??? POV:

The next morning a carriage came to town.

This wasn't surprising since the city is situated on an important merchant route, and carriages aren't rare.

Yet this particular one was eye-catching since it was white completely.

Carriages around the area are brown with dirt on them, that was the memento of their journeys.

This one was perfectly white without a speck of dust on it.

Its wheels were made out of the finest wood and on its side was the sign of the church, the golden cross. This holy construction was pulled by two white horses, with black eyes, proving that they weren’t albinos. Even the coach itself was in a perfectly white suit.

This magnificent construction rolled through the cobblestones of the street, straight to the church.

Once it reached the holy building, it stopped immediately, and three people descended from it.

The first one was a 16-year-old girl with blond hair and pale skin. She wore a cloth that made her look like a nun, except it had a white base with silver contour and a sizable golden cross as expected.

After her, another girl came out. She was maybe a year older, with brown skin and black hair. Contrary to the nun she wore a black leather outfit with a bow and a quiver full of arrows on her back.

And finally, a young man came out, wearing a regular outfit, the only thing sticking out was the sword that he had on his waist, made out of silver.

The first one to speak was the nun-looking girl.

“Goddess, thank you for protecting us during our long journey.”

“Let’s go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home.”

“…Belinda, I know that you have no respect for anything, but please compose yourself. We are on holy ground.”

“It's enough that we are wasting our time here! What we should do is to get to the duke who is here and get as much information as possible!”

“Could you two stop arguing with each other? This has been going on for the entire trip!”

The young man went past them and entered the church. The two girls stared at each other for a while before following him.

For a normal person, this please would feel oppressed by the huge building, yet he went forward unfazed.

Compared to the ones in the capital in which they regularly visited; this is nothing.

When he reached the end of the row of seats, two men were waiting for him.

One was the Mid- priest of this church.

The followers of the goddess had a strict hierarchical rule. They were divided into four groups. There were the low priests who were the most common ones. Above them were the mid priests who dirige churches in gig cities and fought evil spirits. Then there were the High-priests who gathered at the capital. They were the elite of the elite in church obeying only the one above them, the Pope, who was on par with the king.

This Mid-priest wore the uniform of his rank, which is a white robe with a golden cross. His face was wrinkled, but his eyes still looked young.

Next to him was the son of the duke. Like his father, he had brown eyes and hair. When the young man came in, he scanned them with his eye, a skill that he obtained through his lifestyle.

“…Nothing? Really? Even after all this time we still can’t find the thing that did this?”

“Nothing. We are still looking, but there is zero evidence and-Father, people are coming.”

the priest turned to the group smiling brightly.

“Dear guests, welcome to our church please give me a second.”

He quickly turned to his companion and whispered something to his ears, making him nod and runway.

Once he was out of sight, he turned back to the group.

“How may I help you?”

The nun took out an envelope and handed it over to the priest. He accepted it and ran through it. Each line made his eyes bigger until it looked like they would fall from their orbit.

When he was done, he looked at the trio and made a sigh with his hand.

“Follow me.”

He led them to a hidden door behind the altar that led them to a stair that was illuminated by torches.

At the end of the stairs, there was a metal door without a lock or a handle. The priest touched it with his hands and murmured something. Silver letters appeared on the door, and it opened without a sound.

The trio found itself in a basement that was filled with scrolls, books, chests, and other strange objects.

The only source of light was a candle that was situated on a table.

The priest took a seat on a chair next to the candle and made a sigh that his guest should do the same.

ˇ I’m sorry to bring people at your standings to a place like this, but it is soundproof and only I can open the door, so it’s best to discuss this type of thing here. My name is Father Andrew.”

“I’m Joshua Von Elburn, first son of the king. These are my companions. Belinda a Master Witch and Selma the Saint. I believe that we don’t have to explain why we are here.”

“No, of course not your majesty, the latter was pretty clear! But this priest does not know why you turned to me.”

“Well…” the prince turned to Selma.

She quickly got what he meant, and she explained it in his place.

“The church is closer to the people than any other organization. We believe that you or one of your men knew or heard something that might help us.”

“I understand but… Now that I think about it there are a few things.”

“Please tell us!”

“Well… Alright. One of them is about the sl… Poor district.”

