Chapter 25
“……!”
At the urgent shout, Tesilid’s eyes widened.
But in contrast to his startled reaction, he reached out swiftly and accurately without even looking back.
And crushed the Pierrot’s head.
Swallowing a sigh of relief, I brought up the main point I hadn't been able to say earlier.
"Anyway, this won't end like this! Let's get out of here."
It was annoying to be played by the demon race's schemes, but following the dungeon's rules inside the dungeon was the best strategy.
The game currently in progress was hide-and-seek. We had to hide.
I grabbed Tesilid's wrist and started running down the hallway outside the audience hall. There were Pierrot dolls in the hallway too, but breaking through was easy when I took the lead.
After shaking off the dolls to some extent, we reached a place where doors lined up on both sides like a guest room corridor.
I chose to hide in any of the rooms, entering one at random.
"A guest, hah, bedroom, hah, I guess. Hah hah hah."
"Don't force yourself to speak."
Unlike me, Tesilid didn't show a single sign of fatigue.
[The 'Scale that Judges Souls' mocks you, saying your possession constitution might be S-rank, but your stamina seems to be F-rank.]
This won't do. When I get home, I need to open the Aura job change package right away for stamina training.
I took out some water from my bag and drank it, feeling a bit calmer.
In the meantime, Tesilid tried to lock the door, but it was useless. Looking around the bedroom, I found a wardrobe.
"There's a latch inside so we can fix one of the doors. Let's hide in here."
"Good idea."
The wardrobe was large, and since we were both 10-year-old children, it was spacious enough.
In case the dolls opened the inside of the wardrobe, I pushed clothes against the unfixed door to camouflage it.
When the wardrobe doors were closed, the inside was so dark that I couldn't even see my own hand. In that state, I held my breath.
Creeeak.
I heard the sound of the wooden entrance door opening. Since there were no footsteps, it was a doll.
Tesilid prepared to attack if necessary. I hoped it would just pass by quietly.
And a moment later.
"It's gone."
"Haa..."
At Tesilid's words, I let out the breath I had been holding.
"Since we don't know if it'll come back, let's keep hiding here."
"Yeah."
As soon as Tesilid's short affirmation fell, I rummaged through my satchel and took out a luminous stone.
I reduced its brightness to that of a candle and hung it on a peg. I had to do some work that required light.
"Let me see where you're hurt."
"There isn't any."
"I saw you hurt your shoulder while fighting earlier."
"It just grazed me. This isn't even a wound..."
"Don't act tough and listen to me."
After turning Tesilid to the side and making him sit, I rummaged through my satchel again.
"That bag is small, but so much keeps coming out of it... Huh? A healing potion?"
"I made it. My dad is an alchemist, so I learned from him."
Tesilid seemed surprised by my competence.
The scar on Tesilid's shoulder had black marks. Since doing alchemy naturally builds up some medical knowledge, I diagnosed it quickly.
"As you said, the wound isn't much, but you've caught undead corpse poison. If you leave this alone, the wound will rot. Can you detoxify it yourself with divine power?"
Tesilid made a troubled face.
"I can't. Not just me, but all Stigmata bearers cannot use healing power even if they awaken divine power."
It was a side effect of forced awakening that brought such a penalty. Even novice divine power awakeners can use basic healing, but only Stigmata bearers cannot.
That's why Tesilid lamented that there were no useful healers anywhere.
If he could heal, he would have healed, dealt damage, and tanked all by himself. Seguhoe aims for a munchkin story anyway.
I comforted Tesilid.
"Don't be discouraged. I just asked since I knew."
"...I'm not discouraged. And don't ask if you already know."
His sulky face was cute too.
"Yeah, right. Don't worry since I have an antidote anyway."
"Really... why did you even ask..."
Pretending not to hear his grumbling, I took out an antidote potion and completely cured the corpse poison as well.
I collected the empty bottles, put them away, and took out something else.
"Eat this."
Tesilid's eyes sparkled upon seeing the sandwich wrapped in wax paper and the milk in a glass bottle.
Having been dragged into a dungeon on the way to the dining hall, plus going through a battle, he must be incredibly hungry.
It seemed like his affinity towards me had risen a bit.
"Can I really eat this?"
"Yeah, you're hungry."
"What about you? Let's split it half and half."
"I already ate at the dining hall earlier. And I have a lot of other things to eat."
Taking the opportunity, I took out the macarons Bianca had gifted me. Tesilid flinched.
"That bag... things really keep coming out of it endlessly."
"Yeah. It's a spatial inventory. It's a dungeon item."
