"Eh?"
Suddenly, the priestess let out a surprised sound because, right in front of her, the young man who had just been acting like a demon suddenly dismissed the swarm of rats he had summoned for some unknown reason.
Just the fact that the Man-Eating Rats vanished before her eyes was enough to make the priestess breathe a huge sigh of relief, but the young man’s sudden retreat also took her by surprise.
What shocked her even more was that he seemed to have also canceled the magic that had put her in a paralyzed state—though he hadn’t removed the magic that was draining her strength, at the very least, she could move now.
"Get up."
Riezel spoke calmly, as if he had done something completely natural.
"..."
Couldn’t understand Riezel’s attitude or thoughts, the priestess gave him a deep look before finally standing up.
"My name is Riezel Brynhart. What’s yours?"
At Riezel’s question, the priestess didn’t answer immediately and remained silent for a moment before answering.
"Maya Feldt."
"Ms. Feldt, is it?" Riezel nodded calmly. "I still don’t fully understand the situation, but based on what you’ve told me so far, it seems like we might not be enemies."
"Not enemies?" Maya raised her eyebrows. "So, you’re saying you’re not here for this city, and you’re not after the temple either?"
"Well, that’s not necessarily true." Riezel shrugged. "I can’t speak for the others, but personally, after discovering this city, I got the idea of exploring it and seeing if there’s anything valuable here."
"In that case, we have nothing to talk about." Maya said coldly. "My duty is to protect this city and the temple dedicated to the god I worship. If your goal is to take something from here, then there’s no doubt we’re enemies."
"Hmm, that’s fine..." Riezel said indifferently. "Different stances naturally lead to conflict—I get that, but I do have some unanswered questions. If you’re willing to clear them up for me, I don’t necessarily have to invade this city."
"I already told you, I don’t trust outsiders like you anymore." Maya said, her hostility unwavering. "Unless you leave right now, I won’t tell you anything."
"Seriously, calm down. Don’t be so quick to say that."
Riezel’s tone remained calm as he continued.
"Let’s put aside the matter of this city and the temple for now. Why don’t you tell me about those outsiders who tricked you?"
"I mean, that has nothing to do with your duty, does it? If anything, since they tricked you, then they are your real enemies, so what’s the harm in giving me information on them?"
"Or... are you planning to keep their secrets?"
Riezel’s words made Maya furrow her brows deeply.
Seeing her remain silent, Riezel wasn’t in a hurry and simply waited quietly as she sorted out her thoughts.
After a long moment, Maya finally raised her head and looked at Riezel again.
"Why are you so interested in those scheming bastards?"
As Maya asked, her eyes beneath the mask stared intently at Riezel as if trying to see through his thoughts and figure out if he was lying.
At Maya’s question, Riezel didn’t hesitate and simply threw out a direct response.
"Because they might be the ones who trapped me here and tried to kill me."
Yes, Riezel suspected that the people Maya mentioned—the ones who deceived her—were actually the masterminds behind controlling the magic dolls and the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon.
Why?
Simple.
First, those people clearly got their hands on ancient magic civilization technology, which allowed them to produce a large number of magic dolls and those eerie holy relics.
Such a fact naturally raised a question.
Where did they get the technology to create those magic dolls and eerie holy relics?
Could it have come from this very city?
Second, they had some unknown connection with the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon, which let them make it cooperate with their plans—they even managed to send their magic dolls inside this place to ambush Riezel.
If that was the case, then those people must have been able to move freely within Yarakulon’s body.
Moreover, they seemed to know everything about Yarakulon—the monster they called ’Lord Holy Beast’, so if they also knew about the existence of this ancient city, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.
Based on those two points, Riezel suspected that those masterminds had acquired ancient magic civilization technology from this ancient city and learned how to create magic dolls and those eerie holy relics.
For some reason, they were able to move freely within Yarakulon’s body and eventually discovered this ancient city.
Ultimately, to take whatever valuable things lay within, they deceived Maya—this ancient city’s guardian—into bringing them into the temple, and inside that temple, they uncovered the technology needed to craft magic dolls and holy relics.
