Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Drunken Confessions
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The first to react to Hof's scream was Seriph.
"Sounds like something's gone wrong."
In stark contrast to her flushed face as she chewed on her white tail like a gag just moments ago, she now looked every bit the serious elite priestess.
With a wave of her wand, her bathrobe vanished, replaced by pristine priestess robes that enveloped her body.
I swallowed my disappointment inwardly. The outfit change happened too fast—I barely got a good look.
"I'll head downstairs and check what happened. Balkan, please rest here for now."
"But the scream came from the men's purification chamber."
"Huh...?"
Seriph's red eyes widened slightly at my report.
"Uh... from the men's purification chamber? In that case..."
Her eyes clouded with confusion—this seemed like a rare situation.
"Kyaaah!"
Another scream echoed through the air.
This one wasn't Hof's voice.
'Hitolis?'
The priestess from the Joy Hog party. It was Hitolis.
"I'll check the men's purification chamber first. Seriph, could you look into the other areas?"
"Got it. Just bring him out, and I'll take a look."
We hurried downstairs. I followed Seriph down the stairs.
With each step, her tail—marked with bite marks—swayed temptingly in front of my eyes.
'What would it feel like to grab it?'
I suppressed the hand that was instinctively rising.
"What in the world is going on?"
"S-Seriph!"
"W-We just got here, and then there were screams from the purification chamber..."
The nearby priests stared at Seriph with wide eyes.
From what they were saying, they hadn't grasped the situation either.
Seriph regarded the gathered priests with an entirely different gaze than the one she used with me.
It was like the difference between an office worker blissfully unwinding after hours and one exhausted from overtime and late nights.
Her tone wasn't much different, and at a glance, her smile seemed warm... but it felt forced, devoid of real emotion.
Maybe because I'd just seen her genuine expression—it made the contrast hit even harder.
"O-Oh no, oh no...!"
"Why isn't the male paladin here yet?!"
I turned toward the men's purification chamber, where the screams and murmurs were coming from.
I flung the door open.
"Kyaaah!"
The male priests huddled in one corner started covering their groins and stomachs, scrambling to hide their bodies.
"Holy shit..."
I swallowed the curse that nearly slipped out on reflex and headed toward where they'd been clustered.
"Ugh... hngh..."
There, on the purification chamber floor, was Hof, gasping for breath with a twisted face.
Honestly, part of me had wondered if he'd just screamed from the intensity of the ritual bath.
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, that guess was off the mark.
"B-Balkan...?"
"Yes, it's Balkan. Are you coming around?"
Hof cracked his eyes open and looked up at me.
Okay. He's conscious, at least.
I eyed Hof's body—utterly average for a guy in this world.
Then I immediately furrowed my brow.
"What the hell happened?"
Inside his flushed body, I sensed a faint trace of [Darkness].
It was primitive compared to an abomination's, barely more than a speck under Diana's curse.
But it was unmistakably [Darkness].
[Curse of Divine Aversion]
– Causes extreme pain upon contact with objects imbued with divine power.
– Yet instinctively craves powerful divine energy.
"I-I don't know. The moment I sprinkled the holy water for the ritual bath, the pain hit..."
Holy water contains a faint divine essence.
Dousing himself in it would naturally cause agony bad enough to scream.
"Heup!"
"Wh-What's wrong?"
Hof suddenly widened his eyes and yelled.
"S-Seeing you, Balkan... my body's getting hotter and hotter... My heart won't calm down, it's pounding like crazy..."
Seemed like it wasn't just physical pain.
Did the holy water soak his hair and mess up his head too?
He wasn't making any sense.
"Hang in there just a bit longer. I'll get you to Seriph soon—"
"U-Uwaaaah!"
"What the fuck."
As I bent down to pick him up and carry him to the hall, Hof lunged at me with arms outstretched.
Crack!
On instinct, I wrapped myself in Blessing of Radiance and drove a short punch into his jaw. I controlled my strength, thankfully.
Hof faceplanted onto the floor mid-lunge.
It hit with an ominous thud.
"H-Hof... is dead...?"
Unlike the muttering male priest watching, Hof's back—in a perfect Yamcha pose—slowly rose and fell.
"He's still breathing."
Moreover, the Blessing of Radiance had shredded the [Darkness] lurking in his body.
"......"
"......"
The male priests shot me piercing glares as I spoke in relief.
"What? It was self-defense. You saw it, right?"
"Hm... well, yeah...?"
"H-Hof did seem off..."
I approached the fallen Hof, hoisted him like luggage since he'd clung to my waist earlier, and carried him out of the purification chamber.
Hitolis was already lying in the corridor outside.
Good thing—no bloodshed there. With Seriph handling it, that was expected.
I laid Hof next to Hitolis and carefully examined her body.
I sensed [Darkness] energy inside her too.
[Curse of Divine Aversion]
Identical curse afflicting Hitolis.
Seriph, who had placed a divine-infused hand on Hitolis's back, murmured softly.
"Looks like they picked up a curse on their recent labyrinth run. A particularly nasty one, too."
'So that's what they got from the labyrinth this time.'
I'd wondered why they hadn't had curses before entering but did now.
Thinking back, when we exited the labyrinth, Javel and Joy Hog's crew—including these two—had been trembling.
Of all things, curses.
"Worst curse a priest could get."
Priests wield divine power.
Craving it more while suffering agony on contact...?
'Kakchi would've been thrilled to get that.'
A ridiculous self-destructive cycle. A wheel of torment.
'So that's why Hof lunged at me...'
'Does the Blessing of Radiance carry divine power?'
It was a plausible theory.
