Daniel took a brief glance at the notification, but even that was enough to leave him somewhat surprised. Out of all the possibilities, he didn’t expect the second phase to be about burning and destroying the temple.
If that’s the case, then their job just got a bit easier. They only needed to wait until nightfall, sneak in, and set the temple on fire.
The only concern was the Grand Priest’s power. He was about to meet him, and it would be easy for someone like that to tell whether Daniel was a threat or not. As long as the Grand Priest wasn’t an S-rank, there wouldn’t be any problems.
Then, together with Merina, they entered the Crimson Temple. It didn’t take long before they reached a grand hall where a headless statue stood.
When Daniel saw the statue, a faint feeling of familiarity hit him, as if he had seen it somewhere before. But since the statue had no head, he couldn’t quite figure out where or who it might have been.
On both sides of the hall stood several figures wearing the robes of priests. Their faces were calm and indifferent, but in their eyes, there was a certain coldness toward Daniel and Drael that was hard to ignore.
Daniel, however, pretended not to notice and didn’t care. He could easily tell that their attitude was probably because both he and Drael were outsiders, not from this city.
He didn’t know why these people disliked outsiders so much. Or maybe they didn’t actually dislike them, maybe they were afraid of them. Could it be that there was a truth they wanted to hide from the rest of the world?
But what kind of truth could that be? That unknown presence hidden deep within this temple? In fact, the moment he entered, Daniel could feel a powerful presence, an overwhelming fear that seemed to stare at him for an instant, as if trying to confirm something, and then vanished.
It was so brief and subtle that for a moment, he thought he was imagining it. But that cold, emotionless feeling that made his body tremble couldn’t have been a simple illusion.
Now that he thought about it, it might have been the same thing he saw in those wall carvings, the same being the Grand Priest had bowed to.
"You two must be the foreign travelers," a calm, elderly voice echoed, drawing their attention.
Daniel and Drael looked toward an old man wearing a crimson robe who stood beneath the statue, smiling at them.
"Greetings, Grand Priest. Sorry if we’re disturbing you," Daniel said calmly and respectfully. For now, it was better to keep playing the part.
"Hello, sir! That’s right! We came from a very distant place! Thank you so much for saving me!" Drael even bowed deeply, expressing his gratitude from the heart.
His thanks sounded so pure and sincere that for a brief moment, both the Grand Priest and the other priests froze, unsure how to react.
"We are priests. Helping others is our duty. There’s no need to thank us," the Grand Priest said gently, then added with curiosity,
"However, I’m curious, why did you come all the way here? It’s rare for anyone to dare approach the Abandoned Death Canyon."
"Sir, we’re brothers who wanted to start our own trading business," Drael replied,sounding completely honest.
"We decided to come here because we heard there were very valuable medicinal herbs in this region."
Even Daniel almost believed him for a second.
’Could that be one of his skills?’ Daniel thought.
He had never actually seen this idiot use any of his skills before. But the way he was speaking and acting right now, so convincingly, was enough to make even someone who knew the truth hesitate to doubt him.
"We heard that because of the canyon, no one dares to come near this area, so we thought we’d take our chances. We didn’t expect things to turn out like this," Daniel added, his tone filled with regret.
"Medicinal herbs, huh? Those do exist," the Grand Priest said with a smile, as if he were giving advice to children.
"But they grow close to the canyon, and going there is extremely dangerous."
"If you need any, you can buy them from the shops in the city. They should have a few in stock."
"Thank you so much, sir. We’ll definitely check out the shops," both of them replied with gratitude.
"It’s no problem. However, our city has certain laws. Outsiders are not allowed to enter. The people here don’t have fond memories of foreigners," the Grand Priest said with a sigh, as if recalling something unpleasant.
"So if you try to buy the herbs, you might have a hard time. Most people won’t sell them to you."
"Sir, we don’t know what the other foreigners did, but we’re not like them! We just came here for business!" Drael immediately dropped to his knees as he pleaded.
Daniel gave him a blank look, but then followed up with similar words, without kneeling, just showing a bit of humility.
"I understand, I understand. You two seem like good boys," the Grand Priest said kindly.
"However, the people of our city are a bit... traditional. Still, it’s not like there’s no solution."
Then a faint smile appeared on the old man’s face.
"Sir, we’re willing to do anything you ask! As long as we can get those herbs, we can sell them for high prices in other cities, and we’re even willing to give you half of the profit!" Drael said desperately.
"Calm down. The only thing you need to do is join the temple. As long as you become members of the temple and wear the robes, the townsfolk will surely trust you," the Grand Priest said, smiling wider. Everything seemed to be going exactly as he planned.
"That’s great! Is there anything special we need to do? And when can we join?" Daniel asked.
"There’s nothing special. You just need to attend the prayers to God, help the weak and poor, and live with kindness and justice."
"Thank you so much, sir! We’re willing to join!" Drael looked at Daniel, and after a silent exchange, they both nodded in agreement.
"Good. Then rest for today. We’ll handle the formalities tomorrow," the Grand Priest said with a gentle smile, then signaled Merina to escort them back to their rooms.
Once the two had left, the Grand Priest’s smile slowly vanished, replaced by a cold and expressionless look, as if he had just caught his prey.
"New sacrifices..." he muttered to himself, before turning his gaze back toward the headless statue.