With me along this time, Mist took a little more time to enter the back door. At least, that is what I think would happen. The reality is that I was rather helpful to get into the store as he could use me as a cover to get in. The only problem would be if they were to find out that I had stayed in the store abnormally long.

  Thankfully, the store was near closing time so I didn't have to worry about that. Instead, we had to worry about the security here now that it was closing. With Mist's help, I was able to successfully sneak into the store without a problem. Now we had to check out the back of the store to see if it was open. If it was not, although Mist could pick the lock, I would have to remain on guard and sentry duty is not my specialty after all. If we are found out sneaking in, we may have a little problem on our hands.

  When we arrived at the back of the store and saw the door that Mist used before, we both sighed as the door was locked. It was definitely not going to be easy. The fact that it was so easy for Mist to enter before was not only a stroke of luck, but also because I did not have to come with him at that time.

  Now that the store was dark, it was a little spooky having to watch while stuck in the dark. Because we were sneaking in, we could not make much noise so I could not talk to calm my nerves. This kept on going for a full three minutes that felt like an hour. Soon, I heard a slight click and turn as Mist motioned to me. I quickly follow Mist in and he locks the door behind us.

  Since we are sneaking in, if the backdoor is found to be unlocked mysteriously, they would get suspicious and likely ask around or check directly. In order to avoid such an outcome, Mist made sure to lock the door behind us. We then walked out through the back and after we were a while away we finally let out a breath.

  That environment was slightly stifling for a rogue like Mist, let alone me. We then rexed and chatted as we went our way down the alleyway. Seeing the rundown pces and comparing it to the pces in the illusion I faced, I felt a sense of time as the two were so drastically different. In that illusion, although I was the only one that was present, it at least had some sense of life.

  Now it was wholly abandoned and thus that breath of life was gone.

  We made our way to that familiar bar once again. When I saw the bar's entrance, I almost felt entranced and felt the old and new overp for a moment. Soon I woke from my stupor and followed Mist inside.

  Once again, the difference in appearance was striking as the paint was peeling off the walls and there were cracks hidden behind them. None of the familiar furniture was anywhere in sight and finally, the figure ying at the bartending table was no longer present.

  I simply walked past all of this. There was visibly nothing her of note so I simply took a precursory gnce and followed Mist to the room I had pointed out.

  In these rooms, although the furniture and such were not completely cleaned out like the storefront, there were a few things visibly missing. Soon we arrived at the drawer that led to this venture. I opened it up and sure enough I saw the letter with that peculiar stamp on it inside.

  Mist was curiously watching me hold what he saw as nothing.

  I nodded my head to him and we both went back to the backdoor to return, but when we were approaching there, Mist suddenly motioned me to stop. He then showed me his hands and gave me some signals.

  When I read the signals, I nodded and stayed quiet. The signals he passed to me was that he heard that someone was coming over. I made sure to keep quiet and away from the door in order to not disturb Mist's concentration.

  Sure enough, after a few minutes Mist heard the jangling of keys as the door was unlocked. Quickly, Mist quietly cast a special stealth skill from among his shadow arts.

  Mist: Shadow Art - Immobile Shadow.

  I saw that both my body and Mist's body both were covered in a shadow like substance and I found myself unable to move.

  Trusting in Mist, I merely stayed silent and wary of the door. Soon the door opened and the figure of a tired employee entered through the door. They merely looked around once. When his eyes passed over my position, I felt my body tighten. Thankfully, he simply looked past and then headed off into the depths of the alley.

  After we no longer heard his footsteps, Mist released us from the shadow state that he put us in. Then he motioned me to follow and we quietly snuck out again. Thankfully, the door was not locked behind him so exiting the pce was easy enough.

  Before, we entered through the front entrance since security still were around so we were able to quietly sneak out after finding the timing for everything from before.

  Soon we were out of the store and after Mist took me through a few alleys, he told me that I could take off the disguise. After removing it, he gave me a new set of clothes to wear and discarded the disguise clothes and took out some bags with clothes.

  Mist: With these bags, you could feasibly excuse a difference in outfit by stating you wanted to change into a new set of clothes you had bought.

