The First Return (4)
The words hit me like a slap. What kind of awful thing is that to say?
The expedition had dragged on longer than expected, but I was still someone who had been living a completely different life elsewhere. How could you look a person like that in the eye and say, “Looks like you’ll never get out of here for the rest of your life”?
“It’s not even that bad…”
Since the complaint had come from their side first, I forgot to even offer my thanks and let a blunt remark slip out before I could stop myself. Fortunately, Father Cardon didn’t seem offended. Instead, he spoke as if stating a simple fact of reality.
“Very few people can endure this position. Just what were they thinking when they created such a monster?”
“Bishop Haman rather likes it. He says he intends to steadily expand this system going forward.”
“Of course people in other places would welcome it. It makes their own work easier, after all.”
“Our temple will be fine once we keep increasing our personnel.”
Since we were continuously bringing in more people, there would surely come a day when things would improve.
“No matter how many people you add, when patients come flooding in all at once, how do you possibly endure it?”
“The more priests we have, the more patients they can handle. That means fewer will fall to the person in charge.”
In truth, I was desperately hoping that would be the case.
“I’m not so sure. I worked here for a full month, but the number of patients increased far more than the number of additional priests. It didn’t help at all.”
Father Cardon’s brutal honesty struck me right in the chest. Did he really have to be that brutally frank about everything?
“I’m worried. I can already see how difficult Priest Arthur’s future will be.”
“……”
“I can only pray that your path ahead won’t be too harsh, Brother.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
All this time I had been waiting for the person in charge to arrive, but after hearing Father Cardon’s words, I could no longer be certain that my workload would actually decrease once they did.
A wave of despair washed over me. I rubbed my dry face, pulled myself together, and decided to say what I should have said to Father Cardon from the beginning.
“Father.”
“Yes, go ahead. Just so you know, I really must return soon.”
He must have thought I was about to beg him to keep covering for me. Seeing how exhausted he looked after working here, I felt a surge of sympathy.
“That’s not what I wanted to say. Something happened in the Labyrinth. I believe I need to report it.”
“What exactly happened to you in the Labyrinth?”
I told Father Cardon everything about the Evil God Altars without leaving out a single detail. Then I brought out the offerings I had set aside near the entrance.
“I’ve already purified them, but these objects were under the Evil God’s influence for a long time. They should be melted down as quickly as possible.”
“Evil God Altars… I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
“Pardon?”
Perhaps because the topic of heretics had come up, Father Cardon’s eyes were more serious than I had ever seen them. He even muttered something strange I couldn’t quite understand.
“There have been strange incidents lately. I thought a demon must have been summoned and was rampaging nearby. There was one patient whose entire personality had changed as if possessed by a demon. He even showed a strong aversion to divine power.”
“It was reasonable to assume a demon had been summoned. In most such cases, it really is the work of a demon.”
Normally, problems like this were indeed caused by demons. Or by the schemes of heretics. But this time, unfortunately, it involved the Evil God. And because dealing with an Evil God was far more difficult than handling a demon, Father Cardon’s expression darkened.
You can’t kill something that refuses to die. A battle with no end is bound to wear you down.
When it came to demons, removing the cause solved the problem. But an Evil God was still a god. Just as the saying goes that even a bad law is still law, an Evil God was still a god, so we could not kill it. All we could do was seal it away, again and again. Just like how its body had been torn into pieces and sealed across the world.
“If I hadn’t heard your account, Priest Arthur, I would have been chasing the wrong lead entirely.”
This incident wasn’t the result of a demon being summoned. The offerings had come from one of the Evil God Altars scattered throughout the Labyrinth and were now circulating in the market.
“It seems the altars have already been discovered. I thought we needed to respond as quickly as possible, but even that was already too late.”
“Judging by the recent timing of these incidents, it appears the shifting of the Labyrinth’s paths has exposed the altars. When we entered, we didn’t encounter any. We must inform the Holy Empire of this fact immediately so they can take appropriate measures.”
“I’m already dreading how many victims those released offerings will create.”
There was a high chance that some of the offerings had already left Labyrinth City. That would mean having to track them across the entire world…
Just imagining it is horrifying.
Still, tracking down offerings of the Evil God wasn’t completely impossible. Since they were usually precious items offered as sacrifices, they often appeared in high-end markets where expensive goods were traded. Sometimes they surfaced at auctions or in the luxury goods market. And if they still didn’t turn up, one could investigate nobles who had suddenly undergone drastic personality changes. Searching their homes almost always revealed an Evil God offering.
