Hearing this, Father John, standing beside them, was scared silly.
He muttered, "Morninglord above, if I hadn’t happened to run into you all, I never would have survived this. I didn’t even bring a weapon with me when I left!"
The underground caves of Pig Badger Village, the sacrificial ritual in Snow Deer Valley, the strange room in Three Bays City...
Images of the scenes those Cultists had left behind flashed before Colin’s eyes once more.
’Honestly, if I were still that same Newbie Adventurer fresh from the gates of Thousand Masts City, I would have just walked away from this whole affair.’
But now, Colin considered it a simple matter to handle.
They could estimate their opponent’s general strength, and more importantly, they were capable of eliminating them.
With this in mind, Colin spoke to the others. "We have to catch that Devil."
"To be more specific, I suspect the culprits are some Low-Tier Devils," Orelia said. "These Lower Devils lack Power, and if they die, even after resurrecting in Hell, they’ll likely never regain their standing. That’s why they’d resort to a tactic like corrupting wild dogs."
She had a point.
Unlike Demons, Devil society is strictly hierarchical. Low-Tier Devils must please High-Tier Devils to climb the ranks of their system.
Furthermore, this promotion process inevitably involves a physical transformation. For instance, an Imp might be promoted by being transformed into a more advanced form, such as a Thorn Devil or a Beard Devil.
Of course, this promotion system isn’t exactly fair.
Even if a subordinate performs well enough, they might lose their chance at promotion or even be demoted due to a superior’s jealousy—though all of this must adhere to Devil law, and the two parties might have to take the matter to court.
Colin looked up at the shadowy treetops surrounding the Church.
He didn’t think the Devils targeting this place would have sent a dog to act alone.
The most likely scenario was that the culprit had seen them deal with the dog from afar and made a quick escape.
A typical Devil shouldn’t be able to escape Kase’s notice, so it was most likely one that could turn invisible or shapeshift.
’A Low-Tier Devil, and one that can probably turn invisible.’
With these two criteria, Colin deduced that their opponent was likely one or more Imps.
These small creatures could fly, turn invisible, and shapeshift into small animals.
The village Forester and a Priest with little experience against Devils would have a hard time finding them. Only a uniquely gifted Priest like Orelia could have detected something was wrong.
As Colin was thinking, Kase asked, "Are we going to need to stay here for over two weeks again?"
After he spoke, the Half-Orc swallowed nervously.
"We’ll see," Colin said, then turned to Father John. "Are the local villagers wealthy?"
"They’ve given me all their money recently, otherwise I wouldn’t have had enough to buy supplies..." As he said this, Father John froze for a moment, then ran toward a small wooden cabin beside the Church.
The others immediately followed him.
Father John tore his bedding apart, his aged face drained of all color.
"Damn it, shit... The money’s all gone. That was twelve Gold Coins..."
"I bet those Imps were responsible for your cart wheel, too," Colin muttered. "If that’s the case, this just got easier. We can find them tonight."
"Tonight? Imps can stay invisible for long periods. Those little bastards just have to hide in any random bush, and we’ll never find them," Father John said dejectedly. "We’d be better off reporting this to the bishop and asking for reinforcements."
"If a Devil wants to corrupt a region, it must have a secure hideout. That ensures it always has an escape route.
"At the same time, wild dogs usually live near human settlements, and corrupting them requires prolonged contact. When you put it all together, that narrows the possible locations for the Imps’ hideout to a very small area."
"I know that, sir," said Father John. "But even so, we still won’t be able to find them."
"I’m a Mage who can cast [Object Positioning Skill] three times. And you just said those Imps stole the Gold Coins the villagers donated to you. No one else in the surrounding villages would have such a large quantity of Gold Coins, right?"
At these words, a realization seemed to strike Father John.
His spirits instantly lifted. He dragged a shovel out from under his bed and dug up a wooden box from a corner of the room.
He opened the box to reveal straw packed around some weapons and equipment.
"You know, we’re more than enough to handle this," Colin said, trying to dissuade him.
"No, I can’t do that. The villagers entrusted those Gold Coins to me, so I must see to it that they get where they belong." Father John pulled on a Chain Armor Shirt and picked up a Nail Head Hammer and a Shield. Once armed, his old, stooped frame seemed to gain a new resolve.
He looked back at the others and said resolutely, "I’m going with you."
Colin nodded, then swiftly led the party and their belongings out of the Church.
"Where’s the most remote village around here? We’re looking for a small settlement that might toss out scraps for wild dogs to eat, and preferably one near a source of water."
"There are a few places like that. The closest is the tanner’s home. The villagers don’t like the smell of his work, so he lives out by a small stream. There’s a fisherman’s family nearby, too, who would likely have fish bones to give the wild dogs," Father John muttered. "Quickly, gentlemen, follow me."
The party followed the path, carrying their gear with them.
As they walked, Colin took out his Spellbook and started reviewing the entry for [Object Positioning Skill].
It was always best to review an infrequently used spell before Casting, to avoid any chance of failure.
However, thanks to his high Casting Proficiency and a host of Specialties that reduced the chance of spell failure, Colin had never actually had a spell fail on him before.
The party slowly followed the path until they reached a small stream.
The moon had already risen.
The current wasn’t particularly swift. Head-high wild grass and reeds obscured most of the stream’s surface, leaving only a narrow, silver ribbon reflecting the moonlight.
The stream fed into a small pond. The lights in the tanner’s house by the stream and the fisherman’s house by the pond were long extinguished, their occupants presumably asleep. Only a few of the villagers’ dogs were resting in the yards.
With only five households, the place could hardly be called a village.
In the darkness, Colin broke a branch from a nearby tree. The branch had forks at both ends. He snapped off the twigs on one end, leaving only the other side forked.
He then placed the branch on the ground and began to chant the spell.
’I want to find the nearest Gold Coins,’ Colin thought to himself.