Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Return - 3
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“Eating divinity?”
“Yes, it’s recorded that it was consumed directly by mouth.”
Helen’s explanation left me utterly dumbfounded.
“Is that even possible? And even if you eat it, would your body accept the divinity?”
“Of course it’s impossible under normal circumstances. But if a human with a unique constitution capable of accepting divinity preserves and concentrates that trait through their bloodline over several generations, then it’s a different story.”
“No way...”
“You’re guessing correctly, Sian. The Titan God Clan deliberately engaged in incest to evolve a constitution that could accept divinity. And they didn’t stop there—they devoured their own blood kin who had consumed divinity to push their tolerance for it to the absolute limit.”
“Insane...”
The shocking story dragged curses out of me inevitably.
Incest might be unavoidable given the era, but cannibalism...
It was called devouring blood kin, but strictly speaking, it was probably cannibalism between parents and children.
Only then did I understand why Helen had hesitated when explaining about the Titan God Clan.
But me, a descendant of that kind of race?
“...Tell me it’s a lie.”
“I’m sorry. It’s the truth, so there’s nothing I can do.”
“No, maybe there’s a misunderstanding? This outfit might not even be mine originally. I could’ve just picked it up by chance and used it.”
“That’s possible, but didn’t you yourself devour divinity, Sian?”
“Me?”
“Yes. You swallowed the legacy of a god directly. Even now, the divinity of ‘He Who Walks the Lowest Depths’ that you ingested resides within you.”
As Helen touched my body, a black light began to shimmer. That’s when a hazy scene from my dreamlike memory flashed back. Right—I’d sacrificed myself in Irina’s place and swallowed the god’s legacy.
“That wasn’t my intention...”
Back then, I’d only swallowed it to neutralize it using Oranak’s blessing. I never meant to absorb the divinity itself.
Recalling the memory brought back the cold, sweet taste in my mouth. Damn, it was delicious. Now I’m salivating.
Suppressing the sudden surge of hunger, I slumped into my seat.
“Whew... So, does that mean I can use abilities like time stop, like the god’s legacy?”
“You haven’t fully digested it yet, so not right now. But gradually, that power will become yours.”
“Impressive.”
Time stop.
An ability straight out of some lewd comic. If I got that, what could I do with it?
“Anyway, thanks for now, Helen.”
I’d received help from her in more ways than one.
Without her, I’d never have learned about my origins.
“No need. It’s only natural as your apostle and as a sibling serving the same Goddess Hestia. And...”
Helen hesitated again, fidgeting with her fingers as if wrestling with something, then parted her small lips to speak.
“This is sudden, but would you consider coming to the Holy Kingdom with us?”
“The Holy Kingdom?”
“Yes. We’d like to protect you, who bears the blood of the gods, and your soon-to-be-born child, under the Holy Kingdom’s auspices.”
“Hmm...”
Her proposal sent me into thought.
The Holy Kingdom.
It was the organization that protected humanity from disasters people couldn’t handle on their own, backed by the imperial family—the undisputed greatest power on the continent.
Objectively speaking, joining the Holy Kingdom seemed like the best choice.
But...
“Let me think about it a bit more.”
It was too soon to decide rashly.
The image of the Holy Kingdom I’d seen so far was just a fragment. Sure, people like Helen and Camilla, who’d joined our expedition, were good folks, but there was no guarantee the leadership felt the same.
Plus, with childbirth so close, moving anywhere right now wasn’t easy.
At the very least, I needed to discuss it with Chloe first.
And reveal that I’m a Titan too.
Helen didn’t seem disappointed by my answer; she simply understood my position.
“Understood. If you change your mind, let us know anytime.”
“Leaving already?”
“We’d love to bless the child’s future, but there are people who need our help, so we must go to them.”
“I see. Thanks.”
I meant it.
Her sacrifice in devoting herself to the world was truly worthy of respect.
“Hehe, no need. We do it because we want to, and it’s the duty Goddess Hestia gave us nymphs.”
Even in the dim cavern, Helen’s smile shone brightly.
I clasped her outstretched hand and exchanged farewells.
Then, as if remembering something, I shared one last piece of information.
“And just out of concern, there’s something strange about this Lugeron Village.”
“Strange?”
“Before the expedition set out, I stayed in the village for three days and visited every household.”
“You did that too?”
That was right before departure, when I’d been swamped preparing supplies.
“I wanted to spread Hestia’s teachings as usual and ease their fears amid the endless winter.”
“So, what’s strange about it?”
“There are no elderly mothers in this village.”
“You mean old ladies?”
“Yes? That’s right, old mothers.”
