Yveta asked the Old Witch, "So who exactly was that woman?"
The Old Witch hesitated, then climbed into the carriage herself and invited everyone to get in so they could talk.
Yveta ordered the maid, Alicia, to keep driving. The cow that had been following them trailed behind the carriage, tethered to it by a rope.
Inside the carriage, the Old Witch spoke quietly. "It's not a name you should say out in the street."
"That woman... was one of the Green Order."
Black Wolf and Leili both looked at the Hearthstone Great Witch in surprise.
Leili said in shock, "I thought something like the Green Order only existed in fairy tales."
"In fairy tales, they're portrayed as neither good nor evil. Children are very afraid of them."
The Old Witch shook her head. "That's not true. The Green Order really did exist. The Church simply erased all records of them and burned every book related to them."
"Even most people who know the Green Order existed know only the name. They don't even know what its doctrines were."
"Hmph. Who could be more frightening than the Church?"
The more Yveta listened, the more confused he became. "What is the Green Order?"
The Old Witch looked at Yveta in surprise. "Well, Your Grace, you may have heard of them by another name: Druids."
Yveta froze.
Druids?
He remembered the Heterochromia Crow peering down at them through the hole in the carriage. He remembered the old woman's fox fur and Eagle Feather.
"Yes, I know about Druids."
"Why do you say the Druids have been left behind by the times, and that the Church erased all traces of them? Is the Church specifically targeting Druids?"
The Old Witch nodded. "Your Grace, the Druids draw their power from nature, but the Magic Black Forest is a world of magic."
"Druids are nearly extinct in both the Magic Black Forest and the Church's lands. Their traditions have been broken, and the radiance of the Black Forest and Thirty-Three Heavens Mountain repels them. It's very difficult for Druids to commune with the Spirits of All Things in the Black Forest."
"But even worse for them is that the Church considers them heretics who worship foreign gods."
"According to Church Law, if someone kills a Druid, not only is he innocent, but all his sins in life are forgiven, and he will be welcomed into Heaven's holy land after death."
"Even while alive, he can collect a huge bounty from the Church."
"For a time, people even took to cutting off Druids' ears and exchanging them for reward money at the Church."
"And every kingdom rejects the Druids. The secular authorities have issued wanted notices for them, too. Even the most merciful king wouldn't spare a Druid heretic roaming the continent."
Yveta furrowed his brow. "I can understand why the Church rejects Druids."
"I can also understand why Druids can't adapt to the Black Forest. But why do the kingdoms all hunt them down?"
"Are Druids' reputations even worse than witches'?"
That surprised him.
As a future king, he wanted to know the reason.
The Old Witch explained, "The Druids made the most terrible mistake of all: they chose the wrong side in a war between civilizations. At least three civilizations were involved in the conflict. I don't know the details, because the Druids' defeat happened very close to the era of the Ancient Civilization. So I don't know much about it."
"But in any case, the civilization the Druids supported was defeated. Its people were almost wiped out, and all its nations were destroyed."
"I heard they were first forced to leave the continent and go to the Seven Great Islands of the North."
"But they lost there, too. Then rumors spread that some of them had gone even farther north."
The Old Witch shook her head. "But north of the Seven Great Islands lies Despair Fortress, where even more terrible things dwell. So I've always doubted that part of the history."
"But that Druid just now was at least a Fourth Rank Sequence."
"She's a Druid High Priest."
"It seems the Druids really haven't perished."
"They must have found new land while fleeing. Its meager resources couldn't support a high-ranking Druid."
"Just as I thought. Even suppressed to this extent, the power of nature remains a terrifying threat."
The Old Witch sneered. "But I'm not afraid of her. The Druids' era is over."
"I just don't know what scheme she had in mind when she gave you this ring, Your Grace. Why don't we throw it away?"
As she spoke, the Old Witch reached for Yveta's thumb, apparently intending to remove the ring and toss it away.
But it was only a feint.
Yveta shook his head. "I don't know what that Druid High Priest is up to either, but I think we should observe things for a while before deciding whether to sell the ring."
"Why don't you try using Viscera Divination?"
Why throw it away? What a waste. Even if it was dangerous, it was still a treasure given by a Fourth Rank Druid.
If he really didn't need it, he should sell it.
The Old Witch looked dejected. "All right. I won't divine anything. Witches can't match Druids at divination. They have the help of the Spirit of Nature."
"But the woman's divination about you should be trustworthy."
Yveta thought it over. It was almost like she had a cheat code.
Black Wolf rarely supported Yveta's decisions, but this time he did. "Your Highness, there's no need to throw it away. I think a witch's word is less trustworthy than a Druid's."
Black Wolf glanced sidelong at the Old Witch, who sneered.
Stupid Demon Hunter.
As they spoke, they finally reached the Adventurer's Association branch.
Yveta stepped out of the carriage and found that the association was nothing more than a small Wooden House. There weren't many people around, either. It wasn't what they had expected.
At the exit of Kali Town, the old woman they had encountered earlier was carrying her bundle. A Heterochromia Crow perched on her left shoulder, and a little white ferret sat on her right.
She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, so she threw the sheep's knuckle bone again.
The result made her face change drastically. "My prophecy was wrong."
"The person I was supposed to meet in Kali Town this time and give the Meeting Ring to should have been the knight, Gasroter!"
She remembered the upright, forthright knight.
"My prophetic crow and my prophecy both mistook the person!"
For once, she felt a flash of panic. Who exactly was Yveta? Why did every divination ability stop working when she was near him—and not only that, but the results became jumbled?
What was even more frightening was this.
There was a limit to the number of people who could hold Meeting Rings, and the qualifications of the ring bearers had actually been foretold by the Spirit of Nature a thousand years ago.
In theory, nothing could change that.
Had the Spirit of Nature suddenly changed its mind because of Yveta?
She looked in the direction Gasroter had gone and gritted her teeth. "I don't know whether this is good or bad. I can only catch up with Gasroter first and figure things out later."
"If that's the case, then that Yveta... that child has taken the place of the tenth person who was chosen a thousand years ago."
"I truly don't know whether this is good or bad."
"This concerns the survival and revival of the Druids!"
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