How the Cult Saves the World

"Can't we go into the village?"

This kid, I thought he had something important to say.

Zain asked the elder with a business-like smile. The elder was startled and gestured with his hand.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry. Please come in quickly."

The villagers who were gathered around the elder opened the gate for us. Only then could we enter the village, and just in time, Kess came back.

Next to Kess was a young man of about my age, running out of breath.

The young man, who looked exhausted, brightened up when he saw me.

"Leader!"

He ran towards me with a bright smile. As the young man approached, I recognized who he was.

This brown-haired young man was a citizen of Rovel.

He was one of the people I had rescued from the underground prison of the Rizes Church.

The young man who came up to me was so happy that he shed tears. He clasped his hands and looked up at the sky.

"Oh, Kyros! You really heard my prayers!"

-Yes, yes! This is the child. This is the child who prayed fervently to me! He has a very pure soul!

Kyros also seemed very pleased.

And finally, a system window appeared.

[Sub Quest 'Salvation' 1. <Desperate Prayer> Clear!]

[Sub Quest Reward will be given.]

[Sub Quest Update!]

[Sub Quest 'Salvation' 2. <The Story of Cartel Village>

Content: You have encountered the people of Cartel Village. Investigate what happened to them.

Goal: Listen to the story of Cartel Village (This quest is a linked quest)

Success: Found the clue for the next quest

Failure: -

Final Success Reward: Agent Draw Ticket (5 pieces)]

[Do you accept?]

[Yes/No]

I had a rough idea of what happened in Cartel Village, but I had to accept the quest to proceed. After accepting the quest, I saw the young man sitting on the floor.

I approached the young man who was still shedding tears of gratitude and reached out my hand.

"Get up, brother."

The young man sniffed, grabbed my hand with both hands, and got up.

"I didn't expect you to come here in person. Thank you so much."

"No, it's not me. Kyros heard your prayers and sent me here. It's all his will."

-That's right, that's right!

I smiled happily and Zain whispered in my ear.

[Master, you're good at acting.]

I glared at Zain and he flinched slightly.

What?

"Are you the leader of Kyros Faith?"

The elder took a step closer to me. But, his eyes were different from before.

I was surprised by his cold gaze, but I didn't show it.

"Yes, I am."

Also, the villagers' eyes had changed.

...What? In HSAW, when Terdius visited the village in the Cartel Forest, the villagers asked him for help to kill the darkwolf.

But, now it was different.

'Maybe this is also a hidden route.'

The children and Zain also felt the change in the villagers and their faces hardened.

The one who changed the atmosphere was the believer young man.

"Let's go to my place first. Elder, is that okay?"

When the young man asked, the elder reluctantly agreed.

"Please do."

"Come on."

We followed the young man into the village.

The young man's place was the smallest house in the village, a space that was no different from a hut. It was big enough for three or four people to sleep in. We sat there huddled together.

"I'm sorry for bringing you to such a humble place."

The young man scratched his head and looked guilty.

"No, this is fine."

Zain gave him a thumbs up and answered. The young man thanked him sincerely even though it sounded sarcastic.

"Sorry for being late. My name is Cyril."

"Oh, I'm---"

"I know, you're the leader."

When I tried to introduce myself naturally, Cyril smiled and said,

"And these two are the priest and the paladin, right?"

"Yes, that's right!"

"Yes, yes."

Alphius answered confidently and Chester blushed as if he was embarrassed.

"But who is this person...?"

Then, Cyril asked about Zain. He looked guilty. Zain opened his mouth to introduce himself, but I was faster.

"This is my servant, Zain."

When I took the initiative, Zain glared at me. What are you going to do?

"Oh, I see."

"By the way, Cyril, brother, how did you end up here?"

Now that the introduction was over, I asked him what I was most curious about. Seril cleared his throat and began his story.

"I came to the Cartel Forest a few days ago."

Cyril's story was like this; After the reconstruction of Rovel, Cyril's parents wanted to open a fruit shop in Rovel.

In the meantime, they heard a rumor that the fruits in the Cartel Forest were delicious and Cyril came here alone to investigate. Unfortunately, it happened at the same time as the darkwolf appeared.

He was lucky enough to get help from a villager and stayed here.

"I couldn't get out of the Cartel Forest for some reason. And as the days went by, the food in the village ran out and it was a big problem. There was nothing to eat right away, so the people who went out to get food during the day didn't come back either."

Cyril explained with a grim face.

