Chapter 109 : Chapter 109

Chapter 109 : Audience (4)

Adjak had many companions.

Every time Adjak recruited a new companion, I was overjoyed.

I didn't think of them as just NPCs in a game.

Each character had a rich and detailed story, as if they were living beings.

Just as I regarded Adjak as a living, breathing person, his companions also became special to me.

However, in Myeolji, many of Adjak’s companions had to lose their lives.

Gawen was one, and so was the Saintess who had traveled with Adjak.

Even though I cherished Adjak’s companions, I didn't care for them as much as Adjak.

To save my favorite character, I sometimes used his companions as tools.

Things like having them throw themselves into traps to create an escape route for Adjak, or leaving behind those who required a lot of control to focus on a few characters.

It didn't feel good, but I thought it was necessary to clear the game.

But now, things had to be different.

This was a world where Adjak’s life was recorded as official history.

It was also the world I was living in.

The people before me now were not data in a game, but living, breathing humans like myself.

No one could be consumed like a mere tool.

I, too, must not treat my companions as tools.

The Saintess who participated in the Adjak expedition contracted Divine Petrification after using her healing abilities beyond her limits in Myeolji.

After that, she could no longer accompany the expedition and met a lonely end.

I hoped that the current Saintess, Serel Iagar, would not meet the same fate.

I could guess that besides bestowing blessings on people with her divine power, she was pouring it into something else.

I didn't know for what purpose she was using her divine power, but at this rate, Serel Iagar would completely petrify and die.

The man who had drawn his sword, vowing to break my stubbornness, Everchen Iagar.

“Ugh…”

A trickle of blood ran down the corner of Everchen’s mouth.

Being within the domain of Termination, I could feel his agitation more clearly.

No, even to the naked eye, his wavering was apparent.

The tip of Everchen’s sword was trembling violently.

His breathing was ragged.

“In your current state, you are no match for me.”

“No, I can do more.”

Everchen and I were both swordsmen, but our swords were different.

If I was skilled at trapping an opponent’s flow based on the Linked Sword, Everchen knew how to wield his sword with an honest and direct path.

In a perfect situation, Everchen’s direct sword might have been able to tear through my flow.

But the current Everchen could not.

His breathing was ragged even before the fight.

And he himself might have thought that what he was doing was not right.

The Paladin’s sword, swung without conviction, was not imbued with divine power, and his sword path could not escape the flow of my sword.

However, Everchen was not broken.

It seemed that the life of the Saintess, no, of his sister, was more precious than his own conviction.

Everchen thrust his sword.

But this was within the domain of Termination.

Clang—!

Everchen’s attack was sharp, but not unstoppable.

Even without magic, within the domain of Termination, even small movements could be easily perceived.

For Everchen, who could not exert his original power, there was no way to defeat me in this domain.

‘Everchen must know this by now.

Do I have to keep fighting until he breaks?’

A sudden commotion in the middle of the night.

Thud, thud, thud, I heard footsteps and Bea entered the doorway, holding Elinger.

Anger was in her eyes, and as she drew the bowstring towards Everchen, a Light Arrow immediately formed.

“It’s alright. It was just a misunderstanding during a conversation.”

“This is not a conversation.”

Bea drew the bowstring even tighter.

But when I shook my head, she ultimately did not shoot the arrow.

Bang!

Soon, Itilus, leading several other Paladins, arrived.

They, too, seemed to have rushed here upon hearing the commotion.

The Paladins were in full armor.

Would they side with Everchen?

The clanking sound of Itilus’s flail spread heavily through the space.

Itilus looked back and forth between me and Everchen.

“You two, would you explain what happened?”

But they were also religious people.

They neither blindly sided with Everchen just because he was one of them, nor did they corner me.

The tip of Everchen’s sword was still trembling.

Not because of lack of strength, but because he was gripping it with too much force.

‘Everchen must be the same kind of person as them. He’s just being stubborn right now for the Saintess, no, for his sister.’

I spoke to Itilus first.

“Lord Everchen came suddenly and asked me to tell him how to make the medicine to save the Saintess.”

Itilus stared at Everchen.

Everchen then nodded.

“It is true.”

Ugh, a few Paladins groaned.

Like it or not, Bea and I were guests of the Holy Order.

But a promising Paladin, recognized by the order, had visited a guest in the middle of the night and brandished his sword.

However, Itilus took Everchen’s fault as his own responsibility.

“...It is my oversight. Since you said you knew a way to cure the Saintess.”

I already knew that.

When I said I knew the cure for Divine Petrification, the only member of the order present was Itilus.

The Saintess would not reveal this fact, so he must have been the cause of the many people who came to see me.

“I have no intention of blaming Lord Itilus or Lord Everchen.”

At my words, those gathered were startled.

