Chapter 554: Deja Vu (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 554: Deja Vu (3)
"...Tell me more. What happened?" Before jumping to any conclusions, I asked for the full story.
"Oh, that?" Raven asked absently. "He disappeared on the day we were supposed to set out, so the commander personally went looking for him. When they found him, he came up with an excuse about having a stomachache or something to say that he couldn't go. He whined so much that they ended up calling a wizard to check him over."
"To what...?"
"I heard that they used magic to check his stomach, but they couldn't find anything wrong with him. So based on that evidence, they threatened to punish him for attempted desertion, and he ended up joining us like he was meant to..."
"...And then?"
"Well, news of what happened spread, and the people in the expedition group don't see him in a good light. From what I can tell, most of his fellow church members don't even treat him like a person."
"I see..." I trailed off, sighing. I shouldn't have asked. If he tried that hard not to join the expedition, that could only mean his sixth sense had been triggered somehow.
Ba-dump!
But I wouldn't have to go through hell again like I did in Ice Rock, right?
***
After setting sail from Stone Island, our four boats soon arrived on Library Island, and after establishing some basic formations, we immediately went down the stairs. Squad Four was at the head of this formation, meaning the thirty-eight of us were the ones standing on the front lines.
Maybe that was why I felt a little uneasy about all this. Still, I quickly shook my head to shake the thought nagging at me.
...The only reason they're putting us at the front is because we were the first ones here.
Yeah, yeah. We weren't being used as cannon fodder. I would've done the same thing if I were the strategist... But why did my back feel so prickly?
...Damn those palace nuts.
Between Berzak and Ice Rock, I had already been stabbed in the back by the palace twice, so I really couldn't trust the bastards.
"We've arrived."
Since I was more wary of my back than my front, we ended up arriving at the underground library before I even realized it. A glance around showed that the books had been cleaned up since last time.
"(...You're here? You're earlier than I... Huh...?)" Hamsick had come out to greet us, but it tilted its head when it noticed the expedition group behind me.
I sighed. Why was this guy out here?
I quickly shooed it away with my hand to tell it to go hide, but Hamsick still didn't seem to understand what I meant. To help it out, I pointed to the expedition group with my thumb and pointed to Hamsick with my finger before slowly drawing a line across my neck.
These people weren't as nice as I was. They would, without exaggeration, fire off spells at Hamsick as soon as they saw it and kill it before asking any questions.
My message seemed to have been received. "(Eep!)" Once Hamsick realized what I meant, it scurried away with a squeak.
"Your Lordship," someone called out immediately after, "Is something wrong? I thought I heard a horrifying shriek from somewhere nearby." The people from the main expedition group finally closed the distance between themselves and Squad Four.
Nice, it seemed they didn't spot Hamsick. "It's nothing."
"Pardon?"
"I don't know why, but you sometimes hear sounds like that when you're here."
"Ah, I see. Understood, I will relay that to the rest of our party."
With that established, the expedition group shouldn't find it suspicious if they heard noises when I met up with Hamsick in secret to talk to it. Well, if someone decided to, they could always investigate where the sound was coming from, so I would need to be careful.
"So this is the place you were talking about, Baron Yandel," Jerome commented.
"What do you think?" I asked, not giving anything away.
"What do I think? What I think doesn't matter. Let's not waste any time and get to work. We are not just here on an adventure. The palace has bequeathed a sacred duty to us."
Wow, look at this palace nut over here.
Jerome then doled out orders to the deputy commander, who proceeded to shout out a command to the rest of the group. "Attention! We will now start by surveying the area. Squads, fan out and search the entire room!"
And with that, they started with recon.
I approached Jerome. "You said yourself that we don't have any time to waste, so is there any point in you searching the area again? We already did during our last few visits." Even as I said that I had the thought that just as I didn't trust the palace, Jerome might not trust me.
"Oho, our expedition group is exclusively made up of exploration experts handpicked by the palace. I am not questioning your skill as an adventurer, Baron Yandel. However, please sit back and observe. We may find something new."
