The Slush Fund and the Forgotten Temple

"Demons usually get cocky if you leave them to their own devices, so you must break their spirit through periodic torture."

"Aha!"

"What do you mean, 'Aha!', you crazy bastards?! Argh!"

"You all did a wonderful job."

"Not at all! It was an absolute honor to serve alongside you, Guide!"

They speak so beautifully. Tae-hyun felt a slight warmth in his chest, his eyes growing a bit misty. Such loyal behavior was something he could never hope to see in his own era! If it had been the paladins of his time, they would have been pulling all sorts of tricks to wriggle out of work...

"By the way, the temple building is quite badly damaged. Is it going to be alright?"

"It is perfectly fine. We were going to tear it all down and rebuild it anyway."

"...Uh. Isn't that a waste?" Tae-hyun was taken aback. This was a level of extravagance he would never see in his own era! Yet, the paladins were resolute.

"Leaving the corrupt temple of the Phytos Church intact would only taint our order's spiritual energy!"

"To prevent our holy energy from being defiled, this much is..."

"R-Right. Do as you wish." Tae-hyun didn't bother stopping them. It wasn't his business anyway. It wouldn't make much of a difference if the paladins of the past demolished a building and built a new one.

"In that case, may we take our leave as well?" the priests of the Phytos Church asked meekly. Tae-hyun nodded. He had originally planned to attack them, but he figured letting them live and chasing them out would be more useful in the long run.

"Then we shall be on our way."

"Hold on. Wait a minute."

"Yes?"

"You need to leave your valuables behind." Tae-hyun spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The priests of the Phytos Church had been trying to sneak away with a cart piled high with treasures. The sheer audacity of these guys!

They're just as shameless as the Archisus Church priests from my era.

Caught red-handed, the Phytos Church priests looked slightly embarrassed.

"Can we not take them? These are actually sacred statues of our order, so we must secure them..."

"Hmm. If they are the order's statues, I suppose we have no choice." The paladins of the Archisus Church were about to let it slide.

But Tae-hyun was different.

"I don't care if you take the statues, but strip off the gold and jewels covering them and leave those behind."

"He is truly a demon...!"

"Even in the Archisus Church, I've never seen a bastard like him!"

The Phytos Church priests were horrified by Tae-hyun's sharp eyes. His observation skills were on a completely different level compared to ordinary paladins.

With thoroughly dejected faces, the Phytos Church priests asked once more.

"May we leave now?"

"No. Not yet."

"Pardon? We have absolutely nothing left."

"You're still wearing clothes. Strip off your gear and leave it."

"..."

The Phytos Church priests were dumbfounded. What kind of crazy bastard was this?

But Tae-hyun continued, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Your gear is the most expensive thing you have. How can you expect to take that with you? Of course you have to leave it behind. Are you taking your punishment too lightly?"

"Brilliant...!"

"As expected of the Guide!"

"As expected of the Guide. I always had faith in you!" Pelmas rejoiced when Tae-hyun returned after completing the quest.

Oh...!

He had harbored doubts, but it seemed the Karbanog Church had indeed taken the fall because of Edager and the Phytos Church priests. By successfully completing Edager's quest, the Karbanog Church's quest was successfully resolved alongside it!

"...Wait!" Tae-hyun gasped, startled by the message window.

"What is the matter, Guide?"

"I must return to where I came from under the summons of Lord Archisus."

"Oh, no...! We had hoped you would remain here to guide us further..."

"Then you guys should have buried some artifacts that would let me do that! And stop running the order so aggressively!" Tae-hyun shouted rapidly. He didn't have much time left, but he absolutely had to say this.

"An order can fall in the blink of an eye! Prepare for the worst by burying treasures beneath the temple! Stash away artifacts imbued with divine Authority! And make sure to safely preserve a list of other churches' weaknesses so it never gets lost!"

Watching this, Karbanog was filled with admiration. To think he would utilize ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those fleeting final moments so thriftily!

What can I actually do right now?

Various item crafting methods and skills lost to ancient history were incredibly valuable information. After all, weren't many of the order's current quests along the lines of "Please find this!" or "Please retrieve that!"?

But Tae-hyun was cold and calculating.

That stuff is garbage.

No, I don't mean it's literally garbage. I mean it's practically useless in this current situation.

If he spent his remaining seconds trying to obtain a skill, item recipe, or blueprint, he would get one or two at most. There was no guarantee they would even be good, and above all, he didn't know if he could even learn them. If he went through all that trouble only to end up with a skill he couldn't use, he would cry tears of blood.

Besides, the current Pope seems to love alchemy, so his style is probably completely different from mine.

In the end, Tae-hyun chose the most practical method.

"Start digging!"

"???"