It sounds easy when you say it out loud, but it’s anything but.
Obtaining cooperation from noble families, combing through auction houses, scouring luxury markets—none of it was easy.
This is exactly why some people call us back-alley thugs.
When time was short, we often pushed forward by borrowing the authority of the Holy Empire, and that frequently led to protests and complaints.
After Father Cardon left and I once again took full responsibility for the temple, I was finally able to unleash my healing skills to their fullest for the first time in a while. Inside the Labyrinth, the only real hardship had been the constant movement. The healing itself hadn’t been difficult. Working at the temple, however, was grueling in an entirely different way.
Both feel about equally exhausting, don’t they?
Just as Father Cardon had said, the total number of patients seemed to have increased compared to a month ago. When I asked why, I learned that some mercenaries had apparently struck it rich inside the Labyrinth.
Rumors really are terrifying things.
I was able to hear the details from one of the nursing priests.
“A porter picked up something in the Labyrinth, sold it at auction, and became insanely wealthy. Everyone lost their minds. ‘If that guy could do it, why not me?’ That’s just human nature, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t that highly skilled mercenaries had turned their lives around. It was a mere porter who had gotten lucky. That was why so many people had grown restless.
“After that, people started thinking that even if something looked completely useless, if it came from the Labyrinth, it might be valuable. Someone actually brought in monster dung and asked for an appraisal. Hohoho!!”
“Dung? But anyone could tell it was dung at a glance.”
“Exactly. They threw a huge fit insisting it couldn’t possibly be dung. Isn’t that hilarious?”
To people who didn’t know the full story, it was something to laugh and chatter about. But to me, who understood the consequences, it only left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“So that’s why there are suddenly so many people here.”
Unqualified individuals were rushing into the Labyrinth in hopes of striking it rich. Having felt the Labyrinth’s malice firsthand, I knew just how foolish such behavior was.
“They’re like moths flying into a bonfire.”
“Pardon? You mean these patients?”
It had been a mutter to myself, but the nursing priest must have overheard. She looked startled.
“Aren’t there far too many people chasing after illusions? And how many of them will die chasing those illusions? The people currently being treated here are the lucky ones, but when I think about those who died without even getting that chance, it breaks my heart. It feels like such a waste.”
“Ah~ I almost misunderstood you for a second there.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. I should have known you wouldn’t say something like that, Priest Arthur. Hoho! Oh dear, look at me. I still need to change the patients’ bed sheets. I’ll take my leave now, Priest.”
The nursing priest gave me an awkward smile and hurried away with quick steps.
“I think I’ve been misunderstood in a rather strange way…”
I don’t need to explain myself, right?
Shaking off the uneasy feeling, I focused on the temple work for the first time in a while. Perhaps because I had just returned from the Labyrinth, treating patients no longer felt as difficult as before. My divine power had grown considerably, and facing monsters inside the Labyrinth seemed to have sharpened my composure.
“I already knew you were skilled, Priest Arthur, but your current level is on another plane entirely. You’ve definitely gotten even better, haven’t you?”
It wasn’t just my imagination. The fledgling healers kept staring at me with admiration, showering me with praise. Or was this flattery rather than praise?
“The experience inside the Labyrinth seems to have helped.”
“Haa, now I’m conflicted. Seeing how much you’ve grown, Priest Arthur, it makes me think going into the Labyrinth is the right choice.”
“Are you scared?”
“Yes. I’m such a coward that I’m confident I’d faint the moment I saw a monster.”
The fledgling healers had witnessed my growth and were now seriously considering applying to the subjugation teams. If those fledglings left the temple while it was already struggling under the weight of so many patients, the burden on the remaining priests would only grow heavier. Still, I couldn’t tell priests who wanted to grow that they shouldn’t go simply because the temple was busy.
And if they returned after growing stronger in the Labyrinth, they would become a tremendous asset to the temple. Thinking of it as an investment in the future, sending them might actually be the better choice. Even if things were difficult right now, they would return with improved skills, which would ultimately be a good thing.
“What do you think, Priest Arthur? Should we apply to the subjugation teams?”
The Holy Empire wouldn’t neglect the safety of its priests. Barring any major disasters, they should return safely. Of course, there was always the variable of traps, so safe return couldn’t be guaranteed.
Because I couldn’t be a hundred percent certain, I explained to the fledgling healers that I couldn’t actively encourage them to enter the Labyrinth.
“This is not the kind of decision you should make based on someone else’s opinion. If you listen to me, enter the Labyrinth, suffer a serious injury, or lose your life, how would that make you feel?”
“Ah!”