The Bold Holy Shield Warrior

Namgung Seojun, the newcomer, was wandering around making preparations to climb the tower.

"A summons from the temple?"

"Yes."

Along the way, he heard from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the innkeeper that the temple had called for him. So he headed straight to the temple of the main god.

As Seojun entered the temple, a priest greeted him warmly.

"You must be the new candidate for the main god's apostle. Welcome."

The priest led him right away to a small conference room inside the temple. While sipping the tea the priest had served and waiting, a somewhat plump man entered with a woman.

"Hoho... Candidate for the new apostle, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

He confirmed with God's Eye that the smiling, greeting man was this temple's high priest. The high priest, who managed the temple and held a very high position among the priests, immediately introduced the woman who had come with him.

"It's nothing major, but I wanted to introduce a companion to the apostle candidate."

He pointed to the woman right beside him. The red-haired woman, striking in her appearance, extended her hand and said,

"Nice to meet you. I'm Pinara, a follower of the main god. I asked the high priest to let me join the party of the one challenging to become the new main god's apostle."

Seojun shook her hand while checking her status window with God's Eye.

'Wow! Level 29, Holy Shield Warrior class, top-tier Holy Power trait, and even a Legend skill.'

Pinara's status window was impressive. Her level was beyond the 20th floor standard, her talents and skills were solid, and she was equipped with multiple Unique-grade items—a top-tier climber.

'But Kamasutra as a skill? Masochistic tendencies as a trait? Is she a pervert?'

The unique skill Kamasutra, a sexual technique, combined with masochistic tendencies made her a mysterious woman in many ways.

"Just looking at your gear, you seem way above our party's level."

At Namgung Seojun's words, Pinara smiled and replied,

"Ha... Is this guy the dense type? I told you already. I want to join because I'm curious about the new apostle candidate."

She eyed Seojun's face and body with a slightly lecherous expression.

"Plus... I'm curious about you as a man too."

She sidled up to him and casually groped his ass.

"Ah! What the hell?"

Startled by her sudden touch, Namgung Seojun jumped, but Pinara just laughed leisurely.

"Oh! Nice firm ass. Bet you're good in bed. Looking forward to it."

"......"

He stared at her in disbelief, and the high priest chuckled awkwardly.

"Hoho. I've introduced her as promised. So, if you'll excuse me..."

Relieved to be rid of the troublesome woman, he quickly left the room.

Left alone in the conference room, Namgung Seojun and Pinara sat across the table from each other. She kept gazing at him with a seductive smile, but he maintained his composure.

"Our party goes up to the 40th floor together. That okay with you?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

As she spoke, she toyed with Seojun's hand.

"But no bans on romance between party members, right? I wanna properly seduce you, Seojun."

Despite Pinara's aggressive attitude, Namgung Seojun stuck to business.

"In the field, you follow my orders unconditionally. I lead recruitment too. Okay with that?"

Her hand had already moved to his forearm.

"Body feels fine? Does this guy have no experience? Why's he reacting like this? Or is he impotent? Into guys?"

Irked by her words, he shot back,

"Not impotent, and I like women. And I'll be better in bed than you."

Getting the reaction she wanted, Pinara flashed a sultry smile.

"Oh yeah? Wanna test it? But after one round, our apostle candidate might be the one clinging to me."

Namgung Seojun was a man too! No reason to turn down a woman throwing straight balls at him.

"We can try when there's time later. See who ends up clinging. You'll probably be the one begging me to sleep together."

Pinara looked at him with an amused expression, staring into his eyes. The two locked gazes for a long while.

On the way back, Seojun swung by the slave market again. He rechecked the slave that had caught his interest.

From his experience running a party up to the 20th floor, 1st Class Slaves were contract workers with human rights, while 2nd Class Slaves were literal tools—human property.

1st Class Slaves had a fixed remaining term and couldn't be forced into dangerous work they seriously objected to. The gods guaranteed their right to return to normal life. Like contract employees with slightly less human rights than on Earth.

In contrast, 2nd Class Slaves got no protections—they were tools owned by their master. If the master said die, they died, with zero safeguards.

Thus, 1st Class Slaves would eventually leave, while 2nd Class Slaves offered true ownership. They were more rewarding to raise.

He stopped in front of the promising one he'd eyed before.

'Yeah, not bad.'

Yasiro Yakamura had high agility and handled daggers, shortbows, and traps—a rogue-type free-roll dealer. Solid all around. For a 2nd Class Slave, his price of just 33 gold was an incredible bargain.

After final inspection, Seojun decided to buy Yasiro and talked to the merchant.

"How much for that male slave over there?"

"Customer! Excellent eye. This one's got 10 years as a mercenary, skilled in dagger throws and archery..."

After a long haggle, he bought him for 32 gold.

Once the rest period ended, Seojun gathered the party for a meeting.

"First, let me introduce Pinara, our newest member."

Pinara greeted them herself.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Pinara. Main position: guard. Sub: dealer. Please take care of me."

The other party members already knew she'd been introduced by the main god's temple, so they applauded warmly.

Next, Seojun introduced the two slaves he'd bought.

"This is Yasiro Yakamura. Rogue who excels with daggers and shortbows."

The 2nd Class Slave Yasiro bowed politely, and the others immediately understood—he filled their rogue gap.

"New porter. Chigusa Sakai has joined us."

Chigusa, a 1st Class Slave with only 3 years left, cost just 5 gold—an amazing deal.

With the new members introduced, Namgung Seojun got to organizing.

"We now have 12 members total."

Guide: Namgung Seojun; attackers: Lee Guho and Gisohee; guards: Jo Jaehun, Dmitri, Pinara; free-roll dealers: Li Zhangwei and Yasiro Yakamura; tail: Isu-yeon; porters: Kim Hoon, Yuchiro Shikatani, and Chigusa Sakai.

But there was a new decision to make.

"Isu-yeon and Yuchiro, our 1st Class Slaves who've come up to the 20th with us—do you want to stay? If not, I'll find you new masters."

He checked with the existing 1st Class Slaves. They nodded eagerly, of course.

"I'll stay with Master, naturally."

"Gotta stick with a party this good."

Few parties systematically checked slaves' opinions like this. Plus, he occasionally shared Merit Points to help them grow—no reason to refuse.

With the 1st Class Slaves staying, next up: contracts with regular members.

"We've already contracted the others, so time for Pinara's official one."

The others stepped back a bit, leaving Pinara to talk with him alone.

"As I mentioned, please sign this contract to go up to the 40th floor with my party."

He pulled out the pre-prepared oath document infused with the main ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠god's power and handed it to her.

"Revenue split: 40% to party funds, remaining 60% divided by regular member ratios."

Fair terms. Even the 1.2 ratio matching the leader's was fine for an elite warrior like Pinara.

But she had one addition.

"I'd like to add a special clause."

Pinara requested: 'May leave the party for a summons or mission from the main god.' Understandable for a main god follower.

"Got it."

With Pinara's contract signed, the regular party members were all set.