For this reason, Riezel naturally began to care about those outsiders who had deceived Maya. At the very least, he didn’t believe that people who had entered Yarakulon’s body, discovered this ancient city, and arrived here before him would simply leave empty-handed after tricking her.
"You ended up here because of those bastards?"
Maya, who had no idea about any of this, was stunned for a moment by Riezel’s words before reacting in surprise.
"I thought you got swallowed by Yarakulon by accident."
"Nope, I was deliberately set up to fall into this place."
Riezel calmly shook his head, then briefly explained his situation to Maya.
"Impossible."
Maya, after hearing Riezel’s explanation, didn’t seem convinced.
"How could anyone control Yarakulon?"
Riezel really wanted to ask Maya why this ancient city was inside Yarakulon’s body and why she called herself the city’s guardian, but judging from her earlier hostile attitude, she probably wouldn’t give him an honest answer, so he decided to focus on the topic of those outsiders instead.
"Believe it or not, that’s the truth." Riezel shrugged casually. "Anyway, I just wanna know about those people. If you don’t wanna talk, then forget it."
Needless to say, what he did was a classic case of pulling back to push forward.
It couldn’t be helped.
Maya wouldn’t respond to force or persuasion, and on top of that, she was immune to all mental and surveillance magic, so if she didn’t want to talk, he had no way to make her.
Of course, if it really came down to it, he figured he should start thinking about some less honorable methods to make her cooperate.
Fortunately, after frowning and thinking for a while, Maya finally loosened up.
"You’re right, there’s no reason for me to keep secrets for those bastards..." Maya scoffed lightly. "Since you want to know about them, I’ll tell you."
With that, she began her story.
It was actually a simple one—so simple that, at first, she had really believed it was just a coincidence.
Maya spoke as she recounted the events.
"I found them while they were fighting the two Guardians at the city entrance."
"Even though there weren’t many of them, only about six or seven, they were strong. Some could take on two Guardians at once, and one of them gave off an aura even more dangerous than that. I figured I probably wasn’t their match."
"When they saw me, they looked surprised, but they kept insisting they meant no harm."
"They said they were traveling when they were suddenly swallowed by Yarakulon that emerged from underground. They had been fighting off Demon Beast Insects while searching for a way out and eventually ended up here without realizing it."
"I believed their words, so I invited them into the city and spent some time with them."
It was clear that during this time, those outsiders had gained Maya’s trust, and as she gradually came to trust them, she also lowered her guard.
"They told me they had nowhere to go since Demon Beast Insects were everywhere outside, so they begged me to take them in, at least until they found a way out."
"I agreed to their request."
"Later on, they said they wanted to find a place to settle down and asked me to show them around the city."
"I then agreed."
"Later, they mentioned being curious about the temple and wanting to take a look inside."
"I hesitated over and over, but in the end, I still agreed."
"I thought no one had prayed in the temple for a long time, so maybe God was feeling lonely. Moreover, the fact that there were no more believers here also made me sad, so when they said they wanted to enter, I figured even if they only offered one prayer, it would still be a good thing."
"But who would’ve thought... the moment I let my guard down, they knocked me out, and when I woke up, I realized they had taken many of the temple’s treasures."
At this point, Maya’s tone was filled with fury.
"I wanted to chase them down, tear them apart, and make them atone for desecrating the Great God and this city, but because of my duty, I can’t leave the city for too long, and I definitely can’t go too far!" Maya’s voice trembled with rage. "Those despicable bastards just vanished without a trace! It’s infuriating! Unforgivable!"
"I see..." Riezel, not sharing her anger, nodded calmly before asking a question. "So, when did that happen?"
However, the answer he got was completely unexpected.
"No idea." Maya’s reply was quick and firm.
"What?" Riezel froze.
"I’m saying, I don’t know." Maya said firmly. "I only wake up when the Guardians activate, and they only activate when someone approaches the city, so other than that, I’m always asleep. I have no idea how much time has passed in between."
Upon hearing this, Riezel finally understood why this priestess had looked so confused when he mentioned the term ’ancient magic civilization’.