I Became the Gallery's Judak (1)

"I can fight better than your average soldier, at least."

"Really?"

I was confident I stacked up better than soldiers who got wiped out by the likes of orcs. Sean's eyes lit up at the unexpected answer.

"Then do you know swordsmanship too?"

"Swordsmanship?"

"Dad says it's too dangerous, so he won't teach me. My dad's amazing with a sword, though. He trained at a swordsmanship guild for a whole three months."

Whether "a whole three months" was really something to boast about was debatable, but there was no question that knowing something beat knowing nothing. Even a single form learned was better than going in completely blind.

The problem was that while I knew how to handle monsters, I didn't know swordsmanship.

"I don't know swordsmanship."

"What?"

Disappointment flooded Sean's face without a trace of concealment.

"Not even a little?"

"Not at all."

No matter how often emergencies cropped up inside the Towers, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a healer never had reason to go charging around with a sword.

"I could teach you some hand-to-hand combat, though."

"Eh, I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good."

"…Got it."

Sean shook his head and turned me down. Bare-handed fighting simply didn't appeal the way a blade did. He had no idea how rare the opportunity rolling right up to his feet actually was.

Once I was back in my room, I opened the gallery again right away. The minor problem was settled; it was time to get back to my theology studies.

"Hm?"

A few of the posts that greeted me the moment I opened the gallery were too much for my curiosity. I clicked.

Maybe because of the attached image, the loading took a moment.

Huh. So "elves" are some kind of orc-looking monster around here.

I dropped my interest and navigated back to the informational post I'd been reading.

Hunting down where I left off is a chore in itself.

The write-up was long enough that finding my place again was genuinely tedious. A search function would have helped, but there wasn't one, so I had to scroll nearly to the bottom before I could stop.

Still, I've almost finished it.

The content had finally reached its closing stretch. All those scraps of free time spent reading it bit by bit had paid off. Thinking I'd wrap it up before dinner, I was about to move on to the next sentence when—

…That's inconvenient.

The gallery server that had been stuttering all day had finally gone down like a potato machine. Fortunately the post I'd already opened seemed fine, but until the server recovered I wouldn't be able to open any other informational threads.

Nothing I can do about it. I'll just have to kill time on something else until it's back up.

After I finished the post I was already reading, of course.

Scroll. Scroll.

I eased the page down and kept reading through the transcribed scripture. Even with careful pacing, so little remained that the scrollbar hit bottom in no time. Old comments at the foot of the post came into view.

I'd done it. I'd read every last word of the scripture.

So next is pantheology covering the twelve faiths, and then I'm done?

The Flower Goddess Church's doctrine I already had memorized, interpretation aside. Once I studied general theology, I could put on a passable priest act. That study, however, would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to wait until the gallery server recovered.

On the off chance it was back, I tried another post. All I got was an error message. I closed the gallery without lingering over a server that still hadn't recovered and stood up.

There was still time before dinner, but lying around on the bed felt like a waste. Better to be doing something.

Come to think of it, there's a church.

While I was hunting for a task, the Church of the Earth Goddess surfaced in my mind. A church would have at least one theology text—or a related scripture, at minimum. And given that the Earth Goddess and the Flower Goddess were mother and daughter deities, even another faith's scripture was bound to be useful.

Beats doing nothing, at least.

A flicker of irritation at the hassle crossed my mind, but if today's trouble bought tomorrow's ease, it was worth the effort.

"Father, dinner's almost ready—where are you going?"

"Just stopping by the church. I shouldn't be too late, but if I am, leave me a loaf of bread, would you?"

"Will do!"

I stepped outside under the innkeeper's daughter's send-off. I didn't know which way the church was, but finding the road wasn't hard. Religion held more weight here than I'd expected, so even on a weekday there were people heading to church often enough to follow. In short, I tailed them.

Crossing into the courtyard, I spotted a priest's back as he swept. I was approaching to speak when he sensed me and turned first.

"Have you come to offer a prayer? Wait—that clothing…"

His eyes skimmed my outfit, then went wide.

"The flower-patterned shirt! Are you by any chance Father Plawi?"

Word travels fast.

That worked in my favor, though. No need to launch into a long-winded introduction and talk him into believing me.

"Yes. I am Plawi, a humble servant of Iris, the Flower Goddess. I've come hoping to consult the Earth Goddess Church's scripture, if that would be possible."

"! Please, come in. I'll show you the way."

The priest volunteered without a second's hesitation.

"You're welcome to borrow it if you like. We make copies often enough that we have plenty to spare."

Sure enough, the bookshelf deeper in the chapel was packed with transcribed scriptures—enough that one vanishing wouldn't even be noticed. I bowed my head in thanks for the priest's ready generosity.

"Then I'll gratefully borrow one."

"Iris is a child-goddess of Lady Gaia. It's only natural."

So even religions keep track of bloodlines.

A thought so blasphemous no real priest would dare entertain it.

"Please, read at your leisure."

The priest who had guided me bowed and left the chapel. With no one left to interrupt my studies, I opened the scripture at ease—and immediately had to widen my eyes.

…I can't read a single word of this.

I meant that literally. Unlike the gallery posts that had been translated into Korean, the scripture's body text was written in the original language. Drawing on the phonetic memory from when I'd engraved a name onto a holy symbol, I could piece together the occasional word, but even a single page took a considerable stretch of time.

I suppose this counts as language study on the side.

In the end I tucked the Earth Goddess Church scripture against my chest and stood. I'd take my time with it back at the inn. On my way out, my eyes happened to meet those of the Earth Goddess statue standing before the chapel. I held her gaze a moment, then offered a light nod.

"Please don't be too angry with me."

It wasn't as if I'd set out wanting to impersonate a priest.

I left the church with that excuse—spoken for no one to hear.

By the time I returned to the inn, the sun had fully set. Despite the late hour, the innkeeper's daughter had set a meal aside for me. I thanked her and was filling my empty stomach when a familiar font blocked my vision.

Back up at just the right time.

Still, the word "temporarily" sat wrong no matter how I looked at it.

The admin will handle it.

It bothered me, but I was just an ordinary user. Not something I could fix. I shelved the useless worry and focused on the rest of my meal.

I only opened the gallery again after I'd finished eating to my satisfaction and was alone in an empty room.

"…?"

The temporarily restored gallery was ablaze with a single fresh piece of drama. Skimming the posts that had gone up, I could tell this wasn't a problem the Judak could solve in the first place.

No—more accurately, it wasn't even a problem anyone could attempt to solve.

…

The post I rushed to open was the newly pinned notice.

Only then did the drama make sense.

I sighed and was just starting to wonder where I might find paper or a wooden board to copy things onto when—

"Hm."