"Have you found it? But before that, could the Archbishop answer me a question?"
"...Please, speak."
"What exactly is going on with Mr. Belte?"
The voice from the bracelet was silent for a moment, then a dignified voice slowly spoke: "Laine, you must know that Belte is a Demon Hunter."
"Yes, I know... Has he been corrupted by Chaos? A Demon Hunting Master renowned for twenty years, corrupted just like that?" The young man's name was Laine, and he listened intently to the Archbishop's account, while recalling the intelligence he presently grasped.
A hundred and fifty years ago, the Northern Barbarians located in the Chaos Wasteland assembled an army of over five hundred thousand under the call of Chaos, marching southward, destroying everything in their path, threatening the heart of the Empire, and even breaching the Imperial Capital.
After the Battle of Fasha, a new empire was reestablished amidst ruin, and the Imperial Council elected Ludwig as the new Emperor of the Empire. Since the original Imperial Capital, Weisemontz, had been utterly destroyed, Ludwig established the capital at Brunswick. However, the corruption of Chaos did not fade from the land; corruption, disease, mutants, and worshipers of the Evil God ran rampant across the empire's territories. The empire's armies could not be fully mobilized for every small affair.
Thus, the profession of Demon Hunter came into being, with the cultural decay within the Empire and the spread of folk heretical beliefs like vine tendrils across the land, harsh purifiers were needed in such a dark and obscure era.
Where Demon Hunters passed, they cleansed those heretics and demons, fighting against Chaos.
Belte was such a Demon Hunter, who made his name twelve years ago by single-handedly destroying an entire Evil God organization, thus earning the title of Demon Hunting Master.
Yet Laine was here to pursue Belte!
In his hunting career, this Demon Hunting Master seemed to become increasingly reclusive, more reluctant to communicate with people, refusing even routine gatherings, always acting in secrecy, and constantly collecting something.
Five months ago, Archbishop Innocen of the Nord Kingdom Justice Church received a letter from the Demon Hunting Master. Belte sought help from Archbishop Innocen, saying that demonic whispers continually hovered around his ears, that he often dreamed of endless seas of blood and boundless slaughter in his sleep, and that sometimes he couldn't control his actions. He was on the brink of madness and implored the Archbishop to help him.
This Demon Hunting Master always did as he pleased and had many quarrels with the Justice Church. Even so, Archbishop Innocen, after much hesitation, decided to see what was going on.
Expectingly, upon arriving at the residence, the Demon Hunting Master adamantly denied ever sending a letter for help, stating he had never written any letter to the Archbishop and asked him not to use this matter as an attempt to interfere with his life.
Angry, Innocen left immediately, declaring that nothing of his would concern him in the future.
Nevertheless, Innocen was, after all, the Archbishop of the Nord Kingdom Justice Church. Not long after leaving in anger, he realized something was wrong. When he hurried back to Belte's residence, the Demon Hunting Master had already vanished, leaving behind a terrifying experimental site where this master had been using live humans in experiments to create numerous monstrous half-human, half-beast creatures.
"I can imagine what happened there, but what I want to know is, why didn't the church use the Holy Protection Technique to protect this Demon Hunting Master?" The young knight sat on the guest room bed, asking with curiosity.
"Because he was unwilling to pay the 'price.'" The Archbishop said this and then cut off the communication; long communications required a lot of energy.
"...So, it's the price, huh?" Laine was a smart man; he naturally understood what the so-called price was.
The Justice Church was not a charitable organization, nor was it an unselfish organization for eradicating evil. The Justice Church emphasized that "justice requires a price," and many of their services had clear price tags.
Demon Hunting Master Belte was unwilling to pay the "price."
The Justice Church was willing to incorporate those Demon Hunters. Those who accepted to be incorporated could enjoy vacations, they worked for six months a year, and the Demon Hunting Masters were periodically blessed with the Holy Protection Technique to ensure they wouldn't be corrupted by the Power of Chaos.
However, justice came at a price: 40% of the Demon Hunters' income had to be submitted as "protection fees," and many Demon Hunters were reluctant to sign such contracts. It was known that signing the contract required swearing upon the Divine Scripture and signing under the witness of the Deities, and if breached, the consequences were severe.
Many Demon Hunters couldn't accept such terms, and Belte was one of them.
The Justice Church commissioned other Demon Hunters to capture Belte, but none succeeded. When the corpse of the most powerful Demon Hunter in the Nord Kingdom Church—Demon Hunting Master Bent—was found nailed to a pine tree in the wilderness, Archbishop Innocen knew things had become troublesome, so he sought out Laine.
