Devil of the Wilderness (10)
"Damn it, I thought my heart was going to leap right out of my chest. Seriously."
"Yeah. Honestly, I was pretty startled too," Falco agreed.
"I nearly died trying to keep a straight face," Billy added.
They were in a spacious guest room furnished with three beds. The three of them sat gathered around a wooden table.
Even now, Billy carefully rested his hands on the table, terrified he might accidentally break it again. The sight was almost pitiful.
Right. Seeing the half-troll reminded Yohan of something he'd been curious about. He looked up at the ceiling.
"Hey. About that single-room apartment... Is there any way we can expand it into a bigger, nicer house?"
Flash!
As soon as Yohan called out to the ceiling, the Goddess materialized and plopped herself down right on the table. Fortunately, the wood didn't collapse under her.
"It is not impossible. However, it will not be easy."
"Why not?" Yohan tilted his head, questioning her response.
"That cramped space we visited is the very manifestation of the coziest, most comfortable place in your heart."
"Oh, boy."
An Apostle's Authority was a power that realized their deepest desires. Therefore, restructuring a space that had already been completed in the exact form Yohan subconsciously desired was an incredibly difficult task.
"Do not think too poorly of it. Though it stems from your rather impoverished imagination, it does, in the end, reduce the consumption of divine power."
Depending on his mindset, he could have created a magnificent palace, but if he had, it would have drained far more divine power than it did now.
He couldn't tell if she was praising him or insulting him. Yohan pressed a palm to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
"Yeah, whatever. Let's just say that's how it is for now. Anyway, do you all remember what the Inquisitor said earlier?"
At Yohan's question, Falco, Billy, and the Goddess nodded in unison.
"It could be a mere coincidence, but circumstantially, it is highly probable that a low-level devil sensed our divine presence and was drawn here."
Before this, the Goddess had been on the brink of starvation, metaphorically speaking. Consequently, the divine energy she radiated as a deity was faint at best.
However, not long ago, the villagers who had been tormented by the man-eating trolls had converted en masse to the Church of the Unnamed Goddess. Thanks to their devotion, her divine power had surged significantly.
"Ah, damn it. No matter how I look at it, it feels like the village getting trashed is entirely our fault."
Yohan crossed his arms and lamented. None of his companions disputed his words; they were all harboring the exact same thought.
"Starting tomorrow, we're helping with the reconstruction. Got it?"
"Okay," Falco said.
"Yes, sir," Billy replied.
Falco and Billy answered immediately. Frankly, they had every right to feel a bit indignant. After all, it was Yohan and the Goddess who had radiated the divine energy that lured the low-level devil in the first place.
But since they were all in the same boat now, it was fine. Since things had already turned out this way, Yohan decided to look on the bright side.
"But does this mean we'll have to keep fighting devils that come looking for us from now on?"
Billy asked a sharp question. This was something Yohan had been secretly worrying about as well, so he turned his head to look at the silly Goddess sitting on the table.
"Do not fret. There is a way."
"Oh."
That was the best news he'd heard all day. Yohan's face brightened at her response.
"What is it? Tell me, quick."
"First of all, my divine energy will not leak to the outside world while I am in my spiritual form. Since my physical body does not exist in reality to begin with."
The Goddess thumped her chest lightly with her fist as she spoke.
"In other words, if a low-level devil sensed divine energy, that energy was undoubtedly radiated by you, Yohan."
"Then how do I hide it? It's not like I can turn into a spirit."
Instead of answering, she suddenly stood up. She marched across the table until she was right in front of his nose.
"You must practice. You must learn to suppress and conceal the divine energy you unconsciously emit."
"Ah."
Yohan let out a brief groan. In the end, it was basically a user error.
Still, it wasn't entirely a bad thing. Considering his plans to expand the influence of the Church of the Unnamed Goddess all the way to the heart of the continent, it was best to master the art of concealing his energy as quickly as possible.
Outskirts like Junk Town or Balifield were one thing, but the closer they got to the center of the continent, the higher the chances of running into the Holy Kingdom's Heresy Inquisitors or other church officials.
"Fine."
No matter what, it was something he had to do for the sake of their future. Steeling his resolve, Yohan nodded.
"So, how do I practice?"
Though she was a bit of a blockhead, she was still a goddess who possessed vast knowledge. Filled with anticipation, Yohan asked her.
"I do not know."
"What the hell?"
Her answer completely shattered his expectations. Yohan reflexively spat out a curse right in front of her divine face.
"I truly do not know. My Apostle, can you feel the sensations of my body right now? It is the exact same concept."
"Sigh..."
So he had to figure out the method all on his own. This was going to be a long, grueling road. Yohan shook his head.
From the next day onward, Yohan's party remained in Junk Town to help with the reconstruction.
