"What a dump! It stinks like fish."

"Austen, you're being rude."

Overlooking the Shore, there were two people. One was an older man with a wise and dignified demeanor, while the other was a male teen; his hair was white, and his eyes golden. They were dressed in the ordinary garb of a traveler.

"But Pastor Hugh-"

"We are all equal under the eyes of the Radiant Lady. They are all people like us, but less fortunate. It is our duty to alleviate their suffering and give guidance when necessary. The accommodations might not be at the standards you're used to but your apprehension shows your lack of training."

The teen swallowed his words but didn't look convinced.

"Lessen your pride, disciple. You have as much talent as Stratos and Ciel but this is why you can't catch up to them."

"I will catch up to them! You'll see! I'll leave them eating my dust!"

Austen walked forth, his emotion was stamped into the earth through his steps. Hugh let out a soft sigh, a not-so-deep disappointment because he expected it. He too continued on the road to the Shore.

"Hm?"

Hugh looked around. He only found trees and shrubs.

"...It's gone. Is it my misperception?"

Dia, who had spread her awareness into the plants around the Shore, managed to escape detection and informed Viers inside the Biome.

Viers took inspiration from a Fable about a certain tree. A reincarnated tree who created a superpower of a nation with absolute surveillance using the fearsome privacy-destroying spy plants. Trees in his world were his eyes and ears.

Since trees were everywhere, he was everywhere.

Of course, Dia was not at TreeTree's level yet, but putting some surveillance surrounding a single small fishing village wasn't a problem.

When the two arrived at the village, Hugh asked a villager of the Viceroy's whereabouts.

"Bad timing, mate. The Viceroy is not here at the moment. He hasn't returned from Stormberg."

"That's a shame. Then may I meet whoever is next in charge?" Hugh patiently asked.

"Sure, ya' folks can meet the old chief. But…" The fisherman looked Hugh from head to toe then at Austen. "If this is Pathseeker business then ya' should probably see the Viceroy's vassal. I can take ya' there."

"That will be marvelous. Please lead the way."

"Righto. This way. His house ain't far."

Along the way, Hugh noticed the overall joyous mood in the village.

"A lively village. Everyone seems to be filled with vitality and hope," Hugh commented.

"Aye. After the young Viceroy came, he made things better. Methinks he was but a little pipsqueak when we first met but turns out he's alright. We definitely traded up. Hahaha… Never thought a noble could be that noble. Ya' know what I'm saying? Kinda makes sense he's got a dragon following 'im around."

"Fascinating. Sounds like the Viceroy is a remarkable young man."

"Oooh, ya' don't know the half of it. When he first came-"

The fisherman with a bit of an accent was quite chatty; he talked and talked. Hugh absorbed the information like a sponge soaking water, on the other hand, Austen was getting annoyed by the incessant chatter. His ears were beginning to hurt.

Hmph. I'm probably stronger.

The white-haired disciple of Hugh wanted to find out how much of a big deal the dragon prince was, already he had plans to ask him for a spar.

"Ah, that reminds me. I'm bringing ya' to the prince's vassal but I can't guarantee you'll meet him. Probably should've mentioned that sooner."

"Is he not present?" Hugh asked while looking at a family building a new house nearby.

"Nah, he's always in. It's just he's quite a recluse, ya' see. He doesn't go out much, but I don't blame the guy. I'd probably do the same thing in his shoes. Hehehehe. You didn't hear this from me, but-"

The gossip-loving fisherman leaned on closer to Hugh and weaved his tale in small voices. He told Hugh about Viers who brought the super beauty Jessica into his house a week ago and the two hadn't come out ever since.

Naturally, this sparked the start of juicy rumors. Avel's house was not big and his disciple Boram was also known to live with him, but then a hot woman and a child went inside and hadn't been seen ever since. What was actually happening there?

Since Avel was the Viceroy's underling and a Pathseeker that the villagers couldn't match, they didn't dare to poke around his business, but it couldn't stop people from talking.