  I nodded and Mist took me back. Luckily, there were not many people out patrolling. So we were able to trek back quite easily without getting questioned.

  When I arrived, everyone was still in the tent. Everyone was still there because they were all waiting for me to open and read the letter with them all.

  As we all sat together and I took out the letter in my clothes. I then pulled off the seal with the vampire fang symbol and opened the letter. After pulling out the letter, I began reading aloud what I saw on it.

  Sean: To anyone lucky enough to read this, Hi I am Varuna. This letter is only viewable if your fate is connected to mine in any way. Since I am a practitioner of the divine spell of prophecy, I knew that I should leave a letter here. Though I say this, I am not good enough to know who exactly you are... Oh well. Anyways, if you are someone I knew before, you know where I will be in. If you are a retively newer acquaintance, you can go to the Dark Race Alliance and find my family using the symbol on the seal. If that does not help, I guess you can try to look for the Villur Family in Blue Cw City. We have some influence there so it should not be difficult for you. So long reader! P.S. Be careful with the Mester family there. I have heard bad news from them ever since I was a child and they do not take kindly to strangers. Though, you can probably handle it!

  At the end of the letter there was a teasing face with a tongue sticking out. I sat there looking confused with the rest of us. Then Lily woke up first from our stupor.

  Lily: She sure is... quite a character. At least we have an idea of where to go now. This city mentioned by Varuna should be our target now. Hopefully we won't be stopped on the way.

  We all nod our heads together in agreement. Then Mist asked a very important question.

  Mist: How are we going to contact that Varuna person? She did not mention how we would contact them when we arrived?

  I paused in my thoughts. That's right. She did not mention any way to contact her. Judging from her character in her writing and back when I met her, she did seem like quite the klutz... Maybe she did simply forget that.

  Sean: Anyways, we'll figure it out when the time comes. We at least have a goal to adventure. All we wanted was a goal to explore and a city should be a pce where we can learn a lot about a region anyways. Only thing to worry about is that Mister family that Varuna mentioned.

  Everyone again nodded in agreement and we all take a collective sigh. Hopefully this journey won't be as jumpy as our previous one.

  Since we now had a destination prepared, I took out my communicator and showed the map I got from the old man at the library. Although I can't absolutely confirm the map's authenticity, it should at least provide some sort of reference.

  We all gathered around as I skimmed the map for our destination. Then Mist pointed at a certain spot on the map.

  Mist: Right there. That is the City of Blue Cw.

  All of us looked at where his finger nded and sure enough. This was the location we were headed. Thankfully, the pce was not that far into the Dark Race Alliance's territory. It was near the edge of what I would consider the outskirts and the mid section of the Alliance. Although there is a city closer, we should go to a pce that we at least have some clue over.

  We then all began searching for a route to the city from where we were at. The pce was quite far away so we had to pn strategically. There is no time limit in pce to get to Varuna so we should pn a more scenic route. All of us want to explore more of the Dark Race Alliance after all. Then again, there is a potential for war happening since the church sent Farrell to the frontlines so maybe we should explore starting from the deeper ends of the Alliance territory.

  After some time brainstorming, we found a route that satisfied everyone's urge to explore. First we will go to a vilge that connects both the Church's territory and the Alliance. Then we will rush in deep through the forest that borders the two. We will head out the other end and go to find a town known as the town of green eyes. Then we will head around the area through a few vilges before finally entering the city.

  Now that the route was mapped out, we all decided to rest for today so that we would be ready for our trip starting tomorrow. So we all said our farewells and headed off. Kris went and invited Marianne over to sleep with her since she would be with us rather than the church for now and she agreed.

  We all took our rest for the night and woke up energized for the day tomorrow. When asked if she wanted to say her farewells again, Marianne declined and said that she already said what she wanted so we all decided to leave by morning. Lead by Lily, we arrived at the rented carriages and found the man responsible for taking care of the carriages. He called up our carriage after we were confirmed to be the ones asking for it and headed out.

  Because we went out ourselves, we used our adventurer's guild passes to pass on through. It was at this moment that we realized that Marianne has not joined the party in the database for the adventurer's guild. Maybe we can sort that out ter? Regardless, they guards let us through and we head out to the Dark Race Alliance for our first time.

