The Path of the Paladin

What?! What is this?!

What on earth is going on?!

Baptisms were never like this!

Back when I received one in the game, a simple visual effect would flash on screen and that was the end of it. Had something changed now that everything had become real?

Just in case, I stole a glance at Phoebe through the veil of mana. Her eyes had gone wide and round — and that alone was enough to tell me this was anything but normal.

Heojeop Chief God, what are you pulling this time?!

Do you have any idea what happens to me if it comes out that I'm your apostle?

Or were you actually planning to have me assassinated?!

"Lady Alrn. Would you please close your eyes?"

Phoebe was clearly flustered, yet she pressed on as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The way she carried on with the ceremony calmly despite her own feelings told me she was a true professional.

...Fine. For now, let's just get through this baptism quickly like she asked.

After all, as long as I keep my mouth shut, there's no way anyone finds out I'm Armadi's apostle. I just have to play dumb, and that's that.

The moment I closed my eyes and folded my hands in prayer, Phoebe began reciting the baptismal liturgy. I was letting her words drift in one ear and out the other when a soft chime rang out.

A message?

Curiosity got the better of me, and I cracked one eye open. A window was floating right in front of me.

"Huh?"

Quest function?

"Lady Alrn. Is something the matter?"

'Nope! Nothing at all!'

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, Heojeop Saintess."

"...Very well. Then let us continue."

Question marks kept popping up in my head.

Becoming Armadi's apostle was something I'd already known was coming, so fine, I could let that slide. But the quest function — what on earth was that supposed to be?

Don't tell me it's the thing I think it is?

The moment I murmured the word quest in my heart, a window materialized before me — the same window that greeted me every single morning. Yep. The quest window from Soul Academy.

"Whew."

Far too many thoughts were churning through my head.

I'd suspected something was off ever since it started talking to me through messages. Glimpses, transmitted blessings — fine, I could accept those appearing as messages. But actually striking up a conversation through a message window? That was weird.

Revelations are normally delivered the way Grandpa Ruel does it — spoken, not popped up in a text log. Because messages are a game feature, after all.

Things had been so frantic back then that I'd brushed it all aside, but the instant I saw a game function being unlocked right before my eyes, the old doubts came crawling back.

Armadi. What exactly are you, that you can manipulate the features of a game?

Don't tell me it has something to do with why I got dragged into this world?

Well, she'd never answer even if I asked, so let's move on to something else. If she can manipulate game features, you'd think she'd hand over something a little more useful.

A quest window. Of all things, a quest window.

The status window. The Appraisal function. A skill list. A map. There are so many genuinely good options out there, and among all of them she gives me the quest window?!

Heojeop Chief God, you just want to mess with me, don't you? Admit it!

Countless other questions swirled through my mind — but no answers came. The damned Heojeop Chief God stayed silent, even though she surely knew exactly what I was thinking right now.

"You now stand beneath Armadi."

As Phoebe spoke, the divine mana that had enveloped me seeped into my body. I felt an indescribable, tingling energy sink into my heart and spread along my veins.

It was a strange sensation. Something inside my body was being rearranged — much like when I'd swallowed the elixir. But unlike that time, no pain came for me at all.

When the energies churning through me finally stilled, Phoebe's voice rang out like a proclamation.

"With this, the baptism is complete."

<"You have stepped onto the path of the paladin.">

That was the reply I got after slipping out of the church and telling Grandpa everything I'd felt during the baptism.

<"When one becomes a knight of God, the divine energy works a change upon the mortal flesh. What you experienced was that very process.">

So in other words, receiving the baptism had triggered an automatic class change?

A paladin, huh. Not bad.

Come to think of it, it actually worked out well for me. Given the stats and proficiencies I'd been grinding, it was practically the optimal choice. I'd been planning on becoming a paladin from the start anyway.

And yet why did I feel so uneasy about it? Was it because everything was unfolding exactly as that damned Heojeop Chief God intended?

<"Ordinarily, one must overcome countless trials to become a paladin, but it seems Armadi takes a great interest in you.">

'Tell me about it.'

Not that I ever asked for the attention.

Haah. What's the point of agonizing over it? In the end, things went the way I wanted them to.

Which meant figuring out what to do next was far more productive.

'Grandfather. You can teach me the various techniques paladins use, right?'

<"Of course.">

'I look forward to working with you.'

Now that I was Armadi's apostle, Agra would cling to me harder than ever. That thing would stop at nothing to erase my very existence from the world.

Which meant that if I didn't want to die, I had to get stronger — strong enough to slip free of any trial that came my way.

Back in my room at the dormitory, I took out Ketar's crystal orb I'd obtained at Soul Academy today and clutched it in my hand.

The thought that it might hurt like the elixir had whipped worry and dread into a frenzy inside my skull — but before long, Fear Overcome scrubbed every last one of those thoughts away.

