“Saint?”

The knight sneered at my legitimate question with ridicule befitting a clown.

“Do not play dumb, wretched spawn. Lady Fern is a candidate for the grand title that has been vacant for years a many - a title meant for only the pious of the highest order and doer of virtuous deeds. And now, you confounded nobles dare to infringe on taking such a title.”

I kept my surprise tucked behind my emotionless face. The tidbit I just heard was not part of the information provided during my mission debriefing. The strife between factions would have been good to know for gameplay. Wouldn’t it make our jobs in the game easier? Why was the information glossed over?

I decided to do some investigating of my own.

“Isn’t it just a title? So what.”

“Just a title? Just a title?! What kind of buffoon asks such questions? A title is not some measly piece of common grass that grows in countless numbers by the roadside, fool! It is a nearly impossible feat recognized by the gods and gives powerful Perks displayed on the status screen!”

“...Oh… that kind of title. I knew that…”

The knight lifted his hand and rubbed his nose ridge in frustration. “How spoiled can you noble spawn be? To be this unexpectedly ignorant. I am utterly speechless.”

Obviously, many of the details provided to me outside of the game were lacking. But I did have some valuable information, mostly dealing with my character, Lucian de Volan.

“Well, Sir Knight, although some of us may be partially nobles by blood, not all of us are recognized or even treated as such. Even by our own families. Do you think they would tell, let alone teach, those they did not consider their own?”

The knight took a moment to ponder my words, seemingly uncertain of exactly what I implied. However, the nun understood.

“I was wondering why a noble was brought to the Temple of Atlanta for treatment. Although we would never refuse aid to anyone, the aristocracy avoids our services.”

The knight crossed his arms, but a few deep lines disarmed off from his face that was looking for a fight. “And the life-suckers can keep away, for all I care. Anyone of noble blood, for that matter.”

And yet, for whatever hatred the knight had for nobles, I could not escape his scorn. Half-noble or not. He was grounded in his ways. But it wasn’t my job to change his mind anyway.

I turned to the nun, the reasonable one. I wronged her. Unfortunately, all I could do was bow my head to show my remorse, given my still tightly bound state.

“I apologize, Sister. Forgive my behavior. I meant no disrespect. I should have known better.”

I wished I had been previously told that the tails of water horsewomen were not to be looked upon. But regardless, knowingly or not, my actions did embarrass the nun.

A smile blossomed across the nun’s face, revealing a refined beauty behind all the modest religious attire. “I accept your apology, young noble. Do not take it as an offense but instead as a positive lesson learned. I am half-blooded, but full-blooded horsemen may not be so forgiving.”

“I’ll heed your words. Thank you, Sister. Does this mean I won’t be buried alive?”

“Buried?” The nun said, glaring at the now-sweating knight. “No, of course not! We would never have such nefarious intentions. Isn’t that right, Sir Gale?”

Gulping down the growled words from the nun, the knight replied, “Of course, my Lady. You are always right.”

The corner of my mouth arched up at the knight, and I swear the fellow nearly lifted his foot, wanting to stomp the smirk off my face if he could.

“On the contrary, young noble, I ask you to stay with us while you recover. Not only would I be able to completely heal you with ongoing treatments, but you would get first-hand experience and learn about what we do.”

Hmmm… How unexpected. Was the nun attempting to prove herself to me all along? Reputation, yet again.

Perception and reputation were invisible chains that bound us. Whoever created the social constructs must have made good money off the idea. Or at least benefited in some form.

However, I was not here to play house with a nun and her knight. I was here to make some real-life money. Charity work did not sound like a lucrative business.

“I would like to, Sister. But I actually have rather important business matters to attend to in the Empire of Albracor. Maybe another time.”

I glanced at the knight, my mortal enemy number one.

And when that time comes, I’ll milk that darn knight dry for the crap he put me through. So make lots of money, okay, Sir Gale?

“Hmpf, I don’t trust him, my Lady. Look at those greedy black eyes. Like the Devals themselves. He’ll sell you out to the papers. His face may fake innocence well. However, we’ve seen the eyes of swindlers before, Lady Fern. And this chump’s sly eyeballs fit the bill.”