But I was sincere.

If I were in Itilus’s or Everchen’s shoes, I don’t think I would have made a different choice.

They, too, would have tried to persuade the Saintess first, rather than just pestering me.

And yet, they must have failed to persuade her in the end.

The reason I had bluntly stated that Everchen had come and brandished his sword was not to have him punished.

It was because I did not want to lie to one of the Twelve Swords of Adjak.

“I apologize to everyone, but my position has not changed. Unless the Saintess promises to stop using divine power immediately, I cannot tell you the recipe. Even if I did, the disease would surely relapse.”

Sadness filled Everchen’s eyes.

In place of the silent Everchen, Itilus explained.

“The Saintess cannot say she will stop using divine power.”

“Why? Is her duty as a Saintess so important that it surpasses her own life?”

Out of frustration, my voice inadvertently became slightly agitated.

‘In this life, I didn’t want to think of everyone as just NPCs, as tools.’

But even if I got angry, there was no response.

After repeated disappointments, just as my heart was about to grow cold…

“The Saintess has collapsed. Now, she cannot use divine power even if she wants to.”

At Itilus’s words, I finally understood why Everchen had resorted to such an extreme method.

I pushed Everchen’s sword tip away with my hand.

A little blood pooled in my hand.

But I looked straight at Everchen and said,

“Let’s have a proper match sometime, not now. First, I will explain the ingredients needed to make the medicine.”

“Is that true?”

I nodded slightly.

The situation had become urgent.

If Divine Petrification consumed exactly half of the body, the person could no longer even move.

And the petrification of the other half would proceed much faster than before.

It was hard to say that the Saintess had much time left.

At most, it would be about three days.

“There are three ingredients needed for the medicine. Powder made from grinding a unicorn’s horn, an unprocessed Pobes ore, and the insignia left by the God of Peace.”

“The insignia left by God…”

I explained the ingredients with relative ease, compared to my previous stubborn refusal.

But the expressions of the Paladins who heard the names of the ingredients were not bright.

“There are quite a few unicorns in Aquiris.”

It seemed there was no problem, as some Paladins even rode unicorns.

I added one condition.

“A horn from a strong one would be even better.”

“Alright.

There are no Pobes ores here, so… I will go out and get one quickly.”

“It would be safer to get it within three days.”

“I’ll manage somehow.”

Pobes was a gem occasionally found under the lava in volcanic regions.

It was considered a very precious gem because digging through lava itself was not easy, and even if one did, it was not easily found.

Therefore, as soon as Itilus heard that a Pobes ore was needed, he immediately ordered the Paladins.

“I will go get the Pobes ore myself, so prepare for a quick departure.”

“Yes, Grand Master!”

It had taken two full days just to get from Rodos’s territory, Salbaron, to this place.

The volcanic region was even farther away than Salbaron, so the Paladins had to head there as quickly as possible.

I didn't know what method they would use, but I had no choice but to trust them.

“But the insignia of the God of Peace… This is the problem. Does an insignia of a god still exist?”

Itilus continued to ponder for a moment, then ordered the Paladin under his command.

“Didn’t you say the priests were also coming here? Bring them quickly, even if you have to carry them on your backs!”

“Yes!”

Itilus had been a Paladin for a long time.

He knew well what an insignia of a god was, but insignias were relics of the Mythic Era.

It was difficult to guarantee that any still existed.

Itilus put his head together with the remaining Paladins and discussed.

“Is there any place where an insignia of a god might remain?”

“...It’s hard to recall. There are records that most of the insignias were consumed when the order first expanded its influence.”

An insignia of a god was literally an object in which a god had imbued their divine power.

An immense amount of divine power was contained within it, and the early members of the clergy of the Holy Order used these insignias to build sanctuaries or learn how to use divine power, thereby expanding the order’s influence.

The Holy Order was spread throughout the continent and had a long history.

As such, there were many records and holy relics.

The locations where insignias had been discovered and their uses were mostly known.

“There must be at least one insignia left…”

Itilus and the Paladins were struggling even to narrow down the candidate locations where an insignia of a god might remain.

“The priests, are the priests not here yet?”

Itilus, who could not find an answer even after a heated discussion, asked for the priests’ location.

I looked at those engaged in the discussion and opened my mouth.

“There’s no need for that. I know.”

The priests and Paladins, engaged in a heated discussion, didn’t even pretend to listen.

But Itilus stared at me.

“Polarin. What did you say?”

“I know where the insignia is.”

This time, everyone heard my words clearly.

They must have understood what I meant.

But the members of the clergy just blinked their eyes and stared at me, as if they had heard a foreign language for the first time in their lives.

“Is, is that really true?”

Only Itilus, belatedly, came to his senses and asked again.

“Yes, I will go and get it myself.”

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