"God bless the believers!"
As dusk fell, the evening glow blazed like fire, painting half of the sky in a riot of colors. A young friar stood in front of a slightly dilapidated house. He softly uttered this benediction to the middle - aged couple at the door, his voice carrying the unique gentleness and piety of a clergy. His figure was tall and straight, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, it cast a long, slender silhouette. Then he turned around and walked away steadily, his steps measured.
"God bless the believers!" The middle - aged couple hurriedly responded, their voices filled with deep respect. They watched the friar's departing figure until it disappeared around the street corner. Only then did they slowly close the door and turn to enter the house. The interior of the house was a bit dim, furnished with a few simple pieces of furniture. Although old, everything was neatly arranged. They handed the holy bread in their hands to their nephew, Walter, and their daughter, Yara, with simple and sincere smiles on their faces. "There's salted meat today. I'll make you a delicious meal," they said.
"Wow, that's great, Aunt Alice!" Walter's face lit up with a brilliant smile that was so infectious that it instantly lightened the somewhat dull atmosphere. Alice and Aris looked at Walter's smile and couldn't help but smile too, their eyes full of affection for this nephew.
However, the moment Walter's eyes landed on the holy bread in his hand, his smile froze. A flash of barely perceptible fear and pain flickered in his eyes. He took a deep breath, as if making a great determination, and slowly put the holy bread into his mouth. The instant it touched his tongue, a searing pain, like that of a raging fire, spread from the tip of his tongue throughout his body. His brows knitted tightly, and his hands instinctively clenched into fists, the knuckles turning white from the force. But he endured it, swallowing the remaining holy bread bite by painful bite.
"I have to leave the Diwei Holy Kingdom as soon as possible," Walter repeated silently in his heart. As he chewed the holy bread, he sorted out his situation in his mind. This seemingly ordinary holy bread was baked by the friars of the Holy Church with blessed holy water and wheat flour, containing a faint holy power that could dispel evil. But for Walter, it was a painful ordeal because he was the "evil" being repelled by this holy power - a werewolf.
Walter wasn't born with this name. His original name had nothing to do with this world; he came from an ordinary world. Thirteen years ago, he was just an ordinary office worker struggling for a living in that world. On his way home from work one day, he accidentally bumped into a mysterious black hole that appeared out of thin air. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in this fantastical yet perilous world and was reborn as a werewolf.
In this world, creatures looked similar to humans but were regarded as due to certain special characteristics, and werewolves were one of them. Most werewolves lost control on the full - moon night, growing fangs and sharp claws, their bodies becoming tall and strong, like giant standing wolves, and losing their sanity, plunging into a frenzy of killing. But Walter was one of the lucky few. He could control his transformation and restrain his killing desire after transformation, maintaining a certain degree of rationality. This was related to the distinction between innate and acquired werewolves. Innate werewolves were born to werewolf couples and were called pure - blood werewolves; acquired werewolves could be transformed through infection, curses, or magic. Walter's biological father was a werewolf, so he was a half - pure - blood werewolf. This was also the reason why he could hide in the border city of Roya in the Diwei Holy Kingdom. As long as he didn't reveal his werewolf form, he was no different from an ordinary person.
The Diwei Holy Kingdom was a country ruled by the Church, and the Church's friars were everywhere. Due to various historical and practical reasons, all the churches regarded the Heterospecifics as mortal enemies and formed special hunting teams. Once a Heterospecifics was caught by the Church, only cruel punishments awaited them: being burned alive by fire, hanged by a rope, or imprisoned until death. There was almost no chance of survival. Therefore, Walter was determined to cross the Shates Wall and head to the Greenland Kingdom on the other side.
Currently, Walter was staying at the Arthur's house, claiming to be the nephew of the male owner, Aris Arthur, but in fact, he had no blood relation with this family. The real Walter had long been killed by bandits. He was a simple - hearted and innocent teenager with no sense of caution. He came to Roya to seek refuge with his uncle after his parents passed away. When Walter first met the real Walter, he easily got all his information through a few conversations. And the next time they met, the young man had already become a cold corpse under the bandits' knives. After witnessing this scene, Walter realized that he needed a legal identity. So he secretly avenged the real Walter, eliminating all those who knew about it. Then he came to Shates City openly in the identity of Walter.
"Brother Walter!" A clear voice interrupted Walter's thoughts. He turned his head and saw a seven - or eight - year - old girl bouncing towards him like a lively fawn. She immediately hugged his leg, tilted her little head back, and with big, watery eyes full of anticipation, asked, "Have you finished your holy bread?"
This was Yara Arthur, Aris's daughter and Walter's nominal sister. After half a month of getting along, the innocent and lovely Yara had become very dependent on and trusting of Walter.
"I've already finished it. Next time, I'll definitely save some for Yara, okay?" Walter smiled and ruffled Yara's hair, deliberately messing it up, and then patiently helped her re - braid it. In fact, he loathed this tasteless holy bread that brought him pain, but to avoid revealing himself, he could only pretend to like it.
Watching Yara happily run to her mother's side to show off her new braid, Walter turned and went up to the second floor. He stood by the window, looking at the dusk scenery of the border city. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled on the ancient city wall. It should have been a beautiful scene, but Walter had no mood to appreciate it.
"I have to speed things up..." he muttered to himself, his tone full of anxiety and determination.
Early the next morning, before the sky was fully bright, Walter went out with a basket full of pickled - vegetable cakes. He walked along the familiar streets, greeting the neighbors warmly. The neighbors also smiled and responded, calling his name affectionately. Half a month ago, he came here as the nephew of the Arthur family. At that time, his face was swollen from being stung by venomous wasps. Now that the swelling had subsided, everyone found that this young man was very handsome.
While selling the pickled - vegetable cakes, Walter discreetly collected all kinds of information. He knew that he didn't look like the real Walter. Although Aris hadn't seen his nephew for many years, he must have had some impression. So he deliberately swollen his face. As the swelling gradually subsided over the past half - month, Aris gradually got used to his appearance and had never suspected anything. It seemed that his disguise had been very successful.
As he hawked along the street, Walter also secretly observed a mansion in the distance. That was his target. The Diwei Holy Kingdom and the Greenland Kingdom were in a hostile state, and the border was blocked. To cross the Roya border - wall defense line, he had to rely on the power of the nobility. Most of the nobles in the border city were involved in smuggling, but it was almost impossible for a commoner to participate. The servants of the nobility were mostly passed down from generation to generation. After generations of loyal service, they won the trust of the nobility. It was very difficult for an outsider to gain their recognition.
However, there was a rare opportunity now. Walter recalled the information he had learned from the bandits: "The bandits' backer is Baron Kurtis." He silently memorized the terrain of the baron's mansion, hawked for a while longer, and then turned and left. He knew that he still had a lot of preparations to make. After all, both the nobles and the Church in the city had the ability to deal with him, an underage werewolf.
When he returned to the Arthur's house, Aris and Alice hadn't come back yet. The Arthur family wasn't well - off, just barely making ends meet. Since Walter came, the family's burden had become even heavier.
"It's time for a change," Walter thought as he rubbed the head of Yara, who came running over. He had been very cautious before, speaking little and doing much to avoid revealing his identity. Now that he had gradually integrated into this family, it was time to find a way to improve the Arthur family's economic situation without exposing himself. At least, he couldn't let this family become an obstacle to his departure.
"Taking out knowledge from another world directly is too risky. The two worlds are so different that some knowledge is simply useless here. Even if it's useful, if it's too advanced, I might be regarded as being possessed by the devil and sent to the stake; or because I touch on some people's interests, I might be framed as a thief who stole the nobles' secrets," Walter pondered.
His eyes slowly scanned the room and finally landed on a book. On the cover of the book was a beautifully painted religious - themed painting.
"Perhaps, I can try to become a painter," a glimmer of hope flashed in Walter's eyes. In this world, becoming a painter, especially one engaged in religious painting, was a good way out. And he happened to have some knowledge of painting. This might be an opportunity to change the current situation.