  The carriages cost us based on time so of course we just head along for now.

  With our trip started, we trekked into the area between the town and the territory of the Alliance without looking back. All of our farewells have already been stated, so now we should only move forward.

  Behind us in the lord's renovating home, Farrell and the now recovered Johnathon Gold were both standing and staring in the direction that they left in.

  Farrell: Didn't you like the saint? Why did you not say your farewells?

  Johnathon: Like? Hah, a pathetic emotion. I only showed that I liked her to get her out. Isn't that what you wanted? I was able to read it when we first talked. It would be impossible for me to not notice such an existence when she was there fighting the cultists near our territory.

  He gave a scoff and leaned back in his chair.

  Johnathon: In that fight, one of my personal guards was there and he was present during that saintess's ceremony. Obviously he would report about her to me at first notice. When I saw that she did not meet me with you, I knew that there was something going on. Although you are experienced, I am the real noble here so I was able to quickly deduce what was going on. You and the old geezer want her to follow the first ones path right?

  Farrell took a deep look at Johnathon. Then he began to recall about that first saint that he mentioned. It was a story from a long time ago, when he was a lot younger and more lively. In the halls of the headquarters of the Church, he who was just ordained as a Holy Padin of the church met the so called Pope of the Church of Light.

  At that time he was still an old man and he was bored and took me in to listen about old tales of the past.

  Pope: In the era before our church, there stood a group known as the Predecessors. They were the ones who built our church to what it is today and lit the spark of our growth. In that era, they had found what they called a 'Chosen One'. She was born as a glow of sunlight fell upon the world and was blessed with the power of Gold. When we found her, she was still an infant and alone as if she was here for us to bring her back. It seemed like it was fate so these Predecessors began to raise her as their own.

  He then recounted the various deeds of this Chosen one one by one from saving a city from an incurable pgue to bringing forth rain in arid dry climates. it was only till the end that something had interested me.

  Pope: This child was sent off to adventure around the world when she was still not yet an adult. She traveled and saw all that there was to uncover and eventually came back with a power unknown to the predecessors at the time. What she had found on that journey was the power of emotions and the bonds that connected her to the world itself. And so, she returned to them and procimed herself as the first Saint and created the first Church of Light built on the foundation of the Predecessors. Instead of ascending and reaching further heights, she chose to stay in this nd and eventually died and was buried in the back of the church.

  I looked at the old Pope and wondered about whether he was present at that time. He shook his head and gazed off into the distance.

  Pope: This story is passed on down from the Church's highest order of people and given to those whom they see as worthy. The legend of the First Saint shall go down in history, but since she had left the path for us, it has not yet been completed by any other saint. This is the greatest regret of every subsequent Pope and is the reason we still raise Saint candidates till this day. The Old Silver saint is nearing her end and has not passed her inheritance, it is up to the future generations to complete this inheritance, to walk down the path of the first saint and complete the cycle.

  Hearing this statement from him, I was filled with a sense of duty and honor and searched all over for a potential heir to the Silver saint. I even made a request to the pope to step down from the position of Padin so I could personally search for the fated one. Then one day I found her, Marianne. I knew that she would be the one to inherit the power of the Silver Saint so I asked around about her. I then found that she was an orphan in the town and so I adopted her and brought her into the church and took her to the elderly Silver Saint.

  As I suspected, she seemed as if she was perfectly suited to the position and grew more and more. Now she has finally set foot on the journey that the First Saint went on. To see the world on her own two feet without the burden of the title of saint on her shoulders. Although I hope for the Church's sake that she finds an answer, as a father I hope that she lives her own life to the fullest while we hold the fort till she returns to the Church as a mature Saint.

  I then snap out of my stupor and give a smile. Johnathon sees this and clicks his tongue.

  Johnathon: Seems you are no longer daydreaming. Don't daze off while a man like myself is speaking to you.

  Although he spoke like that, I felt a small tinge of happiness in his words that he could not hide. I smirked and ughed him.

  Farrell: Are you nervous for me? You young kids need to learn to let an old man as himself day dream. I remember when you were so young, you were quite the rebellious youth!

