In Tablis's description, Kormit is finally able to understand what he means by "security". Leaving aside the blessings of the gods, Gabriel's people used a naturally formed cave on a cliff near the lake as a cemetery. Not only can the place be reached by boat, but once you reach the shore, you have to summon the grave keeper to lower the rope ladder to go up. When necessary, such as when the barbarians are attacking and they are powerless to resist, it is also a hiding place for the villagers.

The cave, which protected both life and death, had rightfully become a sacred place in people's hearts, and even the exact location was a secret to outsiders, so it was completely reasonable to refuse Haryat's approach.

But Khaliat's request was not unfounded—the bloodstains they found outside the village, trailing towards the lake, failed to find the body in the near-shore water, and the boat of a nearby family disappeared that night, and it is easy to imagine that someone had brought the body on board and hid it on the other side of the lake.

"However, you can't be sure who died, and who secretly hid the body, do you?" the old village chief asked faintly.

Khaliat's face immediately changed.

He stood up, glanced at Kormit, and before he could speak, he sat down again, holding back his anger, but his tone could no longer remain calm.

"Are you accusing our priest of being a murderer?!" he cried, "after all he has done for you?!"

"We are so grateful to the young pastor for curing little Kirk's hernia. "But it is also an undeniable fact that Maggie disappeared with him." ”

Kurmit let out a sigh. Feeling more and more headaches.

"Who is Maggie?" he asked.

"Kirk's sister. "She was a pretty girl, and the young priest was evidently fond of her." We don't have a problem with that......"

"Come on. Khaliat couldn't help but interrupt him. "There are a lot of people who have opinions!"

"Khariat!" the priest rebuked, but his face darkened unconsciously—he thought he was dealing with a dangerous enemy, and he turned out to be ...... Is this actually a peachy dispute?!He should have been vigilant when Andy said "I don't know", at least not so unprepared......

"Cruise's house is right at the entrance of the village, and maybe Moji's parents and brothers can give you more answers. The old man bowed humbly to Kormit.

"If her brother were still at home. Khaliat said coldly.

Kormit clenched his fists, and with great difficulty he pressed the urge to pick up the hammer and hit the unenlightened head.

As he walked out of the Tablis house, the priest finally broke out.

"What's in your head?!" he whispered, "even the charcoal that's left over from my furnace is much more useful than that! we need more believers...... Or at least more friends. And you're busy lighting fires everywhere and creating more enemies for us?!"

The tall and strong warrior involuntarily flinched, but when he spoke, he was still indignant.

"They're just jealous!" he said. "They don't want the prettiest girl in the village to be Enoch's wife, but isn't that an honor for them......?

"Don't use your own thoughts to decide what others should think!" Comit interrupted him angrily, "Tell me what the hell is going on!-remember, I don't need your judgment, just the facts!"

Khaliat was silent for a moment. Muscles in the face are tight. He finally swallowed his anger and told the pastor everything that had happened in the past few days.

They had come to Gabriel seven days earlier. The long manhunt was exhausting for everyone, and as they passed by the small village by the lake, they naturally stayed and rested. One of his companions, originally from Gabriel, had been given an extremely warm welcome by his family and the few people in the village who believed in Nesses, and the others, at least for the first few days, had been very friendly. Enoch has not forgotten his duty as a priest. He healed several of the sick in the village, though the most serious of them was a hernia of little Kirk Bruce, who was less than two years old, and he enthusiastically preached and preached to the people, though most of them merely listened.

To show gratitude. The Bruce family invited Enoch to live in their home, and no one expected that trouble would follow so quickly.

The initial dispute arose between Lacey Kerby and Fletcher Bruce. The reason is that Lacey, who is a follower of Nesses, overhears Fletcher "denigrating the esteemed priest" - Fletcher complains to another young man in the village that Enoch is thinking of his sister Mogie and behaving more and more excessively, and Moji is annoyed because he doesn't know how to refuse it.

It was intolerable to Lacey - how could Enoch have anything inappropriate, and how could a girl want to refuse the priest?!

