Sam barely had time to say goodbye to the head priestess before the matron was bundled away by the younger priestesses who were also looking noticeably tired. Though, at least one of them made sure Sam found his way back to the main temple and explained the coin he was given.
Apparently, it was a token of the temple, and whoever held it would be treated with the same respect given to the elder priests and priestesses. Apparently, the god of the sun would smite any who falsified or stole them. So unless it was given to someone by one of the clergy, avatars, or the god themselves, there was no other way to possess one.
[Mark of the Sun: A coin depicting the blazing sun on one side, and the eclipse on the other side, it proves that the holder had performed extremely important deeds for the Temple of the Sun. Cannot be given away, sold, stolen, or otherwise taken away. Trying to do so would incur the wrath of the sun.]
He picked up the coin, slipped it into his pocket, and after making sure the head priestess wasn’t dying, he left the temple with the rest of the crowd who sought shelter there.
At first, he planned to join the fight going on in the city, but then reality reasserted itself over his thoughts. By now, most of the players (at least those who made the strategic decisions) would know he was in the city.
In their places, he would have sent out hunting parties or assassins to make sure he couldn’t intervene further.
Thankfully, he didn’t really care what happened to Sunspot. He already prevented the complete destruction and made sure that it wouldn’t be drowned in acidic blood rain. His job was done. He just wanted to deliver the letter finally, then return to the Emerald Kingdom and get some super-duper strong spells to erase the next idiot that came at him.
And build up the defenses against the blood mages…
But the massive fuck-off laser was higher on the priority list.
**
The Sunwarriors were still patrolling the noble quarter, and he headed directly to the Herald’s house, just like the last time.
The guards once again saw him, and to his surprise, even recognized him. The plain-clothes guards instantly began to tense and Sam felt their mana began to gather. A little too much for him, Sam felt…
The guards in uniform that guarded the door to the property where the Herald lived also tightened their grips on their spears and they sneered as Sam approached them.
“Back again, woodhumper?” he spat out threateningly. “I told you to never dare to show your face here!”
Sam thought about pointing out that he didn’t say that but in the end he stayed silent as the non-uniformed guards began to approach from behind, ready to act.
Staying silent, he reached into his pocket, causing all of the guards to tense, but before they could wipe him out, he took out the coin he was given by the over-excited Avatar of the Sun.
As soon as the first ray of the sun caught the crystalline coin it caused it to scatter, blinding the guards momentarily. They all let out a gasp and Sam felt their blazing mana cores settle down, while the rude guard in the uniform just gaped at him.
“What the hell did you do, woodhumper?” apparently the coin wasn’t enough to clear up his language.
Sam shrugged. “Did you see that blood rain vanish?”
The man nodded his eyes widening.
“Well, you’re welcome.”
It took a moment for the people around him to realize, but he heard the quiet gasps of realization.
The other guard, still silent, leaned closer and began to scrutinize the coin, Sam allowing him by holding it out in his palm.
Finally, after a minute, the man nodded at Sam, allowing him to withdraw his hand, and then straightened up while glancing at his partner, who looked back with a little worried look. They exchanged a wordless conversation before the first guard let out a sigh and turned back to Sam.
“Follow me…” He then turned around on his heel and opened the door behind him.
He waited until Sam crossed the threshold, before following him and closing the door.
Sam found himself in a small receiving room, built from the same material the wall was made out of and he could feel the many enchantments running through the walls. The guard didn’t stop as Sam took all this in and continued toward the door on the other side and opened that, too.
On the other side, Sam could see the garden around the manor.
**
The garden was part homage to the savannah, filled with all the plants one could find there, all meticulously taken care of by a bevy of servants who didn’t even look up from their work as Sam and his guide walked toward the manor on a stone path.
The other part, the way they were heading, was built like any other garden he saw living in the Emerald Kingdom. Lush green grass, fruit trees heavily laden with juicy fruits, butterflies fluttering from flower to flower, and gentle water mist wafting over everything, keeping it fresh and watered.
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His target, Herald Miesme, was obviously resting under a giant canopy on a pile of pillows as he leisurely read a book while snacking on something. Sam saw at least a half dozen guards around him and a few more servants standing to attention, waiting for an order.
The guard led him up to a tent-like construction and made a salute.
“My Herald! You have a guest!”
The Herald, a small portly man, with a bulging stomach and smart mustache – wearing clothes that probably cost more than the entire Heavenly Forest franchise – looked up from his book, frowning at the interruption until his eyes landed on Sam. The frown turned into a small smile, eyes shining with hidden intention and he simply made a motion with his hand, sending the guard away.
The man glared at Sam for a second, telling him silently to behave, then saluted again, striking his metal armor with a quiet clang, and turned away, leaving Sam ‘alone’ with Herald Miesme.
He instantly bowed.
“Greetings, Herald Miesme! I bring greetings from my master, Master Fitzgerald!” he straightened up and looked back to the Herald who looked back with the same smile.
“Welcome,” he spoke with a quiet but confident voice. “Master Fitzgerald? What does that crazy whirlwind want again? I hope it’s not one of his harebrained schemes, right?”
