◈ Episode 113. Naming (1)
The outskirts of Muon.
Marcelo and several senior mages were watching the situation unfold.
Was it really all right to just stand by?
Bangrit Tom, the senior of Pure Magic Studies, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Um… Shouldn’t we join them as well?”
“I believe it would be best to wait until Sir gives the signal.”
“……
If Chief Marcelo says so, then.”
Was it because he had once been played by their schemes?
Bangrit had come to understand, at least to some degree, what sort of race demons were.
And that, regardless of one’s abilities, one could never afford to let one’s guard down when facing them.
Bangrit recalled the sensation he had felt in the past, during the [Cracked Dimensional Rift]. ‘Without even realizing when I began to harbor such thoughts…….’ By the time he came to his senses.
He had already been acting exactly as the demon intended. ‘If it had only been me, I would have thought it was because I was lacking.’ Hadn’t even the elder mages had their judgment clouded because of the demons? ‘Chief Lee Hoyeol should be careful as well.’ There was no doubt about his abilities, but……
As he had just said, the opponent was a demon.
And not just any demon, but one that had toyed with the Goddess Church.
When Bangrit’s expression remained tense, Marcelo spoke.
“I cannot say anything specific, as I do not know what Sir intends.”
“……?”
“But there should be no need to worry so much.”
Unlike Bangrit, Marcelo knew.
He knew that Hoyeol was not a mage, but a demon hunter.
The one and only natural enemy demons feared so greatly.
“This is, after all, no different from Sir’s specialty.”……
A specialty in dealing with demons?
What in the world did he mean by that?
Just as the crease between Bangrit’s brows deepened even further.
“!!!”
Rumble—along with the tremor, far in the distance.
He saw tentacles rising from the center of Muon.
Even from afar, their size was anything but ordinary.
“How detestable.”
Matisse, the senior mage of Black Magic Studies, suppressed his emotions.
He had suspected as much ever since they had reached their claws toward the Magic Tower.
It seemed the Arcana Continent truly had been played by demons.
For a human, perfectly controlling one’s emotions was likely impossible.
Because of that, Matisse’s ring turned black.
“It is no different from us having left them be.”
If the Magic Tower had been able to move sooner.
The Arcana Continent would not have fallen into such a terrible state.
As Matisse chewed over his anger, Marcelo opened his mouth.
“That is true. Though we are late, setting things right is also our duty.”
Indeed.
Originally, disposing of that demon should have been their duty as well.
Yet for some reason, Sir had stepped forward again this time. ‘I cannot know why, but there must be meaning behind his actions.’ However, Marcelo soon realized Hoyeol’s intent.
The eyes of the paladins, which had changed before he knew it.
Then, the sight of them charging at the demon, prepared to die.
Watching them, a thought of Hoyeol’s suddenly came to mind. ‘……Could it be that he is doing this so the Goddess Church does not collapse?’
So that the Goddess Church, which had been toyed with by the Saintess and by a demon, could preserve its last shred of pride. Had Sir given them the opportunity to dispose of the demon with their own hands……!
Matisse, who had likewise guessed Hoyeol’s intent.
Exchanged glances with Marcelo.
The two men spoke as if in admiration.
“I would never have even thought of it before seeing it myself.”
“The same is true for me. Sir truly……”
“He thinks on a dimension different from ours.”
Marcelo put himself in Hoyeol’s position. ‘If I had been Sir…….’ Even if they had been played by a demon, the Goddess Church that had betrayed Akkshan in the Holy War was no different from an enemy to Sir.
Even if one understood it with one’s head, it was only natural that emotions would come first.
And yet what of Hoyeol? ‘To think he would consider the pride of the Goddess Church even before his enemies, before a demon.’
He could not help but be amazed.
But when he thought about it, this was not the first time.
Had Sir not also generously forgiven the original sin of the Magic Tower?
And so the only ones who could not understand were Bangrit and Bensch William, the senior of Fire Magic Studies.
The two also exchanged glances. Unable to endure the frustration, they whispered softly.
“……
What are they talking about?”
