The night and next day passed without any incidents. His companions were nervous, but he had expected that after the revelations of yesterday. They were following the same road where Arthur had met Cate for the first time, and they even passed the broken cart behind which the Inquisitor had healed her wounds.

  "It's so strange to see this place again..." The Nekomi smiled, a complex expression on her face.

  "It's strange to see my girlfriend has a slave collar on her neck..." Arthur smiled softly.

  "What collar?" She smiled widely and ran her fingers over the intricate pattern. "I only have one very expensive necklace."

  "Cate..." He started but saw her smile fade as she looked at the road.

  "I know that the situation is changing very rapidly in Howthorns, and seeing your considerable influence in the city, I could probably get away with being set free right now." She admitted. "The Cardinal would do anything to gain, if not your active support, then at least a favour. But I feel safer with it being that way."

  "Why?" He groaned. "I will protect you, Cate. Always!"

  "I know... I just... For the last few days, I’ve had a strange dream." She finally said with a flat, slightly trembling voice. "I can't say it's a nightmare... Or maybe it is? I have a feeling that I have been warned every time I wake up. I'm not frightened... Just as if someone warned me about… Something. In that dream, I'm free, and during our stroll through the Howthorns, I'm separated from you. Then someone puts a slave collar on my neck and I wake up..."

  He looked at her in silence for a while and focused on her with his magical senses. As the Inquisitor in service to the Dungeon Core who married a Goddess, Arthur learned not to discard such claims. For most people, any form of contact with the divine would be an unthinkable experience, but he wasn't so easily impressed by the divine anymore. Not after being dragged through Zephyr's mind-protection lessons, or being quite literally kicked in the ass by Zeus during his combat classes. It was very subtle and faint, but he definitely could tell that she was touched by the same sort of Divine mana. It was similar to that of Zephyr, Hera, Arletta, and Ertu.

  "Do you think I'm going crazy?" She sighed, wrongly interpreting his silence.

  "No." He shook his head. "Sorry, I was trying to check if someone tried to contact you through your dreams. It actually might be a warning... I sensed some divine mana on you, Cate."

  "What does it mean?!" Now she was alarmed.

  "Simply put, sometimes a Deity gives visions to their faithful. The most prominent and well-known instance would be an Oracle. The Oracle is basically ranked just below the Saintess in terms of their power and closeness to the Deity they represent. But contrary to Saint, there can be multiple Oracles. There is a class that technically gives people the title of Saint, but it's not that kind of Saint."

  "What class could possibly give you such a title?" Cate looked at him confused.

  "A Sword Saint. Basically, it's the ultimate warrior class." He shuddered at the memory of miserably losing his spar against Queen Elisabeth Nix. "Anyway... Some Deity granted you a vision. Which brings up the question of who it was and why they did it."

  "I would never expect to receive a prophecy..."

  "Whatever it was, that wasn't a prophecy. I think..." He hesitated and shrugged. "If anyone dared to touch you, they would be immediately executed. I told you already. You are always protected, and woe to anyone trying to hurt you."

  "I trust you, but..." She touched her collar. "With this on my neck, no one can take me away from you. They can't put another collar on me. But if you take it away..."

  Her voice trembled, waning away as she stared into the distance with an unfocussed and horrified gaze.

  "All right... Until I find a way to secure you from being kidnapped that way, I won't take away your collar."

  "It's a necklace." She chuckled and leaned on his side. "Thank you..."

  "You don't have to..." He hugged her with a smile.

  ???

  They reached the platform's proximity in the late afternoon. They stopped briefly, and Arthur informed them that he was going to investigate alone. If he didn't return in exactly two hours, they should immediately return to Howthorns.

  "You will abandon the second carriage and return to the city in this one." Arthur pointed at his and Cate's carriage. "It's not a goodbye. I won't get myself killed, but I don't want you to be in range if I have to unleash my most powerful skills. You can trust me that you wouldn't like to be on their receiving end."

  "Be careful, my Lord," Catherine said quietly, but in her eyes, he saw that she wanted to hug him.

  The rest of them just bowed powerlessly as he walked away. Arthur jogged towards the platform a kilometre away, hidden behind the uneven terrain and a few sand dunes. After a moment, once he was sure that no one could hear him, he looked down.

  "Do you sense anything, Shade?"

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  "Not really. I think you make a mountain out of a molehill, Arthur." The Fenrir answered in an amused tone.

  "Maybe. But after my blunder with the runes, I'd rather be safe than sorry." He said flatly.

  "Being careful is fine but don't let it slow you down too much."

  "I'll keep that in mind." The Inquisitor sighed.

  "Anyway... I should have made a bet. I told you she was your Kitten." Shade chuckled as he switched the subject. "When do you plan to introduce me to your girlfriend?"

  "I tried to find a good occasion, but you must admit it is hard to calmly introduce you to someone outside Arcadia." Arthur grimaced.

  "Just do it casually!"

  "How am I supposed to do it causally?!" Arthur gave the towering wolf an incredulous gaze. "Oh, you know what, Cate? I forgot to introduce you to my Familiar. His name is Shade. He is a Shadow Fenrir, as large as our carriage if he isn't concealing his size, and yes, all you know about the Shadow Wolves is about right."

  "Hey, I'm just curious, that's it." The Fenrir laughed. "She might be calmer once she learns that I'm protecting her nearly constantly."

  "Or panic." Arthur shortly laughed, drawing his sword. "Let's go."

