It was almost evening while Tsar and Shura were on their way home in the horse-cart, and Shura was staring at Tsar intently. Tsar couldn't stand it anymore and asked,
"Is there something on my face?"
Shura paused for a few moments before asking
"Brother, now that you realise how insignificant we are, do you intend to aim to be the strongest force-user or something along those lines?"
After hearing this, Tsar burst out laughing, pausing only after 5 minutes to say,
"Of course not; were you really concerned about such a thing? My goal, as I've already said, is to get the power to control these eyes. When I am strong enough, I will retire and live as a commoner for the rest of my life."
Shura gave a sigh of relief and said
"Thank god, I really thought you were going to aim to become the strongest or something like that. From what I've read, force-users die at a higher rate than commoners. I don't want my brother being a corpse."
Tsar chuckled and patted her on her head. Shura first protested, but eventually gave in.
"Don't worry, I won't make the mistake of dying like a nobody. I promise that once I achieve my goal, we will be able to live the simple life we wanted."
"Hmph, you'd better stick to your word"
Tsar was about to respond when he heard someone shouting to get everyone's attention and said
"Hey, did you hear that when a person submitted a law treasure to the Cult of Riona, he was rewarded 8000 ryos and an opportunity for his family to become envoys of Riona!!"
"What?"
"5000 ryos? Are you sure that you did not hear a rumor?"
"An opportunity to become an envoy? Are you kidding me?!?"
The person who started the chaos replied
"Of course not; many people are talking about it, and the said person even presented the money he received to numerous people."
Just when the conversation was going on another person walked into the crowd and said
"Did you not hear that 3 days ago a commoner was killed by a force-user!"
"What? There was no such news till now; you're not trying to spread rumours, are you? This seems too much to be a coincidence."
The person who brought the second news protested
"Of course not, the town soldiers said that the corpse was only discovered this afternoon, and there was still some law-force present in the man's body, and he was reported to have possession of a law treasure."
The people in the crowd wore horrified expressions. The Lodrac empire did not want any force-users interfering with commoners' life in the Ecrin town, hence the case of a force-user killing a commoner horrified the people.
"What should we do? Should we go to the town help center?"
A terrified man asked, the man who started the chaos answered
"Right now, the best thing to do is to submit any law treasure we have; the man who was killed also had one in his possession, which is now missing, indicating that he was probably killed for the treasure; we can submit it to the Cult of Riona, who are offering huge rewards for a single law treasure"
"Yes, you are correct; the best thing to do is search everyone's house to make sure they don't have one. If we hide even one, it might cost us our lives."
Said the man who brought the second piece of news, after hearing the two's advice, most people agreed, with the exception of a few who expressed reluctance and displeasure, but fearing their death they agreed too. Following the conversation, everyone began to make their way to the town's residential area.
When Tsar and Shura saw all of this, their faces were filled with bewilderment and doubt.
"Brother, don't you think this seems fishy"
"Of course it does; there hasn't been a single incidence of a murder from a force-user in Ecrin town in years, and now there is, and at a time when the cult is rewarding for the treasures."
Shura made a thoughtful face and then suddenly asked
"Then is it the cult behind the scenes?"
"We can't say for sure if it's a coincidence or whether their scheme. What can anyone do even if this is their plan?, Fight?, heh..... They'll just ignore it, so let's ignore it as well. As long as we're safe, it is fine."
"Yeah...."
They arrived at their home after a half-hour ride, they headed inside where they discovered their father storing some small vials with strange liquid inside a bag. Shura's eyes widened when she observed the vials and questioned Alkis
"Where did you obtain these potions, aren't they like for 50 ryo each?"
Alkis flinched in surprise when he heard the familiar voice, but then yelled hurriedly
"It's none of your business; now go inside your room and sleep or get beaten."
Tsar and Shura rushed into their room, and while they lay in bed, Tsar stated
"Father was probably the person who was rewarded for submitting a treasure to the cult."
Shura made an expression of realization and then said
"Yeah, you are right, the strange glowing object in his hand was probably the law treasure, and given his status as a core worshipper, it was certainly him. So, is he going to be an envoy now?"
"Probably... Not that it matters, he is only going to become more power hungry and his ambitions are going to increase....."
Shura raised an eyebrow at Tsar's last comment and asked
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nevermind about that, tell me have you prepared offerings for mother's funeral tomorrow?"
Though Shura knew that Tsar was hiding something she chose to remain silent and said
"Yeah, when we were returning from the library I bought some incense and flowers."
Seeing she didn't ask further Tsar exhaled a sigh of relief and said
"Good, we'll have to get up a bit earlier to collect wood and finish the chores. We can visit Mother's grave after that, when Father will probably leave for the cult."
"Ok... But aren't you afraid? Now that he is going to become a force-user, he will only get more powerful and will despise commoners. What if he forgets about mother's last wish and sells us?"
"Don't worry, we're still his children, even if he resents us. Nobody can fall so low as to abandon their own blood."
Shura frowned and considered lecturing Tsar about his naivety, but decided against it because their mother's funeral was the next day. They fell asleep after a little chat.