Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Chapter 13 Main Scenario (2)
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A furrow formed between Lashar's brows.
Her mana, which had grown, was shrinking again? This had never happened before.
Stunned by the sudden turn of events and frozen in place, something popped out right in front of K.
He picked up the object with a blank expression.
"Breast... plate?"
I couldn't help but mutter under my breath, wondering why something like that had suddenly appeared.
But I soon calmed down. I already knew K had a subspace.
No sooner had I thought he'd taken it from there than K spoke up.
"You called us Outsiders, right?"
"What?"
"You said people like me are called Outsiders."
Instead of answering, Lashar clamped her mouth shut.
She no longer had any certainty that K was an Outsider.
"Anyway, it seems like that's what you mean by 'us,' right?"
"Us?"
"There are more than just me. They haven't made it here yet, though."
Lashar swallowed hard and clenched her fists tight.
"Anyway, we do absorb mana too."
She watched K's actions in a daze.
"But we don't suck it out of this Meseo stuff. We kill monsters and absorb it from them."
"......"
"And with the mana we absorb like that, we can get stuff like this."
He held up the breastplate and extended his hand forward, speaking flatly.
"Or buy things like these."
Plop, plop, plop.
Vials of potion, each the length of a finger, dropped to the ground and rolled away.
An item that could no longer be mass-produced since the Mage Tower fell.
Potions were exactly the kind of essential item that needed a stable supply.
I got the sense he had a lot of them, but buying them? From where?
"The bread I gave you guys? I paid mana for that and got it in exchange."
As the count rose from ten, to twenty, and then fifty, the mana emanating from K dwindled bit by bit.
"Monsters don't lose mana like that, do they? Need more explanation?"
Lashar gaped at K, who asked in a light tone as if to say, "That enough?"
But no words escaped her.
She had no idea what to say.
What was happening right before her eyes was that bewildering.
Of course, her bewilderment soon vanished without a trace, replaced by swelling anticipation.
"Us... huh."
There were more kin like him—absorbing mana while keeping their sanity.
Lashar squeezed her eyes shut against the surging hope.
She thought the endless war had dried up her soul long ago.
And yet, foolishly, she was daring to hope again.
As Lashar swallowed a hollow laugh and steadied her breathing—
"Argh, but how the hell do you put this on?"
K grumbled while inspecting the breastplate.
* * *
There might be monsters that absorb mana from the medium called Meseo, but none that spit it back out.
'Probably.'
They didn't have the system, after all.
'Besides, giving away mana means getting weaker again.'
That was why he'd shown her his abnormally swelled mana shrinking over the past few days.
He happened to be looking at armor, so he bought one, and while he was at it, stocked up on potions he'd need going forward.
Had that eased her suspicions?
"May... I help you?"
Lashar sheathed her sword and approached.
She carefully explained how to wear the armor.
"You need to open the seam here."
What I'd bought was a breastplate covering the left shoulder and chest.
It only protected vital spots, but it offered better mobility than full plate.
On top of that, the item description had a term I recognized.
[Zever Elite Scout Light Armor (7,343 mana)]
• Type: Defensive gear.
• Material: Black iron.
• Description: Light armor designed to protect vitals while maintaining the mobility and agility required for scouts. Accumulator magic tools can be attached and detached.
'Accumulator magic tool.'
There was a groove in the part wrapping the left shoulder.
It looked like you could slot something into the mouth of what might be a lion or a wolf.
Since it came empty, I'd have to get the accumulator separately.
The problem was I'd never seen one in the shop.
'But they definitely exist in this world.'
I could ask Ahel later or look into it myself.
"This first?"
"Yes."
With Lashar's help, I equipped the shoulder piece and fastened the leather belt.
Then, as I put on the chest protector, it clicked into place, pressing snugly against my torso.
'Fits perfectly...'
Did it come custom-sized to the buyer from the start?
As I ran my hands over the unfamiliar armor to get used to it, Lashar mumbled.
"...To explain, it wasn't out of malice."
"Hm?"
"Looking back, it might have been too hasty to drop my suspicions just because of the blessing..."
Hasty, whatever—I finally understood everything after hearing that.
'No wonder she let it go so easily when she should've been suspicious from the start.'
It must've been because I'd used my divine power back then.
Hard to see someone granted a god's power as an enemy.
'This is a world ruled by the Seven Gods, after all.'
There were probably oracles or something too.
Just as I needed to go to a temple, they had reasons to take me there.
That's why she'd so readily offered to guide me.
She hadn't even asked why I wanted to go, which made it obvious.
That much was clear after traveling together for days.
But as they escorted me, seeing my mana swell like a monster's must've thrown them into confusion.
'Good.'
Situation grasped. The issue was whether Lashar had fully shaken off her doubts.
"Isn't it that lack of malice doesn't mean no wrongdoing?"
I threw her own words back at her.
Lashar's face flushed bright red.
"Th-that, that was..."
"I already received divine power—a blessing. So what's the reason for suspecting me of being a monster? Didn't you say monsters are enemies of the Seven Gods?"
"...I have no face. I failed to shake off an irreverent thought for a moment."
"Irreverent thought?"
What kind of thought would qualify as irreverent in this situation?
