Chapter 366 Absolute power (1)

It was hard to say if things were the same in the other parts of the state, but most people there used very simple clothes. At least their white, gray, and black mantles were very simple, Billy didn't know if their clothes below were like that. Rather than that, he was wondering why he was thinking about that at all. Their appearances varied a lot, the only things that they had in common though was the fact that they didn't look strong physically. There was another thing that they had in common, they didn't do anything when a group of strangers entered their city… even though the monsters were still causing havoc in the north. They also looked pretty calm, as if the attacks became something normal in their daily lives…

"They sure aren't wary of strangers…" Kate said while frowning. "I am feeling bad for hoping to see a more hostile environment for strangers."

The temple city was pretty big, so it took a while for them to cross it while they head to its northern part. It was still early in the morning, so they didn't have to look for an inn yet. It would be better if they find Svan and then learn about the current situation as soon as possible.

Fortunately, when they could see the soldiers, barbarians, and mercenaries fighting in the northern part of the city, the monsters began to fall back after losing half of their numbers. Billy still could see around five thousand of them flying, so it seemed that his crossbows weren't that useful. In any case, even in that area the people of the city didn't look at them with a weird eye or tell them anything…

"Wait here with the kids," Billy said to his friends. "We shouldn't let them get closer to a battlefield."

His friends nodded, and Billy ended up proceeding while looking for Svan alongside Gerald and Gustav. It didn't take long for them to see some wounded people tending their wounds or carrying bodies. The bodies looked quite weird… they had numerous marks of magic attacks, but they also looked weirdly skinny. Billy assumed that even if they can close the wounds, the Galatea followers can't replenish the lost blood of those who fought.

Eventually, they reached the area where the bodies of monsters and the fallen soldiers were and they Billy's group found that those who had fought were divided into three groups. Galatea soldiers that were wearing silver armor and long spears, mercenaries that were almost close to adventurers, and the barbarians. Even among the barbarians, Svan stood out, so they found him rather easily. He seemed in a bad mood since he had lost more than a few of his men and he had only brought five hundred of them to help… Still, he showed a wide smile when he saw Billy. He also approached and forcefully gave him a bear hug.

"Hahaha, I knew you would come, my friend!" Svan said. "It seems you bought some geezers of presence as well."

"Let's not use our names right now, you should understand why we want to keep that hidden," Billy said.

"Yes… anyway, thank you for coming," Svan said. "Just give a minute to solve things here."

Svan went to talk with his friends and gave them some orders before leaving. He also talked with the mercenaries and Galatea soldiers, but he was smart enough not to mention that the Reinforcements he had requested in secret had arrived.

"You guys couldn't have arrived at a possibly better time," Svan said. "At first, only ordinary monsters attacked, but then the flying ones began to come, until only flying monsters were attacking… It sure was unnerving."

"For people like you, that should have been very stressful," Billy said.

"Indeed, instead of fighting up close, we had to throw spears at them… There is no fun with that," Svan said after a long sigh.

It seemed that Svan was troubled, not because of the difficult fights, but because he couldn't relieve his stress the way he wanted. The death of his friends and underlings probably were playing a major role as well, though.

In any case, when they joined with the others, Svan started by mentioning a few things regarding the people of Tersaris state. First of all, they were essentially good natured, one of their goddess teachings was that they should be cordial with strangers. That was why no one treated Billy's group with contempt or suspicions. Another thing that they should be aware is that any type of violence is forbidden. Not even Galatea soldiers can be violent with the civilians without a very good reason. Causing commotion by raising their voice is also seen with bad eyes… Aside from that, they should be wary of any greedy -related actions. Stealing, selling overpriced goods, damaging nature to sell its resources… All of that is forbidden. Punishment for that varies according to the gravity of the actions.

"It is quite weird for such a strict group to hire mercenaries as well," Billy said.

"They are cornered, while they are good at support, because they live this kind of life, they aren't used to fighting, and since it has been a while since most states fought against each other, their soldiers aren't enough for the job," Svan said. "That being said, while they are troublesome in some aspects, their forgiving and laid back nature aren't that bad. They looked at us with weird eyes at first, but eventually they began to respect us because we began to shed blood together."

Billy knew that usually, religious folks aren't bad people per se. The problem starts when some wants to force their beliefs to others and when some greedy individuals get their attention and become their leaders… things to get off track once that happens, but Billy assumed that such a thing might not happen in that world, why he thought like that? It was just his instincts.