But Fletcher insisted he wasn't lying. Of course, he refused to apologize.

Without saying a word, the two young people fought together without any suspense. If it was just a normal fight, it would have been fine, but more seriously, Lacey drew his sword and slashed Fletcher.

The warriors who went out to hunt down the necromancers set out with their most suitable weapons and did not leave for a moment, but Fletcher, who was walking around his village, was naturally empty-handed. Lacie may have only failed to control herself in a moment of excitement, but such an "unfair" battle angered two other young men in the village who were passing by and didn't even know why they were fighting...... Things were moving so fast that by the time Khariat got the news, there were already more than a dozen young people wrestling together, and most of them didn't even know why.

After the scuffle, the friendly atmosphere that had existed before was gone.

Hardart himself felt that he had been fair: he rebuked Lacey and was willing to pay compensation to all the villagers who were injured, while also sternly warning Fletcher that they would not tolerate any slander against the priest.

“...... Didn't you ask Enoch if there was such a thing?" asked Comitt.

Khaliart looked at him in shock, as if he had never thought about it.

Kormit shook his head helplessly. Sanctifying a priest is sometimes necessary...... But the priest is just a human being, so how can he be so perfect, not to mention that Enoch is still young after all......

"No one ever asked that girl?" he asked.

Khaliart shook his head again in a daze. For the men of Anktan, it was probably even more unnecessary.

Kormit let out a long sigh, "...... And then what?"

A look of indignation appeared on Khaliat's face.

Instead of heeding his warning, the Bruce brothers intensified - Enoch was almost kicked out by them.

The believers were furious, but they were helpless, after all, this was someone else's village. They had no choice but to decide to leave early the next morning, but that evening, the unexpected happened.

A family near the lake was awakened by a scream, and at dawn the next day, early risers found a large pool of blood on the reef by the lake, and after a period of panic and confusion, they found that two people were missing from the village, Enoch and Moji.

And the family was quite sure that what they heard was a man's scream.

“...... So what exactly are your suspicions?" asked Kormit as he paused, staring into Khariath's eyes.

Haryat hesitated for a moment before replying in a low voice, "Either some necromancer is waiting for revenge, or ...... It was the two brothers from the Bruce family who did it. But if we can't find Enoch and Moki, we can't be sure......"

Komitta nodded, silent for a long time.

"We suspect that they hid Enoch's body and Moki on the cliff on the other side of the lake, otherwise they wouldn't have tried so hard to obstruct it!" Haliat's voice began to grow louder and louder again, "If that's the case, all the people in the village are accomplices, and they all deserve to be punished!"

"And then?" asked Kormit with a gloomy face, "are you going to kill all Gabriel who is not a follower of Nesses?"

Halyat was stunned and shut his mouth in a daze.

Kormit stood there with a heavy heart, realizing that things were not so simple.

Haryart's speculation was clearly more inclined towards the latter, but he couldn't believe that the two young men would kill a priest simply because of some misunderstanding and conflict—even if Enoch did do something he shouldn't have done, such a reaction would have been too violent. Moreover, the murder of a priest is a very serious crime, even in the middle of nowhere.

After all...... The gods are above.

Moreover, if Enoch is really dead, it is easier to make a body disappear, tie up a heavy object and throw it into the middle of the lake to destroy the corpse, and there is a better place to hide a frightened girl than on the other side of the river, where there is no way to escape...... How much of Khariart's insistence was because it was blocked, I'm afraid he himself can't tell. And the villagers are stopping to protect their dead ancestors or living descendants, or something more important, and Kormit can't tell at the moment.

At worst, Enoch and Moki are dead, and their killers have succeeded in stirring up even more chaos and strife...... Honestly, he wished the real killer was some necromancer, that would make everything much easier.

“...... Where's Bruce's house?" he asked.

He doubted that the truth could be found there, but it was always rewarding to hear another version.

As he walked towards the entrance of the village, the priest unconsciously looked at the black cliff in the distance—something that might have nothing to do with it...... But what secrets does it hide? .

(To be continued......)