Running through possibilities, a likely one soon emerged.
'Did she think the god was colluding with the enemy?'
Just to check, I asked. Lashar didn't deny it.
She just averted her gaze in embarrassment.
'If even an apostle suspects their god, their internal unity must not be that strong.'
Or maybe it was particularly lacking on the Pinelphnia side.
After a moment's thought, I opened my inventory and pulled out an item.
[Kalos's Divine Power One-Time Use Voucher]
"If you're still uneasy, want me to use another divine power—another blessing? Will you believe I'm not with the monsters then?"
"What...?"
"No way two gods would betray you guys."
It was a ploy to get her to take me to the outpost, but Lashar's eyes went wide.
"You have another blessing?"
"Yeah, this one's labeled Kalos."
According to Lashar's explanation, each of the Seven Gods who oversee the disciplines had different powers.
And apostles taught or practiced the discipline their god oversaw.
So far, I'd only directly used one of the seven powers.
'Pinelphnia.'
The power to read the past. In a way, it fit the title of diligence well.
You could check how someone had lived by seeing their past.
That let you guide the slothful toward diligence.
'It probably works on crowds.'
Diligence apostles could see the pasts of basically everyone they encountered.
Meaning they were fated to trail after every lazy person they met, nagging them.
Thus, they had to be the most diligent of all. No choice but to practice it themselves.
In contrast, Palawo, god of charity, and his apostles seemed focused on a select few rather than the masses.
Palawo was the god who pitied doomed lives and showed the path to relief.
'More precisely, he finds people to relieve the masses in his stead.'
Palawo's power let you see colors on people.
'Gold, silver, bronze.'
The closer to gold, the more charity they'd bestow on others.
Sometimes objects had the color too.
But they weren't as common as you'd think.
Lashar had seen bronze about five or six times, more than half on objects or places.
Wild grass seen in the mountains before a plague, an underground spring in a drought-stricken area, etc.
'I only saw silver twice.'
Both times on people, guarded by Palawo's other apostles.
'And finally, gold.'
That was a color only seen on heroes who could save an entire nation.
In the church's long history, gold had appeared fewer than ten times.
Anyway, Palawo's apostles saved people through those eyes.
'And Lashar is one of Palawo's apostles.'
As for this Kalos power I held.
Kalos was the only one among the Seven Gods who could heal.
'The power to take the negative and turn it positive?'
Kalos, god of kindness.
I'd asked about this one several times because I didn't get it.
'Taking misfortune and returning happiness.'
Suppose someone was unhappy because they lost a limb.
In exchange for that misfortune, when returning happiness, Kalos gave something to offset it.
'Meaning he could restore the limb.'
It wasn't just a healing power; its nature allowed healing.
'Though it's unique that the apostle, not the target, assesses the misfortune's value.'
If the apostle deemed the misfortune minor, the happiness returned was small too.
I'd reviewed the explanation, but it still felt vague.
'Do I have to be the one suffering to use it?'
No, it's for using on others, right?
'Hm... Does someone else have to use it on me for good stuff to happen?'
Honestly, I had no clue how to use this power.
Still, if it proved I wasn't a monster, I'd use it.
"No, no! His blessing is truly precious. Don't use it lightly."
Lashar panicked and tried to stop me.
"...Precious?"
"He doesn't grant his power to those who aren't originally apostles."
"Oh, really?"
Now I felt like I should save it.
I quietly slipped the voucher back into my inventory.
"So what do I have to do for you to believe me? I really am an Outsider."
"Ahem."
"I need to go to the temple, no matter what. Tell me how to get you to take me there. Then I can make an effort."
Lashar cleared her throat repeatedly and avoided my gaze.
'She gonna take me or not?'
I needed to get to the temple to talk to the system.
But the one who could take me there was hesitating, and my patience was wearing thin.
"Answer me."
"W-well, d-didn't I promise to guarantee your safety all the way to the outpost?"
So she hadn't scrapped the plan to take me. Fortunate, but it still twisted my gut.
"Hey, if you have any conscience, you wouldn't say that. You just tried to kill me a minute ago."
"K-kill? I-I was just trying to learn the truth..."
Her excuses didn't last long.
Lashar clasped her hands politely and bowed her head deeply.
"I'm truly sorry... I was too rash. I should've explained calmly and asked your permission first, but my anxiety got the better of me..."
Her downcast demeanor left me flustered instead.
'No, why go this far...'
Like she'd committed a capital crime? Her reaction was more extreme than expected, but I hid my surprise and thought fast.
'This is an opportunity.'
With her guilt toward me deepened, now was the time to ask those questions I'd held back fearing it'd cross a line.
"Hoo."
I let out a long, deliberate sigh, and Lashar's shoulders twitched.
"Let's clear the air while we're at it."
I lowered my voice seriously, and she glanced at me before nodding.
"First, tell me about this oracle thing. It's driving me nuts."
Lashar rolled her eyes side to side and spoke cautiously.
"...You remember we said we're at war?"
"Yeah, monsters popped up out of nowhere."
The war had started one day, wiping out most nations on the continent.
Lashar's homeland, the Perel Kingdom, had lost its royal line too.
Surviving high nobles had rallied resistance forces to hold on.