Though bewildered, the elite paladins of the Archisus Church immediately began to dig. Why were they digging?

"Throw all the jewels in! Bury everything we took from the Phytos Church!"

"Yes, sir!"

Fortunately, the paladins didn't question Tae-hyun's orders. If they had been the paladins of his era, they would have whined, "Why?", "For what reason?", "Why must we do that?"...

"Throw Edager in too!"

"Hey! Hey!!!" Edager shrieked in terror. This crazy Archisus Guide was trying to bury him alive!

"What do you think you're doing, you cursed bastard?!"

"You're already sealed anyway, so burying you underground won't kill you."

"How can you say that so casually?!"

Even if he was sealed, if they kept him in some corner of the temple, he could at least whisper to visiting priests, goading them with lines like, Heh... do you desire power...? Release me, and I shall grant it to you... At the very least, he could tempt some passing adventurer or thief to find a way to break the seal.

But burying him deep in the temple's front yard was just too cruel!

"Mmph! Mmph!"

However, the paladins began shoveling dirt over him without a single moment of hesitation. The treasures and Edager were buried deep underground.

"Now, as a marker... yes, let's erect a statue of the Karbanog Church here."

"Yes, sir!"

"Excellent! Issue a strict command never to touch this spot in the future! It must be upheld at all costs!"

"Understood, Guide! We swear on our lives that no one shall ever disturb this place..."

Thanks to resolving a highly difficult quest, he had leveled up twice in one go. Furthermore, because history had changed, the state of the religious orders had also shifted.

The Phytos Church and the Archisus Church will obviously have changed...

Since he had directly interfered with both, changes were inevitable. The Phytos Church would now have non-existent debts and a shameful past. As for the Archisus Church...

I hope it's a positive change.

Tae-hyun had worked incredibly hard. He had told Pelmas's ancestor, "Don't gamble, you idiot!" and warned them not to run the order too aggressively...

And above all, he had hidden a slush fund in the temple's front yard.

So I can dig it up and use it myself.

Karbanog was utterly dumbfounded. He really buried it for that reason?!

Why not? If those items stayed in the past, they'd just go to waste. I might as well use them.

More than anything, he was curious about the Karbanog Church. How had the Karbanog Church changed now that it had escaped its destruction?

"!"

Tae-hyun gasped. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Nothing had changed at all.

Wait, what? Did they still end up ruined?

Ah, right.

Tae-hyun let out a sigh of relief. For a second, he thought all his hard work on the quest had been in vain.

Let's go find the slush fund first. I hope Edager isn't dead.

One of the joys of Fantasy Online 2 was the thrill of collecting demons. Collect all kinds of demons to expand your artillery deck! ...or something like that. He didn't know exactly what Edager was capable of, but if the demon was still alive, he would surely be of great help.

"...???"

No...

What on earth had happened? Tae-hyun calmly retraced his thoughts.

First of all, it makes sense that a great temple could exist.

If the Karbanog Church hadn't been destroyed and had steadily regained its strength over the years, they could have built a massive temple. Since a Phytos Church temple had been completely wiped off the map, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they would have had the land for it too.

...But why did it become a dungeon?

What kind of divine beasts or magical beasts did the Karbanog Church control again?

Rabbits, giant rabbits, super-giant rabbits, agile rabbits...

Ah, is that so? Sorry. I could only think of rabbits. Well, in any case, it shouldn't be too dangerous.

"...No..."

Tae-hyun was genuinely bewildered. What kind of danger could possibly be waiting in there?

"Sob! Officer!"

"What is it now?"

"A demon appeared and completely demolished the fortress walls we worked so hard to build! We used up all the materials we gathered, so we have nothing left to build with... *sniffle*!"

"They destroyed it again?! No... Dammit. Hold on. I'll request more gold from the guild."

The officer from the Guild Alliance grumbled as he surveyed the surroundings. The fortress walls were in absolute ruins, looking as if they had been blasted apart by bombs.

Those damn demons are being a real pain in the ass.

But there was nothing he could do. If he treated the players in charge of construction too harshly, fewer people would want to come here. Besides, it was the Guild Alliance's money, not his own.

"Party Leader."

"What?"

When the guild members who had gone to map out another area sent him a whisper, the officer looked puzzled.

"We found a dungeon here."

"Oh! Excellent work. Confirm the location, and if you think you can clear it, go on in."

The officer brightened up. Dungeons were valuable resources for a territory. Having a good dungeon could bring in a steady stream of income.

"They say it's the Karbanog Temple."

"Never heard of that god before. Must be one of those forgotten deities. How does it look?"

"The system says it's an extremely easy dungeon."

"A message like that popped up? Is it a low-tier dungeon then? Sure, go ahead and check it out."