The ground outside was as cold as before, but the cloth shoes on Rein’s feet fit well enough to let him move freely. They weren’t hand-sewn “love shoes” by Sophia or Hill. Those two are fierce in battle, but clueless at this kind of thing. In the end, an old lady couldn’t stand it anymore and brought out her granddaughter’s used cloth shoes for Rein to wear.

Rein isn’t the type to forget a favor. While Sophia and Hill weren’t looking, he quietly etched an arcane sigil onto the old lady’s arm.

Despite the name, the sigil doesn’t hurt. It’s only a slight prick, leaves no mark at all.

The sigil Rein left has one main job: if danger hits, it passively triggers a Magic Shield. It costs the old lady nothing, yet lets her shrug off a lethal blow.

Sigil magic only spills Arcane Power when it’s cast or when it triggers. Otherwise, you can basically ignore it.

Now, Rein was alone outside, a strip of jerky between his teeth. He began surveying the town.

Roughly speaking, the town’s population was under a thousand. Quite a few had moved in following the Beastfolk’s arrival. Those people could be excluded. They were registered families who returned each year to take refuge in this town. Some children were worth attention. The Dark Overlord’s power can infect kids. Records from the Gloria Royal Library show it can lurk for years, until they truly come of age. The too-young can’t withstand the Dark Overlord’s power. Special cases aren’t impossible though—like Rein’s current body.

Soon, Rein reached the back of town, the farmland. In the snow, he noticed lingering footprints. He didn’t overthink it, and opened his Detection Spell. With scents rendered visible, he found the same smell as at that house. A sulfur tang. Time had almost erased it, but Rein quickly noticed a cylindrical building ahead. It was very tall, much taller than the houses. Judging by the straw piled beside it, this had to be one of the granaries. At this hour, a granary should have one or two guards. Rein saw five or six people inside. The scents pointed toward different parts of town. One scent was especially unusual. Rein couldn’t make sense of it.

By color, laborers’ scents in the spell are the color of earth. But one scent was red. Rein had never seen that before. He could confirm it wasn’t a Sorceress. He’d seen a Sorceress’s scent: a creepy black shot through with green.

Rein was debating whether to go check it out when someone tugged him.

“Little Rein! Did you find anything?”

“No…”

He lowered his head and quickly canceled the Detection Spell. Sophia didn’t question the move. She followed Rein’s line of sight and spotted the granary.

“So strange. Why stack straw at the granary door? Aren’t they afraid of fire?”

“No idea…”

Rein decided to conceal his findings. From her words earlier, Sophia seemed to favor Mages, but who knew if she was just arguing with Hill? If something really turned up in the granary, he wouldn’t have a good explanation.

“Forget it. Let’s head back. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Mm…”

Rein nodded, but spared the granary one more glance. He’d come back at night.

***

“These two?”

“There are actually three. One can’t get away for now.”

“What’s so important? Isn’t this the off-season?”

“Uh… because…”

“If it’s hard to say, just say it anyway.”

“That woman’s here to sell.”

“Sell? Sell what?”

Hill looked baffled, not understanding why the mayor wouldn’t speak plainly.

“She’s—”

“She sells her body for money. A prostitute,” Sophia cut in. Rein followed her into the bar and watched the mayor’s face. It was obvious he had something with that prostitute. He was afraid to slip and ruin his reputation. Though this chubby guy didn’t look like he had much of one anyway.

“A prostitute…”

Hill thought for a moment. A trace of disgust showed on her face. She raised her head. “Why is there a prostitute?”

“Uh… well…”

“You’d better come clean.”

Hill drew her Dagger of Sealing and stabbed it into the table before her. The metal blade gave a trembling ring, and the mayor flinched.

The Holy See’s doctrine urges women to guard their chastity. They absolutely can’t tolerate selling the body. So in Gloria, you basically won’t see any openly run brothels. But even the sun’s light can’t reach every shadow. Where there’s demand, there’s business. Underground groups multiply.

To be honest, Rein knew the Holy See’s upper ranks well. They preach one thing, but they’re far more debauched than anyone imagines.

It’s that old double standard. They get to sin; everyone else must stay pure.