Against his will.

Ares entered the city and pretend to be a wandering merchant with his worn-out shirt and pants. He knew exactly how to be a merchant since one of his loops he was a merchant to support his family. His acting was convincing enough for the knights who guarded the entrance to the city, they didn't even bother to check everything because of that.

Ares went around the city and asked about the temple to the people, they showed him the direction and he immediately went there to meet Lazarus. He didn't know much about Lazarus since this was the first time he used this route since he was busy gaining knowledge, information, and other things that were necessary for the next loop.

As soon as he arrived at the temple, he saw so many injured knights that were being treated by the priests. He looked around and he couldn't find Lazarus everywhere, he couldn't ask around about Lazarus since he was pretending to be a wandering merchant and not to mention that he was surrounded by enemies.

Ares looked around to see if there were people that he could ask about Lazarus, then he looked at a small boy on the side of the road watching the knights with admiration from the distance. He decided to approach that kid and wave at him with a gentle smile on his face.

"What are you doing over here? Do you want to be a knight when you grow up?" Ares asked.

The boy was hiding behind the wall and leaving his head to look at Ares. "Yes, I want to be a knight because they're so awesome and cool, people are admiring them and surrounding them like heroes," The boy replied.

Ares smiled and chuckled softly. "How about this? I can tell you the secret of becoming a knight, are you interested?"

The boy came out and gasped with his eyes wide open. "Really? Yes, I want to know the secret!" The kid replied in excitement.

"But I need you to tell me something first. Do you know a priest with white hair?" Ares asked.

"Hmm..." The boy hummed as he tilted his head. "I don't know, but I think my brother knows since he was working as messengers so he met a lot of people in town!" The kid replied.

"How thoughtful," Ares said as he smiled and gently rub the kid's head. "Well, before we go, I will give you the secret of becoming a knight!" Ares continued then he grabbed the boy's hands and lifted them up a bit. "These hands, you have to train them and once you have a good grip, you will become a great knight!" Ares explained.

"Really? All I have to do is to train my hands?!" The boy asked with a big smile on his face.

Ares nodded and smiled at him. "Of course! I'm a wandering merchant and I have met a lot of knights on my journey. All the knights that I know have strong hands and muscles! That's their secret, and since you want to become one, I'm telling you the secret."

The boy got so excited that he pretended to swing a sword in his hands.

"Come on, Mister! I will bring you to my brother!" The boy said as he grabbed Ares's hand.

Ares followed the boy into the alleyway where people were talking to each other with fear written all over their faces.

The boy stood in front of a door and he pointed at it while he looked at Ares. "This is my home! My brother is sleeping right now, so come and I will wake him up!" The kid said then he opened the door in front of him.

Ares entered the small house while the boy went to another room.

Ares stood there and stared at his surrounding then a black-haired guy the same age as Ares came out from the room the boy went. He rubbed his hair with his eyes barely opened, he looked at Ares from top to bottom and then sat down at the table.

"What do you want?" The black-haired guy said as he yawned.

"I need information about a particular person in this town," Ares replied as he kept standing near the door.

The black-haired guy smirked and scoffed. "You almost got me..."

Ares furrowed his forehead and looked at him with confusion. "Pardon?"

"You're not a wandering merchant, I can see that you're a knight, a respectable one as well by the look of your body and posture. A merchant doesn't have manners, they would sit down as soon as they see a chair but here you are inside my house standing next to the door and don't bother to sit down." The black-haired guy explained.

Ares smiled and looked down. "I guess it has become my habit."

"Before I can welcome you to my house and let you sit down, there's one question that I want you to answer." The black-haired guy said. "Who's the master you served?" He asked as he stared at Ares.

"Archduke Khazad Valtris is the master I served," Ares answered and showed the Valtris crest in his hand.

The boy came out of the room and he looked at Ares with a shocked expression. "You're a knight, Mister?!"

Ares just smiled and nodded.

"Ah, thank you for trying to protect the townspeople, we really appreciate it but knowing that the situation is getting worse, it's really impossible to hold them off, huh?" The black-haired guy said. "By the way, my name is Pias and this is my little brother, Toby," Pias said as he wrap his arm around Toby's neck.

"My name is Ares Trasven, the knight of Valtris," Ares replied.

"So, Sir Ares, what kind of information that you need? And please have a seat," Pias said as he pointed his hand at the chair in front of him.

Ares nodded and sat down at the table with Pias and Toby. "I need to find Priest Lazarus," Ares said. "Archduke Khazad heard a rumor about a vision or revelation that Priest Lazarus saw. His grace wants to meet him in person to speak about the vision or revelation that Priest Lazarus had," Ares continued.

"I see, but unfortunately, Priest Lazarus is now a wanted man so he's been hiding ever since he spread his words. Fortunately, I know exactly where he is since I'm one of the people who's protecting him from the enemy." Pias said with a grin on his face. "Come and follow me!" Pias continued as he stood up and walked toward the door.

Both Pias and Ares walked the alleyway and went deeper so that the sun couldn't be seen because it the tall buildings on both sides.

"I'm amazed that there are a lot of people who believe in him," Ares said as he kept looking at the corners.

"You're talking about his vision?" Pias asked as he turned his head to look at Ares.

"Yes, I'm curious why people so easily believe in his words," Ares replied.

Pias smiled. "At the moment like this, it doesn't matter if it's true or false," Pias said. "What matters is that we hear what we want to hear and that alone is giving us hope." Pias continued as he kept walking.

Ares looked at the sky. "Don't worry, we will win the war so just wait patiently," Ares said.

Pias smiled and turned around. "That's reassuring to hear from the knight of Valtris!" Pias said and grinned. "Anyway, we are here," Pias said as he pointed his thumb at the door next to him.

Pias knocked on the door oddly and then a guy opened the door slightly, he looked at Pias and Ares then Pias nodded at him. The guy opened the door for them and let them in, Ares looked at the inside of the building that seemed to be a pub but there were barely any people in it.

Pias was talking to the people around the counter, they were looking at Ares with suspicion but Pias seemed to try to convince them. Then those guys stood up and went to the back room of the pub with Pias leaving Ares on his own in the room. Not long after that Pias came out and he waved at Ares, he told Ares to follow him and so Ares went to the back room with Pias.

Ares went down the stairs with Pias walking in front of him, and for some reason, he felt a bit unease with the situation he was in. He put his hand on his chest where he hid his dagger just in case they decided to attack him.

"Priest Lazarus is in there," Pias said with the people from the pub earlier standing near the door.

Ares nodded and entered the room.

There he was, the long white-haired beautiful man sitting on the bed while he stared at the wall. Ares looked at him for a moment and decided to unsheath his dagger but he couldn't pull it out. He was shocked as he tried to pull it out with everything he got.

"You are not allowed to kill him..." A familiar voice whispered into his ear.

Ares was frozen and Lazarus suddenly turned his head and look at Ares with fear written on his face. "You came to kill me?!"