Siderius pulled the puppet away from the spot. Underneath it was a hidden storage space that was too small for any man to climb into.
Siderius broke the rest of the slab and reached his hand down. He pulled up a small wooden chest with a silver lock sealing it tight.
His eyes darted over the corpse of the puppet, which was the Mother Reverend when it was alive. On its neck was a silver key.
"Fate really is on my side." Siderius looked up to the statue of the Outsider.
There wasn’t anything different about it. But Siderius knew this coincidence was unnatural. With the amount of Light Aether he collected, he had become luckier. Fate favored him.
And maybe, the god of this church also favored him.
Siderius took the key and opened the chest. Inside were books, parchments and a few unrelated items.
There was a handwriting note with a name on it.
"Lisa Cullen..." Siderius read the note aloud.
"Everyone has become so different since the day she came.
The priests became more barbaric and vulgar. They had openly harassed the sisters and intruded into their rooms.
What’s alarming is the sisters aren’t even repulsed by it. They welcome the priests with open arms. I walk the corridors at night and can clearly hear the blasphemy they were doing inside these walls.
They have betrayed their vows and corrupted their souls to desire.
Is it because of her?
I rescued Nora when I saw her laying on the road with wounds all over her. Especially her private part. She was violated brutally.
I let her stay with us and nurtured her wounds. But she was barely speaking.
Nora Blackcrow. I was able to find out her name after weeks of trying.
With her last name, at least I know she comes from somewhere high. The most update n0vels are published on N()velFire.net
I smell trouble. This woman will defile our monastery if I let her stay here. We hide away from the world because we know what witches can do. And we wish for a place to stay away from them.
I came to the Baron of Scalize for help but he was busy dealing with his troubles and couldn’t pay no mind to our outcast’s issues.
Nora might have realized what I did. She started to hangout with the priests. I saw them enter her room many times.
I must do something before it’s too late. I must save this monastery.
I will tell her to go away."
Siderius folded the note and put it back into the box. Lisa Cullen was probably the name of Mother Reverend. She had noticed the corruption Nora spread to her peers and tried to stop it.
Unfortunately for her, no one was there to save her. No one would bat an eye to a non-witch.
Siderius could guess the rest. Lisa had probably confronted Nora about it. In the end, she had failed.
Lisa got turned into a puppet and her peers transformed into ghouls by barbaric cannibalism.
Siderius dropped a handful of sulfur on the puppet and burned it to ash. Her soul was too far gone for it to be saved by the Dead Rite. But he could give her some rest by destroying her body.
The rest of the items inside the chest were books about the Outsider, paperwork and a small pouch of coins.
Siderius took the pouch and looked inside.
"Fifty silver coins. A little bit of wealth to aid me on my journey." Siderius pocketed the pouch then put the chest back in its place.
He got quite a lot from this short encounter. A substantial amount of Light and Dark Aether. They could be used to make the Aether Sphere and sped up the enlightenment of his Truth-Seeking Path.
The silver coins were of great help. Wealth was always good.
He learned a bit more about Everia, the neighboring kingdom of Eldoria and their unique power, Will of the Spirit. Siderius failed to gain knowledge about this power system but there were more chances to do it in the future.
The connection with Quinlan and Bas could be useful in the future. One was a capable warrior. The second was a wealthy aristocrat. Leverages for Siderius to pull if he needed.
Siderius continued to loot the back room of the church. There wasn’t anything valuable to take, only ritualistic items and mundane objects.
Siderius spent the rest of the morning going around the monastery. He found a few more coins hiding in the dormitory, some lockpicking tools inside the priest’s quarters, and a pair of very fine leather gloves in Mother Reverend’s room.
Siderius could only imagine what the priest used the lockpicking for. They probably used it to sneak out the monastery without the need to steal the key from Mother Reverend.
As for the leather gloves. They were male gloves so it didn’t belong to her. The pair was a bit old also, at least a couple of decades old. Still, the gloves were in very high quality even now.
Siderius was lacking a pair of good gloves so he wore them. After taking anything valuable, Siderius left the monastery.
He had left Red at the stable. A structure outside the radius of the magic circle, located at the edge of the monastery.
Red jumped up in glee when it saw Siderius. The hunter reached out his arm, allowing it to push his head to him.
"You’re happy to see me, huh? I guess it’s time to speed up your training also." Siderius smiled.
He had set up a nice connection between him and Red. It should be easier to train it now.
Siderius would turn Red from an amateur horse to an actual steed.
At night, after the sun just settled down, Bas and Quinlan reached the Crossroads Inn.
An establishment located in the crossroads leading to Scalize, hence its name.
"Finally! We arrive!" Bas said. He and Quinlan jumped off the horses.
Bas tended to the horses like usual and tied them to poles outside the inn.
"I thought we wouldn’t see another day. It’s a relief we are alive." Quinlan muttered.
"I never thought so. It wasn’t our day to die. But I have to say, you really do have a thing with white hair. Your best friend has white hair. And now you’re even lucky enough to have a white hair saved you when I was gone."
"Damien doesn’t have white hair. He has silver hair. Siderius does have white hair actually."
Bas shrugged. "Looks all the same to me. Where are we going to meet this famous Evening Blade anyway?"
"Well. We were supposed to meet at this inn two days ago. If he is still here, you probably will have the chance to meet the greatest swordsman of Everia right now."
Bas and Quinlan entered the inn.
"What took you so long?" In the corner of the inn, sitting by the window, as a handsome man with silver hair.