The Second Labyrinth (5): The Evil God's Altar

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"No."

In truth, placing my hand directly on the wound would have been most efficient. But she didn't seem like the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠type to willingly reveal where she was hurt, so I had spread my divine power from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her wrist throughout her entire body.

I used to handle this far more crudely in the past, but my skills have improved so much that my control is vastly better now.

Every battle I fought inside the labyrinth made me feel like my abilities were growing. The claim that training efficiency was higher here was clearly true.

If every priest could improve this way, it would be incredible. In the past, something this simple would have consumed an enormous amount of divine power. But these situations kept arising, so I had worked to develop a more efficient method of examining the body. I recalled the time I struggled to create my own treatment for Princess Canaby's curse and built on that experience.

It's all thanks to my improved skills. With my old level of ability, I could never have managed this.

And the attempt had yielded extremely satisfying results. Scanning the entire body with the bare minimum of divine power to locate injuries, then concentrating the power on those specific spots. I suspected I performed physical examinations better than any other healer.

"Treatment's complete. How do you feel?"

"Much lighter."

"After battles, please show me even the smallest wounds."

"The others leave minor injuries alone."

"You're my bodyguard who protects me, Miss Melody. This level of favoritism is perfectly natural."

"...Favoritism?"

It seemed she hadn't realized she was on the receiving end of my favoritism.

"Of course you should be. You're going through all this trouble for my sake. Everyone understands that much, so don't worry."

I told her not to concern herself with the stares of others and to enjoy my favoritism freely, then popped a perfectly grilled piece of ham into my mouth.

"Mmm! This is absolutely incredible."

When I gave her a thumbs-up and urged her to eat, she lifted the fork skewered with ham. As expected, food always tasted best when taken from someone else's plate.

It seemed that thanks to her performance that day, Melody had finally earned proper recognition among the team members. She spoke so little and maintained such strong wariness toward others that I had assumed it would be difficult for her to grow close to anyone. Yet a single battle had completely flipped the situation.

"Skill is everything in this line of work. Even if someone's personality is absolute garbage, people will follow them if their abilities are outstanding. Why? Because good skills keep us alive."

"Ah..."

"In that sense, it's fine for her to keep some distance from us. No one in this business has a normal personality anyway, so she's actually quite tame by our standards."

"So it's all about skill. But our Miss Melody isn't strange—she just takes longer than most to warm up to people."

"Haha."

The team member who had been responding to me answered with a bitter smile instead. Seeing that expression, I wondered if he had been looking at Melody like she was some kind of porcupine.

"There she comes. I'll be off then!"

She had stepped away briefly for personal reasons and was now returning from a distance. The moment he spotted her, the man quickly fled elsewhere. Even though she was only human and had to leave her post occasionally, she never wanted to leave me alone. She would always ask someone else to guard me during those times. The man from earlier had been temporarily watching over me in her stead while we chatted.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back."

"Why did that man run off like he was escaping? Did he do something to you, Priest?"

"No."

"Hmm. I won't ask him for help anymore."

"It was only for a short while. There's no need to trouble others. Nothing happened, as you can see."

"No. Please follow my judgment on all matters concerning your protection."

We weren't in the middle of a fight. It was simply after we had woken up, packed the tents, washed, and finished breakfast.

"You didn't actually stay up all night guarding me, did you?"

"No. To guard efficiently, proper rest is necessary."

"That's a relief."

She had looked so tense that I was worried, but knowing she had taken care of herself during the night put my mind at ease. Perhaps because of yesterday's intense battle, everyone was moving rather sluggishly this morning. It would have been strange if they had recovered immediately after such hardship. I finished my morning tasks by using appropriate amounts of divine power to ease the muscle pain of the suffering team members.

As expected, being a healer really is the best job.

If I hadn't declared my desire to become a priest as a child, would I have ended up doing one of those grueling physical jobs? I wasn't trying to belittle their work.

There's the hardship I endured from a young age just to become a priest.

Besides, priests had to live lives of sincere service forever. They must study the scriptures their entire lives and never skip their prayers. There were so many established rules that it was no easy task for someone unsuited to this lifestyle to become a priest.

