A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Avrena saved her a few years ago.

To her, Afrena, who had never harmed her back in the Mathematical Society's stronghold, was a good person.

The butcher in her heart was Betley.

Of course, she didn't know exactly how many Black Ironborn had Afrena killed back then.

But even if we knew, it probably wouldn't change anything.

The outskirts of the imperial capital.

The wilderness is filled with the ruins of the city.

However, apart from the deserted ruins, there is a small area where the buildings are well preserved.

Especially the middle room.

The house is quite large, and the exterior walls have been renovated, but the interior has not been repaired.

This is where Father Thun currently lives, and where he is currently protecting the place.

Because the house was so dirty and messy, he usually didn't sleep there.

The walls inside the house were covered with dried bloodstains and scorch marks from fire.

Even without the smell of blood, Father Thun still felt it would be strange to sleep inside, so he chose to sleep in the next room.

Moreover, he is mostly in light sleep and will wake up at the slightest noise.

Most of the time, the bored priest would sit on the steps and quietly read.

But this time, the person dressed as a priest was not sitting on the steps as usual.

Only a thick book lay quietly on top.

A gust of wind blew by, forcefully turning the cover open and flipping the pages inside.

The rustling sound of pages turning reached the priest's ears not far away.

He instinctively stopped what he was doing and looked in the direction of the sound.

"It was my book..." Father Thun, who had thought some monster or demigod had attacked, breathed a sigh of relief.

Thanks to Bray, he's not as bored as he used to be—

Because he needs to go back to farming.

Outside the house, there was a large pile of dry rations that Brey had sent before his trip.

If all the dry rations were broken up, they could probably be piled up into a small mountain.

It must be said that Bray still remembered whether the priest was alive or dead.

At the time, Father Thun's crops were not enough to be self-sufficient, so Bray sent him these foods.

These provisions helped the priest get through the most difficult period of his life.

But speaking of which, where did Bray get so much food?

He raised the hoe in his hand and looked up at the setting sun.

Even small-scale farming is very laborious, especially now that there are no quick tools available.

The hoe in his hand was also pieced together from scrap iron; it wasn't a properly forged farm tool at all.

The same applies to everything else besides this hoe.

As for the raw materials, they were obtained from Bray, who had become rich by collecting scraps.

The priest could barely recall what Brey had said in exchange for a large quantity of medicine.

"I broke my bones outside and no one could treat me."

Therefore, the priest gave Bray many powerful medicines, but most of them were not medicines that could be used in wartime.

The medicine takes time to take effect, and the priest was certain that a battle of Bray's caliber wouldn't leave him that kind of time.

Behind Father Thun, who was lost in thought, several birds flew to the crops that had finally grown tall and straight.

"Hey, wait a minute." The priest immediately snapped out of his daze and hurriedly chased the birds away.

It seems he needs to consider becoming a scarecrow.

But where does the straw for a scarecrow come from? We can only find some substitutes.

It seems that the skills I honed to make a living at the church have finally come in handy.

Reading, tilling the land, chasing away birds, and occasionally banishing demigods.

The above describes Father Thun's daily life in the wasteland.

But life isn't always so ordinary; there will always be things that try to shatter everyone's daily routine.

Father Thun's life was similar.

"Boom-"

"咚咚-"

One after another, strong throbbing sounds rang out.

There were no monsters or demigods around, only a flock of chirping birds flying around the fields.

The heartbeat-like sound was coming from the basement of the house.

No, not like, this is the sound of a heartbeat.

Father Thun's pupils contracted sharply, a bad premonition creeping into his heart.

"Clang." The hoe hit the ground, startling the birds into scattering in all directions.

---

In the dark blue basement, there was a glass box.

Inside the seemingly fragile box lies a heart, the same color as the basement.

It is a deep blue heart.

This heart has never stopped beating, never, not even now.

But this heart was beating unusually fast today, each beat so strong that it seemed about to burst open.

Father Thun descended the stairs and gazed at the heart before him, a heart that held the fate of everyone.

"Boom-"

Every heartbeat was so loud it seemed to echo in my ears; the entire basement was filled with the sound of my heartbeat.

Father Thun even had the illusion that his own heart was beating along with it.

