How the Cult Saves the World

The carriage moved without stopping. We only paused briefly for some rest along the way, but otherwise, we traveled for a whole day.

And then, deep in the night, the carriage stopped in the forest.

"It looks like we'll have to camp here tonight," Zain said after talking to the coachman.

I readily nodded.

It was time for both the horses and the people to get exhausted.

I stretched my weary body and did some light exercises. Zain also followed me and relaxed his muscles.

Meanwhile, as we were relaxing, the coachman started to prepare for camping.

He skillfully laid out a cloth and set up a support. It seemed that Zain had already arranged this part in advance.

We lit a fire and had a simple meal with some dried meat that we brought with us.

"I'm going for a walk," I told Zain.

He looked like he wanted to follow me, but I gestured to him to stay.

As I entered the forest, I felt the clear air of the woods. It didn't have as many trees as Cartel Forest, but it felt like being in nature.

I walked for a while, feeling the cool night breeze. Then, a white light appeared in front of me and Kyros manifested as a puppy.

"The air is nice here."

He sniffed with his small nose and wagged his tail like a real puppy. I smiled at the sight.

Kyros had disappeared as soon as he found out that we would be traveling by carriage. And now, he showed up again.

"But... My child."

He licked his nose and constantly sniffed and then suddenly changed his tone.

"What is it?"

"It seems like there is a faint smell of monsters here."

"Really?"

"Yes. Over there."

Kyros started to run with his short legs. Damn it, I'm tired.

I had no choice but to chase after him. He was quite fast while being in his puppy form. Fortunately, Kyros noticed I fell behind and stopped. He checked if I was following him and moved on.

How long did we run? A cliff appeared. Kyros was standing at the edge.

"Over there."

I carefully stood next to Kyros and saw a village in the distance. That was 'Bayers', the stopover we would arrive at tomorrow.

"There is a smell of monsters from there."

I narrowed my eyes at Kyros' words. I wanted to ignore it if possible, but I guess I couldn't.

I woke up early in the morning. The coachman who got up woke up Zain first, and we quickly packed up.

As we got on the carriage, Zain yawned as if his mouth would tear.

"Sleep some more. We still have a long way to go."

"Thank you, Master."

Zain smiled and closed his eyes. I turned my gaze outside the window.

Because the road to Bayers was not well maintained, the carriage uncomfortably shook a lot. Zain woke up and eventually gave up on trying to sleep every time it happened.

Thirty minutes after the carriage started moving, Bayers came into view.

I looked up towards the sky, it was dark as if it would rain any moment.

"It's going to pour soon, isn't it?"

Zain muttered as he also looked towards the sky.

"I guess so."

I answered briefly and turned my gaze to Bayers.

Bayers was a village as big as Elyn. It was quite large, but it was more similar to a countryside with no special features.

The population was not very high either, and the location was also in a remote place, so unless you went to Beon, you wouldn't stop by this village.

Moreover, Beon was also a small village with few visitors.

Anyway, there was only one thing that stood out in Bayers. A castle that towered among the small buildings.

"That's the villa of Baron Dreyer. I heard that Baron Dreyer's grandson is staying there for recuperation."

Zain explained on his own as he noticed my gaze. It was a story I already knew, but I nodded along.

"I heard that he's quite handsome. His skin is not just pale, but almost white."

"Really?"

"Yes. I don't understand what's so good about being so white."

Zain grumbled as we entered Bayers.

Knock. Knock.

I handed the gatekeeper a forged identity card that Zain had prepared in advance.

He quickly checked our faces and turned away. From now on, we were just travelers.

"Thank you."

I got off the carriage and gave a tip to the coachman. He smiled happily and left, leaving Zain and me alone.

"Shall we look for a place to stay first?"

"Let's do that."

As we entered the inner part of Bayers, we felt people's eyes on us. They seemed to be busy with their own affairs, but they were clearly glancing at us.

"I heard that the people here don't like outsiders very much. There aren't many outsiders to begin with."

Zain whispered to me.

R: "Do you think that's just dislike?"

I whispered back. Zain frowned.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Look at their eyes."

At my words, Zain quickly scanned the villagers' gaze.

"Ah..."

Zain couldn't finish his sentence. He had no choice.

The people of Bayers looked at us as if we were sacrifices.

I tried to ignore them as much as possible, but it was hard to do so now.

-Master, I smell a monster from that castle.

'I know.'

I moved cautiously, wary of the people. Zain followed me hastily.

"Master, should we just leave right away?"

I shook my head.

"Don't you think we need to rest for a day? We have to relax here and then go."

