Request for Investigation
So this must have been how the first playthrough went — this same piece-of-shit process repeating over and over until the Gnoll Hero revived after all. But now that I'd caught it in the act, it was over. Everything had fallen neatly into place.
Better yet, the legendary equipment I'd had no idea how to find — the legendary skills, rather — lay stacked neatly before me, polished and inviting, practically begging me to take them.
It really, really was going well. Honestly, it felt almost too good — am I actually allowed to have this?
With these skills in hand, my combat power — already top-tier even now — would climb higher still. And it wouldn't just hand over skills, either.
These powers. The powers left behind to sustain the seal. If I could absorb even those...
Ranker.
Not a dream. I could become a Ranker — maybe something beyond one.
Bringing this faction entirely under my control, then placing the Korean trainees who would arrive later beneath me as well — it would all become so much easier. I could build an even greater power base in the Middle Floors, keep the Ranker candidates in check, and with a little luck, maybe even pull them into my own organization. Granted, in the first cycle they'd abandoned Earth — no excuse, but still — so I didn't exactly like them, I'd have to vet their mental states, and if they fell short, some psychological conditioning would be in order... but even one of them in my grasp would be worth more than its weight in gold.
Until now, my guideline had been simple: eliminate anyone who got in my way, cooperate where possible. But if I could hold this much of an advantage, the calculus changed a little. Maybe I could bring even the Rankers to heel. If they defected to other Administrators, I'd dispose of them. If not, this side would recycle them.
The perfect scenario.
"...Why are you smiling? Don't tell me you—"
The Saintess was staring at me with an expression of unmistakable alarm. Apparently I came across as some misanthropic criminal, or at least a strong candidate for the role.
"Oh — no, nothing like that. It's just that the Gnoll I'm thinking of and the Gnoll you're thinking of seem to be on very different levels."
It was, to be fair, an eminently misunderstandable situation. Laughing the instant I heard that a passed heart meant the birth of the Gnoll Hero... even I could admit the timing was terrible. But honestly.
What am I supposed to do, not be happy about it?
A colossal opportunity had just landed in my lap. How was I supposed to keep a straight face?
A puzzled voice came from the Saintess.
"...What do you mean?"
"Even if the Gnoll Hero revives, at worst the five gnoll tribes unite and their numbers swell enormously, right?"
"...That is true. But you must not underestimate them. Given enough time, I believe you would see a gnoll army numbering over a million."
The Saintess spoke with grave seriousness, and then began to lay out what had happened in the past, piece by piece.
Six hundred years ago, the Gnoll Hero was born. Crisis swept over the kingdom; a hero was chosen, sacred relics were conveyed through the Goddess Church, a hero's party was formed, and after untold hardships the Hero's blade finally pierced the Gnoll Hero's chest. But when they learned that the hero's power would pass on to a successor, the four of them — the mage, the Hero, the paladin, and the Saintess — combined their strength to seal this place.
The mage, as the price of completing that seal, lost every scrap of her power on the spot and perished — unable even to leave her strength behind in her equipment.
That it succeeded at all was thanks to the Saintess's sacrifice. Layering the Goddess's miracle over the mage's spell, and offering up her own soul to stand guard over this place, she completed a seal meant to last a thousand years.
The problem was that now, six hundred years on, her soul had slowly worn away until nothing remained but the dregs — and the gnolls had discovered this place, found a way to weaken the seal, and brought it to the very brink of breaking. She had been in despair.
I listened to her story from beginning to end, and then I thought.
A million-strong gnoll army. Sure. Impressive, no doubt about it.
"Wouldn't two imperial legions just sweep that off the map?"
In the first cycle they'd numbered what, six hundred thousand? A single legion had flattened them.
"...I beg your pardon?"
"The way I understand it, each individual imperial legion fields at least forty to fifty thousand troops. With their level of equipment and proper organization, they could defeat even five hundred thousand gnolls without breaking a sweat..."
"...Have humans grown that strong?"
Humans were the strongest faction among the single races. Endless checks and balances, vast borders, enemies on every side — being surrounded made life harder for them than for most who held the top spot. But objectively speaking, they were still the strongest, and that hadn't changed. The orcs outnumbered everyone; races like the elves outclassed everyone in quality; but thanks to centuries of development, humans were, on average, formidable across the board. They even had their share of rule-breaking powerhouses. And with the arrival of the trainees, that balance was beginning to tilt, little by little.
