Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: You Said You’d Come Find Me
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"Archbishop. Did you call for me?"
"Ah, Sir Monted. Please come in."
"Yes."
Monted respectfully entered before Bishop Haint, the archbishop of this Straun diocese.
"Now, now. Sit down, sit."
Archbishop Haint, with completely white hair and a benevolent face, welcomed Monted.
"Well. Now that the official appointment ceremony is over, has the adjutant selection been completed properly?"
"It's still in progress. Things got delayed a bit because Andrew suddenly interfered."
"That fellow, really."
"Did you......tell him, Archbishop?"
Monted asked cautiously.
He had not yet mentioned anything about Rohan to Andrew.
There hadn't been time for that either.
But seeing how he appeared knowing exactly what was happening, there were only a few possibilities.
Archbishop Haint didn't particularly deny it.
"That child should know about it too, shouldn't he? He's the type who only accepts things after seeing them directly. And from what I could see, it looked like you were planning to let him know anyway, weren't you?"
"......"
"Sir Monted, please don't be so harsh all the time. Isn't he a child you took in and raised? Even if you can't treat him as an equal, isn't it too harsh? Speaking formally to him all the time too."
"That child has been exceptionally outstanding from long ago. Especially when it comes to swordsmanship, he's at the level of building his own realm."
"I know. That's why he entered the Seven Knights Order, isn't it?"
"That's why I think it's a problem. I think he'll only learn how to bow his head if he feels a wall even just once."
Looking at Monted, Archbishop Haint chuckled.
"Our Sir Monted worries too much."
"I only hope my concerns are unfounded."
"So you recommended Diaz as Sir Rohan's adjutant? With Diaz, Andrew would step forward and clash with Sir Rohan."
Monted thought for a moment and then shook his head.
"What use would lying before the Archbishop be? Of course, that's not everything. But I can't say I didn't have such thoughts at all. I did judge that Sir Rohan could show Andrew a wall too."
"Indeed. It's only natural. According to the report, he cut down Kalarim in one strike."
"To be honest, it wasn't at that level. He seemed to have already stepped into a realm beyond killing intent. Even I couldn't feel any killing intent at all."
"For Sir Monted to praise someone like this. How surprising. Sir Monted's skills are at a level not inferior to the seven knights."
"That's not true."
Monted shook his head.
But everything Archbishop Haint said was fact.
"We must speak truthfully, mustn't we? It's just that because you wanted to remain as a paladin of the church rather than a knight of the Seven Knights Order, because you wanted to become Lord Gauriel's adjutant, we granted your request. In terms of skill, you're not inferior to the other seven knights either."
"You give me too much praise."
"Haha. If it makes you uncomfortable, let's stop here. The conversation got a bit off track. So, in Sir Monted's view, does Sir Rohan definitely appear to be a talent?"
"Yes. That's why Lord Gauriel asked for his help too, isn't it? Although Sir Rohan said he would join the Seven Knights Order first, to my eyes, it looked more like Lord Gauriel was asking for help. And Sir Rohan accepted it."
"My goodness......even hearing it, it's hard to believe easily. But I too have seen something."
"Pardon?"
Monted tilted his head.
That made sense, since Archbishop Haint and Rohan had no contact except for the appointment ceremony.
At that, Archbishop Haint gave a faint smile.
"I'm talking about what I saw at the appointment ceremony."
Archbishop Haint accurately read Monted's expression and answered.
He was someone who could keenly read and understand people's inner thoughts like this.
Not through divine power, but someone naturally born with such talent.
"I showed him three powers at the appointment ceremony. Usually, people would worry then. Which one should they choose to benefit themselves?"
"Yes. Doesn't everyone do that? Except when stones of power are scarce, it's customary to show three and give them a choice. As a way of saying take responsibility for your own choice. So they become cautious."
"That's right. Once you take an ability, you can never remove it or change it."
"But what did you see there?"
Archbishop Haint answered with sparkling eyes.
"Sir Rohan reached out without a moment's hesitation."
"Is that strange? You don't know what power it is until you choose anyway, don't you? Maybe he realized that worrying wouldn't be of much use and made his choice."
"Hmm. There are such cases, but Sir Rohan's case was a bit different. How should I put it... He had conviction......haha. Of course, this is just an old man's feeling."
Archbishop Haint laughed it off.
But Monted couldn't easily dismiss those words.
Who was he, after all?
In the past, Archbishop Haint was an inquisitor who could spot demons in a crowd at a glance without any divine power.
For someone like him to speak to this extent......
'This is definitely not something to dismiss carelessly.'
Archbishop Haint turned his gaze out the window.
The stone of power that Rohan had grasped without a trace of doubt......was an item that none other than Gauriel had personally obtained.
Although he didn't know what power it was......
Archbishop Haint smiled and murmured.
"I'd like to test his senses once."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the appointment ceremony ended.
Darkness quickly descended upon Straun Monastery, located in the mountains.
I was holed up alone in my room, wearing a very satisfied smile.
"Kook, kook kook, koop!"
The laughter that kept leaking out was hard to hide.
If anyone had seen this, they probably would have called me crazy.
Still, the reason I couldn't help but laugh was, of course, because of the newly acquired unique skill.
