Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Ritual Bath (3)
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As Balkan rose to his feet for the blessing inspection, his body—clinging tightly to the bathrobe saturated with holy water—came into view.
"...Hoo."
A soft intake of breath echoed through the air.
It was Serif who had made the sound.
For Serif, a devout follower of the Earth God who had vowed to live her entire life as a virgin, the sight was far too stimulating.
Yet before she was a faithful devotee, Serif was instinctively a female yearning for a male.
Just as her gaze was about to drift instinctively downward from his abs...
Smoothly—
Balkan naturally turned his back to her and perched on the edge of the tub.
The reason for showing his back was clear.
To sense blessings and curses, the priest's body needed to make contact as close to the heart as possible.
"Like this?"
Balkan asked Serif.
"...Y-Yes."
Serif pushed down the regret bubbling up unbidden and managed an affirmative reply.
Gulp.
After the strained response came the sound of her swallowing hard.
Perhaps because their eyes weren't meeting.
Serif felt her tension ease slightly as she cautiously touched Balkan's back.
Thump—
The moment her hand, infused with divine power, touched the viciously sculpted back muscles, the rough pounding of his heartbeat transmitted straight to her.
Thump— Thump—
Serif closed her eyes, focusing on Balkan's heartbeat.
'Honestly...'
The instant she recalled Balkan's words from a corner of her mind.
Serif realized her consciousness was being pulled somewhere.
And she gazed upon a [something] positioned high above some distant sky.
An impossibly remote [something].
It was the same scene she'd witnessed before, when checking Balkan's blessings previously.
The [something] had been steadily directing its gaze toward Balkan from that far-off place all along.
Balkan hadn't noticed yet, but if the day came when he did...
'I wonder if Balkan could withstand this gaze?'
Of course, he would eventually.
In less than half a year since their first meeting, Balkan had achieved tremendous growth.
But what if a few more months or years passed?
Serif was half-convinced.
In the near future, he would become one of the top powerhouses even in Labyrinth City.
And not only that—he would brightly illuminate this world corrupted by evil, as per the Earth Mother's oracle.
However, after a moment of contemplation, Serif shook her head.
It was still too soon.
The warmth from Serif's body pressed against my back.
For several minutes, I felt the unfamiliar warmth of her hand and the divine power emanating from it sweeping through every corner of my body.
"Blessing check complete."
Serif's voice, now fully composed, reached my ears. I turned my head slightly in response.
Just like last time, Serif was breaking out in a light cold sweat, but she promptly drew a wand from thin air and waved it.
Then, from somewhere, a sheet of paper and a pen flew over to her.
The pen began writing on the paper of its own accord.
Serif snatched the paper from the air.
"Besides the new blessing you acquired this time, you gained another one in the interim. Congratulations, Balkan. As promised, you've grown even stronger."
During their second meeting, when she'd checked his blessings before, Serif had made a request.
Keep delving into the Labyrinth and grow stronger than before.
"I put in the effort."
It wasn't for her sake, but delving into the Labyrinth had naturally led him to pursue strength.
Serif's tail swished happily at his curt reply, and she beamed.
I gazed at her for a moment before checking the paper she'd handed over.
Alongside Blessing of Adversity and Blessing of Radiance.
◆ Blessing of the Time of Judgment
— Grants Time of Judgment once per day.
— Activates unconsciously if an unaware life-threatening danger approaches.
✨ Wisdom +3 (Max fulfillment: +10)
The Status Window, superior to the temple's appraisal, also displayed the bonus stats.
Overall, a satisfying blessing.
It even boosted my lacking Wisdom a bit.
'Above all, I like the blessing itself.'
That bizarre state of focus that activated unconsciously when his life truly hung in the balance.
This new blessing allowed him to wield it consciously.
An enormous advantage. It would give him far more leeway in future battles.
"What a peculiar blessing. I've only seen ones like this a handful of times myself."
Even Serif regarded it with wonder, marking it as exceptionally unique.
He'd drawn a fairly irregular and distinctive card.
But that was that.
"Serif."
"Yes?"
"Are you absolutely sure these are all my blessings?"
The paper she'd handed him listed only three blessings.
No mention of the question mark one.
"......"
Her face stiffened slightly at his tone, laced with certainty that there was more.
"......"
"......"
An odd silence hung in the air.
Perhaps due to the humid, warm air of the purification chamber, he noticed Serif starting to break out in a cold sweat.
"...Did you... know?"
A loaded question, but he immediately knew it concerned the question mark blessing.
Essentially a confession.
A confession that, despite inspecting his blessings, she hadn't been fully honest with him.
"I suspected, but I don't know the details."
He knew he had it from the Status Window, but not its functions or effects.
Serif nibbled her lip in thought at his words, then raised her hand as if taking an oath.
White divine light gathered in her palm.
