Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: The Warrior Gains a Son
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While Kairel was joining the dungeon as a contract worker, the incident at the Papal Court outside had come to a close.
[ It was you... Lumian. ]
"Ahahahaha! You should have seen your own face!"
[ Grrr... ]
"Heh heh heh. More importantly, aren't you holding Beren a bit too tightly? Give him some breathing room."
[ Don't meddle in my marriage. ]
"Tch. Whatever happened to the princess who used to pine away with her innocent crush? Now all that's left is an obsessive old lady."
[ Shut your mouth before I come at you with my sword, Saintess. And this is all because of you that I lost Beren again! ]
"Honestly, I didn't know my power had grown that strong. Or... Her Imperial Majesty should have come herself."
And so, Lumiën teased her friend lightly, catching up after so long.
They also discussed the current state of the world.
"...What can I say? It's touching."
[ Lumian, thanks to you, this world was able to continue. Words of gratitude aren't enough. If there's anything you need, just say the word. ]
"Don't regret it later. More importantly, what did you say? Abyss of the Pit? The potion you got from there for me..."
[ You can just think of it as an elixir with side effects. ]
"Honestly, from my perspective, those side effects aren't much of a downside..."
What would a saint use his masculinity for anyway?
The saintess had decided to simply enjoy the situation.
Afterward, the unprecedented event of the Imperial Palace Guard clashing with the Papal Court couldn't be hidden.
Lumiën publicly announced that the saint had become a saintess, making her official debut to the world.
But she soon found herself in a strange situation.
Whenever she attended mass, an enormous crowd of people showed up.
And she felt like she was under intense scrutiny...
Ah, no.
It was only natural given her position!
But why did the priests and nuns under the Papal Court blush every time they looked at her?
Soon, the saintess realized things were heading in a bizarre direction, but it was already too late.
The name Lumiën, which she had made up as a joke, had stuck.
"Kyaaah! Saintess, try this on too!"
"Haa... So cute."
"Now, wait just a moment. I—"
She ended up being dressed like a doll by the nuns.
"Ooooh! This... this is the saintess's statue!"
"Ahh... Truly a holy visage."
"The current saintess must be the direct child of the Heavenly God..."
The plain statue of Lumiën from her male days next to the Heavenly God's statue was gone.
In its place stood a massive, ultra-high-quality figure modeled exactly after her current form, and her ordeal showed no signs of ending.
Thus, having become the Papal Court's idol, Lumiën offered a midnight prayer in her room one night, her spirit utterly worn out.
‘This must be the Heavenly God's will, telling me to live a new life.’
Honestly, Lumiën didn't hate being loved by everyone.
The Gender Swap Potion she had consumed came from the Abyss of the Pit, said to be made by the gods.
She interpreted her gender change as the gods' message to live anew not in a world rife with blood and violence like during the Great War, but in a warm greenhouse full of gentle warmth. With that, she offered a prayer of thanks.
And the Heavenly God Ilesia, who received the saintess's profound gratitude...
"?????????"
Was still unable to wrap her head around the fact that her most cherished being had changed gender!
Frankly, Heavenly God Ilesia was incredibly ancient.
In other words, her mindset was extremely conservative!
Her son, whom she had desperately tried to revive, being healed was truly wonderful news.
But... why as a daughter?
She felt like those conservative parents from the information age who sent their dying son abroad for experimental treatment.
The treatment succeeded, but the son returned having realized his gender identity and transitioned. That was Ilesia's state of mind.
But that was that, and this was this.
The beings inside the dungeon, even if unintentionally, were having a tremendously positive impact on the current Mid-Realm.
Because of that, the gods were reevaluating those dungeon dwellers, and even Heavenly God Ilesia thought she should offer some reward in return. It was truly a joyous occasion.
**************************
While the gods were holding such discussions outside.
Balak's party had returned to the boss room on the dungeon's first floor.
"Please take good care of us!!!"
"We'll be in your care too, Kairel."
"...Come on in."
Hmm... The youngest does seem a bit prickly.
Still, just as advised beforehand in the mini-dungeon, Damfir approached Orek and delivered a grand salute.
"I'm truly sorry for what happened back then!!!"
"Tch, a grand salute, huh."
"Oh, he knows his manners."
The effect of the grand salute was excellent on little brothers!
With such a sincere apology, even the youngest nodded awkwardly, and the second brother seemed pleased with Damfir's courteous demeanor.
Now, leaving the younger ones to chat with the newbie, he asked the skeleton merchant about the previous request.
"Sigh... Well, you see."
"Is it impossible?"
"First off, not only you, Balak, but everyone here is bound to the dungeon, so no one can go outside. And I can't even speak due to my restrictions."
He had been trying to continuously gather outside information...
Was it truly impossible?
