AN: Sorry for the slow update rate lately, since I am kinda busy these days. And there was the thing that I am still considering certain plotlines related to some certain quests…

Anyways, I think this is supposed to be the 50th chapter, not counting the author's note, so yeah… way to go.


Eldergleam Sanctuary, Eastmarch

Trailing after the bald man, who was carrying the human-formed unconscious Farkas, Kvorsen and his mates arrived at this naturally formed cave, where they expected to be another damp and dim dungeon. Rather, they saw a picturesque view.

The cave was nothing like others of its kind. Darkness, somberness, flickering torch fire, eerie echoes in the silence or ghostly airstream that gave intruders goose bumps – none of these held sway over this cavern. Instead, moderate sunlight seeped through the cracks on the dome of the cavern, providing adequate energy for a variety of plants to thrive on. Gentle streams and rich fauna gave the cave a presence full of life and prosperity, whereas the cold stonewall of it surrounded and guarded the haven, standing in millennium wordless dormant. The light fused with the dark and the animated woven with stillness, creating a view that was almost stunting.

It was the beauty of the nature at its finest.

However, the place was not lack of human touch, with a beaten path winding into its depths, and the place was not lack of visitors either… In fact, Kvorsen could see quite a lot of people after delving deeper into the Sanctuary.

It was strange that there were dozens of people scattered around such a peaceful location. What was even stranger was there were all sorts of people. While it was unsurprising there were many individuals looking like priests, monks or pilgrims in this seemingly sacred grove, there were also many seemed to be random tourists. Furthermore, some folks even appeared to be of the shady types, lurking around with scents of blood on them.

Just what kind of place was this?

Kvorsen shook his head forcefully to clear up the questions in his mind when he saw someone walking towards his group.

It was a priest of some sort, wearing the robes, hood and all. After stopping right before them, the stranger greeted the bald man.

"Good to see you again, Saitama." The priest said. "It's been a while."

Saitama remained quiet, confusion written on his face.

Noticing the hesitation, the priest continued. "It's me, Sinding. Don't you remember?"

The silence dragged on, and Kvorsen had reason to believe it meant either the priest was up to something, or the bald man really forgot an acquaintance.

Although the awkwardness seemed to somewhat deter the priest, Sinding, the man eventually chose to remind Saitama. "A couple of months ago, we met at Falkreath. You were with that friend of yours… Genos, correct? You promised to help me get rid of the curse of Hircine, and we traveled together. You should at least remember the beast of Hircine… A majestic white stag… The most magnificent creature I have ever seen… Uh… You and your friend demolished it, I know… But it was beautiful before that…"

"Stop it right there." Saitama raised his free hand. "I recognize you now. You are the werewolf guy. It's just your drastically changed dressing style is confusing."

"Oh… You mean the priest robes?" Sinding pinched his clothes. "I've decided to become a priest of Kynareth not long after your departure. And it is a good thing that I did, since the business - if you can call it that - in the Sanctuary are growing quickly. You can see things have altered a lot since the last time you came here. The number of visitors has increased substantially… Perhaps it is because Maurice is a very dedicated priest, and most of his prayers are answered by Kynareth. Or perhaps it is because of that rumor…"

With that, Sinding lowered his voice and whispered into Saitama's ear. Most of the words were lost to Kvorsen, but the only fragment he grasped was enough to unsettle him.

It was merely two words…

Dark Brotherhood.

It could not be that Dark Brotherhood, could it? Looking around carefully, Kvorsen now could see some of the settlers were indeed with an atmosphere of death, and he could not tell how many stayed hidden in the disguise of regular visitors. What did an organization of assassins have to do with some priests!?

Kvorsen had not anticipated this could be such an insidious situation. But he supposed he should not have to worry too much, since they did not intend to stay for long… only until they could confirm that lycanthropy was curable.

Kvorsen snapped out of his musing in time to hear the conversation between Saitama and Sinding coming to the curse of werewolf.

"… a werewolf. This man wants to be cured too?" Sinding gestured at the limped form of Farkas, before checking behind him. "I see… Maurice is rather busy currently. While I haven't done this before, I believe my prayer should be effective as well. It would be my pleasure…"

Immediately, Saitama threw Farkas on the ground and urged. "Then just do it!"

Sinding nodded, kneeling besides the lying-down Nord, and started his prayer.

Like how most of the blessings proceeded, an aura of divine healing light enveloped the patient with a soothing tinkle. All members of Kvorsen's group watched attentively as the prayer of priest persisted, longer than normal healing spell. The scene was oddly peaceful and solemn at the same time.

Finally, the divine shine faded, and the priest slowly stood up. "It's done."

As if on cue, the frame of Farkas stirred, and his eyelids fluttered. Opening his eyes, Farkas regained his focus as he set his sight on Sinding.

"How do you feel?" Sinding asked newly awakened man.

"What's going on…" Farkas grumbled.

"Your lycanthropy is cured," answered Sinding.

"My lycanth…" There was a pause in Farkas' sentence, and the Companion closed his eyes shortly to feel out his beastblood, before widening his eyes. "It's… gone… I am cured? I am cured! Kodlak is right. The curse can be removed… I have to tell the old man! …. But before that. How was I cured? My recent memory is a blur…"

Kvorsen and his comrades gawked in silence. That was it? The allegedly incurable disease of Hircine was removed just like that…

Still, it was hard to believe the lycanthropy could be cured by a simple prayer from a priest of Kynareth. No complicated ritual, no tremendous sacrifice, and no legendary deed involved.

Just a simple prayer, and then the beastblood within Farkas was cleansed.

How anticlimactic...

