Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Dawn's Miracles
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"Will you ever follow my teachings...?"
"I-I'm sorry..."
Eriel, the saintess of the Two-Faced God Basaha, bowed her head today as well, hiding her flushed red arms beneath her sleeves.
The corporal punishment had paused while she was working to draw in Adelian Kruger, but for some reason, he had stopped showing up at the gambling den, and the "lessons" had resumed.
"Since he's known for his incompetence, he'll reach out soon enough. But in the meantime, we can't neglect your studies. Diligence every day."
Eriel, her face crestfallen, rubbed her sore arms and cautiously spoke up as the middle-aged high priest wiped the switch with a dry cloth instead of putting it away.
"I have one question..."
The middle-aged high priest raised one eyebrow in surprise at Eriel's timid voice.
It was rare for the obedient saintess to ask a proper question.
"The saintess does? Go ahead, speak."
Eriel swallowed dryly and carefully moved her lips.
"Wasn't showing... that place to Duke Adelian until dawn a bit excessive...?"
Gods were far too vast and profound—even after studying and learning endlessly, Eriel's small mind couldn't grasp it all—but one thing she knew.
Gods grew stronger the more humans believed in and relied on them.
There were countless other methods, but that was the most common.
Faith and belief. Offerings and sacrifices.
They made gods powerful, and powerful gods shared their divine power with the world through their priests.
That was why Dawn was special. Everyone gathered there had a story, and their desperation matched it.
But if word got out that they were trading miracles, how would the Pantheon react...? In the worst case, Basaha's small cult might be branded heretical.
"He's infamous as a wastrel. What if he runs his mouth...?"
The high priest snorted at Eriel's words. He pulled the switch back out from its case, wiped it with the dry cloth, and spoke in a refined tone.
"To be a true saintess, you must remember everything I've ever told you."
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
At each click of his tongue, Eriel's head drooped lower, her shoulders hunched inward, and her back curled—until the high priest whooshed the switch through the air, and she extended her now bruising purple arms.
"Do you know why I let you beat him repeatedly at the gambling den, making him come and go so many times, only to show him Dawn afterward?"
The faint, elegant incense always burning at the gambling den.
A common scent even at ordinary noble parties, but with a slightly different blend.
One herb, mixed very faintly, became a shield protecting the black market "Dawn" when combined with certain suggestions.
The unease and anxiety felt when trying to speak of it. The guilt like committing a sin.
That mental restraint would have seeped into the man named Adelian.
"He won't be able to mention Dawn. And if he tries, even better."
He'd feel that unease and come crawling right to you.
The middle-aged high priest curled his lips upward and swung the switch.
* * *
"That place called Dawn."
"Yes, Lord Adelian."
"I gave everyone a basic rundown, but what do you all think? Share your opinions."
Soul was a currency used only at Dawn, an underground market where people traded for what they desired.
Up to that point, it was suspicious but no different from black markets found everywhere on the continent. The game had other black market stages besides Dawn.
But seeing it in person, if the tradable items included miracles alongside special weapons and materials from the game, that changed everything.
"Hey, uh? Can't we talk about this at dinner?"
I felt a bit sheepish at Rachel's grumbling—K-family patriarch vibes—but I had my excuses.
"Who's the one always running off whenever I try to hold a meeting?"
"Ah, just keep going."
Rachel, who had been piling braised meat—glossy with brown sauce, sweet and salty—onto bread, urged me to continue.
"Anyone unaware of the full story would see it as a typical black market, but the items being traded are the problem."
We only learned this because Basaha's cult approached us first; if we'd gone through normal channels to Dawn, we wouldn't have known miracles were on offer.
"But, young master. Is that really possible? If it is, why don't the temples of other gods do the same?"
"That's the blind spot."
In the game, of course—and in the original work—the gods of the Pantheon weren't a big factor.
Even with evil cults rampaging, no heroes were sent down, no proper divine revelations to smite them.
Not that they were completely useless, but... how to put it.
They only acted very indirectly.
Yet Basaha openly sold miracles like merchandise at Dawn.
Even knowing Basaha's cult was involved, I couldn't imagine the mechanism behind those miracles.
"And apparently, the more Souls you collect, the stronger the miracles you can buy."
"How far does that go?"
At Kane's words, as he slowly shifted his gaze to me, I rolled my eyes and started calculating roughly.
"Pretty confident about it, so... at least resurrecting the dead?"
But even flipping through the original work, that wasn't easy. Except for one place.
"But that Soul thing... the more you gather, the stronger the miracles, right?"
Rachel downed her glass of liquor in one go, wiped her greasy lips with her sleeve, and spoke.
