After bidding farewell to Iluna on the water's surface and agreeing to meet again on Thursday to share information, Shard took Mia and started heading back home through the dense forest.
The fog still enveloped the woods, and the traces of the Divine Ritual on the ground no longer glowed, indicating that the distant battle had likely concluded.
Although there had been some unexpected events, the kiss under the moonlight on the water had left Shard in quite a good mood.
But he had barely taken two steps into the forest when he stopped, frowning:
"Who's there?"
"It's me."
With that voice, moonlight filtered through the branches onto the ground, casting large, somewhat sinister shadows of the trees in the night. Emerging from those shadows was Priest Augustus, wearing a gray Cleric Robe. His face bore an embarrassed expression; he definitely wouldn't have come out if Shard hadn't spotted him.
"Priest?"
Shard sighed with relief:
