Lunesday, 3rd of Septimus, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

Timotheus and Claire had been ushered into a room on the second floor of the Tigerclaw Guildhouse. They spent hours filling in the adventurer woman on what happened recently as well as on developments back home. Timotheus did the bulk of the explaining, speaking with Lady Dinauli mostly in Halak.

In turn, Claire's aunt had given a 'short' retelling on how she managed to found an adventurer's guild with her husband. Technically, they founded the guild two decades ago along with Claire's father, Amang Patar.

It was honestly a riveting tale. They told of how they struggled in the beginning, being a bunch of foreigners, barely knowing the language. There were eight of them when they came over to Feldonia. They started with ten, but two people had died on the journey from Hutabaru.

When they started, they barely had anything save for their weapons and the clothes on their back. But, Timotheus recognised from the woman's story that tried and true Halak grit.

They started out with odd jobs, learning the language as they went along with the jobs. Some minor work protecting caravans for cheap or as hired muscle for some less-than-noble characters. Something they had going for them was that they were all aura warriors.

Even Timotheus had observed that the Halak had one thing over the Bontarmata (paleskinned foreigners). From his conversations with the Count and Sir Robert, as well as the knights of the manor, these foreigners were relatively untalented as warriors.

For the Halak, a large chunk of the male population had the talent to become aura warriors. If not that, then they were born with the innate mana-wielding abilities like himself. While there were of course many people who couldn't wield either, the situation wasn't like what he knew of the west. Over here, aura warriors seemed far fewer. It wasn't just about quantity, but quality.

While warriors of the fifth star and above were rare, most Halak warriors who trained could reliably reach the fourth star. In contrast, Count Lorenz had told him that through western methods, even those untalented could awaken aura. However, they mostly peaked at the second star. Some could go on to the third star if they were lucky, but from what Count Lorenz said, getting to the fourth star is relatively rare.

Because of that, though he was still impressed, what Claire's aunt and uncle did was par for the course. More than a dozen second to third star aura warriors appearing basically out of nowhere would most definitely shift the existing balance.

Unsurprisingly, their fame started spreading and they even attracted some more downtrodden yet talented locals into their group. They started by earning the 'right' to hunt in a few local dungeons, taking commissions from minor nobles, until eventually, the Tigerclaw is where it's at now.

Over a hundred active adventurers, with a significant number of 'gold-rank' adventurers. Timotheus wasn't yet familiar with the ranking system, but Claire's aunt told him it was equivalent to a fourth star aura warrior.

Lady Dinauli's husband, Amang Marasi Parbintang, was one of the three five-star warriors of the guild. It was a significant number, even for the Halak Realms. Timotheus shook his head at the information. Had these people stayed back in Goria, their realm would stand even more secure at the pinnacle.

But on the other hand, perhaps there was something about adventuring which would help a warrior to advance. Regardless, it would seem Claire wasn't just a normal 'commoner' after all. Her extended family effectively owned one of the top guilds in Feldonia.

"Oh, if only my husband could be here to meet with you, but he's out on a dungeon raid up near Ashfell along with our two younger boys. The dungeon there showed signs of a potential break, so the Royal Guildmaster had assigned a combined party of several guilds to deal with it." Lady Dinauli explained "It was a yellow-level dungeon up until a few years ago where it was reassigned to red. If things don't get taken care of, the undead might just break out and rein terror on the land."

"...The undead?" Timotheus couldn't believe his ears at the type of monster in their dungeon. Did she mean to tell them that there were dungeons with dead people running about.

"You heard what I said. Walking corpses and ghouls of rotting flesh, many even armed with steel armor and weapons."

"Yabbag! (Damn!)"

"I do (Damn straight). I nearly pissed myself when I first saw a group of those decaying corpses flailing about. Absolutely disgusting."

"Songon ni Begu Ganjang do, nantulang?"

"Oh, nothing as scary as that… Are Begu Ganjang even real? I've never even seen them back home. Maybe some Homang demons but never a Begu Ganjang."

Timotheus frowned as he remembered the horrifying image of the Begu Ganjang demon he had helped defeat. It had been months since the fight, but he could still remember it like it was yesterday.

"What's a 'Behgoo Gun-djang…?' It actually sounds quite adorable…" Claire asked in a confused tone as she cocked her head.

"Pftt…" Timotheus couldn't hold in his snicker. It was as if all the terrifying thoughts he had were blown away by Claire's genuine ignorance. The way she pronounced it didn't help either.

"Wait, why are you laughing?" Claire became even more puzzled "Is… was that just a joke?"

"A Begu Ganjang is a traditional Halak demon." Lady Dinauli explained to her niece "They say those demons are as tall as forest trees, a rising cloud of black smoke. To see one means you'd meet your death. Though, I'm starting to think those were just stories the elders made up to scare us to sleep."

"Stories don't slaughter people and dismember their corpses." Timotheus straightened himself out after a small laugh "Neither was it a story that almost robbed my cousin's life. That demon was taller than the forests. Eyes as red as blood. Fangs as sharp as a tiger's, its body an incorporeal mess of black smoke. Not to mention that ugly, obscene, tongue of its."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"...You mean you've seen the demon?" Lady Dinauli asked, astonished.

"It took half a dozen five-star warriors, myself and a senior bishop, as well as Lady Ester Hutabaru herself to take that demon down. Granted, they said the demon we faced was one of the Raja Lungguk of the Begu Ganjang. Perhaps lesser ones would be easier to deal with."

"...Incredible… I can't begin to imagine what that must've been like. Rest assured, the undead are rarely like that. Save for maybe the most ancient of lich kings or death knights, most of the lower rungs of their numbers can be handled by even warriors without aura. Their numbers are what makes them more of a hassle to deal with. As well as their tendency to 'resurrect' after being slain. Though, flame magic is a tried and true method of dealing with those foul creatures."

