Chapter 20
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Order (1)
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In a bandit hideout nestled on a secluded mountain path.
With only a few people left, Loan looked at the girl sitting across from him.
Across from Loan, a gray-haired girl clutching a thick book offered a faint smile.
The girl Loan was facing was Yutenia Hi-Lost.
She was the Apostle of a god who had turned Loan into a servant of an evil deity, and she was the one who had called this meeting today.
At Yutenia's request, only the two of them, she and Loan, remained.
Loan watched Yutenia with a wary gaze, seeing her for the first time after days of seclusion.
"What was it you wanted to discuss?"
"I received a divine oracle from the Great One yesterday."
"An oracle was bestowed? That's incredible."
As Yutenia spoke of the oracle, her body trembled slightly.
For some reason, the center of her forehead was red and swollen.
Had she perhaps fallen and hit the floor last night?
The thought briefly crossed Loan's mind.
But Loan quickly dismissed the useless thought and waited for Yutenia to continue.
"The Great One wishes to entrust you with an important task."
"An important task...!"
"Yes. There is an important duty for you, starting today."
"What kind of duty is it?"
At Yutenia's mention of an important mission, Loan felt his heart pound fiercely.
The girl before him was an Apostle of a god.
Her words were, in effect, a representation of the will of the god she served.
The great being observing them was about to assign him a mission.
Gulp.
Loan leaned in, eager to hear what mission would be given to him.
Soon, in Yutenia's gentle voice, the details of the mission Loan was to undertake were revealed.
"Loan Hebriss. From this day forward, you are the Archbishop who serves the Great One."
"A-Archbishop, you say?"
"Yes. It is a role in which you will serve the Great One closely and oversee important rituals."
"How could I dare to take on such a position..."
Archbishop.
It was a title given to the highest-ranking cleric governing a region.
It was as good as handing Loan complete authority over the surrounding area.
Of course, this offer hadn't come to Loan without reason.
From what Loan could see, the Order didn't yet have any significant power base.
Seeing Loan's reluctance, Yutenia added another remark.
"This position doesn't come without conditions."
"Of course. I understand."
"In return, you must diligently expand the Order's influence in this area."
Just as he'd expected.
He was being placed in an extraordinary position and was expected to build a force worthy of it.
He had been given the empty title of Archbishop of an Order with nothing to its name.
Under normal circumstances, Loan would have rejected this offer without a second thought.
But right now, a divine miracle stood clearly before his eyes.
A miracle in the form of an Apostle.
With an Apostle possessing immense magical power sitting right in front of him, refusal was not an option for Loan.
"So I am to expand the Order's influence."
"I know it will be difficult. That's why the Great One, as well as myself, has promised to provide a great deal of support."
"May I ask what kind of support, specifically?"
"First, I plan to teach you about the rituals."
Yutenia's promise to Loan was instruction on the rituals offered to their god.
In other words, he was not to be lax in making offerings.
Sacrificing lives was a matter of course for a black magician.
A black magician's power grew by accumulating their own karma.
Until now, he hadn't been able to perform them often due to his limited abilities, but with a power base to support him, it would be a different story.
Furthermore, the sacrificial ritual was a direct channel of communication with the great being.
If he performed the rituals regularly and caught the great being's eye, it was possible that a blessing might one day be bestowed upon him.
"Instruction on the rituals... You mean the Order is to conduct them separately."
"Precisely. You're very perceptive, Loan."
"You flatter me."
"And the next promised support is..."
"The next support...?"
Smirk.
Yutenia smiled as she lifted the book.
Cradling the heavy-looking Divine Artifact, Yutenia stood up.
As Yutenia rose, Loan also got to his feet.
Yutenia looked at the standing Loan and spoke.
"You'll find out about the next support when you perform the sacrificial ritual yourself, Loan."
"Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
"It's exactly as it sounds. If you put the ritual you learn from me into practice, the Great One will surely respond."
And with that, Yutenia's explanation was over.
Clack. Clack.
Having finished their conversation, Yutenia leisurely walked out of the hideout.
Loan stared blankly at the door through which Yutenia had departed.
Her final words were something Loan couldn't comprehend.
"A sacrificial ritual..."
To perform a sacrificial ritual, offerings are needed.
It seemed that after receiving instruction from Yutenia, Loan would need to prepare the offerings for the ritual.
In other words, if there weren't enough sacrifices, Loan would have to take action himself.
