The Archbishop went on, "I understand why you are confused and curious. For hundreds of years, no one has communicated directly with our God, but this time is different. Here is the revelation I received: 'My child, justice has revealed itself. Seek and guide justice. This time, justice will end the suffering. East, Allrose, red, tower.' This is what our God said."
The high-ranking officials began whispering among themselves.
"End the suffering? Could it be that the demon king will truly be destroyed this time?"
All the officials grew excited and had high expectations.
The Archbishop then spoke again.
"Since you've all heard the revelation I received from our God, now it's time for us to do our work as servants of our God. Let's begin by interpreting the revelation that was given to us."
One senior bishop spoke up.
"I believe the revelation that the Archbishop received is very clear, about the hero who will end the demon king once and for all. What we need to interpret are 'Allrose,' 'red,' and 'tower.'"
The Archbishop nodded. "You are correct, Bishop Tyrvion. Is there anyone who can conclude what our God's clues mean?"
One bishop raised his hand.
"Please, High Priest Ardyn," the Archbishop said.
Ardyn began speaking.
"I know one of the clues. It's Allrose. Allrose is my hometown. I believe the meaning of this clue is that the hero comes from Allrose village, Your Grace."
"I see. That makes sense. Is there anything else?" the Archbishop asked.
"I know, Your Grace," said another high priest.
"Please, High Priest Phyra," the Archbishop invited.
"Very well, Your Grace. I know the location of the hero based on all the clues given by our God," Phyra replied.
"Extraordinary, High Priest Phyra. Please, do explain," the Archbishop said.
The other high-ranking officials began to listen intently.
High Priest Phyra began to explain, "Very well, Your Grace. The clues explain everything. A girl, east, Allrose, red, tower. 'Girl' refers to a young female, or perhaps even a child. 'East' and 'Allrose'—as the clue said, Allrose village is to the east from here. Then there's 'red' and 'tower.' What comes to your mind when you hear 'red' in the east?"
One high priest responded, "The border town of Redwatch, that's what comes to my mind."
Phyra replied, "Exactly, we've solved all the clues."
Suddenly, one of the bishops spoke up, "Wait, it can't be that simple. The revelation from our God couldn't be that straightforward."
High Priest Phyra responded, "I understand your concern, Bishop Bermund. However, if we examine this carefully, it seems our God wants us to find the hero quickly. As stated in the revelation, justice will end the suffering. And this revelation is different from others. Previous revelations never said 'justice has revealed itself,' which means the justice is either hidden, or imprisoned somewhere, and just freed today."
All the high-ranking officials began whispering, reflecting on the previous revelations. They agreed with High Priest Phyra's words.
The Archbishop spoke, "High Priest Phyra is right. Previous revelations never said 'has revealed itself.' Other revelations always said 'justice has been born,' or 'the demon king has awakened,' and similar things. So it's highly likely that our God wants us to find the hero quickly, before anything else happens to them."
The bishops and high priests began speaking.
"I agree."
"I agree as well."
"Yes, I agree. We should immediately send our Fire Knights to conduct a search."
The Archbishop spoke, "Alright, it seems everyone agrees. So, then..."
A high priest interrupted the Archbishop. "Please wait a moment, Your Grace."
Everyone turned to look at the high priest.
The Archbishop asked, "What is it, High Priest Morgen? Is there something you wish to say?"
Morgen hesitated at first, but with all eyes on him, he had no choice but to speak. "Well, Your Grace, actually, a week ago, I received a word that Allrose village has been razed to the ground, and all its inhabitants perished, no one survived."
Everyone was shocked, and High Priest Ardyn's face filled with emotion.
"What?! Why? Why didn't you inform us of this?" Ardyn demanded.
Morgen lowered his gaze and answered, "I'm sorry, I didn't know Allrose was there. I assumed it was an abandoned village full of outcasts."
Ardyn's tears began to fall as he thought about his brother, sister, and parents who lived in that village. He shouted, "Who did this?! Tell me, who did this!"
Morgen looked at Ardyn with regret and said, "I'm sorry high priest Ardyn, the information I received didn't provide any details. It only said that Allrose village had been destroyed."
Ardyn was frustrated and sad, unable to speak further. Then Phyra asked, "If I may, who gave you this report?"
Morgen replied, "The report was written by the knight commander of the Roussanne family, Rowen Emberlain."
One of the bishops spoke, "Could it be that Marquess Roussanne is involved?"
Ardyn interrupted, "That's impossible. Allrose was managed directly by Grand Mage Alinda Ciyane."
