A lone man walked along the road garbed in a thick hooded coat to fend off the winter chill. Spring was only a month away, but the weather was still cold enough to kill the usual man if he traveled about without winter's clothing. Fortunately, the lone man was anything but usual.

“This journey better be worth it,” Ellis Hegan muttered underneath his hood. It had been more than two months since the Pope had sent him on his journey, and he hated every single moment of it.

A journey from Zurath, which was in the northeastern corner of the continent, to Edria, located at the south, normally took a year of traveling. The logistics of the journey required planning, crossing several borders needed complex paperwork, and the journey itself was mostly composed of the traveler resting and seeing to their biological needs. It was a daunting task, a task that Ellis wished was dumped on somebody else.

Unfortunately, being a Holy Paladin came with its own set of burdens and responsibilities. As the only Holy Paladin stationed in the Holy See at the time, Ellis was the only one capable of traveling to Edria within record time. With his power as an augmenter, Ellis could travel on the ground several times the speed of a galloping horse and not require as much sustenance as a normal person.

But despite shortening the year-long journey to a couple of months, Ellis knew he was still too late to do anything about the Pope's vision. The only thing he could do now is to investigate the situation and minimize the fallout of the incident.

With those goals in mind, Ellis arrived at the town of Erfeld.

●●●

The sky had already gone dark when Ellis entered Erfeld, which was a good thing. The chapel in front of him surely received a large crowd every day, which would have made it harder for him to visit unnoticed. Fortunately, the people in this town seemed to sleep pretty early. The streets were already empty of traffic when Ellis arrived at the chapel.

The Paladin knocked on the large double doors and after a few seconds, a blond-haired nun answered, who gave Ellis a once-over and closed the door a bit while shooting him a suspicious look. “Is there something you need, sir?”

Ellis couldn't really blame the nun for her reaction. Instead of the resplendent armor he usually wore as a Holy Paladin, the suspicious cloak covering his face and body and the bulging traveler's pack on his back didn't really exude an aura of a holy knight. “Ah, good evening, Sister. I know I don't look the part, but I carry orders from the Holy See. Is the incumbent pastor for this chapel present?”

At the mention of the Holy See, the nun's expression turned even more doubtful. I did not think our nuns could look so mistrustful, Ellis thought.

He had spent many years living in the Holy See, where most people were kind and nuns retained their innocence and naivety well after they finished their training. Seeing the nun in front of him give him doubtful looks reminded him once again that he was no longer in Zurath.

“Do you have any proof of identification?” the nun asked. “Please understand, we only want to make sure everything is as you say and that you really are a messenger from the Holy See.”

Ellis almost slapped his forehead at forgetting such an important protocol. The administration at the Holy See always stressed the importance of showing identification when it came to handling official matters with their churches outside Zurath. This is why Catherine doesn't send me off on missionary work, Ellis thought with amusement as he retrieved his seal as a Holy Paladin.

The nun jumped a bit when Ellis reached for his pocket, but when he finally showed her the shiny metal badge with the crest of the Holy Paladins, all suspicion fell from her expression and she opened the door fully. “I apologize for my suspicions, Sir Paladin, I should have known right away. Please, come in.”

“It's quite alright, Sister. It never hurts to be too careful these days,” Ellis replied as he entered the chapel, although his eye twitched when he saw the nun putting a poker back down behind the door. She was going to stab me if I didn't have my seal?!

The nun guided Ellis through the empty nave, which was pretty small by his standards. Understandable given the small space the chapel was built on, but at least the pastor didn't spare any expense for the statue of the Holy Mother. It might even be as beautiful as the displayed at the Mother Cathedral.

Ellis expected the nun to guide him to the pastor's office, but instead, he found himself brought to what seemed to be the dining room. The nun sat down at a small dining table in the middle where two other women were seated and eating dinner. One was a black-haired woman as young as the nun that guided him here while the other had more wrinkles than a gnarly tree.

“Still rude as ever, eh?” the old woman said as she looked at Ellis, eyeing him from head to toe.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Betha,” Ellis replied while fighting the urge to display a surprised expression. He didn't know what shocked him more: the fact that the pastor could read his mind or the fact that the living fossil in front of him still looked as spry as the day he met her.

“Bah, I've known you since you were a snot-nosed brat, Ellis. You never really gave much respect to your elders, did you?” Mother Betha said, then gestured at the seat in front of her. “Since you're rude enough to interrupt our dinner, you might as well join us.”

“Thank you for the invitation, but I'm afraid what I need to talk to you about is for your ears only,” Ellis said while glancing at the two other women in the room. The nun that guided him earlier had a curious expression, but the other one didn't seem to care. She didn't even look like she realized he was there.

“It's fine, Ellis. I think it's about time I've stopped keeping secrets from my daughters,” the pastor said while glancing at the black-haired woman with what Ellis could have sworn as a regretful expression. The term the pastor used to refer to the women shocked Ellis, but he had no time to meddle with their affairs.

“I understand your sentiment, Betha, but this information is too sensitive,” Ellis began, but before he could finish, Mother Betha gave him a glare so intense it reminded him of the days he spent studying under the old woman's tutelage.

“If you don't want to say it with the presence of my daughters, then you can leave now.”

Ellis hesitated at the old woman's words. He didn't have specific instructions from the Pope to keep things confidential, but he knew learning dangerous information such as the one he carried would put the person at unnecessary risk. If the two women in the room with them learned of the information, they have no choice but to be dragged into it, whether they liked it or not.

“Are you sure about this?” Ellis asked.

“I swear I'm gonna die of old age first before you start talking, Ellis,” Mother Betha said as she brought a spoonful of rice to her mouth.

“Fine, if that's what you want,” Ellis grumbled as he took the seat in front of the pastor. “I'm sure you received our message more than two months ago?”

Ellis was referring to the message they sent to the Erfeld chapel the moment the Pope shared her vision. The message about ‘saving the mother.’

