Make a Contract and Become My Apostle (10)
"People out there usually just lump us all together as 'pointy-ears,' but elves actually live in distinct tribes."
Yohan listened intently to Falco's explanation. No matter how long he had scraped by in this world, he knew next to nothing about the notoriously insular elven society.
The Goddess, her curiosity piqued, stopped sniffling and turned her full attention to Falco.
"They're smaller than human nations, but each tribe strictly draws the line between insiders and outsiders based on their lineage."
"Then, art thou from one of those many tribes...?"
"Yes," Falco replied with a nod to the Goddess's question.
Yohan had only meant it as a joke, but it seemed Falco really did come from some noble bloodline of an elven tribe.
"I, uh, just threw that out there, but I guess I hit the nail on the head," Yohan said, trying to sound casual.
"I was shocked too. For a second, I wondered if you were an assassin sent by my clan, Yohan."
But as Falco spoke, her expression grew so cold it practically radiated frost. Startled, Yohan quickly shook his head.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to think of you that way," Falco apologized immediately, indicating it had just been a knee-jerk reaction.
"Mmh."
Well, makes sense. An elf who should have been living comfortably in her village was scraping the absolute bottom of human society. She must have gone through some unspeakable trauma.
He was curious, but digging any deeper would be rude. Everyone had their own baggage. Yohan decided to bury his curiosity.
"Then why didst thou venture out into this outer world dominated by humans?"
"Hey, you seriously—"
Unlike Yohan, however, the Goddess seemed eager to pry into every detail of Falco's past. Yohan glared at the tactless deity, but she didn't even seem to realize she was overstepping.
Though he wasn't entirely sure, in elven society, each village was essentially its own sovereign nation. And since the vast majority of elves lived in the Great Forest in the center of the continent, power struggles between these villages would be constant.
"Hey, hey. We all have our own circumstances, and we can talk about that stuff later, right?" Yohan had no choice but to step in. He wedged himself between the Goddess and Falco to change the subject.
"What is the meaning of this, Apostle?"
"I mean, we haven't talked about the most important thing yet." The Goddess tilted her head in confusion at Yohan's interruption. Falco, on the other hand, immediately caught on to what Yohan meant by "the most important thing."
"Like, what are we doing now?"
"First, let's get out of here. We don't know when other grave robbers might show up. Plus, the smell is awful."
"Yeah."
They couldn't just loiter all day in a hideout littered with the corpses of grave robbers. Yohan and Falco packed up their basic belongings and stepped out of the building.
Once outside, they saw the rain had finally stopped. The ground was still a muddy mess from the downpour, but it was a massive improvement over getting drenched to the bone.
"Phew..."
Leaving the hideout and its stench of burning flesh behind made him feel instantly refreshed. Yohan took several deep breaths, purging the foul air from his lungs.
So, what now? Yohan scratched his head, looking around aimlessly. Since they had always operated as part of a grave-robbing crew, they might not have had long-term plans, but they had always known what they were doing the next day.
But things were different now. If they wanted to survive, they had to think and act for themselves.
"It feels nice to make a fresh start, but man, it's pretty daunting."
"Naturally, the most paramount task is to restore my divinity," the Goddess chimed in, having remained quiet until now.
Yohan looked down at her and nodded silently.
Yohan was currently bound by a contract to this dimwitted Goddess. His task as her Apostle was to spread her name far and wide and secure the faith of mortal believers.
A god who completely loses their divinity dies. This was a fact the Goddess had emphasized multiple times before.
"Alright, let's start from the beginning."
Yohan squatted down. Drawing the dagger from his waist, he began sketching a rough map of the continent on the muddy ground.
"Like I explained earlier, where we are right now isn't exactly a civilized area."
Yohan tapped a spot on the edge of the continent with the tip of his dagger, marking their approximate current location.
"I am well aware."
The outskirts of the continent were vast and desolate. The distance between the pit where the Goddess had been imprisoned and the grave robbers' hideout was practically a stone's throw in comparison.
"We have two options." Yohan moved the tip of his dagger closer to the center of the continent and drew another dot.
"First, we head to the nearest place with actual human civilization and gather believers."
"If we're talking about the closest settlement..." At Falco's words, Yohan nodded.
"It's called Junk Town. A place where people just like me gather to live," Yohan said, looking at the Goddess.
"Dost thou mean it is populated by those with foul temperaments and vulgar speech?"
"Well, pretty much."
Walking from the hideout to Junk Town would take at least ten days. He had considered stealing the grave robbers' horses, but Yohan wanted to opt for a much faster and safer method.
"Can you teleport us there in one go like you did earlier?"
"Hmm..." The Goddess crossed her arms and hummed in thought at Yohan's question. Soon, she shook her head.
"I fear that would be difficult."
"Yeah, figured as much."