Sam just shook his head and simply retrieved the box his master had given to him, holding it out with both hands toward the nearest servant.
“No, my lord. Master Fitzgerald simply wished for me to deliver this to you. I would have been earlier, but with the recent turmoil, it took some time.”
The servant stepped over and carefully took the box and retreated behind the seating area of the Herald to examine the item.
The Herald, however, looked surprised.
“Turmoil? What kind?”
Another servant cleared their throat. “My lord, our guest is mentioning the fight that happened in the city.”
The Herald’s eyes went wide. “Really? Well, I’ll be… This book was so interesting I didn’t even notice anything,” he declared proudly, slapping the cover gently with his hand. “Have you ever had a book that just whisked you away into another world?”
Sam just smiled. After everything this was the least surprising thing to hear. “Yes, my lord. Though, I prefer murder mysteries…”
He laughed at that. “Hah! A fellow appreciator of good art! It seems the sun has shined on our paths!”
Thankfully, the servant with the box took that exact moment to return, grabbing the Herald’s attention. He reached out while making a grabbing motion with his fingers as the servant gently placed the box on the coffee table.
Herald Miesme gleefully opened it and began to retrieve the items hidden in it while everybody else stood around and waited.
Finally, after half a minute, the coffee table was full of stacks of documents, and he was reading a letter with a serious look on his face, his previous joviality nowhere to be seen.
Then, after more than half an hour, he seemed to be finished, putting the letter down and turning back to Sam, who spent most of that time meditating while standing up.
“Tell me, is it true?” he asked, his eyes boring into Sam’s. “Did that old whirlwind really manage it?” Sam could have sworn he saw some manner of desperation in the Herald’s eyes.
He nodded. “Yes, my lord. I was there,” he answered simply.
That caused the portly man to gleefully begin to laugh. “Hahahaha! Finally, after all those years! He managed it!”
Sam watched this worriedly as he didn’t know what this meant to him. In his memories, the other Sam couldn’t find any information about these events, so he was flying blind.
After some more laughter, the Herald managed to calm down and began to quickly pack everything up while talking to Sam.
“Well, my joy may seem unearned, but I’ve been a long-time supporter of Master Fitzgerald’s efforts. The sheer amount of money we would make from trading those gates of his makes me very happy. However, over the years, as time went by and no results had been shown, I simply gave up on it,” he explained. “However, it seems, the gods had intended differently. Things are going to be incredibly busy around here, hahahaha!”
The box closed once again with a definitive clicking sound and a servant instantly picked it up and began walking back to the manor with one of the guards following them. At the same time, Sam heard the quest complete sound in his head.
He resisted the urge to check it and instead waited for his dismissal.
The Herald stood up, stretched a little, smacked his lips, and smiled at him. “Your package is delivered, you may go…” He waved a little and turned away.
Sam bowed, but just as he was looking down he heard a sound – metal on metal – and barely had time to react, realizing that one of the guards, stone-faced with a deadly look in their eyes was crashing into him with their sword drawn.
He didn’t even have time to move, the guard was so fast.
But the pain and subsequent death didn’t come.
Instead, the guard’s sword was stopped barely a hair away by a golden barrier radiating warmth. Sam could see the whites of the guard’s eyes as he – still silently – strained against the barrier. Sam swallowed, knowing he barely avoided death, but before he could even think about activating any of his skills, the golden energy surged covering the sword, and then the hand that was holding it before it covered the entire body of the guard. The man managed to let out a simple grunt of pain before the golden energy pulsed inward and he was vaporized.
Sam took a shaky step backward, surprised while one of his hands reached into his pocket and grabbed the crystalline coin that felt warm to the touch.
‘Thank the heavens for yandere tomboy avatars!’ he silently thought as the Herald stopped and looked up. He seemed surprised that Sam was still there, alive.
“Oh?” he looked down to the ground and saw the pile of dust that was already being blown away by the gentle wind caressing the plant life in the garden. Then the man shrugged. “Well, it seems today the sun is shining brightly for you, young man. You can leave…” With that, he made another motion and this time a servant came to escort Sam out.
Thankfully, without trying to kill him.
**
Ten minutes later, in an alleyway, Sam finally felt safe enough to take a small breather. He took out the coin he had been gripping as if his life depended on it, only to watch with dismay as it slowly lost its shine and luster and turned into crystal dust to be blown away by the wind.
Shaking his hands he let out a shaky breath. “Damn, that was too close…”
Intending to have a strongly worded conversation with his master about his associates and their habits, he put everything away for a moment and opened his notification screen.
[You completed the quest: ‘Deli-Very’!]
[You managed to deliver the package to the correct person, albeit with a small delay.]
[Return to your teacher for the reward.]
He closed the screen and nodded to himself. ‘Right! Time to leave this city and return to civilization…’
With a few quick jumps, he found himself on a rooftop, allowing him to survey the situation in the city. Lucky emerged next to him from the shadows and his hands immediately found the silky smooth fur and began running through it.
“Now, I just need to figure out how to get out of the city...” he murmured as he thoughtfully played with his imaginary beard with his free hand. “Escape from Sunspot… sounds like a movie title…”