Chapter 41
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Estacia (2)
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Sometimes in life, you encounter strokes of luck that are hard to understand.
Like finding money dropped on the street.
Or winning a prize from an event you never expected to.
Or when a single, thoughtless action brings about a massive result.
For me, the scene unfolding before my eyes was exactly that.
The screen of my smartphone, with the game Id been playing still open.
There, an amount of Karma I had never imagined was displayed.
"What in the world is this?"
In just a day or two, the amount of Karma had increased by a total of 720.
Considering the Order's recent activities, this couldn't have been from offerings.
Loan seemed to be focused on expanding the cult and had entered a nearby city.
It was better to assume the Karma had increased for some other reason.
I moved my gaze down the screen to check the messages that had accumulated while I was away from the game.
"Just what happened?"
At the bottom of the screen, a series of completely unexpected messages had appeared.
Most of them were about Karma generation.
Of course, there was almost nothing about offerings made at the Order's level.
The main contributors to the new Karma were the two creatures I had created last time.
The Abyssal Fiend, Kueberberg.
And the Cherubim, Estacia.
The activities of these two creatures had accumulated a massive amount of Karma for me.
- Abyssal Fiend: Kueberberg has harvested a life.
- The Scales of Karma calculates the causality.
- Karma has increased by 42.
- Abyssal Fiend: Kueberberg has harvested a life.
- The Scales of Karma calculates the causality.
- Karma has increased by 56.
.
.
.
- The Scales of Karma calculates the causality.
- Karma has increased by 22.
Of the two creatures, Kueberberg was the one with the most messages.
Was it because I had set its aggression to 10?
It seemed Kueberberg was moving around its spawn point and destroying everything in its path.
Considering Kueberberg's size, it was only natural that simply moving would cause damage.
If it was also attacking directly, it made sense that countless characters had been swept away.
All of Kueberberg's activities had been converted into a large amount of Karma by The Scales of Karma.
To think that Kueberberg, which I hadn't even looked at since creating it, was earning Karma like this.
Feeling proud, I focused the screen on Kueberberg, who was diligently auto-hunting for me.
"Ah but still, I can't look at it for long."
Then I turned the screen in another direction.
It wasn't exactly a pleasant sight to behold.
If all my characters looked like that, I would have quit and found another game long ago.
That's how far Kueberberg's appearance was from my personal taste.
Averting my eyes from the hunting Kueberberg, I examined Estacia's messages as well.
"This was the pet who asked me for bread What on earth happened?"
Estacia was a creature with an appearance completely opposite to Kueberberg's.
That was because, horrified by Kueberberg's creation, I had set all of Estacia's options to the other extreme.
Perhaps because she was the opposite of Kueberberg in every aspect, from appearance to disposition, her actions were worlds apart.
- Cherubim: Estacia has manifested a miracle.
- The Scales of Karma calculates the causality.
- Karma has increased by 5.
- The number of followers in the Order has greatly increased.
- Some followers have acquired the Fanatic trait.
- Karma has increased by 7.
- Cherubim: Estacia has manifested a large-scale miracle.
- The Scales of Karma calculates the causality.
- Karma has increased by 10.
.
.
.
- The number of followers in the Order has greatly increased.
- Some followers have acquired the Fanatic trait.
- Karma has increased by 14.
Perhaps because her aggression was only 1, there wasn't a single message about harvesting life.
Instead, most of Estacia's messages were about events I had never seen before.
Karma generation through the manifestation of miracles.
I didn't know exactly what "miracle" meant, but it was clear Estacia had done something extraordinary.
Moreover, despite acquiring a large amount of Karma, the causality correction hadn't shifted much.
It was a starkly different pattern from how I had acquired Karma until now.
"What in the world have you been doing?"
The number of followers increased, and my accumulated Karma rose.
What kind of actions would lead to such results?
Curious about Estacia's activities, I focused the screen on her.
A complex mountain range located somewhere on the map.
There, before a massive crowd, Estacia stood with her wings spread wide.
With her halo glowing and wings fully unfurled, Estacia looked incredibly divine.
Perhaps for that reason, countless characters around her were bowing their heads to the ground.
"What is this?"
Estacia, surrounded and revered by a huge crowd.
Looking at the characters near her, some of them had the Fanatic trait.
Fanatic was a trait that only appeared in a select few followers.
This meant that most of the characters on screen were my followers.
I was dumbfounded by the sight of so many followers appearing in a place where Loan wasn't present.
"Why are you guys over there?"
A large number of followers had appeared even without Loan proselytizing.
And the behavior of some of them was even more spectacular.
They were continuously bringing fruit and offering it at Estacia's feet.
Of course, Estacia was popping all the fruit she received into her mouth.
A dry laugh escaped my lips at the scene of tribute unfolding before me.
- "Next time, you must bring more strawberries."
- "Yes, ma'am!"
That wasn't the only absurd thing.
Estacia was even ordering her next menu item from the followers who brought her fruit.
I'd thought it since she asked me for bread, but that angel was no ordinary creature.
Her AI must have been fundamentally broken somewhere.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain the sight of an angel exploiting other characters.
Watching the angel who had climbed to the top of the social structure, I couldn't help but ponder.
"...This is a good thing, right?"
Still, since Karma was coming in, I must have gotten a decent creature, right?
Faced with a slightly strange AI, my mind quickly compromised with the situation.
In any case, the fact that she was increasing my Karma made Estacia an amazing creature, without a doubt.
For a creature that did a good job, a rewarding pat on the head would be the best praise.
I immediately reached my finger toward Estacia.
I intended to pat the head of the one who had gathered so many followers.
- "?"
However, my praise failed to reach Estacia properly.
Kwoong.