“Yes, I did. You need not have come here to confirm that if I was allowed to contact you back,” Mother Betha grumbled.

“Sorry, but the administration deemed it crucial that our secret network remains a one-way messaging system,” Ellis replied. “But I didn't simply come here to receive a confirmation that you received our message. I need a report on the events that transpired.”

The room turned silent after Ellis' words. Even the background noise of clattering silverware stopped as the three women froze. The silence was broken a few seconds later by Mother Betga's soft chuckles. “A ‘report,’ eh? Looks like the Holy See finally deemed things interesting enough to send a Holy Paladin. Are they finally desperate to put out the fire under their asses that they've been ignoring for years?”

“The situation was not deemed sensitive at the time,” Ellis began, but he was cut off by Mother Betha's furious shout.

“Not sensitive?! I've been sending messages to the Holy See again and again to send us help in protecting the mother and her child! I've been telling you that this place is not safe for them, yet they never even replied to my messages! Not even a single Templar was sent our way to help us! And now that the situation has gone to shit, you're going to come here to ask for a report? To what, to put the blame on me when I report how dire the situation has become?”

Ellis tried to butt in, but Mother Betha did not allow it. “I'm not done yet, Ellis! I want you to know first that all this could have been avoided if the Holy See listened to me. But no, it seemed their pride is more important. Is it because of what I've done all those years ago? Did my words back then hurt their ego so much as to prioritize their pride first instead of their responsibility?”

“Nobody's blaming you for what you did a long time ago, Betha,” Ellis said with a bit of annoyance. He knew the pastor was just venting out her anger, but he didn't represent the Holy See. Honestly, even he had a few misgivings about the old foggies running the headquarters.

“That's not true and you know it,” Mother Betha spat. “Fine, if it's a report you want, then it's a report you'll get. The mother is dead and her son had run away to who-knows-where, but not before killing thirty-three people including this town's Baronet.”

Ellis' eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Wait, my information says the son is just shy of thirteen years old. Such a young child couldn't have committed murder.”

“What will you do if someone rapes and kills your mother, Ellis?” Mother Betha asked darkly.

Ellis froze in his eat. Despite the hypothetical nature of the question, anger still surged inside him.

“That's why,” Mother Betha said at Ellis' reaction. “The only silver lining I see in the situation is that Br— the son did not find out that his mother was raped, or else there would have been even more casualties.”

Ellis shuddered at the thought of an Ascendant without proper training massacring people left and right without mercy. But with this piece of information, Ellis hesitated on what he should do next. Catherine's instructions had been to protect the mother and her child, but with the mother gone and the child nowhere to be found, his next step should be to search for the missing kid. But should I? Ellis thought.

He had become a Paladin to help the innocent people of Zurath and fight for their sake, but should he help someone who had murdered more than thirty people? No matter how much he tried to look at it, he could not see the child as anything more than a monster who could and would kill.

“How did the kingdom react to the child's rampage? Did they find out the child was an Ascendant?” Ellis asked.

Mother Betha looked at him with extreme annoyance, although Ellis couldn't tell why. “They thought the child was a monster and are thus looking for a new species of ‘spider monster’ roaming around freely. As long as the child keeps his power a secret, he should be safe, and seeing as how the King hasn't established a bounty for a new Ascendant yet, he should be doing well on his own.”

The news brought Ellis some relief. It would have been extremely difficult to find the child before the King did if they knew a rogue Ascendant was running around without a leash.

“Then I guess I should start looking for him,” Ellis said. “Don't worry, Betha. If I find him, I'll take him back to the Holy See where he'll be safe. If I'm too late and he's already dead, then you'll be the first to know.”

Mother Betha's annoyance turned to cold fury at Ellis' words, much to the Paladin's confusion. “You're just like them. I thought you were different, Ellis. That's why I took you in as a student all those years ago. But it looks like you grew up to be just like them.”

“Are you saying I'm like those old foggies in the Holy See?” Ellis asked angrily. The pastor's words hurt him more deeply than he thought. After all, Mother Betha was once a teacher he looked up to.

“Are you saying you're not?” Mother Betha asked sharply. “Throughout our conversation, you did not even ask for the names of the mother and her child. They should have been under the protection of the Church, and yet the mention of the mother's death didn't even bother you one bit. Not an ounce of guilt at all. And telling me that I'll be the first to know if you find the child dead? Was that supposed to comfort me? If those are not enough proof that you're just like them, I don't know what is.”

Ellis stared at the old woman in front of him. A person he used to look up to when he was young. Betha left the Holy See a long time ago when she got into conflict with the other members of the clergy. She chose to become a simple pastor of a local chapel outside Zurath to do what she believed was right, and Ellis was inspired by her.

Which was why hearing the words Mother Betha said hurt him very deeply, and for the first time after decades of doing service as a Holy Paladin, Ellis doubted himself. What made things worse was that he didn't even notice the things Mother Betha said until she mentioned it.

Before the silence in the room could go on further, the black-haired woman who had been staying silent all this time spoke to him. “If you're looking for Brogen, I want to come with you.”

Ellis wasn't the only one surprised. The nun looked like she'd just seen the world end, but Mother Betha didn't look shocked. She even looked like she expected it to happen.

“Are you sure about this, Lina?” Mother Betha asked calmly.

Lina simply nodded with a serious expression, far from the absent look she had at the beginning. “I can't stay here knowing there's a chance I could help find Brogen. Besides, he doesn't deserve to be alone, not after losing He… Helen.”

Mother Betha stared at her for a few seconds before nodding with a proud expression. “If that is what you want, then you will not find any complaint coming from me. You have grown to become a fine young woman, Lina. I'm sure Helen would have wanted you to look after her son after she's long gone.”

The blond-haired nun seemed to look conflicted, but Lina simply placed her hand atop the nun's. “I'm sorry, Tillie. I just… I just can't spend the rest of my days here. Every night is a nightmare. I could still remember what Brogen looked like when he snapped and I… I have to find him.”

