Reaching the Cliff

Zane widened his eyes, "W-Why's my belongings in the Saint's room? Shouldn't it be stored in a storage room somewhere? Normally it's like that." He spoke in a nervous voice. 'Dammit! Why'd it have to be in that room?'

"Normally? What the hell are you talking about? Of course your items would be in the Saint's room. He's rather interested in that diary after all." Zaros spoke and glanced towards Zane with a curious gaze. "What's that diary anyway?"

Zane's face which was contorted, turned towards Zaros and returned to normal. In a calm demeanor, he responded, "It's just a family heirloom. I really don't know anything more than that."

"Hah." Zaros scoffed. "Of course, A family heirloom that even a Saint can't open. Your ancestors must've been quite up there huh." He responded in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't believe me if you don't want to. I'm just telling you the truth." Zane shrugged and went back to his thoughts. 'Now... How the fuck do I get my belongings from that Saint...' He racked his brains for an answer. 'I need to get Szal's diary...'

Once again, the room returned to it's previous state, with Zane lost in his endless thoughts and Zaros resting on the couch.

Meanwhile, a moth with four red eyes on its wings flew into a small opening in the chapel and entered the Saint's room. Flying towards the stone chair where the Saint was sitting, it stopped once it got close. "So?" The Saint's voice echoed throughout the room.

The fist sized moth landed on the ground in front of the Saint. Once it landed, the moth slowly began transforming. *Tak Tak Tak* It's legs began growing a translucent pulsating slime with nerves visible inside. It's thorax and multi-layered abdomen, which was throbbing, began expanding and cracking, forming into the same slimy translucent body. Finally, it's head cracked backwards and started absorbing the wings, expanding into a sphere.

The translucent parts started developing skin, the body parts started moving towards their places in an unnatural manner, making cracking and popping sounds all while doing so. Finally, the transformation ended, revealing a naked skinny guy. "Tch" The Saint's voice echoed as he moved his hands and some clothes flew over to the person.

"Thank you, Master." The skinny guy quickly grabbed the clothes and wore them. After wearing the clothes, he looked like a completely different person. His skinny body and ribs could be seen through the thin white unbuttoned jacket he was wearing. Complementing the jacket with black trousers and boots, he looked quite handsome even though he was scrawny.

"Speak." The Saint ordered, which made him kneel down immediately.

"Yes, Master, two knights from the Sacred Order infiltrated the cave and went back in a hurry after watching for some time."

"They did not approach the town?" The Saint asked in a amused voice.

"No master, after observing for some time from the entrance cliff, they left. They even saw the burying of the Mayhem bells."

"Is that so?" The Saint leaned back on his chair. "Haha.. Okay... You did good, Alec." The Saint laughed.

Alec looked up towards the Saint, his eyes sparkling and his lips curved into a huge smile.

"Now, go and inform Zaros to be ready. It will start any moment now." The Saint continued.

"Yes, master!" Alec stood up energetically and exited from the entrance of the room.

The Saint watched him leave with a smile on his face. "They're finally here."

---

Alec walked swiftly to the room where Zane and Zaros were sitting. After reaching outside of the room, he opened the door and headed inside.

Zane jerked up from his thoughts and looked at Alec, who entered the room suddenly. Zaros also woke up from his sleep and readied himself. "Oh. It's just you Alec. Are they finally here?" Zaros calmed down.

Alec moved his gaze from Zane towards Zaros and nodded his head. "Yes, they're here Mr. Zaros. Master has asked me to inform you." Alec spoke. "I'll be leaving as I've completed my job." He turned his head towards Zane and contorted his face. "Mr. Zaros.." he spoke again, "Please make sure this disgusting fucking bastard does his job properly." Saying that, he turned and left.

Zane was stupefied. 'What the hell? Who the hell is this guy? Alec? Who's that? I've never even met this guy, why's he cursing at me?' He turned towards Zaros for answer, his mouth still wide open. After his gaze met Zaros's, he could see that Zaros was also shocked.

"Why are you shocked too!?" Zane asked, puzzled. Zaros looked towards Zane and laughed. "That's the first time I've seen him speak like that to anyone." He shrugged.

"What the hell? What have I ever done to him? I don't even know that guy!" Zane complained while Zaros laughed.

"Hahaha... Ask him that yourself." Zaros got up and approached Zane. "Now, let's teach you how to use this beast as a relic."

---

On the tunnel, the knights of the Sacred Order were marching slowly. In front were Asa and Price, who were leading everyone, while behind them were the two Commanders and the Marshall. All the knights were in the middle, the ones in the front marching with their weapons ready to attack at any moment.

Towards the back, the knights were carrying various bags. The knights towards the end were dragging a cart with covered items. At the end, Edana and Haskell were walking.

"Do you think we'll really win?" Haskell asked Edana in passing. Edana turned her head towards Haskell, who was looking ahead. "We have to." Edana responded coldly.

"My, so cold. Aren't you nervous?" Haskell continued. "Haah.." Edana sighed. "It's no use being nervous. We just need to do our jobs."

"Haha.. You're sounding a lot like Marshall Buck back there." Haskell smiled. "Oh! Valentina and Cadell was it? They're the ones staying with you right?" He suddenly asked.

Edana jerked her head towards him and squinted her eyes, "...Yeah... Why do you ask?" Haskell let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Nothing, it's just that they were really fun to talk to while we were returning from Rivenport. I was reminded of our times as cadets."

"...Was Valentina talking too at that time?" Edana asked in a low voice. "Huh? Oh yeah, but she didn't talk much." Haskell answered nonchalantly. "Oh look! We're here" He pointed forward, and Edana followed his finger. They were at the exit of the tunnel, which led to the cave's cliff.