[Damaged Pendant]
Origin: Unknown.
Description: A broken pendant made of some unidentified material. The jagged edges make it clear that this is merely a fragment of a greater whole. When you examine the engraved patterns closely, you'll notice that they seem to flow and shift like water, constantly changing shape.
Usage Requirement: Possess any Anti-Chaos talent.
Material: Unknown (Mystical).
Craftsmanship: Destroyed.
Trait 1: +1 to a random attribute at the start of each game day.
Trait 2: Offer enough Chaotic Blood to receive a random reward.
Blessing of Nurgle: Each attack has a 3% chance to infect the struck enemy with a random disease.
Item is incomplete. Repairable.
— A damaged pendant. The key is in the name! You understand, don't you? Find a way to repair it!
"Blessing of Nurgle?" Aldric stared at the text on the pendant's description with a baffled expression, his face full of question marks. The moment he recalled the description of his newly acquired special talent [Lesser Regeneration], a strange chill ran through his heart. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was walking further and further down the path of a Chosen of Nurgle.
Still, the pendant in his hands was no ordinary trinket. When he had a bit of time later, he planned to ask his mentor whether there was any record or information regarding such an item. And that blind witch from the Gilded Eye Jewelry Shop—he'd also need to report this discovery to her, since that woman was known for dealing with chaos demons. You could never be too careful around someone like her.
After that, under Terry's assistance, he changed into a new set of clothes. His right hand, whose bones had been shattered, would still need several days to fully heal. Earlier, the old witcher had handed him a pitch-black vial, claiming it was a special bone-rebuilding potion produced by the temple itself. But just one look—and smell—of the stuff made Aldric deeply suspicious.
Was it really medicine? Or had his teacher accidentally mixed up the bottles—swapping the one containing the remains of a vanguard of Nurgle with the one meant to hold potions? For safety's sake, Aldric quietly stored the vial away, deciding to deal with it later.
Leaving the Temple of Ulfric, Aldric and his followers joined the witcher in boarding a four-wheeled carriage bound for the Lord's Castle.
…
The once-glorious castle now looked rather battered after the fierce battle that had taken place. The young count had transformed himself into a Plaguebearer, summoning countless swarms of insects that had nearly broken through the priests' sacred barrier.
Fortunately, in the nick of time, Priest Richard had gritted his teeth and produced a priceless high-tier divine scroll [Holy Wrath] a spell worth a small fortune. The resulting holy fire obliterated the corrupted young lord in one decisive strike.
The aftermath, however, had been grueling. The eradication of the remaining swarms took an entire day and night. Even now, when Aldric and the witcher arrived, they could still see paladins and priests working together, casting [Purification] spells to cleanse the castle's dark corners of any lingering corruption.
Inside the castle's grand hall, emissaries from multiple temples had gathered—those from the Temple of War of Ulfric, the Temple of Wind of Arkadi, the Temple of the Earth of Durnan, and many others. More than ten church envoys were present, and nearly half of them were representatives from smaller temples that had no formal presence in the city of Port Anthony before this.
Despite their diversity, they all maintained the same solemn, pious expressions—though Aldric could clearly feel the subtle tension in the air. In addition to the clergy, representatives of the city's noble houses were also present, all waiting in a side chamber of the castle.
There, Aldric spotted a striking woman who immediately stood out from the crowd—a female warrior whose aura was so fierce that even the paladins from the church couldn't overshadow her presence. Standing beside her was a dwarf wearing an absurdly tall hat, one that still didn't even reach the woman's elbow.
The dwarf's eyes lit up the instant he saw Aldric and his teacher. Without a second thought, he squeezed and elbowed his way through the crowd.
"Friend! My dear friend!" the dwarf bellowed in delight. "You haven't forgotten our agreement, have you?"
Though the words were directed at Aldric, the dwarf's gaze kept darting up and down the witcher, Gonz. Because of his short stature, it looked almost as if he suspected Gonz of hiding a weapon down his trousers.
Even a seasoned witcher couldn't withstand that kind of scrutiny—especially when it came from a bearded dwarf whose beard was long enough to reach his waist and whose waistline was nearly the same as his height.
Gonz cleared his throat, pretending to examine the nearby wall decorations as he asked his apprentice casually, "This is a new friend of yours?"
"Yes, master," Aldric replied, struggling to keep his laughter in check as he tried to calm the eager dwarf. "This is Master Gloin, the most renowned blacksmith in the area. It was he who provided me with intelligence on the cultists' conspiracy earlier—and he even supplied me with high-quality weapons and equipment."
"Yes! Yes, that was me!" the dwarf exclaimed, his hands rubbing together nervously, a wide grin stretching across his round face. "I hope you've found them satisfactory! Next time you visit my shop, I'll give you a seven—no, an eight—percent discount!"
Then, lowering his voice and leaning closer, he asked, "So... did you bring it?"
Ignoring the gleam of excitement in the dwarf's eyes, Aldric explained to his teacher, "Of course. The master's help wasn't free, so I agreed to let him examine your Valyrian steel weapon. You don't mind, right?"
Realizing the purpose of the request, the witcher exhaled quietly and regained his usual composure.
"No problem, Master Gloin," Gonz said with calm assurance. "Once we finish the meeting with the acting lord, my apprentice and I will visit your forge. Feel free to examine the weapon. Our forging process is... quite complex. But if you manage to come up with any new ideas or breakthroughs, that would be splendid. In that case, I can personally invite you to our workshop to conduct research together."
"Haha! That would be wonderful!" the dwarf beamed, at last showing a genuine smile.
At that moment, a herald's voice echoed through the hall:
"The Acting Lord has arrived!"
The witcher and his apprentice followed the crowd in orderly fashion toward the main hall to pay their respects to the acting lord.
When everyone bowed to express respect for the local authority, only two people remained standing—Gonz and Aldric. As long-time collaborators with the Noble Council, Gonz held significant influence over whether the man before them could drop the "acting" from his title and become the true lord of the city.
The two merely nodded politely to the man seated—if one could call it that—on what looked more like a stool than a chair. This was their first meeting with Antoine, the pudgy steward who somehow managed to appear even rounder in person. His tiny eyes and peculiar outfit—a pair of white thigh-high stockings matched with a short skirt—made Aldric's mind go blank for a moment.
It was said that due to past traumas, the acting lord refused to sit on any chair with a backrest. The fact that he had even survived this long was astonishing—so much so that even Gonz, who had seen countless battles, found it hard to believe.
When Gonz and Priest Richard had broken into the castle earlier, they hadn't exactly planned to save hostages. In a fight to purge Chaos, the death of a few kidnapped victims hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.
Yet somehow, this greedy, lecherous man had lived. Even more absurdly, several of the paladins who had fought beside Priest Richard had perished in the battle, but this rotund little steward had survived—thanks to an exorbitantly priced Ring of Protection he'd purchased years ago. It was that very ring that allowed him to withstand the Cloud of Flies onslaught and crawl out alive.
One had to admit, when it came to self-preservation, Antoine was a master in his field. Aldric couldn't help but study this peculiar figure closely—the man who, by sheer luck and cunning, had become a key player in this city's chaotic fate.
(End of Chapter)