“You think I’m a demon?” Christoph shifted back in his bed until he was sitting straight again the wall behind him.

“Not quite,” Lucius replied. “But they will. Tell me, have you ever heard the name Veritas before?”

Christoph shook his head, hand paused where he’d started reaching for the bed sheets. If the high schooler was telling the truth, dashing out of the room now wouldn’t end well for him.

“Tempter?” Lucius asked, tilting his head and speaking without regard for Christoph’s confused silence. “Bastias, Manitas, Charter, Strider, Militia, Wrath?”

“You know, I think I do know some of those words,” Christoph said with a dry look. “What’s your point?”

“Do you know of the Silver Swords?” Lucius continued, narrowing his eyes at the older man. “The Shattered Swords?”

“If you’re trying to fish around inside my head with that gift of yours,” Christoph began, “you’ll have to do better than that.”

“Are you related to Josephine Smith?” Lucius said flatly.

“Watch it,” Christoph snapped, face contorting into a scowl. “You’re on thin ice.”

“I thought so,” Lucius mused, unfazed by Christoph’s response. “That would make Merry your father, then? If you’re, what, twenty something right now that gives us… barely a decade between us and of course a half century with those two involved.”

“A decade?” Christoph replied, ignoring the subject of his lineage. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m talking about the times we were taken from,” the high schooler said. “Liam and Ginger would have been involved with the original conflict, the Prayer Game that your parents fought in. You came from nearly twenty years after and finally me, ten years later still… I wonder if that means-”

“Not to interrupt your train of thought,” Christoph said with a raise of his hand, “but what am I supposed to do about this, about now? The history of another world isn’t exactly high on my priorities right now.”

“Of course not,” Lucius said, standing from his chair. “Here’s what’s going to happen.”

…

Christoph staggered slightly on the cobbled road as he made his way through the city streets, the already dim light becoming darker still with each passing moment. Clutching the bag at his side, he picked up his pace and ignored the market stalls on his way. If he didn’t make it through the city gates before the church caught wind of his movements, he likely wouldn’t live through the night.

Reaching into the hessian sack, he produced a small object, throwing it into his mouth as he would a tablet or sweet. It warmed his tongue pleasantly before dissolving, and he reached for another before he had traveled more than two streets. Rather than candy, the contents of the sack were the crystals that had been arranged around his small room.

“Here,” Lucius had told him, holding up a thumb-sized crystal. “Eat this. It probably isn’t the most economical of solutions, but it’s probably best for you to satisfy your hunger before setting out.”

Christoph scowled, turning his face away as he passed what looked to be a city patrol. He had passed only a handful so far, a tiny amount compared to the multitudes of adventurers that wandered the streets. Moving in groups of three of four, members of the Adventurer’s Guild stood out due to the small metal medallion they wore, and the weapons they carried at their hips or across their shoulders. Besides the city guard, it didn’t seem that any townsfolk carried arms in their daily lives.

The road stretched out before Christoph, an almost straight line that continued past the city gates. Despite his haste the sun had fallen almost beyond the horizon by the time he reached the walls, guards moving to mount lit torches in sconces arranged along the street. Christoph’s small sack began to emit a dull blue glow, the gems inside rattling gently with each step.

“You see?” Lucius had asked him, light gleaming off his wire-framed glasses. “See how the light flows into you from the crystals? If anyone sees this it’ll be the end of you. Thankfully, the fact that we can see that is due to our unusual circumstances… as long as you don’t run into any particularly gifted magicians you should be fine.”

Magic. Christoph shuddered at the implications. Shaking his head, he moved to stand in line to pass through the city gates. At this time of night, the majority of traffic was poised to enter the city, but a small queue had formed in the opposite direction as well.

