"I wonder which rich asshole has decided to throw so much money away."
Walking through a narrow alleyway on her way home, a young woman wrapped in long black robes with a hood pulled low over her head muttered the words quietly, a small bag of coin clutched tightly in one hand, her footsteps echoing softly against the damp stone underfoot. The evening air carried the faint smell of brine drifting up from the docks nearby.
She’d encountered no shortage of wealthy assholes throughout the kingdom of Bark over the years, people who always seemed to have coin ready to spend on themselves, right up until it came to properly serving the very being who granted them all that wealth in the first place.
None of it surprised her anymore, their greed, their casual disregard for the World Tree that sustained their entire existence. If she hadn’t received her vision years ago, she suspected she’d still be trapped somewhere, performing thankless work no one bothered to properly reward, scraping by on scraps like everyone else she’d left behind.
"Praise Bark."
After a lengthy walk, she finally reached her shack and pushed the door open, stepping inside without much thought toward whatever waited beyond it.
The moment she crossed the threshold, however, a blade pressed firmly against her neck, forcing her down into a nearby seat before she could react, the door swinging shut quietly behind her on its own.
"Priestess Mern of Lafia. I wonder what brings you so far from home."
From the surrounding shadows, Vira stepped into view, a small book held loosely in one hand. As the Imperials’ top investigator, very little information across the kingdom remained beyond her reach, including detailed records on radical priests and priestesses scattered throughout its territory, tracked and catalogued long before most of them realized anyone was watching.
Mern was among that particular group.
Those who carried their devotion to excess, and as a result, even a kingdom built directly around Bark’s worship treated them with considerable caution, wary of what unchecked zealotry might drive someone to do in his name.
After all, even Bark himself couldn’t extend protection to absolutely everyone.
"What, am I supposed to be a priestess first and a citizen second? I have freedom of movement!!"
She snapped instantly, recognizing Vira the moment their eyes met properly.
That useless heathen. Vira represented exactly the kind of person within the kingdom who, despite witnessing Bark’s power and countless wonders firsthand, still refused to formally identify as a devoted believer, walking through life untouched by faith while people like Mern gave everything they had.
"Freedom of movement? Freedom to assist the rogue prince seems more accurate. You two served together during the same period, if my records are correct."
Vira added, flipping casually through a page in her book.
As the custodial family entrusted with tending the World Tree, every member of the royal family was required to serve in some capacity as priests beneath Lord Bark’s canopy at some point during their upbringing, regardless of what path they eventually chose afterward.
"So what? I served alongside him, so what? Leave me alone!!"
Her composure cracked visibly, agitation bleeding into every word, her hands clenching into tight fists against her lap despite the blade still resting near her throat.
Vira wasn’t wrong about the shared history. But whatever Mern was currently involved in had nothing directly to do with the prince himself. She hadn’t laid eyes on him in years, not since their paths had diverged entirely, each choosing very different ways of proving their loyalty to the same god.
As the back-and-forth continued, Vira let out a short laugh, a trace of genuine annoyance coloring her tone.
"I don’t even need to press this further. All the coin you’ve collected is sitting right here in front of us. I’ll simply wait to see who eventually comes to retrieve it."
Slamming Mern’s head firmly against the table, Vira gestured mockingly toward the several sacks of collected "tax" stacked openly across the room.
Whatever ritual this money was funding clearly carried significant complexity, but the coin itself appeared essential to whatever came next.
That much seemed obvious enough.
So they settled in to wait alongside the restrained priestess. But as time slowly passed, an unusual occurrence shook everyone present.
Right before their eyes, the sacks of coin and scattered jewels began fading slowly out of existence, dissolving as though they’d never physically been there at all, no shimmer, no sound, simply gone piece by piece until the table sat completely bare.
Watching this unfold, the priestess could only glance up at them with quiet, satisfied confidence. No connection remained. No money remained. And now, no evidence remained either.
"Get out of my house."
She barked sharply, driving them out one after another with renewed defiance, slamming the door shut the moment the last of them cleared the threshold.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
At the same time, in a dim room somewhere far removed from that shack, a much older man gathered the sacks of coin that had just materialized atop a stone altar, carrying them toward a massive pot suspended over a roaring flame, the metal already glowing faint orange along its rim from the heat.
His hands remained perfectly steady throughout the entire process as he gripped a heavy metallic stirring rod firmly in both hands, folding the melting coin deeper into the churning mixture with practiced, unhurried motions.
"I need to finish this batch before the lord returns from the sea."
He muttered quietly under his breath, the image of the third prince surfacing vividly in his mind, boarding a small vessel alone to face the vast, unforgiving expanse of the Great Sea.
Reckless. Brave. Utterly determined to reclaim control over his own fate, whatever the cost.
The lord, wherever he currently resided, remained deeply grateful for such an unwaveringly devoted servant, one willing to work through the night without complaint or hesitation, tending the flame until every last coin had been properly transformed.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter