Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Rabbit and Pigeon - 3
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The pitiful wails of the spectral monsters.
-Kyaaak!? No way!
-Such an absurd turn of events…!
-Curse you, curse—!
The subjugation carried on for days between me and the saintess. The method was simple. We just headed to wherever the Storm Legion had laid their traps and unleashed the "Blessing Explosion" combo.
Under tonight's moonlight as well, we made for the forest where the snake statue had been found. And there, the saintess and the lord unleashed their merciless 108-hit combo.
"Growth!"
"Blessing of Life—!"
Paat—!!
-Kraaaak—! Ominous fiends! -Curse upon thee, Lucius Baran…! -Hideous saintess…. "…."
"…."
Anella and I plugged our ears as we slowly savored their death cries. At first, those pathetic final gasps had been sweeter than candy, but now they were starting to wear thin.
'If they don't train their trash-talk game on the regular, they can't spit out any fresh curses when the moment hits.'
As I was thinking that…
Anella puffed out her cheeks.
"Today's legion has terrible vocabulary."
"!"
Couldn't agree more.
I nodded.
"I want to block words like 'curse,' 'hideous,' and 'ominous' at this point."
"The 'husband-wife scam duo' we heard last time was kinda fresh, though."
"That counts as fresh?"
"Yeah."
Anella giggled as she pressed her pink locks against her cheeks with both hands. The sharp fangs that flashed every time she burst out laughing now felt oddly endearing.
'They creeped me out at first. But they show up nicely when she smiles—kinda a charm point in its own way.'
She said,
"We're not even married, and definitely not scammers. There's something hilarious about the ring of it. Like, what's so unfair about getting exorcised?"
"Hmm…."
"Ah, it must've bothered the Savior. Sorry."
"Huh? Bothered me how?"
"Getting lumped in as a couple with a mediocre errand girl like me—."
"Mediocre?"
Anella awkwardly pointed at her pink hair.
"My hair's this halfway color, like blood-soaked magnolia. Unlike the white-haired angels from other lands, I got a lot of side-eye wondering if my powers were half-baked too. It changed to different looks once I grew up, but…."
"…."
"Would've been nicer if it was pure white like Brother—Abel the inquisitor. Then no weird stares, and maybe even prettier… I do regret that."
Honestly…
I didn't empathize much.
Especially not with the idea that pink hair was inferior to white. Pink was the pinnacle among hair colors—the manliest, most noble shade.
The hottest gacha characters were all pink.
It was even recorded in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.
"…."
'Pink hair's the mark of a named character, isn't it? And even if she turned white-haired, I doubt the looks from others would change.'
In a mobile game,
it might even tank her rarity tier.
'Why does she think like that?'
My guess?
Anella's thoughts seemed like a logic glitch born from pinning blame for her irrational circumstances.
Regrets like 'If only I'd done this in the past.' Irrational on a logical level, but an unconscious reaction for anyone in dire straits.
-If my hair had been white, maybe the pope wouldn't have looked at me like that?
-If I'd stayed low-key like Brother, would people have trusted me more?
Thoughts like that.
Of course, pointless.
Irrational reality kept marching on, forcing choices, and Anella had given her all. Dwelling on alternate pasts now was meaningless.
Still….
'She had to purge the rulers who'd allied with the Black Church using her own hands. Can't blame her for having complicated feelings.'
I could understand, somehow.
So I answered.
"Mediocre's good."
"Huh?"
"Can be good because it's mediocre."
"?"
"No need to be perfectly identical to everyone else. And that 'blood-soaked magnolia' you call mediocre… that's the symbol of how you saved people."
"…."
I pointed to the pink flower I wore for every night subjugation.
"See, I'm getting help from it too. If I were like Abel the inquisitor—a plain earth angel with no 'Blessing of the Flower'—there's no guarantee it'd be better than now."
"Now…."
"How's it now for Anella?"
"Um—."
Anella glanced sideways before answering.
"Not bad. There've been… a lot. No, tons of really sad things."
"But?"
"But still, meeting the Savior like this, the holy land folks living worry-free, being able to pop the Storm Legion left and right…."
She smiled.
"It's good. A lot."
"Right?"
"Yeah."
"That's the thing."
"…."
"Thoughts sorted? Let's head back. Night snack and bed."
"…Savior."
"?"
Anella turned her face from the moonlight, staring blankly into the shadows. Backlit, I couldn't make out her expression.
"What do you think of a scentless magnolia—one with no fragrance at all? Isn't it ominous? It pops up out of nowhere on barren soil, catches everyone's eye. Then once folks are doing okay, it slips away into the dark…. Where else do you see a flower that weird?"
"…."
I recalled and said,
"Abel the inquisitor called it a symbol of the Earth Goddess's solemnity. And a flower that holds onto memories."
"That's Brother's take. I want your thoughts, Savior."
"…."
'Doesn't feel like a doctrine quiz.'
So I answered honestly.
My impressions of the 52nd floor after watching it for months.
"It'll stick as a memory."
"…."
"At first, bewildering, unfamiliar, scary. But someday, ages from now, when I think back on this land… it'll be the clearest memory of all."
"…."
Anella's fangs glinted in the dark. She was probably beaming.
"Is that so."
"And I want to keep it."
"Huh?"
"Abel and Anella, you both like the flower but fear it. But as an outsider, I can't think of anything better for remembering this land than that white bloom."
"…."
I went on.
"If my 'Blessing of the Earth' means I never see that flower again. And if people only remember it as ominous…. Feels like it'd be sad. So even if it means leaving some wasteland behind, I want to preserve it."
"…."
"Keep it close, watch it always. So when my heart's at ease, I can gaze at it truly, honestly."
"…."