“Next!” The guard called the line onward, and Christoph shuffled forwards awkwardly. Although the church had not disposed of his shoes as they had his shirt and jeans, he would no doubt draw unwanted attention if he wore them on his journey. The cobblestones had burned his feet from the church to the gates, and he was thankful of the slowly setting sun if only for that reason. Looking around, he saw several people stealing glances at his bare feet, one small boy going so far as to tug on the armor of his companion, leaning up whisper into the older man’s ear.

“Next!”

Christoph approached the guard, reaching into the sack and pulling out a small letter Lucius had given him. The guard frowned upon seeing the letter, but after carefully scrutinizing it he waved Christoph onward.

“Good pilgrimage, monk,” the guard said, buying Lucius’ quickly constructed cover. “Next!”

Breathing easier, Christoph bowed his head and strode out of the city. Making his way past the line of merchants and adventurers waiting to enter the city, he continued on into the empty plains, following the hard surface of the road as he went. Behind Christoph, a small group of adventurers broke out of line, turning away from the city and following along behind him.

…

Once he was sure that he was far enough from the city gates, Christoph reached into his sack and pulled out two more gemstones. Popping the smaller one into his mouth, he held the larger out in his hand, feeling the warmth inside spreading throughout his fingers as he caressed it. Consuming the stones might be a more effective method to take in mana, but merely absorbing the energy through contact would allow him to re-use them at a later date.

Christoph walked on somewhat mindlessly, the vast plains and endless road doing nothing to lend him strength for his journey. Even if the church never found out that he had been starved for mana rather than smothered by it, the Creator’s Blessed would be after him. Added to that were the valuable crystals he had stolen from the Creator’s Willful, sealing his fate as someone who would never be welcomed in the Kingdom of the Creator.

Slowing his pace, Christoph turned his head to glance back at the city behind him. Surely there would be no priests on his tail, no armored Knights Templar pursuing him on horseback. Instead, a small group of five adventurers were also travelling along the highway, the waning sun hiding their features as it set behind them. Halting for a moment, Christoph stretched out before stealthily reaching into his sack and replacing the long-dissolved gemstone in his mouth. With that, he let out a sigh and began to jog along the road.

Behind him, he heard a sudden clash of metal on metal. Although he ignored it at first, the sound continued on, a rhythmic clank of an armored figure jogging along a cobblestone road. Slowing once more, Christoph threw a glance behind him. The adventurer group was jogging as one, slowly closing the distance now that he had slowed.

Frowning slightly, Christoph picked up his pace once more. Behind him, the adventurers increased their pace to match with his. Clutching at his sack almost reflexively, Christoph fought to calm his rapidly beating heart. This was no longer coincidence, this was an obvious pursuit.

He turned back for a third time, doing his best to run his glance over the group behind him before putting his head down and increasing his pace to near that of a sprint. The boy who had whispered to his comrade! Wearing a strange hat and robes, and carrying a staff – a magician, then? Had he seen the gemstones glowing through the sack? The companion he had whispered to was the armored man, a shield clanking on his back as he jogged after him and an axe hanging at his hip. There were three more members of the group – a spear-wielding man, a woman carrying a bow and a plainly clothed man who was dressed not unlike Christoph himself, even carrying a sack by his side as well.

Pushing his pace, Christoph was relieved to hear the clank of the pursuer’s armor fall behind. It was only a moment later that he noticed the rhythmic thudding of someone chasing him down with a pace that matched his. They had sent their faster members on ahead! Realizing that he could not escape, and especially cautious of the bow they carried, Christoph stopped his flight and turned to face them.

“Oh, are you finished with your jog?” It was the spear-wielder who spoke, smiling confidently as he took a stance across from Christoph.

“Coin!” The armored man called out as he jogged towards them. “Hold your blade!”

“Yes yes, I know.” Moving out of his stance, Coin pressed the butt of his spear into the road, leaning on the shaft as he waited for his companions to arrive.

“Who are you?” Christoph asked, glancing warily over the group as they formed up in front of him. “What do you want with me?”

