The existence of Deities wasn't that heavily accepted yet since there is no dominant religion in this kingdom...

Nevertheless, Reiji knows that there should be some small religions here as he had seen a few buildings that look like a church within the cities he visited...

​​

He also learned that the Chodora Kingdom was not inclined in letting other religions from the hostile neighboring countries enter their territory. It was probably due to obvious reasons.

"Master… Is that true?"

'Don't use your voice… Sense Link!' Reiji quickly reminded the young man that it probably surprised about this.

"Sir Customer, is there any problem?" The shop owner asked after hearing Rufus.

"Ahh… Yes… Please, put them in a bag… Here is my payment."

Rufus decided to settle his purchase first so he can focus on talking with his master. It's a bit difficult for him to listen or speak to them at the same time.

He then left the shop after getting the items with him. He made sure that they are kept safely in his bag strapped on his back.

He bought six of them as he's also planning to give them to his master's servants. After all, he somehow wanted to reward them for serving him really well…

During the days that they've been together, Rufus barely had to care about various things and focus only on his training.

'Master… May I know now about the Deities?'

'Mhmm… What do you want to know about them? I haven't really seen one so I can't say that much… However, they should be real…'

'Are they perhaps related to the source of Arcana? I read many theories about the Arcane World, however, there is still no conclusive evidence about it…'

'Really? I'm pretty sure that those people at the top of society are fully aware of this already… Maybe you just don't have the access to such information yet.'

'Eh? Is that so? Then that makes sense…'

Rufus muttered as he seemed to be lost in thought. Nevertheless, he continued walking around the city to find any more interesting things…

***

A fourteen-year-old girl was seated at the side of the streets when she noticed some unfamiliar people…

They are wearing thick clothes but she knows that they are not being sold here in the city. The clothes were also somewhat similar to her previous victims… Although they were also covering themselves with a cloak, it just made it easier for her to notice them.

'Four women… Those clothes… No emblems... They also have tanned skin… They're really not from here…'

The girl smiled after seeing her targets…

However, she finally noticed the scary-looking man that they are following. She observed the man and found similarities of clothes to the four women… It appears that they are all here together in a group.

'Then, it's better… I can do this…'

She approached the four women and dropped five silver coins after faking her fall. It obstructed the ladies as the coins rolled to their feet.

Cling! Cling! Cling!

The young girl is dressed pitifully… What was once a t-shirt is now nothing more than dirty pieces of fabric barely held together, hanging from her shoulders like a discarded towel.

Nevertheless, she's also wearing a worn-out coat over this shirt and this at least helps her survive the cold weather.

The coat is also too big and quite dirty. It was obviously just picked up somewhere in the city.

As the girl got closer to the four ladies… She finally had a chance to see their faces clearly…

'T-they're beautiful… I will earn a lot from this.'

She immediately thought after seeing them…

'Now, please touch the coins, please…'

She silently prayed. As long as they touched the coins, her job here would be over.

The four beautiful ladies took at her briefly and glanced at the coins scattered on their feet. They briefly looked at each other before one of them picked up the coins and gave them to the pitiful girl who seemed to be hurt due to her fall.

Because of the girl's fall, some people are looking at them… So even if they wanted to take the silver coins, they were perhaps shy and gave them back to the pitiful child.

The people looking at them gave an approving nod after they returned the silver coins from the child.

Then, the ladies continued on their way as they walked slowly…

The young girl smiled widely after receiving the coins from the unknown lady.

'I did it!'

She quickly left the scene and run towards a dark alley.

"I found you a target!"

She shouted after arriving…

Then, several figures showed up from the alley… A total of ten adult men carrying various weapons like nailed bats, butterfly knives, daggers, and some of them wearing finger gauntlets have appeared in front of the girl.

"How many?"

One of the ten with a nailed bat asked…

"There are four beautiful ladies! I'm sure that you'll earn a lot! However, they have a man leading them. They also look rich and smell good!"

"Kekeke… You already know what we want… So, they have touched the array, right?"

"Yes! One of them did!"

"Good job!"

The man reached into his pocket and throw five silver coins at the poor girl… As a matter of fact, this girl should already have savings of about 10 gold coins. It should be enough for her to buy brand new clothes and live a bit better…

However, the girl decided to continue with her work. After all, if she looks decent, she wouldn't know how she could let others willingly touch the array without them getting suspicious.

She quickly picked up the coins one by one and kept them in her secret pocket…

"Hey, there's only five here…"

"I'll give you more after we captured them… We also need to get paid first, alright?"

The man answered.

"Fine, I'll look around at the western gate I guess…"

"Heh~ There's already five of you waiting there. Just stay on your spot don't be stubborn…"

"Hmph…"

The young girl stomped her feet as she left the alley.

The silver coins that she dropped a while ago have a unique Magic Array that allows them to track people and do other things that she's not aware of…

Anyway, it's not her job to know what will happen to those ladies but she knows that they'll be sent to Count Vincent… She heard it in passing when those guys were chatting aloud.

After she left, the group quickly acted and brought out another silver coin… This will lead them to the target that the young girl marked for them.

"Let's get them, boys… We will have a feast tonight!"

"Yeah!"

They were all quite energetic as they are finally about to get to work… They will be not be targeting a single woman but four of them! It would be huge money if they are successful. Although they are with a man, it doesn't matter since they have various Magic Items with them…

Anyway, only those people that aren't wearing Arcanists Robes or Emblem of some organization were being marked by their hired beggars.

They shouldn't worry that much with their strength and Magic Items that they received from the attendant of the count.

***

Reiji and Rufus were looking around the city and found many beautiful sites like a clean water fountain where anyone can drink and a statue of the First King of the Kingdom…

Reiji somehow imagined that a king would be quite old but contrary to his expectations, the one in the statue was quite young in his twenties as he held his book and sword with his hands. Aside from that, the crown that he was supposed to be wearing on top of his head was also not there and was actually hanging on the man's wrist where he held his sword…

'Interesting king…'

Reiji thought after seeing the statue.

Ding!

As they were about to leave the place and look for an apothecary to resupply, Reiji was suddenly notified by his guide about the situation of his slave…

[ Your slave has been affected by a Tracking Magic. ]

[ Name: Slave Four

Spiritual Energy: 70 Units

Status: Increased Fear Resistance, Increased Sword Affinity, Tracked ]

Unfortunately, Reiji doesn't have the skill to remove such status effects.

However, as far as he knows, there should be a potion they can buy to remove any Tracking Magic applied to a person…

'Mhmm… But I don't think that it's a good idea…'

Reiji went silent for a moment. Although they can make arrangements to remove it, he felt that it might just happen again.

'Might as well try to see what they have in mind…'

Reiji smirked in his imagination.

After deciding on what to do, he immediately informed Rufus about the situation. He seems to be quite happy as he hurried to the place that Reiji instructed…

The latter was also communicating with his slaves with their connection as he confirmed their situation…

It appears that this city wasn't as simple as it seems.