  Johnathon: Hey, if you are just going to uncover my scars using your age to suppress me, don't expect me to go easy on you old fossil.

  The two then started bickering together with the guards outside the door giving a sigh of exhaustion. Their attitudes giving a nice reprieve from all of the sadness of farewells.

  On the other side, we were all heading out and were almost at the edge of the road. After this point, we need to forge our own path forward. According to the road etiquette, those who forge their own path can charge those who pass through that road. Of course, those road's safety rating will all depend on how the merchants who use this road rate them. For travelers, most would choose a trustworthy road so that they would not have to worry so much about attacks and the like.

  For adventurers like us, if possible we usually go on those paths as well. The thing is, we want to go to the Alliance's territory. The problem is that there is no route between the Church and Alliance. So we will have to embark off the road anyways. So we decided to just go and bze a path of our own. Not only would it be more free, it would also be more convenient to just go straight there if possible. Of course, the carriage will left at the border. Thankfully there are stations at the border to pce them. Since Lily had rented the carriage, she had already prepared everything in advance.

  We kept on going along with me and Mist driving the carriage. Us two guys were chatting amongst ourselves while inside the carriage the girls were having their own talks inside.

  Marianne: So, what is it like in your organization? I only knew the basics from what you all have told me.

  Lily: Our Silver Garden is lead by the two people who saved us all. A weird master and maid pair. From what I know, the leader of the organization is something like a necromancer.

  Marianne: A Necromancer?! Like those in the stories?

  Millie: Stories?

  Kris: I know this! I remember that I read in stories that Necromancers are magicians who's specialize in dark magics. Unlike ordinary dark magicians, they specifically use undead in their magic and summoning.

  Millie: Oh! That does sound like leader! I remember when she saved us that a bunch of skeletons suddenly appeared before us and protected us from the bad guys. They then led us to leader. So that is what a necromancer is.

  Lily: You really did not pay attention during csses have you. Necromancers were expined on the common sense of extraordinary cssification css. I remember all of us had to take it?

  Kris and Millie both chuckled nervously. Unlike Sean and Lily, they were never the smartest of the bunch. Even Mist had a pretty good score back when they were learning at the base. Seeing all of them getting along like this, Marianne felt a little left out, but still enjoyed the atmosphere. Seeing this, Lily gave a sigh to the two numbskulls and talked to Marianne.

  Lily: Now that you know a little about us, how about you reciprocate and say a little about yourself?

  Marianne: Oh! My life did not have a drastic turn around like yours. I was originally an orphan in my hometown as long as I could remember. Then one day when I was out to beg, a strange old man came to the town and stared at me for a while. I was a little embarrassed at the attention, but he then went and walked away. When the day was setting, I found that the old man came again and asked if I was willing to come with him and live with him. At the time I didn't have much choice and so I took that hand. Then I found myself in the Church Headquarters and was brought to a room that was given to me. I then was sent to take csses on how to be a member of the Church.

  Lily: Did you know who the old man who brought you in was?

  Marianne: Well... Although I was never told, I always had a feeling that it was Farrell.

  We were all surprised by her conjecture, but soon found that it made total sense. Why was he so tolerant of Marianne to allow her to leave the headquarters without express permission? Why was he not told to bring her back even though he most likely knew she was there. Finally, why was she allowed to leave with us is the biggest question.

  Hearing her words put the pieces together. The only questions left is why Farrell is os trusted in the church and what it has to do with William. After all, we are still his disciples all things considered. If Farrell is so important and trusted by the Church, who is William who was responsible for taking care of and teaching Farrell when he was young.

  Although the questions still lingered in Lily's mind, she eventually shook her head and disregarded it. Knowing the answer would not affect her current adventure. She could always go and ask him in her own time.

  She then sat as a bystander as the other three began talking about various topics like cosmetics and clothing as well as fashion trends and the like. Of course, when conversations go in this direction, one topic always gets brought up.

  Kris: Have any of you ever fallen in love before?

  Hearing this decisive questions, I felt my body slightly stiffen. I am not good with these kinds of questions and thankfully, Kris was mainly paying attention to Marianne.

