On the morning of the second day of the Wintertide Festival, plenty of people were already discussing the unexpected fireworks from the night before.
Then someone smugly revealed that they had been part of a secret ritual performed by the Medium, Arthur Credos, to pray for blessings and ward off calamity for the people of South Los.
Of course, it wasn't because this person was particularly well informed.
Rather, all the major newspapers in South Los had published the news.
Some had even taken considerable artistic liberties.
For example, the paper in Arthur's hands-
The Medium battles the Wintertide Monster!
This newspaper was the South Los Morning News.
Although its name differed from the South Los Daily by only one word, their scale was worlds apart. If the South Los Daily scored a solid 100, the South Los Morning News would probably score one or two.
It mainly depended on how well it performed.
An average performance earned one point.
An exceptional performance earned two.
Of course, most of the time, its performance was average.
But this time was different!
It had clearly outdone itself-outdone even its own exceptional performances!
Arthur studied the sketch of himself on the front page-
Clad in a cloak, he held a longsword in one hand and a magic staff in the other, facing a monster covered in scales, with sharp fangs and teeth.
Although he was shown only from behind, the monster facing him made him look all the more brave, fearless, and resourceful.
That last part was, of course, the South Los Morning News's description.
Throughout the article, he had used the terrain, various items, and so on to cause the Wintertide monster trouble no fewer than five times.
Those efforts had even laid the foundation for his eventual victory.
"Not bad!"
Arthur