But on a whim, he exchanged various stories.
"To accurately and continuously obtain outside information, the only way is for a being not bound to this place to voluntarily go out. However, there's a fatal flaw: they could be swayed by outside forces and bring back false information."
"Yeah, that's why I gave up on getting info from the heroes."
"So you asked me, huh? To prevent that, not only must there be strong trust with you, Balak, and a powerful sense of belonging to this dungeon, but we also have to overcome the restrictions I mentioned."
"It's complicated..."
Aigoo, who knew getting information would be this hard.
Does that mean he had no choice but to ask the heroes?
Last time, when those old knights and the second brother talked, they mentioned something like newspapers. If he subscribed to those...
"I absolutely do not recommend that method. It'll be full of manipulated information for sure."
"And without a way to verify it, we'd just get used."
False information is truly the worst poison when running an organization.
Blocked this way.
Blocked that way.
What trials.
Let's summarize the conditions for an informant...
Must have extremely strong trust with me and a deep sense of belonging to this dungeon.
Immense mental fortitude to resist persuasion from various outside beings.
The combat prowess to overcome any attacks from outsiders.
Finally, not bound to this dungeon?
No way something like that exists—!
"Huh?"
"Balak, what's wrong?"
"Skeleton merchant, about this binding phenomenon. Does it include beings created inside the dungeon?"
"There are some, but not like you, Balak. Why do you ask?"
"Then we're done. There's exactly one. A being in our dungeon who can act as an informant."
"What?! Really?"
Why hadn't he thought of that?
There's an artificial being that perfectly matches all those conditions!
It's none other than!!
"The mid-boss!!"
"Oh? Now that you mention it?"
The saying that you never know what life throws at you held true here too.
That combat puppet slumbering in the room in front of the dungeon rest area right now.
It was time for it to take on a new role.
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First, they brought the combat puppet to the boss room.
"So, big bro's plan is to make this puppet our informant."
"But Balak, if it just moves on basic magic formulas, it'll be incredibly inefficient. And the risk of bringing back useless info is too high. How do you plan to solve that?"
"Don't worry about it. Skeleton merchant? Can you give this puppet an ego?"
"An ego?!"
The mid-boss's ghost mode already has loads of my behavioral patterns and thoughts inputted.
So what happens if the puppet gains an ego in this state?
Karian immediately grasped my idea, said he needed a moment, and cast a sound-blocking spell around the puppet.
He was probably contacting that competent branch manager.
As soon as the sound block lifted, Karian jumped on board with the plan.
"This... will work."
"Pfft, great minds think alike."
"Eh...?"
"Kairel, this is all new to you, so just go with it."
Ahem, Damfir must be feeling the newbie struggles.
New hires at a company always hover on the edges, unable to fit in, creating awkward vibes.
But with our warm-hearted second brother by his side, it was no issue!
"Plus, a lot of what happens here baffles even me, so just nod along..."
"Y-Yeah..."
Cheeky kid, his introverted side vanished, now fully outgoing.
Anyway, since those two would work together at the dungeon rest area, with Ferguson as mentor, Damfir would naturally blend in.
Leaving Damfir to the second brother, he checked on Karian with the youngest.
Karian, skilled in puppetry, tinkered with the combat puppet here and there. After a bit, he suddenly looked at Balak.
"Balak, one last question. Are you sure?"
"Of course. And I'll take responsibility for any issues that arise later."
If the puppet with an ego went berserk, it'd be a shame, but he'd smash it on the spot.
They had no problems, but it couldn't go around massacring civilians outside, so it wouldn't be usable as an informant.
Confirming Balak's resolve, Karian began drawing dozens of magic circles and runes around the puppet, then asked him to infuse his mana into them.
"It's a binding spell. Basically, it binds the puppet to the one who infuses the mana."
"A safety measure?"
"Just in case."
The more safety measures, the better.
Now it was time to implement the first step toward getting outside info!
As Balak infused his mana into the magic circle, it activated, and Karian began adjusting something with magic on the side.
"Grand magic?!"
"That's the tier above top-tier magic? Well... Karian is capable."
"Quite right, brother Ferguson."
The magic Karian cast next to Balak was one tier above top-tier magic.
Karian had studied under Alterion for centuries.
And recently, thanks to studying the Truth Theorem summary, the grand magic activated successfully.
Amid a fierce mana storm, the puppet began to move bit by bit.
How much time passed?
Once the grand magic's aftermath fully faded, the combat puppet clearly now had an ego, as it checked its own state.
Soon, it looked at Balak—the one bound by the binding spell—approached slowly, and stood before him.
Seeing that confident figure, Balak smirked and spoke.
"How does it feel to have gained life?"
"Ahh... This is life itself. The absolute best, Father."
Thus, Balak succeeded in ego division.