As they walked down the path, Nero's shifted to Gungnir. Right now, the spear was completely covered with strips of clothing he had torn up. It wouldn't be wise to draw attention because of the spear.

Plus, from what he had infered from Garrick and Fallow's interest in the weapon, it would be safe to say he had to keep it hidden. Drawing the wrong kind of attention would definitely be fatal, especially if it came from the church.

Luckily for him, he still had the Silver Blade. The spear, Gungnir had been reduced to a very long came and was now in Geor's hands.

Although the spear had been hesitant, upon his urging, it had allowed itself to be hefted, although Geor complained every once in a while about the enormous weight of the spear.

He glanced down at himself. He was a complete mess.

Throughout his journey up until now, he had earned a decent number of Seals of Sin, almost a hundred since he had abandoned the path of the lone wanderer.

***

Seals of Sin: 264/1000

***

The effects of the Seals of Sin on his physical body became more apparent with every one he got.

He noticed that he had become much taller than he had originally been, even without transforming into the Black Body.

In this form, he was also a bit more toned despite still being slender. His body was covered in compact muscles filled with tension that would explode forth with a single blow.

All of that of course, was hidden beneath his torn and worn clothes.

His skin was also fair, like freshly squeezed milk. He had become aware of this rather glaring... hindrance.

To counter this, he had covered his face and arms with dirt, making him seem far less appealing.

At least, that is what he hoped.

The sounds and scents of so many humans filled Nero with anxiety as they approached the very end of the road before stepping onto the main road.

Before they did, Obed raised his voice and caleld out, turning the heads of those at the very rear. From their looks and attire, Nero could tell they were ordinary travelers.

Their visage was rather poor and most of them seemed to be in poor health, or declining conditions.

"Good day. I am a Hunter from Liedenstorm, just coming from a mission within Malady's Garden. Does any one of you know what is going on?"

In an instant, Nero felt the atmosphere shift.

Most of the heads that curiously turned around snapped back in place, as though afraid they would be noticed, with some of them even trembling in place.

Only a few of them remained, although their faces were twisted into expressions of fear, terror, and distrust.

One of them— a man with very short white hair and darker skin stepped forward with a frown and narrowed eyes,

"You are a Hunter?"

Obed glanced him over and frowned,

"You are from Kanka?"

The man nodded, "My name is Emif. A native of Nieb, a town close to Kanka."

The humans native to Kanka and the surrounding towns had a rather distinct look— darker skin and white hair. In the past, they had once been thought to have been descendants of a certain Nephilim. Those biases had carried on into the present and they were treated poorly in some parts of the empire.

Obed frowned, "Do you know what the hell is going on her"

Emif nodded, "I do. But it's going to cost you."

Obed grimaced while Emif stretched a hand forward,

"Ten bronze coins."

Obed's eyes twitched as he cursed, "You really are ballsy. Are you scared I'll cut you down where you stand?"

Emif shrugged, "You can go ahead and do that. But good luck finding who'll talk to you. Even if they do agree to talk to you, I'm certain they'll want much more than just ten meager pieces of bronze."

Obed's face turned dark as he took a step forward,

"You—!"

Nero placed a hand in front of him, stopping him from taking another step forward.

Obed grimaced. Then he sighed.

He dug into a pouch hanging on his waist. A few pieces of something flew through the air.

The boy, who looked no older than Nero was, deftly caught them all.

His expression changed,

"Oi, this is only seven."

Obed sneered, "That's all you'll be getting. Now talk."

Emif clicked his tongue whilst muttering "Greedy bastard" under his breath.

Then he sighed and cleared his throat,

"Three days ago, the Templars came to our town and ordered everyone to move. Normally, we would have been moved to Kanka, but Kanka is fairly smaller than Liedenstorm and has reached full capacity, so we were brought here."

Obed grimaced, "What the hell is going on?!"

Emif shook his head,

"I have no idea. We were told nothing. All we know is that is has something to do with the Grey Clouds."

When he said this, Emif trembled slightly in fear.

Obed's eyes widened and he exchange glanced with Nero,

"Well, I'll be damned."

Noticing this small interaction, Emit frowned,

"Do you all know something? Now that I've shared what I know, don't you think it's fair to share what you know?"

Obed sneered, "Sure. That'll be ten bronze pieces."

Emif frowned then turned around.

Nero sighed.

Then his eyes shifted when he noticed movement at Emif's legs.

To his side were two little kids with darker skin, looking up at him with beautiful brown eyes.

Noticing something, Emif turned around and caught him.

His expression instantly changed as he bared his teeth,

"What the fuck are you looking at, bastard?! I'll rip your fucking eyes out!"

Nero took a step back and raised his hands defensively,

"No! That's not—!"

Seeing the persisting dangerous light in his eyes, Nero sighed internally and fell silent.

He turned around,

"With how things look, we'll definitely be hear for a while. We should get somewhere to rest."

The fielda of grass on both sides of the road were filled with thousands of camps and tents. But there were still a significant portion of empty space.

'We need a moment to gather our thoughts.' Nero thought to himself.

With the new information, there were a lot of things they needed to consider.

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