Marius halted the carriage in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by grassy fields, and turned to the goddess, asking her, "did they follow?"
"No. They haven't left the village." Ayla looked back from where they came and shook her head, as her eyes landed on the souls lingering at Sancti Fields, a distant 5 miles away.
The rush of adrenaline subsiding, Marius paused to take a deep breath, reflecting on what the guard had called him: a heretic.
Just because he had a dark class. The memory of the mechanical voice telling him to reconsider in selecting the Necromancer class came flooding back to him.
"Damn it… I'm so fucking stupid," Marius muttered, as he felt slightly annoyed with himself.
He knew that he should have chosen a less dark class, as he remembered now that this type of cliché nature of these types of things; where anything that's not light is bad, according to these people.
Especially from all the isekai shit he's read and watched.
Nevertheless, Marius chose it on a whim, fully aware of the potential of this type of class. He was sure this class would be overpowered.
Once again, he was just sulking over hardship. Despite his bitching, he never quits or succumbs to depression. He just liked to complain.
This was just how he was.
He also knew once he becomes more powerful, all these issues right now would become irrelevant.
After all, at the end of the day, it is only the strong who have the authority to speak.
Those who are weak do not exist. They should exhibit silence and obedience.
Marius shook off his sulking and let out a sigh, then gave his body a small stretch. "Good thing they didn't follow us out here."
Leaving his seat at the front, he moved to the back and examined the items on the floor and those that were still hanging.
"That would've been a pain in the ass to deal with." Marius felt thankful that they didn't pursue him, although he couldn't help but feel protected, as if he had some kind of plot armor, given how the escape had worked.
He began searching for something to protect his face and body, as well as to cover it; anything that could be useful and beneficial to him.
"Oh~ what's this?" Marius noticed a set of light, black armor with chain mail underneath, accompanied by a low-quality helmet featuring a white fabric lining.
He picked it up and placed the helmet on his head, completely enveloping it in protective metal. Despite the narrow field of vision, he was still able to see clearly. It would take some time for him to adjust.
Then, with the help of the goddess, Marius put on the remaining pieces of armor since he lacked knowledge of how to do it himself. He wanted to make sure that it was worn correctly.
The last thing he wanted was for it to come loose or expose any skin that could lead to injury.
"You look good, hero." Ayla gave him a compliment with her usual flat tone, while her gaze shifted to the other items, including armors and similar things.
"Are you going to find something as well?" Marius inquired, tracing the direction of her gaze. Curious about what she was going to take.
"Hmm, I'll take this." Ayla extended her hand and grasped a bright yellow masquerade mask adorned with delicate gold accents. Following that, she put it on her face, concealing herself, and spun around. "What do you think, hero?"
Putting his finger under his chin, Marius nodded his head. "Looks good. But what about some-sort of armor?" It was odd to him that she only took a face-mask.
Ayla tilted her head, appearing puzzled with a question mark above her. "Why would I need armor?"
Facepalming, Marius responded, "won't they know what you're wearing? Also, don't you want that extra protection?"
What reasons would there be for not wanting protective armor or some form of body protection? Especially when you cannot rely on humans when it came to safety.
Thinking about it for a couple of moments, Ayla shrugged her shoulders as she said, "it's fine. The clothes I have on are typical for priests. All I need is to conceal my face."
"Yeah, right, Superman! Just slap on a pair of glasses and BAM! You're a whole new person." Marius let out a small chuckle to himself while seriously considering her foolishness.
Did she really think people were that stupid?
Seriously?
The temptation was strong for Marius to use a spray bottle, drench her, and insult her intelligence to make her reflect.
"I sense you're displeased, hero," spoke Ayla, having turned back around, still looking.
Marius, too, started to look at the items once more and added a comment, "well, I mean... come on. At least throw on some light armor over your outfit or something."
"I understand, hero." Ayla's gaze shifted towards a set of light shoulder, wrist, and leg armor, all gleaming in a pristine white color.
Taking hold, she promptly began placing the light armor over her current attire, ensuring a secure fit. Feeling at ease, she tried a few gentle standing stretches to see how they would affect her flexibility.
Once Ayla realized they wouldn't have a negative impact on her, she nodded in approval.
Marius took a second away from the items on the floor and cast a quick glance up and down at the goddess. "That's good enough."
Since there wasn't much else in the carriage for her, he realized that it would suffice for now, although he hoped she would eventually acquire something better.
"I feel relieved to receive your approval, hero," Ayla said, tilting her head down slightly before turning back.
"Oh~ what's this?" Marius bent down and retrieved a small pure metal box that was concealed among some tunics and peasant clothes.
Standing back up, he carefully placed the box on the seat. Upon realizing that it was slightly cracked opened, he took a peek inside.
What Marius found were three small bottles containing green potions wrapped around in feathers. "What's this?" He fully opened it. Getting a full view of them.
Ayla shifted her attention towards him and approached him, leaning in to see what he was looking at.
"Hm? Oh, those are XP potions, hero."