"W-What a sleazebag!" Austen blurted out. "This guy's a bad guy for sure!"

"Austen, manners."

"Well, I ain't judging," the fisherman raised his hands. "Oops, we're here. I have work to do so I'm gonna leave ya' here. Best of luck, whatever your business is, mate."

"Thank you for showing us the way, my good man. May the Radiant Lady's blessing be upon you," Hugh gave a blessing befitting his station.

The fisherman left with light steps while whistling. That day, he broke the record for the number of fish caught in his decades-long fishing career.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Now then," Hugh observed the house in front of him for a few seconds and knocked.

The layered defenses placed around the house were impressive. From this, he gleaned a measure of the owner's capabilities. The plants around the house were special. Some should be able to attack intruders at a moment's notice. This led Hugh to believe Avel whom the fisherman talked about was a Pathseeker with mastery over plants.

But, he came here not for a fight and as a guest so he followed the proper visiting etiquette.

Not long after he knocked, the door opened by itself.

"Come in," Viers' voice came from the inside.

Hugh went in, followed by Austen.

The two met Viers in a simple room with minimal furniture, just tables and chairs. Viers sat on the other end.

"Welcome to the Shore. Please sit down. You must have had a long journey," Viers said.

"Thank you. The road has been kind to us. Apologies for visiting so soon without prior notice," Hugh took a seat and Austen sat beside him.

"Glad to hear it. We have not been properly introduced. My name is Avel of Javia. Vassal of-"

The rosary that Hugh wore lit up.

"...A sleazebag and a liar. Just great," Austen jabbed.

"Forgive my disciple. I'm still teaching him manners. Nice to meet you, Avel. I'm Pastor Hugh and this is Austen."

"I am grateful for your understanding," Viers said after seeing Hugh didn't push the issue of his identity. He served the two people from the Church tea, hot for Hugh and cold for Austen, as they asked.

Viers and Hugh sat facing each other. They both took measure of the man in front of them. They weren't trying to dig into each other's secrets using Arte or other methods. Doing so towards each other was very rude, similar to the act of tearing the clothes other people were wearing. After a while, they both were similarly impressed.

Hugh smiled. "It pleases me to meet someone so young and remarkable. At your age, I was nowhere near as accomplished."

Viers smiled too. "Your praise is too kind. I'm undeserving the praise of a Level 5 such as yourself. Well then, to what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by a person of your stature, Pastor Hugh?"

"Hmm…" Hugh took a moment to drink the tea. "Actually I came here to meet with the Viceroy, under orders from my superior. The Church is aware of the noble prince's actions in Liapris. That allowed our side to deal a heavy blow against one that follows the false teachings. The Cardinal wishes to express her thanks for the prince's selfless actions that saved her kindred. I am to deliver her gratitude to him in person."

"I see, Liapris… It's just that Prince Croix is away at the moment. He should be back already so there must be a reason that I'm not privy to. Fortunately, it seems the one that will give us the answer approaches."

To Viers' words, Austen raised an eyebrow. He didn't sense anything. Hugh, however, nodded.

"Is there anything I can do to make your waiting more pleasant?" Viers asked.

"Were you there, Avel? At Liapris?"

"That is correct."

"I'd be interested in hearing what transpired from someone on site."

"I'm not much of a storyteller but I'll tell what I can from my perspective."

Viers began telling the story of Liapris. He purposefully evaded touching several matters since Hugh's rosary was able to detect lies. While Hugh was listening attentively, Austen was slowly getting bored.

In his boredom, he started to expand his senses. The things that the fisherman told him bugged him. Avel's house was pretty small. From the furniture and other things, it didn't seem to be a place where four people lived. In fact, besides Avel, Austen didn't sense any other person in the house. Suspicious. Wasn't Avel's disciple, a beautiful woman, and another kid, supposed to be here? Where were they? What happened to them?

