Cecia was still deep in thought when the warden suddenly sat up straight, his expression turning solemn.
A violent surge of mana rippled from the space behind her.
In the next moment, Robert, the old priest from the Church of the Holy Light, materialized inside the prison.
Cecia finally laid eyes on him once again.
A trace of awkwardness hung in the air.
The files on the desk were still spread open.
The dates Cecia had circled with her pen were particularly conspicuous.
Robert stood at the prison entrance.
His pristine white priest robes were wildly out of place against the black, moldy stone walls of the prison.
“Miss Nightingale, Lady Potato.”
“Good evening.”
“Mr. Robert.”
The old man first glanced at the files on the desk.
Only then did he shift his gaze to Cecia, Vesper, and the warden.
The warden suddenly felt incredibly awkward, unsure whether to stand or sit.
Ultimately, he shrunk his neck back and remained silent.
What did a conversation between big shots have to do with a lowly warden like him?
“So this is where you were.”
Robert's voice sounded exceedingly weary.
“I was just looking for you.”
“The Starfolk by the sea are causing trouble again. Would you two be so kind as to help?”
“What happened?”
“A large swarm of Starfolk has appeared on the western beach.”
“Miss Lan and Mr. Fekro are in the south, while Horn and Miss Mia have already rushed over to the east.”
Robert paused for a moment.
“It's just that we're a bit shorthanded on the western side.”
“The church's clerics have all gone to maintain the barrier. I'm worried that if this continues, the barrier won't hold.”
Cecia's finger remained resting on the files.
Of all times, why now?
There were still two days until the Tide Festival.
And the times of disappearance recorded here... were also concentrated right before the high tide.
Cecia didn't budge.
A very ominous suspicion suddenly sprang to her mind.
Could Robert have bailed some other prisoner out again?
Silence fell over the room.
The warden looked at Cecia, then at Robert.
Ultimately, he decided to bow his head and study the desk.
Robert was a Rank Three Priest.
However, priests were different from typical combat classes.
They specialized in healing, Blessings, barriers, and various supporting divine spells.
Making an old priest charge into a crowd of Starfolk to fight with his scepter... the mental image was a bit much.
“Mr. Robert.”
“Yes?”
“You don't seem curious at all,” Cecia said, tapping her finger on the files on the desk, “about why we are here in the prison.”
The warden's hand gave a violent shudder.
He nearly knocked the cup beside him onto the floor.
Robert, however, merely smiled.
“As adventurers, it is only normal for you to investigate the town's past occurrences.”
“Besides—”
The old man looked at the documents.
“There are no shameful secrets hidden here.”
“So we can continue reading them?”
“Of course.”
“If you believe these files are related to the recent sea monsters, you are welcome to come back at any time.”
The warden hurriedly chimed in.
“Yes, yes.”
“Priest Robert is absolutely right.”
Taking money certainly made a difference.
Cecia stood up.
“Fine.”
“Mr. Robert, you know us.”
“I hate to see innocent commoners get hurt.”
“We'll head over right now.”
She had already placed one foot on the windowsill.
Yet she suddenly paused.
“Oh, by the way.”
“Mr. Robert.”
“The day after tomorrow is the Tide Festival, isn't it?”
The muscles on Robert's face twitched imperceptibly.
“It is.”
“Over the past few months,” Cecia looked back, “the dates the church bailed out prisoners all seem to fall roughly two days before the high tide.”
“...”
“What a coincidence.”
The old man looked down at the desk.
The dates were still laid bare there.
He was in no hurry to explain.
He didn't even show much surprise.
He merely took a brief glance, then lifted his head again.
“It is indeed a coincidence.”
“...”
Cecia, conversely, was caught off guard for a moment.
No explanation.
No denial.
He didn't even display any panic.
This reaction made her far more uncomfortable than a flat-out lie.
It was as though he didn't care in the least about what Cecia had uncovered.
Or perhaps—
These clues had been intentionally left behind all along.
Right at that moment.
Robert's fingers, hanging by his side, suddenly twitched slightly.
His index finger tapped against his scepter.
Tap.
Just once.
Extremely light.
Cecia instinctively looked over.
But in the very next second—
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
The sharp, hurried ringing of bronze bells suddenly resounded in the distance.
It was not the solemn, slow tolling of the church bells.
It was an alarm.
Something was happening in Tide Town.
Robert raised his head.
“It seems we don't have time to keep chatting.”
Cecia didn't answer immediately.
She stared at the old man before her.
To be honest.
She felt a powerful urge to draw Starhunter right then and there, slashing him down first and asking questions later.
This man was definitely linked to the missing prisoners, and likely to the Starfolk as well.
In fact, he was highly likely to be the very “source” she had been searching for.
But—
She couldn't rush.
Cecia slowly released her grip from the hilt of her blade.
Killing him now was pointless.
It might even be the most foolish choice.
From the records in the prison, to the disappearance of the inmates, and finally to the Starfolk containing fully intact human remains.
Every single clue pointed squarely to Robert in the end.
But that was precisely where the problem lay.
Those creatures possessed a collective consciousness.
The Starfolk could share sensory perceptions, share information, and even share certain adaptations belonging to individuals.
If Robert truly shared some connection with them...
Was this aging human body in front of her truly “Robert” himself?
Cecia didn't know.
If she were to slash him down now—
The best-case scenario would be that Robert died, but the worst-case scenario—
She would merely kill a shell that could be discarded at any moment.
And whatever was truly hiding within the Starfolk's collective consciousness would immediately transfer elsewhere.
By then, it would hide in any of the hundreds of Starfolk.
