Chapter 17

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 17

Chapter Title: The City of the Serpent and the Sea (2)

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The most eye-catching sight inside the cathedral was the massive sea serpent statue standing rigidly at the far end.

It was several times larger than the one at the fountain.

And this statue was emitting a brilliant blue glow in all directions.

Its overwhelming presence made Cheisi oblivious to everything else in the cathedral.

"Ooooh..."

"Lord Siurug..."

Priests wearing sunglasses knelt before the statue, deep in prayer.

Even though it was a scene of worship, the sunglasses made it anything but reverent.

The priestess girl led Cheisi through the praying priests to the front.

"Pray to that statue, and the curse will be lifted. But you have to mean it with all your heart!"

At the promise of breaking the curse, Cheisi clasped her hands like the other priests and closed her eyes before the sea serpent statue.

A message appeared, prompting her to compose a prayer.

'A prayer?'

Cheisi entered the first thought that came to mind.

'I want to eat grilled sea serpent.'

And just like that, her faith dropped after praying.

Her faith had started at -50, likely due to smashing the fountain head, and now it dropped even further by 1.

As Cheisi stared at the message in bewilderment, the girl came to check the results.

"Did the curse lift?"

"No. And praying made my faith drop."

"...Did you pray properly? It's not just mouthing the words—you have to truly worship Lord Siurug from the heart."

The girl stepped forward as if to demonstrate.

"Pray just like this! Great Lord Siurug, we are eternally grateful for your watchful gaze over this city, in awe of your boundless mercy..."

Her words flowed on endlessly.

Growing impatient, Cheisi started another prayer and entered just the first sentence.

'Great Lord Siurug.'

After praying for about a minute, a message appeared.

Faith went up by 1 after a whole minute of praying!

"How long do I have to pray to lift the curse?"

"...A really long time. If you could see your own faith, I'd say you need to exceed 50."

Faith of 50.

Cheisi felt dizzy just thinking about it. To hit 50, she'd have to write prayers and pray for a minute each—100 times.

The viewers had already accepted reality and were bracing for the boredom.

Cheisi couldn't imagine praying for 100 straight minutes. Then, something clicked in her mind.

'Right, that exists.'

Cheisi equipped the title and prayed.

It worked just as she hoped—the faith shot straight past 100 right after the prayer ended.

It had to be the First Visitor of Azelchen title's effect: +150 respect.

The curse vanished in an instant.

The viewers sighed in relief at not having to endure 100 minutes of praying. Cheisi, who had dreaded the tedium just as much, let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

The girl brought over a very long scroll of parchment.

"Here. Adventurer, if you pray this, you can boost your faith a ton at once."

"...Already lifted the curse."

"Wh-what?! How?!"

"Equipped a title."

Cheisi remembered the girl was an NPC.

"Do you know what a title is...?"

"Of course. Adventurers who earn titles are exceptional ones."

The girl smiled brightly at Cheisi.

"Are you interested in becoming a priest, by any chance?"

Level 10. That was the requirement for getting a job—or at least, for accepting the quest.

"Priest is the healing class, right?"

"Exactly as you think."

Cheisi shook her head.

"...I want a combat job."

She preferred hunting monsters herself over healing and supporting others.

"Oh no, really?"

The priestess's bright smile turned crestfallen in an instant.

"Trouble is, if you're not interested in priest but some other job, that's a problem. We're the only job guild in Azelchen."

"Really?"

"Yes. Each region has its own job guild for advancing classes. Lord Siurug, whom we serve, is playful but benevolent, granting powers to heal and aid others. People in other regions wield different powers in different ways."

In short:

"To change to a non-priest job, you need to go to another region."

To get a different job, she'd have to find a new area.

"What should I do? Just go priest?"

Cheisi asked the viewers, though she had no intention of doing so.

The viewers rushed to dissuade her from picking priest, lest she actually do it. Having seen how she fought, they knew it didn't suit her at all.

New viewers flooding in from the new region discovery were baffled by the reactions.

Viewers who'd watched yesterday's fights felt a quiet pride. Her miraculous reaction speed dodging deadly attacks was something else.

The newcomers who missed it were almost pitiable.

Seeing the chat, Cheisi fully shut down any priest thoughts.

"...Ah, that look. You just hardened your heart against it, didn't you? 'No priests for me.'"

"How'd you know...?"

"Hing... Most adventurers who come to the priest guild do that. Why do they all hate worshiping Lord Siurug? No one's kinder."