"Priests, prepare the altar. We'll begin the exorcism. Handle Hitolis with extra care."
At Seriph's command, the watching priests swiftly lifted the two cursed ones and moved in perfect unison.
Pat pat.
Seriph approached me cautiously and whispered.
"Was that you, Balkan?"
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Hof. No residual darkness... no demonic energy left."
"Demonic energy...?"
"Yes. Demonic energy. That repulsive, horrific aura..."
Seriph called what I'd vaguely termed [Darkness] by the names "residual darkness" and "demonic energy."
'Sounds badass just naming it.'
"Curses are tricky enough, but ones laced with demonic energy are far more vicious—and twice as hard to exorcise. From the circumstances, both Hof and Hitolis seem afflicted with demonic-tainted curses, yet his has no trace left."
I recalled unintentionally smashing my blessing-wrapped fist into Hof's face.
'Yeah, the darkness shredded right then.'
"Ah, of course...!"
Seriph, who'd been studying me subtly, lit up with a bright smile as I remembered.
She looked like she'd reached a firm conclusion.
"Thanks to you, Balkan, the exorcism will be much easier."
Having inspected my blessing before, she seemed to have pieced it together without me saying a word.
"Hone that power more. Things are likely to get rougher around here for a while."
"The labyrinth getting rougher?"
"Yes... We haven't seen demonic energy above the 15th floor since 'that day' ten years ago. Seems like the recent omens have brought it back."
I recalled the shadowy monsters shrouded in ominous darkness I'd seen in the labyrinth since the omens—and that horrific abomination that was the darkness itself.
'All demonic beasts, huh.'
As I pondered demonic energy, I asked Seriph a question.
"Not just me, but from what I've seen, priests and explorers alike don't seem to know much about it."
"Hm... Well, Balkan, you're a junior explorer, right?"
"...Yes."
Seriph's question felt like, "Wait, you're still at 'nim' tier?"
I nodded, acutely aware I was a total noob barely scraping bronze level, feeling a pang of regret.
"Oh, not blaming you! Junior explorers wouldn't know. Even most mid-tier ones are clueless."
Seriph gave me a wry smile.
"Sad truth: every time the labyrinth opens, dozens of explorers die daily, only for new ones to flood in and fill the gaps. Because there's stuff you can only get inside."
Blessings. Relics.
Rare powers and treasures unique to the labyrinth.
Explorers flock to it like moths to flame—and die in equal measure.
New explorers fill the voids.
"And ten years is a long time. Far more people don't know about demonic energy than do."
Those active ten years ago either rose up if talented or quit, died out if not.
Even the veteran-ish Joy Hog party among juniors averaged three and a half years exploring.
Ten years made them total babies.
"Does that answer your question a bit?"
"Yes. Thank you for explaining."
"Heehee, ask me anything if you're curious."
Seriph's tail swished as she beamed at my thanks—a genuine smile she didn't show her followers.
A sudden curiosity struck me.
'She knows that "ten years ago" incident in detail... How old is she?'
Ethelbert's little sister, so younger than her.
But I didn't even know Ethelbert's age.
Asking a woman's age seemed rude, even here, so I swallowed the thought and asked something else.
"If someone gets cursed, do you exorcise them right away like this?"
"No, sadly. For outsiders, we charge a fee per temple rules."
Seriph continued promptly.
"But for fellow followers of the Great Earth Deity? How could I stand by while a comrade suffers?"
Figures. That's how you earn true respect.
I stared at her saintly words in blank admiration, and she tilted her head, white cat ears perking up as she looked at me.
"Jealous?"
"Yes."
If there's one thing separating jealous from not—yeah, I was jealous.
Life's unpredictable, the labyrinth more so. I could get cursed too.
I nodded, and suddenly Seriph drew close.
"Then."
So close, yet not quite touching.
At that precarious distance, she stared straight into my eyes.
"Wouldn't you walk the same path as me, Balkan?"
We tabled talks of compensation and fees for later, bid farewell to Seriph as she went to exorcise Hitolis's curse, and parted ways.
I returned the bathrobe and got spare clothes.
They clung a bit tight, but beggars can't be choosers—I slipped them on without complaint and left the temple.
Balkan walked the streets of Labyrinth City as dusk began to settle.
Already, raucous crowds were partying with booze.
In a dim corner, a bold couple tangled tongues stickily.
The woman was leading.
Booze. Lust. Basic human urges.
Things you'd naturally distance yourself from in the Earth Deity cult.
'More abstinence on top of this?'
I shook my head, feeling the heavy buildup of unspent seed weighing down my groin.
'Not easy.'
Honestly, I was near my limit now. I'd need to mull Seriph's offer.
'Better get back to the inn and crash.'
As I dragged my post-labyrinth, post-bath slackened body down the street.
"—Mister!"
A familiar voice called from right behind.
Light footsteps pattered closer.
"Mister—!"
Whoosh!
Balkan twisted aside on reflex, and the figure—who'd lunged arms-out for my back—tumbled onto the roadside.
"Eek!"
Splat!
A cute yelp, and dust flew up.
The girl's bag spilled open as she fell, white papers fluttering everywhere.
Her skirt flipped up, revealing smooth, pale buttocks hugged by panties.
Simple white ones with a cute, crude flower print.
Familiar panties—I'd spanked that ass before.
The red-haired elf girl sprawled face-down, arms stretched forward: Ellie Ordia, Diana's daughter.
"Ellie? What're you doing here?"
Ellie flinched at Balkan's words.
She yanked the wide-brimmed mage hat down to hide her face.
"......"
Her long elf ears twitched in shame, poking at the hat's brim.
Utterly mortified and embarrassed.