MEANWHILE IN THE MIRAG TOWN
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"And you are sure that you don't know anything more than that you woke up in the middle of the city?" A young inspector asked a random citizen about what happened in the city. It wasn't just him, but many of the inspectors from the Holy City have arrived here for the same purpose.
"Doesn't seem like we are reaching anywhere. How is the Saintess doing? She must be having an even harder time than we are having," his friend asked him as he looked at the church area where the Saintess was using her powers to slowly erase the circle.
While it was pretty much useless, with no purpose other than attraction, its mere presence was enough to start dark rumors about the city. Thus, the only person capable of erasing the circle, the Saintess, was brought here.
"A circle and then the people, huh?" The first inspector looked with pity at the Saintess, who not only needed to erase the circle but also to purify the people.
Moving closer to the church, the Saintess Alicia was sitting there, 'purifying' the people coming to her one by one. Her expression was rather calm but only her guard, Lucas, who knew her personality, understood how annoyed she was.
"Thank you, Saintess!" the 'purified' man spoke with his eyes shining bright before he left.
"The Saintess is tired. Can you send the next person tomorrow morning?" Lucas spoke to the guards of the church and they nodded, understanding the situation. Alicia has already purified more than 3 dozen people.
Once the guards left, only Alicia and Lucas were left in the church room.
"Just what the fuck is this shit!! They aren't even cursed, so why am I purifying them? Does that even make sense? And even that damn circle is useless. We are just wasting time and energy here!!!" she shouted in the soundproof room as she glared at the wall in front of her.
"Calming the mind of the citizens is the task of the Saintess. It would uplift Goddess Alepsia's followers' faith as well if we do it one by one. Wasn't it the Goddess' order herself?" Lucas explained as he looked at Alicia, making her sigh in dejection as she fell onto the bed.
"I know… but still… Sigh… anyway. What about the 'Phantom'? Found anything about it?" Alicia asked Lucas with a curious mind. Despite all the useless things, this was actually a thing she found worth looking into.
"You believe in that rumor? I believe the Mayor is spreading rumors to increase the city's popularity. We can't trust the adventurers' words either," Lucas explained from his own point of view.
"The summoning circle is irregular. It contains fragments of teleportation, as well as summoning. And the body of the necromancer was there, too. Goddess Alepsia talked about Amir, so there is no doubt in it as well," Alicia began recalling some points before she looked at Lucas,
"Lucas. What I am getting at is… even if I were to be present in such a situation, forget about stopping Amir. I won't even be able to erase the circle in such a short amount of time. Plus, you need black magic to do it… but then the people were purified as well. I don't know if there was only a single person or more than one, but whoever they may be, they are strong. And they do exist."
"Currently, we have a lead with the name of Adam. Though it is even more ridiculous," Lucas spoke as he sighed, making Alicia look at him as he continued," he is an F-Grade adventurer with 10 Power Level."
"..."
"Seems like we will be getting busy even after things get over here. How long do you think it will be before we get to return home?" Alicia asked as Lucas sighed before speaking," looking at the statistics, it would take at least 3 weeks."
-Thud!
And Alicia fell on the bed again as she cried a little," I wanna go home."
While the Saintess and Lucas were busy on their own, in the Mayor's home, a group of adventurers were sitting in a circle with a female adventurer sitting at the center. She was Mira, the red-haired girl who helped Adam with the desert goblins.
"Are you sure he was as weak as you saw him? You sure he wasn't acting, right?" Rivas asked her curiously once again. It has already been repeated many times, but it was still hard for him to believe that.
"I told you that many times already! If he were acting then he is the best actor I had ever seen. He was a total newbie who was killing the goblins with the best of his ability. True that he had some genuine talent but that was all… he wasn't even a drop close to what you described him as," Mira shouted as she explained it to the party, making them sigh even more.
"Whatever or whoever he is… he is our benefactor. Don't you think so too, Mr Mayor?" Amara, the mage among the group, spoke with a look of gratification. Being a mage, he had already seen the power of the enemy. He understood that his survival was nothing short of a miracle right now.
"He sure is. It makes me sad that I could do nothing for our savior… but Miss Mira, since you had already seen that man, could you help me find a sketch of the man?" the Mayor spoke, gathering the attention of the people there.
"Carving a statue at the center of the city of the hero. I think this is the least we can do for him," the Mayor smiled, making others a little shocked before they, too, understood the meaning behind his words.
A couple of waves were created by this short event. One that would reach back to its origin at a later time. Until then, only the myth of the 'Phantom' would be circulating within the world of Zarraf.
[Volume 1: Ghost Town Stories: A God and a Human!]