Csejthe Town welcomed another evening. The horizon reddened, but the sun was nowhere to be seen. Night would soon fall.
The bedraggled adventurers returned.
Compared to when they had left, they looked more like refugees now. Yet despite their wretched appearance, the moment they returned to town, they felt as though a crushing weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
At least they had made it back before dark.
Even the townsfolk they did not know, standing by the roadside and watching them curiously, seemed strangely kind.
Humiliating as it was, they had finally found a sliver of safety.
One adventurer even reminded them, "Get home, hurry home and hide. Put up all your protective measures. This place is surrounded by Vampires. They'll definitely come again tonight. It's dangerous."
"Then did you come back to protect us?"
A local child asked.
"Uh..."
The question was rather pointed. The adventurer stammered awkwardly for a long while before answering, "It'll be safe. It'll definitely be safe. We just need a little help from the Moon Mother Goddess Church. Yes, just a little help. Then we'll complete the commission, and the town will be free from the Vampire threat..."
His voice grew softer and softer. Clearly, he had no confidence at all. He probably did not believe those words himself.
Who knew whether the church's help would be enough to get them through this? Perhaps they too would become unlucky souls who died here, left with no choice but to take each day as it came.
More pitifully, these adventurers had no idea that Csejthe Town's greatest problem was not the Vampires...
The group arrived before the ancient castle where the church was located.
The church guards outside the gates—cultists in black robes holding long spears—were not surprised by the adventurers' arrival.
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