Reading between the lines, though, he was definitely looking down on us.
What exploration experts?
All I could see was a combat squadron made up of mostly knights and priests along with some wizards who were also part of the military. "Do as you wish, but we'll stay here, then," I said dryly.
"Sure. It's unlikely you'd find anything new that you didn't find before, anyway."
...Can I smack him? At least once?
The thought seriously crossed my mind, but I managed to hold back with superhuman self-control.
"...We haven't found anything of note."
"Nothing here either."
In the end, the 'explorers' returned with nothing, and only then did we begin the process of clearing the library.
"I think we should proceed with your initial recommendation. Unlike you, we have the capacity to get through even the top bookshelves."
Even though every word out of his mouth was annoying, he proved incredibly proficient once we entered combat.
"So that's how it works."
After using the summoning books a few times, he quickly restructured our formations, effectively allocating all two hundred or so members of our battalion in the most efficient way possible. A few dozen people stayed near the bookshelves to carry books over to us, and twice as many people stood at the stone gate on standby to hunt the monsters that came through.
"This will take too long." Jerome, however, felt that even this was too slow and pulled out one of his trump cards. "Ebost. Increase the pace."
Necessity was the mother of invention, after all.
The aforementioned Ebost was openly shocked. "Pardon? We can only use one book at a time, so increasing our current pace is—"
"So find a different method."
"Ah, I see. Understood, I will relay that to the rest of our party."
With that established, the expedition group shouldn't find it suspicious if they heard noises when I met up with Hamsick in secret to talk to it. Well, if someone decided to, they could always investigate where the sound was coming from, so I would need to be careful.
"So this is the place you were talking about, Baron Yandel," Jerome commented.
"What do you think?" I asked, not giving anything away.
"What do I think? What I think doesn't matter. Let's not waste any time and get to work. We are not just here on an adventure. The palace has bequeathed a sacred duty to us."
Wow, look at this palace nut over here.
Jerome then doled out orders to the deputy commander, who proceeded to shout out a command to the rest of the group. "Attention! We will now start by surveying the area. Squads, fan out and search the entire room!"
And with that, they started with recon.
I approached Jerome. "You said yourself that we don't have any time to waste, so is there any point in you searching the area again? We already did during our last few visits." Even as I said that I had the thought that just as I didn't trust the palace, Jerome might not trust me.
"Oho, our expedition group is exclusively made up of exploration experts handpicked by the palace. I am not questioning your skill as an adventurer, Baron Yandel. However, please sit back and observe. We may find something new."
Reading between the lines, though, he was definitely looking down on us.
What exploration experts?
All I could see was a combat squadron made up of mostly knights and priests along with some wizards who were also part of the military. "Do as you wish, but we'll stay here, then," I said dryly.
"Sure. It's unlikely you'd find anything new that you didn't find before, anyway."
...Can I smack him? At least once?
The thought seriously crossed my mind, but I managed to hold back with superhuman self-control.
"...We haven't found anything of note."
"Nothing here either."
In the end, the 'explorers' returned with nothing, and only then did we begin the process of clearing the library.
"I think we should proceed with your initial recommendation. Unlike you, we have the capacity to get through even the top bookshelves."
Even though every word out of his mouth was annoying, he proved incredibly proficient once we entered combat.
"So that's how it works."
After using the summoning books a few times, he quickly restructured our formations, effectively allocating all two hundred or so members of our battalion in the most efficient way possible. A few dozen people stayed near the bookshelves to carry books over to us, and twice as many people stood at the stone gate on standby to hunt the monsters that came through.
"This will take too long." Jerome, however, felt that even this was too slow and pulled out one of his trump cards. "Ebost. Increase the pace."
Necessity was the mother of invention, after all.
The aforementioned Ebost was openly shocked. "Pardon? We can only use one book at a time, so increasing our current pace is—"
"So find a different method."
