Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Wintering (4) - Paid Content from Here (Gold Event Chapter)
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The season when they first arrived in Belpas had been early winter, and spending time on the Dawn Archipelago coincided with the coldest part of the year.
For Galen, who had grown accustomed to over twenty years of the warm winters in the Sun Archipelago—the southernmost region—it felt a bit overwhelming.
His mind remembered Korea's winters, but his body was rejecting them. Without Lilia, he might have struggled quite a bit.
In any case, a little over a fortnight after settling in the eastern part of the Dawn Archipelago...
The old year ended, and the new year dawned.
Galen turned twenty-three. Probably.
The reason it was a guess was that even Galen himself didn't know his birthday. He was an orphan, after all. Who would care about an orphan's birthday?
He had been born with memories of his past life, but as a newborn whose senses weren't fully developed, he couldn't properly grasp his surroundings back then.
He vaguely recalled being born in midwinter, so for simplicity, he arbitrarily set his birthday as New Year's Day, and that had stuck ever since.
"Oh, we share the same birthday?!"
Coincidentally, Lilia was in a similar situation.
"I was abandoned in front of the church on New Year's Day, and Bishop Myra found me! Or was she a priestess back then? Anyway, that's why my birthday is that day too!"
"Y-You're saying it so brightly, though."
"Not having parents isn't something to be ashamed of, right?"
"I don't particularly feel ashamed either, but..."
It wasn't something to be ashamed of, but it wasn't exactly the kind of story to proudly boast about in front of others.
Why else would "How are your parents?" sometimes be used as an insult? People often looked at orphans through colored glasses.
Of course, one could see it positively: sharing such a secretive origin and still feeling completely at ease around each other showed how comfortable they'd become.
In any event, Lilia had also aged to nineteen.
About a month later, a letter from Roald arrived.
Knowing the two were together, it was addressed to both of them, and perhaps wary of prying eyes, the content was very concise.
But it was enough to convey the key point.
"Congratulations, Bishop Lilia, Your Excellency."
Galen grinned mischievously, emphasizing the latter term. Lilia puffed out her cheeks.
"Ughhh, don't tease me! It's not official yet!"
"That's only because we're here. The moment we get back, it will be."
Moritz's demon contract, the emergence of a new bishop candidate, Belpas crumbling, Banan crumbling, and even war mages appearing...
All these events had exploded within the last couple of months of the previous year. It must have been a headache-inducing time for the archbishop's proxy.
Wisely, Roald hadn't tried to handle it himself but had dumped everything on the northeastern archbishop, and this was the response finally arriving.
The archbishop probably had a headache too, but the letter's message was straightforward.
It requested their return to Belpas to proceed with Lilia's ordination as bishop.
With an added note that Galen should come along if possible.
"On the surface, it just says they'd appreciate it if we came to celebrate."
Galden's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But it smells like a new commission to me."
"Right? I've never heard of calling in an outsider just to celebrate an ordination! Especially when they can't even attend."
"Looks like His Excellency the Bishop has something specific to discuss with you."
"What will you do?"
"We'll go, of course. There's hardly anything left to do here anyway."
Galen had wintered here for a mix of complex reasons.
The publicly stated one—"plundering pirate ships to make money"—wasn't actually that important.
Of course, more money was always better, but it wasn't urgently needed.
What use was having thousands or tens of thousands of gold coins while camping on an island and living like a savage?
Money was crucial later when settling down somewhere, but during travels, just enough for food and lodging sufficed. Even silver coins would cover that.
'Neither Lilia nor I are big spenders. No reason to take jobs just for the money anymore.'
The biggest reason for staying was to refine his magic without prying eyes. Especially Vanitas Flame Burst.
After destroying the war mage and skyrocketing in levels, there had been little progress in Water Flow Manipulation or Spirit Creation.
Just a slight increase in progress. Spirit Creation had risen a bit more than Water Flow Manipulation.
This had been the case even before fighting the ghost. Self-study barely yielded any experience, and sparring with Lilia gave only a little more.
On the other hand, Vanitas Flame Burst—which had been pathetically low-level—grew steadily through self-study alone. Flames and explosions were flashy, but on a deserted island, there were no onlookers, so he could train freely.
'I didn't expect it to reach Lv.55, though. It even surpassed Spirit Creation.'
Clearly, self-study experience had plummeted at Lv.39 for Water Flow Manipulation and Lv.35 for Spirit Creation.
Vanitas Flame Burst had smoothly reached Lv.55. At least it had some conscience—self-study experience started dropping from there.
Galen attributed this to his fight with Moritz.
'All my experience with Water Flow Manipulation came from the young master. Same for Spirit Creation from Redna. Both were silver-rank. But with Vanitas Flame Burst, even though I learned it from Kane, I experienced Moritz's version. That must be the influence.'
