"Can you read it?" Felix asked.

'I wish I could.' Sylvester sighed and denied it. "Nobody knows how to read this language, Felix. The fact that we even found its proof is shocking enough. But… Why is this here? Did the people who used this language live underground?"

"Just imagine somehow learning this language. I heard Elder tongue had a superior magic effect. You could become the Pope in an instant." Felix started to procrastinate right there.

Sylvester scoffed. "You're in the race to become the Pope too, pal."

"Pfft… are you serious? I am smashing the first chick I feel connected with. I have no interest in being a lifelong virgin. You can take that burden happily if you want." Felix's plan was already clear. It had always been.

Sylvester didn't reply quickly, however. "I don't know, becoming the Pope feels like a hassle. I won't be able to live for myself then… will be surrounded by bootlickers. I'm pretty happy as I am right now."

"I can understand. My brother says the same, he used to wish to become the Count of Sandwall before and take charge from our father, and now that he is taking charge, he complains that it destroyed his life—I guess some things are only meant to be admired from afar."

"Let's look around and end this little excursion of ours. We still have not found out why that archpriest told us to come here. I'm sure he did not know what exists here underground, so something must have happened above related to this place." Sylvester got back to work and looked around left and right.

There were various engravings of the crescent moon and the elder tongue. But it was all useless for them. Other than that, there were skulls of strange beings too. 'I should at least try and write all these words down.'

So he started copying everything on a few parchments thanks to the grace of Lord Miraj.

As he slowly walked from one wall to another, he soon found something new. This time, the words etched were recognizable.

'What's this doing here? First the tree, and now it's here!' Sylvester stared at the wall.

['There is to see farther than our eyes can—so seek where it all began' – Luther was here.]

Sylvester didn't even know how shocked he should be by this. 'Was the first Pope here too? Why? Was he looking for the elder tongue? And what's this riddle?'

He felt now it was even more important to note down all these elder tongue words as they may come in handy in the future. It also became apparent that the first Pope was a far more important character in history than the books told. There was something going on behind the scenes…something that either the church does not know, or they try to hide.

On another thought, he remembers the mention of the First Pope was limited in the books, and only the legends and stories of him founding the church were told. It was never revealed how he lived and his ideologies, like other Popes in history.

Even the books on the man were limited, making the first Pope somewhat of a legendary being than a Pope.

"Max! I found them! That damn archpriest Oliver is fake!" Felix shouted from a distance.

Sylvester made his way quickly and found Felix standing beside five whole skeletons, the most important part being they all were wearing clergymen's clothes. One of them was in an archpriest's attire, and the rest were simple priests. And besides their skeletons, on the floor, something was written with dried, blackened blood. 'They threw us in the well! Oliver Weston, Gustav, Mormon, Hensley, Charles.'

"Ah! So that's what happened!" Sylvester exclaimed and rubbed his chin. "These men likely died from hunger after walking around indefinitely and eventually reached these ruins."

Felix was angry, however. "The Archpriest Oliver above killed them? Why? Why would a town commit heresy and risk being wiped out by the Inquisitors?"

"I don't know—but we shall soon find out. Let's leave this place now, Felix." Sylvester packed all the remains of the clergymen and headed out of the ruins.

"How are we going to return? That little place we fell out of is too small, can we even find it?" Felix worriedly asked.

Sylvester smirked and nodded at the cat on his shoulder. In an instant, Miraj started to point his paws in a certain direction. "Just follow me."

It took them as much time to return as it took them to reach the ruins. Thanks to Chonky's sensitive nose and the bunch of food and banana Sylvester left behind, it was easy to find a way.

Eventually, they arrived at the little hole in the ceiling of the cave. The way back up was going to be tough but not impossible. "Let's use Earth magic."

Sylvester and Felix both created tall steps for themselves that got them to reach the hole in the ceiling. Then, they started creating small protruding rocks in the tunnel they fell out of so they could hold them and climb their way up.It was not easy, but since both of them were young and strong Knights too, physical exertion was nothing. They remained calm and silent the whole way back, however. Sylvester was deep in thought about the first Pope. He felt like looking for more details related to the man may answer some important questions for him.

At the same time, this assignment that started as something normal had taken the shape of something too immense. Madness, Demons, Bloodlings, Pope FIrst, and now this heresy. Things kept escalating, he felt.

Slowly, they arrived at the top and jumped out of the well. Then Sylvester used the same key to lock the hidden door again and filled the well with water.

"Crazy how there exists a totally new world underneath this little well," Felix muttered.

"We saw nothing. We went nowhere. Don't speak of this to anyone unless we find out what's going on in this town. Got it?"

…

"Where are Felix and Sylvester? Did you see them?" Gabriel was looking around for his friends who had gone missing hours ago.

Sir Dolorem felt worried as well since they could not find him anywhere in the monastery. "They're not healing the patients either."

"Did something happen to him? Did they take him somewhere?" Gabriel thought about the worst-case scenario and was one step away from contacting the local Inquisitors to come and take charge.

Bam!

"Ahaha… who knew the girls were so feisty in this town!" Felix suddenly arrived, appearing to have come from outside the monastery.

"Where were you?" Sir Dolorem questioned.

Felix embarrassingly rubbed his hair. "Hah, I was just… you know… sightseeing. What about you two? Why the long faces?"

"We were looking for Sylvester. Was he with you?" Gabriel inquired.

Felix nodded. "Oh, he's looking around and finding more people suffering from that brain disease. He'll be back soon, don't worry. Come, a kind lady gifted me some fruits. Let's eat."

Felix knew he had to make some nonsense and keep the two carefree about Sylvester, so he kept babbling and entertaining them.

Sir Dolorem was not satisfied, however. "It's not good to leave him alone, Priest Felix—considering his luck."

'Come on, bald old man, just sit here already.' Felix was tired and frustrated. "He will be back… trust me."

"Felix… what are you hiding?" Gabriel quickly caught onto it.

'Fuck!'

"Nothing… ah, this fruit is so tasty."

"Sir Dolorem! I will hold his arms. You hold his leg." Gabriel jumped all of a sudden.

Bam!

"I won't go down so easily, boy!" Felix brawled back.

"I'm too old for this." Sir Dolorem stayed by the side and…

Crunch!He took a bite of the apple. "Indeed, the fruits are good."

Instantly the two boys stopped and looked at the man's face awkwardly. Clearly, they played themselves this time.

…

Chief Kennard's Mansion

Bam!

"We finally had the monastery under control, and now these so-called priests have appeared. This is madness—we have to take care of them before it becomes too much."

"Calm down, Chief." Archpriest Oliver spoke. "I know it's frustrating and honestly annoying to be constantly on the lookout. But we need to be careful, lest they get a whiff of this, and we attract the ire of the Holy Land."

Thu!

Chief Kennard spat on the side. "Those sun-fuckers, they were useless then, and they are useless now. That Bard… or whatever, he says the mental illness is spreading because of what happened fifteen years ago? It was them! We suffered because of them!"

Sir Holand was in the room as well, sitting in a distant seat by the table. "Chief, we have a bigger problem now. The Necromancer is a high-ranking Bishop… he may have more power than even the Priest, and if he finds out… we will join his army of undead."

"They are the same!" Archpriest Oliver muttered. "They are all likely Sanctum Inspectors… that's what they are called. We can not mess this up, or it will be the end."

"What about the trouble in the mountains?" Sir Holand asked.

Chief Kennard folded his arms and scoffed. "We have money. We can hire a Legendary-ranked party from the guild. They should be good enough to handle whatever demon resides there. What I'm saying is clear, we need these priests out of town as soon as possible!"

"That blonde priest is missing as of now. I heard his partners calling for him." Archpriest added.

"Great, he better meet some demon and just die now. The sun-fuckers are not welcome in my town… they lost that right years ago, Pollux."

Sir Holand, however, was someone who had seen Sylvester's miracles and was honestly moved by them. "Do we have to kill them? Even if we hate them, they have done more for us than any other. Finally, we're seeing some progress in treating the people."

Bam!

"Look at this." Chief Kennard put a paper on the table. A grin was clear on his face. "That boy is worth a hundred thousand Gold Graces. That much money can easily allow us to not only hire a legendary adventurer party but also save enough to rejuvenate the trade later… Ah! I need another drink."

Chief Kennard got up and walked towards the cupboard to take out expensive fine wine while addressing the two partners in crime. "Let's deal with that Archpriest Aiden as well. He came here from the Holy Land, but, no matter what we give him, his loyalty will always lie to them."

"B-But… they will send investigators to look… Lord Bard is also God's Favored." Sir Holand warned them.

Drunk in power, Chief Kennard scoffed. "Nothing to fear, Sir, I have everything covered… what can the little blonde man do?"

He opened the creaking cupboard smilingly, already seeing the money from killing Sylvester. Not knowing, he would soon be turning so cold he'd need a dozen warm stone heaters.

"Let's celebrate with the best wine in my- my- my… AAAARGH! W-What are you… N-No… we didn't mean to sae…"

Thud!

Chief Kennard fell back on his arse.

There, inside the cupboard, stood a man with a wide devilish grin and narrowed eyes—now there was nothing that could save these men from their demise.

"Sorry, this little blonde man invited himself in… can I have a glass too?"

___________________

GT = 1 bonus chapter.

Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!