Chapter 48
After the battle, the Clerics versed in life-attribute magic moved among the wounded, casting healing spells.
The campfires were relit.
Elise, however, had no energy left to manage any of it.
Knowing her condition, the Church knights and Clerics tightened security and ordered the other three teams to stay within sight.
Chalmers and Harkian, both staunch supporters of the Church, naturally helped keep a close watch on Ember Shield and Rosefire.
More than forty people gathered in the original Church camp, resting around the fire.
In the firelight, every mercenary nursed private thoughts.
The Rosefire members considered themselves pure helpers. Their team had even brought in Lofnar, a Prime Second-tier dwarf, and Lofnar had genuinely contributed.
They felt confident.
Next would come the division of spoils.
Ember Shield Mercenary Company, on the other hand, was in trouble.
Mona leading Anarias here had plainly been an accident.
But High Cleric Elise's spirit had been damaged, and four members of the company had been killed or wounded by Anarias. However one weighed it, their prospects looked uncertain.
The night passed.
"Mew..."
Tymis, who had lent a small hand the night before, woke Elise as usual.
Chirp, chirp.
Early birds sang in the forest.
"Mm..."
Elise's eyes opened slowly. A stab of pain lanced through her skull, and she groaned.
"Mew..."
Sensing its contractor's state, Tymis landed on her and pressed its jellylike body to her cheek.
"Tymis, when exactly are you advancing to Second-tier?" Elise reached up and rubbed the little creature's long ears.
If Tymis had already been Second-tier last night, she could have...
Made Tymis absorb the damage.
Tymis was an energy lifeform, after all. Paying to repair its injuries would be far simpler than treating a human.
Sensing Elise's "wicked thought," Tymis promptly took offense.
It sneezed and raked its little paw across her collarbone in protest.
"Hehe. You dare complain?" Elise's mood was actually rather good. "I might be getting soul crystals later."
The field training had served its purpose.
She'd had two goals for this trip beyond the camp.
First: grind spell experience and lay the groundwork for her next stage of progress.
Second: complete Church missions, bank Merits, and trade them for the progression resources she wanted.
The hellspawn purification mission was off the table now—but the Death Sovereign Anarias was certainly a wealthy man.
A figure of his stature had lost this lich body soon after reviving. The progression resources he'd stockpiled for himself now belonged to Elise.
And Mona had said last night that Anarias had fully succumbed to dark rituals. If that held up, the Church's Merit reward would be anything but small.
In short: she had made a killing.
Buoyed by thoughts of the spoils, Elise rose and left the tent.
"Elise."
"High Cleric Elise."
"Good morning, High Cleric Elise."
Outside, everything looked peaceful.
Except that the Church and noble teams had loosely encircled the two mercenary companies.
Waiting by her tent were Knight Harkian and Lina, who had worried over her all night without sleeping.
"Good morning, everyone. May the God of Light bless us."
Then Elise gave her order. "Knight Harkian, please invite Chalmers over."
"As you wish."
Harkian saluted and headed for the outer perimeter.
Before long, Chalmers arrived outside her tent in full plate.
"Beautiful armor," Elise teased.
"But impractical." Chalmers shook his head with a rueful smile. "You needed protecting, so I had no choice but to wear the whole suit."
"It seems Grand Knight Chalmers brings bad news."
Elise sobered.
Chalmers nodded and stepped closer to explain.
As it turned out, Mona had confessed everything during the night.
By her account, she and Adair had taken a keen interest in the Church's public commission and had dug up information of their own. Once in the forest, they had planned to use that information to fight a life-and-death battle at Elise's side.
It sounded noble.
In reality, it was a scheme.
Chalmers, raised on a noble's education, didn't believe half a sentence out of Mona or Adair.
But the rest of what Mona offered had silenced him.
While investigating Anarias, she had discovered the Death Sovereign conducting blood sacrifices.
She had also pinned down his approximate location—because a mercenary company in Crimsonwood had been trading with him.
"Blood sacrifices? Which god would the Death Sovereign sacrifice to?"
Elise frowned.
Then a possibility surfaced.
She looked at Chalmers, and identical bitter smiles crossed both their faces.
For someone like the Death Sovereign, the recipient of the sacrifice might well be his own former Sacred-tier self.
The ritual was likely meant to accelerate his recovery.
As for a Crimsonwood mercenary company quietly trading with Anarias...
That was no surprise.
Mercenary companies followed coin. If Anarias paid for "offerings," someone would sell.
But the Church of Light would never tolerate Awakened doing such a thing—especially now that Anarias's complete corruption was confirmed. Any mercenary company in league with him had to be crushed.
At the thought, Elise said quickly, "We need to find Anarias's residence, fast. Have you notified the Church?"
"I released the prepared message bird last night. The Church will take the necessary measures," Chalmers said.
He had handled everything cleanly.
Elise relaxed at once.
Archbishop Norias was stationed in Crimsonwood. No petty schemer would profit under his watch.
Now all that remained was to collect the spoils, return to camp, exchange her Merits for resources, and pour those resources into training.
Afterward, Elise led all four teams to the area Mona had flagged as Anarias's likely temporary residence.
The veteran mercenaries searched for a while. In the end, Mona used one of Anarias's bones to pinpoint the exact spot.
An ordinary-looking tree.
Climbing up and examining it carefully, they found the trunk was hollow—yet the tree retained its vitality and went on growing.
Following the hollow down to ground level, then applying the spirituality from Anarias's remains, they opened the alchemical mechanism with ease.
Once the tree was felled and hauled aside, Elise regarded the stone slab set into the earth—just wide enough for one person—and shot Chalmers a look.
Having already built a battlefield rapport with Elise, Chalmers smiled faintly, then turned a stern gaze on Mona of Ember Shield Mercenary Company.
"I'm willing to enter the underground chamber and investigate," Mona said the moment she read the viscount heir's expression. "I'll carry no spatial item."
Chalmers nodded, deeply satisfied.
"Thank you for your contribution. House Fris will remember it."
What do I want with House Fris's friendship?
I want Elise to remember this.
Mona rolled her eyes inwardly.
Still, she doubted the underground chamber held much danger.
Anarias's reputation in Aurelia ran long.
As a former Sacred-tier powerhouse, he was famously "generous" toward adventurers who managed to kill one of his lich bodies.
Because he was proud.
Proud enough to state the rule in deeds:
If you can kill me, the spoils this lich body carries are yours.
It was confidence.
It was also bait—a lure to draw Awakened into hunting him, and dying for it.
So when Mona descended into the chamber, she found none of the usual magic-array traps.
Instead, the moment she stepped off the stairs, the transcendent materials arrayed in the wall cabinets came into view.
"Light above! We're going to be rich!"
Her ecstatic shout rose from below, and everyone topside instantly perked up.
Elise's heart tightened with anticipation.
These were the spoils she'd bought at the price of the Death Sovereign's mark.
If they weren't enough to fund her advancement to Senior High Cleric, then the Death Sovereign's famous name would prove a genuine disappointment.