So yes — I understood that six hundred years ago, that million-strong gnoll horde had brought the human race itself to the edge of extinction.
But that was then.
Which meant one thing: this seal no longer needed to be maintained.
The rule-breaking powerhouses of that era would probably still hold their own after six hundred years. No — their realms might be the same, but technique had advanced that much further, so in raw combat power, the present day would come out ahead. The gap in equipment alone would be decisive.
But below that elite tier, the difference in average strength was astronomical. Humanity's numbers had exploded, and both their equipment and their techniques existed on an entirely different plane. Going by the Saintess's account, the mage of that era had been one of a genuine handful — which was still true today, but the overall population had grown so much that the gap had become dire.
Six hundred years ago, there had been a single Magic Tower. And now?
"There's one supervising Magic Tower in each of the four directions — east, west, south, and north — and in the very heart of the Empire stands the Ivory Tower, the one tower that reigns above all the rest. Even this remote Tidrind Castle has a Magic Tower of its own. Small staff, sure — only a handful of mages."
Every territory had at least one Magic Tower. Mages were absurdly scarce relative to the population, granted, but the total number of mages in the Empire cleared ten thousand without breaking a sweat.
The Saintess stammered for a long while, visibly unable to believe what she was hearing.
The thought that I could wring the equipment, the skills, and even the powers sustaining the seal out of this Saintess filled me with a deep, warm satisfaction. Considering what had once poured into the bodies of her old comrades, absorbing that power couldn't be impossible. And if she cooperated willingly? Icing on the cake.
It truly felt like a dream.
"...Then all the more reason I must contact the Goddess Church. Yoo Shin-hoo, was it? Might I ask you to carry this news to the Church?"
I blinked. What was she talking about?
"...Why? However strong the Empire may be, the Gnoll Hero's heart must be destroyed first. Yes, humanity has grown stronger — but its enemies have multiplied to match, so an immediate dispatch of troops is out of the question. Destroy the heart first, and once word is sent, the Empire will commit whatever forces are needed. If you help me, I will destroy the Gnoll Hero's heart myself."
"I'm grateful for the thought, but if circumstances are truly that favorable, then I would return my power and the holy relics to the Goddess Church. The seal can hold for at least another year. Please — won't you carry word to the Church?"
Hell no. What the hell am I supposed to do with 'another year'? Play the good samaritan? After I've come this far?
Not a chance in hell.
"...I am, in fact, one of the priests of the Goddess Church. Under normal circumstances I could never reveal it, but... I'll tell you. Allow me to introduce myself properly. Yoo Shin-hoo — mercenary, and paladin candidate. Seventh Saintess."
"...I'm sorry? But..."
She was puzzled — I carried no divine power at all.
I explained that, of late, some paladin candidates deliberately refrained from converting their mana into divine power for the sake of raw combat capability, then invoked a skill on the spot to prove my class. The moment I cast a heal spell with pure mana, the Saintess — realizing I served the same Goddess — could only stare in astonishment.
"Why did you not say so from the start?"
"Discipline. Part of the training required to become a paladin. We are forbidden from revealing our identity..."
I explained it away as one of the newly established rules — a rule I'd invented on the spot. High Priest or Saintess, absolutely no one was permitted to expose their true identity. And for good measure, I tossed in the nonsense about sealing one's divine power so as not to be detected.
"I never intended to speak of it, but... I judged that if the Gnoll Hero were not dealt with quickly, the lives of every resident in this region would be at stake. I had no choice. Please forgive me..."
"...I see. The world has changed a great deal, hasn't it..."
I thought she might relax for a moment — but the Saintess pressed on at once.
"Then is there a Saintess this era?"
"...No."
A lie. A Saintess existed even now. Later, one more would appear among the trainees, producing the unprecedented situation of two Saintesses in a single age.
"Then would you bring me a Saintess candidate? I wish to pass my power on to her."
...So it's discrimination against men, huh.
Not that I'd ever heard of a male Saint in the Goddess Church...
