Ed sniffled. The wind in the square was strong and cold, and he really wanted to retreat back into the warm hall, but he couldn't.

The crowd in front of him was chaotically arguing, and that was more or less his credit, and at this time, he couldn't slip away quietly.

He tried to see what was different in the faces that were becoming more and more familiar, what secrets were hidden, what evil eyes were, and so on...... But that's not what he's good at. He thought everyone looked normal.

It's just a little excited.

That's not to blame them, strange things have happened a lot lately, and Nesses seems to have forgotten his followers, or he is determined to give them a great test that has never been seen before. Following the destruction of the temple foundations, another unlucky guy was crushed to his feet by the fallen stone wall, and the bones of his entire foot were shattered. Ed thought that Fili could at least secretly go and inflict wounds on the poor man, but his annoying "brother" said with a serious look on his face that it would be unwise to reveal his identity at such a time, and they hadn't even figured out who the enemy was!

And now, someone is missing again.

It was Bernard who was missing. The man who joined the team that built the temple with Nigel Estes lacked a sense of presence, and people didn't even know when he disappeared. New faces are constantly joining, and most people don't know each other – even some who were once friends or relatives have forgotten about each other.

Some people no longer live in the hall on the inner side of the square, but look for suitable rooms and live together in pairs. People from different villages are not very disciplined, and it is only because they have a common goal that they do not appear to be too chaotic.

Kharyat and Risek didn't have the experience of leading hundreds of men, but at least the tasks they had assigned were reasonable, and the people accepted them naturally.

But outside of work, people began to spontaneously form small groups after groups, dividing kinship for different reasons. Even if you have the same faith, it is probably against human nature to want to treat every believer as your family, as Kharyart said.

Nigel Estis was clearly not very attentive to the small team that Khaliat had given him. Bernard was also part of the team, but it wasn't until Ed ran to him and asked him if he knew where Bernard had gone—the man had borrowed him a knife and never returned it, and Ed couldn't find his figure anywhere—that he realized that Bernard didn't seem to have been seen for days.

It wasn't until just before dinner that Nigel reluctantly told Khaliart about it. When Risek took the opportunity of dinner to gather everyone together and count the numbers, he realized that they didn't even know how many people should be now...... People frantically identified and searched for each other for a while, and it was impossible to determine how many people were missing—but it was likely that there was more than one.

Anxiety and suspicion spread like a disease. People have been clamoring and shouting until now, and no definitive answer has been reached.

There were fears that they had been dragged away by some beast, but a small pack of wild wolves had left shortly after they arrived. The city is not very large, and Risek has already sent someone to search once, and has not even found any more animals larger than pine martens and owls. Even judging by the tranquility of the night, there could not have been another pack of wolves inside. As the number of humans increases, the solitary beasts will avoid them far away, and besides, if they only encounter a bear or another lynx, the missing person is also a strong and experienced hunter, and it is impossible for them to be eaten quietly without even a cry for help.

There was speculation that they fled because they were working too hard or missing their loved ones, a claim that was immediately rebuked by Khaliat. The vast majority of the people who come here are nearby villagers, and their lives are not as easy as they are now, and if they miss their loved ones, they can just tell Kharyat before leaving, there is no shame in them, and no one will stop them. Running away will only keep them from facing their loved ones.

"Maybe they destroyed the foundation and fled?"

"How can they do that?"

- Still unexplained.

"Maybe it's really haunted?"

Ed raised his voice and spoke again with an innocent look on his face.

Many looked at him, some looked disdainful, but many more hesitated to look at each other, and some had doubts on their faces.

This rumor, originally from the mouth of a goblin, has never been taken seriously, but now, it doesn't sound so ridiculous.

Khaliart frowned at him, clearly disliking the statement. Of course, if a deity can't even protect the worshippers who build his temple from the hands of ghosts, is he still worth believing?

A devout believer like Khaliart would not allow any similar questioning.

Ed was still smiling innocently. Hopefully, Khaliat will be fooled by his smirk.

As he wished, Khaliat turned his head and stopped paying attention to him. He began to speak loudly, reassuring and encouraging everyone, and still insisting that it was a test for Nesses, but the reason for this was more reassuring than the repeated news that the priest was coming.