That way, we can move quickly when we arrive at Beon.

"I know, but... I feel uneasy. Their eyes are kind of weird."

"I know. But, bear with it for a while."

I walked with Zain to find an inn. Luckily, there was one nearby.

We opened the door and entered. Inside, there were a few people drinking alcohol and a middle-aged man with a warm expression was guarding the bar.

"Oh, welcome."

The man, who looked like the innkeeper, greeted us with a forced smile. He looked sweaty as if he had already heard our story.

"Are you two looking for an inn?"

I nodded and approached him. I took out a gold coin from my pocket and handed it to him.

"We're planning to stay for one night. I'll also ask for some food separately."

"Yes, yes. I understand."

The man smiled nervously and guided us.

"Come this way."

Zain and I followed the innkeeper up the old stairs. Along the way, we still felt the eyes of the guests on us.

Zain seemed to feel them too, as he grabbed the hem of my robe. I tried to wink at him to reassure him, but unfortunately, he didn't seem to get it. He kept sending me signals to leave.

But our feet had already reached the second floor.

Creak, creak. The old corridor made a strange noise every time we walked. It made it feel even more eerie.

Bang!

It was sudden. A loud noise came from right next to us. It was from the inside of a locked door that we were about to pass by.

'...What?'

As Zain and I stopped, the innkeeper looked at us nervously.

"Ha, haha. It's nothing."

"Nothing? There was a loud noise from a locked room!"

Zain questioned the innkeeper, who wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I, it's my daughter. Don't mind her."

"Your daughter? You locked your daughter in this room?"

Zain moved toward the door as if he was going to break the lock. But the man grabbed Zain's shoulder.

"Agh."

"I have no choice. My daughter is crazy."

Z: "No matter what..!"

Zain was furious, but I shook my head at him. Then, the man let go of Zain and Zain backed off. The man's tour continued.

"Come over here."

The place where the innkeeper stopped was in front of a room at the end of the corridor.

"Then have a good rest. I'll bring you some food soon."

Our room was a small one with two single beds. Zain went straight to the bed and sat down. I closed the door and drew the curtains by the window. Then, Zain looked at me with serious eyes.

"Master, don't you think that innkeeper is strange? How can he lock up his own daughter, even if she's crazy?"

"Lower your voice."

I sat in front of Zain and put my finger on my lips. Zain closed his mouth and nodded.

"Anyway, it's too creepy. If I had known this, I would have just turned around and left without stopping by."

"We had to stock up on energy, so it couldn't be helped."

"But..! The villagers' eyes are weird, too."

I nodded.

"Yeah. I know."

"Haah. How can you be so calm, Master?"

Zain sighed heavily. I looked at him for a moment and opened my mouth.

"Do you know why there are few outsiders in this village?"

"That's because there's nothing to see here, and it's just a stopover to go to Beon. And, there's nothing to see in Beon either."

"Besides that."

"What else? Ah..."

It was then that Zain seemed to remember something and widened his eyes. Soon after, his eyebrows furrowed.

"The missing cases."

"I forgot about them. They happened ten years ago."

As Zain said, there were several reasons why there were few outsiders in Bayers.

But what I wanted to talk about was the missing cases that occurred 13 years ago.

The cases that didn't discriminate between outsiders and villagers were so big that the empire sent an investigation team.

Twenty people disappeared, one every week.

However, there was no progress in the investigation. There were no witnesses or evidence.

The only good thing was that there were no more victims after that. The investigation was closed.

"But, there were no more missing cases after that, right?"

I nodded.

"Even if the cases were settled, the culprit wasn't caught. Naturally, the traffic of outsiders decreased."

"I see."

Hmm, Zain nodded as if he understood.

R: "And, in my opinion,"

"Yes?"

"I don't think the missing cases are over yet."

Z: "What?"

Jain's eyes widened. I glanced outside through the curtains. Some villagers were looking this way.

"Ma, Master. What do you mean by that?"

"Are you afraid of anything?"

"What are you talking about all of a sudden..."

"Nothing, though?"

"No. I'm actually quite scared. I'm ashamed to say it, but I'm afraid of ghosts or things like that, things that I can't see."

"Hmm. Is that so?"

"Don't you have anything to fear, Master?"

"I do, too."

What I feared was different from Zain.

"What is it?"

"...Something."

"What? You won't even tell me. Never mind that. Why are you asking this anyway?"

The eyes of the people of Bayers, the innkeeper's daughter who was locked up, and the high castle.

I smiled.

"Do you know what a vampire is?"