Early the next morning, the streets were empty. Only a few merchants were preparing to depart, and the workers did not seem to be awake yet.

After speaking to several caravans, Jess returned to Gred with bad news. "These merchants are either heading to Goldshire and Stormwind or going to Moonbrook. We may have to reach Raven Hill on foot."

"On foot? Are you joking?" Gred said unhappily. "Do you plan to swim across the Nazferiti River?"

"We can find a bridge," Jess said.

"If we're walking, we still have to head south just to find a bridge?" Gred let out an anguished wail. "That's far too much walking. We wouldn't reach Raven Hill until the day after tomorrow! I regret coming with you. I want to go back to Stormwind!"

"Are you two gentlemen going to Raven Hill?"

A brand-new covered wagon stopped beside them. Jess glanced at the four horses at the front, all fine animals with beautiful coats. The freight wagons they had ridden before had been pulled by old horses as thin as wild donkeys.

The speaker was a man in his fifties wearing a long gray robe. He cradled a long staff whose wooden head curled around a beautiful gemstone.

A half-ringed cross emblem representing the Holy Light hung on his chest. He was a priest of the Church.

"Yes, sir," Jess said. "Could you give us a ride?"

"Of course," the priest said. "You gentlemen may sit in the rear. There isn't any room left inside."

Jess peered into the wagon. A paladin in a blue shirt was squeezed beside the older priest. He leaned against a shield, with a bundle of chain mail resting on the floor in one hand. Two other priests sitting opposite had to pull in their feet to make room for it. The priests also carried several stacks of books, while boxes of every kind were lashed across the wagon's roof. The vehicle was heavily loaded indeed.

A male priest occupied one of the seats at the rear as well. Several travelers like Jess and Gred sat beside him, leaving room for only a few more people.

"Praise the Holy Light!" Gred exclaimed as he eagerly climbed aboard. A young priest opposite watched the dwarf drop heavily onto a seat with a broad smile, as though the faith had just won a perfect convert.

"How much is the fare?" Jess asked after sitting down.

"We don't charge anything," the young priest said. "We're going to Grand Hamlet and will pass Raven Hill on the way."

"I love the Holy Light," Gred said. "I loved it even when I lived at Aerie Peak."

"And the Holy Light loves everyone who carries hope in their heart, just as you do," the young priest said with a smile.

Jess had never felt anything special toward the Holy Light. As a child, he had once tried praying to it. Since the Holy Light truly existed in this world, there was no reason to cling stubbornly to his old atheism and wage war against the nature of a fantasy world.

Unsurprisingly, the Holy Light had never answered his call.

It had not healed him when he was hurt, comforted his heart when he was sad, or stopped the severe diarrhea that nearly killed him after he ate roasted river crab.

Yet he had personally seen priests summon the Holy Light to cure other people's illnesses. Perhaps the Holy Light simply did not favor an "outsider" like him.

"What are you going to Grand Hamlet for?" Jess asked curiously.

"To treat the sick," the priest said. "Haven't you heard? Plague and necromantic contamination are ravaging southern Elwynn. Many people in Grand Hamlet have fallen ill, and the town is desperately short of healers. Archbishop Alonsus Faol has ordered us to go and support our brothers in the Church."

Jess looked up at the boxes tied to the wagon roof. "So those are all medicines?"

"Some of them are," the priest answered. "The others contain food, medical books, and similar supplies. If you'd like, I can give you a few things when we stop to rest at Raven Hill."

"Ah, thank you very much," Jess said. "But I think the residents of Grand Hamlet need the help more than we do."

The priest smiled. "You're young and appear full of energy. Would you be interested in helping at the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind?"

It was not as though Jess had never considered joining the clergy. But as he had just reflected, he and the Holy Light did not seem compatible, so he had never tried approaching the Church.

This was the first time he had spoken at length with a member of the Church of the Holy Light. The man's friendliness and warmth left Jess almost at a loss. Even someone like him, who instinctively grew wary around missionaries, felt his defenses soften.

Of course, he knew the main reason was that these people were willing to take them to Raven Hill.

But in a dangerous place like Azeroth, was this kind of timely aid not precisely what ordinary people enduring hardship and suffering needed?

Perhaps that was why the Holy Light would remain the most widespread and deeply rooted faith in these lands, no matter how many disasters came in the future.

"I'll consider it," Jess said.

"Wonderful. I'm honored that you'll even consider it," the priest replied.

"I'd like some," Gred said. "I know that fruit from the cathedral is especially delicious. You wouldn't happen to have any, would you?"

"It's called Sunfruit." The priest took a small cloth bag from behind him and drew out a bright yellow fruit shaped like an orange. "Is this what you mean?"

Gred took one and immediately bit into it, golden juice running all over his lips.

"Yes, that's the flavor. So sweet!"

Watching Gred enjoy himself, Jess licked his lips. The priest had already offered a fruit to him. "Would you like to try one?"

Jess took it and bit lightly. It was slightly sour, with the texture of a plum and an even richer fragrance, though it was not as sweet.

Considering that this world probably lacked the cultivation techniques of the twenty-first century, fruit this delicious was already impressive. It was incomparably better than the sorry specimens he had eaten in Lordaeron.

The priest told many stories about the Church of the Holy Light resisting the orcish invasions in the Redridge Mountains and Hillsbrad Foothills, as well as heroic deeds performed by the recently founded Knights of the Silver Hand. Even Jess had never heard some of them.

To his surprise, the priest also mentioned Tirion Fordring, one of the leaders of the Knights of the Silver Hand—a famous figure from World of Warcraft who would later become one of the Alliance's leaders.

As they listened to stories and exchanged what they knew about the years of war against the orcs, Gred gestured animatedly and talked throughout the journey. Even several travelers beside them who had initially remained silent eventually joined the conversation.

Time passed quickly. Shortly after noon, once everyone had finished the food they had brought, the wagon reached the bridge over the Nazferiti River.

After crossing, it continued along the riverbank toward Duskwood. Gred kept staring in the direction of travel, wanting to see exactly when the sky would begin to darken, while the priests and several travelers took afternoon naps.

Jess kept his eyes on the broad surface of the Nazferiti River. It was the longest river on the continent, flowing from the mountains around Karazhan through the whole of Elwynn and all the way to the sea at the southern end of Stranglethorn Vale.

The midday sun shone across the water, making the glittering surface look magnificent.

As he watched, Jess suddenly noticed something stark white floating among the aquatic plants nearby.

He tapped Gred and pointed at it. "What's that?"