The adventurer at the bottom is fantasizing again.

"There are no resident paladins at the temple of Frostvale. Most of the paladins in the North are stationed along the fortresses near the east, where the undead are constantly resurrected from the ancient battlefields."

"The Dawnbringer originally wanted to apply to the diocese for a transfer, but it would take at least half a month to arrive. During that time, who knows how many people that source will contaminate."

Anya fell silent for a moment before speaking again: "I want to try to resolve this now."

What a responsible and dedicated girl... Lorraine gazed at the blonde girl before her with admiration.

He felt that if Anya hadn't been the daughter of a duke, she might not have become a priest, but rather a paladin.

Lorraine was only halfway through her reflection when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her calf.

He looked down and saw that Eileen's feet were kicking him under the counter, but she still looked lost in thought.

"Okay, I'll go with you."

He tried hard to suppress the smile that Eileen had given him.

Anya's eyes lit up immediately. She smiled gently at the two of them and said, "Thank you."

"Alright, let's go, it'll be dark if we dawdle any longer."

Eileen stood up from the bar stool and patted Anya's shoulder armor as if she hadn't done anything.

"Speaking of which...shouldn't we wait for Piper?"

Lorraine had no idea what the short guy was doing; it was already dinnertime and he still hadn't returned.

"Pip doesn't need to participate for now. He's just started his berserk induction training, and interrupting him at this time would have a significant impact."

Anya seemed to have known he would ask that question all along.

Lorraine remembered how the little man's hands trembled when he held up the letter, and nodded.

"Wait a minute, I'm getting some equipment."

He suddenly realized that Piper wasn't there, and he couldn't put on the breastplate by himself, so his gaze wandered for a moment before finally settling on Gustav, and he said:

"...Gustav, could you help me put on my breastplate?"

"Huh? Me?"

Gustav opened his mouth, not expecting that he would have something to say about this.

"Yes, it's not good for me to be alone..."

"Stop talking nonsense and go upstairs."

Eileen slapped him on the back, almost making him spit out the water he had just drunk.

She glared impatiently at Lorraine, grabbed his arm, and scurried upstairs, leaving behind only a few onlookers.

Anya exchanged a glance with Gustav, then pointed at their retreating figures, looking quite surprised.

The old man nodded slowly.

Anya appeared even more surprised and puzzled after discovering that her conjecture had been confirmed.

It hasn't been that long, how come Eileen...

She recalled how the red-haired mage had beaten his suitor to a pulp at a noble banquet.

That's incredible.

Anya waited a short while before the two of them came down the stairs again.

Lorraine has already changed into that silver-forged steel breastplate, but unfortunately, the dent in it from when she was hit by the goblin and fell into a tree hasn't been repaired yet.

With that tattered coat, he looked quite disheveled.

Eileen changed into a mage robe with a shorter hem, exposing her calves to the air, and her earlobes were faintly flushed.

That guy just took off his shirt right in front of her, and... he really... has a great body...

"Let's go."

Anya looked at the two of them, her gaze shifting back and forth between them a few times, before she keenly noticed Eileen's reddened ears.

Her lips moved slightly, but in the end she said nothing and turned to walk towards the door.

It was getting dark outside the tavern. Lorraine was the last to leave, and as she closed the door, she heard Gustav and a few other guests offering their blessings.

"Come back alive—"

After the Midwinter Festival, the streets were no longer lit with oil lamps, and people went home early to rest, making the whole street very quiet.

"There is more than one entrance to the sewers. The Dawnkeeper has already gone down into the canal entrance in the upper city, but he has gone a long way without finding the source."

Anya led the way, explaining the current situation to them as she went: "So this time we'll go down to a different place. There's another sewer entrance in the market area, in the alley behind the blacksmith's shop."

Lorraine and Eileen walked side by side. He hesitated for a moment before telling them about the Midnight Touch, lest they rely on his Shadowstep and make a misjudgment:

"The Shadow Step I used to save Eileen was actually an accessory of a magical item, and it can only be used once a day. It can't be used today, so be careful later."

He felt he should stop using Shadowstep indiscriminately in the future, but the feeling of being able to teleport was truly captivating, and he resolved to learn a similar spell himself.

"I knew it wouldn't be that easy to comprehend magic."

Eileen snorted softly. She remembered that Lorraine had previously boasted that he had mastered Shadow Step on his own, and she had been quite envious of him for a while.

"I understand, thank you for trusting us."

Anya turned her head and looked at Eileen's angry face, and suddenly felt that the daughter she had raised with great difficulty was finally getting married.

They quickly found the alley and discovered a rusty iron gate embedded in the wall near the exit.

The bolt on the door had been pulled open from the outside, hanging loosely on the door frame, and the iron door was half-closed.

"It shouldn't have been forced open from the inside. Someone got here before us, maybe one of those missing adventurers."

Anya took a closer look at the bolt by the light of the oil lamp, but it was completely invisible from the inside when the iron gate was closed.

The rust on it showed no signs of being scraped off, suggesting it was likely opened from the outside.

"Then this place is most likely very close to that source."

Lorraine shone the oil lamp inside, but the light only illuminated a section of the stone steps leading down from the doorway and some dust floating in the air.

"squeak--"

He reached out and grabbed the crossbar of the iron gate, and with a forceful pull, the hinges emitted a piercing groan.

"Wait a moment."

Eileen waved her staff, quickly chanted a spell, and then touched Lorraine's shield with her hand: "Prabhā!"

The dragon scale shield immediately emitted a bright light, but since it was hanging on Lorraine's back, it made him look slightly comical.

"Light spell?" he asked.

"I'll teach you when we get back."

Lorraine nodded in satisfaction, placed the oil lamp at the entrance, and then took the shield from his back and put it on his left arm.

"I'll go first."

He moved the scabbard to his waist, pulled out the Rusty Throat sword, and held it in his hand.

Before the two could reply, Lorraine stepped down the first step, with Anya following behind, the two of them protecting Eileen in the middle.

"Tap, tap, tick-tock..."

The boots made a crisp sound as they hit the stone steps, mingled with the dripping sound of water from somewhere, echoing in the vast darkness.

Lorraine cautiously shone his glowing shield around, and could see some footprints on the stone steps beneath his feet, probably those of three people, most likely one of the previous groups of adventurers.

Not long after we walked down, the air was filled with a musty smell, along with a faint, strange odor.