Receive the Divine Weapon (2)

"Ugh~"

I finally dragged myself home only after the night had turned pitch-dark. Hauling my heavy body along, I flopped onto the bed. I'd spent the entire day riding around with the department head, hitting every single client on the list, and I was ready to die.

"I seriously feel like I'm dying..."

The department head had called it a great opportunity and introduced me to practically every contact he had. It really was a good opportunity, and I knew he was trying to cultivate me. I knew that... but knowing it and enduring it were two completely different things. It was just too exhausting.

"I need a beer."

I stripped off my clothes in a hurry, finished a quick shower, roughly towel-dried myself, and pulled a cold can of beer from the fridge.

The only things that could soothe my worn-out body and soul were a frosty can of beer and a delicious pizza.

Ding-dong.

Right on cue, the pizza I'd ordered arrived. I dashed out barefoot to receive it. Pepperoni—the best pizza there is.

"Mmm~"

With a fluttering heart I opened the lid, and the greasy aroma unique to pizza hit my nose. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠golden cheese, slightly melted, and the thinly baked pepperoni beckoned me.

I carefully transferred one slice to a plate. Watching the cheese stretch in that way only freshly baked pizza can manage, I swallowed hard.

I took a big bite of the pizza loaded with melted cheese, pepperoni, and every topping imaginable. A festival of cheese and pepperoni filled my mouth. The rich, greasy flavor was so intense it almost made my mouth feel dry.

This is exactly when you need beer.

I rinsed the greasy film from my mouth with a swig of beer. A soft fssst of escaping carbonation sounded as I drank quickly. The ice-cold fizz, cold enough to make my teeth ache a little, rinsed my mouth clean and left it feeling refreshed.

"Ugh—this is pure sex."

While I was devouring pizza and beer without a care, I suddenly remembered that a new region had unlocked during lunch. Delicious pizza, cold beer, and a game on top of it? Wasn't this exactly the adult world?

I logged in right away.

The familiar temple standing in its usual spot appeared on the screen, and I quickly switched to World Exploration Mode.

Last time I'd seen that a new region had opened... but I hadn't caught the name. Something with "Holy" in it.

"Oh, buildings unlocked."

Come to think of it, I hadn't unlocked any buildings or weapons in a while. I'd just been running Monster Subjugation over and over. After promoting that one dwarf last time, I'd barely touched anything else, so it was about time I started building up my foundations.

"What's in the shop today~"

Checking the Mystery Shop every day was a small pleasure of its own. Ever since that shield appeared, no weapons or armor had shown up... but plenty of the items still made me snort with laughter when I saw them.

"Hmm... total bust."

Today's shop was a bust too. Nothing but "Suspicious Animal Drawing" and "Pineapple Mint Pie." I bought the only halfway decent thing—"Strange Candy."

"I'll give this to Hans later."

Every time a Strange Candy appeared, I fed it to Hans. Who knows? Maybe one day it would actually level him up.

I spun the screen back to World Exploration Mode. Time to properly check out the newly opened region.

"Alright, so..."

With the hand that didn't have pizza grease on it, I zoomed out. The scenery shrank. Far off, a fairly large section of the fog-covered area had clearly been unlocked.

"There it is."

A light tap brought up a message window.

"How is that even a country name..."

How could a country be called something that wasn't holy, wasn't Roman, and wasn't an empire?

Setting my feelings about the name aside, I wandered the newly unlocked empire and observed the scenery. Being an empire, the quality was on another level.

Even the views were different. Broad avenues of well-laid paving stones, arched bridges forming drainage canals, a massive theater for entertainment. The citizens walking the streets were dressed rather finely; there might be poor people, but no one looked like they were starving.

It was the very image of a shining, great empire.

"The empire and the Holy City really do have completely different atmospheres."

If the Holy City had its own refined, elegant charm, the empire was flashy, magnificent, and sophisticated.

"Ah, Iscal."

I followed the guy who'd received the shield through my favorites. For some reason he was in the Holy City, getting thoroughly beaten up in what looked like a training ground.

"...What?"

No—looking closer, it seemed to be training. Iscal was rolling, blocking, and counterattacking with the shield I'd given him. His sparring partner was Kenis, whose striking red hair was hard to miss.

"Kenis is here?"

I quickly favorited them both. If Kenis and Iscal were here... Friga and Caesar were probably somewhere nearby too. Ah, Caesar was the emperor, so he'd be in the empire, right?

Just as I was about to shift the screen toward the empire to find Caesar, a message window popped up.

"Huh?"

The Dimensional Gate, which had been quiet for so long, suddenly started working.

Adam, who had been locked up by the guard, was released after his disciples paid his bail.