"I've met him. Didn't seem that kind."

The girl's face lit up in shock at Cheisi's words.

"Y-you met Lord Siurug in person?!"

"...Why?"

"He only appears to those he likes! D-did he give you something?"

"A heart."

"A heart?!"

"Yeah. He scarfed all the fish I caught in two hours, then wagged his tail and drew a heart."

"......"

The girl fell silent for a moment before bowing deeply to Cheisi.

"I'm sorry. Lord Siurug must have troubled you... I saw him at the fountain doing something awful and suspected you were a heretic, but I didn't realize you had reason to be upset."

Unlike the viewers who knew Cheisi's true nature, the girl seemed genuinely apologetic.

"I'm Nell! If it's okay, could I compensate you for the fish Lord Siurug took?"

Nell led Cheisi out of the priest guild and into a street lined with restaurants.

She stopped in front of a wooden building with a firmly shut door and went inside with Cheisi.

"This is my restaurant."

Nell seated Cheisi at an empty table and headed to the kitchen.

Cheisi looked around the empty interior. A single swinging bulb cast a soft yellow glow, creating a serene atmosphere amid the quiet.

"Please wait just a moment!"

Clattering sounds came from the kitchen as Nell busily prepared something. Soon, a tantalizing aroma wafted out, making Cheisi's tail swish.

"Hehe, enjoy! It's Riebpstar hotpot loaded with local Azelchen seafood!"

Nell returned from the kitchen carrying a steaming pot of hotpot filled with red shellfish.

This was her idea of 'compensation.'

Cheisi stared at the dish before her.

"...No matter how I look at it, this is..."

It was a very familiar shape.

The red shellfish looked just like real-world lobster. Even the name was similar: lobster, Riebpstar.

Checking the info, it boosted defense by a whopping 20. An insane stat for something she'd need right before combat.

'Wonder how it tastes...'

Cheisi took her first spoonful of Riebpstar hotpot.

Rich seafood umami steeped deep in the broth. She gave the soup full marks without hesitation, then tried the Riebpstar.

Tender enough to chew shell and all. The meat inside had soaked up the spicy broth, delivering a clean yet uniquely piquant flavor.

"Come here and eat this. It's amazing."

Basking in the viewers' envy, Cheisi polished off the Riebpstar hotpot.

It tasted great, boosted her defense, and filled her up.

Savoring the lingering flavor on her tongue, Cheisi pondered her next move.

"...Guess I have to head to another region for job change."

"Map."

Like in Runein Village, Cheisi pulled up the map.

Two paths led out of Azelchen to other regions: right and left, both unknown.

"Right or left... Hmm..."

Cheisi pondered. The two areas probably had unique traits and guilds.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chat split between right and left.

"Something on your mind?"

"Oh, Nell."

Nell approached and sat beside the deep-in-thought Cheisi.

"...Trying to leave Azelchen for another region, but there seem to be two paths—right and left—so I was deciding."

Nell tilted her head.

"The right path? Hmm, that one's been flooded for ages. Can't go through."

Decision made.

Cheisi pinned the map for the left path.

It crossed through Azelchen and required a bit more walking after.

+

Before following Nell, Cheisi spotted a Training Dummy in the corner of the priest guild.

Out of pure curiosity after checking the info, Cheisi decided to test it.

She set it to an enemy from the tutorial and poked it with her dagger.

The dummy collapsed instantly.

Its defense seemed even worse than a slime's.

Cheisi propped it up and tweaked the stats.

Now it had some satisfying heft when hit.

Her dagger shredded straw left and right.

Once stripped bare, the dummy flopped over.

Even resetting it now probably wouldn't work for reuse.

As Cheisi decided to stop tormenting it and sheathed her dagger, Nell came running from afar, having watched the bout.

"I pray to Lord Siurug."

Extending her hand toward the dummy, a blue ocean hue swirled from Nell's fingertips, and the straw grew lush again.

"Now you can keep fighting!"

After setting it up, Nell trotted away to avoid interrupting.

Cheisi touched the dummy to confirm the revival.

'The straw's even moist.'

Slightly surprised by the perfect restoration, Cheisi downed it once more before heading to the restaurant with Nell.

Cheisi didn't know.

The priest guild's Training Dummy was so unassuming that even after she finished the delicious Riebpstar hotpot, no one healed it—it lay coldly collapsed.

Well, what could you do? That was just its fate.