First, I was happy about the very fact that I could truly have more than two unique skills.
When a somewhat uncertain expectation hit exactly right.
That pleasure was beyond imagination.
And second was, of course, because of the value of this unique skill itself.
When this orange stone came out of the box Archbishop Haint handed over, I felt goosebumps.
It was because I recognized it immediately.
'I never thought I'd encounter it here of all places.'
The reason I chose this stone of power without hesitation.
It was because I had already seen the entire original database.
That's how I recognized it.
That this was the Third Eye.
I also recognized the other two unique skills through their specific shapes.
Both were just so-so unique skills.
'With those shapes, it's certain. Specific animal traits. Judging by the colors, they were probably dog and chicken.'
Not all unique skills were exceptional.
The dog's trait of keen sense of smell and the chicken's trait of sharp claws.
Though not officially established by Path of Gods, players used to rank unique skills among themselves.
And those two animal unique skills were abilities that belonged to the lowest grade.
So I could make my decision without spending time on it.
Unlike the previous two unique skills, the Third Eye ability was a unique skill possessed by someone called Dimon, who was one of the Seven Knights Order.
He too was a character who rose to fame with this unique skill.
In the original, it was expressed as a unique skill that used extremely sensitive senses to increase evasion rate.
But its description was a bit more impressive.
Through the Third Eye, you gain a new sixth sense.
‘It definitely said that.'
Dimon was a villain who made many gamers suffer because of that vicious evasion rate.
He was someone who turned to the demon side due to some revenge and had an antagonistic relationship with players.
Because of the evasion rate the Third Eye possessed, half of the attacks would result in misses.
But now that I've actually obtained this unique skill, I understood why.
The first thing that came to mind was the spider-man I'd seen in movies.
Having sharp senses that could react sensitively just before an attack came flying.
Actually, even though it was such a dark night, when I concentrated, I could hear the sounds of small mountain animals.
'With this level of sensitivity, my survival rate should increase a bit, right?'
It might be hard to see and dodge immediately, but if I could react somewhat in advance before it came flying.
Even with my current reflexes, my evasion rate would increase considerably.
'For things I can't dodge, I'll cut and block them with space cutting.'
After that, I tried out various strategies in my own way.
While doing combat simulations in my head.
With one more unique skill added, I finally felt how my options had increased like this.
And then, thoughts of planning for the next unique skill followed.
'I should definitely check out that underground temple first.'
I flopped down and looked at the ceiling.
As I did so, sleepiness gradually poured over me.
After all, today had been quite tiring.
But it seemed I wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily tonight.
Someone's footsteps stopped right in front of my room's door.
If it hadn't been for the Third Eye, I probably would have missed it.
It was a moment when I unintentionally felt the performance was reliable.
I waited for a moment, but the other person was just spinning around in front of the door, wasting time.
While the other person hesitated whether to knock or not, I stepped forward first and flung the door open.
Diaz was standing there.
When the door suddenly opened, she was startled and stepped backward.
"Hup!"
"How long were you going to keep doing that?"
"Ah, did you know?"
"From when you were spinning around in front of the door."
"......As, as expected, you're amazing......"
She seemed embarrassed that her actions had been discovered, as her face turned slightly red.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When I opened the door, cold wind brushed my cheek.
Because it was in the mountains, once the sun set, the wind quickly became cold.
Having opened the door, I gestured toward the inside of the room with my eyes.
"It looks like you have a lot to say. Want to come in?"
"Ah, yes. I'll excuse myself for a moment."
Diaz carefully entered my room.
"Sit in any chair."
"Yes."
She chose an appropriate chair and sat down.
I sat on the edge of the bed and faced her.
"What's the matter?"
Actually, I could roughly guess.
What she might be curious about.
It would be because of that one remark I had thrown out earlier.
"I came because there's something I wanted to ask. How do you know me......"
My guess was right.
We hadn't had any other conversations besides that.
I pulled out all the memories about Diaz from my head.
It was quite a long time ago, so it was somewhat hazy.
So I tried to buy some time.
"Didn't I say I'd tell you if you became my adjutant?"
"......"
She hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth again.
With eyes that had made a decision.
"I'll be your adjutant. So please tell me."
While she was making her decision, I too had finished preparing my answer.
"13 years ago. I came to keep a promise."
"13......years ago?"
Diaz's face became even more filled with question marks.
That was natural.
She was just a young age, barely turning 20.
13 years ago would be when she was only 7 years old.
A promise from that time.
But I was certain.
That she remembered that incident.
And that my certainty wasn't wrong—I could tell through the color of her face.
13 years ago.
In some small village in the countryside where it always snowed.
Sanfet.
An incident occurred there where demons invaded.
The pure white snow turned red with blood.
The villagers literally experienced a living hell.
The brutal massacre soon withered all life.
At that time, there was one outsider who arrived in the village carrying an axe.
And I first saw Diaz at that time.
As a player who saved that village's girl in the demo version.
"You said you'd become a strong paladin and come find me."
[I'll become a strong paladin and come find you, mister!]
I recited the line she had spoken exactly as it was.
Diaz seemed to see her past self overlapping with my face.
With trembling lips and a choked voice, she said.
"C-could it be that you're th-that person from back then......"
I could see my face reflected in her eyes.