What kind of nonsense is this, that you'd be chosen by the gods and favored by all the gods?

"Go easy!!! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Adele was instantly enraged and punched Elsa on the head.

But little did anyone know that Elsa had already learned from Teacher Koven how to avoid being hit, and she was unharmed after this ordeal.

Lyle ignored the commotion and turned to look at Helena.

"Have you done what I asked you to do?"

Helena nodded and then pointed at Pude.

Then, he made a strange gesture and took out a sum of money.

"Is that all...?"

Lyle took the money from the other person, then counted it himself and found that there were only a few gold sols, but a small handful of silver sols, which was not a small amount.

He reached out and picked out about ten silver sols, handing them to Helena.

"Your errand fee."

A delivery fee of ten or so silver sols is no small sum.

Helena was taken aback at first, then pushed it back very seriously.

This left Lyle somewhat at a loss.

"If you don't want money, what do you want?"

The latter simply made a lot of sign language gestures, but unfortunately, in Lyle's eyes, these fast-paced, hand seal-like gestures had no meaning.

"Sigh, I don't understand what you're saying at all."

One-track mind becomes blocked at both ends.

The same was true for Helena, who pointed anxiously to her chest, then to her mouth, and shook Lyle vigorously.

Finally, she reached out and lifted Lyle's right hand, then placed it on her chest—

"Um?"

Feeling the soft touch on his hand, Lyle was somewhat surprised by the other person's boldness... but he immediately realized that things were not going to develop that way.

Looking at Helena's serious and even slightly anxious expression, Lyle felt that there must be another meaning behind it.

This allowed him to quickly review everything that had happened during the time he had been in contact with her and her colleagues.

There was nothing unusual; everything seemed perfectly reasonable and natural.

However, Lyle did not completely let go of his cautious attitude. Seeing the other party's current behavior, he felt increasingly uneasy.

What's going on...?

However, before he could finish his thought process, Elsa interrupted him.

"Whoa!!! What are you doing?!"

She seemed to have noticed what was happening and was surprised by their audacious behavior.

Even in broad daylight—

"You pervert!!!"

So Lyle felt a gust of wind blow by, and something suddenly appeared between him and Helena.

She also shoved Lyle hard, with such force that it felt like she had been elbowed.

"Please! How could you be so desperate as to do something like this in broad daylight?!"

Lyle took a few steps back, and the moment his thoughts were interrupted, he immediately put on a helpless smile.

"I didn't do anything."

He raised his hands to show his innocence.

"You're kidding me! Do you think I'm blind or what?!"

Elsa opened her mouth wide in feigned anger and then shielded Helena behind her.

"Don't cause trouble in my shop!"

At that moment, Pude emerged from the depths of the blacksmith's shop.

He first glared fiercely at Elsa, then turned to look at Lyle.

"Your talisman is repaired."

So fast?

Lyle, who had turned around, was quite surprised, and then he heard Pud say:

"It would have taken much longer originally, but in the process, I found some relevant records in some ancient books."

"Come in with me about this talisman; I have something to say."

Pud's words were devoid of emotion, yet filled with undeniable authority, and his earnest attitude surprised Lyle.

The two of them went into the depths of the blacksmith's shop, which was the residence of the old blacksmith, Pude.

Although he was a blacksmith, he had his own bookshelf with quite a few bound books, and a rather old book was placed in front of his desk.

"I didn't have much hope of finding any records related to these kinds of symbols."

"But unexpectedly, some interesting records were found in this ancient book."

Pude went to the desk and opened the ancient book whose cover was somewhat sandy.

Lyle glanced at it and found that the history recorded there was nothing similar to what he had obtained from the Page of Fate in the Book of the Nameless Man's Prayer.

The new knowledge that came into Lyle's life energized him.

"The Age of Zaan'e Civilization"

According to the consensus of historians, our era is actually the Fourth Age. Before that, the Zain'e Age was the most glorious but short-lived period of the Third Age.

"What most historians are unaware of is that this era is also referred to as the 'Pantheon' by theologians."

Pantheon?

This era sounds like it has a lot of gods.

Tens of thousands of gods? It's quite a lively scene.

Lyle remained silent, as usual, and listened attentively.

Pude turned the page and continued:

"It was a glorious and brilliant era, where gods lived in reality and every life was a child of the gods."

"It is said that in that perfect golden age, there was no pain, sorrow, or tragedy, because God existed and God loved the world."

"But in our time, the gods have fallen silent, as if they have turned their gaze away and abandoned us..."

After a moment of silence from Pudd, Lyle picked up the conversation:

"So, what does this have to do with my talisman?"

Pude glanced at him, closed his book, and said seriously:

"The topics I'm about to discuss may involve some rather heretical arguments."

"It all depends on whether you, a believer in the goddess of fate, can accept this. If you're a fanatic, I won't talk to you anymore."

How could Lyle possibly miss this opportunity to learn about the secrets of history?

He sat up straight.

"Please speak, I am not so foolish as to punish the innocent for the sake of knowledge."

"very good."

Pude sat down as well, then pointed to the ancient book in his hand, using the light from the desk in front of him.

"Unlike what your church of the Fates records, in your records, the God of Love, who controls the realm of love and marriage among the covenant gods, has distanced himself from the stage of reality because of the weakening of the covenant itself."

"But according to the ancient records I have, during the Pantheon, the god of love fell and became corrupted after coming into contact with something that carried some kind of original sin."

"The goddess of fate, wielding the holy sword, used the power of the covenant to slay it and split it in two; the pure power of more than half returned to the sacred oath."

"The contaminated portion, however, developed sentience and fled to the spirit world, disappearing without a trace—"

"His name is [Desire Manifold]."

"It was a writhing mass of flesh and blood, exuding an aura of lewdness, repeatedly overlapping within the same space."

"The realm they controlled also shifted from pure love and marriage to debauchery, flesh and blood, and promiscuity."

"The talisman in your hand points to that guy's existence, and it most likely originates from a related heretical cult."

These words plunged Lyle into deep thought.

He still believed Pude's words to some extent; there was no need to lie about such things, and one couldn't fool a fortune teller anyway.

But it does sound rather shocking, as the Page of Fate doesn't record anything like that.

And... what exactly is that thing with original sin?

Lyle doesn't know yet.

"I understand, but that makes sense." Lyle nodded deeply.

"After all, I obtained this talisman from a heretical assassin from the north. To my shame, I failed to stop that guy and he escaped."

"I see... If they were heretics of the Desire Cult, then killing them would be considered a good deed."

Pudde remained noncommittal, simply tossing the token to Lyle.

"Do what you think is best. There is no power in this, unless you use it as a medium to pray to the manifold of desire."

"Of course, I don't recommend you do that, because heretical gods are always abstract and disgusting." Pud coughed. "Moreover, the power of evil gods is filled with filth and impurity, and can easily corrupt the will of users with weak wills."

"Furthermore, the power bestowed by evil gods is often indiscriminate and irrational; the chaotic and corrupting power and blessings can easily drive believers insane..."

Lyle nodded.

"Don't worry, I'm just investigating that person's background. I would never use the power of heretics."