Make a Contract with Me and Become My Apostle, Part 11
Yohan had a thought. The continent was vast, and the vast majority of its population lived in the central regions. On the fringes of the continent, let alone major cities, there were only scattered slums like Junk Town at best, and uninhabited wilderness made up most of the land. Although some nations claimed these borderlands on paper, their administrative reach was far too weak to govern remote, desolate areas where not a single soul lived. Consequently, the chances of running into anyone in a backwater of backwaters like this were practically zero.
Which meant the identity of the people who had entered the ruins before them was... Yohan exchanged a look with Falco. Confirming they were on the same page, they nodded silently.
Q: What were the odds that another band of grave robbers, who somehow knew about these ruins, would be in this exact area at this exact time?
A: Infinitesimally close to zero. It was more likely for a single person to get struck by lightning multiple times in a row.
Therefore, the bastards inside had to be the very grave robbers from their former crew. That was Yohan and Falco's deduction. And every single one of them was a target for their revenge.
"Hey. Check how many of them are inside right now."
—Understood.
Yohan whispered his request to the Goddess. She seemed to instantly grasp what he was planning.
*Flash!* The Goddess materialized her physical form once more, narrowing her eyes as she scanned the ruins.
"Three are gathered together relatively close by. Aside from them... I sense the presence of foul things."
"Oho."
It seemed her 'Goddess Radar' didn't just detect life; it could actually distinguish between humans and monsters. Man, I'm jealous. I'll have to make her teach me how to do that later, Yohan thought to himself.
"Alright, then—"
Yohan drew the dagger at his waist. At the same time, Falco gripped her weapon. They had already taken out several of the grave robbers, but that wasn't nearly enough to wash away the resentment of being betrayed and left to die a miserable death. This, too, was a righteous vengeance.
"Hold on."
Just as they were about to step into the ruins, Falco suddenly stopped him. Yohan tilted his head but obediently halted.
"What's wrong?"
"I think it's better if I go in first to see who they are."
"Hmm."
Yohan let out a low grunt at her response. He immediately understood what she meant. What if the people inside weren't the grave robbers who had betrayed them? If they rushed in blindly, they might end up beating innocent people to death who had never done them any wrong.
—I encourage righteous vengeance, but I have never permitted the harming of innocent souls.
The voice of the Goddess, who had already slipped back into her spiritual form, echoed in his mind.
"What did the Goddess say?"
"She says we'll be in deep trouble if we go around killing innocent people, so we need to be careful."
"Figures."
Falco replied with a look that said she expected as much. She turned her gaze back toward the entrance of the ruins.
"I'll take a quick look and be right back. Wait here."
"Y-yeah. But... will you be okay?"
He understood that they couldn't just launch a blind assault without knowing who was inside. Still, Yohan wondered how Falco planned to sneak in and scout the place.
"Elves have sharper senses than humans. We can see much better in the dark."
"Ah."
Yohan suddenly recalled their days in the grave robbing crew. On pitch-black nights without a sliver of moonlight, Falco would often volunteer for night watch, navigating the darkness effortlessly to wake up the next person in line. Back then, he had simply thought she had good night vision, but was even that a foreshadowing of her elven heritage?
"Phew, alright. I'm counting on you, then."
Since she put it that way, he had no choice but to trust her. Yohan smirked slightly as he looked at her. Falco returned a faint smile and marched toward the ruins with confident strides.
—It seems you have gained quite a decent companion.
"Ahem."
Yohan cleared his throat awkwardly at the Goddess's remark. Though he acted sarcastic on the outside, he was secretly thrilled, feeling as though his good deeds were finally paying off.
"..."
He waited in silence for Falco to return. A few minutes passed.
"She's taking a while."
"Let us take another look, then."
At Yohan's muttering, the Goddess manifested once more. She opened her eyes wide and peered intently toward the ruins.
"One, two, four, six... What is this?"
"Huh?"
Her reaction was highly unusual. At that moment, a faint noise echoed from beyond the entrance of the ruins.
*Crash!*
With a loud, shattering noise, Falco burst out of the entrance. For some reason, her face was deathly pale. Granted, as a pointy-eared elf, her skin was naturally fairer than most, but right now, she looked completely bloodless.
Falco sprinted toward Yohan at an unbelievable speed.
"We are so fucked!" she shrieked, her voice bordering on a scream.
"W-what is it?!"
Yohan was utterly bewildered by her sudden outburst. But his confusion lasted only a split second.
"Hieeeek!"
The moment he saw a horde of various undead monsters pouring out of the entrance, he let out a pathetic shriek of his own and bolted.
They ran. They ran like their lives depended on it, panting so hard that Yohan wondered if his heart might actually explode.
"Huff—"
"Haa— haa—"
"Blegh—"
Left half-dead from nothing but a sprint, the three of them gasped heavily for air, unable to utter a single word. The Goddess could have easily returned to her spiritual form at any moment, yet for some reason, she had run right alongside them. She was panting so hard she was practically dry-heaving. Yohan subtly distanced himself, terrified she might actually throw up on him.
"Ah, seriously... You want us to go back and raid a place where a whole army of monsters is pouring out like that?"
