“You’re… a saint?” I blinked at the elf standing across from me.

  Cecil just rolled his eyes in response, scoffing at me. “Was that not what I just said? You know, I was taught from a young age that we elves are good at hearing. But I’m starting to think that you humans just have horrible hearing.”

  I scratched the back of my head at that. “I apologize. I have just never… heard of an elven saint before.”

  In my past life, I had encountered a few saints in the battlefield. They were always exclusively human. So the fact that Cecil was an elf and a saint at the same time caught me off-guard.

  However, he didn’t elaborate on his special circumstances. Instead, he just drew back as he turned away from me.

  “Well, now you have. And if you’ll excuse me, I shall get going now. I have things I need to do.”

  With that, Cecil left the room, slamming the door shut. I watched him go with pursed lips. Evidently, there was some hostility here. But I bit back any quips or snarky responses I could have hurled back at him. Because he was going to be my roommate for the rest of the next four years, and I didn’t want to have to make him my enemy.

  That would have been annoying to deal with.

  But more importantly than that, I understood where he was coming from— after all, I had been an elf in my past life. And I recalled just how terrible humans had treated me as an elf. Even when they had not a single clue that I was the Death God, the way they turned me away even though I was a child seeking shelter.

  And that wasn’t the worst of it. I recalled the sound of chains. I still heard the echoes of the whipping lashes. I remembered the scarred and terrified faces I saw. The things they did…

  It was how I initially developed my hatred for humans. Back when I was still a Nascent Death God.

  Shaking my head, I cast aside those grim thoughts of my past life for now, instead focusing on what I could do. Eventually, I was going to have to find a way to properly befriend Cecil, not just because he was my roommate, but also because he was a saint.

  But for now, I just focused on my schedule and making the necessary preparations I needed for the start of the school semester in a month from now.

  ***

  When I had left Velmond, Jay had given me dozens of his books for me to study and learn from while on the trip to Lux. And that was what I had done while I was still on the road— many times over, in fact.

  But now that I was here, standing at the front desk of the Grand Library of the College of Luminosity, I realized that most of the books he had given to me were practically useless.

  “Here you go,” a short and stout man said as he set a pile of books onto the table. He dusted himself off and grinned at me through his bushy beard. “These are all the books you’ll be needing for the semester.”

  I stared at the man for a moment. He stood at roughly my eye-level, despite being a fully grown adult. But that was because he was no human— he was a dwarf.

  Unlike elves who were isolationist and often had a strained relationship with the other races, dwarves could be found all around Parvos, whether it was living amongst a tribe of beastkin, or even working here in the Grand Library of the College of Luminosity.

  “Thank you, Mr…?” I started, eyeing the dwarf expectantly.

  “I’m Axel the [Librarian],” he replied with a grin. “But you can just call me Axel. No need for formalities with me, lad. I’m just a chill guy.”

  “Well, I appreciate your help, Axel.” I smiled back at him.

  And then I looked down at the pile of books he had given me. These were going to be my textbooks for the year. And they practically covered everything I needed to know for my classes from the very basics of the subject to more advanced topics too.

  This was as opposed to the books Jay had given to me, which were mostly a bunch of random trivia and facts that I now realized were mostly useless.

  Axel just waved a hand dismissively at me as I stuffed the books into my Bag of Holding. “It ain’t a problem, lad. I’m just doing my job.”

  He then eyed me up and down as I finished packing up the last of my textbooks. Leaning forward, he raised a brow at me curiously.

  “But I have to say, I didn’t expect to see a kid your age here in the Holy Academy. I’ve been working in this library for fifty years now, and you’re the first one I’ve met who’s been this young.”

  “And I didn’t expect to meet a dwarf here in the Holy Academy.” I just shrugged back at him, before giving him an innocent look. “I guess we were both in for surprises today.”

  The dwarf just chuckled as I drew away, leaving the Grand Library behind.

  ***

  So I spent most of my days during the month-long wait until the semester began, just staying in my room and studying the textbooks I had collected. Cecil came and went. I rarely saw him— he practically only showed up at night, when I was just about to sleep. And while we didn’t talk much, I at least found out that we were going to be in the same class.

  Other than that, we barely interacted. But I was fine with that, since there were other things I had to do. For example, I had to deal with the treasures I had left behind at the hideout of the Gold Skulls.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Fortunately, I had allies I could rely on. I simply sought out Sister Frida and requested the services of a [Magical Scribe] from the Luna Gez Sect. The arrangement was made quickly, and I sent a missive to Velmond that was delivered instantly.

  It was a simple message. Nothing that said too much.

  Eli (Lux):

  I need your help.

  However, I had to wait a little bit for the reply, since the message still had to be delivered to the recipient. It took about half an hour before I got a response— a letter that was sent to my room.

  Nicky (Velmond):

  What do you need, boss?

  I wrote an immediate response, which got me a reply in under five minutes.

  Eli (Lux):

  I will be sending you a sealed envelope that contains a location via [Courier]. Bring a team with you— and some Bag of Holdings. I can’t say too much here, but the rest of the instructions will be in the envelope as well.

  Nicky (Velmond):

  Got it, boss!

  I thought it was settled, so I wasn’t expecting to get another letter. However, fifteen minutes passed before I was delivered a new message.

  Nicky (Velmond):

  Do you mind if I bring Ethen with me? He’s someone I trust, and I am sure he would want to come along.

