Supreme Summoner Overlord: Rise of the Endless Legion-Chapter 422: A Summoner in a Market Town (5)

"There's a hotel near the eastern gate. Nothing fancy, but the beds are clean."

The lie came easily. Reidar had no intention of telling her about his camp in the forest. The fewer people who knew his actual location, the better.

"A hotel?" Kara raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know there were any hotels still operating."

"It's more of a boarding house. A family runs it out of their home."

Kara accepted the explanation without further questions. The barmaid arrived with her drink, and she took a long sip before speaking again.

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

Reidar nodded. "I ate earlier."

"All right, then." She wanted to offer Reidar some food, but since he had already eaten, the most she could do was lean back in her chair. "I was thinking about staying in Sweetwater for a while. The pay is good, and the work is steady. It surely is better than wandering the roads looking for caravans to escort."

"It seems like a decent town."

"It is," Kara said. "Especially considering where we are. Most settlements this close to the monster zones don't last more than a few months. We're fifty miles from the kill zone, but people are actually drinking and laughing. It's weird."

Reidar had noticed the same thing. The town was well-organized, well-defended, and surprisingly prosperous for a settlement in a monster-infested region. The church's influence was obvious everywhere—in the patrols that walked the streets, in the supplies that filled the shops, and in the confidence of the survivors. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"How do they do it?" Reidar asked. "Keep the monsters away, I mean."

Kara shrugged. "I don't know the details, but I can tell you that the church handles most of the defense. They have patrols, watchtowers, and some kind of early warning system. The only problem is when a monster horde approaches, but as far as I've seen, they bombard it before it reaches the walls. The church members are around level 300, and most monsters, at least those that come all the way here, are around level 350. The barriers hold, and that gives them time to kill all the monsters. Many people leveled up this way. I guess we are finally finding a way to bridge the level gaps. Though, how they make the strongest monsters stay away from here is unknown."

"That's all? No secret weapon?"

"Maybe there are, and we don't know. The church is secretive about these things." She took another sip of her drink. "They have their methods, and they don't share them with outsiders. They don't share their schematics. They don't hire local people to maintain the arrays. It's always their Priests, the ones in the black robes. They come out at night, do their thing, fix the cracks, and leave before dawn. But it works. That's what matters."

Reidar nodded. The church's secrecy wasn't surprising. They had always operated in the shadows, hiding their true activities behind a face of piety.

"What about resources?" he asked. "A town this size needs a lot of food and supplies."

"The church handles that too. They make and plan hunting parties, expeditions, and caravans." Kara paused, her expression thoughtful. "Actually, I heard something interesting yesterday."

"What?"

"Rations. The church is stockpiling rations at one of its warehouses. Not the regular supplies, but special rations."

Reidar's interest increased, but he kept his expression neutral. "Sounds like they are planning a trip."

"That's what I thought," Kara said.

"But where? The roads to the east are blocked by the portal. The north is just empty forest. The only place you'd need that much high-density food for is a march toward Kingsgate," Reidar said.

"That's what the rumors say. Some people think they're preparing to breach the monster hordes and reach the city."

"Kingsgate is a siege," Reidar said. "I get that the church is able to handle monsters at level 350, but as much as I know, those around Kingsgate are at level 400. Does the church have the firepower to do that?"

"People are leveling up nowadays. The church is increasing the number of people going past level 300," Kara said. "But even considering this, indeed I think it's weird. Regardless, if they are planning an expedition to Kingsgate, they are planning something big. Suicide big. Or maybe they know something we don't."

She took another sip of her beer.

"These are all rumors, though. I don't know if it's true. The church doesn't announce its plans. They just act, and we find out about it after." She paused. "I even asked a guard about it, just making conversation. He got really stiff and told me it was 'Church business' and to move along."

<This complicates things.>

If the church was planning to move to Kingsgate, Reidar needed to know the details. The timing, the route, the number of troops. He needed to get there before any of them.

He wanted to ask Kara more questions—which gate the crates were near, whether she had seen any equipment being moved—but pushing her for details would be a mistake.

Kara was a good person, but she was a believer in the results, if not the doctrine. It was clear she thought the Church was the good guy, and that was because they saved lives. If he started grilling her like an interrogator, she might get suspicious. She might mention his curiosity to a guard.

<I'll send the Sky-Hunters to investigate around. It will be faster and less painful than trying to interrogate her.>

He took a sip of his untouched ale to mask his thoughts. It was terrible.

"What the fuck is this?" Reidar spat out the ale.

"What, you don't like it?" She smiled.

"It tastes like piss!"

Kara started laughing. "Well… that's one of the Thalassari ales!"

"How can they drink this?"

She shrugged. "Many people like this, though. Not just the Thalassari."

"Fucking lunatics…"

The conversation went into a comfortable silence. Kara ordered another drink, and Reidar nursed his ale while watching the other patrons.

After a few minutes, Kara spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why don't you help them?"

Reidar looked at her. "Help who?"

"The church. With the monsters." Kara gestured toward the window. "You're level 557, and that's higher than anyone I've ever seen. Maybe not like the top brass at the church, though. The church could use someone like you."

<Not like the top brass? I killed almost all of them. There is nothing stronger than me on Earth. > Of course, Reidar said nothing. He realized then just how wide the gap in their understanding was.