Idrila, You Are Already Dead

Everything was ready, and after a full rest, he was in excellent condition.

Ron casually ate two energy bars to fill his stomach, then checked the equipment he had brought. Once he confirmed that nothing was missing, he opened the Dimensional Update Manual and selected [Join World Save].

[World Save "Potion Era" selected. Joining world--]

His vision went dark for an instant, and then he returned to Evening Bell City of the Frankish Empire, back to the society hall beneath Selvis Bookstore.

"Shall we go?"

Idrila spoke beside Ron and pointed toward the ceiling of the underground hall.

"That Father Harvey comes to the bookstore every morning at exactly eight o'clock to wait."

"Right now, he is probably leaning against the radiator pipe to keep warm, just like before."

Well, Father Harvey really was punctual...

What kind of grudge did he have against Idrila that made him come to Elvis Bookstore at this exact time every day—

Just to watch Idrila's every move?

Ron refused to believe that Father Harvey truly just wanted to investigate some catacombs, and Idrila had certainly never offended him. There might be something unusual hidden behind this.

What was it?

With that thought in mind, Ron nodded and prepared to leave with Idrila.

Beside them, President Elvis picked up a fountain pen, took out a sheet of letter paper, and began writing.

"You two go on ahead. Although I don't think Father Harvey would really harm you, once I finish these letters, I'll go to the Lost Church to find you."

Elvis spoke as he rubbed his head in frustration.

"Ah, so many troublesome things have happened in Evening Bell City. I don't even know how to write this report— Little Ily, didn't the diocesan bishop of your sanctuary often return to Evening Bell City before? Why hasn't that person appeared at all this past month?"

"This..." Idrila sounded helpless. Clearly, she did not know why either. "The bishop's actions are not something I can speculate about. Perhaps other matters have delayed him."

"But if you submit the report to the tribunal, the bishop should quickly set aside his affairs and return..."

"Then Charles had better run faster when he delivers it, lest that person returns before receiving this report."

Elvis chuckled as he stroked his beard and began writing furiously on the letter paper.

Sure enough, the sealed artifact formed from the demigod extraordinary characteristic of [Trickery] stored in the Scorched Earth Sanctuary was not unguarded.

A diocesan bishop from the Scorched Earth Sanctuary regularly returned to Evening Bell City to check the state of that mask.

But from what Idrila and Elvis said, this diocesan bishop had not returned to Evening Bell City for an entire month?

It seemed that something had also delayed this diocesan bishop, allowing Father Suul to act so brazenly.

Perhaps this matter was related to Father Suul. Ron pondered it, wasted no more time, and climbed the spiral staircase with Idrila. Passing through the "door" that separated the inside from the outside, they soon arrived in the bookstore.

A rather thin man in a black robe was leaning against the cast-iron radiator pipe for warmth. It was Father Harvey.

Hearing Ron and Idrila's footsteps, he slowly rose to his feet and looked at them coldly.

"You are ready, yes?"

So cold. So much hostility, Father Harvey...

For a moment, Ron was genuinely curious.

He decided that if things truly came down to a fight to the death with Father Harvey, he would ask before the man died exactly why he was so hostile toward Idrila.

"Yes, we are ready. That catacombs is at the Lost Church, right? Can we set out now?"

Idrila asked. Father Harvey nodded and led Ron and Idrila out of Elvis Bookstore.

As he watched them leave, Charles was still writing something down with a quill pen, seemingly recording the people entering and leaving the bookstore.

The old man was rather serious about his work, Ron silently thought. Following Father Harvey to the street corner, he watched him find a carriage parked there.

"To the Lost Church. Take the Way of the Undertaker."

Father Harvey's voice was icy, and the piercing chill in his gaze made the coachman visibly shrink back.

"Y-yes, sir..."

After Ron and the other two boarded the carriage, the coachman snapped the reins. The carriage clattered away from Golden Flower Street and gradually left the city. Watching it head into the outskirts, Ron could not help frowning.

