After getting a side quest from the dull archbishop, Auriel didn't have any choice but to do his best to complete it.
He knew that the church wouldn't throw him away and would let him join the church, but his position would be too low for him to be the 'spy' and learn the secrets of the church.
So, without giving into the laziness that he longed for, he decided to see this as a good opportunity to raise his shitty reputation from the mud to a little bit higher.
As for the disappearances that were happening in the village, he wasn't worried about it too much. At his side was an Archpaladin and Elise to help him if the problem becomes too serious.
He was more or less trusted that an Archpaladin would be able to save his ass from the thing that kidnaps the villagers of the Wildecrest village.
Because the thing only kidnapped a single villager per day, as if it had some limitations. So, he assumed that it was a relatively weak fiend. But after devouring many mundane villagers, it became strong enough to devour a Master. At least, that was Auriel's one of the many other guesses.
He still didn't know if his guesses were true because as of right now, he was still on the road to the Wildecrest village. His investigation didn't even begin yet.
Under him was a bulky horse with black veins under its brown skin, and behind him was Elise, who was holding him because of the fear of falling.
This horse was a special drug-enchanted horse. It was stronger, faster, and more long-lived than its mundane kin. Most nobles and high-ranked church members use these kinds of horses to reach their destination faster.
As for how and why normally scared Elise was hugging Auriel behind. The reason for this was pretty simple actually.
After Auriel killed Daisy, Elise's behavior changed. She became very submissive towards Auriel, and it was impossible for her to ride a horse because of her blindness, hence she was riding with her master.
Auriel knew that something was happening with Elise but he didn't care about it. After Elise became obedient, Auriel finally learned Elise's ability. So, he was okay with this change, and without knowing he lowered a little bit of his guard around Elise. And she wasn't dying anyway, just experiencing some mental problems.
As for the Archpaladin, Auriel didn't conserve with him after exchanging their names. He was too unique even for the Afterlife Church's standards and Auriel didn't want to deal with someone like that. All he needs to do is to give orders and this archpaladin would do it as Auriel's temporary guard and underling.
With that, Auriel rode his horse towards the west, with the strings that he injected into the horse beforehand. After all, he didn't know how to ride a horse.
Wildecrest village was a bit far away from the capital city of the Macien kingdom, Mortuus. With his drug-enchanted horse that strengthened with his strings, it would still take a few days to a week. So, there was no need for Auriel to rush.
He passed through the rocky ground with an inhuman speed, or in an inhorse speed that cracked the stony ground with every hoof step of the horse.
On the road, Auriel lost his balance a few times because of his inexperience with riding horses. However, he didn't crash to the ground. He already anticipated this and tied himself to the saddle. Even if he wanted, it would be impossible for him to fall.
Though the same couldn't be said for the poor blind girl. Because of her reluctant hold over Auriel, she was barely staying on the horse. Auriel needed to pull her before she fell so many times that he forgot the count.
But he didn't have any way to relax the golden-haired girl. Making people obedient with fear had its own shortcoming such as this. So, all Auriel could do was leave Elise to her own accord while slowly making her warm himself.
When the sun was about to set, Auriel threw a glance at the Archpaladin that was riding behind him. "Let's rest for the night, Archpaladin Asher," Auriel advised and the Archaladin named Asher nodded.
"Sure, I was pretty bored after riding for a whole day!" Archpaladin Asher said with a happy tone that even his black eyes shined with joy for a moment.
They continued for a while until they found a good place to rest and tied the horses to a tree.
Then Archpaladin Asher took out tents and a single long metal stick from the saddle bag of the horse.
After that, the blue-haired archpaladin stabbed the metal stick to the ground. "This will alert us if something bigger than a rat enters its area. Set up your tent." the archpaladin said as he threw one of the 2 tents to Auriel.
When they set up their tents, the paladin yawned as he closed his mouth with his gloved hand and threw a glance at Auriel.
"Well, I'm gonna sleep. You sleep too, don't delve into the pleasures of flesh. At least don't make too much noise." Archpaladin Ashed said with a teasing tone as he winked toward Elise and entered his tent.
'How is he an Archpaladin of those loners? Is he even celibate? Don't the knight classes in Afterlife Church practice celibacy too?' Auriel thought as he too entered his tent and lay on it, using his arms as a pillow.
Then he closed his eyes and began to think about Wildecrest village and the potential threat level of the fiend that resides there.
'Probably a Monstrosity, but I don't know what type, and I shouldn't guess about it before seeing the village's situation, it might give me a false perception of the fiend.' Auriel thought and turned towards Elise, who entered the tent.
"Go there and sleep. Don't worry about the archpaladins' words." He said and Elise nodded passively. Then she lay on the far corner of the tent and pulled the blanket over her head.
'Sigh… I should do something about her.'
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Hmm, yes you can drop your power stones on this lovely author of yours. There's no need for you to carry these heavy things in your pocket.