Old and Undying (Bonus Chapter)

Jacques had made up his mind.

When operating in the wilderness, the risks were unknown, and so was the journey.

At present, there was a road for merchant caravans between Dorsal Fin Village and Tail-Wagging Town, a journey of roughly three days.

If one left the road, getting lost and extending the journey became quite likely.

Therefore, The Church branch in Tail-Wagging Town had given him a fairly generous amount of time to return.

And even if he truly exceeded the deadline, he would at most receive some punishment. As someone of noble birth, he still had certain privileges.

He simply refused to return with his tail between his legs. He intended to use this opportunity to shift from the open into the shadows and secretly observe the workings of Dorsal Fin Village.

He believed that his departure would surely make those people think they had won. Carried away by their triumph, they would naturally lower their guard. Perhaps that would expose a flaw.

Meanwhile, Otto did indeed relax slightly.

He rose to his feet, while black things squirmed beneath his fat body.

After a brief transformation, those black things finally went still and concealed themselves completely.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Otto hurriedly called for his newly hired servants to prepare the goods.

"Don't resume mining at the Whale Skin Mine for now. We'll make do with our stockpile."

"The specially made medicine over there cannot be stopped."

"Our remaining stock is low too. We still need to find a way to produce that stuff ourselves." Otto sighed and composed himself.

He had once believed he could tame the Nest Beast and turn it into his animal companion.

However, he had underestimated the wild nature of a dangerous creature.

He had raised this thing for seven years, yet it still could not be tamed.

He had to spend a fortune purchasing specially made medicine from the Calamity Cult to suppress the Nest Beast's ferocity.

The Calamity Cult was a cult that studied the Earth Calamity and sought to obtain power from calamities.

According to them, the calamity itself was not a calamity, but a true god. It had only become a calamity because of the wicked schemes of The Gods.

Still, words like that were merely something to hear and dismiss. Every cult loved boasting that it was orthodox and served a true god.

Otto had never wanted to deal with these people, but given his current circumstances, refusing meant death.

"This damned world, these damned cultists, this damned Church... this damned Old Priest!!" Otto's emotions churned violently before finally settling down.

Now, the miners had been silenced, and the mine shaft had been blown up.

Reopening it and recruiting enough miners would both be troublesome matters.

Every day of delay meant one less day of profit.

Over the past ten or so days, that newly arrived Paladin had run all over the village every day under the pretense of training. He had even run through the surrounding mountains and ravines. Any remote corner with even the faintest trace of human activity would be investigated.

Wasn't his goal simply to find the mine shaft where they had been digging?

On the other hand, that apprentice priest had remained around the church, at most taking walks through the village.

Otto had wanted more than once to gather men and resume mining.

But for now, he could only endure.

Because he was still waiting for a signal.

Elsewhere, Naimus suddenly sensed something and entered his basement.

Lia was struggling without pause, her entire body covered in marks left by the Rope of Oath.

"Can't she hold back the Whale-Transform anymore?" Naimus looked at her condition and strengthened the Rope of Oath's sealing effect once again, but the results were far from ideal.

When the Village Guardian had caused all those incidents before, Lia had already entered a critical stage of Whale-Transform.

Naimus had later used the Rope of Oath to suppress it. At the same time, while researching Whale-ification Disease and helping Pur acquire the power of Whale-ification, he had made some minor adjustments to it.

Yet he still had not expected Lia's transformation to become impossible to suppress. Her urge to Whale-Transform was growing stronger and stronger.

"As expected, nothing related to the Sky Whale is simple." Naimus looked at the suffering Lia, but what he was thinking about was where to obtain some organs.

The dried organs made by the Village Guardian had long been eaten up. If Lia could not eat such things during the Whale-Transform process, she would most likely die from Whale-ification Disease.

His Rope of Oath could only keep her under control for another day or two at most.

"She can't die yet. Once the contract breaks, the Village Guardian probably won't feel safe using it either." Naimus frowned.

"Now isn't the time."

"Wait..." Naimus suddenly furrowed his brow, thinking of something he had overlooked all this time.

Where had the Village Guardian's organs come from before?

From Nigel's memories, Naimus discovered that although people occasionally died in the village, overall, there were not many corpses that had vanished without a trace.

Most bodies were...

"Buried in the cemetery behind the church!" Naimus was jolted, his thoughts racing as countless speculations surfaced in his mind.

This was a major issue he had overlooked.

"The Old Priest often officiates funerals."

"With his spiritual cultivation, whether the Village Guardian stole the organs before burial or went to the cemetery to steal them afterward..."

"He would most likely not have escaped the Old Priest's senses."

"My attention had been entirely on Whale-ification Disease. With the seal suppressing the need for organs, I had naturally overlooked it."

"Thinking about it now, this was a potentially fatal mistake."

"This mistake caused me to misjudge the Old Priest's character!" Naimus's previous impression of the Old Priest had most likely been of an old man who had grown softhearted and hesitant with age.

At most, he had been concerned with the secrets the man hid, such as why he had come to this village and why he possessed the Sword of Holy Script.

But now, Naimus could clearly sense the sinister nature concealed beneath the Old Priest's exterior.

"He most likely could have discovered the Village Guardian's secret."

"And the specific act of stealing organs would expose Whale-ification Disease even more clearly."

"A priest of his age had lived through the Whale-ification Disease riots decades ago. There was no way he would have no impression of it."

"Yet he discovered it and did not stop it in the slightest."

"All his kindness was essentially the product of disguise."

"Then his earlier warning to me about Otto was likely not an accidental disclosure, nor was it born from his usual indulgence and tolerance toward 'Nigel.'"

"It was a very deliberate arrangement."

Naimus could not help but feel how troublesome such an old fox was.

"He most likely watched coldly as matters great and small unfolded in the village. He wore a kind face every day, but in truth, he was indulging all of it."

"Whether it was the Village Guardian's daughter with Whale-ification Disease, Otto's illegal mining of the Whale Skin Mine, or perhaps even Nigel colluding with me, a Demon, he knew of them to some extent."

"But that leaves the biggest question: what did he want to do?!"

Please keep following, everyone. Thank you.