Where on earth would she find it?
Furthermore.
Robert clearly knew she was investigating him, yet he remained completely indifferent.
This in itself was highly bizarre.
Cecia was suddenly dying to know what exactly he was waiting for.
Thus, she cracked a smile.
“Fine.”
“We'll go handle the beach first.”
Robert nodded slightly.
“I must trouble you two.”
“Potato.”
“Let's go.”
“Okay.”
Before the words could even fade, Vesper reached out and grabbed Cecia's sleeve.
Shadow Moon activated.
Cecia's body instantly became light as a feather, leaping out the window like a feather carried by the night wind.
Her toes swept across the eaves.
With a few swift bounds, she vanished into the darkness of the night.
“Potato.”
“Can you not grab my sleeve while we're running across the rooftops?”
“Why?”
“Because you're going to tear it!”
“No, I won't,” Vesper replied in all seriousness, “I can keep pace with Miss Nightingale.”
She lightly raised her hand.
The shadow beneath her feet seemed to come alive, spreading forward and pulling the young girl along as she slid swiftly across the rooftops.
“That's not the point...”
Their voices gradually faded into the distance.
...
Quiet settled over the prison once again.
Robert stood in place, staring out the open window, remaining silent for a long time.
The warden stole a glance at him.
“Priest Robert?”
“Yes.”
The old man finally withdrew his gaze.
“Put the files away.”
“Tonight will not be peaceful.”
“Right.”
The warden hurriedly began organizing the documents on the desk.
Robert turned to leave.
When he reached the door, he paused once more.
“Also.”
“Make sure to lock your doors and windows tight tonight.”
The warden was taken aback.
“Are the sea monsters going to break in?”
“Probably not.”
Robert smiled.
“There will only be a tiny bit of danger.”
“...”
Just how much is a “tiny bit”?
The warden felt that the townsfolk had been growing increasingly eccentric lately, one after another.
Oh, whatever.
Gold coins are much more endearing anyway.
The old man left the prison, stepping into the night.
His finger rested gently on his scepter once more.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
On the distant coast,
Hundreds, if not thousands, of Starfolk currently crashing against the barrier seemed to be stimulated by something, raising their heads in unison.
...
It was now night.
A night that belonged to Cecia.
Favored of the Dark Night and Shadow Moon took effect simultaneously.
She and Vesper swept rapidly across the low roofs, eventually landing on the tall spire of the Church of the Holy Light.
Gazing out toward the sea from here—
They were packed close together.
It was entirely composed of Starfolk.
Swarms of monsters were wildly crashing into the golden barrier.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The sounds echoed one after another.
For some unknown reason, they actually sounded remarkably orderly.
The residents of Tide Town had long locked their doors and windows tight.
The streets were deathly quiet.
Only the continuous roars of the monsters and the vibrations of the barrier echoed from the seashore.
A large number of church clerics gathered on the inner side of the barrier.
They continuously channeled their power into the magic array.
Cracks appeared in the golden barrier again and again, only to mend rapidly under the holy light.
At least for the time being, the Starfolk could not break inside.
“There are so many,” Vesper remarked.
“Yes.”
Cecia narrowed her eyes.
She didn't jump down right away, instead staring at the Starfolk and observing them for a moment.
Boom!
The first wave crashed into the barrier, then fell back.
Right after came the second wave, followed by the third.
Even the interval between consecutive impacts barely differed.
It was far too orderly.
They didn't act like wild beasts.
Rather, they behaved like... someone beating a drum.
The image of Robert's tapping finger inexplicably surfaced in Cecia's mind.
Tap.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
“Miss Nightingale?”
“Nothing.”
There was no hard proof yet.
Work came first.
“Let's go.”
The two of them leapt down from the spire of the church.
...
The night was repetitive and grueling.
Cecia and Vesper darted back and forth across the beach.
Ordinary Starfolk stood no chance of stopping them.
This was especially true for Vesper.
Compared to yesterday, her fighting style had undergone another subtle shift.
A multitude of pitch-black tentacles emerged from her shadow.
They were thick, resilient, and even constantly altering their own structures in response to the Starfolk's attack patterns.
Cecia saw with her own eyes one of the tentacles get ripped apart by a Starfolk.
No blood spilled.
Only a thick, black substance oozed from the tear.
But in mere seconds, the shadow around the wound began to rearrange itself.
Countless tiny black threads, like plant fibers, intertwined with one another, mending, thickening, and reconnecting.
Before long, the wound vanished, and the previously attacked area had become even sturdier than before.
Cecia watched for a good while.
“Potato.”
“Yes?”
“Is this also one of your abilities?”
“I suppose so,” Vesper casually dragged a Starfolk into her shadow.
Crunch. A tooth-grinding sound of shattering bone echoed.
“After I eat them,” the young girl thought seriously for a moment, “my shadow remembers some of their traits.”
“Such as?”
“How to grow so that it won't be torn apart as easily.”
“...”
Cecia looked at the tentacles that looked less and less like normal shadows.
It really was a convenient ability.
You really are what you eat, huh?
“But there is still a limit,” Vesper added, “if it takes too heavy of a blow all at once, it'll still break before it has time to adapt.”
“Well, that's only natural.”
Otherwise, this skill of yours would be somewhat unreasonable.
Cecia cracked her wrists.
Since Potato was testing out her new ability...
She supposed she also had something she wanted to test.
She looked down, gazing at her own palms.
Two new sources of power lay quietly in the depths of her perception.
Holy Flame.
And—
Blazing Sun Affinity.
Rate on N.U.