The lady looked at me, face unreadable but ignoring the accusing words of the knight.

“Hmmm… The Albracor Empire, is it? If you do not mind me asking, you noble, how do you plan to get there? Will you return back to the Alister Kingdom to hire an entourage to take you there? The roads are not safe these days, even in broad daylight.”

Yes. Very good questions indeed. How was I going to get there? I have nothing except the clothes on my back. No directions either… And the roads… dangerous?

Seeing me deep in troubled thought. The lady quickly added, “Why not travel with us, young noble?”

Immediately, the knight refused. “My Lady! No! I am against this! You and I are on a divine quest to accomplish feats to acquire your title as Saint! We cannot have a person of unknown intentions following us! What if he is a spy for the nobles?!”

Stolen story; please report.

“A spy, Sir Gale? After nearly dying to bandits hiding within the Whispering Mountains? Need I remind you, the young man was brought to the local temple when we were in the midst of departing. I doubt he was following us.”

“But his mere presence in this backwood area already reeks of strangeness, my Lady! None of the pompous asshats would travel these roads simply due to the uncomfortable bumps and crevices. We must not allow him with us!”

“But he is already with us, Sir Gale. Quest or not, my only desire is to help people. And this young man is in need of aid.” Turning to me, the nun asked, “What say you, young noble? I think it is for your betterment.”

“…Well, I think I will take you up on your offer, Sister.”

“Perfect! Sir Gale, please untie him. Forgive us, young noble. These tight measures were necessary when we had no attention to spare you while in the Whispering Woods. Many worrisome things lurk deep in the forest. Our presence sometimes draws them out.”

“...” News to me, and not the good kind. Again, this was information that was lacking during the mission debriefing.

The knight bit his lips, but his shoulders drooped in defeat. I knew the knight was under the whip of the nun. He ultimately had to follow her orders.

Carelessly yanking me up with one arm by the ropes binding me, the knight jabbed the finger of his free hand into my chest, drilling threats into my body. “I. Don’t. Trust. You. Noble spawn.”

Shocker. The feeling’s mutual.

But I didn’t want to say it to his face when he was already stabbing me. I winced from each finger jab.

“If you so much as taint a tendril of Lady Fern’s good name, I shall hunt you down to the ends of the earth. Bound by oath to the Goddess or not, mark my words, no walls of stone or number of hired hands will stop me. Understood?”

The man was not lying. But he misunderstood, I wasn’t looking for revenge on the nun. No, not her. “Yeah, crystal clear. Now. Unhand me, and take these rough things off of me. They’re biting into my skin.”

A look that wanted to beat someone sprawled menacingly on the knight’s face. But he did as I said, begrudgingly as he roughly yanked the loops and tugged the knots.

“Ow! Is all you know brute strength?!”

“For noble scum, yes,” said the asshole who forcefully ripped off the ropes with more added muscle.

My skin burned where the ropes chaffed, but the next thing I knew was a shovel being pushed into my chest that knocked me over.

“We don’t take parasites. Therefore, you shall work. You won’t be a freeloader with me around.”

I looked down at the shovel in my hands, then the cadavers, and then back at the knight again. “On second thought…”

“What? You want to leave? And be eaten by wolves? Or mauled by an owlbear? Or do you want to live and work as told?”

I gulped at the terrifying thoughts. Again, all on my person was my tattered attire - grimy dirt-clad pants and shoes, and an even grimier blood-caked tunic with a wide rip across my belly that showed freshly regrown skin of a newer pale color.

“Fine,” I snorted, giving in to the better choice. “What do you want me to do?”

At least for now, until we got back to some form of civilization.

The knight shook his head condescendingly at me. “Do you not even know what a shovel is? Goodness, spoiled you rotten, they did.”

The man’s words sounded much too familiar, repeated much too often from my real-world father. They dug deep into my skin and crawled under my nerves. I could not hold back anymore.

