“Please don’t hurt my friend. I saved you, so in exchange….. please spare Ronin.”

‘Zeriav’ was quiet at this for a while, and Cermin sweated nervously. He was already dripping in cold sweat when he woke up because of his nightmares about that ghost.

Eventually…..

“I understand, but….” ‘Zeriav’ hesitated a bit.

“You do know that he is becoming a daemon, don’t you?”

Cermin nodded with a look of regret. “It was my fault. I should have been there to protect him from being turned.”

‘Zeriav’ gave Ronin one long look, and eventually said. “I understand, but he is a detriment to your safety. So….”

“Let me join you, and we can stop him in case he harms others because of his transformation.”

Cermin’s eyes widened. “You want to travel along with me and Ronin? But you hated him—”

“We don’t know yet what he could be capable of. But he might suddenly lash out due to the hold of darkness over him.” ‘Zeriav’ scoffed. “My conscience can’t take it if you have saved me….”

‘… And I have not returned it by protecting you.’ At the same time, the words were being delivered by Ronin to Zeuxis for him to say out loud.

He was like a director, and Zeuxis was not a bad actor. He really had Zeriav’s posture and actions down to the smallest detail.

He was less impulsive than he was as a child, though he love mockery still. Maybe his work with the marquis had thought him a thing or two about deception.

When you live in a cutthroat condition like that, you would learn how to change your face and actions to survive too.

Cermin beamed at this, and said. “I will let you join, but you must not harm Ronin. In case he transforms to something worse….”

“We can only detain him. And he should be as safe as possible until we gain the help we need to change him back to a normal human.”

Ronin grinned deviously, but in Cermin’s blind eyes, it was just a sweet, grateful smile.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I will do my best to help you and Zeriav with daemons like that as well.”

When Cermin was reminded of the daemon last night, he asked ‘Zeriav’. “What happened to that daemon who attacked you? The one with lightning, he’s—”

“He’s dead.” ‘Zeriav’ answered plainly. “You killed him last night with that ray of sunlight. Do you remember?”

Cermin’s heart went cold at this. So it was not just a dream.

Someone died because of him again.

He felt sick, and Ronin pretended to worriedly hold him by the shoulder to stop him from stumbling back.

“Are you alright, Your Highness? What’s wrong? You killed a daemon to save us and many others, shouldn’t you be happy?”

His words mixed with the words of a higher, feminine voice

“Good riddance! Isn’t that great!? You have gotten rid of a criminal like him and we’ll never see him again! He’ll rot in prison until he receives lethal injection! Hahaha!”

Cermin breathed deeply, and shook his head. “I’m fine….. You’re right. What matters is that you’re all safe.”

“All daemons would receive divine reckoning from your hands, Cermin.” ‘Zeriav’ went over his side to tap his shoulder.

He gave Ronin a glare. It was more realistic for ‘Zeriav’ to act this way instead of immediately accepting.

“Yes, but that was on accident. I don’t want to kill anyone, I believe everyone deserves a second chance.” He shook like a leaf, looking down.

“What if he was just a kind and innocent person like Ronin before he was turned? We could have had a chance to change him too.”

(I’m certainly not a kind and innocent weakling since I was born.) Zeuxis cackled in his head.

‘Just keep acting and say what I say.’ Ronin chided him.

(Fine, fine. Pftt. Banana-face is such an idiot.) He insulted Cermin on the inside…..

And comforted him on the outside. “We may never know. But that doesn’t change the fact that by losing that one life, you saved dozens more.”

“Imagine how much damage he would have done if he stayed alive while you died, Cermin. Not even just defeating you, he would still harm others had he escaped.”

That made sense, but Cermin still felt nauseous at the thought. It was difficult to breathe. He must have developed an extreme phobia of the idea of killing someone.

Ronin patted his back. “Let’s go pack our things and travel further, Your Highness. Get yourself some fresh air and some sunlight outside.”

“That’s right…. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.” Cermin gave them a smile. “Maybe….. Maybe we can find a temple of any god and pray for that daemon’s soul?”

