Episode 28

 As soon as Aron left, a grumbling voice came out.

"Who does he think is here because they want to be? I'm only here because I was captured too. He's the one who captured me, but all he does is make me smell his scent every day."

At first, he talked as if he would have violent sex every day, but he never actually did that.

He just pulls me into his embrace and strokes my hair for a long time.

The problem is that my heart feels at ease with that simple action.

'Is it because wolves are part of the canine family? Still, it's a good thing he doesn't have a tail.'

If he had a tail, he probably would have been spinning it like a propeller in excitement.

That might have been a bit cuter too.

It wouldn't be bad if he could maintain his appearance that way. If he had, his body probably wouldn't be this frail.

I dismissed these pointless thoughts and focused on the book again.

"Anyway... this means the people who created this technology also came from another dimension? And divine power is a force created from people's mana."

They extract mana little by little from people's bodies.

The extracted mana goes through a special purification process via special machines in the Church.

Finally, the completed divine power is stored.

It seemed they could freely use the stored divine power wherever needed.

As long as the stored divine power doesn't run out, there's no problem - just like pumping gas at a station and using it.

"Then are all these people dead? Why?"

If they simply died of old age, there's no way this technology would have been buried in the ruins.

There must be some reason they hid it.

That reason must be somewhere.

After slowly continuing to read the journal, I was able to discover the reason.

The Church attempted to summon an Outer God to obtain divine power without relying on machines. The result was a miserable failure.

There was a reason even elves who live for thousands of years don't know about that era.

"But it's ambiguous since it only covers up to before they hid it."

The journal only contained stories about the Outer God being summoned and people dying.

The content written after that was about burying all information and knowledge in the Ancient Ruins and sealing it, then having the highest-performance Anti they created at the time guard the entrance.

After this, survival stories from living inside the ruins appeared.

At the very end, it concluded with writing about how a man managed to create a dimensional transporter through some method.

"I should stop here for now."

I closed the book and fell into deep thought for a moment.

This was information that didn't even appear in the game, so I was genuinely taken aback. I never expected such massive information to come from an area where you'd just farm equipment.

But if they succeeded in summoning an Outer God, why isn't there an Outer God in the current world?

Is the god worshiped by the Church an Outer God?

But that doesn't make sense since everything the Church does is purely good deeds.

Those who believe in Outer Gods get devoured simultaneously with the Outer God's summoning.

That's clearly what was written.

Even if this is just observational results and not definitive information, it's certain that if an Outer God existed, the continent wouldn't be intact like this.

"Maybe the Outer God disappeared by now? I should ask Aron about the Goddess."

While I was happy to find new information, there was too much uncertain information.

I needed to fill in and revise the information to some extent.

"What do you want to ask?"

I looked at Aron who had entered just at that moment.

I stared at him for a moment as he entered empty-handed, then asked.

"Why are you empty-handed? Didn't you rescue the Hero Party?"

"I melted it, healed them, and told them to leave. So don't worry."

"...Are you sure? You didn't just give up, did you?"

"Really. I even confirmed that trustworthy people took them away. So please believe me."

I stared intently at Aron.

It wasn't easy to believe him based on words alone.

"Prove it."

"Then do you remember what I showed you before? I showed you your mercenary group members alive."

"I remember. Are you going to show me with that?"

Aron nodded and spread his hand like before.

Light flashed and a screen appeared.

"Ivy!"

Ivy and the entire Hero Party were walking with a figure dressed in black.

They clearly showed panicked reactions but were quietly following behind.

Aron, who had confirmed my brighter expression, spoke.

"I'll show you until you leave if you want. So could you please believe me?"

"...Okay. More importantly, are you communicating with the Goddess?"

"We used to communicate consistently in the past, but recently she hasn't spoken at all, so I don't know. Why? Do you need the Goddess?"

"No, not that... I was just wondering if you know anything about Outer Gods."

"Outer God? What's that about?"

First, I explained to Aron what I had confirmed from the book.

Divine power generator, dimensional transporter, Outer God summoning.

After hearing all three, Aron's expression became somewhat serious.

"Then how do we stop the Outer God summoning?"

"Originally, the Cult of the End attempts to summon the Outer God. So we have to wait until they appear. Before that, let's go meet the Dragonkin first."

"Why the Dragonkin? Is there something to do there too?"

"If we want to receive help, we need to create a debt. And I think we'll need it when making the dimensional transporter too."

The explanation about the dimensional transporter was written in great detail.

The location was also written down, so if I put my mind to it, finding it in the ruins would just be a matter of time.

"Dimensional transporter... why are you looking for that?"

I considered telling the truth this time too but held back.

Even if I said this world was the game I used to play, there's no way he'd believe me.

And telling him I used to be male probably wouldn't do any good either.

"I'm curious, and it seems related to Outer God summoning."