My head snapped up fearlessly. “Hey! Shittalker. Shut the hell up. What do you know about me, huh? What?! Nothing, that’s what!”

The knight was taken aback by my sudden rebuttal and was speechless.

“I’ll have you know, I was sure as hell not spoiled. Got it!? I worked hard to get where I’m at, even if it’s screwed up. You think I want it this way? You think I want to be the family’s biggest failure? You think it’s easy living on your own with a mountain of de-!”

Realizing I was supposed to be Lucian, I changed my words to match his past. “You want to know what I am, right? I’m an unwanted bastard who’s struggling to make it in this damned world, okay? What’s so wrong with that?! What’s wrong with wanting to live?! Nothing was handed to me so I know what a goddamn shovel is used for. Sheesh! Just tell me where to fucking dig and leave me the hell alone!”

So I said, leaping off the cart. But I wobbled with shaky legs, nearly tripping and falling over as I landed on the dirt road with a thud. This body of mine - it was definitely not work-ready, let alone ready to fend off wolves or owlbears, if that’s what I think those are.

But with my head fuming, I didn’t care. I pushed off the shovel like a cane, using it to prop me up despite my fatigued and aching body. With limping steps, I stormed off into the cemetery in the middle of the woods. I wanted to be anywhere except next to that knight.

…

I wasn’t fond of cemeteries.

It was a place of forever goodbyes. I knew too well. It reminded me of my mother’s resting place, even if I was only in a game-simulated one. But despite being illuminated in complete daylight, the damp grass beneath me, the cold and silent atmosphere, and rows of tombstones gave the area a real eerie feel. Such places were best not to be disturbed.

After embarrassingly giving the knight too much of my mind, I sat head tucked into my knees, hands on both ends of the shovel that wrapped around my legs, and also right beside the headstone of a grave. Hopefully, Mr. Angus Staltwart didn’t mind as I sulked.

I lifted my head at the sound of footsteps on folding, ankle-high grass, and the nun walked over and quietly sat by my side.

“Young noble… I heard some of what you said. I wanted to apologize on Sir Gale’s behalf. No matter what I say now, I know it will sound like an excuse. But I think it is important you know that many of the words said to you were projected from difficult moments of the past. It may not appear like it, but Sir Gale does not despise you. And I hope you do not despise him either.”

I let the words sink in. I get it. Maybe. I also reacted because of the experiences from my past with my father.

“But words have been said. Strong words, Sister. Words I don’t know if I can take back. Or want to take back, for that matter.”

“Yes, I understand, young noble. That is quite alright as well.”

I shook my head at the title which made me cringe every time upon hearing it.

“Please, call me Lucian. I’d like to avoid being called ‘young noble.’ It’s unbefitting of me, just like my family said.”

“Oh. Of course. My apologies, Lucian. I didn’t mean to stir up any bad memories.”

“No, I know. Thank you. But I don’t know if I can forgive that knight of yours any time soon.”

“I understand. The words said by both of you came from legitimate places of unhealed pain - places where even my divine spells cannot reach. Only time will tell. Maybe new interactions and experiences can help mend your hearts.”

Pushing off her knees, the nun stood up from the grass and reached out a hand to me. A breeze brushed through and fluttered the black veil of her headpiece. At that moment, maybe it was the way the light caressed her face, or the comforting words that slightly eased my heart, what I saw was not a nun but a bonafide Saint.

“I pray for closure to your pain, Lucian. Come, strong as Sir Gale may be, he’s anything but delicate. And those who have moved on from this world deserve careful handling and our deepest respect. Let me show you how the followers of Goddess Atlanta serve the people. All people, regardless of species.”

I unconsciously reached out my hand towards the warmth radiating from those words.

However, the sound of muffled shouts alarmed me back at the cart.

“Oh look, Sir Gale is-” Lady Fern abruptly stopped, noticing the frantic waving Sir Gale performed while hysterically leaping towards us.

Louder and louder came Sir Gale’s words as he rushed towards us.

“My Lady! Behind you! Behind you! Watch out!”

And that’s when we heard it; an unholy gargling growl.

And not just one, but many.