Bab 3: A-Class Monster.
In the forest adjoining the Sinclair village,
"Mona!"
A blonde-haired man called out to the blue-haired girl that was running far ahead of him. They were here on official orders by Duke to find and report on the sightings of the monster responsible for destroying a village.
"Come back here!"
The girl named Mona looked back at him and said,
"I can smell a large amount of contaminated Mana coming from over there."
She pointed towards a clearing.
"If their strong monster in the forest, wouldn't it be smart to stick together?"
She turned around and said,
"Hurry up. We don't have all day."
James hurried towards her position. Her nose usually was on point.
"I'll go ahead."
James held her hand and said,
"Wait. This might be a secret hideout. Let me check for traps first."
James closed his eyes.
<<Sensory pulse>>
A small number of vibrations started to come out from his body. These vibrations were made up of mana and returned to him after scanning the surroundings.
"All clear."
He let go of her hand. Slowly, both of them entered the clearing.
"Do you see that?"
Immediately after entering the hidden space behind the bushes, they found the bones of a huge monster. This was a nest.
James approached the bones and put his hand on it.
"Incredible! This is the skeleton of an A-ranked monster!"
Mona stood there, her mouth agape with shock.
"Really?"
James nodded and said,
"This alone might take care of our expenses for a few months!"
The skeleton was of a cat-like monster. It was larger, and its claws were razor sharp. From the hardness of his bones, there was also a chance that this could be an elemental monster that could make them rich.
"What should we do with it?"
Mona asked her brother.
"Here, come and help me with-"
"Mana..."
A demonic sound. Both of them had goosebumps out of fear.
They looked towards the source of the voice, which was further inside the clearing.
"Did you hear that?"
Mona pointed towards that area and said,
"That is where the contaminated mana is. The smell has never been so pungent."
James frowned.
"Is it the same as a demonic entity?"
Mona nodded in disapproval and said,
"No. This is different."
James looked at the entrance and said,
"We should make a run for it."
Mona agreed, and they both decided to leave the place without making noise.
"Mana..."
While leaving, James turned around.
A White-haired kid with a black mask. On his knees, he was crawling to get out of the clearing, and the demonic voice was coming from him. His limbs were covered with a black aura, and his body had numerous claw marks on it. Only his eyes were visible due to the mask, and they were violet in color.
"Mona, look."
She turned around.
"Who is that?"
The kid said once again,
"Mana..."
And collapsed on the floor. The aura and the mask were gone, and his face was finally visible.
The siblings looked at each other. What should they do now?
They approached the boy slowly.
"Check for his pulse."
James put his finger on his hand and said,
"He is alive."
Mona sniffed around and said,
"The smell is gone too."
James took out a pair of his clothes from his bag.
"You should stop looking."
Noticing his sister's wandering eyes, he openly commented her to be polite.
Blushing, Mona turned around and averted her eyes.
James helped the boy sit up straight to get him dressed up.
"What is this?"
While putting on the clothes, he found a weird mark on the kid's back.
The inscriptions were in an ancient language.
"Mona, help me collect the bones."
He took out a space bag. They might not be able to take all of it with such a small bag, but they needed to collect some evidence so that the adventurers guild would collect it and pay them the money for the information.
Mona cast her magic to weaken the bone.
"Let's take him back to the city."
Mona said to James, who was clearly against the idea.
"Are you insane? Did you not witness what happened?"
James said while trying to make a crack on the bone with his hammer and anvil.
"We can't leave him here."
"We will leave some food, but nothing more. He is harboring a curse, and we can't afford to get involved with that."
Mona was angry.
"I won't come back with you if you don't take him back with us."
An ultimatum.
James was frustrated.
"What do you want from me? Can't you see that the kid is dangerous?"
She stopped helping him and left. His eyes followed her and finally came to rest when he saw that she had taken a seat beside the kid.
He harrumphed and continued to work on the bone. Occasionally sending glances towards his sister, he continued to work on it for an hour before finally making a dent. Without Mona's magic, this task was proving to be extremely difficult.
It was about to get dark. They had to leave the forest before the sunset.
He turned around to his sister and said,
"Fine. We will take him back to the town with us. But you will be the one responsible for him."
Mona stood up and approached the bone once again.
"There, Was that so hard?"
She weakened the bone, and James cracked it after a few hits.
James looked at her and said,
"We should leave now. You will be the one carrying him."
She patted her thin biceps and said,
"No problem."
--------------------------------------
Inside the Malen Cathedral,
The Pope was standing in front of the statue of the divine goddess, Malen.
Praying to her, all he could mutter was words asking for forgiveness.
"I have sinned, goddess."
Kneeling on his knees, he said,
"I beg for your forgiveness."
'Clap, Clap, Clap.'
The noise distracted his concentration. Who was here at this time?
"You have a good soul, respected Pope."
It was Prince Nero. With a rapier by his side and his flashy royal clothes, he looked completely out of place at the residence of their god, the symbol of humility.
"It is quite late, Prince Nero. I would like to have some peace right now."
Nero smiled at this and said,
"I have come here to give you exactly that."
He approached the Pope and took out the slave plate from his pocket.
"Why do you have that?"
"The King gave it to me."
The Pope took the metal plate in his hand and said,
"Why have you brought it here?"
Nero looked straight into his eyes.
"To release you from your sin."
He took out a letter from his pocket.
"The plate belonged to the King."
The letter was addressed from the King himself. The recipient was supposed to be,
"Priest Alfio."
He opened it up and read its contents.
After he was done, he crushed the letter.
"That Heretic!"
The Pope was pissed. This was ridiculous!
"I understand your anger. Even I was angry with how the king implicated you for his wrongdoings."
The Pope said,
"I will never forgive him! With this evidence, I can surely take care of him now!"
Nero calmly said,
"That won't be enough. Trajan has already taken over the Church's work, and if the king wanted to have you silenced, then no one would be able to help you."
The Pope whispered,
"So does that mean..."
Nero sighed and said,
"You are out of options. Unless you work with me."
The Pope looked at Nero with anger and asked,
"What makes you different than your father? You both share the same blood!"
Nero took out his rapier and placed its tip on The Pope's neck.
"That is right. I am his blood. I can take your head back there right now and claim a big reward for it."
The Pope started to sweat.
He placed the rapier back into the scabbard.
"I want to destroy Gaius. With you, or without you. If you want to do the same, join me. Otherwise, live in the shame bestowed upon to you by the King of Malen. You are a good soul, after all."
He extended his hand.
The Pope stared at him for quite some time.
"I am a man of many things, dear Pope. Patience is not one of them."
He forcefully grabbed the Pope's hand, and the Pope didn't resist.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone