Prologue IX

"How is he doing?" The woman asked.

"Lady Evangeline, please give us some time. The healing magic doesn't seem to work properly. Each time we try healing him it fails." The nun replied to her.

"How come that? It's a high heal." Eva stared at her in disbelief.

"As you said, he must have been starving. There is nothing magic can do to fix that, his body doesn't have the energy or necessary nutrition to heal." The nun looked back at her.

"Can't we feed him somehow?"

"We're working on that, a tube with milk and mashed potato should do the trick."

As Eva watched the nun walk away she felt more worried, it was rare that such a case ever happened. Usually, people who can't afford food won't come to get healed.

"Lady, he will be fine. Seen him fight right?" The knight approached her.

"Cael, how are your wounds?" Eva walked toward him giving his body a look.

"Alive at least, found a stab at my shoulder, didn't even feel the thing." Cael sighed scratching his head.

"Sorry, you got like that because of me." She apologized.

"Please don't apologize, my lady, it's a night's duty to protect his master no matter what." He bowed down.

"We're not in the estate, I'm but a humble nun here." Eva smiled.

"Even so, keeping respect is important…" He said, "And cumbersome…" She finished his line with a smile.

"Anyway, do you think he will make it?" Cael asked.

"Don't know," Shaking her head, "His body is in a horrible condition. Starved and riddled with wounds, even high healing didn't work." She sighed.

"I'm sure he had some kind of ability, he will recover soon." Cael banged his chest. He as well had an ability called [Slash]

People with abilities are rare, unlike mages who study magic. People with abilities are born with them and know how to use them instinctively.

Cael's ability [Slash] was simple, it increased the cutting ability and range of his attacks. With it, he can cut things with his bare hand or cut something that is longer than his sword in half.

Eva also had an ability, [Heal]. It was a weaker version of the church's heal and required no material component. People considered it a gift from god and a sign of his approval.

"Let's go check without business while the church heals him. Leave Mei with the nuns." Eva said walking past Cael.

Meow! The golden cat behind him meowed. Eva patted her and then kept walking. Cael followed her silently.

… After the sun dawned, and the morning came. Hades opened his eyes in another unfamiliar place.

"You're awake, how do you feel?" He heard the voice of a woman calling him. He slowly turned to the side and saw a woman wearing black clothes. She was reading a white book.

"What?"

"Are you hungry? Feel pain anywhere?" she asked with a smile.

"Ah, yeah. Did you happen to have some bread and water?" Hades replied, a take back a bit looking at her face.

She slowly stood, put the book on the table, and left.

Hades stood up and looked around the room for an exit beside the door. He found none, even the window was barbed with steel like his cell. Is this probably normal? To be locked away.

'I must escape, staring at her face this closely is giving me a weird feeling. Like I shouldn't stay near her for too long.' Remembering her figure, he could feel that something dangerous was hiding under her clothes.

…In hell…

"Ara, is he feeling the holy magic in her, or is he just horny? Can't tell the difference." The devil smiled. "But he is right, he mustn't stay in the church for more than a day or two. That's a holy place and he is given power by the devil. Even the weakest of nuns has some holy magic in her body related to her belief, I bet that contributed to them finding it hard to heal him."

The devil stood up "Lucky those nuns are inexperienced and couldn't tell the difference between failing due to starvation and failing due to rejection."

With an evil smile, "You've been impressive so far, wonder if you will be able to kill her? The one at the top."

…

Knock! Knock! The nun opened the door to Hades's room. "I've brought the food…" She saw him latched to the window like a monkey.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Looking for a way out." He replied honestly.

"You could have used the door, it's always open…" She said confused.

"Aren't you locking me here?" He asked. Letting go of the window and standing face to face with the nun.

"This room is pretty high up, the window is barred to prevent people from falling. Why would we even lock you here?" Her head tilted slightly to the side. In her mind, she was starting to suspect that he might have suffered some brain damage from the injuries.

"Don't know, unfamiliar place, barred window, and someone keeping an eye on me…" He stared at her blankly.

"You're sick, someone needs to keep an eye on you. If I weren't here, would you be able to ask to get you food?" She extended the platter to him with a smile.

Hades sat on the bed, "Yeah…" He looked at the platter as she presented it to him.

"Bread, water, mud, and grass?" He looked a bit confused. The nun was starting to find dealing with him a bit hard.

"Mud? Grass?"

"Yeah, those!" He pointed toward the bow filled with a Reddish-brown liquid and the bunch of leaves stacked to the side.

"Lentil soup and lettuce, never seen them before?" She was starting to really question his sanity. For a few moments, she was worried that an ability holder like him would find commoner food like this disgusting, but she didn't expect him to have never heard of them before.

"I will only take bread and water. I won't eat grass until necessary, and I'm less inclined on eating dirt." Hades replied, grabbing the bread and water.

"Oh this amazing, it can be this soft!" He smiled, this was the first time he tasted bread that didn't crack.

The nun glared at him in disbelief, how could she deal with such a man? "Care to give them a try? You don't need to swallow it, just taste it." She grabbed the wooden spoon and took a sip from the lentil soup.

After looking at her for a moment, Hades decided to give it a try. He poked his finger into the bowel and gave it a lick…his eyes opened wide, "What is this?!"

"Lentil, I told you before." The nun replied, "Care to try the lettuce?"

Now that Hades found the Lentil to be edible, he was more positive about trying the lettuce she presented him with.

He took a leave of the lettuce and gave it a try, it was cold and crunchy.

"What is this grass?" He smiled.

"Lettuce, are you even listening to what I say?" She started looking at him with a forced smile, feeling as if he was just making fun of her.

"I'm listening, this is just the first time I tasted such a thing!" he said gulping the food down.

Seeing him eat like that was enough for her to calm down, "I'm happy you're enjoying it. After you finish, your companions are waiting downstairs." She said with a smile.