Loan spread his palm wide, then began to fold his fingers one by one.
One. Two. Three.
After counting all the slaves locked in the prison, Loan sighed.
"It looks like I'll have to go out and gather more myself."
Several days had passed since I received the gift from Yutenia.
Perhaps because a busy period had passed.
I was able to enjoy a rather leisurely day on a long-awaited public holiday.
Of course, even with more free time than usual, it just meant I could dedicate a little more of it to the game.
No matter what anyone says, a modern person's best friend is their smartphone.
You could even call it a life partner.
It would be hard for anyone to imagine a life without a smartphone now.
I was no exception.
"Did she send another grimoire today?"
After logging into the game, the first thing I did was tap the inventory with a finger full of anticipation.
I was checking for any potential offerings.
As expected, the list of items in my inventory was largely unchanged.
Yutenia hadn't sent any grimoires while I was away.
Tap. Tap.
Wondering if it was just lagging, I kept opening and closing the empty inventory.
Still, no unexpected items appeared in the inventory.
"Of course. There's no way a grimoire would show up every day."
I wished Yutenia would send one every day, but sadly, that seemed impossible.
Even I had to admit that was a shameless thought.
A game where you get a grimoire in your inventory every day just for logging in?
Who would spend money on a game like that?
It certainly wouldn't be a positive for the game's monetization model.
After a moment of disappointment, I looked at the shop button in the upper right corner of the screen.
"It can't still be under maintenance, can it?"
I glanced back and forth between my empty inventory and the shop button.
The Premium Currency Shop was under maintenance last time, but the probability of it still being down seemed low.
My paycheck had just been deposited into my bank account.
A 10-pull could fill my impoverished-looking inventory with some decent items.
To pull or not to pull.
After a long moment of deliberation, I made my decision and tapped the shop button.
Press.
As the screen switched to the shop page, a new message appeared at the bottom.
- Premium Currency Shop (Lv.MAX 1) skill has been expanded.
- You have acquired Premium Currency Shop (Lv.MAX 2).
- You can now use premium currency to purchase items from the shop.
The series of messages was completely unexpected.
The Premium Currency Shop skill had leveled up.
And to a bizarre, incomprehensible level called Lv.MAX 2, no less.
I couldn't help but cry out in astonishment at the gacha shop's sudden evolution.
"What? Why did this suddenly go up? I haven't even leveled up!"
The shop's level had increased on its own, without me leveling up.
And even more shocking was that the price for a 10-pull, which had been 69,900 won, had gone up again.
79,900 won for 10 pulls.
That was nearly 80,000 won.
The cost of spending had become even more burdensome.
Hah.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips as I stared at the gacha screen.
"This is... a truly legendary game in so many ways."
The shop evolves on its own without the player's consent.
You couldn't even choose to use the pre-evolution shop.
What other game in the world could present such a beautiful monetization structure?
It was only natural for me to hesitate, looking at the price that was now approaching 80,000 won.
80,000 won is by no means a small amount of money.
80,000 won. With that much money, I could order delivery food multiple times.
"80,000 won? How many chickens could I buy with that?"
As I calculated the price of chicken, my gaze drifted to the news program on the TV.
Just then, the news was running a story about chicken.
A reporter stood in front of a large picture of chicken, pointing to statistical data about it.
Most of the data presented showed that chicken prices had recently increased.
- "Due to the recent and continuous rise in ingredient costs, chicken franchises have decided to increase their prices."
- "In addition, with delivery companies announcing an increase in delivery fees..."
"80,000 won seems worth it, then."
There seemed to be no need to hesitate any longer.
I immediately tapped the gacha button.
Press.
With a familiar touch, the results of the pull began to appear on the screen one by one.
- You have obtained Baguette.
- You have obtained Sturdy Iron Sword.
- You have obtained Stylish Tunic.
- You have obtained Sharp Iron Sword.
- You have obtained Sponge Cake.
- You have obtained Steel Shield.
- You have obtained Sponge Cake.
- You have obtained Sponge Cake.
- You have obtained Sturdy Iron Sword.
- You have obtained Magic Sword: Ednos.
The items that appeared were mostly similar to last time.
With the exception of one item.
Magic Sword: Ednos.
My eyes were naturally drawn to the item that was emitting a brilliant light all on its own.
This last item to appear was radiating a purple halo from its background.