"Why are you suddenly so worked up…"

Loren didn't answer Caroline right away. He stepped back a bit, afraid she might spray food on him.

"Before I came out, I always lived in the Whispering Woods, where there wasn't even a decent fruit tree. We ate all sorts of weird wild fruits every day, some sour, some bitter, and some outright poisonous. Compared to here, life there wasn't fit for a person…

"There were all sorts of dangers hidden there. Better to be your dog here than to go back to being a human…"

"That's not it. Even if I support you, you don't need to be a dog. You can still be a person…"

Loren couldn't fathom why Caroline was so insistent on being a dog. He thought Mirrorheart hadn't interacted much with Caroline either…

"Not a dog… fine. In any case, as long as you can feed me, I'm happy!"

"I feel like you think not being a dog would actually be a loss…"

"It really would be a loss."

Mirrorheart chimed in at that moment, which made Loren a little exasperated.

During their chat, Caroline inadvertently revealed something very important.

"The Witches' Church hideout was originally in the Whispering Woods…"

Whether Caroline was careless or completely unguarded with Loren, Loren couldn't tell.

Caroline was a bit dim, but not actually stupid, so Loren leaned toward her being unguarded.

The Whispering Woods were dangerous, with many strange magical beasts lurking, though witches could manage to survive there with their powers.

Loren had once thought of retreating there to live in seclusion. The Whispering Woods were basically uninhabited, only some elf tribes lived there.

But Loren wasn't particularly interested in the elves. In this world, witches were essentially an advanced replacement for elves—prettier, longer-lived, more loyal, even more naïve.

After the meal, with nothing better to do, Loren started teaching Caroline to read. He didn't expect her to learn much, only that when he mailed her a secret letter next time she wouldn't be illiterate.

The next day, because her injuries were too severe, Koranda didn't visit Loren. She merely had Church members relay a message and report what had happened last night. Nothing had changed since yesterday.

The more nothing happened, the more Koranda felt something big was being hatched, and she warned Loren to be careful.

After weighing the pros and cons, Loren decided to bring Koranda a few bottles of magical potions. They wouldn't heal her completely, but they'd restore considerable combat capability. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

If they really ran into Greed Worshippers, Loren didn't plan to handle it alone; the main damage output would still be Koranda.

Loren also evaluated Koranda's combat power. She was arguably the strongest in the Gedlan Kingdom right now, but there was still a significant gap between her and Loren. Without the Justice Card, she would have been killed by Loren twice over.

So even if she regained fighting strength, it wouldn't significantly affect Loren.

"Let's go. Take me to see Koranda. I have something to give her."

Loren put on his black robe and prepared to leave with the Church members.

He didn't even need to fetch the potions explicitly, the robe was already stuffed underneath with all sorts of magical potions.

"Yes… Master Mentor!"

The Church member who came for Loren was unusually excited. Escorting the Master Mentor was a big deal. Although the route was short and this feat might not be enough for promotion, it would surely be good bragging material among colleagues.

Along the way, the Church member focused intently; he even began chanting magic in advance, though his strength was weak. Chanting required vocalization, and anyone nearby could notice it—so sneaking up on someone was out of the question.

This was the level most people operated at in this world. Loren had fought mostly high-level battles so far, so even seeing people with normal ability made him a little uneasy.

"We're almost there, Master Mentor."

Koranda's residence was remote, requiring a long walk, and most people didn't know its location, including openly known Loren.

"Alright."

He replied, then watched the Church member start chanting again. Loren couldn't do even silent chanting, much less chant while talking.

There weren't many people around, and at that moment Loren's intuition suddenly triggered a warning.

"Careful!"

Loren warned, but it was already too late. An arrow pierced the Church member's skull. He collapsed, blood gushing out. After chanting for so long, he never got the chance to cast his spell.

"Master Mentor, you're also within range. Hope you'll be careful."

A Robed Figure stepped out from behind a tree. Looking at the figure's attire, Loren thought maybe he should change his look; black robes like these were everywhere.

But that was Loren's intention: common attire drew no attention. Still, every time he saw some small fry dressed like him, Loren felt a twinge of annoyance.

Loren raised his hands and glanced toward the arrow's trajectory. On a distant tree stood a Robed Figure holding a bow. He had been the one to kill the Church member.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

Loren responded calmly. He knew his disguise had worked; the arrow's speed looked ridiculously slow to him. Even with such a gap in ability, they dared to attack him.

They truly thought Loren was powerless, which was the persona he'd always cultivated.

"We want you to tell us how to continue the ritual. Your method has blocked our ceremony too many times."

Greed had stripped them of reason. They even dared to abduct Loren from the Bountiful Church's base.

"……"

Loren feigned indecision and didn't answer immediately. His goal was to buy time; he didn't plan to deal with these Greed Worshippers himself.

These people were unlikely to be the main force. Even Greed Worshippers wouldn't be stupid enough to send out all forces to do something so blatantly suicidal.

Koranda's house happened to be nearby. Even badly injured, Koranda could handle these few Greed Worshippers easily.

Loren glanced into the air. Mo v ila, who had been hovering, understood his intention and flew straight toward Koranda's direction.

Koranda knew Loren kept many crows in his home; the arrival of crows tapping on her window would tell her Loren had come.

"Hope you understand the current situation."

A Robed Figure in front of Loren approached with a dagger, face cold.

Loren knew the attacker wouldn't dare kill him, but he didn't want to provoke him. He waited quietly.

The man pressed the knife against Loren's neck, but the blade was instantly shredded into pieces by vines that sprouted from the ground beneath his feet.

"Heretic! How dare you attack the Master Mentor!"