Sister Tillie looked like she wanted to object and keep Lina from leaving her seat, but in the end, she sighed in resignation. “I have no right to stop you, Lina. I'm sure Helen would have wanted you to accompany Brogen and guide him in her stead.”

Lina and Tillie both stood up and hugged, but they were interrupted when Ellis cleared his throat. “I can't let a civilian come with me. This mission is dangerous and you'll just become a liability.”

The three women glared at him, which made Ellis break out in a sweat, but he still stood his ground.

“Then how are you going to find Brogen when you don't even know what he looks like?” Mother Betha asked sharply. “Do you know what his height is? His voice? Heck, you didn't even know his name until the moment we started mentioning it.”

Ellis looked sheepish at the pastor's words. “But—”

“No buts,” Mother Betha interrupted. “You're taking Lina with you, and you better make sure she returns in one piece or else you better not return at all.”

Ellis wanted to object, but he realized there was no point. If he wanted to find the child— Brogen— then he needed someone who knew the kid in the first place. Lina was his only lead. “Fine, she can come, but only under the condition that she follows everything I say.”

Lina nodded her affirmative. Ellis sighed at how the conversation turned out, but at least it was out of the way.

“I know you spent your entire life in Zurath, Ellis,” Mother Betha said seriously as Tillie and Lina began cleaning up the table. “But I hope your time outside that place changes you in a good way.”

Ellis didn't know what to say to that. He tried to think of something else to change the topic, and it just so happens that he forgot to mention something. “Oh, by the way, I forgot to say the crucial part. According to the Pope's vision, Brogen will one day take over the continent if things go on as they are.”

The silence that followed was broken as the plate on Lina's hands fell and shattered on the floor.

●●●

Using my ability to see through the eyes of my puppets, I sent Mr. Marion to the south of my new home where the Wild Woods was thicker. It was my fifth day of living in my brand new home and I made it a habit every morning to send Mr. Marion to hunt for the food I was going to eat for the entire day. It was a way to gather food, train my Authority, and gather precious monster materials in one fell swoop. Three birds with one stone!

As Mr. Marion waded through the thick forest, my original body lay inside the cave where the Grisly Bear used to live. I was nestled comfortably inside Spider's body, my eyes closed so that I could easily process Mr. Marion's vision without any other distraction.

Another aspect of my Authority I was training was the range in which I could control my puppets. Theoretically, I should be able to control my puppets as far as my fabric sense went, which was five hundred meters. Unfortunately, I could only expand my fabric sense to a hundred meters max before the large amount of information flooding my mind becomes too much.

To circumvent this problem, I found a way to manipulate my fabric sense. Instead of having my fabric sense expand like a huge circle around me, I instead turned it into a thick line with a large circle at the end, like a lollipop, that stretched to the direction I wanted. The circle had a radius of five meters and at the center was the puppet I was controlling, in this case, Mr. Marion.

By using my fabric sense in this way, I would be able to stretch its range farther than before without having my mind inundated with too much information. The max range for controlling my puppets, which used to be a hundred meters, now reached five hundred meters, the original range of my fabric sense. It was a pretty ingenious way of using my ability, if I do say so myself.

Right now, Mr. Marion was about three hundred meters directly south of my location searching for easy prey. Now that I wasn't riding inside his body and weighing him down, I could make Mr. Marion fly through the air just like I could do to smaller pieces of cloth, although right now I was only making him float a few inches above the ground to prevent him from making any noise.

Floating silently in the air, Mr. Marion slowly crept up on a feeding rabbit, although unlike a normal rabbit, this one was tall enough to reach Mr. Marion's hip and had antlers on its head. The rabbit was standing in front of a bush, eating the vibrant red berries growing from it.

With his sword already drawn, Mr. Marion silently floated behind the rabbit. When there was nothing but a meter of distance between them, Mr. Marion struck like lightning. One moment the rabbit was munching on berries, the next, its head was rolling on the ground.

“Thank you, little rabbit. I promise your body will not go to waste,” I muttered sincerely. Ever since Belka chided me for disrespecting the Grisly Bear we hunted several days ago, I've started honoring her words and muttered some thanks every time I hunted an animal. If I was going to live here in the long run, I might as well follow how the native people did their thing.

With the rabbit dead, I made Mr. Marion pick up the headless corpse and turn it upside down to drain the blood right where it died. If I drained it right in front of my cave, monsters would start investigating where that tasty smell of blood was coming from.

When the corpse was sufficiently drained, Mr. Marion's chest opened up like a monster from a horror movie. He unceremoniously chucked the rabbit corpse inside the hollow space inside his torso, as well as the rabbit's head, before closing it again. This was the method I used to easily transport my kills.

Just as I was about to make Mr. Marion head back home, my fabric sense detected three masses of fur creeping up behind him. Judging from their shapes, it was the large kind of wolf I often encountered through my journey in the Wild Woods, the ones that always came in packs of threes.

Mr. Marion pretended not to notice the wolves prowling behind him, and when one of them finally pounced, he quickly spun and slashed with his enchanted sword. The attack caught the wolf directly in the face, cutting off its jaw. The wolf cried loudly as blood spilled from its mouth and retreated.

Seeing their companion down for the count, the two remaining wolves snarled and changed tactics, choosing to surround Mr. Marion. I simply made my puppet wait patiently with the sword held firmly in his hand, ready to receive the next attack.

Once the wolves were in position, both of them pounced at the same time, one in front and one behind Mr. Marion. I guess I'll take out the one in front first.

Ignoring the one behind him, Mr. Marion raised his sword and slashed at the wolf pouncing from the front. It tried to dodge, but with its body in midair, it was pretty easy to hit the large target since it couldn't change its direction. The enchanted blade sliced through the wolf's belly, splitting it open which resulted in a rain of blood and organs that splashed on Mr. Marion's clothes. Damn it, not the stains again…

At the same time the first wolf landed on the ground with its belly split open, the second one was already right on top of Mr. Marion and slashed its claws on my puppet's head. The sharp claws managed to pierce through Mr. Marion's head but got stuck. Hehehe, Mr. Marion is made of tough stuff, doggy. Literally.

