Chapter 56: Holy Water

Perseus POV

Terrence signaled the others to come and help salvage whatever's left of this titan while it's fresh, the meat of this venomous titan can also be used as some rare delicacies, and since we both clearly can't store it in our storage spell.

It took a while, but Lind came with the whole squad and began the cleanup and clearing of nearby monsters.

Using our combined strength, we began the arduous task of cleaning up the fallen creatures, starting with the massive body of the Titanus. Working together, we dragged the creature's massive form away from the village, clearing the area of any potential dangers.

Meanwhile, other members of the squad set to work dismantling the wyvern corpses, carefully removing their toxic fangs and scales that Terrence and I haven't to prevent any further harm to the surrounding environment while also cleansing the area of the poisonous fumes that lingered in the air.

[Side quest completed!]

A few officials in thick plague doctor-like suits came and asked about what we were doing, but as I planned, Terrence just went and gave the credit to Cedric, since the village was indebted to him, they softened up real quickly and just asked us to share some of the loot, which we did.

I sort of showed my face when a few more stubborn ones asked whether we really are with Cedric and are not just some criminals bribing them and trying to push them away, but the sight of a descendant of Sam Wyatt more than confirmed it, and they shouted about how I was some cursed being before running away.

But it did confirm it since all the descendants are working for Cedric. As the fumes fully went away, Lind ordered everyone to head back to base, saying that thanks to our hard work, we should be able to have some rest, but I plan to use that opportunity to go explore the abyss dungeon further.

I can just stay up here, but...that new king of the southern empire...the eldest son of the king...I doubt that he'll be tolerant of me, the only reason the others are safe is because they are usually confined within Cedric's residence.

The stories about him...he may be worse than his dad as I think he doesn't even like elves or fairies, he just hates anything that is non-human. He's currently sending the archmage out to go find the culprits and basically making all the mages under him work overtime.

With the way it's going...well, I heard that his uncles don't like him and are planning a rebellion and uprising soon, not that we'll be doing anything to help. That empire is the most unstable that it has ever been, giving a lot of opportunities for crime to happen.

I do plan on visiting the western continent soon though, after all...

[Side quest: Visit the Western Kingdom and join the hero in the holy water crisis in 9 days.]

Holy water crisis...that sounds interesting.

*****

Venturing down to the 21st floor of the Abyss Dungeon, I was immediately struck by the stark contrast to the previous levels. Gone were the icy caverns and snow-covered landscapes; instead, I found myself surrounded by a fiery inferno.

The ground beneath my feet was a deep crimson, cracked and scorched by the intense heat. Lava flowed freely, its molten glow casting an eerie light across the landscape. Flames danced along the walls, licking hungrily at the air as if seeking to consume everything in their path.

Despite the oppressive heat and the danger that lurked around every corner, I pressed on, driven by a sense of curiosity and a desire to explore this new environment.

But as I ventured deeper into the fiery depths, I decided to turn back for now, the monsters were clearly out of my league, my sword can cut through anything or anyone, sure, but I rather not rely on it too much.

Not only that, as I pushed forward, the flames seemed to grow ever more intense, closing in around me with every passing moment. 

No wonder the adventurers gave me a weird look when I said I planned to go down with a cheap heat-resistant cloak...should have gone for the overpriced ones like everyone else.

*****

After applying for another leave of absence to go check out the so-called holy water crisis, lind once again sent Terrence and me to deal with it, the organization has less knowledge on the issue anyway, and they don't mind sending me to do the job, especially since I can get in contact with Cedric, a person who's now here to help deal with said issue, and that should help us know insider's information that you can't get elsewhere.

The Western Kingdom is renowned for its mastery of the seas and its bounty of seafood. It is the perfect tropical destination for most newbie adventurers, offering the promise of new experiences and opportunities to explore since the quests over there are fun and easy. It's also where most adventurers retire.

The Western kingdom, however, is also very religious. The kingdom, known for its devout reverence of the divine, relied heavily on the sacred waters blessed by their religious leaders for various rituals and ceremonies.

Their god of the sea apparently, long story short, only allows the blessing of holy water once a year during a designated time assigned by the pope, so they would do their blessing ritual in super large batches.

However this year, a large portion of that holy water went missing, and a lot of the remaining ones were found to be contaminated as without the pure waters blessed by their religious leaders, many of their ceremonies and rites would be rendered meaningless.

So now...they could easily substitute their things with using holy water of other religions rather than their main, as mentioned by the pope, due to all gods works in unison in creation of the world, but the king still would very much like to know the culprit and try to find the lost batches since they did have a lot.