This was the name of the slums that nobles and priests used between each other to describe it.

“The people living there are talking about a strange figure that started to appear recently. There are multiple descriptions, but its actions remain the same. It finds someone at their weakest state and offers them to make their wish come true.”

“What happens to them?”

ˇWell, we are not sure. Some of them disappear while others become healthier. We checked some of them and we found a temporary title they all gained, called Contracted.”

“This sounds like a Crossroads Demon to me,” Belinda said” But they usually only appear when they are called, and they don’t look for contractors. How did it even get inside? The barrier is supposed to fry any demon or monster."

"We are not sure. There was a monster horde not so long ago. Maybe it used the confusion to slip in."

"What are the other things you noticed?”

“There is only one more, but this one isn’t so strange. An adventurer was killed in his room. The room has been covered in blood and we can’t find its body.”

“Sounds rough. Is there anything that tells us who did it?”

“No, all his belongings have been taken. The receptionist said she didn't remember anything, so we believe magic was involved.”

“Why is it our problem? Sounds like a normal murder to me.”

“He was seen multiple times there and he even brought a girl from here to here. She was checked before we did anything, and we found traces of demonic energy on her.

“Did she make a deal?

“She didn’t have the title, but her parents were able to get a lot of gold and had the same energy on them. And also-“ He got up from his chair and went to a corner and was searching for something before returning to its place. “This is a drawing she made. I put it here without really thinking about it, till now.”

In the picture was a crudely drawn figure that was cut into two. On the left end, it was colored black without any facial features while the other part had an eye and a mouth.

“So, you believe that this is how it looked when she met it?”

“I believe it now. She is still here if you want to talk to her.”

“… Thank you, father, this did help us. Maye, I ask you to let us speak between us?”

“Yes, naturally!”

The priest bowed before leaving them alone.

“What do you girls think?”

“It's easy. The guy tried to find the demon and he got killed by it.”

“I believe the same thing, but I wish to talk to the girl before we make something concrete, maybe we can learn something.”

“Okay, then we split up. You talk to the girl and Belinda will go to the slums. In the meantime, while I want to talk to the adventurer’s guild about this adventurer, maybe he knew someone who could actually help us.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Let’s do this.”

*****

“I think this thing broke.”

Following the butterflies that gave me quite a girly feel, I have been walking around the slums for days, not getting closer to my target.

‘It is here. The power he has won’t lie to you.’

“Maybe because I am not the original owner of the power.”

‘Powers aren’t sentient. They are only tools to be used.’

“I am well aware of that, I’m just saying.”

I crashed my fist, erasing the butterflies completely.

‘Maybe, and just hear me out, why don’t we turn into a duck and fly away?’

“Shut up, Ducky.”

‘Shut up, Ducky.’

‘Fried chicken!’

I sighed and I looked up at the sky.

“It is lunchtime. Getting some food will surely clear my head.”

‘Believe us, there is no amount of food that can clear the mess you have in this cranium.’

“Then booze. What I wouldn’t give for a big cup of liquid madness. Maybe these insects can point me in the right direction.”

‘What is that?’

‘Sounds tasty.’

“…I should just keep on moving.”

*

*

*

[

Name: None

Race: Broken Memory

Age: 1.345. 654

Job: [Mad Alchemist Master] [King of Crossroads] [Bain of Creation]

LV: 1/ 100

HP: 1000/1000

MP: 50000/5000

STR: 4000

VIT: 10

SPD: 300

MRES: 2000

DC: more than a year.

Skill PT:0

Physical attributes: [Dark Vision] [Liquid Body] [Madness Embodiment] [Immortality]

Skills: [King of Crossroads Contract Creation, LV: Max] [ King of Crossroads Wish Granting, LV: Max] [King of Crossroads Business Sense, LV: Max] [Alchemy Mastery, LV Max] [ Masterful Golem Creation, LV: Max] [Masterful Abomination Creation, LV: Max] [ Masterful Summoning Magic, LV: Max] [Divine Telekinesis, LV: Max] [Divine Weapon Summon, LV: Max]]

Titles: [Broken Soul] [Enemy of Creation] [Escapee of the Void] [Killer of worlds] [Taboo Breaker] [Eater of Kin]

]