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Fiktok and the follower holding an umbrella over him stepped into the cave. Inside, they saw dozens of followers sitting around campfires, all staring blankly into the flames.
With a confident yet gentle smile, Fiktok addressed them.
"An infidel has arrived. Please invite him inside. We must awaken him from the shackles of time."
Karen froze.
Fiktok had noticed his presence.
What shocked him even more was that the nearly three hundred life signatures he had detected were all human.
Still, Karen didn't think Fiktok could actually see him. He had already entered the cave and was standing barely three feet behind the silver-haired man.
Whatever method Fiktok had used, he had somehow sensed that an outsider was here.
Several followers immediately obeyed and stood up to search for the invisible intruder.
Naturally, their search was pointless. Outside the cave, there wasn't even a small animal in sight, much less an obvious human.
"Preacher Fiktok, there's no one outside."
"Impossible. He was clearly standing in this direction..."
Hearing that report, Fiktok spun around and pointed directly toward Karen.
At that moment, however, Karen was transparent. No one could see him.
Coincidentally, a gray-haired follower happened to be standing in the exact same direction, making it look as though Fiktok was pointing at him instead.
Everyone looked at the gray-haired man in confusion. A blue-haired follower who knew him well hurriedly asked,
"He's my friend. How could he be an infidel?"
The gray-haired follower quickly defended himself as well.
"That's right, Preacher Fiktok. I abandoned the Goddess of Fate long ago and devoted myself to Lady Liv. Please believe me."
Fiktok himself was momentarily surprised by the coincidence of the gray-haired man standing in front of his finger.
Still smiling warmly, he said,
"Haha, of course I know. You just happened to be standing in front of where I was pointing. Would you mind stepping aside?"
"Y-Yes. My apologies."
The gray-haired follower quickly moved away.
Fiktok then addressed everyone.
"Search in that direction. If you don't find him, then he must have escaped."
"Yes!"
Fifteen male followers rushed outside to search for someone who wasn't there.
Meanwhile, the previously confident Fiktok began to panic.
Karen had already slipped silently into the crowd.
"Shit... where did he go..."
Unable to find Karen, Fiktok muttered a curse that shouldn't have existed in this world.
Unfortunately for him, one follower had exceptionally sharp hearing.
"Preacher Fiktok, what did you just say?"
Caught off guard, Fiktok's eyes widened.
His mind raced. After a brief two-second pause, he formed a triangle with his hands and replied in a worried tone,
"...I was praying. I hope Lady Liv's mercy can touch this infidel's heart and prevent him from straying further from the true path of faith."
"As expected of Preacher Fiktok. I'll pray as well."
The sharp-eared follower looked at him with admiration, copied the triangular hand gesture, and quietly began praying.
Having learned his lesson, Fiktok decided to keep his mouth shut from now on.
(Shit... where the hell did he go?! When I find him, I'll kill him!)
He had a strong feeling Karen hadn't left.
Yet no matter where he looked, there wasn't a single outsider without a cloak.
I followed the silver-haired noble-looking man into the cave, only to discover that all the life signatures belonged to humans.
Even more surprising, he had accurately sensed my presence.
Thankfully, he couldn't actually see me.
That alone was enough to leave me stunned for a few seconds.
The others called him a preacher.
Could this be the very religion Stark had mentioned?
If so, then everyone here might be from her hometown.
I might as well blend into the crowd and listen.
After watching the people who had gone outside searching for me, I quietly slipped among the followers gathered along the cave wall.
A nearby married couple was talking.
"Hey, I'm starving. Is there any of yesterday's food left?"
"You think you're the only one who's hungry? I'm starving too. Yesterday's portion wasn't enough."
"You ate way too much... Hey, what are you eating? Got any left? Give me some."
The man rudely shoved the young man sitting in front of him, who was eating a potato, and demanded some food.
The young man refused without hesitation.
"No. It's mine."
Food was rationed.
If the rude man hadn't gotten enough to eat, then naturally the young man hadn't either.
Why should he share?
When the rude man realized words wouldn't work, he reached over and tried to snatch the potato.
The young man fought to protect his meal.
"Don't be selfish. Good things should be shared."
