“Does this even make sense?”
Only three holy knights had been offered as sacrifices.
From those three, he had gained fourteen points of divine power.
On top of that, he had obtained one trait and two skills.
‘So you don’t only get one stat from a single sacrifice.’
Above all, this incident had made one thing clear.
He didn’t know exactly what the criteria were, but just because there was one sacrifice didn’t mean he would only gain one stat.
There was another difference as well.
“The adventurers last time gave thirteen divine power in total….”
The divine power he had gained when he received the adventurers as sacrifices not long ago had totaled thirteen.
This time, there had only been three holy knights offered as sacrifices, yet he had gained a whopping fourteen divine power.
“So even with the same stat, the amount I get changes depending on the target.”
At most, an adventurer had only given one divine power.
In contrast, the two holy knights had given five and nine divine power respectively.
The continent of Eldorad fundamentally believed in the Goddess.
That was why the White Order held such powerful influence there.
“It wasn’t strange for the adventurers to give divine power either.”
There were that many people who believed in and followed the Goddess.
However, holy knights were people formally affiliated with the Order.
Unlike adventurers, they had given far more divine power.
To summarize, it was like this.
If he needed divine power, he should look for holy knights.
Then what if he needed magic power?
Just like with holy knights, this time he would only need to look for mages.
Of course, that probably didn’t mean he would always get exactly what he wanted.
“I got Mana Circuit and Fireball, but I didn’t get the magic power stat.”
Among the adventurers offered as sacrifices, there had been a mage.
He had obtained related skills, but he had not obtained the magic power stat.
Instead, he had only gained divine power.
In the end, what he obtained was purely a matter of luck.
I immediately checked the abilities I had gained this time.
[List of Acquired Abilities]
- Divine Power ×14
- Goddess’s Faith (D) ×1
- Judgment of Light (B) ×1
- Sacred Shield (C) ×1
- Goddess’s Faith (D): Trait. This trait manifests when a follower’s loyalty and faith toward the Goddess become excessive.
First was the D-rank trait, Goddess’s Faith.
In truth, this trait was nothing special.
It was a simple ability that appeared when one’s faith was excessive.
It was mainly something people affiliated with the Order possessed, but I had heard that even without it, there wasn’t much of a problem.
So even if I had this trait, nothing in particular would change.
“This one isn’t very useful.”
I immediately checked the next skills.
- Judgment of Light (B): Skill. Delivers a powerful judgment with sacred light. Inflicts a powerful light attack on the enemy and eliminates evil.
Additional correction is applied according to the divine power possessed.
- Sacred Shield (C): Skill. A shield created from the Goddess’s protection and sacred energy. Wield the shield to block enemy attacks.
Additional correction is applied according to the divine power possessed.
“At least I got something decent this time.”
Judgment of Light and Sacred Shield.
They were skills used by the Order’s holy knights or inquisitors.
I had obtained both an attack skill and a defensive skill in a balanced way, and looking at the descriptions, I could clearly understand why the Order’s skills were terrifying.
“In the end, divine power has to be high.”
Depending on the divine power an individual possessed, even a C-rank skill could perform beyond its rank.
It was similar to the Goddess’s Healing skill I had obtained last time.
Of course, the Goddess’s Healing skill’s rank was the same as the rank of divine power, so there was that difference.
“In that case, I should use the divine power on myself for now.”
Last time, I had strengthened Maru with thirteen divine power.
Thanks to that, Maru’s current divine power was E-rank.
That meant it was more necessary for me right now, since my divine power was F-rank.
I immediately touched the screen.
- Would you like to strengthen the stat Divine Power for the dungeon master, “I Ganghyeon”?
- Once an ability has been strengthened, it cannot be undone.
And I continued repeating the same process.
- Would you like to strengthen the stat Divine Power for the dungeon master, “I Ganghyeon”?
- Once an ability has been strengthened, it cannot be undone.
After strengthening all fourteen divine power, I confirmed that my divine power rank had risen to E-rank.
“Not bad.”
There was still a long way to go, but I could climb steadily one step at a time.
Since I was strengthening anyway, I also looked at the skills.
“Hmm.”
An attack skill and a defensive skill.
Both were fairly appealing skills.
At first, I thought about giving both to Maru, but I couldn’t neglect strengthening myself too much either.
Above all, the Sacred Shield skill could be considered a skill well-suited for the current me to use.
I immediately began strengthening.
- Would you like to strengthen the skill Sacred Shield (C) for the dungeon master, “I Ganghyeon”?
