Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 392 - 18 Ancestors’ Graveyard_1

Chapter 392: Chapter 18 Ancestors’ Graveyard_1

"I think the food they cook is not as delicious as yours." Marcia was gobbling up the food while expressing her opinion during a break, "Food on the grassland is like this, either boiled in plain water or roasted over a small fire. After having a taste of the food you, Mr. Pannis prepares, though these are edible, every bite increases my longing for your cooking."

"Even though a beautiful lady expressed her longing for me to my face." Pannis responded with a bitter smile, "Why can’t I be happy about it at all? I always feel like it’s a mix-up between certain jobs or some kind of food voucher."

"No, that’s just your misconception, I’m speaking from the heart." Marcia was still the same as when they first met, her gray short-sleeve top revealing her bronze-skinned arms; loose black coarse cloth men’s trousers; fluffy black short hair; strong, well-proportioned muscles; a wild exterior, and gentle, serene eyes. The large two-handed sword slung diagonally behind her, the old leather scabbard worn at the edges from overuse, the cloth wrapped around the sword handle darkened from long-term gripping. The aggressive exterior was akin to a female leopard, yet paired with a gentle heart akin to a young girl. Both contradictions harmonized perfectly with one another, creating no sense of disharmony. Marcia devoured the food heartily but not rudely, rather demonstrating an unaffected nature, causing hunger to stir in any observer.

"Alright, but I’ve never heard of using others’ restaurant kitchens to cook their own food." Pannis shrugged, speaking helplessly, "Wait until tomorrow evening then, We are likely to spend the night outside anyway, I’ll cook then."

"Deal." Marcia, satisfied, stuffed another big bite of beef into her mouth, "I thank you in advance."

Catherine and the others were smiling at Marcia struggling for food at the side, although they hadn’t chatted much since reuniting, it was difficult not to like the straightforward and genuine Marcia. This girl speaks her mind with absolute honesty. Her modest, peaceful, and nonaggressive character makes it easy for others to forgive her unintentional mistakes.

"How did you get into a fight?" Catherine took the initiative to initiate a conversation, "According to Cerasis, although the guards here are aggressive, they rarely act violently towards passing travelers, why was it so violent today?"

"I’m sorry, I got carried away eating and didn’t get to catch up with you guys." Marcia wiped her mouth with a handkerchief on the side, revealing a gentle smile, "Actually, it’s common for the Beastman on the grassland to get into fights, whether it be to make friends, to resolve disputes, or to express emotions, they basically only do it this way. However, it’s rare to see guards from the station get into fights, they have rules to follow. But this time was exceptional. As we were heading to the tavern to wait for you this afternoon, we ran into a few guards. A dispute arose between a few guards and the professionals guarding a small caravan, which resulted in a fight. This isn’t really unusual, even though I dislike fighting and prefer peace, I won’t go out of my way to interfere other’s fights. Normally I would just go around them with a smile if I came across this kind of incident, but this time was different. The guards are believers of the War God and were shouting slogans about the glory of the War God while attacking, as if the War God commanded them to fight indiscriminately. This conflicts with the doctrine I uphold, hence, I stopped them. I wanted to teach them the true will of my god but they were unwilling to listen and preferred to argue with their fists, attacking me in the process. Under such circumstances, I had no choice but to knock all of them down, but soon more guards arrived, it seemed like they received a distress call."

"Um... so you knocked them all down as well?" Catherine’s smile was a bit awkward, "Just to educate them?"

"Yes, since they are unwilling to listen and prefer to converse with their fists, I had to knock all of them down first, and then educate them." Marcia replied as if this were matter-of-fact, "it was effective. After lying on the ground, listening to me talk about doctrine for half an hour, they all admitted that they were very wrong before and their teachings were like a second birth to them, they pledged that they will abide by my teachings in the future."

"Hehe, hehe." Pannis gave a dry laugh, "I can understand, absolutely understand, oh, I mean those guards."

"Then I entered this place with Mr. Parqi, he said he had arranged to wait here." Marcia continued to explain, "However, unexpectedly, just now, a more aggressive group of guards rushed in wanting revenge for their companions. They don’t understand that hatred is the most terrifying emotion in the world. Those who can’t let go of their hatred can never become true warriors of my god because my god never seeks revenge. He seeks glory, to gain glory from the brilliance of victory."

"Indeed, that’s the style of the War God." Pannis who was well-versed about the doctrine of the War God or rather that of his followers, replied noddingly, "losing means losing, aiming to win back in the next fair and square match. Revenge, especially seeking help from others for revenge, has already deviated from the doctrine, no wonder you educated them."