Austen's mind went to places. He thought Avel might have done something bad to them and tried to hide things. As a disciple of Pastor Hugh and a member of the Church, he couldn't let it stand.

But just as he started, Hugh repressed his sphere of awareness.

"Austen, you're being unseemly rude to our host," Hugh berated with a harsher tone than before.

"But Pastor Hugh, don't you find it odd there's no sign of other people in this house? What about the other people that the villagers told us? What if they need our help?"

Austen rose from his seat and pointed his finger at Viers.

"Besides, aren't you being too courteous towards him? He's just a Level 3, the same as me. And you, Avel, being the vassal of a prince might make you think you're a big deal but it's not. Even your prince should not speak to Pastor Hugh like an equal as you're doing now. Know your place!"

Viers did not get riled up or anything. He calmly sipped his tea.

"I believe I'm showing the proper hospitality to my guests. If you feel it is lacking, allow me to give my regret and apology, Pastor Hugh."

"Not at all, not at all, young friend Avel. Ah, it is truly a shameful display from my disciple. As his teacher, the responsibility falls upon me. I should be the one apologizing for the rudeness. Please don't take it to heart."

"No, no, no. I completely get it. There was a time when I was as brash and reckless as he is, jumping into one trouble after another. Fufufu, interesting times… Your disciple possesses an incredibly solid foundation, Pastor. I foresee him becoming a fine man. The Silver Legion has so many good seedlings. Its future is bright."

"Hohoho, Austen still has a lot of learning to do. And he is not in the Silver Legion yet. I hope that seeing the world will open his youthful eyes so he can be more ready for the responsibility."

"Pastor Hugh is wise," Viers poured more tea into Hugh's cup.

"It comes with age, young friend. You, on the other hand, possess wisdom without piling up age. You are more worthy of respect."

"Hahahahah."

"Ohohohoho."

Austen's face reddened as high emotion made his blood rise to the head. How did it become like this? He got placed as an immature brat by someone on the same Level as him! Then he got praised but it felt like an insult! His teacher even agreed!

"Aaaargggh!"

Austen bolted to the door. He wanted to destroy the house but his teacher's presence made him retain a speck of rationality so he didn't. He almost crashed into someone after he opened the door but he didn't care and didn't stop.

Viers and Hugh sipped their tea like two calm sages.

"This is good tea," Hugh said.

"I'll pack some for you," Viers spoke of course about the Viridis-grown tea.

"...What happened here?" Alfred asked in confusion.

"Welcome, Alfred. This is Pastor Hugh from the Good Church. Pastor, meet Sir Alfred. He's the most loyal knight under Prince Croix," Viers introduced.

***

"...Sinclair Academy," Viers muttered. "The Countess' decisiveness is impressive as ever."

"Even we of the Church are in awe of the seat of knowledge the academy has become. We even have exchange programs and some legionaries enrolled there. Sinclair Academy is truly the pride of Latias Kingdom," Hugh nodded.

Alfred visited Viers to inform him of Croix's future plans. Since Croix was busy training with his aunt, a precious opportunity where wasting one second was like wasting gold, Alfred was the one delivering the message. He didn't expect to find a Level 5 clergyman with Viers but stranger things had happened in his life.

"So that's how it is," Alfred said. "The Countess is gracious enough to give three slots to go with the prince to the academy. His Highness gave these positions to me, you, and Boram. I'm not sure how much the lessons will benefit me but I'll be serving mainly as the prince's servant and bodyguard so it doesn't matter much. For you and Boram, it will be a great opportunity."

"Do not count yourself out, Sir Alfred. Even Level 5s come to Sinclair to learn. If you keep an open mind, I'm sure you'll find priceless knowledge there."

"I thank you for your wisdom, Pastor," the white-haired Darkness Pathseeker dipped his head and turned to Viers. "Well, make preparations, all right?"

"Yeah, about that…" Viers trailed his words.

"What is it?" Alfred asked.

"I'm not going," said Viers with a sheepish smile.