Allan had just finished reading the letter, and an overwhelming silence took over the main hall.
The group members looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
"What is this?" Lancelot asked, since he had stayed in the hall to keep watch and didn't know where the letter had come from.
"We found a body inside the library, and along with it, there was this letter that Allan just read," Steph explained to the man what was happening.
"So, what do you think it means?" Now that the last man knew what the letter was about, Brenda asked everyone what they thought the letter meant.
"It seems like the Goddess granted some kind of blessing to this city, but for some reason, it got out of control and some kind of disaster happened," Jarvin, a man nearly the same height as Steph, shared his opinion on the letter.
"Now we know that this place is truly cursed. More than that, we even know which Goddess cast the plague." Richard, the first to be chosen, took a small book from a backpack he was carrying.
After reading a few things in the book, he told the group:
"The main plagues that Goddess Bandarah has ever unleashed on humanity were the carrion eaters and the piles of flesh. The good thing is that practically all the blood plagues can't withstand most lights on their skin."
Cursed ones are nothing more than Blessed individuals who brought the wrath of the Gods upon themselves, causing the Gods themselves to cast a plague on them.
"The fact that we haven't seen any cursed ones so far is probably because of the sunlight. Once the moon rises, they'll appear," Steph whispered, noticeably more nervous than before.
Before finding the letter, the entire story of the cursed ones in the citadel of Corvus was just a supposition, but now they had proof of that supposition.
"Unlike the plagues of the God of Death, Bandarah's curses can coexist with each other. It's probably the lower floors, where the light doesn't reach, that are filled with cursed ones!" Richard provided more details about the blood curses, but instead of feeling relieved by learning more about the enemy, the rest of the group looked at each other, scared.
'We really entered a place full of curses.' Allan, surprisingly, was the calmest, along with Steph. 'They were probably clinging to the hope that there was nothing here.'
He sighed, realizing how foolish that thought had been.
"We still have at least 10 more hours of sunlight." Allan took the watch from his pocket and made a small estimate. "As long as we don't go down to the lower floors, we'll be safe."
"Allan is right, we don't need to worry right now. I want everyone to pair up and search the mansion for anything that might help us identify the curse we're dealing with! Also, be cautious with any very dark rooms, you can call for help on the radio if necessary." Steph gave the orders, and the group quickly moved out, all except Allan and Brenda.
Brenda was frozen in place, moving her mouth a few times as if trying to say something but unable to.
"Hey, Steph," Allan noticed what Brenda was trying to do, and he sighed as he walked over to the leader.
"Hm?" Steph was with Lancelot, and they decided to search the first floor together. Because of this, when Allan called him, he was already a few steps up the staircase, making the giant appear even larger.
"I think it's better to send someone to the Blessing Hall too. Since it's about the Gods, maybe someone from the clergy has made some notes," Allan knew the only reason Brenda wanted to join the expedition was to visit a Blessing Hall, but if they stayed in the mansion looking for clues, she would probably miss her chance.
That's why she was acting so strange.
"Hm, makes sense. You can go, but meet us here after 1 or 2 hours. That should be enough for you to search the place." Steph paused for a few seconds before agreeing.
"Unless you're really going there to search for something..." Lancelot gave a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.
Allan looked back to see Brenda's reaction, but it seemed like she hadn't heard.
"Just go do your search, you old men," Allan, unsure of how to respond, quickly turned around and walked toward Brenda.
"Hahahahaha. It's good to be young."
He could hear the laughter of the two men fading as they distanced themselves.
"What were they laughing at?" Brenda asked, raising one eyebrow.
"It's nothing, let's just go do our search," he refused to tell her the truth, even though he wanted to know how she would react. 'For now, I'll focus on the expedition!'
"Ah.. okay," Brenda seemed visibly discouraged, but her discouragement quickly turned into doubt when she saw Allan walking toward the door.
"Where are you going?" She asked, confused.
"Hm? We're going to the Blessing Hall. Since it's a divine matter, maybe the clergy has some information the mayor didn't have," Allan gave a small smile, but since he was facing away from Brenda, she couldn't see it.
"What!? You're the best!" She quickly ran over and patted him on the back.
"I know, I know. Let's go, we only have 2 hours at most to search the place. The hall is also in the eastern zone, so it's probably nearby."
15 minutes later,
The two found the location. It's worth noting that it wasn't easy to find the Blessing Hall, as the building was extremely simple with no significant decorations that set it apart.
"Hey, what's that?" Brenda pointed to a large tree with red leaves that stood right in front of the hall.