Zylan Ebost, befitting his station as deputy commander, quickly recovered his wits despite his boss's nonsensical order and came up with a clever workaround.
"If we can decrease the time the door takes to open and close, we could increase our pace even further."
"So?"
"How about we destroy the stone gate?"
This was a suggestion that made even the barbarian standing next to them jolt upright in surprise. However, Jerome seemed satisfied with the plan and gave Ebost a nod. "The idea holds some promise. Execute it immediately."
The second the order left his mouth, the expedition group's magical troops gathered up, and the dozens of wizards began to cast a mass spell.
"Mairti Esta Pioryuiev du Teila!"
The spell I heard them cast was one I had never heard before.
After all, where would I have gotten to see a rank-one attack spell being cast in person?
[Gahuin Versilus has cast the rank-one attack spell Orb of the New World.]
As soon as the spell was completed, the magic circle below them began to glow with blinding light. The surrounding mana grew so dense that even barbarian warriors like me, who were desensitized to most magics, could sense it.
As for the attack itself, it was impossible to see with my naked eye. There was a flash of light as something shot forward, and then the sound of an impact.
Fwoosh!
A blast of wind slapped my face, so hot that I thought it might scald me. However, I barely registered the sensation.
"...Fortunately, it worked."
The huge stone gate, which was nearly five stories tall, had been obliterated without a trace, leaving only an endless void behind in its place.
That... worked...?
I felt like I had reached some form of enlightenment.
Anyway, with the stone gate successfully destroyed, the time the summoning process took was likewise cut down to a fraction of what it once was.
"Without the door, we can kill them as soon as they are summoned. Good work, Ebost."
"I was only following the royal family's will. There is no need to praise me, Commander."
The two who had eliminated our wait time through sheer brute force picked up their conversation where they left off like this was the most natural thing in the world.
In the end, I had no choice but to step forward. "Wait, look over there! It's already starting to reform."
This was the nature of the labyrinth. Just like the Crystal Cave on the first floor, every section of the labyrinth save for a few select areas returned to their original states after a while. In other words, the wizards of the expedition group had just performed a rank-one waste of time.
"Is that a problem?" However, Jerome's expression suggested that he didn't understand what I was getting at, so I kindly explained my thought process in a way that was out of character for a barbarian. However, my explanation also proved to be a waste of time. "Well, despite all that, I still don't see the problem. If it reforms, don't we simply need to break it again?"
"Huh...?"
"Judging by the rate of its regeneration, I don't think we'll need to use another rank-one spell next time. And since we have plenty of wizards, they can take turns keeping the gate broken."
Zylan Ebost, befitting his station as deputy commander, quickly recovered his wits despite his boss's nonsensical order and came up with a clever workaround.
"If we can decrease the time the door takes to open and close, we could increase our pace even further."
"So?"
"How about we destroy the stone gate?"
This was a suggestion that made even the barbarian standing next to them jolt upright in surprise. However, Jerome seemed satisfied with the plan and gave Ebost a nod. "The idea holds some promise. Execute it immediately."
The second the order left his mouth, the expedition group's magical troops gathered up, and the dozens of wizards began to cast a mass spell.
"Mairti Esta Pioryuiev du Teila!"
The spell I heard them cast was one I had never heard before.
After all, where would I have gotten to see a rank-one attack spell being cast in person?
[Gahuin Versilus has cast the rank-one attack spell Orb of the New World.]
As soon as the spell was completed, the magic circle below them began to glow with blinding light. The surrounding mana grew so dense that even barbarian warriors like me, who were desensitized to most magics, could sense it.
As for the attack itself, it was impossible to see with my naked eye. There was a flash of light as something shot forward, and then the sound of an impact.
Fwoosh!
A blast of wind slapped my face, so hot that I thought it might scald me. However, I barely registered the sensation.
"...Fortunately, it worked."
The huge stone gate, which was nearly five stories tall, had been obliterated without a trace, leaving only an endless void behind in its place.
That... worked...?
I felt like I had reached some form of enlightenment.
