As Zero slowly woke up, he felt someone kicking him in the face with their foot. When he sat up from the stiff bench he had been sleeping on all night, he saw Harry snoring loudly sleeping on the other side of the bench.

"..."

Wasn't he on another bench?

While Zero yawned, he also shook Harry awake.

"Rise and shine. The townspeople are giving us strange looks."

"Huh?" Harry said groggily as he slowly opened his eyes before he closed them again. "Give me five more minutes."

Zero kicked him off the bench.

"Okay, okay," Harry said as he got up and dusted himself off. "Ow."

As Zero and Harry walked through the town, he felt he could see why it was called 'Sunshine Town'. The town itself seemed to be alive and energetic. Everyone was walking around with a smile on their face as they went about their daily lives.

Then he suddenly felt Harry elbow him in the ribs. Zero turned to look at him in confusion and Harry nodded toward a church.

"What about it?"

"No, look at who's in front of it."

It was the kid who took Zero's coin pouch the night before. He was kneeling in front of a man wearing priest attire colored with white and gold instead of the usual black. There was also a giant golden sun decorated on the back of the uniform.

Zero and Harry changed the direction in which they were walking, intent on retrieving their stolen money. As they got closer, they could begin to hear snippets of the conversation.

"Please, I'm begging you!" The boy kneeling on the ground cried out. "This is all I can afford!"

The boy then took out multiple coin pouches from his pockets, Zero's included, and offered it to the priest. The man snatched them from the boy's extended hand and looked inside.

He scoffed and said in a mocking tone, "That's it?"

"What?" The boy looked up in confusion. "All the silver in there totals up to more than one gold!"

"My treatment is worth much more than this pitiful amount you're offering," The man sneered as he pocketed the coin pouches. "Now scram."

"Please!" The boy begged as he clutched at the man's pants. "My sister!"

"I won't say it again." The man replied as he kicked the boy away. "Scram."

As the boy stood up in defeat, he suddenly lurched forward and stumbled into the man, dirtying his uniform. Zero noticed the boy's hands slip into the priest's pockets and take back the coin pouches that the man wasn't going to return.

The priest shoved the boy off of him and took out a white handkerchief to wipe his hands.

"Filthy street rat," He sneered as he turned around and walked back inside the church.

Just as the boy prepared to walk away, he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"Hey. Remember us?" Zero asked.

The boy's face paled and he tried to escape but Zero's hand wouldn't budge. His eyes darted around looking for a way to escape and when he found none, he raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry," He said sheepishly as he handed over Zero's coin pouch.

"With interest." Zero smiled at him.

"I-I can't do that," The boy stuttered. "My sister, she's sick. C'mon, you seem like a reasonable person, you understand, right? I have to pay for her treatment."

"Hmm," Zero said as he thought. "My friend here is a healer. If we can cure your sister, you can give us all that other money you stole right?"

"Really?" The boy asked in excitement. "He's a healer?"

Then he furrowed his brow in worry.

"You're not lying to me, right? You're not going to kidnap both of us and sell us into slavery?"

"You said it yourself. I'm a reasonable person," Zero said. "I'm just making a fair trade here."

The boy hesitated for a while before finally saying, "Alright."

"Then we have a deal," Zero replied as he offered a handshake. "What's your name?"

"Hiro," The boy replied as he accepted Zero's handshake. "Follow me, my home is this way."

Guess we can spare a bit of time before we meet with Kai and Anun.

As Zero and Harry kept following Hiro, they could see the buildings begin to diminish in quality. The people walking around outside became less, and their gazes were cold and unfriendly. Trash began to litter the sides of the road while the road itself was showing signs of disrepair.

This was obviously the poorer side of the town, hidden from view. It was almost as if it was being shamefully concealed from the eyes of visitors.

No matter how bright the sunshine is, it's always going to cast a shadow.

They then suddenly heard a whistle from the side of the road. A woman in extremely revealing clothing emerged from a building with a brightly painted exterior and walked up to the trio.

"Care for a good time?" She breathed into Zero's ear.

Zero could feel his heart begin to race and felt a pang of desire.

[Magic Acquired: Charm]

After seeing the notification from the system, Zero's foggy mind suddenly cleared up.

"No thanks," Zero pushed the woman away from him. "We've got somewhere to be."

The woman didn't get mad but instead seductively smiled and said, "You know where to find me," before walking away.

"She's a devil in pretty skin," Hiro remarked from the side. "She sucks men and their wallets dry."

They probably don't even know that she cast [Charm] on them...

Eventually, they arrived at Hiro's home. It was nothing special, a simple one-story dilapidated-looking house looking like it was about to collapse. Home sweet home.

Hiro unlocked the door and led them inside. The house was incredibly messy, with nobody there to clean it up. There were mostly items for two, presumably for Hiro and his sister.

"Your parents?" Zero asked.

"Don't know. It's always been just me and my sister."

The two of them followed Hiro to another room in the house, fit with a bed and the sounds of labored breathing. A young girl about the age of nine was lying on the bed, face red and eyes tightly shut. She didn't resemble Hiro's brown hair and eyes, but instead had long dirty gray hair.

"What happened to her?" Zero questioned.

"I took her out to play in the forest once and a short while after she fell sick like this," Hiro replied. "I don't know what happened to her."

"I'll see what I can do," Harry assured him as he walked up to the bed, placed his hands over the young girl, and began chanting.

A gentle yellow light flowed from Harry's hands and covered the body of the girl. The girl's uneven breathing calmed and her face began to return to its normal tint.

Just as everything was looking like it was going according to plan, the girl's body suddenly sat straight up and her eyes flew open, revealing her mysterious gray eyes.

"Woah!" Harry exclaimed as he stepped back in shock.

"Lune!" Hiro shouted as he raced over to the bed. "Are you okay?"

Lune tightly grasped her brother's arm as she began speaking in a hoarse voice.

"Dead, all dead."

"De- what are you talking about, Lune? What's wrong?"

Zero and Harry looked at each other in surprise. The girl's voice... sounded eerily similar to the monotone voice of the woman in the Rooms.

"Everyone is going to die! All his fault! The man of fire and frost!"

After these words, Lune collapsed back onto her bed, her condition even worse than it was earlier.

Hiro spun around and gripped Harry's shirt by his collar, eyes red and full of anger.

"What did you do to her!" He yelled.

"Calm down, we didn't do anything. Harry only healed her as he was supposed to," Zero said as he tried to diffuse the situation.

He then pulled Hiro off of Harry who still looked stunned.

"I did everything right..." Harry said as he looked at his hands.

[Host, it is recommended that you do not continue healing that girl with holy power.]

Suddenly, the system sent a message.

Why?

[She is what is called a {Vessel of God}. A preparation for the Gods to descend to the mortal realm.]

For some reason, although the system had an entirely robotic voice, Zero could detect a sense of anger in its tone.

[Holy power would only speed up the process in which her body transforms into a {Vessel of God}. The humans of this world would call her a saintess.]

This girl? Then why is she so sick?

[It seems the time for her to awaken as a vessel was not right and something accelerated the process. But it does not matter. Once the God descends into her body, her sense of self will be entirely stripped away. She will die, regardless.]

And then before Zero could react, the System sent a notification.

[Urgent Quest: Eliminate the Saintess. Reward: 1000000 EXP.]