The Dark Archmage inwardly cried out in alarm, but his body had already instinctively darted forward.
The agility attribute she had just added came in handy. She rushed to the door in one step, hooked her left foot upward, and placed the heavy wooden basin full of things between her instep and calf.
A muffled groan escaped her throat. The wooden basin was much heavier than she had imagined. Although she managed to catch it, the [ Dark Archmage ] felt a dull pain in her calves and the backs of her feet.
At the same time, her hands didn't stop moving; her right hand reached towards the woman's face, trying to stifle the woman's scream.
Any misunderstandings can be explained slowly, but if we shout them out now, everything will be over.
However, a pair of hands covered the woman's mouth even faster than the [ Dark Archmage ].
Upon closer inspection, she realized it was the woman's own hand!
My throat wanted to scream, but my hands wouldn't allow it, as if my biological instincts were being forcibly suppressed by reason at this moment.
It seems she had a secret too, otherwise she would have instinctively screamed and attracted the priest patrol.
The straight-line distance between here and the church is only about 20 or 30 meters, separated only by a small house. Making those people alert is a piece of cake.
The Dark Archmage frowned slightly, and his right hand, which he had originally intended to use to cover his mouth, transformed into a slightly longer fruit knife (he really tried his best), but it didn't look very intimidating.
His left arm slipped through the gap between his instep and calf to lift the wooden basin.
By the moonlight, the Dark Archmage saw what was in the basin—soil, completely filled with mud.
His gaze darted back and forth between the woman still covering her mouth and the wooden basin, and the [ Dark Archmage ] glanced into the room and whispered:
"Shall we go inside and talk?"
The woman nodded, and the two tiptoed into the house, the woman in front and the [ Dark Archmage ] behind.
He carefully closed the back door of the house, and from the darkness came a series of hurried footsteps and a man's deep question:
"Woman, what are you dawdling for? Give me the basin."
The woman opened her mouth as if to speak, but then hesitated, unsure of what to say. Finally, she whispered:
"Um, we have guests over..."
"... What?"
A small flame flickered in the dark living room.
Three people were seated in the fairly spacious living room: a man with an unusually twisted left leg, a woman with a slight scoliosis, and... the player [ Dark Archmage ].
In the very center of the three was a narrow yet seemingly bottomless cave.
The candlelight illuminated the three faces, revealing that each had something they wanted to ask, but none of them knew how to say it for the time being.
The [ Dark Archmage ] roughly understood the current situation:
As soon as it got dark, the couple would dig a hole in the living room floor and spread the excavated soil evenly in the yard.
The only problem is that there's too much soil, creating a height difference between the inside and outside of the yard.
I don't know what this is doing...
In the end, it was [ the Dark Archmage ] who spoke first:
"It's clear you also have secrets you can't let the church know. Why don't we exchange information?"
The woman, having recovered from her initial panic, nodded, but before she could say anything, her husband grabbed her wrist.
Although the man appeared somewhat weak, he remained vigilant. He looked at the [ Dark Archmage ], whose body showed almost no Aberration, and said:
"Can."
[ The Dark Archmage ] nodded:
"Then you ask first."
"You're not from here, where are you from?"
The [ Dark Archmage ] naturally had nothing to hide from such a question.
"The barony beyond the dense forest to the north, the one with the castle."
The couple exchanged a glance, seeing surprise and confusion in each other's eyes.
The two then began a question-and-answer session:
Where do your tunnels lead?
"The church is underground, but they haven't dug through yet. What are you doing in White Wax Town?"
"An apostate has appeared at the White Wax Town Church, and I have been ordered to come and gather intelligence."
The couple were both startled upon hearing this, and the woman quickly began to sob:
"By the Tree God, no wonder they did such terrible things..."
[ The Dark Archmage ] continued to ask:
Why did you dig the tunnel?
"Our child is being held captive in the church's basement, and we're going to rescue him. Are you with the church?"
"I am an Elite Warrior of the church, so you need not worry. His Excellency the bishop is about to begin the purge of these apostates, and an army of Elite Warrior is already near White Wax Town."
Both husband and wife had expressions of excitement on their faces. The man, disregarding the usual question-and-answer format, pressed on with the question:
When can we begin the attack?
Seeing the sincere expressions on their faces, the [ Dark Archmage ] said:
"It should be... within three days."
The man suddenly lost his enthusiasm, and the [ Dark Archmage ] could tell that he felt things were getting a bit slow.
So she said in a tone that was both persuasive and seductive:
"If you're willing to provide intelligence, it might allow us to launch the attack sooner."
The woman grabbed the [ Dark Archmage ]'s wrist:
What would you like to know?
The [ Dark Archmage ] rolled his eyes and said:
"I've noticed there are almost no children in White Wax Town. Have they all been taken away by the church?"
The woman nodded and replied:
"The priests told us that children who were eleven years old or older could go to church to learn etiquette and literacy. If they passed the exam when they turned twelve, they could continue their studies. Boys could become novice priests, and girls could become nuns."
"They can even go to the provincial capital or the actual Holy City Holy See... No one can refuse such an opportunity, so everyone will send their children there."
[ The Dark Archmage ] asked:
How long has this been going on?
This time it was the man who answered:
"It's been at least thirty or forty years. I participated in the selection process when I was young, but I didn't pass. The requirements were very high back then; only one or two out of dozens of children would be accepted. Later, the selection process became more and more lenient, and there was even no selection process at all. It was basically open to everyone. In recent years, even children who didn't want to go have been forcibly taken away."
Very good, the church's evil deeds can be basically confirmed.
But the [ Dark Archmage ] still has one last question:
"Then how did you know the children were being kept underground?"
Ultimately, it was the man who answered the question:
About a month ago, a child covered in injuries escaped from the church's basement.
"We took him in for one night, and he told us the truth: our child was among the survivors."
"The child left early the next morning, saying he didn't want to cause us any trouble; he needed to find a way to rescue the rest of his companions."
So that's how it is. So the couple started digging the tunnel a month ago. They weren't really sure of the dungeon's location, so they just kept digging in one direction, using the direction of the church on the surface as a reference.
Sigh, why make the NPCs so realistic? I feel like I'm being tricked into crying.
But... a runaway boy? If we could find him, wouldn't we be able to get more information?
I just don't know if there's enough time left...
The [ Dark Archmage ] sighed inwardly and looked at the two of them, asking:
"Do you know the name of that runaway boy? If we can find him, the operation will go much more smoothly."
The man nodded.
"Although I don't know where he went, he said his name was..."
Ed Adrian.