Anyway, with the stone gate successfully destroyed, the time the summoning process took was likewise cut down to a fraction of what it once was.
"Without the door, we can kill them as soon as they are summoned. Good work, Ebost."
"I was only following the royal family's will. There is no need to praise me, Commander."
The two who had eliminated our wait time through sheer brute force picked up their conversation where they left off like this was the most natural thing in the world.
In the end, I had no choice but to step forward. "Wait, look over there! It's already starting to reform."
This was the nature of the labyrinth. Just like the Crystal Cave on the first floor, every section of the labyrinth save for a few select areas returned to their original states after a while. In other words, the wizards of the expedition group had just performed a rank-one waste of time.
"Is that a problem?" However, Jerome's expression suggested that he didn't understand what I was getting at, so I kindly explained my thought process in a way that was out of character for a barbarian. However, my explanation also proved to be a waste of time. "Well, despite all that, I still don't see the problem. If it reforms, don't we simply need to break it again?"
"Huh...?"
"Judging by the rate of its regeneration, I don't think we'll need to use another rank-one spell next time. And since we have plenty of wizards, they can take turns keeping the gate broken."
"...Uh."
"We're currently fighting monsters who aren't strong enough to force our wizards into battle, correct?"
Uh... that was true.
"Then did that answer all your questions?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
In the end, I had no choice but to face the facts.
The problem here... was me...!
Just as a person with more power could inevitably accomplish more things, a person at the top of the food chain could look down and see more options. The reason I hadn't been able to think this method up myself and thought it was a waste of energy was that I lacked the power needed to pull it off. This was a strength that came straight from the mind.
That's why there is power in the power of imagination.
People thousands of years ago must have already figured that out long before I did, because that bit of wisdom had been around since ancient times.
"Then we shall resume our mission!"
In any case, oblivious to the revelation I was currently having, Jerome didn't waste a single second and continued to farm. Perhaps this was to be expected from someone who got their orders straight from the palace itself, but thanks to his single-mindedness, our speed was unbelievable. If I thought we were moving like an assembly line before, our new rate was something else entirely.
"Ignore the mana stones! We'll pick them up later."
The expedition group didn't pick up any mana stones nor did they debate who an essence would belong to whenever one dropped. Since most of them were long-rangers, no one accidentally picked up an essence, and when melee warriors were needed, those who already had their essence slots filled stepped forward to form the front line.
We're at the rank-fours after just one day...
To be more precise, we had gotten to the point where we were seeing one or two rank-four monsters per book not even sixteen hours after our arrival. This was nearly five times faster than when the thirty-eight of us had been farming alone.
"We can proceed at a normal pace from tomorrow onward. And tell the wizards that they don't need to stop the gate from regenerating anymore."
"You mean..."
"We'll stop here. Prepare for camp."
We had even taken our meals on rotation to keep the hunt going, but eventually, Jerome called things off and gave us the okay to take a long rest.
Despite the long day, the expedition members made camp with practiced ease, and as soon as our downtime began, a familiar face came over to greet me. "Haha, are you busy?" asked Melend Kaislan, the knight I had worked with during the Ice Rock expedition.
"Even if I was, I would make time for you."
"That's an honor to hear." Kaislan grinned as he pushed out his fist, and I bumped it with my own in greeting. We had given each other nods of recognition whenever we happened to see each other in passing, but we hadn't gotten a chance to talk like this in a long while.
"I didn't expect it to take this long for us to find the time to talk."
"I'd heard people say before that working under Count Saintred is hell... But I didn't know it would be this bad."
Now that I thought about it, it seemed Jerome was pretty notorious among his fellow soldiers.
"So, what happened to you?" I asked. "Did the palace order you to join?"
"...Uh."
"We're currently fighting monsters who aren't strong enough to force our wizards into battle, correct?"
Uh... that was true.
"Then did that answer all your questions?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
In the end, I had no choice but to face the facts.
The problem here... was me...!