I was momentarily thrown by the synonym.
Anyway, Helen continued.
“I can’t say it’s definitive from what I saw, but it seems there might be some hidden bad custom in the village.”
“Hmm... Got it. I’ll keep an eye out.”
I took it seriously.
Her intuition as a servant of the goddess of love and family surely meant something was there.
The way the village men treated women did feel off.
As I mulled over these thoughts while leaving the ice storage cave with Helen...
“Hm?”
A chill prickled the back of my neck once more.
...
“Not much to it, despite the rumors.”
In the past, visiting Lugeron Village near the Dark Forest was a life-risking endeavor. The monsters there were stronger than elsewhere due to the denser mana concentration—even the same types were tougher and more numerous.
Naturally, reaching the village meant breaking through hordes of monsters in the Dark Forest.
But things had changed since Sian started living in Lugeron Village.
More precisely, the efforts begun by his adoptive father, Ian, had finally come to full fruition.
“The closer we get to the village, the fewer monsters we see.”
“More anticlimactic than I thought.”
The reason no monsters lurked near Lugeron Village was simple.
Any that approached were hunted down. After decades of this, the monsters had learned: don’t go there. In fact, the only monsters to attack the village in recent years were the yetis and goblins whose habitats had shifted.
Of course, the knights under Earl Anitul, unaware of this, could only be disappointed by the unremarkable demon-infested land. And even though it was his own territory, the earl whipped Hippo Baron for his lame excuses and poor management.
“You seem to lack any sense of being a noble. Do you have any idea how much tax you’ve been sending me?”
“Urk—S-Sorry!”
Painful as the earl’s whip was, Hippo Baron couldn’t resist and had to endure.
He felt wronged by this bolt from the blue.
The earl had shown up out of nowhere demanding a guide to Lugeron Village, and now he was being flogged in front of everyone.
Humiliating and agonizing, but for the sake of his territory’s people who trusted him, Hippo Baron gritted his teeth and bore it.
Yet the more he endured, the more the earl’s sadism flared.
Nearly beaten to a pulp, Hippo Baron finally lost consciousness.
One knight asked the earl upon seeing this.
“Leave him like this?”
“No, take him later and hang him in his territory.”
To nobles, territory folk were less than beasts.
Since the lowly rabble served nobles without grasping why—and rebelled at any chance—public floggings like this were necessary to enforce submission.
“Clean up from here first.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Upon arriving at Lugeron Village, the earl began taming the territory.
Knights unbeatable by commoners beat villagers on sight. If a woman was there, they stripped her in public and tried to rape her.
“Who are you?”
“We’re knights of Earl Anitul. Shut up and obey.”
“What is this outrage?”
The villagers didn’t just take it lying down. Especially the young men of the militia...
They grabbed weapons to resist the sudden attackers.
They were no match, of course.
“Daring to resist the west’s finest knights with that pitiful skill?”
“Carlson!”
Carlson, the strongest in the village, had awakened aura through a fortunate encounter with Sian’s help—but that didn’t make him a match for a rank-4 knight.
Not even one just stepping into rank-4 could stand toe-to-toe with a full-fledged rank-4 knight.
“Stop this.”
A woman stepped in front of the knight about to behead Carlson.
It was Elsia.
Her appearance—strikingly beautiful and refined for a rural village—drew a lecherous gleam from Earl Anitul.
Feeling his gaze, Elsia still declared boldly.
“Holy Knights of the Holy Kingdom are resting here after a grueling expedition. If you’ve come to meet them, Your Lordship, you must halt the killing in the name of the Holy Kingdom’s honor.”
“Ho.”
Elsia had swiftly grasped why Earl Anitul had come to Lugeron Village unannounced and began mediating with a pretext.
Her wise demeanor only fueled the earl’s lust.
“A woman too fine for this backwater. I’ll graciously offer you the honor of becoming my body servant.”
“A body servant?”
Elsia was dumbfounded by his words.
Not even a maid—just offering a glorified sex slave position, yet he smirked like it was a grand gift. He looked utterly vile.
Is that a noble or a beast?
Hiding her true feelings, Elsia answered as Sian’s concubine.
“I already have one I must serve. I have no intention of becoming the outlet for Your Lordship’s base desires.”
“You bitch!”
“Krrgh!”
A nearby knight flew into a rage at her retort and grabbed her throat.
“Insulting the earl? I’ll rip that mouth apart right now.”
“And what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
But moments later, the knight’s arms were severed.
By a black-haired, golden-eyed man who’d appeared in an instant.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Don’t care about the situation—just die!”
With a crunch, Sian crushed the head of the knight who’d touched his woman.