Jack, despite flying at high speed, still couldn’t find a destroyed village after three hours. Trying every possible approach, Jack flapped his raven wings.
Even though Jack searched every corner of the Raven Hunters’ secret base, he felt increasingly desperate.
"Since it’s been days, they must have hidden somewhere or died of starvation," Jack said with frustration.
"The Church’s neglect of everything outside the cities is awful."
Jack had done his research. There were many books from Morrigan’s library. The Church invested its manpower and resources into cities, trade routes, and mining resources.
The Church tried to make money through commercial routes, buildings, inns, and mines, aside from royal support and donations.
Therefore, there were usually only ordinary priests in rural areas. Only when something that the Church perceived as a threat appeared would the Church send Temple Knights and Inquisition Judges.
Due to this system, the rural areas were very backward, while the priests had almost equal spiritual authority to village chiefs in village management.
Sometimes, priests could even remove a village chief from office.
As Jack tried to adapt to this world’s system, it was helpful that his world and the Otome world were similar.
The Church generally did not concern itself much with rural areas aside from missionary services.
"Blackwall has recently been the Church’s target."
Jack recalled the recent events. The Church had recently sent many High Priests and Inquisition Judges to reduce the authority deficiency in Blackwall City.
Jack shook his head and cleared his thoughts of unnecessary information. He focused all his attention on finding Urien.
"The best animals for scent tracking are vultures, but how can I find a vulture?" Jack said thoughtfully. The Raven Hunters had already captured most of the people in the village. The dead bodies must have been eaten by now.
Jack hit his head against a tree.
"Think! Think!"
Jack forced his mind to work. Many ideas crossed his mind, but he ignored all of them except one.
Jack’s eyes briefly lit up, and he exclaimed, "How could I not think of this before!"
"The seer was hiding in the capital!"
Jack jumped quickly and moved forward. His eyes sparkled with excitement.
After quickly reaching the capital, Jack maneuvered through the streets.
The person he was searching for was the legendary seer Heka. In the Otome game, Heka was a fortune-teller who offered help for a certain fee.
Even in the Otome game, players knew very little about the man named Heka. The most well-known fact was that he was very cunning and greedy for money.
In the Otome game, during the day and sometimes at night, Alice was directed to Heka for missions.
After half an hour, Jack arrived at the front of a shop. The shop was located in an area with shanties. It was a place where traders often encountered trouble.
Despite this, it seemed that many people ignored the shop. They passed by without even looking at it for a second.
"This must be an illusion," Jack was sure of it. The shop was a place that only appeared to those in need. The runes written around the shop proved it.
Not waiting any longer, Jack flew inside and saw a messy place that looked like a house. Ignoring this, he stepped forward and rang the bell.
*Dinggg!*
After the bell rang, a voice echoed. "I’m coming!"
The shopkeeper spoke in a tone that was not very formal for a shopkeeper, which led Jack to conclude that he must be a very relaxed person.
Jack relaxed when he saw a man enter through the door ten minutes later. The man had long, disheveled, reddish hair and a very feminine face.
{ Mental resistance level up }
{ Mental resistance level increased to 10. }
{ Mental resistance has improved. Mental resistance has evolved into Enhanced Mental resistance. }
Feeling his rapid development, Jack was relieved when the mirror gave in. He then allowed the mirror to show him Urien’s location.
"Where are you, kid?" As Jack focused on the mirror, it quickly showed a young man wearing a cloak.
The man’s under-eye areas were bruised from fatigue, and his face was covered in dirt and grime. His clothes, apart from the cloak and shoes, looked quite flimsy.
Seeing the place, Jack immediately recognized it. It was one of the three nearest outposts around the capital.
Urien was probably trying to reach this outpost. Jack’s eyes grew serious as Heka’s voice interjected. "Is this kid the one you’re looking for?"
"Yes."
"Good," Heka said. Then he continued, "It seems he’s heading to the outpost. If you let him get there, he will die."
Jack’s eyebrows rose with concern. He knew what was going on at the outpost. The outpost Urien was heading to was run by a man involved in slave trade. He conducted slave trade on behalf of the outpost, paying gold to the royalty.
Outposts were supposed to be organizations patrolling and protecting the roads leading to the capital from bandits and animals, but with the kingdom’s corruption, they had turned into human trafficking operations.
"I think you should be quick."
Listening to Heka’s warning, Jack nodded and took off. "Thanks, fake seer!"
"Hey, where’s my payment?!" Heka shouted anxiously, but it was too late. Jack flew away, enjoying himself.
As Jack quickly left the capital, he changed direction towards the outpost. "This outpost must be the one with the gay man."
Recalling the manager of the outpost, Jack accelerated even more. The outpost owner was an old man who liked young men.
"Don’t worry, Urien! You’ll keep your manhood!"
As Jack flew swiftly, he instinctively apologized to Morrigan. "Sorry, Morrigan, but I’ll be late."
(Urien’s Perspective)
My body...
My body can’t take it anymore...
"Just a little more, Urien. You have to hold on for your sister!" Despite constantly motivating myself, I still felt like I was going to die at any moment.
"Just a little more," I said as I forced my body to move. "If I can reach the outpost..."
As I carried my weary body, my eyes were squinted from hunger. I was trying to avoid walking under the sun, but it was difficult.
"Hey! You there!"
I turned to the soldier calling out to me with excitement. "Please! Help me! Our village has been destroyed!"
I looked at the man with hope. Maybe he could help me. Contrary to my expectations, the man looked at me coldly. "Kneel and raise your hands."
I immediately took off my cloak and, disregarding the filth, fell to my knees. This was my only chance. I had no intention of wasting it.
"Good, now come with me."
I followed the soldier right away. As I walked in front of the soldier, I suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of my head.
"The leader will love this. Maybe I’ll even get a purse of gold."
Before my consciousness faded, I heard the soldier’s last words.