The relationship between Laine and the Justice Church is quite good. He appreciates how the Justice Church places a clear price on things, without hypocritically extolling "Divine Grace" or "Divine Gifts," always openly asking for the costs to be paid, and never secretly employing tactics to persecute dissenters. Thus, he has always maintained a good relationship with the Justice Church.
"Much better than the Cross Sect of the medieval times!" Thinking any further would yield no results.
Laine took off his entire set of chain armor, cautiously set up multiple alarm devices, then placed his warhammer and single-handed sword within arm's reach by the bed, leaned back on the soft feather pillow, and sighed softly, "An outsider, am I..."
Indeed, Laine was not originally from this world; he was an outsider.
By chance, he had crossed over from that blue life-bearing planet, yet the so-called crossing was not as delightful as imagined.
He had traversed through a bizarre corridor filled with illusions for three whole days!
In the corridor, he encountered a mysterious man with long black hair, clad in a suit of golden armor, and had his own extraordinary encounter.
When he arrived in this world, Laine found his body had transformed into a three-year-old child, and stray dogs by the roadside were drooling at him!
His adoptive father—Lord Norman of the Autene Territory, happened to pass by at the time, and thus, Lord Norman adopted the child, naming him Laine, which means lion—because Laine's brave struggle against the pack of dogs reminded this knight of a lion battling a horde of wild beasts.
Twenty years flew by in the blink of an eye, and at the age of eighteen, Laine set out on his travels. His footprints spread across most of the Nord Kingdom, from the frontlines fighting the Northern Barbarians at Storm Fortress, to the capital of the Nord Kingdom, Frost City, from the densely populated Nord Mage Holy Land—Celestial Vault Castle, to the current Wulan Town, through continual hunting of demons and those fallen ones, trading with the Justice Church for bounties, while also taking on various commissions from lords. To this day, he has amassed a considerable amount of savings.
What will the future hold?
Lying in bed, Laine gradually drifted into a dream...
In his dream, he seemed to have returned to his homeland, a nation under the red flag, where the roads were just as congested, and he woke up early every day to squeeze onto the subway for work, laboring tirelessly to provide for his family, diligently saving to buy a house. His parents aged gradually, but thankfully they lived in the same city, so every holiday, he would visit his parents and go out with them, listening to his father's advice and his mother's nagging. Though work was grueling, it never felt oppressive.
But everything gradually faded, having been in this world for twenty years, his memories of that world were still relatively clear, except for the once familiar faces of his parents and friends which no longer shone brightly, seemingly covered with a shadow. In confusion and subtle melancholy, he seemed to be falling endlessly into darkness, falling...
Awakening abruptly in the middle of the night, his cheeks were wet with tears.
The next morning, Laine got up early, and after breakfast, the sky outside was still pitch dark, so he sat in the hotel lobby, staring blankly at the heavy snow outside.
"I... If only I truly am an outsider, it'd be better. To be displaced is worse than being a wealthy dog," the young man sighed slightly.
"Sir, you're up early!" The innkeeper, washing dishes and cups behind the bar, caught sight of Laine sitting in the hotel lobby early in the morning and casually remarked, "Sir, you went to bed quite early yesterday. Later, a minstrel started telling the story of our Nord hero, 'Great Hammer' Laine. It was really exciting! The atmosphere was lively! It's a pity you didn't hear it."
"Hehe, 'Great Hammer' Laine, is it? His story, I hear it every day, and even witness it firsthand every day." The young man simply smiled, and when the innkeeper repeatedly pressed him about whether he had ever been a Knight's Squire to "Great Hammer" Laine, he merely smiled without answering, asking instead, "A few days ago, was there someone tall and thin, cloaked, wearing a high top round hat, dressed in long trousers and black boots, who came here to stay?"
"...I don't know." The innkeeper immediately displayed a cautious expression, setting down his dishes and clay cup, his tone taking a sudden turn: "I'm sorry, guest, not disclosing other guests' information is the rule in our line of work. If that's why you're here, then you might as well give it up!"
Having said that, the innkeeper reached under the bar for something, but the knight reacted faster, quickly gesturing that he meant no harm, then uncovered his cloak: "Then, in that case, can you tell me now?"
A silver wolf head emblem appeared before the innkeeper.
"Sir, you are actually a White Wolf Knight! I'm terribly sorry, please forgive me!" The innkeeper turned pale at the sight of this emblem and immediately apologized.
"It's right not to reveal customer information; whatever business you're in, you must abide by the trade rules, there's nothing wrong with that. But now, as a Kingdom Knight, I order you to tell me in detail." Laine asked in a deep voice.
"Yes!" The innkeeper hurriedly put down the small crossbow in his hand and informed Laine of what he knew.
"Three days ago, indeed, there was a strangely dressed tall and thin man who came here..."