- Once an ability has been strengthened, it cannot be undone.
When I touched strengthen, a different effect appeared this time.
A powerful light appeared around me and wrapped itself around my body.
As if it had been absorbed into me, that light soon disappeared.
“Fortunately, there’s no pain.”
The pain I had felt when I obtained Mana Circuit last time had been so intense that I was honestly a little anxious.
But thankfully, there was no pain.
I immediately tried to check what I had gained.
“Status window.”
[Traits]
- True Dungeon Master (EX)
- Master of the Demonic Sword (S)
- Mana Sensitivity (A)
- Mana Circuit (B)
[Basic Information]
Vitality: C+
Attack Power: B
Defense: C
Magic Power: A+
Divine Power: E
[Skills]
- Knighting (S): Maru (Active)
- Sacred Shield (C)
- Fireball (E)
- Goddess’s Healing (E)
My divine power had risen to E-rank.
And as my divine power rank rose, the Goddess’s Healing skill also rose from F-rank to E-rank along with it.
“Not bad.”
Riding this momentum, I considered learning Judgment of Light as well, but that wasn’t the right choice.
“It’s not a skill I particularly need.”
If I obtained another skill someday, that would be one thing, but right now it wouldn’t be very efficient for me.
Rather, giving it to Maru seemed like a better option.
- Would you like to strengthen Maru (★★★★) with the skill Judgment of Light (B)?
- Once an ability has been strengthened, it cannot be undone.
I immediately strengthened Maru with that skill.
I didn’t need it right away, but it would be a waste to just leave it unused.
After all, Maru’s combat strength was my combat strength.
He was on the continent of Eldorad right now, but when Maru returned, it would surely be a great help.
“By the way, Goddess’s Faith….”
Among the abilities obtained from the holy knights, only Goddess’s Faith remained.
That trait was useless aside from representing faith in the Goddess.
It wasn’t particularly unique either, so it was only a D-rank trait.
“Where should I use this?”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with any particularly useful method.
“Should I put this one on hold for now?”
Honestly, even when I was in the Order, I had heard that it didn’t really matter whether one had that trait or not.
But if I were to take it myself, I couldn’t help but think, ‘Do I really need to?’
“Let’s just leave it.”
There was no law saying I had to use something that was useless right now.
So I decided to cleanly put that trait on hold.
I touched Maru’s name and glanced over his abilities as well.
- Rank: ★★★★
- Race: Skeleton
[Traits]
- Flexible Movement (F+)
[Basic Information]
Vitality: B-
Attack Power: B+ (+1 level correction due to Demonic Sword)
Defense: C
Magic Power: C
Divine Power: E
[Skills]
- Loyalty as a Knight (S): I Ganghyeon (Active)
- Judgment of Light (B)
Maru was still lacking in stats as well.
But at the same time, he had great potential for growth, so I wasn’t worried.
Of course, provided there were sacrifices.
Since that part wasn’t under my jurisdiction, I decided to wait quietly.
Wondering when Maru would arrive, I looked at the ramyeon Coco had made.
And the moment I took a bite.
“No, why does this taste like this?”
I put down my chopsticks.
“Coco, come here.”
At my words, Coco approached.
“Why is this ramyeon so spicy?”
At my question, Coco headed to the kitchen, then returned with something.
“Capsaicin?”
No wonder it tasted so damn spicy.
But Coco’s actions didn’t end there.
Coco naturally began pouring capsaicin into my ramyeon.
“?”
What the hell was with this bastard?
Confusion descended upon my mind.
* * *
Maru and Celia were still talking.
Except for the fact that the topic had changed, their devotion to their great master remained the same.
“For Master’s sake, you must also learn to do things on your own, Mr. Maru.”
“Clack!”
Maru answered Celia’s question.
“For example, quickly figuring out what Master needs.”
Maru listened closely to Celia’s words.
That part was certainly important.
“At present, what Master wants most is the Kingdom of Sale.”
“Clack?”
It was the first time he had heard of this.
But Maru focused on Celia’s words.
Was this the sort of insight one had to possess to be called the general manager?
“And as I mentioned earlier, the kingdom is currently in great chaos.”
At present, the kingdom’s conflicts were severe.
A confrontation had formed between the king and the nobles who followed him, the royalist faction,
and the noble faction, nobles who put forward the authority of the aristocracy.
It might not be apparent immediately, but in the long term, the kingdom was in an extremely unstable situation.
On top of that, hadn’t the White Order joined the noble faction as well?
In a situation like this, the king did not have many cards to play.
