As the wet stone slab hit the ground, the faint Whisper Element had already spread through the camp. But when Grace and Helen walked over together and touched the slab, the Whisper Element was suppressed as though it had been sealed away.
"A Relic Derivative, but not a derivative of this lake. This lake truly is not a Relic."
Grace, the elder sister in the white dress, spoke softly. Helen then turned to Shade:
"Sir, come take a look. This is writing we don't recognize."
No one knew how many years the stone slab had spent underwater. Though its surface was mottled, most of the writing and patterns remained clear. The slab had no base and was embedded slanted in the soil.
The side facing away from the campfire was covered in writing. Shade bent down and brushed away the droplets and mud:
"This is... Fourth Epoch 1080. The Temperance seal cannot be identified here."
Beneath those words was a holy emblem. Rather than the usual circle, it was shield-shaped and decorated with thorns. Shade did not recognize it, so the two most knowledgeable people present, Grandma Cassandra and Miss Danist, leaned closer. After a brief discussion, they reached a conclusion:
"This is the holy emblem of the Ascetic God, also known as the 'Temperance God,' the 'Thorn God,' and the 'Pain God.' But take note, this deity is an evil god. It still exists today, though its Believers rarely appear, so the Orthodox Church knows little about the Cult's organization."
Shade nodded. Evil gods were not incapable of doing good deeds. For example, there had been those who helped him during the Battle of Moon Bay. Therefore, whatever had been sealed by an evil god was not necessarily something good.
He continued translating the writing beneath the holy emblem: