Seeds in the Ashes

More dark brown snowflakes fell than yesterday, and new victims appeared on the decaying streets. Most of these drifters had been swallowed by the curse in their original villages and had no choice but to come to Canfor, a slightly larger city. But Canfor's disaster situation was not much better than anywhere else.

Every winter was when the Rosakavin Curse was at its strongest. Winter snow carried the curse down with it. Without the protection of magic or divine blessings, these snowflakes would directly take the lives of everyone who touched them. Worse still, once the black snow touched the ground, it turned into green rotten soil that contaminated water sources. This polluted water could not be drunk, and if it was not purified in time, it would spread Rosakavin's curse elsewhere, expanding the range of the black snow.

"I don't think Canfor can hold on much longer." Oyana sat sideways before her vanity, combing her beautiful golden hair in the mirror. "The black snow has been getting heavier these past two years. I heard even Tagro, dozens of kilometers away, has started getting black snow. Do you think we should leave early and settle in the royal capital?"

"Ah~" The man on the bed slowly stretched, then pulled Oyana firmly into his arms. "Don't worry, my darling. The black snow may be falling heavily, but it doesn't affect us. The ones dying are those country bumpkins. I only hope more of them die, so land prices can drop even further..."

"It's not that land prices are high. We just don't have enough money. I've already taken out loans from several magic banks to buy these country people's land, but the ones selling are all wealthy, so I can't push the prices down... Hey! Can't you get some money from the church to tide me over?" Oyana cooed as she lay in the man's arms.

The man pinched Oyana's cheek. "Darling, I may have some influence in the church, but I don't control the money. If the people in the church investigate, we'll be in trouble. You know what the people there are like."

"I know, I know... But what if your information is unreliable? I borrowed a lot of money. I even borrowed that little bandit's dirty robbery money to buy land. If your information is wrong, then I'll have bought a pile of worthless junk." Oyana gripped the man by the throat. "I won't let you off then!"

"Don't worry, darling!" The man wrapped an arm around Oyana's shoulders. "I heard it from the bishops themselves. Next spring, the royal capital will send dozens of high-ranking priests here to purify the Rosakavin Curse. As soon as the church heard the news, it had already prepared funds to buy land here. They're just waiting for next spring to come here and make a fortune. You only need to buy up the land before the church does. Even if it's only twenty or thirty percent of it, we'll never have to worry about food or clothes again."

"You rascal, that's more like it..." Oyana embraced the man, and the two began another round of lovemaking.

"Ding—" The bell at Oyana's jewelry shop rang.

"Is anyone here?" Denolan entered with the parchment scroll in hand. The dazzling array of merchandise made his head spin—amulets, ornaments, weapons, old magic books. The magic shop had everything related to magic.

"Is anyone here?" Denolan stepped over piles of ancient bamboo scrolls and headed toward the back room. Although the shop had many magical goods, it was not very large. The front room was only about the size of an ordinary wooden house, while the inner room was merely a partitioned space.

A great many magical items had been casually piled near the entrance. A few superior goods were displayed in the inner room for distinguished guests who could afford them, while an extremely small number of magical items were carefully kept by the owner, because those treasures would never be sold.

Denolan passed through the front room and approached the inner chamber, where exquisitely crafted staffs were displayed. Most of these staffs had been supplied by the Thieves' Guild and the Mage Guild—the former through theft, the latter through legitimate robbery. Of course, some mages also sold their own staffs voluntarily. After all, becoming a mage required more than talent...

"Is anyone here—" Denolan called out twice in a row, but no one in the shop responded.

"How strange. There were always people here when I came before. What's going on today?" Denolan scratched the back of his head and prepared to leave the magic shop.

But then a faint green light caught his attention. Beneath the bamboo scrolls, an emerald-green lamp glowed like a firefly. The entire lamp was jade-green, with a pair of jade serpents carved at either end. Its base was formed by two entwined snake tails, while its handle was a vine forged from purple gold. The lamp's body flickered, radiating boundless magical power.