  From what I know in the group, only Kris is interested in love. Millie and I are both uninterested in love... Well, not exactly for me. Rather than me loving others, I like secretly watching other people's love stories. In the base, there were few stories and mostly books on cold knowledge to strengthen ourselves. It was not until I one day stumbled into the room of the maid of our leader.

  It was there at her office that I saw a very peculiar bookshelf. When I took a closer look, I found that the stories were all actually about various love stories! I then took one out and read through it all in one sitting. Of course, I was caught by her when she returned to the room. While I was scared she would punish me for secretly looking through her room's bookshelf, but she asked me why I was here and let me go afterwards.

  When I built up my courage another time, I asked her if I could see the books on the bookshelf and she simply allowed it. According to her, these books were all not important and can be seen and borrowed at will. Since she herself didn't pay any attention to them, I asked if I could read all the books there and was given the go ahead.

  Now, I finished all of those books and seeing the situations in those stories going on in front of me was quite exciting. I did my best to keep my face stoic, but I couldn't help trembling slightly in anticipation.

  Because of this, Millie went and tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear to ask if I needed something. After quickly denying her, I simply said I needed a moment to catch my breath.

  Soon, I calmed down and listened to the situation between Kris and Marianne. In my perspective, I know that Kris is in love with Sean. So this scene seems to be a show of dominance since she knows that Millie would not be his type and I have shown no sign of any attraction to him. Well, I have not shown any signs of anything in particur.

  Because of this, Kris's only perceived love rival would be Marianne. Not only does she have a good appearance, she is naturally quite approachable and does not mind the approach of the opposite gender. Other people would allow the same gender to be closer than the opposite gender in most cases. But as a saint, Marianne is approachable to everyone which can cause further misunderstandings easily.

  All of this was thought in my head as I called the various archetypes and stories in those romantic novels. Of course, real people are more complex than that. But, of course, love can blind people so Kris might really think that way.

  Of course, all of this chat was not kept secret from Sean as the carriage was not soundproofed at all. So, outside the carriage Sean was showing a quite embarrassed expression as Mist was making fun of him. So the trip was filled with banter and joy the whole way.

  Though, our trip was not all smooth sailing. Not only were there a plethora of different insects around, there were also attacks on the carriage by various beasts. Because we were intruding into wild forested areas, many wild animals call this pce their home and protect it as their territory.

  Every once in a while, Mist goes and steps off to quickly lead off the enemies with various items he kept handy. As a half-elf, he is quiet adept at the usage of various pnts to create various medicines and aromas with various affects. Although he has things like a medicine that deters animals from approaching, he usually saves them for when it is night time to make it easier to keep watch at night.

  So he usually steps off the carriage every once in a while to pick up some useful herbs he finds on our path.

  This kind of thing made the trip a little slower than it could be, but it would make it easier for Mist to collect the herbs now than to try and purchase them ter.

  Now if we were to check out the map, we would find that we are at the half way point between the border and the town of Golden Scarabs. Although we encountered a few animal attacks, there still has been nothing significant of note blocking us. Maybe it was because the road was to simple so far that a problem popped up in front of us.

  Sean: There is a rge ravine, and the bridge over is in bad condition?

  While mist was out herb gathering, he went up a tree and spotted a rge ravine in the path forward. I checked out my map and sure enough, there was a mention of a ravine here. On the map, it said that the ravine is quite small and easily traversable and that there is a bridge across that was built. So, I asked about it and he told me that the bridge has likely fallen apart due to age and deterioration.

  The girls inside heard our conversation and stepped out so that we could all clearly talk to each other.

  First, Mist went to tie the carriage to a tree. Then, we all followed Mist and saw the ravine in front of us. It was a massive gap between both ends and going around would take up a significant amount of time. A little step away there was the remains of what used to be a bridge. Seeing this, we all let out a big sigh.

  We all returned to our carriage and put our heads together to try to decide how we would go past this ravine. By using the map and our eyesight, Mist was able to approximate that the round trip would take about a week in either direction. If the bridge were to be up, it would barely be a one day journey, so we gave a sigh as we moved the carriage over by the cliffside.