He slowed his pace and approached the glass box.

The surrounding magic circles seemed to be alive, constantly moving around, but they all stopped moving when Father Thun arrived.

Those who are not used to all of this will find these magic arrays so eerie that they make their scalp tingle.

However, Father Thun was clearly accustomed to the movement of these magic circles.

The priest had no idea why his heart was beating so strongly, and Beatrix hadn't left him any instructions.

"Crack!!" As the priest pondered, a sound finally drowned out the sound of his heartbeat.

The sound was so clear and crisp that Father Thun couldn't help but hold his breath.

The glass box containing Beatrix's heart began to crack little by little before Father Thun's eyes.

No one applied any external force to it, yet cracks suddenly appeared on the smooth surface of the glass box.

The cracks continued to spread, almost covering the entire glass case.

Father Thun's expression turned grave, but he was helpless and could only watch as the glass box shattered continuously.

The crack eventually stopped spreading, leaving only a small area without a trace.

However, the glass box no longer looks the same as before; now it looks like an ice cube that has been smashed countless times with an awl.

"Use your magic to suppress the leakage of divine power from your heart!" As things rapidly unfolded, Philly, inside the priest's ring, abandoned her usual languid and charming demeanor and spoke in a serious tone.

Father Thun didn't ask a single question and decisively placed his hand on the glass case.

His magic acted like a seal, blocking all the gaps that could allow divine power to leak out of the heart.

In order to stabilize the divine power within his heart, he had to stand here and maintain the posture.

This stop will last for five hours.

After five hours, Betty's heart calmed down and stopped beating so violently.

However, the cracks in the glass box were not repaired.

The priest's face paled as he used magic to counter divine power.

“His heart…” Father Thun hesitated before continuing.

“The deadline is approaching, this is a sign of heart failure,” Philly said slowly, lying in mid-air like a ghost.

The heart's inability to maintain a stable output of divine power also meant that its "lifespan" was nearing its end. On the dining table were some simple dishes.

Levy's eyes widened as she tried to find the hidden food on and under the table.

Unfortunately, Yunhai's family had no food to hide.

The amount of food that Yunji served was exactly what it was.

“Hmm…” Levy made a rather subtle expression.

"Let's eat," Yunhai said.

After Yunhai spoke, Niya was the first to pick up her chopsticks and start eating.

The Eastern Continent uses chopsticks, but don't worry, Nia, who is well-educated, can use chopsticks very skillfully.

Looking at the messy way Nia ate, Bree couldn't help but feel an urge to tap her on the forehead.

"Yunni, eat this." Yunji enthusiastically pushed all the food in front of Nia.

Just like Yunhai, Yunji also habitually calls Nia Yunni.

However, Nia was used to being called by different names, so she didn't have any trouble reacting.

“Okay~” Nia replied cutely.

"Isn't Levy going to eat?" But she glanced at Levy, who hadn't moved, and asked, somewhat puzzled.

Levy should love to eat, so why isn't she moving at all this time?

“I don’t want to eat it, Nia, you eat it.” Although Levy’s long ears drooped, she still managed to muster her energy and speak to Nia with a 0V0 expression.

She made up her mind, and then took Bray out to eat meat.

Meanwhile, Bray knew what Levy was thinking, so he decided to take her out for a nice meal.

After all, Levy had lived with him for quite some time, and he knew that the food on the table was far from enough to satisfy Levy.

At the dinner table, Nia chatted happily with her grandfather and aunt.

However, when Nia called Yunji "Auntie," she was warned with a look and eventually changed her address to "Auntie."

As for Levy, she was too hungry to speak.

Moreover, even when she's not hungry, Levy doesn't like talking to people outside her home.

She only actively engages with a handful of characters.

Bray...he was self-aware enough not to force a conversation.

Anyway, his father-in-law and granddaughter were having a very pleasant chat, and Bray didn't expect his daughter's social skills to be so outstanding.

That's something she doesn't take after her father, which is good.

Not long after Bray's remark, he suddenly put down his chopsticks and frowned.

There have been so many things that have made him frown lately.

This time, however, things seem to be a bit serious.

"Excuse me, I'm going out for a bit," Bray said casually to those around him.