“After all, he may be able to get a good afterlife even after transforming as a daemon.”

And so, they went out to travel as a trio now. One Gold Hero prince, one Lord of Darkness, and one Lightning Sapphire Daemon masquerading as a Moonstone priest.

————————-

As they went on their way with flasks of water provided by the inn for free, they soon passed by another town. This one seemed….

Shadier than the rest. This must be what you would call a ‘slums’ in this setting.

But they were just right beside a better and richer neighborhood, with a field of black trumpet mushrooms dividing them. There was a stark difference with the atmosphere themselves……

Though the darkness surrounding the whole Magecia after that rift in the sky was made had lessened that difference.

Even though the initial plan was to get Cermin some nice fresh air and sunlight, they can barely get any because of the destruction of Celestus.

But even so, that neighborhood still looked brighter than it’s counterpart, and more appealing to visit.

“The signs read Sodomia and Elysia.” Ronin translated for them with his knowledge in Himmelgardian.

“Which is which?” ‘Zeriav’ narrowed his eyes. Himmelgardian had a different script as Sephyrine, and the Commons.

“The one on the left of the mushroom field is Sodomia, the one on the right Elysia.”

Elysia was the one that looked better. There was also a tall temple of the Highest Order god Soma.

“What is Soma the god of?” Cermin asked, as he saw a statue of a man with a mushroom cap for a head.

“Soma is the god of the common men, camaraderie, and working together, as well as mushrooms. His doctrine was all about one-ness, the joining of workers to be of one mind to serve their kingdom.”

‘Zeriav’ made a sound, then cleared his throat. “He looks….. Interesting.”

‘Don’t laugh.’ Ronin chided his brother.

(I did not, did I?) Zeuxis cuckled. (He’s just so funny, and to think that he was so high even with being associated with mushrooms!)

“He was named a Highest Order god only recently. Back then, he was considered vulgar due to his connection with commoners. But he replaced the Goddess of homes and doves, Eotia.”

Cermin nodded. “He doesn’t look vulgar to me. I like what he stands for, one-ness. That all of us are the same and connected in duty to others.”

“He actually have two sides. Soma Dei and Soma Vil.” Ronin added. “Soma Vil is when the workers are allowed to rejoice and make merry.”

“Which is usually leading to immense debauchery and occasional insanity.”

Cermin blinked. “Insanity?”

“Some mushrooms cause hallucinations after all, and some are poisonous.” Ronin said. “I was also surprised that someone like him became a Highest Order God.”

“But Eotia had lowered in favor once Freya stopped being a war goddess, and came to represent women serving in homes as well. So, they voted for a new god to take the 12th Order.”

Ronin shared his intensive knowledge, and Zeuxis had to control himself not to yawn.

“Soma had made his name known in Himmelgard as a minor god, but he rose to popularity among other kingdoms through word of mouth for the commoners.”

“And since faith is the basis of a god’s powers, the more followers he gained, the stronger he got.”

Cermin nodded. “So gods can change positions not based from importance, but fame.”

“Importance has a hand to it, but yes. There may be gods that have better relevance and service to humans, but if they are unknown, they do not reach the Highest Order.”

They have reached the signage now, the crossroads of the two villages.

“That temple in Elysia is for Soma Dei.” Ronin said. “But look, there are flags of Soma Vil in Sodomia. So you know immediately what kind of people live in each towns.”

‘Zeriav’ muttered: “Those who live in depravity preferred Soma Vil, while those who were like his dutiful side prefer him as Soma Dei.”

“Let us go to the temple first to pray for that Lightning Daemon.” Cermin said. “Maybe the priests and priestesses there are kind enough to give us some shelter and food—”

“Harlot! Do not soil our god’s temple and get your dirty bastard child out of here!”

“But he is also my god!”

“Soma is no god to dirty whores like you and sons of whores! Get out of my sight!”

A woman was kicked by someone like a dog, that someone being a man with a mushroom-bowl hair cut.

She was holding a child in hand, who looked sick and frail and close to death. And because of that kick…..

They stumbled down the steps, the mother protecting her child before they hit the ground!