decision and although I am thankful for your help during this fight, I saw that unless you were to fully join the church there will always be a sense of alienation between you all. Go ahead and go on your journey. Do not worry about me.

  But then, Farrell suddenly interrupted her.

  Farrell: You join them too.

  We were all surprised at his words. Marianne then pressed him for an expnation and he expined it to us.

  Farrell: Before we left from the headquarters of the church, the pope had sent a message to me beforehand. What he wrote was that he wanted you to grow and develop while out here. He knew with your nature you would join the carriage secretly so he already had a pn of action ready in case of this scenario. Going with them, you can learn more about this world then merely staying here in our delegation. What the church needs is a Silver saint who can truly bear all the sin in the world. He already sent a repcement for your role in the reinforcements in case of this situation. I see that you still yearn for adventure and companionship. Just remember to come back to the church when you are exhausted.

  Hearing this, tears slowly trickled down Marianne's face. Soon, she wiped them off and nodded.

  Marianne: If the pope has already pnned for this situation, I guess I will have to oblige and take this opportunity. Thank you for bearing with my willful actions.

  Farrell: No problem, I am just passing down the torch. Many years ago, William had done the same for me so you joining with them would just be me repaying the help I received by helping his newest disciples.

  She then turned to us and gave a curtsy before officially asking to join our team.

  Marianne: Will you accept my intrusion into your team?

  Sean: Welcome officially into our team!

  Lily: Welcome back.

  Kris: Hey, now our squad is growing stronger!

  Mist: Welcome.

  Millie: Hooray! Welcome back to the team Mari!

  All of us welcomed our newest addition to our team. After all of our greetings, we finally let the two, Farrell and Marianne, to talk and deal with the issue of expining to the other knights.

  We waited for our newest member at the tent once again.

  Once some time had passed, we eventually heard some shifting noises at the entrance of the tent. I went and opened the fp to see Marianne who was pacing in front of the tent mindlessly until I opened the fp.

  She showed a slightly embarrassed expression before greeting me.

  Marianne: Good Morning Captain.

  I greeted her back and invited her in with our whole group. Now we had our new full team assembled. Since she was now here, it was time to inform her a little about our organization and why we are doing things.

  Sean: First of all, let me start from the beginning. As you know, we were originally orphans in an orphanage that secretly worked as a human trafficking ring. Fortunately for us, we were saved by our leader before anything could happen. With her help, we were able to create a pce of our own to stay in. There at the base, we learned of common sense and how to fight to a certain level before getting sent out. When we left the base, we chose to become adventurers to help the organization and you can tell the rest. The group we belong to is called the Silver Garden.

  Hearing such a reduced version of events, Marianne nodded her head in understanding.

  Marianne: I understand it all now. No wonder you don't want to join the church. I respect your decision. You said that you all wanted to enter the Dark Race Alliance and see how they all are right? I will join you. After all, my pope has already told me to experience more so this should also be a part of what he said. And anyways, I always wanted to see what the Dark Race Alliance looked like from a bystander's point of view.

  With all of us agreeing, we officially finalized the next destination of our journey. Of course, even if Marianne had rejected the journey there, we would have gone there anyways since we had decided so beforehand.

  Now that we knew what to do, we each began to make our own preparations for this trip. Of course, this means that we also have to secure a means of transportation if we do not want to walk all the way over there. Lily had taken over this mission so my goal was to return to the library to secure a potential map to the nd governed by the Dark Race Alliance.

  As I arrived at the library once more, I was recognized by the old man who was already there.

  Edward: Oh, it is you young d! What brings you here? Where are your little buddies now?

  Sean: Thank you for your help before, we have now determined our next goal and are all making your preparations. I was wondering if you had any maps of the Dark Race Alliance.

  The old man was surprised when he heard my request. I guess, it is to be expected. Very few humans besides cultists would go out of their way to head out towards that territory after all.

  Edward: Good thing you came to me then. If you went just about anywhere else, you wouldn't have the slightest chance of getting a map. Thankfully I still have one in my collection. Now where was it?

  He began pondering for a while before gaining a sudden realization and rushed over to the back rooms of the library. Since I thought it would be rude to move around when he was so motivated, I waited here a few minutes till he arrived with a scroll of parchment.

  Edward: Thank goodness it is still in good condition. This is a map that one of the foreigners who entered the city sold off to me. According to the seller, the map is from at least five years ago and bels all of the important pces in the Dark Race Alliance. Now, although I can't let you take the scroll, you can copy it as much as you want. I have the ink and parchment here for you just in case.

  Sean: No need, I can just do this.