It took some time for the astonishment of the Silver Hand to die down. During the whole time, Farkas was talking to the priest, discussing about lycanthropy, while Saitama…

Kvorsen just noticed the bald man had disappeared, probably when all of them were focusing on the unusual recovery. That hardly mattered now, as Kvorsen's group had the new problem concerning their future path. They would first have to report the news back to their headquarter, so the leaders could decide whether killing all the werewolves should still be their ultimate goal, or curing them would be more beneficial…

Curing them… Korvsen halted his train of thoughts as he barely reached some peculiarity about current situation, but the idea flashed by and vanished without a trace, leaving Korvsen lost. What was it? There seemed to be something wrong. Something very important…

They had witnessed everything – the too-friendly priest of Kynareth, the disappeared bald man, the undramatic prayer, and the excited-to-be-cured Companion…

No, the claimed-to-be-cured Compnaion…

Wait, was the lycanthropy REALLY CURED?

Those with beastblood, unlike vampires, possessed no visible symptoms that could separate them from regular people. They might have hidden bloodlust or certain weakness to silver, but none was outwardly observable. Therefore, Kvorsen had no way to confirm whether the disease was cured, unless Farkas transformed again to disapprove it. All they had was the assertion of the Companion and the priest. And the disappearance of the bald man only made the event look more suspicious.

This whole thing now oddly smelled like a fraud. Perhaps it was to sway the Silver Hand off their trail, or perhaps it was to divide them.

One way or another, Kvorsen was not at all happy about it.

"Do you think we are stupid!?" Kvorsen walked between the still talking Companion and the priest, shouting in a voice loud enough to raise eyebrows. "You said the lycanthropy was cured. But was it? Do you have any proof for that?"

The rest of the Silver Hand quickly caught up on Kvorsen's judgement as well.

"Yes, we need more than your words!" One of the group said. "We need proofs!"

"Right! How do we know you are telling the truth?" Another exclaimed. "A Companion and a priest we never have heard of. As far as I'm concerned, you could both be liars."

All of Kvorsen's comrades started to clamor, picking holes in current circumstances or demanding evidence.

"Is the man in robes really a priest of Kynareth?"

"And where is that bald man? Did he flee in fear of his lies being exposed?"

"We Silver Hand should not trust anyone related to the Companions!"

The priest seemed to try placating the crowd while Farkas was finally alerted of his enemies, but all were only brining the situation to the brink of a battle. The commotion escalated quickly out of control as opinions that are more radical rose.

Then again, Silver Hand was never a group known for solving problems peacefully…

"This is outrageous! We cannot let such deception pass!"

"We should just kill them."

"Yes! Kill them all and burn down the Sanctuary!"

Feelings were running high among the group of Silver Hand.

Acrimony was spoken, resentment was stirred, hostility was raised, and weapons were drawn.

Yet the first stone was never casted.

The roar of the gang died down when they noticed they were surrounded by twice their number.

Two words returned to Kvorsen's mind…

Dark Brotherhood…

The name resounded in Kvorsen's ear.

Kvorsen knew his group were definitely at some great disadvantage here, encircled by a crowd of either priests or assassins… or both.

Damn! Who was the one yelling about burning down the Sanctuary?


Castle Dour, Solitude City

It had been a while since King sent the letter for Saitama to Breezehome, where Saitama should be waiting for news as they agreed.

Now King was packing his luggage for his own departure.

The place of meeting was chosen to be Markarth by King. It was after all the closest city to the Sky Haven Temple. Besides, the package King had ordered the last time he passed through Markarth should be arriving.


Some distance away from the Eldergleam Sanctuary

It was a miracle that all Kvorsen's group survived escaping the Sanctuary.

Yes, they had decided running away was a better option than engaging in combat and attracting more enemies to them, since picking a fight with the Dark Brotherhood did not seem like a good idea. All they had done was to crack an opening in the weak spot in the enemy line and run like crazy.

It worked.

And for some reason their foes had not chased them to the outside of the cave.

Once gaining some distance from the cavern, the band regrouped to assess their casualty. Fortunately, none of them was severely hurt. Most only sustained minor cuts and bruises from either their clash with the enemies or accidental stumbling in the haste. The most injured man among them was Auddar, who had unwittingly tripped over a pebble and crashed face first into some pile of boulders due to his bad eyesight, and the man's nose was still bleeding…

These lucky survivors were finally relieved when they realized their getaway turned out successful.

However, the solace did not last, as they immediately encountered an unexpected group.

Kvorsen recognized some of the group were members of the Silver Hand, such as Krev the Skinner, one of the leaders of them. Nevertheless, many others were never seen by Kvorsen before, including the three walking at the front of the rank – one woman in the middle and two men at her flank.

The newly arrived group drew closer to Kvorsen's band, and Kvorsen could see Krev whispered something into the ear of one of the man at front.

Uncertain how to react, Kvorsen and his mates waited until the strange group stopped before them.

From the newly arrived crowd, a man – the thinner of the foremost two men –stepped forward and proclaimed. "Listen up, the remnants of the Silver Hand."

"What do you mean the remnants of the Silver Hand?" Kvorsen was not sure he heard it right.

"It means we have already taken over all your bases. And your people have either fled or joined us." The same thin man said. "There is no Silver Hand anymore. Only the Blizzard Group."

Kvosen's jaw dropped. Silver Hand was no more? Blizzard Group? They had just left their base for a couple of days! What in oblivion had happened during that period!?


AN: Yes, Blizzard Group just showed up. I will explain some background about them in the next one chapter or two, but it might take a while until they make a formal debut. And I am still not so sure how important their roles will be…