Chapter 377: The Silver Emblem

"What exactly are we looking for?"Brother Canser rode at the very rear of the column, his visible exhaustion pressing him almost flat against the horse's back.

After several consecutive days of riding, the horse's hooves and his boot soles were caked with dry mud mixed with grass stubble, and his cloak was covered in a thick layer of dust like mountain mist. Though his belongings had decreased rather than increased, he felt his burden growing heavier by the moment.

Passing through scattered settlements nestled between rock walls and forest seas just to pursue an unclear goal was something even Benny, a traditional knight, found hard to bear, let alone a brother who had undergone no special training.

The physical strain was secondary; the torment on a spiritual level was far more painful.

It was like being forced to read an extremely dull, incomprehensible, and thickness-unknown massive treatise, where every page turned produced a strong sense of disappointment: "How is this not the last page?"

"I'm not sure either,"Kup replied without turning his head, reining in to slow the horse and turning onto the muddy stone road leading into the village.

Similar conversations had been repeated many times, brought up almost at every new settlement.

Brother Canser had intended to complain a bit, but seeing Yvonne ride silently past him, he chose to keep his mouth shut—after all, an adult shouldn't be worse than a girl.

Then again, even Benny considered her a promising recruit for military life: taciturn, physically excellent, sufficiently patient, and good at endurance; if one set aside gender factors, she would likely become a knight no commander could refuse.

Of course, Yvonne did not yet know others'views of her; she was currently yanking back a somewhat uncontrollable bridle, forcing the horse to turn while running.

From a certain perspective, this could be considered a kind of equestrian talent; as long as one could control the mount, whether through strength or skill, it counted.

The black warhorse she had personally chosen submitted to her will, turning sharply into the village and startling a flock of chickens and dogs along the roadside.

Its excessive speed carried it and its rider forward for quite a stretch, overtaking the hastily dodging Kup, before finally coming to a halt right at the church door.

For a novice, this would have been a rather perilous situation, but she clearly did not belong to the category of ordinary novices; after stabilizing, she easily flipped down from the saddle and looked at the church built of irregular stone bricks before her.

They might have arrived at an inconvenient time. The sun was slanting west, the church doors stood wide open, and it was precisely the evening prayer period. Most believers would choose to participate in prayer during the last light of the day, so the priest might not have any free time to receive outsiders.

The four tied up their horses and walked lightly through the main gate. Several rows of roughly made wooden chairs stood empty, and there was no preacher before the altar; instead, hushed conversation came from deeper inside.

Out of politeness, Brother Canser went first and lightly tapped the back of a chair to signal their arrival.

The conversation stopped immediately. Several villagers followed the priest out; the latter nodded to the guests, made a "wait a moment" gesture with his lips, turned around, and instructed:

"No need to worry. You may return, close your doors, rest, and pray as usual. The Lord will surely protect the faithful and prevent them from being misled by the devil."

Having spoken, he touched each of their foreheads with a newly painted wooden holy symbol, then broke off a short candle from before the altar, handed it to a mother holding a child, murmured two lines of prayer for blessings, and saw them out.

The figure in white robes maintained the prayer gesture until the believers had departed and vanished among the gray-stone houses, only then slowly exhaling.

He raised a hand to stop the questions the others had been holding back, closed the main door, and said, "No rush; let's speak inside."

The church was not large, with a compact structure. Leaving the main hall, passing the confession booth that hadn't yet been tidied, further inside lay the scripture reading room doubling as a changing room.

A long table occupied most of the space, and behind a cabinet blocked a narrow staircase leading to the second-floor storage room.

By the time the group hung up their cloaks and sat around the long table, the priest had already served homemade medicinal tea; just the smell was bitterly unbearable.

"May the Lord's peace be with you. Our reception is humble; please forgive us."He sat opposite Brother Canser and took a sip of the tea.

"Please understand; recently people have been in a state of panic, and I have been so busy I am at my wit's end. It is not intentional neglect.