Mr. Marion started out as a thread suit made of hemp, the toughest material I had in the beginning. But after weeks of killing monsters in the Wild Woods and harvesting their fur, I managed to weave enough fabric to fully replace Mr. Marion's body. Now, he was made purely of monster materials, a mix of wolf and boar fur. It's gonna take more than that to kill my puppet, doggy!

As the wolf landed and tried to pull its stuck claw from the back of Mr. Marion's head, the fabric reformed and closed around the wolf's entire paw, holding the monster in an awkward position.

The wolf bit and tore at Mr. Marion with its free paw, but my puppet ignored the attacks that only resulted in superficial damage and began slashing the wolf in the belly repeatedly.

The scene was pretty brutal as Mr. Marion hacked away at the wolf, blood flying in all directions, but after the fifteenth slash, the wolf finally stilled.

I looked around the scene using my puppet's vision, dragging the dead wolf as Mr. Marion's head moved. As I looked to the left, I realized the wolf whose jaw Mr. Marion hacked away was still alive, albeit barely. It seemed the blood loss had been pretty intense, judging by the large pool beneath the dying wolf. It shook its head erratically, and I was sure it was whimpering loudly. The only reason I hadn't heard it was because I can't. The only sense I can currently share with my puppets was sight.

Seeing no reason to prolong the wolf's suffering, I made Mr. Marion approach the monster while releasing the paw of the other wolf stuck in his head. Once he was by the dying wolf's side, a quick stab through the eye was enough to end its pain. Nothing personal, doggy. You attacked me first.

I quickly plucked all the fur from the wolves and stored them inside Mr. Marion's body together with the rabbit corpse. I'd have to send Mr. Marion back later to collect the corpses since it'd be a waste of food if I left them here to rot.

Mr. Marion's return trip was pretty quick now that he didn't have to sneak around the forest. As I made my puppet run back home, I can't help but grin. Controlling my puppets like this always gave me a deep sense of satisfaction, as if this was my life's true calling. It reminded me of the times I used to play RPG games, but instead of a character on a screen, I was controlling my puppets. Add the fact that I was able to see through the eyes of my puppets like an immersive VR game, no wonder controlling them was so fun.

A part of my mind knew that this feeling was probably brought on by the weird instincts that came along with my Authority, but as long as it didn't harm anyone, I had no qualms about it.

Once Mr. Marion was near enough to my home that I no longer needed to see through his eyes and guide him through the thick maze of trees, I opened my real eyes and took a look at my surroundings.

I was currently at the deepest part of the cave where the Grisly Bear used to sleep. Since I didn't really know how to build a house, I decided to just use this cave as my new home.

The cave was pretty big, about four meters high and three meters wide. The bones that used to litter the floor were now gone, replaced by a soft and exquisite brown carpet that tickled my feet every time I walked on it, and the dull walls and ceiling of the cave were covered with a beige-colored fabric to cover up their dreary appearance.

It made the place look a bit more like a home instead of the monster cave it used to be. If I added some furniture, it would be perfect.

Unfortunately, only this part of the cave looked like a home. If I walked several meters forward, I'd be stepping on the rocky floor of the cave again all the way to the entrance. I would have loved to fill the entire cave with carpets, but it'd be a waste of my fabric, especially when I had more important things to prioritize.

With my head poking out the top of Spider's body, I made him (yes, I decided that Spider is a boy) carry me to the entrance of the cave to continue my daily routine.

“Good morning, Mom. Just sent Mr. Marion to hunt some food, but I didn't expect to bag three more wolves. The rabbit would have been enough food for the entire day. Oh, by the way, I'll be going to the village today, Mom. The Grisly Bear's fur should be ready for pickup, and I'd like to start selling my products there and begin my business anew.”

After talking to Mom for a few more minutes, I bid her goodbye and shifted my attention to the edge of the clearing where Taloress was hard at work. She was currently sitting on a tree branch, gathering leaves and putting them inside a cloth bag. When it was full, she jumped down, went to the front of the cave where I was, and dumped the contents of the bag on the large pile of leaves on the ground. I made Taloress gather leaves since the moment I woke up today, and now I had a large amount of them in front of me. I hope this works.

My first step in establishing my own clothing company was to find a reliable source of fibers to spin into thread. I initially intended to buy all my fiber needs in the villages, but why spend money for it if I had an infinite supply growing all around me? I had been ignoring it all this time, but the fact that I can detect the fibers inside plants and leaves means I could control them with my Authority and use them, right?

Reaching out with my will, I felt my Authority take hold of the fibers inside the pile of leaves in front of me and I pulled. There was some resistance, but soon, thin strands of fibers started emerging from the leaves, ripping their way out of the leafy material. It's working!

I was worried at first that I wouldn't be able to control fibers in leaves since they were still “alive,” but it looked like it's fine if they were separated from the tree they grew from. The mana cost to harvest fibers directly this way was a bit inefficient, so I decided to harvest from a small batch of leaves first.

After a few seconds, I now had a bundle of greenish fibers, ready to be spun into usable thread, although it would be better if they were dried first. I was quite happy with the revelation that I could use the leaves in the trees as a source of fibers, but I couldn't help but be a bit miffed with how the fibers turned out.

Unlike the fibers I was used to dealing with, the ones I harvested from the leaves were tough. I don't even think I could make clothes out of this. The best product I could think of that could be made out of this tough fiber is cordage, like ropes.

I guess I could still sell ropes as a side business, but I'm opening a clothing company! It'd be pretty weird if I sold more ropes than fashionable clothes. “I guess I'll have to find some other source of material,” I muttered to myself.