"But, having driven them away, won’t there be more fearsome guards rushing here for revenge?" Catherine asked jokingly, not worried, "then there will be waves of people coming every few hours throughout the night, and no one will be able to rest."

"That won’t happen." Marcia laughed heartily and openly, "I declared my identity just now. After all, I am a Religious Guard Knight of the Hall of War God. If they still dare to come, they would be blaspheming."

"That’s good." Catherine’s smile, unlike Marcia, was more gracefully elegant, carrying an undoubtable touch of noble temperament, "Looks like we can have a good night’s sleep tonight."

"However..." Marcia’s worried gaze suddenly turned towards Lina and Vivian, "Priest Lina and Miss Vivian are not in any trouble, right?"

"No, not at all." Catherine replied in puzzlement, "Is there a problem?"

"Although I know that Priest Lina can often be unpredictable, this time she seems to have changed..." said Marcia uncertainly. Lina had been sitting quietly watching everyone chat, a regal and proud expression on her face that hinted at both power and arrogance, much like a queen looking down at the world. However, what caught Marcia’s attention wasn’t this, but rather her intuitive beastman’s sense, which suggested that a change had occurred. Tentatively, she said, "Seems like... she’s become less human?"

"There’s nothing to worry about." Lina reassured Marcia, although the undertone of her voice suggested a clear distance. A monarch could not afford to put herself on the same level as others, she had to maintain a level of distance. "Thank you for your concern, I am well."

Marcia instinctively felt the deliberate emotional barrier Lina was trying to create, but their past interactions hinted that Priest Lina could be quite a fickle creature; perhaps in a day or two, she would become something else entirely. Therefore, Marcia did not feel upset about this. Assured that there was nothing wrong, she did not press the matter and instead turned her attention towards Vivian. "What about you, Miss Vivian? You’ve been maintaining the same posture for quite a while now, you have barely even blinked."

"Ah, it’s just her habit." Catherine responded with a wry smile. "Don’t worry about her, she’s simply lost in her own thoughts. She won’t hear anything you’re saying at this moment. Everyone’s fine here. More importantly, you seem to be in rough shape, were you injured?"

"Yes, I was attacked a few times by the undead and was hit by a skeletal warhorse from a Death Knight," Marcia replied nonchalantly as if discussing someone else’s business. "The injuries weren’t severe, I’ve been recuperating for half a month, and I’ve almost completely healed."

"Could you elaborate a little more?" Catherine asked in a serious tone. "What exactly is happening out there?"

"I can’t exactly provide an in-depth report." Marcia recounted, "I am not an adventurer and I’m not familiar with exploration, surveillance, infiltration, and such. I was detected almost immediately on the outskirts and had to fight my way in. However, fortunately, due to my divine duties, I have a special sensitivity towards the Undead. Hence, I didn’t lose my way and followed the strongest sensation of undead energy, believing the key problem lay there."

"Have you found the source of the problem then?" Catherine pushed for more details. "As Parqi explained, their ancestors have been living on that prairie for generations. There were wandering undead every now and then, but they had never seen undead on such a large scale."

"Unfortunately, I haven’t." Marcia answered. "However, that place is indeed a land of death in every sense. The entire area is filled with the energy of death, I even doubted my own sight when I first entered."

"Did you not find it odd?" Pannis retorted. "Even if there is a high concentration of death energy, where do all the corpses that serve as raw material for the undead originate from? We all know that the undead do not just appear out of thin air, they are created from corpses."

"Err... allow me to explain." Parqi, the one who had commissioned the expedition said apologetically, "That group of mountains is the burial ground of our ancestors."

Everyone looked at Parqi in shock, unable to comprehend why anyone would use a place so saturated with death energy as a burial site. Even Catherine, usually poised and composed, almost blurted out her disbelief.

"No, no, you’ve misunderstood." Parqi, fully aware of the shock his revelation had caused to his audience, explained with a bitter smile. "From the mid-Third Epoch, it has been the common ancestral graveyard for the surrounding tribes. Back then, there was no such thing as death energy. It is only in the last few hundred years that the undead began to appear."

"That explains it." Pannis nodded. "However, if it’s been used as a burial ground since the mid-Third Epoch, the number of undead..."

"Indeed, there are too many to count." Marcia agreed.

"Ding dong, ding dong." Suddenly, an urgent bell rang out from outside the tavern. The few patrons inside the tavern looked nervously towards the window.

"Be on guard! Be on guard!" A beastman guard on horseback shouted as he galloped through the streets. "Be on guard! Attack! The magical beasts are attacking!"

"Seems like they’re not here to take revenge on you." Pannis quipped, "That’s a relief."