Yohan couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment, but he had expected this to some extent.
The Goddess had brushed it off like it was nothing, but precise, long-distance teleportation was no simple feat in this world. On top of that, she had already used her dwindling divine power to heal both Yohan and Falco's severe injuries and perform one long-distance teleportation. She wasn't showing it, but she was likely running on fumes. Before long, she might even struggle to manifest a physical form.
"Then here's the second option. We raid the nearby ruins and search for Sacred Relics."
"According to thee, there are virtually no people nearby, yet relics imbued with my divinity..."
"This area is practically overflowing with ancient junk."
Now that they had a general direction, it was time to establish a detailed plan. However, Yohan couldn't think of any clever shortcuts. Specifically, he didn't know how to locate the relics efficiently.
"If that's the case... I might be able to help," Falco suddenly spoke up, breaking her silence as Yohan pondered.
"What?"
"I know of a few untouched ruins around here."
This was the best news they could have hoped for. Not only Yohan, but even the Goddess's face lit up as she blinked in surprise.
"That's great. But..." How do you know about things even I don't? Yohan shot her a questioning look.
"That was my role in the crew to begin with. Even before I joined them, I used to search for ruins on my own."
"Huh."
Yohan finally understood why the grave robbers had treated Falco as an equal, and why they had suddenly discarded her. She had been useful, but they decided her usefulness had run its course.
Wait a minute. If she was kept around because she was useful, did that mean he was the only one who was almost killed for absolutely nothing?
"Bastards." Realizing this made him flare up with anger. Yohan spat out a curse and snorted.
"Splendid! Then it is only fitting that we follow Falco from this moment forth."
"Yes."
"Once we retrieve the relics imbued with my divinity, we shall make our way to this 'Junk Town' thou spoke of."
"Yeah, yeah." The Goddess quickly wrapped up the discussion. Soon after, her physical form evaporated into air.
Let us depart!
At the same time, the Goddess's voice echoed inside Yohan's head.
They followed Falco toward the nearby ruins for a long time. Yohan's stamina was completely depleted from trying to keep up with Falco, who was moving at a pace somewhere between a fast walk and a jog.
"Pant... pant... Dammit, how do you have so much damn stamina?"
"You're just weak, Yohan."
"Well, excuse me."
This girl seemed like an entirely different person now, far beyond just having her wounds healed. Yohan gasped for breath, staring at Falco.
It seemed that becoming an Apostle and gaining great power didn't automatically make his baseline physical body stronger. Or perhaps the Goddess had decided that wasting her divine power on such trivial physical enhancements wasn't worth it.
"Still, we can't keep walking forever. Let's take a quick break." Yohan immediately plopped his butt down on the grass. Falco, however, remained standing, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.
"By the way, this direction..." A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him. Yohan trailed off, scanning the path they had just traveled.
"It's the place we raided last time," Falco replied, noticing his gaze.
"So we didn't completely clear it out back then."
"Yeah. It gets dangerous if you go deeper."
"Ah, I see... Wait, what?" Dangerous? Falco had said it so casually, but Yohan couldn't help but fixate on that one word.
"It's not just some ordinary ruins. It's old and has been picked clean in some areas, but it's a dungeon."
"Oh, great."
"We didn't even clear half of it last time. We only pulled out because the boss ordered us to." Yohan let out a heavy sigh at Falco's explanation.
Is a dungeon not a place where foul monsters and restless dead lurk? Guiding them to eternal rest is also a righteous deed, so there is absolutely nothing to fear.
Listen to her talk big just because she's not the one doing the fighting. Yohan sorely wanted to pinch the Goddess's cheeks.
The grave robbers were undoubtedly criminals, but that didn't mean they went around looking for fights. In fact, they avoided monsters and other humans whenever possible. Their primary source of income was, after all, the ancient relics sleeping in the ruins. Therefore, they usually avoided ruins infested with monsters and searched for safer ones. This was only possible because the continent was vast and untouched ruins were plentiful.
Apostle, thou hast no need for concern. If thou dost channel thy Authority, those wicked creatures shall turn to a handful of ash in an instant.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Yohan snapped back at the Goddess's reassurance. He finally stood up and brushed the damp grass off his pants.
"Well, whatever. I've already beaten men to death. Bring on the monsters, or whatever else they've got."
Heh, that is more like my Apostle. Send them to the afterlife in the name of the Goddess!
With that mindset, Yohan began walking toward the ruins again. After walking for about an hour at a more leisurely pace, the ruins that Yohan and the other grave robbers had raided not too long ago finally came into view.
"..."
But Yohan and Falco didn't approach the entrance right away. They exchanged a look and nodded silently.
There are traces of a freshly lit fire near the entrance. It seems another uninvited guest has entered the ruins in the meantime.