“Thinking on a different dimension? Then what does that make us, when we can’t even understand that?”
“……
Wouldn’t it be better to just ask honestly?”
“Are you serious, Senior Bangrit Tom?! You know what kind of suffering I went through when I entered the rift with Senior Matisse last time, don’t you? Honestly, just thinking about that time still makes me feel like I can’t breathe!”*
Talim Eber, commander of the Goddess Church’s Paladin Order.
There was nothing particularly new I learned from my conversation with him.
Because everyone in Muon, including him, had merely been swayed by Nephrypit’s [Status Abnormality].
Clack—[Mana regeneration increases slightly for 30 minutes.]
I set down my teacup and opened my mouth.
“I understand.”
Yes, if they were told to obey, they had no choice but to obey.
Just as the Magic Tower had no choice but to remain still.
It seemed Muon had been the same.
Of course, unlike the Magic Tower, which had not even been interested in the Holy War.
Muon had stepped into the Holy War and then withdrawn.
So they had stabbed Akkshan in the back more severely than the Magic Tower had, but still. ‘It wasn’t my back that got stabbed.’
A gap of well over ten years.
Granfell’s personality, which did not get swayed by every little joy or sorrow.
And lastly, his heavy pride.
“Akkshan merely upheld its pride until the very end.”
The Holy War.
Akkshan’s demon hunters were annihilated while fighting demons.
Even if they were exterminated after falling into a demon’s scheme.
That did not tarnish their pride.
Pitying their deaths?
At least among demon hunters.
They did not pity one another’s deaths.
Granfell’s pride was saying so.
“……
I am sorry. And thank you.”
Of course, Talim could not know my complicated feelings.
To Talim, I must simply look like a magnanimous demon hunter.
As proof, Talim continued in a moved voice.
“We, the Goddess Church, will no longer be toyed with by demons. If it is you, Sir, who saw through the Saintess’s true identity, then surely you know where we—where the Goddess Church—must go from here.”
As long as [Natural Enemy Relationship] existed.
I could at least know the general direction they should move in.
But as expected, it was an overestimation.
However, overestimation was also natural to me.
Naturally, he shamelessly accepted it.
Talim’s voice sank into seriousness.
“Even now, the Goddess Church will fulfill the promise to Akkshan that we failed to keep.”
The promise to Akkshan that they had failed to keep.
What those words meant was simple.
“The Goddess Church will take part in this Holy War.”
The Arcana Continent was being played in the palm of the demons’ hands.
And now, the demons’ claws were even reaching into reality.
It would be fair to see this as an extension of the Holy War of the past.
There was no reason for me to refuse.
Above all, I had personally confirmed the Goddess Church’s forces with my own eyes. ‘It would have been hopeless.’
Tens of thousands of paladins.
And even priests who supported those paladins.
If I had failed to free them from the [Status Abnormality]……
Just imagining what direction things might have taken made my head hurt.
For such a Goddess Church to join the Holy War.
After the Magic Tower, Arcana’s strongest armed organization.
Even the Goddess Church, Arcana’s greatest religion.
It meant they would become reliable reinforcements.
And if I considered it carefully, they were not the only ones. ‘The Yusra Kingdom, Frost. And.’
Even the guilds bound to me by give-and-take, by business relationships.
I had so many reinforcements, it was almost absurd.
Which meant one thing became certain.
I just had to do well, Lee Hoyeol.
You just had to do well, Granfell. ‘……Please let it not just look impressive on the outside.’
The conversation was wrapped up around there.
Now that Muon had been updated into reality.
There were plenty of ways to keep in contact.
If necessary, I could just manifest a portal like this.
“I, Talim Eber, will not forget the grace I received today.”
“Next time, I will be the one to serve tea.”
“……
Thank you. Sir Lee Hoyeol.”……
No, I’m the one who should be thankful.
It was a relief that the Goddess Church had elixir-herb tea that improved mana regeneration. If they hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have had enough mana left to manifest even a single portal right now.
I learned another lesson.
Realm-class magic was not something to imitate lightly……
Know your place.