"Really? Okay. If you say so, I should believe you."

Aron accepted it more easily than expected and fell into thought for a moment.

"It's been so long since I met the Dragonkin that I don't know exactly where they are. You know, right?"

"I roughly know. I'll probably remember once we get to the canyon."

"Then let's go. We should do what we can first."

I nodded at Aron's words and thought for a moment.

"I remember it being in the Red Canyon to the north. But that's completely the opposite direction from here. We'll have to leave the forest after all."

At my answer, Aron furrowed his brow and looked at me.

His unusually serious expression made me tense up as I looked back at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him.

"First, I think I should tell you something... Honestly, you've felt it too, right? Me keeping you here isn't for sexual release."

"I felt it a bit. Except for that first time, you never touched me."

Actually, aside from bringing me to climax several times with foreplay at the beginning, he hasn't touched me.

After that, it's just been normally smelling my scent.

'Originally, since he has women around, there's no way he needs me.'

Thinking that made me feel a bit irritated.

Then why on earth did he bring me here?

Am I just a toy or something?

I pursed my lips and looked at Aron. My posture seemed to say "Go on, tell me."

"Actually, it's true that I don't consider myself a hero, but I did capture the Demon King, right? I was cursed at that time."

The curses the Demon King casts are nothing more than debuffs at best.

There's no special curse that appears in the story.

Even when dying, he curses the player ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with words, but there's no actual effect.

"What kind of curse is it?"

"I can't leave the Forest of Temptation. And originally my power was extremely weak too... The other party members are covering my share right now."

"Are you asking if I can solve that?"

"Yeah, you know all kinds of information that we don't."

This was a bit ambiguous.

Strictly speaking, the game has debuffs but no separate curses exist.

The curses that appear in the story are just verbal curses.

I should at least mention something similar.

"Have you tried things like Elixir or Panacea?"

"I've tried Elixir, but this is the first I'm hearing about Panacea."

"Do you have any herbs or something at home?"

"They're piled up in the warehouse over there. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have pretty much everything, so feel free to use them."

Following Aron's words, I headed to the warehouse first.

The warehouse was stacked with all kinds of ingredients from food materials to herbs and tools.

I went to where the herbs were and checked the materials one by one.

'What about this and Mandragora? Is there none?'

In Black Nightmare, for realism, you had to craft special potions or elixirs yourself. Otherwise, you had to use B-grade potions sold by NPCs or buy them at auction houses for exorbitant prices.

Eventually, when you accumulated enough specs and became high-level, most people chose to craft.

'If your ability is sufficient, you can make S-grade or even higher.'

Panacea is also an S-grade potion.

The material quality doesn't need to be high, but it requires many materials, and the crafting method is tricky and complex, so it often fails.

When it fails like that, it turns into an A-grade disease cure.

"This should be enough."

"Mandragora, Sunflower, Glacier Crystal, Essence of the Deep Sea, and what's this? This is Desert Emperor Scorpion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠venom. Are you sure it's safe to consume?"

"If you don't trust it, then don't drink it. If this doesn't work, I'll try something else then."

I began skillfully preparing the materials.

I cut the Mandragora in half before it could scream, and extinguished the burning Sunflower with Essence of the Deep Sea.

The knowledge I thought I'd forgotten came back as I started handling and looking at things with my own hands.

The knowledge I poured my previous life into hadn't disappeared yet.

'If Panacea doesn't work, should I obtain an item then?'

There are no items specifically labeled as "curses removed," but there are many similar items.

Some remove negative effects.

Some reduce penalties.

Some reduce damage taken.

You can obtain these kinds of items as much as you want.

If even this doesn't work, it might be faster to get help from Ivy, the Saintess, and use something like a blessing.

"First, try drinking this once it's complete. This is a medicine that removes all status ailments."

"...Oh, really?"

Looking at the black, boiling viscous liquid in the cauldron, Aron hesitated for the first time.

Should he not have met another woman in front of Mia?

He probably wouldn't die today, right?

He was more nervous than when he fought the Demon King.

*

Black Mask was the first to speak.

"Now that we're all out, move on your own."

At his words, the Hero, who had been maintaining silence, spoke urgently.

"Who are you to help us? How did you even get out of the forest and save us from that monster in the first place?"

At the Hero's voice, Black Mask narrowed his eyes slightly.

He looked at him with a dismissive gaze before answering.

"You just need to focus on what you must do as the Hero. You don't need to be curious about anything beyond that, and don't become curious."

With those words, Black Mask disappeared.

Not even the Hero Party, called the strongest of the current era, could track his movements.

Among the bewildered Hero Party, only the Saintess smiled.

Her golden yellow eyes sparkled.

The corners of her mouth trembled slightly as she smiled.

"It seems our Mia is being treated well."

Her voice was so quiet the other party members couldn't hear it.

"I'll find you soon, Mia."