Saint (2)
Saint (2)
That's how Dojin ended up having various conversations with the Saintess. Among them was the reason his body had suddenly become stronger.
"......My skill suddenly increased, you say?"
"Yes. I don't know the reason, but......."
"No, surely not. Already......."
Charlotte, who heard those words, was plunged into shock. Dojin watched her reaction and tilted his head, puzzled.
After a brief silence, Charlotte, having regained her composure, opened her mouth.
"That...... means you have become Level 3."
"Level 3? No, but I haven't even entered the dungeon......."
"It's a little-known fact, but once a person surpasses their limit, they can grow even without hunting monsters. It's an extremely rare occurrence, though."
"Rare? How rare?"
"If we're talking only from what I know, it could be counted on one hand."
Charlotte was the Saintess's closest aide, a being who held top-tier privileges in the world. If even she could count such instances on one hand, it clearly meant it was something that had only happened once or twice if you searched the entire world.
Hearing that such a rare case had happened to him, Dojin felt inwardly amazed. Even if he didn't fully understand what it was, there was no reason not to be happy that such a rare event had occurred to him.
Then, the Saintess looked intently at Dojin. Dojin also met her eyes beyond her grayish veil.
They said going blind was the price for looking directly into those eyes, and indeed, a curiosity arose, willing to risk blindness just to meet that gaze.
The Saintess whispers to Charlotte. Even with Level 3 hearing, her voice cannot be heard. Yet, just from the vibration of her vocal cords visible through her clothes, one can guess that voice must be extremely captivating.
"The Saintess says, if there is anything you wish to request, please do so."
"......A request?"
"That's right."
Dojin hesitated for a moment and pondered. At this very moment, what could there be worth requesting from the Saintess? What matter truly needed her help?
'Nothing else but that.'
A moment later, having finished his deliberation, Dojin smiled lightly and opened his mouth.
"Show me your face."
The Saintess looked at Dojin with an amused expression.
Unfortunately, my request to see her face was rejected. Something about me not being ready yet or whatever.
However, I succeeded in capturing the Saintess's interest through this incident. I recalled her smile I saw beyond the veil.
A refreshing smile that only someone brimming with curiosity could make. Only the outline was visible, but that much was certain.
"Welcome back?"
"Yeah, oh, can you cook something now?"
"Yes! Please wait a moment!"
After arriving at the mansion and requesting a meal from the Maid who was cleaning, I went straight up to my room to change clothes.
The clothes I was wearing were thickly stained with blood, ash, dust, and the like. Washing them by hand a few times didn't make those already-set stains come off easily.
Thinking I hadn't worn them much anyway, I decided to just throw them away, tossed them into the trash bin, and immediately went back down to the dining room.
In the dining room, bread cut for easy eating, soup, salad, and meat were laid out. The Maid herself was nowhere to be seen.
'Did she go to clean?'
I promptly sat down, tore off pieces of bread to dip in the soup, and began shoving meat and salad together into my mouth like a sandwich.
Since they didn't serve meals in jail, I was insanely hungry. I devoured the food in an instant, and still not satisfied, went to the kitchen to sweep up all the remaining bread and meat.
I ate enough meat to bankrupt the household's finances, and only then, with a full stomach, did I slowly realize the amount I had eaten.
'......No, I think I ate about 10 servings.'
Could the amount one eats increase this much in just a day?
'Well, I guess fighting all that and starving all day.......'
But thinking about it, from yesterday's lunch until now. I essentially skipped 4 meals. Even back on Earth, if I starved that much, I'd chew through 5 servings of meat by myself.......
Given that my current strength is incomparable to back then, eating around 10 servings isn't that strange.
The fact that the amount of power I can exert has changed means the amount of calories consumed has increased proportionally.
"Here you are."
"......Ilone?"
Having finished my meal like that and sitting down to digest, Ilone approached me. She walked over with a slight limp, stopped in front of me, and bowed her waist.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"......This, you fixed it, right?"
She tapped the leg she had been limping on. The leg that had been severed by the Black Mage, the one judged to be impossible to recover for a lifetime.
"Even the Priest said it couldn't be fixed."
"It's nothing. Why are you limping?"
"Ah, the memory of having it severed once remains, so it feels strangely like the leg isn't there."
It was phantom pain. A neurological disorder that even modern medicine can't easily cure.
"Ilone."
"It's fine. I'll manage something for this much......."
"Ilone?"
"Don't worry! I'll recover soon!"
"No, that's not it."
But this place was a fantasy. In fantasy, there are bound to be fantasy-like methods.
"Want to do it?"
"......Suddenly?"
Ilone is taken aback. Well, if someone who was just talking about illness and whatnot suddenly says they want to do it, it's understandable to be surprised.
However, there's a good reason for doing this.
'Who would have thought I'd use it like this.'
A very long time ago, when I first shared an experience with Ilone. There was a skill I obtained from her.
Pain─Pleasure Conversion.
The skill she wished for to feel even the incredible pleasure she received as pleasure, even though it came to her as pain.