That night, for the first time, in addition to the goblins, Khaliat arranged for men to patrol the perimeter, and the number of people guarding the foundations doubled, and most of them returned to the halls in the square. Ed was also specifically told by Risek that "it's best not to leave everyone at night".

"Now I'm the 'most suspicious object......,'" Ed muttered to himself, a little annoyed.

The only non-believer who always warns everyone that this place can be haunted, is the first to notice that someone is missing—even he thinks he has ulterior motives.

In the middle of the night, Ed was pushed awake by Joan. The boy looked embarrassed and asked him if he could go out with him.

"Hmm...... Do you want to pee?" Ed asked, half-asleep.

Even if he couldn't see it, he seemed to be able to feel the sudden increase in temperature on Huo An's face, it was really ...... It's kind of cute. It seems like a good feeling to have a younger brother!

"Fili!" he kicked his dear brother, "I'll pee with Joan!"

“...... Get out of here!" Filly covered his head with a growl, and the other people who were woken up nearby made similar complaints, Eric vaguely asked if they needed to be accompanied, and Ed grinned and refused, pulling Joan through a pile of people lying on the ground, and struggling to get out.

"Let's go out pee!" Ed reported loudly to Risek, who was guarding the doorway, and the blonde man gave them a somewhat amused look.

"There's no need to go out, there are a lot of empty rooms in the back corridor, you can feel free to find a ...... away from the hall."

Hoan whispered in Ed's ear.

“...... He said, "There are women in it." Ed's mouth grinned wider.

Risek couldn't help but laugh too.

"Don't go too far. He said, almost a little pampering in his voice, "Stay where someone can see you." ”

Ed casually agreed, and walked out the door.

"Is it really necessary to tell everyone?" said Joan, visibly embarrassed.

"Oh, what's there to be shy about. "It's better than to make people suspect that we're going to do something bad in secret, you see, I'm not in a good situation right now......"

Huo An suddenly pulled him gently, stared into his eyes with a somewhat strange expression as he turned around, and said a few words both lightly and quickly.

“...... What?" Ed asked, blankly, not reading a word.

The boy hung his head.

"Anyway, I trust you. After a while, he said, this time it was a little louder.

Ed slammed Hawn on the shoulder with emotion.

"Of course, we're friends!" he exclaimed.

There is a small road not far ahead, and there is a place that is usually convenient for people when you turn into it, and a half-collapsed wall can more or less block the cold wind and sight.

Joan refused to pee with him no matter what, and Ed had to wait at the intersection alone and lonely. The warmth in his body seemed to be taken away by urine, and he shivered a few times in the cold wind, and couldn't help but turn around and shout: "Huo An......"

The call froze on the tip of his tongue.

Huo An stood motionless in front of a figure much taller than him, with his back to him. The snow reflected a face that was no longer human, and the eyes that were so round that they were almost cracked were a chilling horror, barely intact above the eyes, but only a bloody void was left below the eyes.

Fear engulfed Ed Singhal like a huge wave, blood, strength, and courage were drained in an instant, and the only thing he could feel in his empty body was the paralysis that rushed to the top of his head.

Can't breathe, can't make any sounds, can't even move an eyeball.

After that very short and long moment of death-like stillness, some kind of fire burned deep within Ed gave Ed a weapon against fear—it was extreme anger.

He couldn't accept that any life was so desecrated, let alone watching his friend die in front of his eyes.

He let out a roar and lunged over, pulling Joan away with one hand and kicking the man who was apparently dead.

Ed didn't have much strength, the force of the kick only made the other man sway back slightly, and Ed had wisely grabbed Joan's hand as unwarm as he and rushed out of the intersection - anger had not yet given him the courage to go head-to-head with the necromancer's puppet.

"No...... Filly, Filly, Help, Risek, Dead!!Undead!!Zombie!!Help, Bastard!!" He screamed incoherently, stumbling and running desperately across the snow, and Hoan was completely stunned, dragging his hands as heavy as a corpse.

Two arrows and a dagger flew past his ear, and Fili had already run at them, Risek following him closely.

A terrifying howl slammed into Ed's fragile nerves, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, and he fell to the snow in the dark.