For the time being, I decided to focus first on my trip to Wildpost today. I may not look like it, but I was pretty nervous. After all, today was a big day! It was time for me to introduce myself to the entirety of Wildpost and offer my services as a clothes merchant!

The fate of my clothing company depends on my success today. If my business manages to make a stable foothold on Wildpost, slowly expanding my operations to the other villages should become significantly easier. Then after that, I'd start expanding to the big cities…

I shook my head to clear my mind of thoughts of grandeur. No use imagining what I could possibly achieve when my feet aren't even planted firmly on the ground yet. I can only start daydreaming when I firmly establish my business in Wildpost.

At that moment, Mr. Marion arrived at the clearing and dumped the spoils from his hunt at the front of the cave. As I approached the rabbit corpse and the large bundle of wolf fur, I sent him away again along with Taloress to retrieve the corpses of the three other wolves he killed.

I stored the wolf's fur deep inside my cave where I would spin it later into thread, but for the rabbit corpse, I wrapped it in fabric first and stitched some Preservation enchantments on it to keep it fresh before sending it floating inside the cave as well. These were the moments when I couldn't help but grin at the convenience of magic.

When Mr. Marion and Taloress returned minutes later with the corpses of the three wolves, I wrapped them in Preservation-enchanted fabric as well and stored them inside the cave. With all that done, I shifted my attention back to my two puppets and my eyelid twitched in annoyance.

The black color of their attire hid the stains well, but I knew very well that my two puppets were covered in blood. The smell was strong enough to give it away.

“There's no way we're going to our debut in Wildpost while smelling like blood,” I muttered to my puppets.

Exerting my will, I peeled off several layers of fabric from the surface of my two puppets, the ones soaked in blood, and replaced them with new ones. After only a minute, Mr. Marion and Taloress now looked as good as new.

I stared at the blood-soaked fabrics I peeled off my puppets and frowned. As much as I wanted to burn it and scatter the ashes to the wind, I knew I couldn't waste fabric while I don't have a reliable supply of fiber yet. I knew I could just wash the blood off of it easily by letting it soak in water, but the urges that came along with my Authority were screaming at me to destroy the tainted fabric.

I shook my head and ignored the urges. It'd be pretty wasteful to destroy the fabrics. Besides, it would be prudent if I started getting used to ignoring my urges. It would be pretty bad if the time came again when my urges became so powerful I'd lose myself to it. I wouldn't want a repeat of the events that happened during my second Awakening.

With my puppets no longer stinking of blood, I exited Spider's comfortable body and entered Mr. Marion. I directed him and Taloress to the wagon, where Clip and Clop were already waiting. One of Belka's hunters returned the wagon several days ago, although it was more like he left it at the edge of the clearing and bolted the moment he saw me. I still couldn't comprehend why they were so scared of me even though I haven't done anything.

As a gesture of thanks, Belka even left a sack of grain inside the wagon when she returned it, along with a note. It turns out horses like Clip and Clop who pull on a large wagon every day can't subsist on a diet of grass forever without their bodies getting weaker, and Belka's note said that feeding them whole grains would keep them fit and healthy.

“No wonder the both of you ate whatever you could see while we were traveling for the past weeks,” I said to my horses while petting them. Both of them tried to chomp on Mr. Marion's hand.

I made Spider walk back into the cave and when everything was ready, I got on the driver's seat and began the trip to Wildpost.

●●●

Five days ag0

When Belka arrived at Wildpost's gates while riding on Mr. Marion's wagon, the first thing that greeted her sight was the hunters on top of the watchtowers hooting and hollering.

“The Head Hunter did it! She won!” one of the hunters shouted down at his companions.

What the hell are these buffoons up to, now? Belka wondered. Usually, she would have shouted at the lookouts for being unprofessional while on the job, but she was in a good mood. After all, it turns out that Mr. Marion wasn't a necromancer like they thought earlier.

It was a good thing, too. Belka liked to avoid conflicts with other augmenters and mages as much as possible. She was sure she could easily defeat Mr. Marion if it ever came to a fight, but there was always a risk involved that could very well cost her her life.

Finding out Mr. Marion wasn't a necromancer boosted Belka's confidence as well. She always prided herself in being a good judge of character, so when the possibility emerged that Mr. Marion was a necromancer, she started doubting herself. Fortunately, it turns out her judgement of Mr. Marion's character that he was a good man early on was correct.

As Belka guided Mr. Marion's horses inside the gates, one of her hunters, a young girl that recently finished training, came up to her and cheerfully asked her a question.

“Head Hunter! Is the necromancer finally dead?”

In a motion much faster than an arrow's flight, Belka's head twisted and faced the girl, whose steps faltered. Belka identified the young girl as Emily, who was definitely not a member of Ned's squad. Ned, who she instructed not to spread the knowledge about Mr. Marion's possibility of being a necromancer. Ned, who she told to keep the information within his own squad. Ned, the best hunter of his batch and also the most troublesome subordinate she ever had.

“I swear I'll skin him alive,” Belka muttered darkly. Emily, who approached her earlier, started retreating upon seeing the Head Hunter's grim expression, but Belka's words froze her on the spot. “Stop where you are, Emily. You're coming with me.”

The poor girl had no choice but to meekly obey the Head Hunter's command. Belka called another hunter and instructed him to park Mr. Marion's wagon to the village's stables before proceeding to walk towards the Chief's house at the highest point on the village, Emily trailing behind her nervously.

Throughout their walk through the village, villagers would greet Belka and inquire about the necromancer she supposedly went out to kill, and every time, the Head Hunter's expression would turn darker, discouraging them from asking further questions. They would look at Emily to see if she could divulge any juicy information, but the girl just hid behind Belka's large frame.

The two soon arrived at the village center where all the shops and businesses in Wildpost were located. As they passed by the blacksmith's shop, Belka paused and knocked on the house built beside the smithy. After a short wait, a large man answered the door, shooting a questioning glance at Belka and a little smile at Emily.