Anella stayed quiet for a long stretch. At last, she replied shyly.
"…Got it."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
She turned her face back to the moonlight, still smiling wide. Giggling, she added,
"Glad we're on the same page. I wanted to keep that sweet blood-stained barley close and watch it too."
"That good? I thought it was sloppy since we prepped in a rush that day."
"Hehe…."
Unhygienic,
like rice balls handmade by some menhera high school girl.
Her praising it made me embarrassed instead.
So we hurried back on her avant-garde wings. We sat side by side in the waterwheel village hut for night snack time.
"Mmm! So good! Nutty!"
"Glad you like it."
Anella's eyes sparkled as she took a bite of the appetizing rice ball. We'd drawn my blood, seasoned it with spices and salt, then coated the grains with hygienic tools—a proper dish.
"…."
'No way could I keep feeding her hand-mushed ones forever.'
A recipe consulted with the lord's mansion chefs.
It boasted cleanliness worlds apart from that grotesque menhera high school girl rice ball. And objectively, it tasted better too—Anella was shoving it in her mouth like mad.
Watching her….
For some reason….
I recalled my 14-year-old self after the Great Catastrophe, working alone in the lord's mansion. The day I'd processed dead lord's guards and sage paperwork all day, then suddenly hunger hit and I cried.
"…."
Probably.
Days like that, I just wanted someone to hand me a night snack.
Seeing Anella eat made my heart warm.
So I said it again.
"Glad."
"Yeah!"
I wonder if she got what I really meant.
A night when the moon shone especially bright.
A night when two NPCs who'd never normally cross paths shattered content with their scam combo once more.
*
The next morning.
The Sword Empress and Aslan, having finally finished their advance deployment via Niva, wore baffled looks. We were doing a mid-check at the holy site base camp.
"The reason recent spectral monsters hurl curses at the lord…."
"…is because you've been repelling the Storm Legion every night with the saintess?"
"Correct."
The Sword Empress and Aslan muttered,
"No wonder the spectral spawns dropped so noticeably lately…."
"They suddenly started slandering the lord as 'cowardly,' so I thought a new quest had kicked off."
I unleashed my lordly secret technique—'villainous chuckle.'
"The enemy's pain is our joy. Foiling the monsters' plots before they even move is straight-up peace. We can't allow another Great Catastrophe tragedy."
"…."
"…."
The Sword Empress gave a wry smile.
"This is… all I can say is it's reassuring since you're on our side."
Aslan laughed ha-ha and clapped.
"Incredible! I'm not the sharpest, couldn't dream up how to block the monsters' next play. But I can't help but admire your extraordinary schemes, devoting yourself to everyone!"
"Ha-ha, thanks, Aslan."
I informed them of the 52nd floor's remaining tasks—the situations in the villages scattered across the seven forests.
"Now we have four places left to save. Excluding the waterwheel village, windmill village, and holy site along the roads—the other five villages. Minus the Knot Village where Bishop Paul and the saintess opposition are."
Four villages remaining.
Rescue their residents and bring them to the holy site.
"Sudden Storm Legion outbreaks we can sweep with the saintess's Blessing Explosion. But finding residents hidden in the mountains to escape famine—that needs you climbers' help."
Abel had hinted at his thoughts before.
-The Storm King spent decades gradually culling human numbers, expanding the realm of the dead. Until the 'Sacred Kingdom' that followed the Earth Goddess became what it is now. Fog forest expansion.
Village shrinkage.
If the Storm King's goal was human extinction… we'd preempt it. By uniting toward the holy site Gades Banea.
'The Black Church dangled saintess control as pope bait to complicate this questline.'
-Send all 52nd floor NPCs to Holy Site Gades Banea. I laid out that central goal.
The Sword Empress and Aslan nodded with serious eyes.
"Understood."
"Leave it to us from here."
With the meeting wrapped, as we stepped out…
A pink pigeon and a golden rabbit approached from both sides.
"Lucius! Long time no see? I…."
"Savior! Among what we saw last night—."
"!"
Niva after so long was one thing, but seeing Anella active in the city during daylight caught me off guard.
'She's always holed up in the temple or forest during the day. Joining the main quest now?'
Their words tangled, and they eyed each other.
"?"
"?"
The pink pigeon greeted the rabbit eyeing her.
"Fancy seeing you again. Haven't spotted you lately. What's up with the Savior?"
"No, I've been by Lucius's side from the start."
"Really? Didn't see you the last few days, hehe."
"I was just away briefly."
"Then go worry-free."
"No, so like I said, I've always been…!"
For some reason,
Anella wasn't backing down this time.
Cold sweat beaded on me. I could feel that soap opera vibe again.
"…."
'What is this atmosphere.'
*
That night.
I'd finally soothed the endlessly bickering pigeon and rabbit and returned to the lord's mansion. Fell into a deep sleep for the first time in ages when a familiar screen popped up alongside the gallery.
📰 Tower Climbing Gallery [*Gallery Guide: A gallery for 'Climbers' ascending the tower 'Yggdrasil,' connected to multiple dimensions.] [*Gallery Notice: Refer to notice for攻略 to Baran!] The gallery was still peaceful.
Maybe because a solution to the food situation was in sight—no real drama.
'No juicy bait today. Guess I'll toss up some fan content and browse the memes.'
I licked my lips and hit write, but…
an unfamiliar menu caught my eye.
⚙ NEW MENUS ⚙ 【Block】 【Board Management】 "?"
What the heck.
'Feels like tabs got added—'
As I thought that,
the moment I spotted my fixed nickname…
👑 NATIONAL POWER TROLL🔹 "!?"
A horrifying dread hit me,
goosebumps erupting across my skin.
I was drenched in sweat before I knew it.