The outskirts were Scorched Earth Sanctuary territory. Ron had agreed to fulfill Father Harvey's request because he was certain Father Suul would not dare violate the territory of another orthodox church.

But heading into the outskirts so suddenly—wasn't that like walking straight into the tiger's den?

Yet Idrila seemed to see through his thoughts. She leaned close to his ear and reassured him softly.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ron."

"The Lost Church is also in the outskirts, only closer to the city than the sanctuary."

"There will be no danger on this road, because it is the Way of the Undertaker, the road every citizen of Evening Bell City must take during their funeral after death."

"Everyone takes this road to the Lost Church and is eventually buried in the cemetery there."

"Everyone regards this road as one watched over by the god of [Death]. In a mystical sense, it belongs to the Lost Church's territory."

So that was it...

No wonder Idrila was not worried. This was the Lost Church's territory, and Father Suul would not dare attack here.

Ron quickly relaxed and silently waited for the coachman to take them to the Lost Church.

Throughout the journey, Father Harvey said nothing. He merely stared coldly at Ron and Idrila like a stiff corpse.

That gaze made Ron uneasy. He always felt as if this man wanted to see through their souls, radiating an inexplicable chill.

You had better really just want to investigate those Underground Catacombs. Ron silently thought as he instinctively touched the flashbang in his pocket.

Perhaps Father Harvey's attitude was simply too fierce. The coachman hurried along, whipping the horses until they whinnied miserably, and soon brought them to the Lost Church.

Once they arrived, the coachman accepted several copper coins from Father Harvey and immediately fled without daring to linger for even a moment.

Ron stepped down from the carriage and looked with interest at the bleak, solemn structure before him.

An iron fence enclosed a sizable area. A white church with a pointed roof stood within it, while crows cawed around the cross atop its spire, filling Ron with an indescribable sense of desolation.

A lantern-shaped symbol hung on the fence gate, seemingly the emblem of the Lost Church.

Behind the church, beyond the fenced stretch of land, stood clusters of weathered gravestones.

A cold mist shrouded the gravestones behind the church, making them difficult to see clearly.

Faint, unwilling sighs could be heard from within. Just from that slight sound, Ron could determine that there were definitely dead souls in the Lost Church cemetery who had been unable to die in peace.

They still wandered among the living.

This was not based on any rational judgment. It was merely a sensation and warning his spirituality received as a Sequence 8 of the [Death] pathway.

"Come. Accompany me into the church first. I need to retrieve something."

Father Harvey spoke coldly, and Ron could not help becoming wary.

Retrieve something?

Why did this feel like a trap? Was something hidden inside the church?

Ron immediately grabbed Idrila and refused Father Harvey.

"No, Father Harvey. We won't be going in."

"The magical catacombs you wish to explore should be in the graveyard behind the church, right?"

Ron smiled and made up an excuse.

"Idrila is, after all, an extraordinary being of the [War] sequence. Entering a church of [Death] feels like it would offend the faith here."

"Why don't we wait outside? If you are merely retrieving something, it should not take very long, right?"

Father Harvey gave Ron a deep look. After a moment of silence, he said:

"...Fine."

As he spoke, he opened the fence gate surrounding the church, crossed the stone path, and entered the church.

At that moment, Idrila tugged on Ron's sleeve. Clearly puzzled, she whispered into his ear.

"Mr. Ron, even extraordinary beings who drink Potions from other sequences and receive the blessings of other gods would not be rejected by the gods if they prayed at the Lost Church."

"After all, orthodox churches have never seriously rejected believers of other orthodox gods... That excuse was far too flimsy."

Was the excuse flimsy?

Well, if extraordinary beings who believed in different gods were not considered heretics by other churches in the Potion Era, then that excuse did seem rather flimsy.

But Ron shrugged and did not care too much.

Father Harvey was no fool. He had probably already seen that Ron and Idrila were on guard against him.

Whether the excuse was flimsy or not did not really matter.

After all, if he truly harbored hostile intentions, Father Harvey would eventually turn against them regardless of whether they had an excuse.