  I take out my communicator and press a certain icon on the device. With a snap, a crystal clear photo was taken of the map and I thanked the old man for his willingness to simply allow me to have access to such a map.

  The more I looked at it, the more I marveled at the meticulous care that was put into taking care of this map. Not only were their bels for all the approximate positions of all of the major cities in the Alliance, but there were comments on each of them as well as potential dangers in both the wilderness and in the cities.

  A map like this, definitely has an incredible value. I wonder who the person who sold the map was? Then I noticed a small signature in the lower right corner. When I looked at it, I only saw that it was signed by the 'Illusive Traveler'.

  Edward: Alright, do you need any other kind of information, young one? Don't worry and take your time. I can still wait.

  I quickly thanked him and told him I had no other needs and left to reunite with my team.

  Soon the day passed and the group all regrouped at my tent once again. Mist was the st to arrive and he showed signs of visible exhaustion. We let him get a moment to catch his breath before we began our team meeting.

  Sean: So, how was everyone's trips? were they successful?

  Lily: I was able to secure transportation. I was able to purchase a temporary carriage that can take us to the border of the country before we have to deposit it there and get another one on the other side. We can go at any time that we need to. As long as no one else targets our carriage.

  Marianne: I was able to say my farewells to everyone and can leave at anytime now.

  Kris: Millie and I already filled us up with supplies for the trip. Two weeks worth in fact.

  Millie: Mmhmm! I got us a bunch of snacks!

  Lily then looked at Kris with some reproach and Kris simply responded with a helpless shrug.

  Mist: I was able to sneak around the area that was told to us about the ruins of that bar you went to. With my skills, I was able to secretly enter unnoticed and took photos of everything I saw.

  He then pulled out his communicator and opened a folder in his photos beled Bloody Temptation. We all leaned in to take a better look at what he had investigated while we were all out.

  Since we knew some information and learned of what happened with the people sent out twenty years ago, I thought that it would be good to prepare for our own adventure. The Church and our path had already split off ever since we only decided to accompany Marianne on this journey.

  We had never said that we would be following the church and I believe that the old man Farrell knows this too. That is why we were always separate from the main convoy when adventuring. I guess he wanted to test and see if we were good partners to take Marianne around. Of course, he never expected all the battles we would be getting into.

  In those fights and scenarios, I guess he was able to confirm us as good people to take care of Marianne.

  Now that we were splitting off and Marianne was entrusted to our care, we should probably leave is what I thought. I mean, we were only tagging along because we made a promise to Marianne to help her. Now that she was with us, I guess we have overstayed our welcome. So we started pnning to head out to the Dark Race Alliance.

  One important thing to do before that is to go and explore that abandoned ruin where the Bloody Temptation was to see if there was any potential clue to her future whereabouts.

  I mean, that Varuna appeared to me in an illusion, so it must mean something. I have a feeling that we would definitely meet again and so exploring the pce was definitely something I had to do before I left.

  Of course, I could ask the store manager who owns the front store to see the ruins, but I should not simply rely on the goodwill of a stranger to determine whether I would explore those ruins. Since that was the case, I asked Mist to go search the area for me.

  And now, I was seeing the results of his searching. In his communicator, he took photos all over the area and captured most of the things to see there. It even had pictures of every drawer and opening to leave no stone unturned. When I saw the bar, I noticed that it was extremely run down and not like my impression of it at all.

  I looked at the pce and simply skipped past it and looked into what he found. In the ruins, I noticed that there was only a few pieces of smashed furniture. I guess the rest was stolen or destroyed and sent somewhere. After going through the entire reel, I gave him a thumbs up before finally asking my question.

  Sean: Did you not bring this letter with you?

  I pointed at one of the pictures. In one of the drawers there was a neatly folded letter with a stamp that had two fangs as a symbol on it. When I asked this question, the others turned to look at what I was pointing and showed a look of confusion.

  Mist: Is there a letter in this photo? I don't see it. If I did I would have definitely brought it out with me.

  Lily: Maybe you need to go there yourself to retrieve it? Maybe it is like that dreamy illusion you had before and is a letter that only you can see?

  I ultimately agreed with Lily's idea and I asked Mist to take me over there to see of I could find and grab the letter when I got there. Mist would send us all the folder so that the others could investigate the images to see if there was anything that Mist had missed before when he was there.

  Now that he was taking me with him, it would be better if I had a disguise on when sneaking in. If it was Mist alone, he could use his various stealth arts to sneak out the back, but since I was with him we had to disguise ourselves to possibly get in unnoticed.

  He went and used his various shadow arts to quickly get me prepared to go in.