"For some reason, even during the day, there was fog in the forest. It was really... like hell."

The reason why people couldn't get out of the Cartel Forest and the fog covered the sun during the day was all because of the magic of the darkwolf leader.

"If I had known this, I would have used the fruits from other shops like they did. I came to the Cartel Forest thinking I could do something, but the fruits were tasteless. I realized it was a false rumor, and because of that, I was trapped here..."

Of course, the rumor that the fruits in this place were especially delicious was false.

If the fruits in the Cartel Forest were really delicious, they would have been distributed in Elyn long ago.

"I felt so stupid that I had a hard time because of this."

I silently patted Cyril's shoulder. He smiled faintly.

"But I didn't want to give up on life, so I prayed earnestly to Kyros. He heard my plea and sent you and everyone else to me."

Hope filled Cyril's face. I nodded and smiled back.

-Yes! I heard that child's earnest prayer!

Kyros also seemed very proud.

"But, Cyril."

Zain, who had been listening quietly, suddenly called Cyril.

"The villagers don't seem to welcome us very much."

At that, Cyril's shoulders sagged.

"That's because... they are all faithful followers of Diego Faith. So when I first came here and said I was a Kyros Faith, they didn't like it very much. But I was grateful that they accepted me anyway..."

So that was why. It was really like a 'hidden route'.

In HSAW, the village in the Cartel Forest had no religion. But now, they were all followers of Diego Faith.

To them, Cyril was just a 'believer' of another religion, so they let it go, but we were different.

"Hmm. I guess it's different to accept one believer and to have the 'leader' visit. They seem to be on guard."

Zain's words made me and the children nod.

"Le, leader. Still, the villagers are all good people. They gave me food fairly and took care of me."

Cyril added hastily.

"Yes, I know."

I gave him a reassuring smile.

The villagers were good people, as I had seen in HSAW, and as they had given Cyril a place to stay.

The only thing that bothered me was that they were all followers of Diego Faith.

"Um, leader."

Cyril looked at me anxiously.

"I know it's a rude request, but... can you help not only me but also the villagers?"

With his question, the system window appeared again.

[Sub Quest 'Salvation' 2. <The Story of Cartel Village> Clear!]

[Sub Quest Reward will be given.]

[Sub Quest Update!]

[Sub Quest 'Salvation' 3. <The Savior of Cartel Village>

Content: You have heard the story of Cartel Village from a faithful believer and received a request. Please, don't turn down the faithful believer's request.

Goal: Save Cartel Village

Success: Agent Draw Ticket (5 pieces)

Failure: All villagers die]

[Do you accept?]

[Yes/No]

This was the last quest. Well, the Cartel Forest quest wasn't very long in the original either.

But, the failure penalty was 'all villagers die'? Isn't that too much?

If there was such a penalty, they should have told me from the beginning! It wasn't even in the original.

'Damn it.'

Anyway, I had no choice but to accept it since I had come this far.

"Yes. Don't worry."

I held Cyril's hand and smiled.

"Thank you, leader! Thank you all!"

Cyril bowed his head to us and thanked us. Then he suddenly got up from his seat.

"Oh, I don't have any food, but I'll bring you some water!"

He left the hut.

As soon as Cyril was gone, Zain whispered to me.

"Master, this is... not a good feeling. Are you okay?"

He also felt something bad and asked me cautiously.

"Let's just give it a try. The villagers didn't do anything bad to us."

The job was simple anyway. All I had to do was kill the darkwolf leader in the forest and the rest would be easy. Besides, there was no monster regeneration in HSAW.

So, it was over once I killed them all.

"Let's get up. We don't have time."

I had to finish everything before morning.

I got up from my seat and left the hut. The children and Zain followed me. Then, I ran into Cyril who was carrying a bucket of water from somewhere.

"Leader? Where are you going?"

"Ah, well."

As I was about to explain to Cyril, the villagers came rushing to the hut.

The elder and Kess were at the front.

"Elder?"

Cyril turned his head in surprise and the elder said with a stiff face,

"You're all here."

"What's going on?"

Cyril hurried over and asked. The elder looked at me and said.

"I'm sorry, but everyone except Cyril has to leave the village."

"What?! Elder! It's nighttime!"

Cyril exclaimed in shock.

"I know. But you came here through the forest at night."

"That's..."

Before Cyril could say anything, I walked up to the elder and faced him. And I nodded with a smile.

"I understand."

I walked past the villagers.

Yeah, I was going to leave anyway.