Clearing the debris of destroyed buildings and leveling the ground was grueling manual labor. By the time they returned to their lodgings after a day's work, they were naturally drenched in sweat.
But it was fine now. The resting space created by Yohan's subconscious mind included a bathroom with hot running water.
Though the sink was stained and the shower hose was rusty in places, such minor flaws didn't bother him in the slightest.
An endless supply of hot showers in another world? Isn't that just the absolute best?
Recalling his days as a miserable grave robber, he genuinely believed so.
"You're surprisingly strong. Not quite on Yohan's level, but still," Falco remarked.
"Haha."
Falco and Billy chatted as they stepped out after their showers. Billy, in particular, seemed quite pleased that his naturally robust constitution was proving to be so useful.
"Ugh."
Yohan, on the other hand, let out a weary sigh. Cleanliness was great, but he was still stuck with the sudden task of learning how to suppress his apostolic energy.
Yet, he couldn't afford to neglect his training. Agnes couldn't use Miracle Arts, so she couldn't sense the divine energy Yohan emitted, but other Inquisitors and priests certainly could.
In a way, it was a stroke of luck that the devil had attacked while Agnes was around. Though, of course, the townspeople had to bear the brunt of the damage.
Meanwhile, the Goddess's nagging echoed directly inside Yohan's head.
"Yeah, yeah."
Yohan reluctantly got up from his chair. He climbed onto his bed and sat cross-legged.
"Whew..."
Alright, focus. Suppress the divine energy that's leaking out even now.
Even the Goddess didn't know how to train for this. However, since the Apostle's Authority was an all-powerful force that granted his desires, concealing his energy shouldn't be too hard to figure out.
Yohan closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. Like the protagonist of a martial arts novel cultivating their inner force, he tried to feel the apostolic energy swirling throughout his body.
How long had he been focusing like this?
"Ugh."
Perhaps the training was actually working, because despite just sitting still, Yohan felt an immense wave of exhaustion wash over him. He uncrossed his legs and collapsed backward onto the bed.
"How long was I out? Like thirty minutes? An hour?"
It felt like a significant amount of time had passed. Yohan turned his head slightly and asked Falco.
"About three minutes."
"Son of a..."
He felt this exhausted and it had only been three minutes? Yohan couldn't hold back the curse that instinctively rose to his throat.
Screw it. Let's try again. Yohan pushed himself back up and crossed his legs once more.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, a knock sounded from the door of their quiet guest room.
"Ah, damn it, who is it now?"
If it was some peddler trying to sell weird junk, he was going to kick them out. Scowling, Yohan climbed off the bed and headed toward the door.
Click.
Yohan swung the door open, a barrage of colorful curses already loaded in his throat.
"What kind of son of a—"
"Apologies for the late visit."
The late-night visitor was none other than Agnes. At her unexpected appearance, Yohan hastily swallowed his curses, while Falco and Billy, who had been resting on their respective beds, looked up in surprise.
"W-What brings you here?"
"It's about the devil that attacked the town yesterday."
It seemed she had been helping with the reconstruction by day and conducting her own investigation by night. She might hate working overtime, but she certainly knew how to set aside her personal feelings when it came to her official duties.
"Let's talk inside. We can't just stand in the doorway whispering all night."
"Indeed."
At Yohan's invitation, Agnes stepped into the room. Yohan poked his head out to check both sides of the hallway before closing and locking the door.
"You smell nice. Are you using scented soap?"
Agnes sniffed the air suddenly. She had clearly caught the scent of the body wash they had used during their showers. Yohan and the other two nodded in unison.
"Well, traveling around makes you dirty pretty quickly."
"Maintaining hygiene while traveling is difficult, but it is well worth the effort. Good judgment."
Agnes walked over to the table. Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled out an object roughly the size of a baseball and set it down.
"Do you recognize this?"
"No."
He had no idea. It looked like a chunk of wood stained a deep, bloody red. Yohan shook his head.
"This came from inside the low-level devil I vanquished yesterday."
The moment he heard the Goddess's voice, Yohan realized he was thinking the exact same thing. The pattern carved on the surface of the wood was indeed strangely familiar.
"This wooden fragment possesses the power to bind and subjugate lesser devils as one's personal property."
"So it's complete mind control."
Yohan muttered, turning Agnes's words over in his mind as he sifted through his memories.
"Ah."
"Did you remember something?"
At Agnes's question, Yohan nodded vigorously.
"I think I saw a pattern similar to this when we were wiping out those trolls."
Yohan finally understood why Agnes had gone out of her way to bring this object to him.
"So my intuition was correct."
Was this the instinct of a seasoned investigator? Agnes had already deduced that there was a connection between Yohan's recent subjugation of the man-eating troll village and the low-level devil that had just attacked Junk Town.