Ron silently thought to himself. Soon, Father Harvey emerged from the church.

When he came out, he was holding a lantern. It had not been lit and was currently dark.

"Come. We are going to the catacombs."

He spoke stiffly. After Ron and Idrila answered, he silently walked ahead to lead the way, guiding them around the church and down a small path into the mist behind it.

The morning mist was ice-cold. As Ron walked among the gravestones and looked at them, he unexpectedly felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.

Faintly, he sensed a subtle feeling of belonging.

Ron had no doubt that if he could obtain the position of priest at the Lost Church and guard the peace of so many dead, the Potion of the [Gravekeeper] might be digested with ease.

He wondered whether he would have the chance today to learn how to digest [Corpse Man].

As Ron thought this, he suddenly heard a cold voice from nearby.

"We're here."

Father Harvey stood before a gravestone. Beside it was now a large hole, pitch-black within, as though someone had dug a grave in preparation to bury someone.

Was this the magical catacombs Father Harvey had mentioned?

Ron thoughtfully examined the catacombs before him, switched back to [Ashes of the Age of Gods] and [Potion Sequence], and activated Magic Vision. In his magical vision, he could see scarlet, violent magical radiance contained within the dark hole. Looking closely, he could vaguely make out that the light enveloped a corpse. Wait, a corpse?

Ron frowned. The magical catacombs Father Harvey claimed he could not explore alone as a Sequence 7 extraordinary being contained no extraordinary creature at all!

There was only a corpse suffused with [War] magic power.

He really was not here to explore any magical catacombs!

Good thing I came prepared...

Ron secretly rejoiced. He immediately switched back to [Fantasy Dissolution] and [Superpowered], keeping [Vector Manipulation] ready at any moment while gripping the flashbang in his pocket.

He stared fixedly at Father Harvey before him, fully prepared to strike at any moment.

Yet Father Harvey unexpectedly did not act immediately. Instead, he looked coldly at Idrila and continued in that icy tone.

"Miss Idrila, I think you should understand one thing—for a priest of the Lost Church, for an extraordinary being of the [Death] sequence, granting peace to the dead is what we have always pursued."

Idrila was stunned, clearly unable to understand why Father Harvey had suddenly begun speaking about his faith.

Father Harvey said nothing more. He merely raised his hand gently, and the lantern in his hand suddenly ignited with a dim, ghostly green flame.

Under the lantern's light, he waved his hand. Ron faintly sensed an icy chill condense near him before falling into the pitch-black hole beside the gravestone.

What was that?

Ron could not help becoming wary. He strongly suspected that chill was not an illusion, but something controlled by a [Death] sequence ability user—something formed from an extraordinary ability. His spirituality vaguely warned him that it seemed to be a "ghost."

But Father Harvey did not control the ghost to harm them. Instead, within the dark pit, it lifted the corpse flickering with scarlet magical radiance and carried it into the air.

He looked at Idrila and sighed. His tone remained cold, but it now carried an obvious probing intent and, rarely, a trace of confusion.

"I deceived you, Miss Idrila. I invited you to the Lost Church not to explore any magical catacombs."

"I wanted to understand one thing—"

Controlling the ghost, he laid the corpse flat before them.

At the same time, under the sunlight filtering through the mist, Idrila and Ron finally saw the corpse's face clearly. Both froze on the spot.

Only then did Father Harvey speak seriously and ask:

"Idrila, why are you still appearing in the Truth Society?"

As he spoke, the ghostly green flame burning in the lantern grew brighter. Under its light, even the mist in the graveyard seemed to gradually thicken.

"Why, after Father Suul buried you here, did you leave the world of the dead as though you were still alive?"

"What... did you say?"

Idrila looked dazed and visibly confused. She opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.

Seeing Idrila's reaction, Father Harvey clearly had no intention of letting her remain confused. He reminded her coldly:

"I said—you, Idrila, are already dead."

"I am asking why a dead person is appearing in the world of the living!"