“That is why we must step forward.”
Celia smiled and took out a document.
“This is a contract with the Demon Realm Trading Company. We mainly use this to purchase things needed for the dungeon. Conversely, we also sell loot obtained from adventurers.”
Maru looked at the contract.
Various traded items were listed there. Not only dungeon expansions, but also food ingredients for the goblins were included.
There were weapons as well, and above all, there were also records of trading monster troops.
“Clack-clack-clack?”
After seeing the contract, Maru expressed his疑 question.
Looking at the recent monster trade records, a large number of skeleton knights had been brought in.
Why?
The dungeon Maru knew had abundant forces.
There was no need to bring in additional troops through the trading company.
And yet they had spent magic stones to bring in skeleton knights.
Had that really been necessary?
“As expected, you’re quick to notice.”
At Maru’s reaction, Celia answered with a smile.
“We, who have inherited Master’s will, have restrictions on our activities here. That is why we brought in the trading company’s monsters, which are not restricted.”
“Clack!”
Maru nodded as if he understood.
“Thanks to that, the expenses are heavy, but it’s no problem. All of them will change the tide of war in the kingdom.”
“Clack?”
“I gave Princess Irena a gift, you see.”
* * *
“Haha, with this, I understand the Order’s will quite well.”
Count Beerton looked at the person before him with a sinister expression.
Count Beerton.
He was the noble who knew that the White Order had first infiltrated the Kingdom of Sale with holy knights.
At the same time, he was also the leader guiding the noble faction, which had been thrown into confusion by Count Derrick’s absence after the stabbing incident.
Before him stood one holy knight who had infiltrated from the White Order.
It was Vice Commander Liana.
She had come to Count Beerton and conveyed the Order’s will.
‘If this matter is handled well, the king will become useless.’
With the Order supporting them, the tide had turned.
Above all, this was not something the Order or the kingdom could simply overlook.
It was an incident in which priests and holy knights of the Order had vanished.
If they remained silent, the Order’s authority would be in shambles.
In the end, if they made an issue of this matter, the king would lose his authority and fall.
If that happened, the ones who effectively ruled the kingdom would be the nobles.
‘A wench like Princess Irena can be dealt with by lifting a finger.’
Now there was no one left to stand in his way.
“I trust that you will handle this well, Count. The Order will never forget this favor.”
As Vice Commander Liana said that, she lifted the contract she had handed to the count.
Soon, light shone from her hand, and the contract burned away.
At present, the Kingdom of Sale had continued to be locked in confrontation between the royalist faction and the noble faction.
And the White Order harbored ambitions of advancing into the Demon Realm based from the Kingdom of Sale.
In such a situation, the atmosphere of the Kingdom of Sale was not bad for the Order.
It was true that the White Order’s influence was weak because they were far from the Kingdom of Sale.
However, by supporting the noble faction, the Order had created a small opening.
That meant the Order could now exert influence over the nobles of the Kingdom of Sale.
Liana rose from her seat.
At the same time, Count Beerton also stood up after her.
“No, please rest a little more comfortably before you go. Haha.”
Because they were people who would solve his worries, Count Beerton amiably invited her to stay.
Though it was a little early, he intended to invite her to remain until dinner.
“It’s all right. There is much to do before the Order arrives in earnest.”
But Liana shook her head and politely declined.
No, her expression was slightly distorted.
It was an expression that seemed to contain some dissatisfaction, but Count Beerton did not notice.
“Oh dear… Then it can’t be helped. I will formally invite you next time, Vice Commander Liana.”
After rising from her seat, Liana looked around.
Nearby stood several knights armed in armor.
They were fully armed from head to toe without a single gap.
Perhaps noticing Liana’s gaze, the count spoke proudly.
“They are the knights who assist me. All of them are loyal men who protect my house.”
Pride was evident in his voice.
But in contrast, Liana felt displeased.
It wasn’t because he had stationed knights in this place.
It was because the energy emanating from the knights was unusual.
“…….”
And it was an unpleasant energy at that.
Because of the armor, she couldn’t be certain, but she sensed something.
Liana was about to approach them, but—
“Vice Commander.”
One of her subordinates approached from behind and whispered in a low voice.
“A problem has occurred.”
A problem?
“Three of our people have disappeared.”
Liana frowned.
While Liana had been speaking with the count here, her subordinates had been gathering information.
But three of her subordinates had vanished.
“We will leave at once.”
Forgetting even the unpleasant energy she had felt moments ago, Liana headed outside.
Because at this point, variables could not be allowed.