"They say we'll be moving soon. Have you packed everything?"

"Yes, Priest."

Miss Melody and I took positions near the middle of the group.

Even after our encounter with the mole monsters, we continued to meet monsters steadily.

"Found a hole here!"

On top of that, the newly hired guide was excellent at discovering hidden paths, causing the party's luggage to grow heavier at an alarming rate. The haul from the mole burrow had already been a jackpot, but finding concealed spaces as well meant our loads inevitably became substantial.

"This is..."

"Priest!! I think you need to come see this!"

"Me?"

The people who had entered the suspicious hole were urgently calling for me. Anyone could tell this was a dubious situation, so I hurried over. And just as expected—

"It's an altar."

"Yes."

Thanks to our previous experience, the party seemed to have notified me the instant they discovered the altar.

"No one touched it, correct?"

"No. We didn't. After your detailed explanation last time, everyone remained vigilant."

"That's fortunate."

"But this altar looks quite different from the one we saw before."

I nodded at the leader's words.

"Yes. It's on an entirely different scale from the previous one. If that was a small, makeshift altar, this one was created and maintained by dozens of people."

The offerings placed upon the altar and Miss Melody had already approached upon realizing it was an Evil God Altar and were carefully examining it.

"Could you keep the others from coming too close?"

"Of course. How long do you think the purification will take?"

Since we had discovered an Evil God Altar, they knew we had to handle it before moving on. However, devoting too much time to it would inconvenience the entire party.

"I'll need to discuss that. Fortunately, we have someone far more skilled at this than I am. I believe it will be finished faster than last time."

"Understood."

The reason ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Miss Melody stayed by my side as my guard was precisely because of Evil God Altars. I was an amateur, but she was an expert in this field. I expected her to handle it much faster than I could.

"What do you think?"

When I joined her at the altar after speaking with the party, I saw that Miss Melody wore a grave expression.

"It's been a very long time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠since I've seen a proper Evil God Altar like this."

"Will it take long to process?"

"I'm not certain. I'll need to examine it further. There are likely many things hidden beyond what is visible. That will require digging..."

"We'll need tools, then."

"Yes, it seems so."

Miss Melody said she would borrow some tools and asked me to watch the altar while she stepped outside. I circled the altar as she had done, examining the structure that stood in the center of the hidden chamber.

"This is horrible."

The altar was piled high with gold coins that appeared to have been gilded onto stone, gleaming ostentatiously. Gems seemed embedded throughout, but touching them to remove the stones would have led to disaster.

"How can people do such things?"

I poured holy water onto the section with the gems.

Sizzle!

Thick black smoke rose from the gems that touched the holy water. A vile, rotting stench filled the air. When the black smoke cleared, the gems' true forms were revealed.

"They're human eyeballs."

I sprayed the holy water across a wider area. The gems embedded in every corner revealed their true natures one by one—sometimes fingers, sometimes toes. The fully exposed altar was utterly horrifying.

"Disgusting creatures committing disgusting acts."

Miss Melody, who had appeared at some point, pulled me away from the altar.

"It's hideous. I'll handle it, so please don't look, Priest."

"I'm a priest as well. I can't leave everything to you. There are things I can do."

"There will be even more horrific things inside the altar. After all, it was built using human lives."

As if I didn't already know. I had seen enough horror while handling the corpses of heretics. If it was on a similar level, I could endure it.

"I wish to pray that those sacrificed on this altar may return to His embrace and find peaceful rest."

"There will also be those who offered their bodies to the Evil God, not just the victims. Your prayer would be too great a mercy for such people."

"Even if there is only one unjustly sacrificed victim, I believe my prayer still holds meaning."

After a moment of consideration, Miss Melody nodded in approval.

"...Understood."

"Thank you!"

I quickly fashioned a simple prayer space from my belongings.

"Please set it up a little farther away."

"Is this distance acceptable?"

"Yes. It's fine."

Once the simple prayer space was complete, I knelt down.

"I'll begin."

At Miss Melody's signal, I started offering prayers to comfort the souls. Meanwhile, Miss Melody...

Huh?

Was holding a massive axe that I hadn't seen her retrieve and brought it down with both hands toward the altar!