When Feidric asked his question, the passerby didn't answer immediately. Instead, he rubbed his fingers together. Sensing his hesitation, Feidric didn't press him. He simply pulled out a few more Silver Lions and offered them.
"Ahem!" the passerby cleared his throat and began. "To be honest, I don't remember the exact date. All I know is that one day, the Death Church and the Black Hand clashed."
Realizing the four might not know who the Death Church and the Black Hand were, the passerby took the time to explain them before continuing. "That battle was truly earth-shattering! With a mere gesture, the Black Hand summoned dark clouds that blanketed the entire city, unleashing thunder and lightning!"
"But then, the Holy Maiden of the Death Church slashed through space with her scythe and summoned a dragon from who-knows-where! A real, colossal dragon! It was unbelievable! I'd never seen one in my life!"
"And then the dragon opened its maw and unleashed a pillar of fire that soared skyward, piercing through the clouds and scattering them all!"
The passerby recounted the story in such vivid detail that Cipher began to suspect he might have witnessed the entire event firsthand, perhaps hiding in some corner to observe the battle.
As they listened, the four companions reacted differently. Cipher, of course, remained impassive; after all, she was one of the protagonists of this tale.
Aria blinked her wide, adorable eyes in awe. "A dragon? Its breath tore through the sky! How incredible!"
Feidric and Douglas, however, wore skeptical expressions. Both the idea of "tearing through space to summon a dragon" and "dragon's breath tearing through the sky" seemed far too outlandish, more like scenes from a fantasy novel than real-world events.
Still, with the storyteller halfway through his account, interrupting to voice their doubts would be rude. The passerby continued animatedly, waving his arms wildly. "Finally, beneath that raging inferno, the Black Hand, who had ruled Chaos City for nearly a decade, was reduced to nothing but charred ash!"
As the storyteller reveled in his own excitement, Feidric interjected, "So... what about this heavy snowfall?"
"Uh..." The man paused, then said, "Right after the Black Hand died, Chaos City was hit by a massive snowstorm. I don't know the exact details, but just a few days ago, the Holy Maiden of the Death Church rode a giant dragon around the city. Even from way back here, I could feel the ground tremble with every step that dragon took!"
"Alright, alright," Feidric interrupted, seeing the man was about to launch into another dragon story. "We've got the gist of it. Thanks."
"Fine," the passerby sighed wistfully. "Seriously, you wouldn't believe how magnificent that dragon was! You'll understand once you see it yourselves!"
As the man shuffled away, muttering to himself, Feidric let out an exasperated sigh and turned to his three teammates. "Let's summarize what we've learned..."
Before he could finish, Cipher handed him a Silver Lion coin.
Feidric froze, instinctively asking, "Why are you giving me money?"
Cipher's cat ears twitched slightly as she chuckled. "Here's the money you just gave that guy. I got it back for you. No need to thank me."
Feidric stared, utterly bewildered. He numbly accepted the coins he had just spent on information, then stammered, "Still, I don't trust that guy's story. The only magic I know that can summon dragons is the Eighth-Level Conjuration School's Dragon Pact."
"And even that spell doesn't summon dragons unconditionally. You first need to find a dragon, forge a contract with it, and pay a price each time you summon it to secure its assistance."
For example, you might have to give the dragon ten thousand Gold Dragons every time you summon it. So, the idea of someone summoning a dragon to fight the Black Hand—let alone riding one around town—seemed utterly implausible.
Even with a dragon summoned through the Dragon Pact, the relationship between wizard and dragon is one of equals. Would such a proud creature truly allow itself to be ridden?
(Meanwhile, a cute little purple Round Sparrow was fast asleep on Castorice's head.)
Feidric couldn't think of any way to summon a dragon other than the Dragon Pact, so he found the passerby's story highly improbable.
"Still," he continued, "while the details might be exaggerated or embellished, the core of the story is likely true. The Death Priest attacked Black Hand, killed the local tyrant, and then something happened during the battle that triggered this massive snowfall."
The group had come to Chaos City to investigate the history of the Demon Lord and the Hero, as well as the Divine Artifacts. Questioning the Death Priest directly about what had happened seemed like the quickest approach.
Though Death Priests weren't well-regarded among priests in general, they were still servants of a True God, making them far more trustworthy than these criminals.
"So, should we go look for these Death Priests now?" Aria asked.
Feidric nodded. "Of course. First, we need to find out where their headquarters is."
Just as Feidric was about to approach another passerby for directions to the Priest Headquarters, the group noticed the crowd ahead suddenly scattering, intentionally clearing a wide path.
Cipher and her companions had remained near the exit the entire time, never venturing too far. When they saw the commotion, they instinctively joined the crowd at the edge, clearing a path despite not knowing what was happening.
Soon, a dark-skinned man with a completely bald head, resembling a hard-boiled egg, appeared before Cipher, surrounded by his entourage of underlings.
The moment Cipher saw him, she realized it was indeed Brother Hawen, one of the Black Hand's four most trusted lieutenants. She hastily covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
But her tail, wagging playfully behind her, betrayed her amusement.
It wasn't out of disrespect; the man simply looked utterly ridiculous, like a hard-boiled egg with facial features.
If this was truly Brother Hawen, how had he managed to create this endless Fire Wall? Could he still be using those scrolls from the Mage Tower? Hadn't he run out of them by now?
As Cipher pondered the situation, Brother Hawen arrived at the Blazing Fire Gang's exit. The guards at the gate immediately bowed deeply, addressing him with utmost reverence. He nodded with obvious satisfaction, then swept his gaze across the surroundings, as if surveying his domain or relishing the fear he inspired in others.