  Both of them dashed towards the platform. The skill blurred their movements, and normally, it would take anyone by surprise if there was anyone waiting for them. Instead, there was only a moderately sized, black crate on the platform. It was covered with a thin layer of sand but besides that, there was nothing more.

  "See? I told you." Shade pressed his wet nose to Arthur's neck. "I'll return to your Kitten before some monsters catch her scent."

  "All right, all right... I'll join you soon." He knelt before the crate and swiped its surface with his hand, uncovering the Arcadian Inquisitorial crest underneath.

  Undoubtedly, this was a supply crate from home. His heart beat faster when he realised it contained far more than just an emergency beacon. The Inquisitorial wards that protected the crate were incredibly aggressive, but once they recognised him, they instantly released the locks.

  "Test, test, test... Ekhm!" The hologram of Lord Ian Southcross appeared right in front of him. It looked like he was lucky if the Guild Master of the Artificers and Engineers' Guild of Arcadia was tasked with getting him back. "If you are seeing this message, it means you are alive, Arthur. Congratulations. Hopefully, you are still in one piece. Anyway... Sorry it took us so long to send you anything, but the situation isn't as simple as we initially thought. First of all, it wasn't just a simple trap that brought you wherever you are. It was an ancient Teleportation Relay and we are trying to figure out how it works."

  Arthur released the air he was subconsciously holding and sat down heavily on the edge of the platform. A Teleportation Relay? That was a mind-blowing discovery...

  "So far, we have made a few small steps towards bringing you back, but don't hold your breath. I know it's not a reassuring thing, but I want you to know that we couldn't send Stella to you so she could register your coordinates. For some reason, the Relay refuses to transport her. Most probably, it's some kind of ancient security measure we can't bypass. We can't really send anyone to you because that might be a one-way ticket." Ian grimaced sourly. "That's why we have sent the beacon. Put it somewhere safe and just leave it. Its range will gradually grow as it absorbs environmental mana. In the meantime, we are working on an automated means of registering your coordinates and sending them back to Arcadia, but it will take time."

  Arthur closed his eyes and sensed the device in the storage. It wasn't very big, but it also wasn't small enough to plant somewhere and pretend it had always been there.

  "We realise that you must survive wherever you are, and to that end, the Emperor and Lady Luna allow you to do anything you deem necessary." Ian looked in front of him with a sympathetic look. "That, of course, includes using every resource at your disposal, so you are free to use combat or any other scroll, disposable equipment, any document, you name it. If you have it, use it. We are sending you more things that might be helpful. Potions, unlocked weapons and armours, scrolls, and a lot of other stuff that will hopefully be of use. If you find anyone you can trust, you will have weapons to arm them. There will be a few more shipments, and I hope you will be around to claim them. Expect three to five more shipments, and they will send you the same distress call as this one when they arrive. You will have one month to pick them up before they self-destruct. Just stay alive, Inquisitor. I will find a way to bring you home."

  Arthur took a deep breath and smiled. He felt far more confident with what was inside this chest. Of course, there was a tiny problem. He will have to drag that box himself, because you couldn’t store a spatial item in a spatial item. The crate was valuable on its own because its capacity was ten times as big as his personal storage and reinforced by the Inquisitorial sigils and wards, which made it closed to anyone who didn't have his permission. But... It was heavy. He firmly grabbed it by the transport handles and lifted it. The sun hid behind the horizon before he managed to return to their campsite, where he was welcomed by four relieved faces, with Cate's being the happiest.

  "I have good news and bad news." He started with a huff as he placed the crate on the ground, grunting with the effort. Then, as they curiously stared at the supply crate, he grinned at them . "The bad news is that the people back home haven't found a way to bring me back. Yet. The good news is they sent me some toys and souvenirs"

  "Toys and souvenirs?" Val'narii asked sceptically. "How is that going to help you, Sir?"

  "You don't have to play with that Sir or Lord Ives, when we are alone, you know?" He sighed and looked through the crate's inventory.

  Before she managed to reply, he took out a xiphos with a wry smile and tossed it to her. She caught it with a dumbfounded expression, but he simply nodded at her with a smile. She drew the slightly leaf-shaped blade and her eyes went round.

  "Gods..." The Dark Elf whispered as she inspected the sword. "It's beautiful..."

  "Well... If you tell me more about your class, I could probably get you something far better than this."

  "I... I'll need more time..." She lowered her head as she sheathed the blade and hugged it with a small smile.

  "Silfa..." He handed the woman a compound bow.

  The girl squirmed excitedly as she grabbed the weapon from his hands. The black bow with silver pulleys was sleek and just slightly bigger than the short bow she had used so far. She compared the weight of both bows and hummed to herself as she looked at him in confusion.

  "It's a bit heavy, but if the draw weight isn't much stronger, I should be fine." She said as she stored her old bow in her pouch, then she gave the new bow a powerless stare. "There are too many strings, Sir..."

  He laughed and quickly explained to her how to use it. She took out an arrow and pulled the string without effort, aiming at the nearby tree and releasing it. With a muffled swish, the arrow pierced the trunk deeply and the girl let out another squeal of excitement. Arthur took out a broad sword and shield and handed them to Ben, whose reaction was similar to that of Val'narii. Lastly, he turned around to Cate and took out Arcadian light armour, a rapier, and a short wand.

  "I have far more gifts for you, my dear Maid..."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!