Leaving the Lord Administrator's mansion, the two walked in silence all the way to the town's inn.
Upon entering, Fangsheng discovered that the Lord Administrator had already booked rooms for them. Guided by the innkeeper, they went up to the second-floor room.
"Feel free to call upon me if you need anything." After dismissing the bowing and scraping innkeeper, the two stood looking at the room's furnishings in sudden silence. There was only one bed!
"Ahem." Lewan gave a light cough. Sensing Fangsheng's gaze shifting toward her, she forced a blush and changed the subject: "I've already found out the Lord Administrator's identity. He's a Tier 1 transcendent Warlock, a member of the Harvest Church who worships the Earth Mother Goddess. That explains why he cares about you, Brother Fang."
The Harvest Church? The Earth Mother Goddess? Fangsheng was somewhat puzzled. He knew of this church, and he knew of this deity. The Earth Mother Goddess had lost the Divine War to the Goddess of Radiance, leaving her church weaker than the Radiant Church. But why would that be a reason for him to care about Fang?
Lewan continued, "Having lost the Divine War, the Earth Mother Goddess was driven away from the World Tree by the Goddess of Radiance. Afterward, the Goddess of Radiance used the World Tree to lay to rest fallen heroes, preparing to resurrect them at the appropriate time.
"As for the Nameless who awaken within the World Tree—though resurrected by the Goddess of Radiance, in the eyes of the Harvest Church, the Nameless ought to revere the Earth Mother Goddess, not the Goddess of Radiance."
Fangsheng's expression turned peculiar. Resurrected by the Goddess of Radiance, yet expected to worship the Earth Mother Goddess? Typical religious fanatics—truly absurd.
As if seeing through Fangsheng's thoughts, Lewan said without reservation, "The Radiant Church has plenty of extremists too. They believe everyone in this world should worship the Radiant Church, and that only the Goddess of Radiance can save the world.
"Anyway, let's put that aside. I just used the crystal ball given by the Lord Administrator to observe the entire town, and I finally located someone stained with the aura of Demons. Comparing their appearance, it must be that Cultist."
With that, she took out the crystal ball temporarily lent to her by the Lord Administrator and praised it.
"This crystal ball can not only monitor the town, but it can also amplify the power of magic and prayers. Combined with my prayers, even though he used a Shadow Fiend to mask his aura, I still found him."
Finished speaking, Lewan tilted her head up proudly, looking at Fangsheng with a "See, I'm pretty impressive too" expression.
Fangsheng nodded, smiling in praise. "Very impressive."
Pleased by Fangsheng's praise, Lewan beamed, but soon grew worried again. "If I could find that Cultist so easily, yet the Lord Administrator told us to find him ourselves, don't you think he might be trying to use us as pawns?"
"That possibility can't be ruled out."
"Then what should we do?"
"We'll just have to take it one step at a time. The top priority is to disrupt his summoning ritual tomorrow. Once that's disrupted, we'll have a better chance of winning." Fangsheng felt rather helpless; he didn't particularly like fighting battles with so many unknowns, but there was no choice since the other party had already targeted them.
"Brother Fang, have you ever thought about this: if that Cultist's target is us and has nothing to do with the town at all, why would the Lord Administrator help us?"
Hearing Lewan's question, Fangsheng was stunned and blurted out, "Isn't it because he doesn't want me to die?"
Lewan said softly, "Yet, the only one he cares about is you, Brother Fang."Lewan's words stirred a tumultuous wave in Fangsheng's heart. At that moment, he recalled the disgust the Lord Administrator had previously shown toward Lewan, as well as the Harvest Church's attitude toward the Radiant Church.
"So, we are surrounded by enemies on all sides?"
Seeing that Fangsheng understood, Lewan spoke softly, "If we win, the Lord Administrator will definitely turn around and kill me, then rack his brains to turn Brother Fang into a member of the Harvest Church. If we lose, he will save Brother Fang and kill that heretic and me."
Her body trembled slightly as she grabbed Fangsheng's hand, looking somewhat panicked. "Brother Fang, I don't want to die."
Looking at the frail girl before him, who wore a silvery-white eye mask and displayed such panic, a pang of sympathy ached in Fangsheng's heart. He could hardly imagine what this girl had been through to make her think he would abandon her.
He gently stroked the young girl's head and comforted her in an extremely tender voice, "We are companions. I will never abandon you."Feeling Fangsheng's warm, large hand and the gentleness amplified by the blindfold, Lewan could not help feeling a bit ashamed.
Although the blindfold allowed her to perceive the world, it came with a price: Lewan's ability to pick up on outside emotions was becoming increasingly sensitive, and those received emotions were amplified as well.
Before she met Fangsheng, she had already guessed that her teammates held a rather poor opinion of her. After all, who would like a blind person? That was why Lewan later forced herself to adapt to everything in this other world. Having achieved that, she was able to feel that she had truly become Fangsheng's companion.
Yet now, she—this burden—had become the primary target slated for death, while Fangsheng could actually abandon her, defect to the Harvest Church, and suffer no harm at all.Yet right now, he had no thoughts of abandoning her, and yet she was still resorting to playing the victim and exploiting Fangsheng's psychology just to protect herself.
I'm sorry...
With that thought, Lewan threw her arms around Fangsheng, burying her face against his bewildered chest.Fangsheng felt the soft body of the young girl in his arms trembling slightly. He gently stroked her back, trying to offer her a sense of security in this way.Time ticked away as the two embraced in the room, savoring the final moments of peace before the storm.
Yet this tranquility was soon broken when the innkeeper softly knocked on the door and said from outside, "Distinguished guests, would you like me to prepare some food for the two of you?"
Hearing another person's voice, Lewan blushed deeply and hurriedly pulled away from Fangsheng's embrace, stepping aside.Fangsheng looked at the young girl before him, sighing inwardly at her youth and innocence, and asked her, "Shall we go out to eat, or have the innkeeper prepare something here?"
Lewan softly asked toward the door, "Excuse me, is it free?"
The innkeeper outside seemed not to have expected this reply. He was stunned for a moment before hurriedly responding, "It's free! Lord Administrator is covering the meals and lodging for both of you."
Lewan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very well, please go prepare the food."
"Right away."
Watching Lewan, Fangsheng couldn't help praising, "You really know how to manage a budget."
Lewan sat down at the table and replied softly, "When traveling away from home, you save whatever you can."
Hearing this, Fangsheng couldn't help feeling a sense of pity. Such a wonderful girl—why had life dealt her such a miserable hand?