"The Earth Mother's faithful servant, High Priestess Serif Adelrine, prays here and now."
White specks of light descended onto Serif's head and melted away.
"From this moment, I swear upon my divinity that I shall never utter a single lie to Balkan for the rest of my life."
An oath upon her divinity.
Serif had imposed an unbreakable rule upon herself.
From this instant, she could never lie to him for the rest of her life.
"W-Wait, what..."
I gaped blankly at the sudden oath.
"Even if it wasn't intentional, I ended up deceiving you in the end. I thought this was the least I could do to earn your trust from now on."
Serif continued with a wry smile.
"I'm truly sorry for not explaining that blessing clearly. But."
Sincerity filled her red eyes.
Perhaps the most earnest and honest expression I'd ever seen from her.
"Just understand one thing. The reason I didn't mention it was because I believed it would benefit you more this way—the current you."
"...Is that true?"
"Yes. I swear it on my faith."
Not knowing the blessing's details would actually help more?
It flew in the face of common sense.
Acquiring blessings and raising their proficiency was the fastest path to strength, after all.
◆ ???'s Blessing
— ???
💪 Stamina +10⚡ Strength +10💨 Agility +10
'What on earth could this blessing be?'
My thoughts kept drifting, but as I met Serif's red eyes right in front of me, they gradually faded.
It was someone else's unilateral judgment.
But that someone was a level 50 powerhouse, specially treated even in the temple—one of the top factions in Labyrinth City Valerus.
Such a being had begged him to trust her, even swearing on her divinity.
There had to be a valid reason.
'No, actually... isn't this an opportunity?'
She couldn't lie to me anymore.
If I pressed her for details on the question mark blessing, she'd reluctantly spill.
'...No. That won't do.'
It would shatter the trust she'd just offered head-on.
The question mark blessing nagged at him as a mystery, but he wouldn't die without knowing it right away.
Saintess Serif's unconditional goodwill, however, would prove immensely helpful both now and far into the future.
In the end, the scales in his mind tipped toward her.
"If you're saying that much, there must be a good reason."
As he accepted her words, her tense, quivering tail shot straight up.
"...! Y-You believe me?!"
"Why wouldn't I? Last time, you granted me a miracle yourself, and this time, you even swore an oath to prove your words."
Honestly, the oath this time was a big one.
How could he not trust her after she went that far?
"Thanks to that miracle you bestowed, I overcame a major crisis on this Labyrinth run. Thank you."
Her miracle had indeed helped in that perilous moment. It was fact.
As he bowed his head in genuine gratitude, he caught sight of Serif clasping her hands tightly, as if praying to him.
"I'm the one who's grateful—you believed in me after I failed in my priestly duty. Someday, I promise... I'll explain your blessings myself."
"Someday" implied he currently lacked something to safely know it.
And that lacking element was most likely raw power.
In the end, there was no path but to grow stronger.
"Understood."
His calm reply prompted Serif to look up at him, her tail swishing happily.
She looked visibly relieved, her expression much brighter.
"Does that mean the bathing ritual is over?"
"Ah, yes! You can come out no—"
Before she finished, I rose from the tub.
Sure enough, my body felt quite hot.
Having soaked in the scalding holy water for so long, I even felt a touch of dizziness.
Drip! Drip!
The bathrobe, soaked and plastered to my body, hung loose as water cascaded off.
"...Wow..."
A belated murmur of admiration came from behind.
Serif, kneeling on the floor, had her gaze fixed right in front of my nose—precisely on the inside of my thigh.
"J-Joh—"
Thwump.
Her softly swishing cat tail whipped around to cover her mouth.
The white fur bristled.
Perhaps from suddenly biting her own tail like a gag.
Her snow-white cat ears twitched wildly, and her pale face flushed apple-red.
When our eyes met over my helmet, Serif quickly averted hers.
"What was that all about?"
Flustered by the sudden change, I asked.
Still biting her tail with eyes squeezed shut, she mumbled.
"Th-The Earth M-Mother t-taught me...! I m-mean it...!"
"...Pardon?"
Her muffled pronunciation made it unintelligible.
As she abruptly began muttering prayers behind me, I headed for the bath exit—then realized where her gaze had been locked.
Between my thighs.
No way?
'...Impossible. She's the temple's saintess.'
A saintess from a group so sensitive to sexuality that she blushed at the mere thought of sharing a bed.
'No way she'd almost say "look at that cock" or something...'
Then it hit me: Serif had just sworn to be utterly honest with me.
"..."
On a whim—purely on a hunch—I started to turn back to look at her.
"Aaaahhh!"
A sudden scream pierced the air. A familiar voice.
I immediately extended my perception.
First-floor men's purification room. Inside it.
The scream of Hop, the priest from Gellen's party, echoed wildly.
...It was no ordinary shriek.