The man squatted down after speaking and hoisted the scarred Ireya onto his back, "Please bear with it for a while, as soon as we leave this place, I will imdiately find soone to treat you."
"You... you are one of Herodotus’s n, why... why save ?" Ireya muttered.
"Because the great Pisya would never abandon her followers," the man said.
"That’s nonsense, she just abandoned us, right there in that valley..." Ireya shook his head, "We’ve all been abandoned."
"Every trial is but a path leading us to the road we must follow."
"Stop wasting your effort, what ’inescapable path’? You won’t even make it out of this dungeon with in tow."
"Is that so, then let us wait and see, Lord Ireya."
After he finished speaking, the man carried Ireya and headed outside. They hadn’t walked far when they encountered two prison guards.
Ireya wanted to open his mouth to mock the Blood Moon Association follower who had popped up out of nowhere.
But then he saw the two prison guards act as if they were suddenly blind, completely overlooking them as they passed by.
They continued to chat about a plump prostitute they had encountered half a year ago.
"How did you do it?" Ireya asked in surprise, "Are we invisible?"
"People are accustod to turning a blind eye to the answers right before them," the man replied.
Ireya snorted coldly, "I don’t understand, can’t you guys speak clearly?"
"They are our people," the man then explained, "like us, they are awaiting the rise of the Blood Moon."
"Hah... I thought most of your people had been killed. So why save ? I’ve captured and executed several priests of the Blood Moon Association."
Upon hearing this, the man fell silent for a mont, "Violence cannot eradicate faith; it only serves to foster the growth of belief. We have many comrades, more than you may imagine, and as for you... Lord Ireya."
"You have indeed done so bad things, but Priest Herodotus also believes that every person deserves a chance to make ands, and besides, fate has led you to us."
"Have you always been so confident?"
Upon Ireya’s words, the man suddenly stopped walking, and at that mont, they were almost out of the dungeon.
"Err, you don’t have to be so practical, do you? Just when you hear I don’t plan to join you, you’re going to toss back in here?" Ireya said.
"No, I stopped only because there are patrol guards outside; we need to wait a bit for our shift of guards to take over," the man explained. After pausing, he continued, "You will join us."
"I’ll have to think about that..."
Ireya planned to stabilize the Blood Moon Association follower for now, as he really didn’t want to stay in this dungeon any longer.
However, he heard the man say, "You are already at an impasse, what is there to consider? Who else would kindly take you in besides us?"
Ireya’s heart tightened, "What do you all know?"
Logically, the murder of Marquis Kuren shouldn’t have spread beyond that valley yet.
The man smiled, "We know everything the goddess wants us to know. Co, I’ll take you to a place where people like you and High Priest Herodotus, who are unwelco, gather."
"That place doesn’t sound very appealing, like a den of filthy rats."
"Rats? Perhaps, but we will not always be rats. Lord Ilkand, haven’t you realized? The peace of old has ended, and a calamity is imminent.
"It’s not just the West, but the entire Continent that will fall into chaos. It’s the wrath of the goddess, but also her rcy.
"When the ti cos, the old rules will be broken, and we will have the opportunity to reshape new ones. Do you plan to join in seizing this opportunity, or do you intend to continue being a rat that never sees the light of day?"
Ilkand was sowhat moved as well.
Even if he had perfectly good reasons, killing Marquis Kuren was still a murder, an unchangeable fact.
From now on, he is destined to carry the stigma of being a King Slayer, despised and loathed by all, and of the original three who knew, only he remains now.
To avoid suspicion, even his most trusted subordinates believe he genuinely defected to the dwarves.
Ilkand now had no defense; from the mont he accepted Kuren’s request, his life was completely ruined.
He could never turn things around... unless he could indeed beco a maker of the new rules, as the man suggested, and perhaps then he might find a way to lift the curse.
Yet even at this juncture, Ilkand did not forget his duty.
"I can go with you to see Herodotus and can join you, but before that, I need to report the dwarves’ plot to the reinforcents that have co to assist."
"That won’t be necessary," the man shook his head, "The reinforcents entered the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range eight days ago. It’s too late to find them now."
"What?" Ilkand was stunned.
He hadn’t anticipated that after so many sacrifices, including the life of Marquis Kuren, he still couldn’t prevent this tragedy from happening.
After a while, he asked again, "Who commands the reinforcents, and how many are there?"
"According to the information we’ve got, the commander of the reinforcents is the champion of the Empire’s combat tournant this ti, the Western Dragon Slayer Hero, the Family Head of the Arias family, Sir Irelia. Eager to get to the mountains early to save people, she set off with only five thousand n," the man replied.
Ilkand’s expression soured, "Only five thousand?"
"Don’t worry about them. Chaos is also our opportunity," the man said, "Moreover, the Dragon Slayer Knight may not necessarily lose this battle."
"How could they possibly win?" Ilkand was not optimistic about the reinforcents’ chances, "The dwarves opposite them have an army of twenty to thirty thousand strong, plus the barbarians in the mountains to help them. What does Sir Irelia have?"
"She has the Prophet rlin of the Double Rest Sect."
Ilkand was surprised again, "I thought you and the Double Rest Sect were enemies."
"We certainly are enemies, but that doesn’t keep from sincerely praising them. High Priest Herodotus often says, only by recognizing our shortcomings can we hope to improve, and our enemies are our best teachers."
The man sighed, "High Priest Herodotus has suffered quite a few losses at the hands of Prophet rlin, and the biggest lesson he learned is to never consider Prophet rlin and his Double Rest Sect in conventional terms.
"It’s very possible that a terrifying power capable of twisting this world is hidden within that prophet."
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