Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Clan
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Clan.
My impression of Veronica wasn't all that great.
Not to the point where there weren't better people than her.
Though it helped that all the truly rotten ones had kicked the bucket.
To be honest...
'I just don't want to get tangled up with her.'
To be brutally honest...
'I wish she'd vanish forever.'
However...
'The problem is, that's not so easy.'
I had her source of holy power, her chastity.
And I'd threatened her not to interfere.
But Veronica was desperate too.
She knew she was the acting Saintess.
And because of that, she was gathering info on Clara.
The issue was...
'She has no one she can trust, so she's hanging around us.'
She was a woman revered as a Saintess, seen as the incarnation of God.
She could wield near-absolute power in the Church.
'But that's power she can only flex in a head-on fight.'
If the Church had created a proxy Saintess in her place
and hidden away the real one, no matter how much authority she had,
she'd never find them.
So she was forced to seek our cooperation.
Which meant...
'All that is just an act.'
I thought as I watched Veronica charge at Seomun Yeol like a madwoman.
Seomun Yeol tried to run, but she grabbed him.
She spun her arm around wildly, and his body started whirling with it.
"Whoa, a real mad dog..."
"They look friendly."
"Hm? Even if she acts like that, she's still the Saintess. Who knows if she'll remain one in the future, though."
"Gonna add her to the clan?"
"Isn't it a bit awkward? You don't have to if you don't want to."
"......"
I pondered for a moment.
Weighing pros and cons, it was pure profit.
'...But tentatively, it's a loss.'
Having her around meant direct opposition to the Church's hidden Saintess.
'I won't brainwash her.'
Unless it was the absolute last resort.
If we formed a clan with her, long-term it would just bring headaches.
That's why I was against it.
"Ha, unbelievable. Over just three meals a day."
"You'll need more than that, right?"
"Hmph, obviously? With the fastest-awakened Hero among the current ones right here."
And yet she glanced at me.
With those golden eyes infused with holy power.
"You wouldn't get it since you're not a Hero yet, but being a Hero means staking the fate of your entire race. Normally, one joining a clan is unthinkable."
"And your situation isn't normal either."
"......Tch. Anyway, even I am offering to join your clan. Can't you provide that much?"
"You haven't forgotten our first meeting, have you?"
"Ah, when you collapsed and I took you somewhere safe?"
"......"
She had me there; I had nothing to say to that.
"Not that."
"Or the next day at the inn? That didn't count."
"It's not just about the result."
"Process matters? This world is all about results."
Veronica smirked mockingly.
She tossed Seomun Yeol aside like trash and spoke.
"Whatever."
Veronica said with a faint smile.
"Even if you don't want me now, you'll end up wanting me eventually."
"......"
What a spectacle.
I sighed and looked at Seomun Yeol.
"We can just leave that one."
"Well, he might get killed by stragglers or stripped bare, but that's his choice, so who cares."
Ermé said that with a beaming smile as she approached me.
"By the way, I have a question."
"What are you curious about? If it's you, Yuseong, I could share my deepest secrets."
"Witch..."
"Forget it."
Before I could speak,
Ermé stared at me coldly despite her smile.
"......Forgotten."
"Shall we go then? Oh, what about her?"
Ermé's gaze turned to Lucia.
Lucia was watching me under her umbrella.
"What do you think I should do?"
Lucia asked, looking at me.
As if her joining the clan depended on my say-so.
"If you join, it's good for us."
"Ahem, then..."
"Better than seeing you occasionally; we could meet every day."
"......"
"......"
Ermé looked stunned.
Lucia looked ecstatic.
Rishiel gazed at me with pity.
No, why?
'Even with Lucia, seeing her every day is better than occasionally.'
Especially now that we're starting to feel like friends.
Rishiel, reading my mind, looked at me with even deeper pity.
-Suddenly thinking, but you... no.
No, why?
*
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Step by step.
Veronica walked deeper into the alley.
Her mouth twitched; she forced a irritated expression to control it.
Normally, she'd never set foot in a filthy place like this.
'...What the hell is it.'
Her emotions were out of control.
Standing before that man made feelings surge uncontrollably.
To keep her wits as a Saintess, she'd chosen this path to her base.
Saintess.