"Hey... little cutie, which item in my shop caught your eye?" Oyana pressed her voluptuous body against Denolan's back. A strong perfume flooded his nose. Only then did Denolan snap out of his daze and remember why he had come to the shop.

"Well... I..." Just as Denolan was about to speak, Oyana pressed her index finger against his lips.

"Don't say anything yet. Come... let me guess..." Oyana's face was flushed and her legs trembled slightly. She had clearly just been through an intense battle.

"Hmm... Did you come to buy a staff from me?"

Denolan shook his head.

"Hmm... Did you come to buy an amulet or something?"

Denolan shook his head again.

"Ah... I know... You came here to sell something." Oyana reclined to one side as a levitation spell gently lifted her into the air.

Denolan was about to nod, but the blue-green glow in Oyana's hand made him afraid to admit it. The light came from a ring on the index finger of Oyana's left hand. The engraving on the ring and the radiance from its gemstone looked remarkably like the Dragonblood Ring Tiadam had stolen.

"I... no, I'm not here to sell anything... I... want to..." Denolan's words were incoherent, but he knew that the woman before him had to be connected to Tiadam and the others.

If a Dragonblood Ring worth three thousand gold coins was enough to make those bandits kill and steal, then Tiadam and his men would surely grind Denolan's bones to ash for the Dragonblood Gem formula.

At that thought, Denolan shuddered. There were only two paths before him now. The first was to hand over the parchment for nothing. That might let him survive, but why should he... No one would be willing to give away a material formula worth a fortune for free. Besides, the other party was connected to a black-market shop and bandits. Even if he handed it over, he might not survive.

Thus, the second path became Denolan's best option—cooperation. He would use his ability to synthesize Dragonblood Gems to win Oyana over. By monopolizing the method of producing Dragonblood Gems, he could tie himself to immense profits. He could advance and grow rich, or retreat and ensure his own safety. As long as he alone knew the synthesis formula, this parchment would be an amulet capable of printing money.

Just as Denolan finished considering his next move, something unexpected happened. An explosion from the church across the street drew everyone's attention. The shockwave spread through the entire street. After a brief pause, the whole street erupted into waves of commotion.

"What's going on..." Denolan opened the shop door and looked out onto the street. Groups of citizens afflicted with the Rosakavin Curse were rushing toward the other end of the road. Although the explosion had destroyed several buildings within the church, the citizens seemed not to care. Some even cheered.

"Looks like... Phantom Thief Bernard has struck again." Oyana spoke as though it were nothing new. "This should be the second incident this week. I just didn't expect it to happen so close to my home."

"Phantom Thief... Bernard? Who is that?" While Oyana was not paying attention, Denolan slipped the parchment back into his sleeve.

"Oh~ You really don't know?" Oyana sneered and turned to explain Bernard's affairs. "I'm not very sure what kind of fellow that phantom thief is either. I've only heard that he possesses some strange magic. He specializes in sneaking into church chapels and stealing as he pleases, taking all the church's gold and silver coins while casually tossing useless things onto the roadside... Things like holy grails that produce holy water, or Holy Son statues used in purification rituals."

"Wouldn't a holy grail be more valuable in a city overrun by this curse? Why abandon a cash cow that could continuously produce gold and take huge quantities of inconvenient coins instead... And speaking of gold coins, all the coins in every church in Canfor combined are not as many as Molakasu has at home. Why doesn't Phantom Thief Bernard steal Molakasu's money?"

"That's why he's a phantom thief. He would rather steal from churches guarded by layers of divine miracles than rob wealthy people who only hired a few bodyguards. There are actually thieves in this world who choose to chew rocks." Oyana stood up, planted her feet on the floor, and pointed outside. "But speaking of strange thieves... this is the truly strange part."

Following Oyana's gesture, Denolan looked toward the end of the street. Clear, pristine holy water gushed from a cup. Before long, it gathered into a torrent shooting toward the sky. The citizens standing in the "fountain" sang and danced. Even though it was the beginning of winter, when a basin of cold water could make someone sick, they were still willing to let the cool currents cleanse their entire bodies.