  I paused when I read that. I knew that Ethen was now working for the Blood Swords. But he didn’t know that I was their leader— nor did he know anything about my true identity as the Death God. Only Nicky, Hannah, and Ms Mary did.

  However, this job only required Nicky and a few men to collect the coins that I had seen lying around in the hideout of the Gold Skulls. There was nothing that I had left behind that could have revealed anything about me.

  The residual mana in the air would have already faded away at this point. And Ethen wasn’t a [Mage]. So I decided to let him come with her.

  Eli (Lux):

  Sure, I guess. Just keep everything under wraps as we’ve discussed before.

  Nicky (Velmond):

  Yes, boss!

  And now, all I had to do next was actually send the letter to Velmond. But this time, I didn’t use the Luna Gez Sect’s help to do this. Instead, I found a [Courier] myself and handed him a magically-sealed letter to deliver to Nicky.

  He was a Gold Rank [Courier], so his services were pricey— twenty gold coins for a simple delivery. But he would get it delivered in under a week. So I paid the full price and waited to hear back from Nicky.

  ***

  “...this is probably the place,” Nicky said as she lowered the map she was holding.

  She stared into the dark cave up ahead, and she bit her lower lip. Already, she could smell the stench of dead bodies emanating from within. While the letter Eli had sent her hadn’t said anything about massacring the Gold Skulls, it was heavily implied.

  “Alright, boys. Just like the boss instructed, we go in, pick up the package, don’t ask any questions, and leave.”

  Nicky rolled up the map and turned to face the four other members of the Blood Swords she had brought with her. Three men, and one girl— Alwyn, Marius, Ethen, and Lynette.

  Not all of them were the strongest members of the gang. Ethen, for example, was one of the lowest Ranked members in the Blood Swords. But they were Nicky’s most trusted members. That was why she brought them along. Because this wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous operation. Rather, it was supposed to be a covert and simple one.

  So she strode forward, leading the group into the cavern. As they drew closer, the stench grew stronger, and Ethen recoiled, covering his nose.

  “Just what is that smell?” he asked as he wrinkled his face in disgust.

  “I know this smell,” Alwyn sniffed, before drawing his lips into a thin line. “And I don’t like it…”

  Even though it was day-time, the interior of the cave was completely dark, and Nicky had to light a torch to illuminate the inside as they entered. When she did, she immediately revealed the gruesome scene within.

  “Gracious Goddess, this is—” Marius started as he stepped back in shock.

  “Who… did this?” Lynette asked as she stared at the corpses scattered all around them.

  The group paused for a long moment, taking in the countless rotting bodies that were lying at their feet. They hesitated, but Nicky just took in a deep breath and marched forward.

  “Our boss did,” she replied simply. “Now, come on. It should be in here somewhere.”

  The four other members of the Blood Swords exchanged hesitant glances as Nicky stepped over the corpse of what had once been a rather large and muscular man. They trailed after her as she kept her gaze facing forward.

  Even though she was trying her best to put on a strong face, she was actually sick to the stomach. She wanted to throw up. Because she had only seen a massacre like this once before, and it wasn’t a nice sight to see. So it was best to just try and ignore it all.

  Unfortunately, Ethen didn’t follow that advice as his gaze was constantly drifting from body to body, so he didn’t see a corpse just at his feet. He stumbled over an arm that was sticking out of the ground, before landing face-first before a partially-decomposed face staring back at him.

  He instantly recoiled and crawled away as he stared at the dead body in horror. Then he gagged, clutching at his stomach.

  Until, finally, he threw up.

  Nicky, Alwyn, Marius, and Lynette just turned away as the young man puked all over the ground. It took him a long moment to compose himself, and Lynette helped him to his feet when he finally caught his breath.

  “J-just… who is our boss?” Ethen panted, placing a hand on his chest. He looked at Nicky, wide-eyed in horror. “How are they capable of doing this on their own?”

  Oh, if only you knew, she thought as she glanced back at him fractionally. You would never believe me, even if I told you.

  But the redhead just shook her head as she continued forward.

  “No more questions,” Nicky said, before she finally reached the end of the cave. There was a small wooden hut there that was one of the few buildings that was still-standing. Its door was left slightly ajar, revealing a glimpse of a golden glint within. “We’re just here to collect a package. And I believe we’ve found it.”

  She marched right up to the door and pushed it open. Behind her, the other four members of the Blood Swords followed. They came to a halt when they saw what was inside.

  “That’s…?” Alwyn blinked a few times.

  Marius took a step back. “Martyr’s guide us, I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life…”

  Piles upon piles of gold coins were stacked up on top of each other. They filled entire crates, and they spilled out of sacks.

  “But just how much is it?” Lynette asked, still lending Ethen a shoulder to lean on.

  “That has to be ten thousand gold coins at least,” Ethen whispered, eyeing the scintillating coins in awe. “Maybe even tens of thousands of them.”

  But that was not all— there were artifacts and weapons of all kinds that were scattered around the floor. However, Nicky didn’t waste time admiring any of it, instead stepping forward.

  “We can count them when we’re back at the base. Come on, take out your Bags of Holdings and start packing.”

  The other four members of the Blood Swords exchanged a glance, before hurriedly nodding and getting a move on. It took them over an hour, but eventually, they managed to collect everything of importance in the treasury of the Gold Skulls, before they left, heading back for Velmond.