Typical warriors, mages, and priests grew by gaining personal insights.
In status terms, insight came first, raising their realm, and levels followed.
Galen, however, shoved experience points into levels first, and insights followed naturally.
That was why he could use magic fluidly once acquired. It was like a priori realization of his own abilities.
But separately from that...
Just as Spirit Creation evolved after the ghost encounter, experiencing specific phenomena could grant Galen insight-like gains.
Probably, fighting Moritz had etched gold-rank Vanitas Flame Burst vividly in his mind, allowing self-study to push it to gold.
'Just a hypothesis, but... meeting another gold-rank mage would confirm it.'
Gold-rank mages weren't that common.
But they tended to flock together. Swimming in similar waters, they'd cross paths eventually.
In that sense, it was worth checking why Roald was summoning him.
He wouldn't call for something trivial. Knowing Galen's skills, it had to be worthy.
Just as Myra had introduced a great opportunity, Roald might do the same.
With that, Galen wrapped up his thoughts.
"Let's head back right away."
"Yes!"
Lilia beamed brightly.
The total from selling the ships on the Dawn Archipelago came to fifteen thousand gold coins.
Banan's elites, knowing such prices wouldn't be available otherwise, scraped together every soul they had.
They'd even borrow if needed, resell at full price later when times improved, and still profit. Galen had no such plans; he just sold them.
Lilia, initially fine with splitting as they saw fit, grew burdened by the sheer amount.
"When I left on pilgrimage, Bishop Myra gave me a hundred coins to use..."
"She has a big heart. Handing over that much so readily."
"No, not gold—silver coins."
"Ah."
A hundred silver was five gold. Not insignificant, but enough for a few months' travel at most.
"She said to earn the rest through hard work! But now... no need."
"Traveling without money worries is a good thing. No need to starve on pilgrimage."
"True, but... Brother, could you hold onto the rest? I just need spending money."
"Hmm... Sure, for now. I'm just carrying it around anyway."
Even as promissory notes worth ten thousand, it was bulky, like carrying a secret manual.
Upon arriving in Belpas, Galen collected the deferred commission reward.
Three thousand gold.
Gold-rank mercenaries were in short supply, so pricing wasn't standardized, but for a one-off subjugation, it was huge, per Roald.
"Admittedly, it's little compared to your feats, but... could you cut us some slack? If Belpas shakes too much, it affects the whole east."
"Of course."
"Thank you! Truly!"
Money wasn't urgent anymore. Better to incur a favor from the archbishop's proxy than squeeze every coin.
While Galen wrapped up his commission...
Lilia's bishop ordination proceeded smoothly.
She was now officially a bishop.
Skipping subdeacon at eighteen straight to priest, then bishop at nineteen—an unprecedented pace in church history.
Once all procedures ended, Roald invited them to his office.
"I know I've said it many times, but congratulations, Bishop Lilia."
Roald smiled warmly.
"Subdeacon and priest aren't so different, but priest and bishop are. Bishops stand above others, so mind your conduct even more."
"Yes! I'll keep that in mind!"
"Normally, you'd be assigned to a parish immediately, but considering your pilgrimage, it's deferred. The archbishop says return when you've experienced enough and feel ready."
"N-No specific deadline, right?"
"How could pilgrimage have a time limit? Stop when you feel it's enough."
"Phew."
Lilia sighed in relief—loud enough for Galen to hear, so she was caught.
She wouldn't try to dodge bishop duties by pilgrimaging forever, right? Rude thought, but Galen couldn't help it.
Roald, seemingly thinking the same, chuckled heartily and turned to Galen.
"Lord Galen, what now? Back to the Dawn Archipelago?"
"No. Business there is done."
Galen replied calmly.
"Can't stay forever catching pirates. Though I won't deny I made a fortune doing it."
"I heard you sold below market too. Pirates decreased as a result. I don't think only free service is right."
Roald smiled gently and continued.
"So, anywhere specific in mind?"
"It'll depend on what Your Excellency has to say."
"First, let me ask: What do you think of the church?"
"That's a broad question."
"I don't know your past, but lately, you've only taken church-related commissions."
"That's true."
Pilgrimage escort in the frontier, Myra's cradle commission, Roald-brokered pirates.
About half a year entangled with the church continuously.
"Are you feeling burdened by that?"
"Not particularly."
He hadn't targeted church jobs; they just happened to appeal.
"Then I can recommend something."
"A good gig?"
"Not my commission, so details are fuzzy. But the targets will be tricky."
"Targets...?"
"Fairies. Specifically, earth fairies."
Roald shook his head.
"Word is, the little folk up north are causing a ruckus."