Timotheus nodded as he acknowledged the information. Dungeons and manarealms, as well as the types of monsters or demons that spawn from them remain an enigma to him. Where did they come from? What was the purpose of these dungeons? But they were more a question for the scholar compared to the adventurer or warrior.

"But coming back to an earlier question, I was very surprised to see a Halak man in the garb of a Christian priest. But have the Halaklands truly been christianised?" Lady Dinauli said.

Of course a question like that came up. It was an obvious curiosity for someone who hadn't been there for the christianisation of Goria. The only problem was how to answer it while tempering himself. Timotheus had already prepared himself just in case the Lady and her family weren't christian.

"We are making our efforts. So far, Goria, Hutangali, and Rumaparau have fully embraced the tenets of our Lord and Saviour. Nabolga is currently in the process of being christianised. The southern realms of Hutapadan and Sinaria have turned papist, though."

Timotheus straightened his posture and prepared himself before he asked, "But, if you don't mind me asking, does our christianity pose a problem for you, nantulang? I don't mean to offend, but most followers of the Old Ways have given us less-than-friendly treatment."

"Oh, there's no need to worry about that." The fierce woman laughed off his question "Here in the Tigerclaw, we don't care about any of that. Whatever god or gods you worship – or don't – makes no difference to whether or not you can fight or work well. Most of our adventurers, being local, are obviously christians. My husband and I have never been much for the Old Ways. We aren't like our father."

"Which is funny, considering Elder Ringkot is one of the more zealous of our retainers." Timotheus chuckled.

"You're joking… My father?" The disbelief on the woman's face was actually quite amusing.

"He was the first after the Hutabaru to be baptised. The rest of the Parbulan followed suit and one of them was even ordained alongside me."

"Really? Who was it?"

"Bang Pingkir Parbulan."

"Little Pingkir?? You're telling me he's a priest?! He was the naughtiest little shit growing up! I don't know how a toddler could be as demonic as that child, now you're telling me he's a priest."

"Who's Pingkir?" Claire asked.

"My eldest brother's firstborn son. Your grandfather's panggoaran." Lady Dinauli said "He's your eldest ito (brother)."

The conversation soon shifted to Lady Dinauli explaining to Claire about her family. Timotheus never really asked Reverend Parbulan about his background so all of that was news to him. But it had to be noted that her information was based on what she remembered more than two decades ago. She didn't even know that Reverend Pingkir Parbulan was already married with three of his own children.

"Nantulang, if you don't mind me asking. How many children do you have? You mentioned at least two boys who're currently with your husband." Timotheus asked.

"I have five children still with me. All rowdy boys. Well, I actually gave birth to seven children, but one of them was a stillborn daughter. My firstborn son died young because of the accursed pox. We didn't have money back then, so we couldn't afford a physician or a healer to take a look at him."

"...I'm… I'm so sorry to hear that." Timotheus crossed himself but Lady Dinauli waved her hand, telling him not to worry.

"It was a tragedy, but if I'd let that destroy me, what kind of mother would I be to my other boys?" Lady Dinauli said "Anyways, three boys are with me now. The youngest ones are only ten and five years old. My eldest living just turned twenty yesterday. Speaking of which… Oy! Morgan! Come in here and greet your cousin!"

Lady Dinauli shouted out the doorway. Timotheus could hear a groan before a young man – fully Halak – entered.

A tall man, just like his mother. He had the natural curly black hair of the Halak and the squared jaw. The only striking thing to Timotheus was that his skin wasn't as tanned as the typical Halak. Perhaps the climate of the western continent also had something to do with that. Also, he was wearing a western style outfit, complete with a western-style double edged sword.

However, something about the man just rubbed Timotheus the wrong way. Perhaps it was his generally disinterested and annoyed look. No, Timotheus was used to that by Hesekiel. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, acting like he owned the place. But his parents were indeed the guild leaders.

"Greet your pariban and the prince." Lady Dinauli lightly shoved her son towards Timotheus and Claire.

There it was. That's where his apprehensions lie. He was the son of Claire's namboru. Making him her pariban. But then again, he was raised in the west. The custom of pariban shouldn't be something he was familiar with.

"Pariban? What's that?" The young man was indeed confused by it.

"Haishh, anakkonki! (My son!) I've told you this before, she's your Tulang Patar's daughter. Your Pariban, the child of your Hulahula."

"Mother, you know I've never bothered with any of that." The young man rolled his eyes.

"Hey, now! The blood that flows within you is that of the Halak! If we were back home, you two would've been betrothed to marry."

"Marry my cousin?! What do you think we are? Those crazy nobles?!"

Timotheus looked to his side and also saw that Claire had an apprehensive expression. He sighed in relief at these two foreign-born Halak's ignorance of their customs. It meant that he still had a fighting chance.

"Wait, also you said, prince?" The young man turned his head to look at Timotheus before he snickered a little "Oh, you mean priest? Mother, you've been here for over two decades but your accent sometimes still needs work."

"Don't you get smart with me, boy! I said exactly what I said. Don't embarrass me in front of the grandson of my former king." Sparks of lightning started appearing around Lady Dinauli as she talked.

When he saw that, the man turned to Timotheus once more with a more surprised expression. It seemed the talks would continue. Still, Timotheus had promised the countess they'd be home before noon.

"An actual prince?!" The young man – Morgan, as his mother called him – now looked at him with a renewed sense of dread.

Timotheus gave the biggest smile as he stood up and held out his hand towards Morgan for a handshake. "Horas. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.