321 Despair In Shadows.
Valerian followed the directions given by the man and found himself in front of a small church-like building. The place was like a sore thumb. Valerie asked, “Big brother, this is the place?”
She was also confused because this was the first ti she had ever since such a desolate temple. It was as if the people could not see this building at all. The two stood outside as they watched the crowd walk past the building. Valerian patted Anne to enter the premises.
He observed everything happening around him. The young man got off the horse and helped Valerie down too. He asked Anne if she would be fine in this place, and after the made assured him not to worry, the two entered the building.
Valerian found that the place was dark and gloomy. He raised his brow and cast a few light spells. The blobs of light scattered around the site quickly and illuminated the darkness. The floor was covered with dust, and the corners were covered with cobwebs. Valerie said with a scrunched nose, “This place is dirty.”
The young man nodded and said, “Let’s clean it up.”
Valerie looked everywhere and asked, “How can we clean it all up?”
The young man smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I will do it.”
Looking around, the boy found so abandoned mops and a bucket of water. He removed his habit and then began to clean up the place independently. His speed was fast, and Valerie helped move a few things around. She did not stay as a sideliner but helped Valerian empty the bucket full of dirty water.
It took them the entire afternoon to get rid of the dust and cobwebs. Valerie sat down beside the young man and let out a big sigh before her stomach growled. Valerian asked with a smile, “Hungry.”
.....
Valerie nodded, and the young man took a few vegetables from his magic pouch and cooked them up with spices. The dinner was not much, but this was all they had. The young man said, “I will get more ingredients from the market tomorrow.”
The little girl nodded while her eyes turned heavy. Valerian shook his head and put the girl on the bed. At first, things around this place seed fine, just like any other site. However, the night in such a chaotic place seed odd. Valerian was sitting on the ground as the child slept behind him.
He could hear so people trying to enter the building. However, Valerian was not worried because he had his spells ready. The young man did not react and waited for the people to co closer. Soon, five people appeared in the main hall. They were all rugged and rowdy, carrying machetes and axes.
The young man asked, “What can I do for you all?”
The five n were surprised to see this guy awake and interacting with them. However, after the initial surprise, the people chuckled at each other. One of them asked, “So, for starters, we would like you to hand over all your money and that child behind you. She will sell well for an enslaved person.”
Valerian nodded and then stood up from his place. He cracked his neck and snapped his fingers. The five people were immobilized within a blink, and all reacted shocked. Valerian said, “Now, how about you tell where you co from, and I will give you an easy death?”
The people did not believe that this young monk dared to tie them up and was even threatening them. The n shivered in rage, and one of them, who seed to be the band’s leader, shouted, “How dare you act out against us?! You are just a monk from the order of rcy.”
Valerian took a step forward and covered ten ters in a blink. His sudden speed shocked the rogues, and the young man said, “You need to pipe down there a bit. If my sister woke up, I would kill you.”
The five people all wanted to go and rage against Valerian but realized that reality was out of their wildest expectations. When his cold warning made the people simr down, the young man asked again, “What do you think about my earlier proposition?”
The people put complex expressions on their faces, and the leader said, “I have no idea what to tell you.”
Valerian asked, “How about you tell , where are you all from?”
The five people replied in unison, “Hope Valley settlent.”
This was a surprising answer, but Valerian liked it and asked, “From what I have seen, this kingdom does not have enough buildings, as the place is full of camp tents. Then why is this temple of rcy uninhabited?”
The bandits’ leader replied, “If it is not that man’s fault, why would we be here.”
Valerian raised his eyebrow but did not speak. He waited for the man to go on. The bandits’ leader said, “A few months ago, a man ca to the settlent. Everything was fine. This man joined the temple of rcy and began to help the people around him. He also began spreading this idea of expanding and getting more people to join our settlent through caravans and travelers.”
The statent was sowhat odd. Usually, the followers of rcy had their hands complete with people in one of these settlents, and this guy wanted to expand. What was he thinking? The leader continued, “The word spread, and people ca over and settled here. However, things soon changed. One settlent was not enough to sustain all those people.”
Valerian nodded and said, “Well, that is common sense. The settlents rely on their own farming and other occupations to survive. If other people co over, the overpopulation will gradually create so gap.”
The leader nodded and said, “The stress over the few weeks increased so much that the temple of rcy was left without food to hand out, and the followers were overworked. Then one day, we heard that they had run away. That the followers could not stand this test and gave up.”
Valerian furrowed his brows, and his gaze turned cold. The man shivered and said, “That is not the truth. The followers did not run. They were held captive by this man. He played a facade of being the only person left behind in the temple and acted miserably. Then after a week, when the people have completely given up on the temple of rcy.
This man ran to the gates of the settlent and cried that his fellows had put the order to sha, and they stained the belief of many people. The speech was so well prepared that it rallied the masses against the temple, and this man set fire to the place.”
Valerian looked around and said, “Let guess, this fire was cast by magic, and it all happened when the captured followers were still inside?”
The eyes of the five people widened, and Valerian asked, “How do you know all this?”
The five people dared not lie, and the leader said, “We were responsible for looking after those captives. That man promised us many things, but when it was all said and done. We were threatened with being turned into ashes. This person is a mage, and he is strong.”
Valerian nodded thoughtfully and asked, “What about the others?”
The people were perplexed, and the leader asked, “Who others?”
Valerian cast them a gaze and nodded. They did not know what he was asking about. He said, “Fine, I will let you live, but you are not going anywhere. You will stay here and help gather the information.”
The people were shocked, and Valerian said, “If I handed you to the dragon temple, you will all face sothing worse than death. So, for your sake, you all better tell what I want to know.”
Valerian drove the five people into a corner and left them no option. His tactic was okay. These people were cowards. They bullied the weak, and they feared the strong. Valerian said, “I will give you a chance to think it out. You have till the morning.”
That said, he cast an earth wall spell around the people and while he was closing the people inside he said, “If you think about betraying , the darkness is just a fraction of what I will do to you.”
...
The morning ca quickly and Valerian stood up. He dispelled the earthen walls and found five haggard humans. The impact of solitary confinent was too shocking. They all agreed to serve Valerian. The young man asked, “You must find where this man is residing right now.”
The n nodded and Valerian told them a few things before letting them go. Suddenly, he asked, “What is the na of this man?”
The leader of the bandits said, “He calls himself, Imperium.”
Valerian chuckled and then said, “How suiting. Go now.”
Then he turned around to wake up the little one. Valerian was going to use the free rein given to him by the Commander of the knights.
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