I took a deep breath, and shattered Ketar's crystal orb.

Then I thrashed in agony before blacking out.

I never imagined it could hurt worse than the elixir. Seriously.

When I returned to the territory a few days later, Benedict threw the biggest fuss of anything I'd experienced to date the moment he laid eyes on me.

This despite the fact that we'd talked every single night through transmission magic ever since the dungeon incident. No — come to think of it, maybe this was as mild as it got *because* I'd been reassuring him over transmission magic.

If we'd had no way to contact each other, who knows what kind of catastrophe would have unfolded? Remembering how he'd wailed and screamed about flattening Soul Academy to the ground on the day of the accident, I wouldn't put it past him to have stormed the academy itself before I even made it home.

And so, on the very day I returned to the territory, I found myself captured by Benedict and made to spend the entire day with him. Just this once, none of my usual complaints ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— annoying, creepy, get lost — had any effect, so there was nothing to be done.

After spending a night that wore on me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mentally even more than my encounter with the Alchemist, I headed out early the next morning. Normally I'd be spending that time enjoying some delightful exercise with Forsell, but there was something I had to do first.

"What achievement have you accomplished this time?"

Johann — the Bishop of the Main God Church, whom I hadn't seen in nearly half a year — greeted me with the same bright smile as always.

'You might know this already, but...'

"I doubt a crackpot bishop like you has heard, but I got baptized by this Heojeop church of yours and became a follower."

"I am aware. I hear the Saintess herself performed your baptism."

The news had already spread that far? I'm hardly anyone remarkable, so why does information about me travel so fast?

Well, better for me, honestly. If he already knows, I don't have to waste time explaining.

'Help me learn holy magic.'

"Crackpot Bishop. Make it so I can use holy magic."

I'd gained divinity in my body through the baptism, but I still couldn't cast a single holy spell. Because to learn holy magic, you needed instruction from the Church.

That was precisely why I'd sought out Johann, awkward as talking to him always was. I had to build up my proficiency to a decent level before the academy term started, didn't I?

Hearing my request, Johann raised and lowered one eyebrow before replying.

"My lady, holy magic is not something one may learn simply by becoming a follower of Armadi. Only after proving one's faith over many long years may one receive instruction from the clergy."

Johann listed reason after reason for turning me down, but I knew every last one of them was an excuse.

Yes, there are spells that require you to accumulate a certain level of divine power first. But there are plenty that don't, too.

What's all this drivel about there being nothing I can learn? Just come out and say you don't like me, old man. Sly old codger, through and through.

I'd expected him to react this way, but he was even more blatant about it than I'd anticipated.

I let Johann's lecture wash past me in one ear and out the other, then fished a glass vial out of my coat and set it on the desk.

"And what might this be?"

'A Mana Enhancement Elixir.'

"A Mana Enhancement Elixir. The likes of you, Heojeop, would go your whole life without ever so much as laying eyes on one."

"...Is that truly what it is?"

'I'll swear it on Armadi herself.'

"I'll swear it on the Heojeop Chief God. This is the real deal — an elixir."

Johann hadn't changed his expression once through every insult aimed at him, but the moment I called Armadi the Heojeop Chief God, his lips pressed into a flat line. A perfectly natural reaction — the man was a scheming old reprobate, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was also a devout priest.

I'd committed blasphemy right in front of a man of God, so no matter how harsh a tongue-lashing came my way, it would have been deserved. Yet Johann merely turned grave and said nothing at all.

That was how seductive a Mana Enhancement Elixir truly was.

An elixir raises your stats the instant you drink it — whether that stat is scraping the bottom or already at its limit. Naturally, it's the latter case where the value shines brightest. Raising a low stat isn't hard, but the higher an attribute climbs, the more grinding it takes to push that number up.

And Johann standing before me was a man who had already reached the very pinnacle of the clergy. For someone like him, raising stats was all but impossible; the only path to further strength left was stacking skill proficiencies.

To such a man, an elixir could only be irresistible. All the more so for a Johann who had never given up on reaching even greater heights.

'If you teach me...'

"Promise to help me, and this elixir is yours."

Even in the game, you could never escape the lure of an elixir. Was it any different now? Not that I expected it to be.

Johann stared at the vial in silence for a long moment, then let out a long breath and nodded.

"What is it you wish to learn?"

Haha. Called it. No matter how noble a front you put up, when the thing you desire is sitting right in front of you, you crumble every time.

Heojeop priest, through and through.

When I covered my lips and giggled, Johann worked his jaw.

<"Is this truly the conduct befitting an apostle of Armadi?">

Having watched me lure Johann into temptation, Grandpa spoke up as he beheld the man surrender to reality.

'What's wrong with that? I never asked to become anyone's apostle.'

<"Hoh. What on earth is going through Armadi's mind?">

'Tell me about it.'

If only I could ask her myself, believe me — I'd love to.