The Gamer's POV-Chapter 239: A Prophet of Strange Afflictions

Less than a minute later, Celeste came out wearing a green shirt and trousers. The shirt was tucked firmly into her trousers, held by a leather belt that sat snug against her slender figure. On her feet were sturdy, calf-high boots that she spent a few extra seconds lacing up tightly, and as for her hair, she had tied it into a bun, though a few stray, vibrant strands still framed her beautiful face.

Hanging behind her was her brown haversack, and her ferret was resting comfortably on her shoulder.

Cedric, who was leaning against the wall, studied her briefly. He was dressed in a black shirt tucked into charcoal trousers and high boots, topped with a large black coat and a dark newsboy cap. In his hand was a long brown wooden smoke pipe which he kept taking a puff out of.

He looked up as she approached, the brim of his cap casting a slight shadow over his eyes. He could see her shake her head in an erratic manner, while muttering something under her breath as she shut the door to her room.

She had an annoyed expression on her face, but when she turned to Cedric, it disappeared. She placed both hands behind her back, then took a leaning step close to him and said, "I’m ready."

Cedric gave a slow nod, then pushed off the wall.

As they began walking, through the corner of his eye, he could see Celeste looking at him questioningly. He exhaled a plume of smoke and said coolly, "Out with it."

Celeste frowned as she waved a hand to clear the air. "Since when did you begin smoking?"

Cedric slowly removed the pipe from his mouth. He stared off into the distance for a moment, his eyes clouding over as if reliving a deep-seated horror.

"Since the nightmares began," he replied solemnly. "The ones where I’m sprinting across the entire empire, and a hundred of the most hideous, soul-shattering women you’ve ever seen are hot on my heels. They weren’t trying to kill me, Celeste. They were trying to... marry me."

[You have acquired 5 Karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N1,900 / P287,735]

"Huh?" Celeste arched a brow and her mouth hung open slightly. She looked like she had about a dozen follow-up questions, but the sheer absurdity of his answer seemed to have jammed her brain.

Cedric shook his head, then clicked his tongue like someone defeated. He took another slow, mournful puff of the pipe, looking every bit like a man who had seen too much. "The lace veils... I can still hear the rustling of the lace." His eyes widened slightly. "And the church bells."

He placed a hand over his heart, and as he slowly spread his fingers out as if trying to push away a ghost, he added with even more theatrical despair, "Oh... the horror. Can you imagine the..."

"Okay, that’s enough." Celeste grabbed his hand, cutting off his dramatic gesture. At this point, she had really had enough of his nightmares.

The last time, it was obese men with wings falling from the sky.

"Please. Enough," she added, her voice a mix of exhaustion and a plea for sanity.

"Tsk." Cedric looked away and took a long drag from the smoke pipe.

’Just five karma points,’ he thought with a bitterly disappointed expression.

Seeing his gloomy face, Celeste tried to comfort him by tapping his arm, then she said, "I’ll pray for you. I think there’s something wrong with you. So I’ll pray to the gods to help you."

When Cedric heard that, he nearly burnt his tongue as he choked on a mouthful of smoke.

"Hey! There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m telling you, there must be a reason behind all my dreams! I’m a prophet, you know."

[You have acquired 5 Karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N1,905 / P287,735]

At this point, Celeste did not say anything again and just looked at him with a worried expression on her face.

A moment later, the siblings arrived at one of the stables in the castle. It was a long, vaulted hall supported by thick stone pillars. In front of it, a hollow one was kneeling by a stone water trough, sharpening a long grooming blade against a whetstone. The rhythmic shrrp-shrrp of the metal was the only sound in the cavernous room until the siblings’ shadows fell across the entrance.

The hollow one paused and its head tilted at an unnatural angle to look at them. Then it said in a grating voice. "Cedric. You want a horse?"

Cedric turned to look vaguely in the direction leading out of the city, then he turned back to the hollow one and adjusted his newsboy cap before replying. "I need two, actually."

The hollow one turned its dark, sunken eyes toward Celeste for a moment, studying her with a lingering, hollow stare. Then, it stood up in a stiff, jerky motion and, without saying anything else, led them deeper into the vaulted stable.

Cedric looked around at the rows of stone stalls. Every horse in the line was a menacing sight, possessing glowing red eyes and skin that shimmered like polished silver.

As he studied them, he couldn’t help but wonder if all animals that were in this city, were also brought back as metallic creatures by the goddess. So far, he had only seen horses. What about the rest?

The hollow one stopped at two large, iron-barred stalls. Then it looked at the two horses and said, "Behave."

In response, the horses hissed as they stepped back into the shadows of their stalls.

He then turned to Cedric and Celeste, gave an imperceptible nod, then walked away to resume his rhythmic sharpening of the grooming blade at the stone trough.

Cedric put away his smoke pipe, turned to Celeste, then gestured towards the stalls. "Come on."

"Are you sure it’s okay?" She asked with a doubtful expression.

Cedric smiled and stepped toward the first stall, seemingly unbothered by the horse’s hostile reaction. He reached out a hand, and tapped the horse, then looked at her and said, "Yep."

Upon seeing that, Celeste stepped toward the second stall. Although the horse kept its red eyes fixed on her, it didn’t move or snap at her hand.

Both siblings mounted the horses. Then Cedric nudged his mount forward toward the exit, after which Celeste followed closely behind, gripping her reins tightly.

As the horses broke into a steady trot across the city, Cedric muttered quietly into the night wind, "Come, Aika."

...Above the roof of the keep, Aika, who was still drawing in mana with her eyes closed, opened her eyes. She exhaled a wisp of green smoke, then stood up and as she began walking, her form shifted into a raven that took to the sky.

Meanwhile, the siblings rode on in tense silence until they eventually got out of the city. A while later, they could see one of the massive stone statues which guarded the territory.

They didn’t slow down because since they were now residents of the sunken city, the obese statues were no longer hostile to them. At least, that’s what Argentos told him when he asked if they would be crushed for trying to leave.

Still, Cedric would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a pang of fear as they approached the statue. Even Celeste stuck really close to him, her horse nearly brushing against his.

"Are you sure it’s not going to attack us?" She asked with a pale face.

Cedric put on a brave face and replied, "It shouldn’t."

Then in his thoughts, he added, ’Right?’

When they were close to it, the statue moved its head and locked onto them.

Cedric swallowed and paled a little.

Fortunately, the statue did not move to attack. Instead it kept turning its head as they passed beneath its massive, rounded shadow.

Once they were a safe distance away, Cedric let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He adjusted his newsboy cap, pulling it lower.

"See?" he smiled. "Told you it was fine."

Celeste glanced back at the giant, which had now returned to its original, stoic position guarding the border. She then turned back toward the path ahead after a few seconds.

Minutes passed in silence as they rode on through the paved ground which was littered with skeletons and the dead bodies of creatures.

Slowly, the mist began to engulf them as they moved farther toward the misty marshlands. The air grew damp and heavy, carrying the faint scent of stagnant water and rot.

Then, all of a sudden, Celeste slowed, after which Cedric slowed as well.

"Is that...?" Celeste asked, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes.

Since the mist was not too thick yet, they could see the figure of a woman who was heading in the direction away from them.

She was dressed in a hooded cloak that trailed behind her, and when she heard the noises of horses, she had turned around and was now looking back at them.