"Eut...... Wait, this is the dining room......."
"Anyway, no one comes at this hour."
"Ha-eut, Ha, but......."
"If you're worried, shall we go up to the room?"
Saying that, I stroke Ilone's leg. Thanks to the memory of having her leg severed, she said she feels a sensation as if floating in mid-air.
If so, the sensation she must be feeling now is pleasure perceived from a non-existent body part.
The feeling of pleasure suddenly arising from nothingness in mid-air, and the confusion her brain must feel because of it.
"Haa, haa...... Gulp."
She swallows her saliva audibly. Her eyes have already changed. Right now, she probably can't even think about limping.
"......You started it first?"
Slowly, our lips meet. Soon after, all that remains there is hot ecstasy and moans.
After sending Ilone back home, Dojin returned to his own room and lay down on the bed. As his weary body sank into the soft mattress, his consciousness slowly began to be consumed by sleep.
Thinking he'd just close his eyes for a moment, he shut them, and the slumber that soon arrived dragged him down to the very bottom of hell.
"What's this, when did you get here?"
"......Huh?"
However, his consciousness, which was diving somewhere in the otherworld, instantly buoyed up at the voice calling him.
Waking from sleep, Dojin slowly stretched his body and looked at the person who had called him. Deokgu was leaning against the door frame.
"Ah, just now."
"Yeah, our Guan Yu. He said he'd be here before dinner got cold. What to do, it seems the dinner has not just cooled but gone bad."
"......Stop it."
"How can I endure this?"
Chuckling, Deokgu, who had been laughing, threw a piece of paper he was holding in his arms. As Dojin took the folded paper, familiar-looking text caught his eye.
"What's this?"
"Finally finished it. The newspaper draft. Though it's closer to an information pamphlet than a newspaper......."
Hearing that, Dojin unfolded the newspaper. Indeed, unlike modern newspapers filled with all sorts of incidents, it contained gossip people wouldn't easily know, useful life tips, etc.
"Why is there not a single incident?"
"We can't publish it tomorrow right away...... For incidents and accidents, how quickly they are delivered is important."
"Why the 'publish' part?"
"We still don't have backing, right?"
Hearing that, Dojin fell into thought for a moment. He recalled the Saintess who had returned to the city.
'Why did the Saintess...... return to the city?'
To meet him. To meet him, the existence from the Oracle, and build a rapport.
'If so, then she...... wouldn't just stand by if I were in danger.'
On the contrary, the probability was high that she would help him to earn his favor. If he were a person lacking conscience and morals, he might think differently, but.......
Could such an evil person even become a Saintess in the first place?
"Deokgu."
"What?"
"Publish. Let's do it tomorrow."
"Suddenly what...... Didn't you hear what I said? If we get checked by the establishment because of this......"
"No, that's fine."
"......What's the reason for thinking that?"
Dojin grinned and told him his thoughts. Deokgu asked how he could believe that.
After pondering for a moment, Dojin told him about his ability. The ability to know a woman's condition by touching her private parts.
Hearing that, Deokgu looked at him with a shocked expression.
"Then you...... had sex with the Saintess?"
"No, not that......."
"Then how......."
"There's a way. Anyway, this is reliable information. Can we publish it even tomorrow?"
"Hey, do you know what time it is now?"
At those words, Dojin looked at the clock. It was well past 7 PM. The sun had set long ago, a time when many people were wrapping up their day.
"We have about 12 hours until tomorrow morning."
"Ha, really...... You owe me big time. Got it?"
"Of course, my friend."
"Only a friend at times like this?"
Even while saying that, Deokgu didn't refuse Dojin's proposal. Deokgu went into his room, revised the newspaper all night, and the next day. He succeeded in completing the newspaper.
"Extra, extra!"
The boy distributing the newspaper didn't know what 'extra' meant, nor what the words written on the piece of paper in his hand were.
But the older brother who gave him the newspaper said, if he hands out these papers to people while shouting that, he'd give him one Copper Coin for every ten papers.
The newspaper he was holding was 250 copies, if he handed them all out, that's two and a half Dae-dong-hwa. For a poor boy who couldn't even find proper work, it was an excessively large amount of money.
"Kid, what's that?"
"It's a newspaper!"
The boy smiled and handed over the newspaper. The man showed great interest in the paper the boy was holding and received the newspaper.
The newspaper handed over had many things written in tiny letters. Ways to easily remove stains from clothes, how to make alcohol stronger, what to do when feeling a slight cold, etc.......
The man frowned at the tiny letters, then spotted large, eye-catching text.
[Shocking! Who was the Black Mage secretly active in the city? And the identity of the adventurer who defeated him...... (Exclusive Report)]
A shocking phrase and provocative topic that no city dweller could help but be interested in.
A headline rivaling the headline selection skills of K-Trash, developed to grab attention, made people who didn't know what a newspaper was focus their eyes and ears.
Thus one person, three people, ten people.
In one district.
Across the entire city.
To the nobles.
To the Saintess.
To the world.
A new concept called the newspaper was born.