After a moment, Brother Hawen announced, "Work time's over for today. Same drill as before—quick hands, no mistakes this time!"
He then instructed his lackeys to distribute a sheet of paper and a small pouch to everyone present, naturally including Cipher and her companions.
The man who handed Cipher her items couldn't help but whistle at her appearance, but with the boss watching closely, work took precedence. He quickly moved on without making any advances.
As Cipher accepted the items, she frowned. The paper was unremarkable, but a searing, intensely pungent odor emanated from the small pouch.
Most importantly, Cipher had smelled this scent before—in the castle of the Grand Duchy of Kandela's capital!
She opened the small pouch in her hand and peered inside. Sure enough, a handful of red soil came into view. When she'd first encountered this stuff, Cipher hadn't known what it was, but now she did: it was soil from the Nine Hells!
The presence of this substance meant that Brother Hawen was undoubtedly connected to demons in some way.
Cipher turned to look at the other three. Feidric reacted quickly, his brow furrowing as he met her gaze. He nodded and said, "This is soil from the Nine Hells."
At that moment, Brother Hawen shouted, "Go to the location marked on your note, scatter the soil from the pouch at the designated spot, and return with the note after completing the task to collect your daily rations!"
Hearing this, Cipher unfolded her note and fell silent. She couldn't make heads or tails of the crude drawing: a few small squares, some arrows, a circle, and a line of tiny text that read, "Place here."
"Dude, who can even understand this?!"
Just then, a passerby glanced at Cipher's note and exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap! Isn't that the statue market north of Chaos City? Between the second and third buildings? You're in luck, kid! The Holy Maiden of the Death Church rode her dragon and flattened all the snow around here. The path's a breeze now."
Cipher stared blankly. "???"
Seriously, how the hell did you recognize this place from these abstract squares?!
Cipher's lips twitched slightly. "Say, if I just go out there, stash this little bag in some random corner, and come back later to report, how would the Boss know if I actually completed the mission?"
The passerby's face turned pale with terror. He waved his hands frantically. "No way! Someone tried that before. But somehow the Boss can tell if you're lying. He tossed that guy into the Fire Wall and burned him alive on the spot!"
"Detect lies?" Cipher frowned, deep in thought.
Meanwhile, Brother Hawen, having finished assigning missions, led his gang away. Feidric turned to the other three. "What's the plan now?"
Aria tilted her head, confusion evident. "What do you mean, 'what should we do'?"
Feidric sighed.
After some effort explaining the situation with the Red Earth, Aria declared, "What else can we do? We have to stop Brother Hawen! Whatever he's planning, anything involving demons from the Nine Hells can't be good!"
Douglas pointed out, "But there are only four of us. We can't just storm their headquarters, can we?"
The Blazing Fire Gang had at least seven or eight hundred members. Even if only a tenth of them were loyal to Brother Hawen, seventy or eighty trained fighters would still overwhelm them.
Feidric suggested, "I think we should contact the Death Priests first and tell them what's happening. As priests of a True God, they're likely to intervene. Let local tyrants deal with each other."
Aria nodded vigorously. "Sounds good!"
Douglas agreed, "I'm on board."
When it was Cipher's turn, she mused, "That works, but I want to give that bastard a taste of his own medicine before we leave."
Feidric asked matter-of-factly, "What do you mean?"
"Don't worry about it for now," Cipher said. "Just find the location of the Death Priest Headquarters. You'll understand soon enough!"
About an hour or two later, Feidric had already located the Death Priest Headquarters. He hadn't left yet, waiting for Cipher.
The four of them were now positioned a hundred or two meters outside the Blazing Fire Gang's territory. Finally, sensing the time was right, Cipher openly dumped all the Red Earth from her pouch onto the ground in front of Feidric, Aria, and Douglas, scattering it casually.
Then, she strode straight into the Blazing Fire Gang's territory and found Brother Hawen to complete her mission.
Cipher handed over the note, her cat tail swaying slightly behind her. Narrowing her eyes, she purred, "Mission accomplished, meow~!"
Notably, she was wearing the black cloak she'd purchased in the Grand Duchy of Kandela, concealing her true appearance. To onlookers, she now appeared to be an ordinary Alliance Catfolk Rogue.
Brother Hawen raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "Ho, that was fast? Remember, there will be consequences if you're lying to me."
"Of course not! I wouldn't dream of deceiving you. I just got lucky—the path was easy, so it didn't take long."
Brother Hawen took the note Cipher handed him, glanced at it, and nodded. "Ah, so that's where it was. You're right, the path there is much easier to travel."
He moved his lips silently for a moment, but no sound escaped. The cat ears atop Cipher's head twitched slightly, but she heard nothing.
Immediately afterward, Brother Hawen said, "Good, you completed the mission well. Go collect your food for the day."
Cipher watched him, silently thinking, As expected, he was using some method to verify the truth.
If someone lied and was caught, Brother Hawen would undoubtedly kill them and send someone else to finish the task. But Cipher could use her Authority to deceive him. As a Demigod of Trickery, lie detection abilities were simply ineffective against her. Wasn't that perfectly normal?
Theoretically, if Brother Hawen believed her lie, it would become reality. But Cipher hadn't actually used her "Turn Lies into Reality" Authority. She had merely deceived him in the ordinary way.
And just like that, regardless of his plans, Cipher's lie had created a loophole!
A place that should have been prepared was now empty.