“Thom,” Belka greeted with a nod. “Did my hunters bring Selise home already?”

“Yes,” Bersk answered. “Her injury's not life-threatening, so she'll be alright. Did you manage to kill the necromancer that hurt her?”

Belka's frown deepened further, but unlike the other villagers, Bersk did not back off and simply waited for an answer.

“Did Ned tell you that?” Belka asked at last with exasperation. “There is no necromancer.”

Bersk grunted in affirmation. “I knew it was one of his antics again. I'm gonna bash his head in with my hammer the next time he comes by.”

As much as she wanted to see it come to fruition, Belka clarified things further. “There's a lot more to the situation, Thom. I need to talk with the Chief first, but to give you a summary, a newcomer arrived today, who we suspected was a necromancer. I intended to confirm our suspicions before spreading the information, but I see that Ned has already gone around telling everyone's mothers about the situation. I swear I'm going to stitch his mouth shut the next time I see him.”

The blacksmith chuckled, a deep sound that reverberated in his chest. “So what of the newcomer? Are they a necromancer or not?”

“No, Marion's not a necromancer. I confirmed it with my own eyes.”

Bersk nodded in understanding. “Now I see your conundrum. I'm guessing everyone's discriminating against this newcomer already?”

“Marion's not in the village yet,” Belka replied. “He wanted to bury his mother first outside the village, so I guided him to a spot. I'm actually on my way to talk to the Chief about this.”

Bersk was silent for a moment before calling out behind him. “Terence! I'm going out for a bit, take care of my daughter while I'm gone!”

Without even waiting for a reply, Bersk exited his house and closed the door behind him. “I'm going with you.”

Belka nodded in understanding. “Fair enough. This issue does concern the village, after all. Should we bring Kath and the others as well?”

“No, they're probably busy. Spring's coming and they're preparing their shops for the hectic weeks to come. Plus, they probably wouldn't care anyway.”

With that, they went to the north side of the village center, the point where the flat portion of Wildpost slowly sloped upwards. There was a wide stone stairway built to make climbing easier whose other end led to the Chief's house.

As they climbed the stairs, they passed by several paths that branched off to both sides of the stairs that led to groups of houses built on the slope of the mountain. If the flat portion of the village contained all the shops and warehouses that the people needed for their livelihoods, then the sloped portion was the residential area.

The climb took Belka's group ten full minutes, but none of them were winded at all. Everybody living in Wildpost was already used to the long staircase they had to traverse every day. During the trip, Belka remained silent while Bersk made small talk with Emily, who was a close friend of Selise.

When they arrived at the top of the stairs, they were greeted by a small abode with a small yard at the front. As the house of a village Chief, it was a pretty humble affair, although what made it different from the other homes built in the residential area was the fact that it was built entirely of stone. Towering trees surrounded the house on all sides, blocking most of the sunlight and making the area dim, but despite the lack of light, the house somehow still managed to exude a sense of comfort and refuge, a little island of safety in the middle of a monster-infested forest.

Without even bothering to knock, Belka entered the house with Bersk and a nervous-looking Emily following behind her. The first room they entered was the receiving area, and just like the exterior of the house, the inside looked just as humble. Old furniture occupied most of the space and filled the room with the scent of wood.

“Old man!” Belka called out without any hint of shame.

“Coming! Coming!” an aged voice replied from the back of the house. Moments later, the sound of a staff tapping the ground could be heard before Chief Bran entered the room, a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead. “Can't even get some semblance of privacy around here…” he grumbled.

“Sorry, old man, but we've got no time to dally,” Belka said.

“Not to worry, I know you bring important news,” the Chief said while dabbing a handkerchief on his forehead. Upon seeing Bersk and Emily, he quirked an eyebrow. “Why are Master Bersk and young Emily here with us?”

“The matter-at-hand concerns the village, so I'm here as one of the village Heads,” Bersk explained.

“So that means Belka has already briefed you on the situation,” the Chief said with an understanding nod. “How about young Emily? What is she doing here?”

“Ned told the others about the necromancer situation,” Belka replied. “I initially brought her along so she could tell us who leaked the information to her and find out how much of it has already spread. Unfortunately, it turns out to be pointless because as we made our way to your house, people have already been asking me about the necromancer.”

Chief Bran's eyes looked like large saucers by the time Belka finished explaining. “Before we talk about that and the consequences it would entail, tell me, Belka. Is the newcomer a necromancer?”

With a straight face, Belka answered “No.”

The Chief brought his wrinkled hand up to his face and massaged his temples to fight off the coming headache. He sometimes wished his mind deteriorated as he aged so that he'd become ignorant of life's problems. Sadly, his mind was sharper than an enchanted blade and he was able to deduce the consequences of Ned's actions before they could even begin to happen.

“Didn't you tell that man, no, that boy, not to divulge the information to others?” Chief Bran asked tiredly, even though he knew the question was pointless no matter the answer.

“I did, but it looks like we underestimated Ned's foolishness,” Belka replied. “Discussing what Ned did is useless. The question is, what should we do now?”

“The only thing we could do now is to mitigate the consequences,” the Chief replied. “After this discussion, I will make an announcement to clear the rumors and formally welcome Mr. Marion to the village. The people would probably still think negatively of him, but there's nothing more we could do about that. I guess I'll also tell them to stop spreading the rumors, but I don't know how effective that's going to be.”

“Is this ‘Mr. Marion’ going to live here in the village?” Bersk asked.

“No, Marion's building his home far from here, although we're still the closest settlement available to him,” Belka answered.

“Then why are you both stressing yourselves too much over a stranger?” Bersk asked with a confused expression.

“Ah, I forgot you're not quite up to speed yet,” Chief Bran said. “Mr. Marion's a clothes merchant and I'm sure he wants to set up his business here, but that's not the only reason. Mr. Marion is also a mage.”