Just as a person with more power could inevitably accomplish more things, a person at the top of the food chain could look down and see more options. The reason I hadn't been able to think this method up myself and thought it was a waste of energy was that I lacked the power needed to pull it off. This was a strength that came straight from the mind.
That's why there is power in the power of imagination.
People thousands of years ago must have already figured that out long before I did, because that bit of wisdom had been around since ancient times.
"Then we shall resume our mission!"
In any case, oblivious to the revelation I was currently having, Jerome didn't waste a single second and continued to farm. Perhaps this was to be expected from someone who got their orders straight from the palace itself, but thanks to his single-mindedness, our speed was unbelievable. If I thought we were moving like an assembly line before, our new rate was something else entirely.
"Ignore the mana stones! We'll pick them up later."
The expedition group didn't pick up any mana stones nor did they debate who an essence would belong to whenever one dropped. Since most of them were long-rangers, no one accidentally picked up an essence, and when melee warriors were needed, those who already had their essence slots filled stepped forward to form the front line.
We're at the rank-fours after just one day...
To be more precise, we had gotten to the point where we were seeing one or two rank-four monsters per book not even sixteen hours after our arrival. This was nearly five times faster than when the thirty-eight of us had been farming alone.
"We can proceed at a normal pace from tomorrow onward. And tell the wizards that they don't need to stop the gate from regenerating anymore."
"You mean..."
"We'll stop here. Prepare for camp."
We had even taken our meals on rotation to keep the hunt going, but eventually, Jerome called things off and gave us the okay to take a long rest.
Despite the long day, the expedition members made camp with practiced ease, and as soon as our downtime began, a familiar face came over to greet me. "Haha, are you busy?" asked Melend Kaislan, the knight I had worked with during the Ice Rock expedition.
"Even if I was, I would make time for you."
"That's an honor to hear." Kaislan grinned as he pushed out his fist, and I bumped it with my own in greeting. We had given each other nods of recognition whenever we happened to see each other in passing, but we hadn't gotten a chance to talk like this in a long while.
"I didn't expect it to take this long for us to find the time to talk."
"I'd heard people say before that working under Count Saintred is hell... But I didn't know it would be this bad."
Now that I thought about it, it seemed Jerome was pretty notorious among his fellow soldiers.
"So, what happened to you?" I asked. "Did the palace order you to join?"
"That's right. Heh heh, it seems they want to milk me for all I'm worth before my discharge. Well, since one of the goals of this mission was to save you, Your Lordship, I wasn't too fussed about it."
"Discharge? Did you put in a request?"
"I turned in my resignation over a month ago. It takes quite a while for these things to get processed... but I'm hoping it'll be done by the time this expedition is over."
"I see..."
"What's with that look on your face?"
"It's nothing. I'm just trying to figure out what I want to eat for supper." I evaded the question, covering the concern that lanced through me the second he told me his story. It was just that hearing that Kaislan had been ordered to come here right before getting discharged reminded me of Ice Rock.
Marrone would've been put in this expedition group too if there was something else going on... but I should still keep an eye out.
Rather than dismissing everything as a mere coincidence, I needed to keep the worst-case scenarios front of mind.
"Sir Kaislan! We finally meet!"
After that, Versyl, Erwen, and Amelia came over to say hi to Kaislan too. Then, a new face appeared.
"My apologies. This is the archbishop's first time camping, so I had to help out... I wanted to come over right away but ended up being late."
It was Goblin, aka Sven Parav.
As soon as he reached us, Versyl marched over to him with a glare. "You're here."
"I-It's been a while, Ms. Gowland..."
"Yes. It certainly has been a 'while,' Sir Parav."
In reality, they saw each other at the Round Table not too long ago. As someone who knew their identities, it was cute watching them put on their little act.
"Could everyone step aside for a second?" I asked.
"Yes, of course. I also can't stay long since the church—"
"Except you, Parav."
"...Pardon?"
Once we were done saying hello and catching up a bit, I shooed everyone away and had a one-on-one talk with Parav. "So..." he began nervously. "Is there something...?"