Making that vow, I headed toward the portal.
Naturally, the coordinates were set to the Magic Tower.
The levels I had gained from hunting Nephrypit.
The messages that had passed by.
And even the items I had acquired.
I needed time to sort things out in my own way....
Watching Hoyeol disappear beyond the portal.
Talim murmured softly.
“May the wisdom of the Goddess be with you in all things.”
He had said that he did not believe in God.
So Talim could not pray loudly enough for him to hear.
However, prayer was the only thing Talim could do for Hoyeol.
“I believe.”
Talim looked at the crowd beyond the window.
To be precise, at those gathered around the “Tears of the Saint.”
The words Hoyeol had spoken passed through his mind.
—“It is not some miracle of the Goddess.”
When he learned that the Saintess was a demon.
When even the miracle of the Goddess, the Tears of the Saint, was denied.
No faith in the Goddess had remained within him.
But Hoyeol had said.
—“However, there is also no definitive proof that God does not exist.”
At those words, Talim had thought to himself. ‘Perhaps Sir himself is the proof that the Goddess exists?’
The Saintess and the Tears of the Saint.
Perhaps the Goddess, pitying them for being swayed by falsehoods.
Had sent Hoyeol to them.
Talim smiled bitterly.
“……
Sir would say that was absurd as well, wouldn’t he?”
Hoyeol did not believe in the existence of God.
And yet that same Hoyeol was proof that God existed.
Even as he thought it himself, it was ridiculous.
However, Talim murmured softly.
“But please understand, Sir.”
Then he looked over Muon.
Muon, where a commotion had swept through once.
The young priests were shedding tears from the shock.
The paladins, like him, wore complicated expressions.
Yes, they were on his shoulders.
“Please become the strength that keeps me from collapsing, if only for a short while.”
Of course, just as Hoyeol had become a pillar of support for him.
He, and the Goddess Church, would also have to become an unparalleled source of strength for Hoyeol.
To do that, a decision was necessary.
And within Talim’s field of vision, the Tears of the Saint still remained.
“First, we must begin by revealing the truth behind the miracle of the Goddess.”*
Still, to think there would be such a coincidence. ‘No wonder they misunderstood.’
The Tears of the Saint.
I had never imagined that the “Dmun Moonstone” lying at the bottom of the spring would be drawing out the effects of “Aria Moss.” In its natural state, Aria Moss was nothing special.
At present, when its true value had not been revealed.
Compared to its effects, its price was practically a giveaway.
Of course, now it couldn’t be obtained even if one wanted to.
Because I had bought it all up in advance.
Why, back when I was preparing a birthday present for Madam Choi.
The elixir-herb teabags I had sent Madam Choi.
Those were the teabags made from Aria Moss.
For some reason, my sisters made an even bigger fuss over its effects than Madam Choi did.
They kept asking what the name of that tea was.
They said it was no joke, that when they went out with Mom, people mistook them for four sisters. Recalling that memory, I felt like I could hear Number Three, that nuisance, ringing in my ears. ‘Ugh, noisy.’
In any case, unless Talim spoke up first.
The effects of Aria Moss would likely never be revealed.
From the players’ perspective, that would be for the best.
Imagine finding out that they had sold Aria Moss with such effects.
For next to nothing. ‘If it were me, I’d be so wronged I wouldn’t be able to sleep.’
The same went for Gwicheol.
There was a reason people said ignorance was bliss.
Of course, knowledge was power.
And I had piled up plenty of Aria Moss.
“Research must never lack materials.”
The incarnation of integrity.
Everything was not greed, but 『Cultivation Method of Elixir Herbs』.
It was part of research.
[Name: Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]
[Title: The Last Adventurer]
[Class: Demon Hunter]
[Level: 390]
[Stats]
Strength: 65 / Agility: 70 / Magic Power: 335 / Luck: 6 / Aesthetic: Low
[Available Points: 10]
The Saintess, Freyja.
By hunting the true-name demon, Nephrypit, I had risen 10 levels.
Only now did it finally feel real.
Compared to the flood of overestimation, it was still pitiful.