The Archbishop then said, "Alright, we must investigate this matter ourselves to learn more details. Listen, everyone, I appoint Bishop Tyrvion to lead the search for the hero, with High Priest Phyra as his deputy. Is there any objection or anything else to add?"
Ardyn raised his hand and said, "Your Grace, please allow me to join the search party. I want to find the true culprit who slaughtered my village."
The Archbishop saw the anger and thirst for vengeance in Ardyn's eyes and said, "Very well, but before you proceed, let my words sink into your heart: Revenge will never have a beautiful ending, but revenge is the best fuel to move forward."
Ardyn looked at the Archbishop and replied, "Understood, Your Grace. I will carry your words in my heart. Thank you, Your Grace."
The Archbishop nodded and said, "Alright, the rest of you, return to your positions and strengthen our forces. If the hero has appeared, the demon king has surely awakened. And my intuition tells me that this demon king will be different from the others before."
All the high-ranking officials responded, "Understood, Your Grace. Praise the Holy Fire, and praise the God Kaelor."
***
In the morning, at an abandoned building, Tristan was training in the duel arena. Thoran, who had just woken up, saw Tristan and approached him.
"Boss, you're training so hard. How strong do you want to become, boss?"
Tristan turned and replied, "Until I'm strong enough to do whatever I want, without caring about anyone, even the king."
Thoran was stunned by Tristan's words and said, "Hahaha, that's my boss! It's not in vain that I serve you."
Tristan responded, "I never said I agreed to accept your service uncle."
Thoran seemed on the verge of tears and said, "But boss, I thought you've accepted me."
Tristan replied, "I only said do as you please."
Thoran's face grew sadder, and Tristan added, "If you want to serve me, prove yourself until I acknowledge you uncle."
Thoran became energized and said, "Really, boss? Alright, I'll prove I'm worthy to be your follower."
Tristan answered, "Yeah, yeah, do as you like."
After finishing his training, Tristan said to Thoran, "Get ready, we'll leave in one hour uncle."
"Alright, boss," Thoran replied.
Tristan began preparing for his journey back to the Roussanne estate and checked on Cheryl, who was still asleep. Seeing this, Tristan thought to himself, It seems like she's really exhausted, both mentally and physically. He then continued preparing.
An hour later, Tristan, Rowen, and Thoran set off toward the town of Redwatch. Along the way, many monsters roamed, from the weakest blood rabbits to several orcs. All the monsters were handled by Thoran.
A few hours into their journey, they decided to rest. During the break, Tristan asked, "Are there always this many monsters uncle Thoran?"
Thoran replied, "No, boss. Normally, only blood rabbits are here, but this time, there are far more monsters than usual."
Rowen joined the conversation. "Is that so? I didn't know because around Redwatch, it's usually..."
Suddenly, Tristan signaled for silence. "Shh, do you hear that scream?"
Rowen responded, "Scream? No, I didn't hear anything."
"I didn't hear anything either, boss," Thoran replied.
Tristan then asked, "Where's the nearest village from here uncle Thoran?"
Thoran answered, "There are a few villages around here, but the nearest one might be Sunfield, to the southeast. Why, boss?"
Tristan stood up and said, "Let's go uncles. It seems there's some chaos in Sunfield."
Rowen and Thoran exchanged confused glances, and seeing this, Tristan said, "Fine, you wait here. I'll go there and make sure."
Tristan then ran southeast toward the village of Sunfield.
Rowen and Thoran panicked at being left behind and rushed to follow him.
"Wait, Tristan!"
"Wait, boss!"
After running for several minutes, the faint scream Tristan had heard grew clearer.
"We have to hurry," Tristan said.
Rowen and Thoran responded in unison, "Understood."
A short time later, they arrived at a village that was under attack by a group of monsters.
"It looks like you were right, boss. A village is being attacked," Rowen said.
Tristan immediately gave orders.
"Save the compliments for later, Uncle Thoran. Right now, please help the villagers, save whoever you can. I'll check around for a moment. My intuition tells me something's not right here."
"Understood, boss."
"Alright, Tristan," they both replied.
Rowen and Thoran rushed into the village to help the villagers. Meanwhile, Tristan observed the surroundings of the village.
"I'll use my skill to check the area."
As Tristan examined the area, a user interface screen appeared.
[Life Drain Barrier: The caster will drain the life force of any living creature inside the barrier. The caster can also transfer the life force they've drained to any object they wish.]
"It seems there's someone behind this," Tristan muttered.