The Hero created by the Holy Kingdom.
That role demanded purity and a sacred image.
She couldn't let one man change her like this.
'What the hell is it.'
Yet,
before that man, strange emotions kept welling up.
Love at first sight? No.
Nothing so trite.
Something stickier.
A viscous emotion she'd never felt before.
Like a black flame burning in her chest.
'...Dangerous.'
This wasn't good.
These feelings were no good.
It started with curiosity.
He was the first to stir such emotions, so she'd cut down the thugs trying to rob him.
And then.
The more she talked with him...
'...Why.'
Did longing arise?
She didn't know herself.
A Gift that manipulated favorability?
Something like that could exist.
But if so...
'Why push me away when he should want me close?'
He acted like he didn't like her much.
She recalled the next day with him.
When she'd unleashed her holy power.
Truth be told, that ability wasn't meant to be shown.
It was her ultimate last resort.
A technique she'd stumbled upon but never planned to use.
It imposed heavy restrictions on the target,
but equal ones on her,
and could only be used once in a lifetime.
'I thought I'd die before using it.'
Veronica bit her lip hard. She glanced back anxiously.
Honestly, more than that,
she didn't want Han Yuseong to hate her.
'...Ha.'
Am I crazy?
She wasn't some weak thing dependent on a mere man.
However.
-......
In her dreams.
Words from the entity tormenting her resurfaced.
Nothing specific came to mind.
But the emotions she held for him were crystal clear.
The being that saved her from rock bottom.
It kept overlapping with Han Yuseong.
So.
She tried to stay away.
But before she knew it, she'd end up near Han Yuseong.
Right now, Veronica was restraining herself as much as possible.
'Feels bad.'
Seeing Han Yuseong's face lifted her mood.
'How dare you reject me now.'
Honestly, when he rejected her, her heart had dropped.
She'd played it cool, but his refusal terrified her most.
'Me, offering to join your clan.'
Truthfully, that was a burden in itself.
The Holy Kingdom's personnel entering a sub-org of the Adventurer's Guild, tied to the Empire.
Normally, unthinkable.
'That woman.'
Because of the woman beside Han Yuseong, her resolve wavered.
-Ha...ppy......
Her mind fogged like mist.
She wanted to tear them all apart. Then hide somewhere alone.
"......"
To think such thoughts—what madness.
Veronica mocked herself and headed out.
But she knew.
If Han Yuseong called her now, she'd rush there faster than anyone.
"......"
Depressed by that,
yet gladdened more than anyone.
So.
She didn't notice.
Clara's twisted smile as she watched her.
*
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It rained today.
Going to the Adventurer's Guild would've been fine, but we skipped for maintenance.
"So, my friend. Have you decided on the clan members?"
"Roughly."
Our current party members,
'Plus Lucia.'
Viola's words came to mind, from when she occasionally saw me.
-I still haven't found a party. My brother follows you, so contact me when you form one.
Add Viola here.
The mage Hero candidate kid could join too, making about nine.
...The kid's too young, so can't. Need at least two more.
-Hm? Why eight?
'Room for one more.'
-Someone I don't know?
Rishiel looked puzzled.
"You look troubled."
"With a party already..."
"Hmm... For five-man parties, we'd split into two, but there'd be gaps in firepower."
"Gaps in firepower?"
"......Sorry to say it here, but Marcel and Teresa..."
Definitely needed a party to support those two.
"Teresa covers it, so front line's fine, but adding a swordsman is smart."
"How about another frontliner like me?"
"Pardon? Not an archer..."
"Speed-specialized swordsman."
"Sounds good."
"Me, Rozante, Yuseong, Lucia, and Viola?"
"Two parties need clerics too."
"Low-level clerics are hard to find. Maybe rotate Viola to cover cleric gaps..."
"Who else then?"
Thinking that far, I spotted Volkan.
"......Sorry, friend, I can help but I must lead the other orcs too."
"Figured as much?"
"But as one who received your aid, if you ask..."
"No, we have time."
Still, Viola was ideal.
We'd have four frontliners including me.
Then need backliners.
'Mage would be best, right?'
But we'd need to recruit.
"......No choice. Didn't want to use this method."
Ermé closed her eyes with a resolute expression.
What was she planning?