Brenda asked Allan because she thought it was something common in front of all halls, as she no longer remembered what one looked like.
Then, upon hearing Allan's answer, she became even more excited.
"I have no idea," Allan also had no idea what that tree was.
'Incredible! What's this strange feeling I'm having with this tree!?'' Brenda was living a dream by being there, so she was practically in awe of everything.
Even the simple facade of the hall made her excited.
'I can only imagine how she'll react when she sees the inside.' Even for him, who had been in a hall two years ago, Allan still remembered what it felt like to walk through those doors. 'Before entering a hall for the first time, I had my doubts about the veracity of magic and rituals... but after that simple step, everything changed.'
'And to think that today I was supposed to become the "son" of one of them...' A melancholic look quickly covered Allan's face again, but he quickly hid it.
'Just stop it! Nothing will change things!' He tried to push the bad thoughts out of his head before they worsened his mood.
'I can't ruin this for her.' He thought as he approached the tree.
Brenda was standing in front of a tree trunk that was nearly 10 meters tall. The tree was fairly ordinary except for the fact that the leaves were entirely red.
Allan stopped and noticed a sign a few meters away from the tree.
"Hm? What are these names?" Allan crouched and looked carefully at the names there.
'Phelip'
'Enric'
'William'
They were common names, but the strange thing was that none of them had the last name 'Corvus.'
'Were all of them abandoned!?' In the current era, humans used the name of the citadel they came from as their surname. Since the abandoned were a type of stain on the citadels, they prohibited abandoned people from using their surnames.
'It's kind of ironic. At the same time you're abandoned by the Gods, you're also abandoned by the place you were born on the very same day.' Allan studied the sign a bit more, but couldn't understand why it was there. After a while, he walked over to Brenda.
"So, what do you think this is? Some kind of mutant tree?" Allan asked in a lighthearted tone, but Brenda didn't respond.
He turned to look at her, but when Allan saw her face, he was shocked.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He yelled loudly, not even caring that the creatures on the lower floors might know they were there.
Brenda had puffed cheeks, and red liquid was running from the corner of her mouth. Allan quickly grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing her to look directly at him.
GULP
"What!?" She asked, a bit irritated, as the fruit from that tree was really delicious!
"Are you crazy!? The first rule we learned in the ruins is don't eat anything!" Allan had already figured out what had happened but couldn't understand how Brenda could do something so stupid.
"Hm?" When she heard what Allan said, Brenda's eyes opened in horror, as if she had just realized what she had done.
"I... I... I don't know why I ate it..." She stammered, scared.
"Shit!" Allan quickly grabbed one of the fruits to examine it better. The fruit was almost perfectly round and had a blood-red color with small purple protrusions.
'What the hell is this!?' Allan had never seen a fruit like that before, and he quickly put it in one of his coat pockets before grabbing Brenda by the arm.
"Enough, let's go back to the group! We need to get out of here!"
Brenda didn't even try to argue, knowing she might be poisoned, and they needed to return to the caravan as soon as possible since that's where they had the necessary tools to try to do something about the poison.
'Come to me, my child'
As the two were almost outside the Blessing Hall grounds, Julius heard something.
He looked back quickly, thinking one of the cursed ones was attacking them.
But when he turned around, the only thing he saw was Brenda's frightened face and the hall.
"W-what?" She asked, confused, wondering why Allan had suddenly turned around.
"Did you not hear that?" This time, it was Allan who was confused since the voice was quite audible. 'If I heard it, she should have too.'
'Do not fear'
Allan heard the voice again, and this time he listened more carefully. It was a deep, grave, and... ancient male voice?
He didn't know exactly why, but he felt that the speaker behind the voice was someone very ancient.
'I am not here to do you any harm'
Without even realizing it, Allan was walking toward the hall.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" This time, it was Brenda who was worried about her friend.
She tried to hold him in place but couldn't. She was being dragged along with him into the hall.
"Allan, what are you doing!?"
'Come... claim what has always belonged to you'
Only hearing the voice and not noticing anything around him, Allan opened the door to the hall with one hand, since he was using the other to hold Brenda's arm.
'Why am I holding her arm!?' His mind was so confused, Allan couldn't understand what was happening to him.
Without even noticing, he kept walking step by step until he reached something resembling a puddle.
A well full of water was open in the middle of the hall. The water in the well was crystal clear, but some glimmers would occasionally rise from it, showing that it wasn't normal water.
"Allan!? What are you doing, damn it! Wake up!!!" Brenda tried to shake Allan by the shoulders, but it was no use.
It was at that moment that he let go of Brenda's arm and jumped into the well.
SPLASH