But I had at least reached a level that could be looked at without shame. ‘I’m in the rankings.’
Maybe that was why.
I could understand what the rankers had said.
Those interviews where they whined that leveling up was too hard.
That the required experience was too much.
I absolutely sympathized with them now.
Only 10 levels.
But when I considered that I’d shared the experience with tens of thousands of paladins, it was a fairly decent number.
Of course, even if tens of thousands of paladins had contributed to the kill, I was the one who had racked up the highest contribution.
Me, I mean.
It wasn’t as if I had manifested pseudo-Realm-class magic for nothing.[Evil-Tainted Ceremonial Robe][Grade: Unique][Restriction: None][Effect: Sealed][Description: Its effects have been sealed by a demonic curse. It must be purified in order to learn its true effects.]
A demon item obtained by defeating Neferpit.
It was Unique grade, but it had no restrictions.
If it had been the old me, I might have been disappointed, wondering if it was a dud.
But hadn’t the current me also gotten one foot into Enchantment?‘As long as the effect is useful.’I could simply extract it and enchant another item with it.
Ah, speaking of demon items.
All of a sudden, I was reminded of the demon item that had been extorted by the Magic Tower……
No, that I had lent them.[Vampire Count’s Orb][Grade: Unique][Restriction: Lv.400][Effect: When attacking, applies additional damage at a high probability.][Description: An orb filled with a vampire’s blood. Whenever it comes into contact with mana, that blood bursts out and damages the target.]
The item I’d obtained after killing Ascura.
There were only 10 levels left until level 400, a number I had once thought impossibly distant. Well done, Lee Hoyeol. Somehow, you’ve managed to endure without sinking beneath your pride all this time.‘Once I hit level 400, I’ll retrieve it immediately.’I had thought this even back then.
The effect of applying additional damage had endless versatility.
I had not forgotten the Gwicheol in my inventory either.‘Lastly, if I can refine the Gwicheol into a decent piece of equipment.’I might not know about becoming a big shot myself.
But at least when it came to equipment, I could outfit myself like one.
Of course, it wasn’t time to start drooling just yet.
Especially when it came to the question of how to make use of the Gwicheol.
It wouldn’t be too late to think about that after encountering the dwarves.
Good.
It was just as I had sorted out my thoughts to that extent.
Suddenly, writing appeared on the parchment.
Ssssss─...
“Phew─”
Senior Mage of the Spirit School, Feiyan Lot.
She set down her quill with vigor.……
She had done it!
So what could she do now?
Crunch, crunch─A contractor of a high-ranking spirit.
Because of that contract, her body had terrible fuel efficiency.
Feiyan, the glutton, chewed on cookies out of habit.
“Chief Marcelo. Munch, munch. I’m counting only on you. Munch, munch.”
Surely, he had said that he wasn’t as cold-hearted as she worried he might be?
The reason she had worried yet still moved her quill.
It was all because of the rumor about Chief Lee Hoyeol.
The rumor that Chief Lee Hoyeol had contracted with a spirit!
As the senior of Spirit Studies, she had certainly been surprised, but that topic alone was not the reason she had left Hoyeol a letter.
There was another rumor. Yes, it was because of the rumor from the Arcana Continent she had heard from the Fire Drake.
“If he sprouted the World Tree’s seed with the power of a spirit……”
The spirit that had sprouted the World Tree’s seed.
It should have achieved an enormous rise in “rank” without question.
A rise in rank so great that every spirit on the Arcana Continent would have noticed it.
However, Feiyan had heard nothing at all from her own spirit, the Fire Drake she had summoned from the rift.
So a thought had occurred to her.
No matter how basic it was.
Knowledge regarding Spirit Studies was not widely known.
“I don’t know whether this will be helpful or rude, but.”
Feiyan mumbled as if making excuses.
“It’s not even especially troublesome. Simply giving the spirit a new name would raise its rank. Sprouting the World Tree… With an achievement like that, it’s certain to become a ‘unique spirit’ unbound by hierarchy. And besides, there shouldn’t be any particular reason for him not to give it a name……!”