"Master, from now on you really can't go around shouting in the middle of the night."

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry. Thank you for your hard work."

Leaving his disciple bowing repeatedly to the guards, Adam hurried on. There was no more time to waste. According to the rumors, adventurers had received divine weapons from a dungeon.

The nearest dungeon from here...

After thinking it over, Adam tossed a question over his shoulder at the disciple trailing behind him.

"Boy. Where's the closest dungeon from here?"

"Pardon? A dungeon? Uh..."

The disciple hesitated a moment before answering.

"It'd take about three days by carriage, I think? But why are you suddenly looking for a dungeon..."

"Three days, you say. Three days."

Adam quickened his pace. Watching him, the disciple felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding. His master was certainly a craftsman worthy of respect... but every so often that craftsman's stubbornness and eccentricity combined into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some truly strange behavior.

The disciple quickly looked Adam over.

Those stubbornly pressed lips, that look that says he's about to do something—whatever it is—and that hurried stride... something is about to happen!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Something... something was about to happen. And it was definitely not going to be good. But a disciple couldn't stop his master on mere suspicion alone.

Anxious and restless, the disciple followed Adam, praying his hunch was wrong.

Adam's rough thoughts, the disciple's uneasy gaze, and the guards watching their retreating backs—thus the Holy City's dawn passed quietly.

Arriving at the forge, Adam spread out a bundle and began packing in a hurry. The disciple, not knowing what to do, asked him,

"M-Master, where are you going right now? You're not well. I'll prepare some soup and meat, so please eat and rest properly."

"..."

"Ah, ah! Come to think of it, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gale is supposed to deliver some excellent iron ore today... Oh my, what am I thinking! I'd better go prepare right away."

"..."

The disciple spoke awkwardly while glancing at Adam. Adam remained completely unmoved. An ominous premonition shot through the disciple's mind like an arrow.

That look in his eyes, the travel bundle, and the dungeon... Could it be?

"Master, you're not... planning to go into a dungeon, are you?"

"..."

"...You're not, right? Right?"

"..."

Adam said nothing.

Alarm bells clanged in the disciple's head. Look at those eyes—stubborn beyond stubbornness, like a bull's. There was no way he could stop this alone.

The disciple bolted out to call for reinforcements. He had no idea what wind had suddenly blown into his master to make him want to go to a dungeon, but a dungeon was not a place you could visit lightly like a picnic.

He raced up to the dormitory where the disciples lived together and rang the alarm bell.

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!

At the raucous pealing, the disciples who had been sleeping soundly rose one by one.

"Emergency! Emergency—!"

"Ugh... what? What's going on."

"Is there a fire?"

"Emergency—!! Master's trying to go to a dungeon!!"

"What? A dungeon...?"

"All of a sudden?... Why?"

The freshly woken disciples looked bewildered at first, then their faces hardened one after another. It wasn't the first time their master had done something eccentric, but a dungeon was a matter of life and death.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the disciples burst out of the dormitory like chickens with their tails on fire. Their faces were as resolute as those of guards rushing to a crisis.

"Run! This is a real emergency!"

"Stop Master! Why a dungeon all of a sudden!!"

"I don't know either, just stop him!! A dungeon is seriously bad news! Even adventurers drop dead left and right in those places!"

"Hey, you don't think he's making some extreme choice because of that longsword, do you?"

"No way..."

The words someone muttered planted a terrible possibility in their minds. The Adam they'd seen yesterday had been a complete wreck of a man.

Could it be that, despairing over the unsolved secret of the longsword, disappointed in himself, their master was heading to a dungeon to end his own life...?

"No!! Stop him right now!!"

The disciples arrived at the forge in a panting rush. Right on cue, Adam was stepping out of the forge with his bundle. One shoulder was loaded with a stuffed pack; in his other hand he carried the personal tools he treasured like his own children.

The moment they saw him, the disciples threw themselves at Adam's feet and clung. Whatever the reason, if their master might die, they had to stop him!

"Aigoo! Master!! You can't leave like this—!!"

"There's still so much we haven't learned, and you're giving up on life like this?! You can't, Master!!"

"Master, you can do it!! We'll do everything we can to help, so please, just not suicide!! Suicide is not allowed, Master!!"

Adam was flustered by the sudden talk of suicide. Who exactly was planning to end their life?

Early-morning pedestrians who had been moving busily stopped in their tracks at the rare spectacle. A dozen people clinging to an old craftsman's legs—this was not something you saw every day.

His face turning beet-red under the stares of passersby, Adam shouted,

"I get it, so get off me already, you lunatics!!"

With his disciples hanging off his legs in a long chain, Adam had no choice but to provide a public spectacle for the pedestrians for several dozen minutes.