“Dungface?”
When Sylvester exclaimed, the man turned around and recognised him in a heartbeat. Dungface didn’t speak much, however, so he just walked to Sylvester and knelt as if he prayed to god. “Dungface thank big lord.”
Sylvester knew that the man was mentally slow, so he didn’t try to correct him. Instead, he forced him to stand up as he felt nothing but pure unadulterated worship from him. “Thank me? Why?”
“Dungface dirty. Big lord give money for new clothes.”
‘Ah! I remembered ordering the last Archpriest to get him new clothes. But this much gratitude? This is craziness.’ Sylvester thought and tried to guess what Dungface was thinking. But soon gave up as it was impossible to read someone like him.
“It’s good to see you. I hope you’re eating well and living well.” He patted the man’s shoulders.
Dungface smiled ear to ear, appearing more innocent than a child. “Dungface work, eat, pray and sleep. Very happy.”
“Good, keep up the work.” Sylvester excused himself and walked back to the Archpriest Milan.
“We shall rest here for a few hours before heading east. Did you send out a request for the extermination of rats? We took that request as it lay in our way.”
The Archpriest nodded. “Yes, Lord bard. I will send someone to show you the way.”
“You need not worry about me. I was here years ago. Lady Aurora shall rest here until then, however.”
“Actually, I won’t. I shall be accompanying you, Archpriest Sylvester.” She interjected.
‘Ugh… how will I do the transaction now? I guess I’ll have to use Felix’s name?’
“That settles it then. You need not worry about any of us, Archpriest Milan. We will finish our work and leave quickly. You just prepare lunch for us.” He ordered as he was a senior despite being of the same rank just because he worked for the Holy Land directly, the headquarters.
“We shall prepare a feast, Lord Bard… Lady Tenth.”
Sylvester stopped him. “No, just prepare normal food. We’re not here to celebrate anything. We shall see you in a few hours then. Also, announce in the town that everyone must stay away from the sewers until night.”
They all quickly left to find the sewer opening in the town and exterminate all the rats as soon as possible.
“Dungface? Is that truly his name?” Lady Aurora asked in ridicule.
Sylvester remembered what the old Archpriest had told him. “His parents named him that. He’s a bit slow in the head.”
“He’s a retard?” Felix blurted.
“Well, even a sane man can be retarded. No, he was born with a mental deficiency. He used to work on his parent’s farm and clean the cowshed. They used to beat him, so the Monastery took him in and cared. Honestly, one of the only few things the last Archpriest did.”
Gabriel prayed to the lord under his breath as they walked. “He’s an innocent soul stuck in an imperfect body. May the lord have mercy on him.”
“There it is!” Sir Dolorem exclaimed as they arrived outside the town, towards the west. It was a large hole on the ground with a metal gate with small holes in it.
“Ugh! The smell!” Felix clenched his nose.
Sylvester instead used a magic rune and placed it around the sewer entrance. Then it gushed the wind away from them, taking away most of the foul odour.
“Don’t tell me we will go in there,” Gabriel asked.
Sylvester had already started to work, however. “No, we won’t because I came prepared to kill them all without taking a step inside. Just relax there and watch me.”
Bam!
Sylvester took the lid off of the hole and exposed the entrance. It was a deep pitch black pit as far as he could see and appeared to have overgrown fungus all around near the opening. Also, the odour was vomit-inducing. But Sylvester had scented worse, thanks to his damn blessing.
“Stand back now. I am going to use acid poison.” He ordered them all.
After that, he placed a small fire pit near the entrance and put some wood on it. Then he took out a flask from his bag containing some red boiling liquid. He then poured it on the wood and lit a fire. The smoke that was produced also had bright red smoke.
Sylvester quickly used his magic to direct the smoke into the sewer shaft. In an instant, its effects became visible as all the fungus started to disappear, and the neat and clean surface of the sewer appeared.
“I need help! Sir Dolorem and Felix, come here and direct the smoke into the shaft. Beware, however, do not inhale it, or your insides will melt.” He ordered the two.
Once the two took their place, Sylvester stepped on the other side of the opening and aimed his right hand towards it.
Woosh!
Woosh!
Runes appeared underneath his hand, made of light. Then, he let the floodgates open. Like a river stream, the water came from the rune scheme at an explosive speed and poured into the sewer. In an instant, it got mixed with the smoke and turned into bright red water. It flooded the entire sewer system, and Sylvester didn’t stop until he felt the water had started to log itself in there.
For the next fifteen minutes, he kept pushing water into the sewers. Thankfully, it was a sunny day, so they didn’t feel as tired that fast.
“Gab, when I say you end the fire by using the Earth element and making an air-tight lid on it,” Sylvester ordered. He didn’t ask Lady Aurora for help as he knew she was not there as a team member but rather as a mentor.
He had already sensed strange emotions from her. Emotions that were a mix of happiness, jealousy and hope? He didn’t know what she exactly felt, but it was certainly not overly friendly.