Hearing the last word filled the people in the room with equal parts trepidation and excitement. They knew how scary mages could be with their magical prowess, but at the same time, all of them, maybe except for Emily, always thought in terms of the future. As Heads of the village, they had to. And that was why they felt excitement: a mage joining Wildpost village could bring about tremendous change single-handedly. Whether it was good or bad was still up for debate, which was why the people in the room still weren't sure yet whether to fear or to welcome Mr. Marion.

“For the time being, I think we should see how things pan out first. No use in trying to come up with plans for the future when we've not taken care of the present yet,” Chief Bran said. “Belka, can you instruct your hunters not to harass Mr. Marion when he does come? The last thing we want is chasing away the mage that could bring Wildpost to new heights.”

“Don't worry. Unlike the villagers, the hunters are strictly under my command. They'll follow my orders to the letter,” Belka assured.

“Um, what about Ned?” Emily squeaked from the side. Her presence had almost been forgotten by the others in the room. “What's going to happen to him?”

Emily shivered as Belka grinned. “Don't worry about him. I'll make sure he wished he stitched his mouth closed when I told him to keep things secret.”

●●●

The Present

As the sight of Wildpost's walls came into view, a bubble of excitement blossomed in my chest. Today was officially the first day of trying to start my life anew. I was feeling a bit nervous, but fortunately, Mr. Marion didn't reflect my emotions in his movements. From the outside, Mr. Marion looked confident, with his posture relaxed and his chin level with the ground.

While Mr. Marion drove the wagon, I was directing Taloress' actions inside the wagon. She was preparing the products I'll be selling today as well as making sure everything was as it should be. The last thing I wanted was a stray piece of goblin flesh sitting around from when that blasted panther ravaged a bunch of goblins in my wagon. Nobody likes rotting goblin meat in their clothes.

When my wagon neared the village gates, the lookouts stationed at the watchtower spotted me and began shouting at the other guards below. I swear one of the lookouts was about to reach for what seemed to be an alarm bell before being pulled back by his companion. They probably thought I was a monster or something.

As I arrived at the gates, a young woman was already waiting for me, a beaming smile on her familiar face. She seemed to be in her late teens, but her face still had the look of youthful innocence.“Good morning, Mr. Marion! Welcome to Wildpost!”

“Oh? So you already know of my name? I guess it can't be avoided that stories of my magnificence have already spread before I could even tell them. Hah!”

The young woman gave a good-natured laugh, which I'm glad was a genuine one. “Of course I know you, Mr. Marion. I experienced your magnificence first-hand, after all.”

At her words, I scrutinized her face more closely and realized why it seemed so familiar. “You're the one that banged her head on a tree!” I blurted out.

The young woman laughed bashfully as she scratched her head. “Yeah, that's me. Thanks for healing me by the way. The bump on my head was gone after only a day! That was pretty embarrassing though, so I hope you don't tell anyone else about that.”

“Ah, my mistake. Not to worry, my fair lady, your secret is safe with me.”

“I'm glad,” the young woman replied before muttering something under her breath. “Unlike some people…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing! By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Selise, nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, Selise. As for me, I am Mr. Marion, Clothes Master and Aficionado!”

Selise gave a cute giggle. “I like your cheerfulness, Mr. Marion, we don't have much of those around here. Anyway, Head Hunter Belka sent me to meet you once you visited Wildpost and instructed me to guide you to the Chief's house when you arrive. Is that fine with you?”

“If that is what the Muscle Lady wants, then I shall respect it.”

Selise paled considerably at my words and looked around her as if Belka would pop out from the shadows. “P-Please don't call her that. Especially to her face.”

“Alright, I shall only call her that when she's not around, then,” I said cheekily, to which Selise responded with a conflicted expression. “Time's running, Miss Selise, so lead away!”

My guide simply sighed and got up on the driver's seat beside me. “Just Selise is fine, Mr. Marion. I'm going to lead you to the stables first so you know where you can park your wagon when you visit the village.”

With Selise's guidance, the trip to the stables was pretty quick. The local villagers would smile at her when they passed us by, but I can't help but notice the glowers and fearful looks they shot in my direction. “It seems the people around here are a tad wary of strangers,” I commented.

Selise laughed awkwardly. “They're not usually this wary of strangers…”

“It's alright, Selise, I understand their feelings. In an isolated and tight-knit community such as this one, it is common for people to ostracize or even outright despise outsiders.” I already expected this kind of reception before I arrived here, although seeing it first-hand was quite a different experience, to say the least.

Once we arrived at the stables, Selise negotiated with the stablemaster, who seemed pretty reluctant to offer his services to an outsider. But I ignored their negotiation as my attention shifted to the back of the stables, where several horses were whinnying as they spotted me. At the rearmost stall, a man was busy shoveling what seemed like horse manure into a bucket. I would have ignored him if it was anybody else, but I knew this man.

Despite my young age in this world, I knew should still act as mature as possible since I was technically a middle-aged man if my age in my past and present lives were combined. But a mischievous part of me decided it was fine to act my current age from time to time.

“Well, well, well. Not only a good hunter but a fine shit-shoveler as well. I must say, I am quite impressed by your range of talents,” I said to the handsome young man glaring at me. It was the same man who was so rude to me when I first met Belka and her hunters.

“Mind your own business, necromancer,” the man spat. “A corpse-hugger like you is not welcome here.”

“‘Necromancer?’ What made you think I was a necromancer?” I asked with genuine confusion. Was he referring to me carrying Mom in my wagon? If that's so, then that was an insult I wouldn't take lying down. “How about you wear a mask while shoveling horse manure, young man? I fear you've inhaled so much of the shit in here that it turned you into a piece of shit as well. Even the words coming out of your mouth are full of shit.”

The young man's expression was one of shock, and seeing it was extremely gratifying. It took him a few seconds to register my insult before his face contorted in anger. But before he could make a comeback, I heard a restrained giggle behind me. The young man and I turned towards the source and spotted Selise hiding behind one of the stalls.