"If it's only a portion, I can handle it."
The Saintess regarded me for a long moment, then spoke.
"...I do believe you could. And yet, if a Saintess candidate were to come, I could offer far more. I can pass Arhen's power on to you, Yoo Shin-hoo — but my own power, I wish to give to the Saintess candidate. If you desire both, I must tell you it is impossible. Ah — one thing. If you do inherit Arhen's power, your mana will be converted into divine power."
I knew that already. I'd thought it through plenty. If I obtained both the Saintess's legendary skill and the paladin's legendary skill, whatever attack power I lost could be made up a hundred times over, so I'd been prepared to accept the trade-off. And then she tells me — what, take the paladin skill and be done with it?
I was in no position to accept that, but she was firm.
...Should I just take it by force?
I began running the numbers in my head. Truthfully, the other powers had never factored into my plans in the first place; what I'd originally come for was more than enough. And seizing them by force didn't look impossible, either. Even minutes ago, the humans the gnolls had dragged in — their mere contact with the weapons had let power flow into them as naturally as breathing.
It seemed a succession was already prepared, waiting for a qualified human to lay hands on the weapons after the trial. Perhaps she had simply hoped that someone worthy would come along and see it through properly.
But honestly? It stung. If I could inherit these powers in full, I could place even Rankers beneath me. There was a chance to reach my goals that much more easily — and letting it slip through my fingers like this felt like a waste.
She seemed to guess exactly why I was hesitating.
"...I understand your greed. I imagine any paladin candidate would feel the same."
Yeah, it showed. I'd played the noble servant of the greater good at first, but by now my actions had told the whole story for me.
And in her eyes, it made perfect sense: a man absorbing the paladin's power and the Saintess's, becoming the first Saint in history — honor beyond measure. And what was a Saintess? One of those standing closest to god. From where she stood, anyone who served the Goddess would naturally covet what was on offer here.
"But I am sorry to say that without the Goddess's aid, you might accept my power in part — never in full. You becoming a Saint... I fear it would be very difficult."
"I can do all of it."
I said it flatly. It was the truth. The Goddess of the present age, Gaia, was contracted to me. Case closed.
Ever since the Tower appeared on Earth, the Goddess worshipped by the Church within this Tower was Gaia. Her name simply never surfaced, thanks to the Tower's nature.
"...That may be so. But if you must accept not only my power but Arhen's as well... I believe it impossible. It might work. Yes — it very well might. But I judge the odds low. I cannot be certain. And if you were to fail... the seal would break, the Gnoll Hero would rise again, and countless people would die."
Right — up until the army showed up, anyway. Same as the first cycle.
"Please, I beg you — think of the greater good, Yoo Shin-hoo."
The greater good my ass.
I deliberated for a long, long time.
Then I asked.
"What happens if I do inherit these powers?"
The Saintess answered without a moment's hesitation.
"It will raise a portion of the abilities I possessed in life, along with vast divine power — and your physical capabilities and potential for growth besides. Arhen's power is no trifling thing, either. He was the finest paladin of his age."
Hoping to turn my heart, she launched into an account of just how extraordinary Arhen had been in life.
I listened to her all the way through, and then I thought: in that case...
"...Very well. I'll bring you a Saintess candidate."
"Yes — yes, of course. A wise choice indeed. Arhen's power, when the time comes, will pass to you in one—"
"No. I don't need that power either. I'll bring someone else to inherit it. A junior of mine."
The paladin's power on its own was worthless to me. If that was the deal, I'd sooner change my class entirely. With only six skill slots, I might have gritted my teeth and accepted it — but now, with slots to spare, settling for that was never on the table.
I had my own share of greed.
It was irritating as hell. Left to my instincts, I'd have pried it out of her by force. But these powers were too valuable to waste.
If I could take them in fully, I might one day stand above the Rankers themselves. I wasn't about to throw that possibility away.
My party, meanwhile, was now wholly and unshakably mine. Na-yeon fell a little short of my strict standards, but the rest — Joo Ha-yeon above all, and Na Seo-yoon, and Nam Eun-ju — I judged, even by my own exacting measure, to be firmly on my side.
And so I resolved to divide these skills among my companions.