With a heavy thud, a shield of light materialized above Estacia's head.
Estacia looked up, her head tilted toward the shield floating in the sky.
I, too, stared at the shield that had appeared on the screen and voiced my confusion.
My attempt to pat Estacia had been blocked.
"Now what is this?"
My touch blocked by a shield, I couldn't help but be amazed once more.
This was one incredible pet, in more ways than one.
Crossbridge, the Temple of Abundance.
There, Saintess Serena, who had been offering a prayer to the heavens, opened her eyes.
As she did, a ring of light shimmered in her pupils.
Serena glanced back and forth between her hands and the statue of the goddess for a moment, then rose from her place with a sigh.
Seeing Serena finish her prayer, Lian, her guardian knight who had been waiting nearby, approached her.
"Are you alright, Saintess?"
"Of course, Lian."
"Your expression seems troubled."
"It's just that many troublesome situations have occurred all at once."
As she finished speaking, Serena recalled the divine oracle she had just received.
As if the hero's failure to visit the temple wasn't problematic enough, the goddess she served had bestowed an even greater trial upon them.
The fearsome minions of the evil god had begun to appear simultaneously.
And the malevolent followers of the evil god's cult were moving to swallow the empire.
Neither issue could be left unattended.
Seeing Serena's face darken with her many worries, Lian, who stood by her side, asked her a question.
"Did you perhaps receive an oracle?"
"Yes. I did."
"What was its content?"
"There was quite a lot this time. The first was about the hero chosen by the goddess."
The whereabouts of the Hero of Abundance.
Hearing Serena's words, Lian's face hardened.
Even though the hero's sigil had fully manifested, nearly half of the chosen heroes had not yet come to the temple.
If a hero with the sigil died, another would be born immediately, but if not, the situation could become much more complicated.
The training and subjugation schedules designed to nurture the heroes would be thrown into disarray.
To prevent that, it was necessary for the heroes to visit the temple.
"The Hero of Abundance, you say."
"Yes."
"Did you find out something about him?"
"His name is Gilford Proud. It seems he's the leader of Gilford's Mercenary Corps."
"Gilford Proud. So that's his name."
"And he was seen holding the Divine Artifact, Ascalon."
Recalling the face of Gilford, who was wandering around hiding his sigil, Serena wore a troubled expression.
She would need to investigate for more details, but from what she'd seen of his conduct, he didn't seem like a bad person.
As long as no problems arose, she had no desire to dispose of him.
Moreover, he had already received the Divine Artifact Ascalon from the Goddess of Abundance.
Ascalon was known as the strongest among all the divine artifacts of the six temples.
If Ascalon was bound to Gilford, the Temple of Abundance would have absolutely no means of changing the hero.
At the news that Gilford possessed the Divine Artifact, Lian asked Serena to confirm it again.
"Are you saying that man possesses Ascalon?"
"It's a truly difficult situation."
Serena said, looking at the white holy sword hanging at Lian's waist.
Ascalon was an item that couldn't even be compared to the replica of the Divine Artifact that Lian possessed.
Simply holding it strengthened the body, and when all its seals were released, it could even wound a god.
It was the most absurd of all the celestial treasures permitted to mortals.
The goddess they served had entrusted humans with a blade that could even be turned against her.
If such an artifact were to lose its master and be sealed away, the options available to the holy grounds would be severely limited.
"If that man truly possesses Ascalon, we must bring him to the holy grounds, no matter what!"
"Lian. Calm down. We have many other things to do besides that."
"Hah Gilford, you said. I will order the Holy Knights to investigate him separately."
"Yes. I'll leave that part to you, Lian."
The matter of the hero Gilford was something the entire holy grounds could not afford to ignore.
Serena nodded at Lian's words about issuing an order to the Holy Knights.
With Gilford's matter settled for now, it was time to bring up the other oracles.
Lian, who had not yet shed his anxious expression, asked Serena about the content of the next oracle.
"You said there was another oracle. What other message was sent down?"
"This time, it's about the minions of the evil god."
"Minions of the evil god? Have wicked monsters risen from the Abyss?"
"Yes. One is a fiend named Kueberberg, who calls itself the Lord of the Abyss."
"Kueberberg. It must be a powerful one."
The Lord of the Abyss, Kueberberg.
The name alone suggested a powerful fiend.
As a minion of the evil god, it would undoubtedly possess formidable abilities.
If such a monster were to run rampant, it would surely cause great damage.
It needed to be subjugated as quickly as possible before severe harm could be done.
"The empire is attempting to form a subjugation team for Kueberberg, but I don't know how that will turn out."
"Are you planning to leave Kueberberg to the empire?"
"Yes. For now, that's what we'll have to do."
If the empire was taking on the subjugation of Kueberberg, it wasn't an immediate concern.
Of course, if they failed, it would become a great problem for the holy grounds.
For now, the priority was to deal with the other minion that was being left unchecked.
Having finished her explanation about Kueberberg, Serena moved on to the next minion.
The next oracle was about an angel that had appeared, the opposite of Kueberberg.
"And the other is a fallen angel named Estacia, but"
"A fallen angel. That sounds like a difficult opponent."
"This one is a bit strange."
"Pardon?"
"She has fallen, but she's not a fallen angel."
Hearing Serena's words, Lian wore a look of incomprehension.
The moment an angel is tainted by evil, their halo and wings lose their light, and they become a fallen angel.
Therefore, what Serena was saying was a complete contradiction.
How could such a state even exist?
Of course, Serena, the one who spoke the words, didn't understand it either.
"I'm not even sure what I'm saying myself."
A good angel who betrayed them.
As for why a good angel would commit betrayal, that was something even Serena could not fathom.