Promise

Killed Level 2 Human, EXP +100

EXP: 198/100 (Can Level Up)

Killing Priest Grimm had earned Gagnor 100 experience points, but he had no mind to level up right now. Rather than paying it much attention, he went over to Raymond.

"Raymond?" he called.

The good news was that Raymond was still alive, but he had practically been drained into a human husk. With injuries this severe, he likely would not last much longer.

"I... what happened to me..." Raymond, covered in blood, spoke so weakly that he was almost inaudible.

Gagnor had no idea how to explain any of this. Grief and guilt welled up in his heart. In a sense, Raymond had saved him with his life.

Raymond realized that he was about to die. With great difficulty, he reached into his collar and grasped his Brass Necklace. "Help me..."

Gagnor took his hand. "What do you need me to do?"

"Take my necklace to... Garan." Raymond's hand trembled violently. "Can you?"

"I promise you." Gagnor nodded solemnly. "I swear in Mosa's name that one day, I will take it to Garan Grand Cathedral. I promise."

Raymond said, "I don't think you've ever said 'I promise' before... I believe you..."

Raymond's hand gradually stopped trembling. Then he suddenly chuckled. The honest, simple look he had once worn was still faintly visible beneath the blood on his face. "I think I understand now..."

"What?"

"I..."

Raymond's voice was so faint that Gagnor had to press his ear close to listen.

"I accidentally ate a Poison Torch Flower..."

After saying that, Raymond moved no more.

Gagnor remained silent for a long while.

He removed the Brass Necklace, stained crimson with blood, from Raymond's neck.

The necklace was ordinary: a brass triangular frame strung on a cord, a common accessory among Mosa Followers. It carried a certain ascetic significance—the triangle would constantly pierce the wearer's body.

Because Raymond had worn it continuously for years, the triangular frame of his necklace had been worn smooth and rounded. It probably could not hurt anyone anymore.

After putting away Raymond's bloodstained necklace, Gagnor got to work.

He had decided to disguise everything as an accident, and to do that, he needed to alter the arrangement inside the room.

Most importantly, he had to destroy the Marble Slab. He absolutely could not leave behind any trace of the evil magic circle on it.

For one brief moment during the destruction, Gagnor felt an urge to learn Black Magic from the magic circle's design. But he quickly dismissed the thought.

On one hand, learning magic solely from a magic circle design would be no easier than learning mathematics solely from exam papers; it was practically impossible. On the other hand, while Gagnor did not have particularly lofty morals, he did not consider himself a bad person either. At the very least, he would never engage in something like blood sacrifices using living people.

So he did not attempt to record the magic circle's design.

Gagnor also searched through Priest Grimm's belongings, but unfortunately, there was nothing particularly valuable here. Besides, to make the accident convincing enough, even if there had been something valuable, he probably could not have taken it.

Only two items were worth mentioning.

Two books.

One was the Holy Book of Light with a golden cover, essential reading for Mosa Followers. Gagnor took it mainly to support his act later.

The other was an untitled book with a red cover. It was locked, and Gagnor searched the entire room without finding the key, leaving him unable to learn its contents.

But it was not hard to guess.

Gagnor suspected that Priest Grimm had most likely learned his blood sacrifice magic from this book.

After thinking it over, he buried the book in an isolated corner of the nearby forest and carefully concealed it.

He had no interest in human sacrifice, but judging by the book's thickness, it probably contained quite a lot. Not all of it had to be so evil, and he still wanted to take a look.

Obviously, this was not a convenient time.

He would bury it first and dig it back up after things settled down.

Afterward, Gagnor returned to the room and moved Priest Grimm's and Raymond's bodies beside the dining table. He placed several bottles of alcohol nearby, then used the Fire Wolf's canine tooth to set the room ablaze.

The weather was dry, the room itself was wooden, and there were plenty of flammable materials inside. The sparks bursting from the Fire Wolf tooth quickly turned into a raging inferno that engulfed the entire cabin.

Standing at the edge of the flames, Gagnor took off his coat and singed it in the fire before putting it back on. This made him look ragged and ash-covered, like someone who had barely escaped a fire with his life.

Then he sat outside the cabin, watching the fire burn while silently weighing all sorts of considerations...

The towering flames were especially conspicuous in the night.

By dawn, as everything turned to ash, some townspeople had begun arriving one after another.

"I remember this being the house Priest Grimm used when he went gathering herbs?"

"Yeah. I can't believe it burned down like this..."

"Mosa above, what am I seeing? A Fire Wolf?"

"The one sitting there seems to be Priest Grimm's apprentice. Let's ask him."

The townspeople came over to ask Gagnor what had happened.

Gagnor then told them the story he had refined over the course of the night. In short, the three master and apprentices had fortunately hunted a Tier 2 Fire Wolf. To celebrate, they drank quite a bit at dinner. Then the Fire Wolf's corpse somehow caused a fire. Grimm and Raymond, drunk and asleep, had not reacted in time. Only Gagnor, who had gone outside to relieve himself, survived by sheer luck. Though Gagnor had repeatedly tried to put out the fire, he had failed to slow the flames and had nearly gotten himself killed in the process. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the blaze reduced the house to ashes.

Although the house and the bodies had burned to ash, the Fire Wolf's corpse remained mostly intact. Thus, this Tier 2 Demon Beast, extremely rare in Driftwood Forest, naturally became the strongest piece of physical evidence.

Moreover, Gagnor's grief while recounting the story was real enough that the townspeople did not doubt him in the slightest. They all offered sympathy and comfort.

Gagnor was not surprised by the townspeople's reaction.

What truly worried him was the attitude of the church's priests, especially Priest Gerald. He could not quite tell how things would develop.

One thing was certain, though: Priest Gerald would not be terribly saddened. Privately, he might even be pleased, since he and Priest Grimm had always been rivals and never had a good relationship.

Now that Priest Grimm was dead, his position as chief priest was secure. Even if South County Monastery sent another priest, that person could not replace him as the only priest familiar with the local situation.

Several hours later, Priest Gerald arrived at the scene of the fire.

Together with the townspeople, Gagnor told him the story.

Gagnor also took out the Holy Book of Light and handed it to Priest Gerald, saying with a grief-stricken expression, "At the final moment of his life, Priest Grimm threw this book to me. With his life, he demonstrated the piety and devotion of a Mosa Follower."

Priest Gerald accepted the Holy Book of Light and fell silent, his face revealing no emotion.

After a long while, as Gagnor grew somewhat uneasy, he said with feeling, "You are right. Grimm was a devout follower of Mosa. We should all take him as an example."

He returned the Holy Book of Light to Gagnor and smiled faintly. "Keep it. You were his apprentice."

Finally, Priest Gerald pointed solemnly at the holy book and added, "The path of devotion lies within."