“Selise?! W-What are you doing here?!” the young man exclaimed while trying to hide the shovel he was using to gather the horse manure earlier.

“I'm here to guide Mr. Marion, Ned. He's an esteemed guest of the Chief, so don't be rude. I'm sure not even your pride could take one more of Mr. Marion's ruthless insults,” Selise said while trying to hold back laughter.

The young man, whose name turns out to be Ned, gave me a scathing glare, his ears red from shame. As much as I wanted to be mad at him, I kind of felt bad for what I did. Not only did I antagonize him with a shitty insult (Hah!), I did it in front of Selise who I'm sure he's probably got a crush on. His embarrassed expression was a pretty dead giveaway. Looking back in hindsight, I guess I should have acted more like my real age.

“Let's go, Mr. Marion. The Chief is pretty excited to talk to you,” Selise said as she began walking towards the stable's exit. “See you later, Ned! Good luck with work!”

For a second, Ned's scowl lightened, but when he saw me looking, his scowl came back full force. “What are you looking at? Get out of here already, you're messing with my work.”

“Fine, fine. Here, a little gift from me as an apology for my improper insult earlier.” As Mr. Marion reached into one of his inner pockets, I quickly created a pair of thick work gloves out of the spare fabric inside my puppet's body and placed it inside a pocket. By the time Mr. Marion's hand was inside his coat, the gloves were already finished.

I threw the gloves at Ned, who caught them midair and looked at me dubiously. “Something to keep your hands clean while you do your work,” I said before walking away. I didn't bother waiting for a reply.

Before we left the stables, I made sure to bring Taloress with me, who had been sitting still inside the wagon all this time. Her emergence surprised Selise, who didn't even know there was another person inside the wagon.

I also made sure that my wagon was secure before leaving it unattended in the hands of the stablemaster who looked like he won't even bother defending my property if a thief ever came to rob me.

With Taloress beside me, Selise led us through the village. So far, the only buildings I was seeing were large barns and warehouses, with the occasional shop now and then. Despite being the “largest” village in the Wild Woods, Wildpost was a pretty small settlement. From the road we were walking on, the wooden wall that designated the edge of the village was very close.

After only a few minutes' walk, we arrived at what Selise called the “village center.” It was a small round plaza where a bunch of shops and vendors catered to a small crowd of villagers buying the things they needed. Compared to the busy central plaza I saw in Vont, this was a pretty mild affair. For some reason, there was a small fenced-off area in the middle of the village center which contained a worn signpost. Probably a part of this village's history.

When the three of us entered the plaza, the small crowd of people busily haggling over prices glanced in our direction and slowly quietened. They stared at us, some with curious looks, but most of them with hostile glares. Glares that were directed at me.

“O-Oh, wow, it looks like a lot of people are curious about you, Mr. Marion,” Selise said nervously beside me before gesturing for me and Taloress to follow quickly. It was a pretty big understatement, but I wasn't about to correct Selise while a crowd of hostile villagers glared daggers at me.

I guess I should have gone for a more subdued outfit, huh? Right now, Taloress and I were dressed in our usual simple but exquisitely-made clothes. Even an untrained eye could easily tell that the quality of our clothes was a notch higher than the norm. The black color was eye-catching as well. You don't get to see people walking around completely in black every day. And to top it all off, normal people didn't wear full-face masks while walking around in a plaza. Taloress and I were literally the antitheses of the word “subdued.”

Fortunately, the crowd was satisfied with simply staring. Wherever we went, they would part like the Red Sea, giving us enough space to pass. When we passed by a building with a large chimney, the door opened and a large bear of a man emerged, his eyes looking directly at us. Then he started approaching us.

For a second, I thought he was about to sock me in the face and tell me that outsiders weren't welcome here, but instead, he simply offered his hand at me and spoke in a deep voice. “Thom Bersk, nice to meet you.”

“Uh, sorry, my name's Mr. Marion, not Thom Bersk,” I replied confusedly as I absently shook his proffered hand. The large man chuckled, and I belatedly realized that he was introducing himself. “Oh, my mistake. Nice to meet you, Mr. Bersk,” I said with what I hope was a calm voice. Mr. Marion may not be showing any outwards signs, but I was extremely flustered right now.

Mr. Bersk offered his hand to Taloress as well, and I made sure she shook it properly. Taloress couldn't introduce herself since she didn't have a voice, but fortunately, Mr. Bersk didn't seem to mind.

“That's very nice of you to introduce yourself, Dad, but we have somewhere else we need to go,” Selise said beside me impatiently. Wait, did she just say ‘Dad?’

“I know. I'm coming with you,” Mr. Bersk said.

Selise looked like she wanted to object, but she just sighed in exasperation. “Fine, but let's just go already.”

It seemed the crowd's stare was already getting to Selise's nerves. Walking quickly, Selise led us through the silent crowd towards the north side of the village center, where the ground began to slope upwards. There was a large set of stairs built to make the climb easier, but the fact that the top wasn't visible from the base was pretty intimidating.

“This house of the Chief, how high up the stairs is it?” I asked Selise, who gave me an amused smile I'm not so sure I liked.

“It's at the top.”

“Oh. That's a pretty long climb,” I commented dryly. Fortunately for me, I was riding Mr. Marion whose stamina was limited only by my mana, so I didn't worry so much.

“Don't worry, we'll take short breaks along the way to make it easier for you and your companion,” Selise said.

“Oh, don't worry about us, Miss Selise. We can easily keep up,” I said confidently.

Selise quirked an eyebrow with amusement. “Well, if you say so, Mr. Marion. Don't complain to me when we go too fast.”

“I assure you, we won't,” I replied haughtily. “I'd like to say the same to you, Selise. Don't complain if we go too fast.”

Selise's eyes flashed and she shot me a challenging smile. “Oh? Alright then, let's get started shall we?”

With an unspoken challenge between Selise and me, our group began the long climb with Mr. Bersk watching us with amusement.