“Please let me become your follower, Mist Lord. My life exists for you alone. I beg you to once again bestow a miracle and protect our Taliya Family!
No matter what your command is, Tia will always obey without hesitation!”
Tia’s words were filled with devotion, which made Truth inexplicably think of Suna.
When Suna faced the demon’s threats, she was always so shy and bashful— so amusing.
But when it came to the Mist Lord’s orders, how would Tia react?
“Interesting. Then, right now, take off your clothes.”
Without hesitation, upon receiving Truth’s instruction, Tia immediately stood up, unfastened the buttons on her chest, and let her plain clothes fall to the floor.
Shrouded by the Mist, a pair of pink halos appeared and disappeared in the haze.
“I know the rules, Mist Lord. Only those who are pure may serve by a God’s side. So from the day I was born, my body has belonged to you, and I’ve remained pure to this day, awaiting your command…”
Tia’s gaze was dreamy, as if she was waiting for something truly wonderful to happen. Yet Truth made no further move.
Tsk, how boring…
Why are you so obedient? Wouldn’t it be better if you at least looked a little shy? Now I have no interest at all!
Suna and the kitten’s reactions are still more entertaining after all…
Forget it, as the descendant of the shopkeeper, I should at least look after you.
But for someone who throws herself at me like this, Truth will keep her guard up for a while.
Let’s grant her the status of a follower and observe her for now. Truth doesn’t believe Tia has no ulterior motives.
Now, about my title— Tia keeps calling me “Mist Lord.” If the other Gods hear that, it would be easy for them to track the Mist down.
“Fog-Hidden Exalted One” is out, too. I have to make her change the way she addresses me.
Right before Tia’s eyes, she saw the Mist Lord’s enormous claw wave gently. A strange mist seeped quickly into her body.
After just a few breaths, she felt as if she was merging with the surrounding Mist.
How miraculous, how cold— so this is the power of a God…
[Acquired follower: Tia (LV.42)]
“The Mist will shelter you.”
Truth waved her claw again, tossing Tia’s consciousness back into the basement.
Tia soon noticed the surrounding Mist fading away, and the dim basement reappeared before her as if nothing had happened at all.
Back to normal, Tia’s heart was pounding, barely able to believe what had just happened.
I did it. I did it! I’ve really become the Mist Lord’s follower!
Right after, the Mist Lord’s voice rang out again:
“By the way, calling me ‘Mist Lord’ might frighten the Gods of this era. Change how you address me. You may call me…”
Frighten the Gods? As expected, the Mist Lord is the strongest God, the greatest calamity!
Tia immediately perked up and listened intently, hearing the name that would one day change the fate of the entire world:
“Hidden One.”…
“Hidden One, is it?”
Pa!
“Mole, is it?”
Pa!
“Reg, is it?”
Pa!
In a hidden backroom of a tavern somewhere in Deya City, Anderson was tied to a chair with his arms behind his back, his face bruised and swollen.
In front of him, a burly stranger was punching him in the face, one blow after another.
“Why didn’t you call yourself Fool? Did you think we wouldn’t investigate your identity ahead of time?”
“Damn it, since you already looked into me, why bother asking my name?!”
Anderson shot back, only to have his nose smashed by another heavy punch.
He was very frustrated right now. Not long ago, he’d been chatting cheerfully in the Black Market with some guy who specialized in laundering money, hood up and all.
Then, out of nowhere, someone threw a sack over his head and beat and dragged him away.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in this room. Judging by the noise through the wall, Anderson guessed he was in a tavern’s backroom.
And then came the “friendly” round of questioning.
Seeing Anderson’s face covered in blood, the interrogator shook out his hand.
“If we don’t ask, how do we know if you’re telling the truth? Looks like I’ll have to hit you a few more times before you get honest.”
“Wait!” Anderson panicked a little.
“I really don’t want to go through that thing where you guys ask nothing, then beat me up while yelling ‘Are you gonna talk or not?!’ So let me ask first— why did you guys grab me?
And, can we just skip straight to the mastermind clapping his hands and making an entrance? That way, we all save some valuable time.”
Hearing this, the interrogator frowned. Had this guy been interrogated a lot before? How did he know our whole process so well?
“Alright! I like people who get straight to the point.”
At that moment, accompanied by crisp applause, a man in a white suit with golden trim, his neatly slicked black hair gleaming, walked in while clapping his hands.
He stopped in front of Anderson and smiled.
“Since no one wants to waste time, I’ll get right to it. Where is my Dragon Egg?”
“Dragon Egg?!”
A chill ran down Anderson’s spine. At first, he’d thought it was a creditor from two years ago come to collect, but it turned out to be the original buyer of the Dragon Egg!
Crap, crap, crap, I only just sold it to some junior priest not long ago!
Seeing Anderson freeze, the black-haired man’s smile stiffened.
“Looks like you won’t give up until we get rough. Bring in the tools!”
“Wait, wait! I just, uh… I was just trying to remember which Dragon Egg you meant, because I’ve sold quite a few Dragon Eggs lately, so, uh, so…”
Anderson hurriedly explained, making the black-haired man’s eyes light up.
He raised a hand to stop the interrogator who’d just picked up a pair of pliers.
“You’ve sold a lot of Dragon Eggs?”
“That’s right!” Anderson forced himself to sound calm.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” The black-haired man looked Anderson up and down.
“Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover. For a mere First-Tier Mist adventurer to be involved in Dragon Egg trading— and not just once— you must have a big shot backing you, right?”
A big shot… Anderson fell silent. Did Truth count?
The black-haired man continued,
“But that’s all secondary now. Since you said that, let me jog your memory. Do you remember a narrow path northwest of Watchfort called the ‘Dark Path’?
A merchant caravan was robbed there. One of the wagons fell off a cliff, and when we finally recovered it after much effort, we found a precious cargo missing!
So we paid a hefty sum to hire a Mid-tier Ranger, who tracked the trail all the way to Deya City and found you!”
The black-haired man jabbed his finger hard against Anderson’s forehead, furious. Anderson immediately thought of the best option in his current situation.
If the other party could hire a Mid-tier Ranger to find him, they could just as easily have that ranger put an arrow through his head.
And since he had no way to resist, there was only one answer!
Lead the way.
Sorry, Miss Priest, but their power is just too great. I’ll let you aces face off against each other…