Tesilid started eating quietly. It was obvious that he was surprised by the taste after the first bite, and that he was trying hard to savor it.
Having only eaten the bland cult meals, tasting a dish made by Chef Peisha's top disciple must have been like discovering a new world.
Being like this, it felt like I had entered a bunker shelter to escape a zombie apocalypse at the end of the world.
Actually, it didn't seem like a completely wrong interpretation, considering we were being chased by the undead.
It was when half of the sandwich had disappeared into Tesilid's stomach. Tesilid, whom I thought would observe Holy Kingdom dining etiquette, opened his mouth.
"Hey, you."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Name."
"Ah, my name?"
I thought it was finally time to exchange names.
"No. How did you know my name?"
"Huh?"
"You called it earlier. When the Pierrot doll was aiming for the back of my head."
—Tesilid, behind you!
Ah, right. I called it out of urgency earlier.
[The 'Inspector of Leaked Heavenly Secrets' glares.]
It seemed the Inspector was nervous in case a remark that would cause disharmony in the worldview, like 'I know because I read the book?', might pop out.
Of course, I had no intention of making such a half-hearted reveal, but I didn't want to spout lies for an excuse either.
"Hmm, is it that big of a deal that I know your name?"
"No. There are more important issues. Like finding out that the true identity of the Pierrot dolls is the Grim Reaper, or the fact that they don't attack you, or your alchemy skills being at a level where you can identify and treat intermediate undead corpse poison, or the fact that you possess items that look like they could come from at least an A-rank dungeon."
"That's really a lot."
"The most important one is still left."
"What is it?"
"Your divine power doesn't decrease even when you reveal the Obligation of the Precepts. Why is that?"
What? Really?
The precepts of the Seven Virtues and the Seven Sins don't apply to me?
"It's the same right now. You've said two taboo words, but there's no change in your divine power."
Here, the taboo words refer to 'Precepts' and 'Obligation'.
"That's not to say your divine power doesn't increase when you do a good deed for me. It does go up. But it doesn't drop."
Gasp. This is huge.
The passive ability that had the largest share in leading the protagonist down the fast track to frustrating angst was an exception for me.
Moreover, only the virtue points of the Seven Virtues were applied, and the sin points of the Seven Sins were exempted.
[The 'Sharp-tongued One who Mediates Balance' suggests that this possessor's privilege seems overbalanced.]
[The 'Incantation that Constructs the World' says it's natural since you are an S-rank possessor.]
[The 'Scale that Judges Souls' chews its lips, saying it should have made that S-rank its own believer.]
It was a convenient situation. Maybe I could suffer a bit less frustration in the future.
While I was weighing this, Tesilid pressed on.
"What exactly is your identity?"
"It's a very important secret, so it's a bit hard to reveal to others. But if you tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine. Fair trade. Equivalent exchange. How about it?"
"..."
The kind-hearted protagonist was good at putting himself in others' shoes.
Since he himself was strongly bound by the secret of the 'Precepts of the Seven Virtues and the Seven Sins', he must have realized he wasn't in a position to interrogate others.
"It's difficult, right? Everyone has secrets they can't tell, Tesilid."
"..."
"Of course, I understand your feelings of being on guard. So I'll make one thing clear."
"What?"
"I'm really on your side."
"..."
Silence returned again. Only after a long while did Tesilid turn his gaze to the sandwich in his hand and concluded.
"Well, seeing as you're fine even while wearing a holy relic, you're probably not on the side of evil."
"Thanks for understanding."
"So... what's your name?"
"Ailet Rodelain. Call me Ailet."
Tesilid hesitated slightly before opening his mouth.
"Thanks, Ailet. For treating me, and giving me food."
"You're welcome."
As if praising a polite child, I handed over the packaged macarons.
Tesilid kept fidgeting, perhaps unaccustomed to receiving things, which was also cute.
After finishing the meal, we had a brief strategy time.
"Ailet, do you happen to have more potions?"
"A lot. We're going to subdue the boss, right?"
"Yeah. That's the only way to escape the dungeon. After reuniting with my friends, I'm going to lure the boss out, but you're not even a Three Powers Awakener, so it's dangerous..."
"I'm going too. There are many types of potions, so I have to come along to take out what's needed."
"That's true, but will you be okay?"
"If you guys fail, the kids here, including me, will all die anyway. Rather than waiting to die in hiding, I should do something."
Tesilid fell silent solemnly. It was the look of seeing a civilian burning with courage before an end-of-the-world decisive battle.
No. That's not it, Tesilid.
Perks for a Possessor