"If you amass a massive amount, it's still a god, after all. Would reviving one person really be the limit?"
Resurrection was a spell even dragons couldn't spam easily, sure—but it was possible at a certain level, and normal humans couldn't cast it without backlash.
Which meant, flipped around, it could be cast with backlash.
"So, what powerful miracles can we imagine?"
As Zero rummaged through his salad, Leaf began writing on the whiteboard.
[Accurately learning the past from a thousand years ago, for instance.]
Was it my imagination, or did those words carry a hint of grumbling?
Zero glanced away at the sight.
"Or conversely, kill everyone on the continent."
"You bastard."
I jabbed my fork toward Kane in the air, and he met my eyes with a bold, what're-you-gonna-do-about-it stare.
Ha, time for a mental re-education soon.
"Could a wish like making everyone happy work too?"
At Luna's words, I let out a hum.
"Well, no idea how many Souls that would cost."
Usually, granting wishes like that... as someone steeped in Earth's subculture and bad ends, only dark thoughts came to mind.
I even had a continental version of the monkey's paw among my artifacts.
It granted wishes, but always twisted.
Take Luna's example of making everyone happy—it could turn the world into a zombie hive, like in clichés.
"I'm curious. If it can do anything."
Rachel placed a hand on her chest, her face oddly displeased, and grumbled.
"Like, how exactly do you obtain those Souls, and why don't other gods do it? If any do, why not publicly? Lots of questions."
Suspicious in a way that's more than just sketchy. As I scooped a heap of well-boiled corn kernels with my spoon, Leaf spoke up.
―If desired, splitting the party to investigate could be an option.
"I was just thinking that. But Dawn isn't a place you stumble into by accident unless invited."
And as I'd mentioned before, I preferred not splitting the party unless absolutely necessary.
Considering the increasingly warped power balance—like a twisted underworld... in truly bad luck, we could run into a dragon or equivalent like the Repis incident last time.
At least together, we could handle something.
'The party's strength drops too much without me.'
Pairing me with Kane exclusively defeats the purpose of splitting.
'So we live as one family, die as one...!'
...Nah, too much?
I'm not originally from here anyway; if we had to ditch someone, I'd be the most cost-effective.
"Young master. You're lost in strange thoughts again."
"...What're you talking about?"
"Your eye movements and awkward facial muscles suggest as much."
What the hell is this Kane guy on about.
"Whatever, it'll just be another useless delusion. Eat some meat instead of these beans—meat."
Rachel snatched my corn bowl and plopped sauce-drenched braised meat and bread in front of me.
―Lately, your sleep has been short too, Administrator.
"Ah, been busy with stuff."
"Judging by the mood, you should turn in early tonight, Lord Adelian."
Whoa, ganged up on after ages?
With slightly aggrieved eyes, I piled the meat and sauce high on the bread and took a massive bite.
"Honestly, don't I sleep the most out of all of us?"
As I opened my mouth like, why worry about my sleep?, everyone's eyes narrowed subtly...
"Feeling wronged? Awaken your aura then."
I silently swallowed my chewed bread at Rachel's jab.
* * *
"If it were possible, I'd love to crack open its skull and peek inside... Ow!"
"Should you say stuff like that?"
Rachel pouted and rubbed her side. As she yelped at Luna for aura-infused finger-jabs—"How dare you?!"—Zero slowly spoke.
"The god presumed to be behind that black market."
"Basaha, you mean."
At Kane's response, Zero smiled faintly and nodded.
"Yes. Having been lost in a labyrinth, I'm lacking in common knowledge. Could you explain?"
Kane glanced at Luna, a Chavide native with almost no Basaha followers; Leaf, trapped in the sky fortress for a millennium; and Rachel, whose brain seemed devoid of historical records despite her age—rubbing his temple before speaking.
"I don't know the detailed doctrines or personality... but I'll tell what I do."
Kane took a breath to organize his thoughts and spoke slowly.
Coins, and the Two-Faced God. Basaha.
"A coin isn't just gold or silver—it's usually the price to pay. And 'two-faced' implies duality."
"Yes, exactly. From what you've told us, Lord Adelian, one of Basaha's priests is also serving as high priest for another god."
"Right? That's exactly it."
Zero noted the duality, Rachel chimed in with agreement, and Kane nodded as if it made sense.
"The heads and tails of a coin can't face each other unless twisted together. Even the thinnest has parallel, inviolable, unreachable sides."
At Kane's words, Zero lowered his gaze, eyes tracing the air as if recalling something.
"A god of such things could briefly pierce between those sides."
Kane replied nonchalantly to Zero's slow words.
"Perhaps."