"This year has truly been a season of many troubles. Not long ago, two fellow believers came; one suddenly fell ill, and shortly after, an accident occurred in the village. The silver holy symbol left to me by the teacher also happened to be damaged."

"It is not easy to remain here for so long; the Lord knows in His heart and will surely provide care,"Brother Canser offered a comforting remark.

Such a small church was already difficult to maintain; encountering an accident on top of that could easily ruin two or three generations of accumulated prestige, so the priest's pressure could not be small.

"Sigh, perhaps the Heavenly Father is testing me?"He grabbed at the few remaining hairs on his head, feeling deeply that his future was bleak. "Anyway, what important matter brings you all here?"

"Oh, nothing of the sort,"Kup took over the conversation, obscuring their purpose according to their prepared script. "In fact, we just came from the monastery. The abbot wished to understand the current state of the parish. Unexpectedly, the brothers who came before met with an accident, so it fell to us."

"We are not here to disrupt your affairs; we only wish to look through some old records, ask about recent conditions, and write a report to send back.

"Regarding the accident mentioned just now, could you explain it in detail? If conditions allow, the monastery would also like to offer some assistance."

The priest said wistfully, "Thank the abbot on my behalf, but I fear outsiders cannot help with this matter."

"Oh, it just so happens that Knight Benny is here; it seems you have found the right person. He has probably already told you about the madness.

"Just last week, the eldest son of the basket-weaver in the east of the village fell ill, followed by the blacksmith. In previous years, such an illness occurred less than once, yet now it comes one after another. Now, neither farming tools nor my holy symbol can be repaired.

"Fortunately, we had precautions; both were restrained. But now no household dares to go out alone. I cannot say for certain whether there will be a next one. If this continues, the entire harvest season will know no peace."

Before the priest could finish, Benny spoke up excitedly, "You don't know this, Your Eminence the Abbot is deeply favored by the Saints. I personally witnessed him perform a miracle to cure madness—without medicine, for mild cases one only needs to touch the head; for severe cases, one opens the skull and removes the madness stone..."

"Knight Benny, calm down, calm down,"Kup quickly interrupted him. "Miracles do not come without cost, and they must be performed according to the condition of the illness. If possible, perhaps you could first take us to see the patients."

Light flickered in the priest's eyes, then quickly extinguished. "Good, good news. If only it had been a few days earlier."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Both patients passed away very quickly after falling ill. I performed their final prayers. Their last symptoms were very similar to those of Brother Dominic: violent vomiting, loss of consciousness, but within a few days they were summoned by the Lord."The priest lowered his head, rubbing the painted surface of the holy symbol, seemingly reflecting on the Supreme Will's arrangement of fate.

"Perhaps that brother was indeed blessed, enduring so long before being saved."

"You mean that within this short period, in such a small village, including Brother Dominic, there have been three cases in total, with the latter two being particularly severe?"Kup's expression changed, realizing something was wrong.

【Concentrated outbreak?】

"Please recall quickly: do these three people have anything in common, or is there anything they all came into contact with?"

A monk, a basket-weaver's son, and the village blacksmith; there was no similarity in identity, nor any connection in daily activities.

"It makes no sense. They might not have even met. Brother Dominic stayed for only one day; Dave's son twisted his ankle and stayed home resting; I even went to apply the medicine. The blacksmith hardly ever leaves his furnace, so how..."

His self-talk abruptly stopped as the priest noticed Kup and Yvonne staring at him. He angrily demanded, "Do you suspect me?"

Nothing was more hurtful than such suspicion: accusing a cleric of abandoning faith and harming colleagues and believers.

Canser quickly stepped forward to smooth things over: "No, no, no. There must be some misunderstanding. Kup, you don't mean that, do you?"

"We have known each other for a long time; the priest could never be involved,"Benny also spoke up in his defense.

"Of course, we do not suspect you."Kup's gaze traveled down the neck, stopping at the other's chest. "But please recall: is there anything special on your person that happened to come into close contact with all three?"

?? Some... writer's block (′? ∧? ｀)