The armored man nodded his head in response. “My name is Ruth. The guy over there with the spear is Coin. The girl over there is Lily, the mage’s name is Regal, and the bored looking man over there is Quester.” He pointed to each of the group in turn, each person giving a little nod or curt wave as they were introduced.

“Together, we form the Gold-ranked adventurer party Sacrilegious Shield,” Ruth said. “Now as for yourself, what company are you with?”

“Company?” Christoph blinked in confusion, still trying to figure out everyone’s names. Ruth was a male’s name, and the three other men were named Coin, Regal and Quester?

“Aye, company,” Ruth continued with narrowed eyes. “Which one are you with?”

“You’re mistaken,” Christoph said. “I don’t work for a company.”

“If you work for no company, and you’re not a member of the guild, how did you come into possession of so many crystals?” Ruth asked flatly.

Christoph froze for a moment, and the armored man turned his head toward Regal the mage. “How many did you say you saw?”

Regal closed his eyes for a moment, clutching his staff with two hands before opening his eyes again. “More than a half-dozen,” he said. “Maybe as many as ten.”

The contents of Christoph’s sack numbered more than two dozen gemstones. Ruth smiled over at him, reaching down to place a hand on the handle of his axe.

“So?” Ruth asked. “Care to explain yourself?”

Christoph glanced over the group, arranged before him in the dimming light of evening. Taking a deep breath, he bowed his head to Ruth before standing straight again.

“My name is Christoph Smith,” he said.

“Two names?” Coin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Where I am from it’s customary to have two names,” Christoph said with a pained expression. He didn’t know enough about the Kingdom to make up a convincing cover story. “I arrived in this land only recently, and found myself growing ill due to the amount of mana in the area. The church was treating me, but I didn’t want to wait around until they decided to change their minds. I stole these gems so I could get to safety without throwing up blood again.”

Ruth narrowed his eyes at the story. “Regal, is something like that possible?”

Regal nodded his head. “Mana hyper-saturation. It occurs very infrequently and mostly in small children. The Church of the Creator’s Blessed does not take kindly to those that are afflicted, and they are usually taken away by the Templars if the Willful don’t stop them.”

“There, it’s true,” Christoph said with a pleading look. “I’m not looking for trouble, and I doubt that gold-ranked adventurers would be the kind of people to participate in literal highway robbery.”

“Watch your mouth,” Lily snapped. “Do you want us to turn you in to the Templars? The favor we’d receive from the church would probably be worth it even without the reward we’d no doubt end up with.”

Christoph fell silent, having to concede to her point.

“I for one have no wish to send this man to his death,” Ruth said. Regal nodded his little head in agreement.

“Money is money,” Coin said with a shrug.

“If you guide me to my destination I can pay,” Christoph said. “I won’t have a need for most of these gems once I get there. You can take them back to the church, tell them that you recovered them from me.”

“We’d have to wait for the quest to be posted,” said Coin. “Holding onto those things until then?”

“That’s enough,” said Ruth. “None of use hold any love for the church as it is. Neither are we common bandits. This is a good job, and you know it.”

“What about our current quest?” asked Regal. “Gold-ranks have no slack when it comes to abandoning jobs.”

“Where are you headed, Christoph?” asked Ruth.

Christoph turned away from the group, pointing to the other end of the highway. In the dim light of sunset, a faint blue glow was visible to one side of the horizon.

“I’m told there’s some sort of forest ahead,” Christoph said. “That’s my destination.”

There was silence for a moment before Ruth replied. “If you want to die so badly, we might as well just turn you in now and save us all some time.”

“No, no,” Christoph said, shaking his head. “As long as I have these crystals, I absolutely have to get to the forest.”

Ruth turned back to the group. “It’s on the way,” he said heavily. “We might as well take the job.”

“On the way?” Christoph asked.

“Yeah,” Coin said with a lazy gesture. “The target of our quest should be somewhere between here and the forest.”

Christoph remained silent in the hope that he would expand on the topic.

“You should prepare yourself,” the spearman said with a grin. “We’re going to kill a dragon.”