"Strange, isn't it..." Oyana said. "Not even the most devout cleric could produce a miracle like this, yet a thief can..."

"These people... the curse on them..."

Denolan did not take Oyana's words to heart. Looking at the citizens in the holy water, and the curses slowly being removed from their bodies, hope flared in his heart once more. Denolan stole one of Oyana's ceramic jars and joined the crowd, intending to store away some holy water before the church discovered it. Tumors and pain mixed with the holy water, turning into green liquid that flowed into the city's sewers.

"This sort of thing started around last month. It happens once every week, and this month it's been even more frequent than last month. This is already the second incident this week." Oyana watched the spurting holy water while sitting at the entrance to her shop, continuing to tell Denolan about Bernard.

"Little cutie, Bernard means redemption and devouring in the old gods' poetry. If I'm right, this phantom thief most likely worships one of the northern old gods. But no matter what, quite a few people have been saved because of Phantom Thief Bernard. Ah~ Of course, if this had begun ten years ago, Canfor would not have become what it is today, and I would not need to leave." Oyana took a gentle puff from her water pipe, then turned to look at Denolan.

"Where... where did he go?" Only then did Oyana realize that Denolan had long since run to the far end of the street to collect holy water. "What a clever boy. Undiluted holy water like that can fetch a good price on the black market."

"Achoo—" A sneeze was followed by a clattering crash inside the magic shop.

"Yalila!" Oyana angrily returned to her shop. Inside, a silver-haired girl with blue eyes was gingerly picking up shattered magical tools from the floor.

"You stinking brat!" Oyana grabbed Yalila by the ear and dragged her into the inner room. "If you're going out to fool around with your lover, then don't come back to your mother!"

"Mom... no, Master, I... I can explain! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!"

"Explain?" Oyana stopped.

"Master, I can explain." Yalila looked up at Oyana with watery blue eyes and an innocent expression.

"Oh, really... I don't want to hear it! Do you know how expensive that amulet was? I paid two hundred silver coins to get it from the Quexila Mage Association! Get in there and reflect on yourself—" With no trace of elegance, Oyana kicked Yalila into the magic circle in the inner room.

Yalila fell as though into a pool. Transparent magical elements splashed up like water before settling back into calm. Oyana's magic shop was actually far less cramped than it appeared. A spatial magic circle had been drawn in the inner room, and only by activating it could the shop's true space be revealed.

"The weather has gotten much colder..." Father Abelato walked back toward the main cathedral. He looked up at the dim sky, and the layers of dark clouds made him wrap his coat tighter around himself. "The church on Kepier Street was attacked by Phantom Thief Bernard too. I wonder which bishop's... church will be next..." A meaningful smile appeared on Abelato's face.

Not a trace of light remained in the dark sky as tiny snowflakes drifted down from above. Today's black snow was much weaker than before. Life had not improved much, but at least today... at least this was a good beginning.

"Everything will get better..." Denolan clutched a full jar of pure holy water brimming with purifying power as he curled up inside the temple where he had arranged to meet Fanafuna. "Things will get better. With this much holy water... even when the mountain-sealing day comes, everyone in the village can safely make it through the winter. Everything will get better..."

In the dark wooden cabin, Denolan finally had a peaceful dream. In it, he saw his wedding with Fanafuna. His late father and brothers made a wooden bed for their new home, while his mother and old Granny Talia from the village entrance wove the most beautiful flower crown for the bride... Everything in the dream was so peaceful and tranquil. Everyone in the village offered their finest blessings to the newlywed couple.

But as beautiful as the dream was, reality was equally cruel. Denolan would never forget that horrifying sight. The once peaceful and beautiful village had become nothing but a heap of ashes. Amid the ashes, charred skeletons seemed to still be recounting the suffering they had endured in life. A layer of yellow-green rotten soil still covered the bones. Perhaps for those villagers tormented by the Rosakavin Curse, death had been the best ending...