Yohan snapped at Falco. Not a single trace of the trust he had shown her moments ago remained in his expression or tone.
"T-the guys inside must have messed up! Some dungeons have traps that wake up every single sleeping monster at once!"
Falco yelled back, her voice much louder than usual. She seemed deeply frustrated by the unfairness of the situation.
"Ha... damn it. Right, what could we have done anyway?"
Indeed, it wasn't like Falco had done anything wrong. If anything, it was a miracle they had managed to escape unscathed.
"Ugh, blegh—"
"And you, seriously. You could have just turned into a spirit. Why the hell did you run with us?"
Yohan turned his attention to the Goddess, who was still dry-heaving. At his words, her eyes went wide, as if she had only just realized she could have done exactly that.
*Flash!* With that, the Goddess's tiny body vanished as if evaporating into thin air. Dumbfounded by the ridiculous sight, Yohan shook his head, momentarily forgetting his exhaustion.
"So, what now?" Falco asked.
Since Yohan couldn't think of any brilliant ideas either, he simply shook his head.
"We're done. Unless we have a death wish, there's no way in hell we're going back there."
Being a grave robber didn't mean casually strolling through ruins and picking up antiques. Accidentally triggering a nest of sleeping monsters and sending the entire crew to the afterlife hand-in-hand was a fairly common occurrence. In fact, they had almost suffered that exact fate just moments ago.
—No. Nay. I believe we must return.
"What? Are you insane?"
Yohan snapped back at the Goddess's sudden voice. Falco tilted her head in confusion for a moment, but realizing Yohan was talking to the Goddess, she simply shrugged.
"What is she saying?"
"She wants us to go back there."
"Is she out of her mind?"
Could there be a more perfect response? Yohan was genuinely impressed by Falco's superb choice of words and her complete lack of respect, which mirrored his own.
—My Apostle. I am not jesting. In fact, I am more serious than I have ever been.
"..."
Yohan had been ready to snap at her if she spouted more nonsense, but the Goddess's tone was remarkably grave. He fell silent and listened to her voice.
—There are two reasons why you, as my Apostle, must purify the foul entities within those ruins.
"And what are they?"
—First, granting eternal rest to the wandering dead who cannot truly pass on is, without a doubt, a righteous deed.
That was true. In fact, Yohan recalled hearing a priest from the Holy Kingdom say something very similar once.
—Second... I feel it.
"You feel it?"
—Indeed. It is far stronger than the one we found in the warehouse earlier.
"Wait, don't tell me..."
Yohan trailed off, turning his head to lock eyes with Falco. She seemed to grasp the flow of the conversation just from his reaction.
—My Sacred Relic lies deep within the underground of those ruins.
Fortunately, having lost track of their prey, the undead monsters had retreated back to their original spots. Although the area around the ruins had been completely trashed by the monsters' rampage, nothing was left wandering outside.
"Sigh... of all things, now we have to march into an undead nest with just the two of us?"
Standing at the entrance of the ruins, Yohan grumbled. Falco, on the other hand, looked as stoic as ever.
—My Apostle. Do not fret, for this endeavor shall prove to be of great benefit to you as well.
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind. Yohan reflexively glanced up toward the space above his head.
—You have yet to properly wield the Authority you received as my Apostle, have you not?
"Hmm—"
That was true. At best, he had only delivered a few fists of justice to some wicked grave robbers.
—To the dead and all things foul, Divine Power is their absolute antithesis. Should you set your mind to it, even the meager Divine Power you possess now will be more than enough to completely purify these ruins.
Hearing her say that actually made him feel a lot better.
"Heheh—"
In fact, he was starting to feel rather excited. Yohan let out a sly chuckle, rubbing his hands together.
"Yohan. Your laugh is really creepy."
"Shut it, pointy-ears."
Brushing off the elf's comment, he took bold, sweeping strides past the entrance of the ruins.
"Ugh..."
The atmosphere inside the ruins was completely different from when Yohan and his former crew had visited. Most notably, the corridors that should have been covered in nothing but dust were now stained with fresh, crimson blood. And it wasn't just blood. Torn chunks of flesh were scattered all over the floor. They undoubtedly belonged to the grave robbers who had arrived before them.
Even though he had experienced all kinds of horrors since arriving in this godforsaken world, looking at such a gruesome sight still made his stomach churn. Yohan wiped his face with his palm.
"This way."
"Yeah."
Falco led Yohan in a different direction than before. Following her down the ancient corridor, a flight of stairs leading deeper underground came into view.
"It really is open."
"It's obvious this place was supposed to be sealed, but those idiots messed with it and caused this whole mess."
"Yeah."
Yohan tapped Falco's shoulder lightly, signaling her to step aside. Then, he confidently took his first steps down the stairs.
"Alright, bring on the zombies, skeletons, whatever. I'll send every last one of them to meet their maker."
Who am I? I am the man who has come to purify the dead of these cursed ruins on behalf of the Nameless Goddess. Yohan repeated the mantra to himself.
"Yohan."
"What?"
"That's great and all, but don't try so hard to look cool."
"..."
—Pfft. Just when I thought the mood was getting quite nice, she goes and throws cold water on it.
The Goddess's snickering in his head was incredibly obnoxious.