Woosh!
He kept pushing water until he felt the entire sewer was full, as it filled the pit to the brim. Then, finally, he shouted, “Cut it!”
Bam!
Gabriel was prepared, and since the Earth element was Gabriel’s inherent talent, he quickly made a semi-spherical cover over it, instantly cutting the smoke. The fire would soon douse itself due to the lack of oxygen. Meanwhile, the smoke would imbue itself into the soil, making it acidic.
“It’s okay. You can stop now.” Sylvester stepped back and took a breath of fresh air.
Felix and Sir Dolorem also stopped and breathed in relaxation. But then Felix remembered something. “Ah! What if the smoke reaches out inside the village through the sewer holes?”
Sylvester shrugged off the concern. He wasn’t dumb enough not to think that. “It’s alright. Even if it reaches the top, the smoke will be heavily diluted from the water. It will only cause a slight cough for a day. That’s it. As for this sewer, the acid will eliminate all the water in itself. Soon the whole system will be as clean as if new.”
“What was that red liquid?” Felix inquired.
Lady Aurora blurted before Sylvester. “Dragon’s Bile? I must say, that was a brilliant way to deal with it. Did you plan from the start?”
Sylvester nodded. “Not just start. I had planned it the moment I read about it. This was the perfect acid, although it has nothing to do with dragons–it’s just too hot.”
Gabriel sighed in self-loathing. “I need to focus more on alchemy, it seems. Felix you too… you should be ashamed of being called God’s Favored.”
Felix roared. “I know other things!”
Gabriel didn’t back down. “Like what? Fondling oneself every morning? What? You thought we never knew? Don’t look at me like that.”
“Cough… Boys, calm down.” Sylvester reminded the two they were in the presence of a woman.
She scoffed and walked back towards the town. “Whatever–I’m too old for your young shenanigans.”
“How old are you… Lady Aurora?” Felix asked naturally.
She didn’t stop, however, and instead showed her left palm. “You want a tattoo?”
“No, my lady… I was merely joking.” Felix nervously rubbed his face. After all, the three may be at work, but their daily morning beating was still consistent.
Sylvester was making progress, however, as he found patterns in Lady Aurora’s moves and magic. But the problem was that she had simply too many techniques, as expected from a Grand Wizard.
“Yeah, I’m hungry now. We spent too much energy here.” Sylvester packed his items and destroyed the dome under which the fire was trapped before leaving.
…
Sylvester returned to the town, but it was still too early for lunch. However, he smartly told everyone to go around and check all the sewer openings to ensure there was no problem. This way, he was able to send Lady Aurora away as well.
With that, he was free to go and deal with the merchant sent by Felix’s elder brother. So he went to the outskirts near the woods and found one man on a horse.
“Sand so fine, I’d wish it were mine. But I wonder what it may cost me.” Sylvester spoke as he walked past the horse.
After a momentary silence, the man responded. “Five thousand Gold is the price of this fine sand, ready to exchange with swapping hands.”
Sylvester walked back to the horse and, without greeting, took one unsuspecting jute bag from the man while he gave a heavy, similar jute bag full of gold coins.
Then, without wasting a moment, both of them went opposite ways. Only after the man was out of his site did Sylvester open the bag and look. As expected, he found it full of various helpful magic crystals.
“Chonky bank, ready for work?” He asked.
Miraj quickly swallowed the whole bag into his bottomless belly. Sylvester was sometimes interested in knowing where it leads to, but he was too afraid of even wishing to enter that place as nothing returns alive.
After the successful transaction, he returned to the Monastery. By lunch, others also returned after checking all the openings to the sewer.
“Let’s eat and head to Count Jartel.” Sylvester planned.
But Sir Dolorem rejected it. “That wouldn’t be wise. Our twenty-five-member platoon from Holy Land is about to arrive here, Archpriest. We should let them join us first–at most, it will cause a few hours of delay.”
‘I should take them along. Who knows what lies ahead.’
“Fine, we will wait then.” Sylvester ate his fill in peace.
Bam!
However, just when he felt calm, a loud sound of metal utensils falling came, followed by an angry scolding voice of Archpriest Milan.
“Boy! Does nothing go into that thick head of yours? You can not enter here after cleaning the dirty streets. Now go and visit Fifth Street; they need some house cleaning done. Afterwards, go to the seventh side street; they need the turd-pit cleaned.”
“Dungface sorry… I go fast!”
Sylvester noticed many eyes were on him at the dining table, expecting some reaction from him as he seemed close to that man. But, he continued to eat his food. Dungface was mentally slow and could not have regular jobs. If slaving oneself was the way to survive, then he must do it, Sylvester reckoned.
“The Lord’s plan exists for reasons. Today it may be harsh; tomorrow, it may be kind–for it changes like seasons.” He muttered to justify his inaction and continued to eat.
_______________________ 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘭．𝘦𝘵
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APE TOGETHER STRONG!