Ulrich stared blankly at the strange priest, who stood behind a tall, gray-bodied tree. Its golden leaves glistened, enough to cast light on his face. Though it only made the moment more awkward, seeing as Silas couldn’t get a response from Ulrich.

  There’s only a handful of faiths and religions that I know exist in the shadow realm…

  Raising both of his hand in the air, Silas said, “I see you are quite the cautious one, that’s a good attitude to adopt,” followed by a rather amused chuckle.

  “Though judging from your attire… You must be a Watchman!”

  What? Subconsciously, Ulrich looked down.

  He wore a clean white shirt underneath, draped over by a deep black coachman coat. Near the bottom, three silver buttons were attached to keep it tight. As for his pants, they weren’t worth mentioning. As a matter of fact, it was so dark that it blended into the ground beneath.

  “Only you folks from the Ministry like to wear such black… And that silky glove, I see some customs on the surface world remained unchanged.”

  Some customs in the surface world remained unchanged? His tone and manner of speaking did not match his appearance, a priest no less. He spoke as though he had not seen the ‘surface world’ in years, decades, or even centuries.

  Such attitude and demeanor only made Silas Autora all the more enigmatic.

  "What—"

  Thud. Thud.

  The whole area trembled and groaned. Ulrich and Silas turned their head—the sight before them widened their eyes.

  The army of skeletons had taken down the black-face tree. Its sturdy and colossus body crashed into the ground, creating deep craters and a dust storm. And with no enemies standing in their way, they turn to the two humans nearby. Their teeth chattered erratically as their bone feet began to shake the ground loose.

  Fuck. I swear their eye socket glowed red for a moment. Was it just my imagination?

  Why did these skeletons have such vigor despite being a pile of bones and scraped flesh?

  For a moment, Ulrich entertained the idea that the skeletons were actually going to leave after destroying the tree. However, that red glow in their eye socket convinced him otherwise.

  His foot kicked the soil before his mind could even process the event. To put it mildly, Ulrich booked it, and to put it even more mildly, he ran for his life!

  In that same instant, Silas shouted from behind, “I’ve never seen a more shameless and cowardly Watchman in my life!”

  Hearing this, Ulrich let out a hollow laugh and cursed, yet caught himself short since Silas was a priest, “Screw off.”

  Ulrich ran for hours, thinking that he’d shaken off all his pursuers. But that talkative priest, Silas, was right behind him. How can a priest run that fast while wearing that uncomfortable cassock anyway?

  Fortunately, Silas stood a good distance away, allowing Ulrich to relax a little. To be honest, he hasn’t run so fast in a while, so his leg was shaking like an uneven table leg.

  “You run pretty well,” Silas said, his radiant voice drifting closer, “Must not be your first time running like that.”

  This time, Ulrich didn’t ignore him and scoffed, “Why would I fight a losing battle if I can just run away?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Silas's smile shattered, though he quickly coughed, “What a shameless Watchman indeed.”

  Look at yourself…

  At this point, he didn’t argue with Silas and examined his disastrous starting point.

  The graveyard, Margrave, is filled with a number of tombs. This environment gives birth to countless undead creatures—skeletons, undead monsters, and shades. Skeletons, in particular, were not dangerous individually. However, their numbers cannot be underestimated.

  As for undead monsters and shades—he’d run.

  Unless the circumstances were extremely favorable, to the point that said undead monsters and shades are somehow rooted in place without being given a chance to retaliate. And only then would Ulrich try to kill it.

  Otherwise—he’d run.

  Taking this time to rest, he studied the map of the shadow realm further. However, his eyes never escaped Silas’s figure. The intention of this strange priest was unknown, and that only made Ulrich more tense and cautious.

  As soon as Ulrich’s spirituality recovered, he stood and left. But before taking his second step, a sound made him frown.

  “Are you going to keep following me?”

  Silas whistled innocently and stared toward the golden tree on the horizon, “No, I just happened to go this way as well.”

  “…”

  Huh. Ulrich lifted his foot and took an L-turn, and so did Silas. This time, Ulrich subconsciously reached to his waist, feeling the cold metal of his revolver.

  Silas noticed his movement and raised his hand in the air, “Wow, a gun too? Don’t shoot, don’t shoot!”

  Though judging from Silas’s expression, Ulrich had a feeling that even if he did shoot this man at point-blank range, it was most likely useless. Helpless, he resigned his fate and made his way toward the nearest settlements as soon as possible.

  Wandering in the wilderness as a rank 1 Weaver aside, the night-time within the shadow realm is just as dangerous as it is in the surface world at sea. These creatures will only grow stronger, not weaker. Contrary to that, the brightest of days in the shadow realm is when these creatures are weakened, though not as great as they are blessed at night.

  As such, Ulrich didn’t hesitate to leave and seek out a settlement as soon as possible.

  If he can’t make it in time, he’d likely need to find a hiding spot to wait out the night. And yet, he can’t help but twitch his eyes at Silas, who was following behind with a wide grin.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Father?”

  “Huh? What’s with the formality? It’s fate that we met, you can just call me Silas!”

  Ridiculous, I’ve never seen a more sacrilegious priest like you…

  “And from the look of it, this must be your first descent into the shadow realm. That ceremony from the Ministry, seriously, where is your escort? Are the Ministry always so short on staff?”

  Ulrich shrugged his shoulders.

  Seeing this, Silas let out a low sigh, “Where are we going? Fort Knox? Helgan’s Keep?”

  “You know the way to the nearest settlements?”

  Silas nodded and puffed his chest, as though this was his proudest achievement, “Where do you want to go? I’ll tell you right now, Helgan’s Keep is the closest settlement around here.”

  “And in exchange for what? Why do I have a feeling this is not free?”

  In that moment, Silas's face froze, then stomped his foot against the wet soil beneath their feet, scattering the soil onto a nearby rock.

  “Shameless! I am a priest, a spokesperson of god, how can I accept payment?”

  Shameless? You sound exactly like what I’d imagine a cultist and corrupted salesman to sound like!

  Ulrich wore a pleasant smile, yet his heart was aching, holding back the urge to give this brazen priest a round of beating. And if he could, he would’ve done it by now. But alas, it was regretful that this priest was not an ordinary Weaver, seeing how he reacted to the skeletons and black-face tree back then.

  After a moment of silence, Silas cleared his throat and took the initiative to speak, “Just a small favor, nothing significant.”

  Here it comes, I’ve been waiting to hear this.

  “Go on…” Ulrich stared blankly at the shameless priest, a bit curious as to what would come out of his mouth. No matter what it was, he vowed to the Night Mother not to be surprised.

  However, this vow was instantly shattered when Silas spread out his arm toward the sky, facing the golden tree, then said:

  “Do you have a moment to listen about our lord and savior, The Verdant Sun God?”

  What.