"You didn't want to join the expedition group so you faked a stomachache, right?"
"Did you hear that from Sir Kaislan?"
"No, I heard it from someone else."
"...So, you heard it from the Golden Sorcerer." He seemed to have reached that conclusion after remembering that Raven had gotten on my boat.
But I didn't care about any of that.
"Why did you do it? Did you have a 'weird feeling' again?"
"Well... it was a little different this time..."
"Different? Explain in detail. I trust your instincts."
"I... I don't know how to put this..." Parav hesitated, then admitted in a quiet, miserable voice, "I think... that I received a revelation..."
What...?
In this world, gods existed. The people here sometimes heard the voices of the gods or received prophecies or messages from them. They were even sometimes given holy relics to help carry out these so-called prophecies.
But that wasn't the point here.
I couldn't help but blurt, "You received a revelation...?"
"P-Please keep your voice down! Someone will hear you!"
A revelation wasn't something just anyone could get. That was why those who were blessed enough to hear the voices of the gods were called saints back in the city.
But this bastard's a player.
Sven Parav was an evil spirit from Earth, and the Three Gods' respective churches were as serious about hunting down evil spirits as the palace was. And yet, this guy had ended up getting a message straight from the head of those three gods even though he was an evil spirit.
"...Are you sure? That you received... that."
"I-I think so, at least for now."
I paused, unsure. What the hell were these gods thinking?
Then again, I myself had once received a sacred relic to help me out after I was nearly killed by the Dragon Slayer...
"So, what was the revelation? What did you hear to make you go to such lengths?"
"Um... So..."
I rushed to ask what exactly this revelation entailed, but an interruption unfortunately cut our conversation short.
"Sir Parav! The archbishop is looking for you! Come quickly!"
"Ah, oh...?" In his indecision, he glanced over at me to gauge my reaction, but when I gave him a nod, he quickly answered, "Ah, yes! Understood!" With that, he rushed back over to where the rest of the church members had set up camp.
...I can hear the rest later.
It was a shame I couldn't hear what he had to say right then and there, but I chewed on some jerky until I was full, shut my eyes, and prepared myself for tomorrow.
I can't sleep.
When I got up to drink some water in the middle of the night, I sensed eyes on me. I whipped my head around to look, ignoring the people on night watch, and spotted Hamsick hiding in the distance behind a bookshelf.
"Ahem..."
"Your Lordship, where are you going?"
"I can't sleep. I need to work off some energy, but it'll wake people up if I do it here."
"Ah, sure..."
I gave a vague excuse to the soldiers on watch and approached the bookshelf. The second I was within earshot, Hamsick whisper-shouted, "(Who... Who are those deranged humans?!)"
"(Uh... They're people from the kingdom... But they won't hurt you, so don't—)"
"(Won't hurt me...?)" Staring out at the still slightly broken stone gate, Hamsick clenched its furry fists. Its voice grew sorrowful. "(Not just once... Why do I have to experience something like this a second time...? Why are all humans like this...?)"
There was nothing I could say to that.
"(I'm a barbarian, though...?)"
Nothing, except that.
"That's right. Heh heh, it seems they want to milk me for all I'm worth before my discharge. Well, since one of the goals of this mission was to save you, Your Lordship, I wasn't too fussed about it."
"Discharge? Did you put in a request?"
"I turned in my resignation over a month ago. It takes quite a while for these things to get processed... but I'm hoping it'll be done by the time this expedition is over."
"I see..."
"What's with that look on your face?"
"It's nothing. I'm just trying to figure out what I want to eat for supper." I evaded the question, covering the concern that lanced through me the second he told me his story. It was just that hearing that Kaislan had been ordered to come here right before getting discharged reminded me of Ice Rock.
Marrone would've been put in this expedition group too if there was something else going on... but I should still keep an eye out.
Rather than dismissing everything as a mere coincidence, I needed to keep the worst-case scenarios front of mind.