  Mist: Shadow Arts - Disguise Work!

  This was the first time I had seen him dispy his Shadow arts in person. One time when we were adventuring, I remember that he had mentioned them when we were all talking about our days back at base. If I remember, it was the two of us since we were the only boys in our group. Now, let me recall our situation back then.

  Oh yeah, it was during a camping scene and we had just gotten to know each other. Although we decided to team up in the base, before we left the base we were all still in our csses that all expined our abilities. It was the first few days as adventurers that Mist and I were the ones on night watch for the day.

  I remember that we had barely talked much. I mean, even when we were in the orphanage he was always quite isoted and in his own world. It was the first time we were alone together and I was feeling quite awkward. Then I remember that it was him who spoke to me.

  Mist: Hey, although I agreed for you to be leader, don't think that I will always mindlessly follow you. Until I find your judgement of the situation better than mine, I will always be watching you for any mistakes you make. Even for that use girl I will too.

  Back then, he was thorny like a little porcupine. Since he was always alone and even grew as a rogue like css, it could only be expected that he would be more individualistic. I was an immature leader back then so I did not know how to respond to him. All I had and could do was to show him my sincerity and hope that he would eventually warm up.

  Sean: It's okay if you do not trust me. Of course, I hope you can come around to trust me one day, but I know that this process would be a long and arduous one. I hope you can forgive me for speaking crudely, but I hope we can really be friends. I mean, since we are the only guys in our squad after all.

  Maybe it was at that moment that I felt that his eyes widened and that he slightly put down his guard. I saw him rex a little.

  By pestering him, I was able to finally get him to talk about himself.

  Mist: My name is Mist. I am a parentless child like you. I remember that day like it was just yesterday. I was heading home after pying around with the local kids around and the I noticed that there were strong burly people around my home. It was only afterwards that I knew that my parents were secretly killed by those thugs because of money. I was ter found and sold off to the orphanage where you should know how I ended up next.

  I was sorry to make him pull out the band aid so suddenly, but he shook his head and said he did not mind it. Unlike him, I grew my whole life not knowing about my parents or life story. According to the orphanage director, they had found me abandoned and took me in. Because of this, I asked Mist about his life with his parents and he started talking about them the entire night.

  Soon an entire day passed and we had forgotten to wake up the girls for the second shift so we were scolded by Lily and they simply let us take a rest while they stayed vigint.

  Days passed like that and we all eventually grew more and more close to each other. One day, I suddenly asked about how the rogue type csses differed from the ones I took at the base.

  It was then I learned about the Shadow arts from Mist. They were a special set of techniques that mixed stealthy and disguising together as well as let him store a few hidden trinkets in the shadows of his body and clothes. Through this shadow storage he was able to secretly hide weapons and extra arrows and knives in case of emergencies. Of course, he also had the various cosmetics hidden in his shadows in order to disguise himself and others.

  Now that I was done reminiscing about the past, I found that Mist was patting my cheeks with a concerned look on his face.

  Mist: What's wrong? Are you feeling okay? You went into a daze after applied a disguise on you. Are you actually allergic to one of these?

  Seeing the genuine concern on his face, I saw it overp with that cold and spiky temperament he had before. I gave a smile and waved my hand back and forth in response.

  Sean: Nah, I was simply recalling the past. Back when we just started adventuring and you still mistrusted me. I remembered you were so cold to me and even threatened to disobey me if I ever showed that I was incompetent as a leader.

  He showed a slight blush and turned his head.

  Mist: You know that I just did not know you back then! Even then, I trusted you quite quickly back then. After the first few missions, you proved yourself a worthy leader after all.

  I simply smiled and ughed at his reaction. After all we went through, I knew almost everyone on a close personal level. I knew that I could trust my judgement. Back when I was deciding who to invite on my team, I had a feeling when I saw their names of who I wanted to join me. Sure enough, I knew that I was right ever since our first mission. Our coordination and teamwork, although a little rough around the edges, were showing signs of matching together already at that point. It was then I knew that it would only take time that we would all be able to work as one.

  Chuckling to myself, I looked at my current appearance through a hand mirror that Mist handed over. Seeing the entirely new face, I was shocked once again and had a new understanding of how unusual our skills we were taught in the base.

  I had an almost completely different face shape in my disguise. My blond hair was dyed a neutral brown and my eyes now was a dull green. I looked like any kind of civilian that you would be able to find walking the streets. I showed an amazed expression and Mist replied with a triumphant humph.

  Now that I was in disguise, it was up to Mist to guide me as he stayed hidden around to sneak into the back door.