After treating their wounds, the group climbed to the Surface.

Old Harvey and his sons were also sitting around the room, panting heavily, as if they had just been through a great battle... though one could probably drop the "as if."

The doors and windows of the village chief’s house were in tatters. An Axe and some Arrows were still embedded in the door, clear evidence of a fierce assault.

"Thank heavens, you’re finally up," Old Harvey shouted. "Were there really Demons? It looked like everyone was possessed or something. What in the world is going on?"

Orelia explained, "Yes, Demons. They had set up an Array down below that could affect the minds of mortals."

Colin walked over and opened the door to look outside.

He found people lying scattered all over the ground outside. All of Pig Badger Village’s inhabitants—men, women, old, and young—along with a few Guards, had rushed over. The ground was littered with the weapons they had used to try and break down the door.

It seemed that after the Array was destroyed, these mind-controlled mortals were also affected and had passed out immediately.

It was amazing that Old Harvey and his sons had managed to withstand the crowd’s furious assault.

Kase looked at the scene outside and said, "Seeing this, it’s a good thing we weren’t reckless. Otherwise, we would’ve had to face all these opponents at once. Even if we’d won, we definitely would’ve had to kill a lot of humans."

"What about the village chief downstairs? That old fox wasn’t possessed by an Evil Demon too, was he?" Old Harvey asked.

Colin replied, "Something like that. He’s dead."

"Then... damn it." Old Harvey sighed. "He used to be a good man. I just thought his personality had changed recently... *Sigh*."

"There’s nothing to be done, not when you run into something like this," Kase said. "By the way, do possessions like this happen often in the south? Up north, we’ve only heard stories about Demons; we’ve never actually seen one."

"Not often." "This is the first time for us, too." "If this happened all the time, how could anyone survive?"

Old Harvey’s sons all spoke at once.

"In all my decades, I’ve never encountered anything like this," Old Harvey himself added quietly.

Kase glanced at the hole in the floor behind them and said with lingering fear, "Those things were truly terrifying. They barely seemed like living creatures anymore. To twist natural beings into that... it’s disgusting!"

"Did the village chief have contact with any suspicious people recently?" Colin asked, looking at Old Harvey.

The old man shook his head. "No. Nothing out of the ordinary."

’So, no leads at all? I guess I can only pray these guys didn’t have any accomplices...’

Colin began to think back on the events of this commission.

He’d thought he was going to be dealing with Frostland Druids, but they had run into Cultists instead. Judging by the villagers’ reactions and the local response, Demon invasions were clearly not a common occurrence here.

And he couldn’t forget that back at Wolf Fang Castle, the Jackal Wolfmen had cooperated with the Frostland Druids.

Colin looked at Orelia. "Would the Frostland Druids have some kind of pact with these Cultists?"

There was no response for a good while.

When he turned to look, he saw the Tiefling sketching something in a small notebook.

"Orelia?"

"Ah?"

Orelia flinched when her name was called. The charcoal pencil and notebook flew from her hands, and she fumbled frantically for a moment before managing to clutch them to her chest.

"Were you talking to me? Right," she answered quickly. "A pact is probably impossible. Most Druids believe in the order of Nature. The difference between good and evil among them just comes down to what they worship and how devoutly they do so.

But Lower Realm creatures like Demons and devils are anti-Nature. The two could never have a pact. At most, they might have a relationship of mutual exploitation."

Colin grunted in acknowledgment.

’Let’s hope this is just the Frostland Druids stirring up trouble on their own.’

Staring into the deep darkness outside the door and thinking of the inhuman Cultists in the cavern below, his desire for Magic and better equipment grew even stronger.

The room fell silent.

The group was completely exhausted. No one felt like talking anymore, and they didn’t have the energy to deal with the villagers lying on the ground.

The sun slowly rose.

Warm morning light shone upon the land, casting its glow on everyone’s faces.

Only then did the people lying on the ground slowly begin to stir. They moved their bodies in a daze, as if the act of moving was a foreign concept to them.

"Has the Evil Demon’s Cantrip finally ended?"

"That feeling of hunger is finally gone..."

The crowd cheered. Some hugged their loved ones, others danced with joy, celebrating their survival. Judging by their reactions, they all seemed to remember what had happened while they were under control.

A few women and old folks hurried into the hole in the floor, likely the relatives of the Cultists.

The militiaman they had seen earlier at the village entrance walked over and said, "You’re the ones who eliminated the Cultists, right?"

"As you can see," Colin nodded.

"So what should we do now? Should we..."

Orelia said, "Just burn the bodies inside. After that, seal up this hole. It’s best if no one goes in."

Hearing this, Colin decided against mentioning anything about skinning some hyenas.

’Who knew if the pelts of those crazed hyenas would carry some strange Curse.’

The two militiamen glanced at the Tiefling, then hesitated and turned to look at Colin. Only after the "normal-looking one" nodded did they organize the villagers to start working, carrying the bodies out of the hole to be burned.

A few of the women led Colin and the others to a house to rest, bringing them some home-brewed beer.

The group sat around the room, sipping their beers and trying to finally unwind.

At this point, Colin found a moment to check his Panel.

-----------------

[Commission: Investigate the Cultists]

[Rating: 3 (Mortal)]

[Reward: 150 Skill Level]

-----------------

The mission hadn’t been that difficult, after all, so the reward was acceptable.

A long time passed. Only after the sound of sporadic crying could be heard from outside did the two militiamen from before enter the room to meet with the group again.

The militiamen looked at Colin. "Sir, we haven’t asked your names yet. The villagers want to express their gratitude. What do you heroes require?"

Colin thought for a moment.

’Pig Badger Village only has a dozen or so households, and they also have to pay taxes to their lord. Even if I bled them dry, I probably wouldn’t get much.’

"I want two hyena pelts," Colin said, then glanced at the other two.

Kase waved his hand. "Besides getting back quickly to collect our pay, I don’t want anything."

Orelia just shook her head gently.

"Then that’ll be all," Colin said.

"Alright, but we don’t have any hyena pelts here," the militiaman agreed. "We’ll send someone to the next village to get two for you in a bit."

Colin continued, "Also, give me some proof that I dealt with the Cultists here. After all, I was ordered to come investigate."

"Of course, I’ll find you a certificate right away," the other militiaman quickly agreed.

With that, the two of them hurried off. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Er, Mister Colin."

Colin turned and saw Old Harvey watching him, holding a mug of beer. The stubborn old man’s face now held a hint of confusion and helplessness.

"Are things alright up north?" he asked uneasily. "Is the situation going to get... worse?"

Colin swirled the foam in his mug.

"That... I can’t really say."