"Sir Kaislan! We finally meet!"
After that, Versyl, Erwen, and Amelia came over to say hi to Kaislan too. Then, a new face appeared.
"My apologies. This is the archbishop's first time camping, so I had to help out... I wanted to come over right away but ended up being late."
It was Goblin, aka Sven Parav.
As soon as he reached us, Versyl marched over to him with a glare. "You're here."
"I-It's been a while, Ms. Gowland..."
"Yes. It certainly has been a 'while,' Sir Parav."
In reality, they saw each other at the Round Table not too long ago. As someone who knew their identities, it was cute watching them put on their little act.
"Could everyone step aside for a second?" I asked.
"Yes, of course. I also can't stay long since the church—"
"Except you, Parav."
"...Pardon?"
Once we were done saying hello and catching up a bit, I shooed everyone away and had a one-on-one talk with Parav. "So..." he began nervously. "Is there something...?"
"You didn't want to join the expedition group so you faked a stomachache, right?"
"Did you hear that from Sir Kaislan?"
"No, I heard it from someone else."
"...So, you heard it from the Golden Sorcerer." He seemed to have reached that conclusion after remembering that Raven had gotten on my boat.
But I didn't care about any of that.
"Why did you do it? Did you have a 'weird feeling' again?"
"Well... it was a little different this time..."
"Different? Explain in detail. I trust your instincts."
"I... I don't know how to put this..." Parav hesitated, then admitted in a quiet, miserable voice, "I think... that I received a revelation..."
What...?
In this world, gods existed. The people here sometimes heard the voices of the gods or received prophecies or messages from them. They were even sometimes given holy relics to help carry out these so-called prophecies.
But that wasn't the point here.
I couldn't help but blurt, "You received a revelation...?"
"P-Please keep your voice down! Someone will hear you!"
A revelation wasn't something just anyone could get. That was why those who were blessed enough to hear the voices of the gods were called saints back in the city.
But this bastard's a player.
Sven Parav was an evil spirit from Earth, and the Three Gods' respective churches were as serious about hunting down evil spirits as the palace was. And yet, this guy had ended up getting a message straight from the head of those three gods even though he was an evil spirit.
"...Are you sure? That you received... that."
"I-I think so, at least for now."
I paused, unsure. What the hell were these gods thinking?
Then again, I myself had once received a sacred relic to help me out after I was nearly killed by the Dragon Slayer...
"So, what was the revelation? What did you hear to make you go to such lengths?"
"Um... So..."
I rushed to ask what exactly this revelation entailed, but an interruption unfortunately cut our conversation short.
"Sir Parav! The archbishop is looking for you! Come quickly!"
"Ah, oh...?" In his indecision, he glanced over at me to gauge my reaction, but when I gave him a nod, he quickly answered, "Ah, yes! Understood!" With that, he rushed back over to where the rest of the church members had set up camp.
...I can hear the rest later.
It was a shame I couldn't hear what he had to say right then and there, but I chewed on some jerky until I was full, shut my eyes, and prepared myself for tomorrow.
I can't sleep.
When I got up to drink some water in the middle of the night, I sensed eyes on me. I whipped my head around to look, ignoring the people on night watch, and spotted Hamsick hiding in the distance behind a bookshelf.
"Ahem..."
"Your Lordship, where are you going?"
"I can't sleep. I need to work off some energy, but it'll wake people up if I do it here."
"Ah, sure..."
I gave a vague excuse to the soldiers on watch and approached the bookshelf. The second I was within earshot, Hamsick whisper-shouted, "(Who... Who are those deranged humans?!)"
"(Uh... They're people from the kingdom... But they won't hurt you, so don't—)"
"(Won't hurt me...?)" Staring out at the still slightly broken stone gate, Hamsick clenched its furry fists. Its voice grew sorrowful. "(Not just once... Why do I have to experience something like this a second time...? Why are all humans like this...?)"
There was nothing I could say to that.
"(I'm a barbarian, though...?)"
Nothing, except that.