"No!"
"I said give it to me!"
The argument became increasingly heated.
The rude man's wife and everyone else nearby simply stared into the fire as if none of it concerned them.
What was wrong with these people?
Were they so hungry they couldn't even be bothered to stop something that would waste energy?
Judging from their gaunt faces, probably.
Finally, the young man lost his patience and punched the rude man, hoping violence would make him stop.
Unfortunately, the rude man wasn't the type to back down.
"You bastard! You dare hit me?!"
Since the young man had thrown the first punch, he wasn't afraid to throw second punch.
I quietly stepped farther away.
In a crowd this dense, once fists started flying, innocent bystanders were bound to get hit.
"You hit me?!"
"Hey! You punched me! Are you trying to die?!"
"Who hit me?!"
Before long, it had turned into a full-blown brawl.
The cave descended into complete chaos.
Fiktok hurried over, desperately trying to stop the fighting.
"Stop! Why are you fighting?"
The instant he arrived, everyone stopped.
The rude man immediately explained himself.
"Preacher Fiktok, I'm hungry. If I want to survive, I have to take his food."
The young man holding the potato replied,
"I want to survive too. I have to protect my food."
The others had merely gotten caught in the crossfire and joined the fight because they refused to tolerate being hit.
I was speechless.
Where had these people's sense of morality gone?
Even if they had no morals, didn't they at least have religious principles?
Just what exactly had this silver-haired preacher been teaching them?
His next words confirmed everything I thought about religion.
It really was nothing more than using the name of a god as an excuse to do whatever you wanted.
"We are all followers of Lady Liv. Why are you biting your own kind? You'll only disappoint Lady Liv. We should be taking food from the infidels in the cities. That is what will truly please Lady Liv."
"My deepest apologies. I was wrong. I'll go take food from the infidels right away."
"I'll go too!"
"Me too!"
"I'm glad you've all come to your senses. Before we depart, let us pray to Lady Liv and ask for her blessing, so our harvest will be plentiful and the infidels may be guided back onto the righteous path."
"May Lady Liv bless us and enlighten the infidels!!!"
I was completely speechless.
So these people were the very robbers responsible for the raids in the previous cities.
They had become slaves to their own desires.
They had completely forgotten what it meant to be human.
I quietly left the cave before they did and returned to the town.
The orange-haired woman immediately shouted the moment she saw me.
"Hey! Why were you gone so long?!"
"The rain still hasn't stopped."
"If it hasn't stopped, then that means no one has died yet."
"This isn't your hometown. Don't overthink it."
"We should leave as soon as possible. Once we're out of the rain, everything will be fine..."
"Let's wait a little longer."
She was still terrified that she might be the one destined to die.
But I had no intention of leaving.
The real show was about to begin.
A short while later, frantic cries echoed through the streets, mixed with fanatical proclamations.
"Robbery! Someone help us!"
"The Brave can't save us! Only by submitting to the Demon King can we survive!"
"The Goddess of Fate's teachings are worthless! If you want to live, you must do whatever it takes! That is Lady Liv's doctrine!"
"If you want to survive, believe in Lady Liv!"
A crowd rushed past us.
Some stormed into a bakery.
Others charged into vegetable shops and butcher shops, stealing food while beating the shopkeepers who tried to stop them.
I turned to look at the orange-haired woman.
She stared at the looters in utter disbelief, quietly murmuring their names.
"Kai? Jamie? Ruvens? Uncle Raven... Aunt Agatha... Sister Amelia... Why are they here...? Why are they robbing people...?"
So they really were from the same town.
Pretending not to know, I asked,
"You know them?"
"They're my friends from the same town! Why are they robbing people?! Don't tell me... they were behind all the robberies in the previous cities too...?!"
"You came to the capital to find them, didn't you? Then go after them."
"You're right! Thank you for everything you've done for me! If we meet again someday, I'll pay you back!"
I didn't answer.
I simply smiled and waved as I watched her run after them.
Then I looked at the wagon, wondering what to do with it.
After thinking it over, I decided to leave it.
Someone would deal with it eventually.
Thanks in advance to whoever ends up taking care of it. I hope you live a long and happy life.