The Temple of Nain Gard
The Temple of Nain Gard
The Temple of Nain Gard was built like a fortress, ringed by high stone walls. A moat of flowing water had been dug around the perimeter, so it was a stronghold in truth.
We crossed the bridge spanning the moat and arrived at the main gate of the temple.
Delia stepped forward and called out in a ringing voice.
"Open the gate! My old friend Bellatrix has come to see my father! I've also brought adventurers and a mage who is to become a new Rune Mage!"
Creeeak!
The main gate swung open and we entered the temple grounds.
Counting myself, eight people were entering the temple.
Delia stood proudly at the head of our group. As we walked toward the temple building, which resembled a palace, following Delia, Rebecca suddenly spoke to me.
"I don't like her. That cheeky silver-haired brat."
Rebecca was glaring at the half-elf's back with sharp eyes. I thought I knew why she was angry, but I asked anyway, just to be sure.
"Why?"
"When we first met, she treated you like a criminal who'd seduced us. She was outrageously rude to you just because you're an incubus, and she still hasn't apologized. She fucked over my boyfriend and thinks she can just keep her mouth shut about it?!"
"......."
I fell silent at Rebecca's words.
It was true that Delia had been rude to me. She'd arbitrarily suspected me of being a wicked incubus, and even after her suspicions were cleared, she hadn't offered a single word of apology. I'd figured if I waited quietly, she'd apologize, but even after arriving at the temple, there'd been no sign of it.
"I really want to give that brat a good knuckle sandwich!"
"Calm down."
Rebecca ground her teeth as she watched Delia walking at the front.
She looked ready to run over and actually smack her on the head if I left her alone, so I held Rebecca back. If a bump formed on that half-elf's head, the mages of Nain Gard wouldn't leave us alone.
As luck would have it, she was a half-elf whose father was the head of the order, which meant she had incredible backing.
On the other hand, I had to remember that we were mere adventurers.
On the Midgard Continent, an apology was something exchanged between equals; if someone lacking in power demanded an apology, they might end up getting beaten instead.
I didn't particularly want to offend a half-elf who was practically a big shot.
'If it's unfair, I just have to get stronger.'
That was this otherworld in a nutshell.
However, my employer Bella didn't seem to see it that way.
"I'm sorry, Luke."
Bella, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, suddenly bowed her head to me and apologized.
I asked Bella with a puzzled look.
"Why are you apologizing, Bella?"
"Because it was my friend who was rude. Perhaps because she grew up without a mother, she's a bit immature. In fact, she's probably a year younger than you, Luke."
I was slightly surprised by Bella's words.
I'd thought that half-elf had lived a long time, but she was twenty?
That meant she was the same age as Kate.
No wonder she had a bit of a childish side.
"I suppose it can't be helped if she's missing a parent."
"Sigh. Just wait. I'll call Delia over."
At first, I thought Bella was simply going to apologize on behalf of her friend. But surprisingly, Bella stopped Delia and told her point-blank.
"Delia. Hold on a moment."
"Hm? Why?"
"Don't you have something you need to say to Luke?"
Something she needed to say to me.
Delia seemed to understand what Bella meant when she brought it up with a serious expression.
Not entirely lacking in awareness, the silver-haired half-elf glanced at me and broke out in a cold sweat.
"I, I do have something I need to say. About suspecting that incubus in front of the villa earlier...."
"You know perfectly well what it is. So why are you keeping your mouth shut and staying quiet?"
Bella smoothly grilled her childhood friend, Delia.
As expected of a Vice Guild Master leading a guild, her skill at handling people was anything but ordinary.
"Luke is affiliated with the Adventurer's Guild. That means he is my one and only irreplaceable person. Treating Luke carelessly is the same as treating me carelessly."
My one and only irreplaceable person?
Treating me the same as Bella?
It sounded strangely suggestive, but her tone was so calm that I let it slide. My lovers didn't seem to pay it any mind either, and were actually cheering Bella on.
"Vice Guild Master, go for it!! We didn't know you cared so much about us adventurers!"
"Vice Guild Master unnie, I'm so touched! I'll call you unnie from now on!! I love you as much as a horn whistle!!"
Rebecca and Kate sent up fervent cheers, and Bella lightly raised a hand to acknowledge them.
Delia couldn't behave as she pleased in front of her childhood friend, Bella.
"I, I was actually planning to apologize even if you hadn't said anything, you know?"
"Oh, really?"
"I just missed the timing and stayed quiet, that's all. If that adventurer really means that much to you, I have no choice. I'll do it now."
Delia, her face flushed from being openly rebuked, approached me. The silver-haired half-elf, whose height reached my chest, naturally looked up at me.
Jiggle, jiggle.
Her full breasts, swelling inside her robe, swayed with Delia's movement.
Despite her youthful appearance, her breasts alone were so large they seemed to overflow with maternal love.
"Um, Luke."
Delia placed her hands on her chest like a shelf and opened her mouth.
"I'm sorry! I apologize for my rudeness in front of the villa."
I finally heard an apology from Delia.
And right in the temple of Nain Gard, which might as well be Delia's home turf. The attendants she commanded, and even the passing members of Nain Gard, all stared at Delia and me with surprised expressions.
This was because Delia's voice had echoed rather loudly.
Everyone around must have heard her apologizing to me.
"Lady Delia apologized? To an incubus, no less?"
"The, the successor of Nain Gard bowed her head to a mere incubus...."
Among the members were several mages carrying quarterstaffs. The area grew noisy as they murmured while watching Delia and me.
Of course, it was none of my business.
I made eye contact with Delia and opened my mouth.
"It took quite a while, but you apologized, after all."
"......Yeah."
"I'll forgive you."
Having received a polite apology, I let go of the grudge I'd been holding in my heart.
"I will no longer call you Kanpeu either. Delia."
"So what is Kanpeu, anyway?"
"You don't need to know."
"Well, it was probably an insult regardless. You don't have to tell me. I'll let that go, too."
And so, Delia and I exchanged a handshake of reconciliation.
I thought everything was settled once we shook hands.
"Now that we've shaken hands, let's get moving again! It's wonderful to see!"
Bella's voice lifted the mood that had grown too serious.
After the conversation ended, we entered the temple building of Nain Gard.
*
After making up with Delia, I talked with her and learned who we would soon be meeting.
The Temple Master, Lawrence.
He was the head of Nain Gard, which researched Ancient Magic, and the highest-ranked Rune Mage on the continent.
Delia proudly spoke at length about her father.
"The Temple Master! I mean, my father is the wisest mage on the continent. Even the Magic Tower Master of Yoen-su seeks my father's advice on runology. If you go by academic achievement alone, he's a step above the Magic Tower Master."
"Does that mean the Temple Master is stronger than the Magic Tower Master?"
James, the Magic Tower Master of Yoen-su.
James was considered the one and only Archmage on the continent. But hearing there was a mage superior to James was strange. Although it's true that Nain Gard is a magical order not well-known to the public.
"If they engaged in a magical duel, the Magic Tower Master would probably beat my father. My father is old, so the still-young Magic Tower Master would have the advantage in a duel. But magic isn't just a technique for killing people, is it? I'm saying my father's accomplishment as a scholar is higher."
"How old is the Temple Master?"
"250 years old."
250 years old! That was a number far exceeding the human lifespan.
Mages or martial artists who have become superhuman by accumulating mana in their bodies do live longer than ordinary people. However, I knew that even at most, cases of living past 200 were exceedingly rare.
He was practically an old monster.
"When you meet my father, first prostrate yourself nine times. That's the etiquette for the Temple Master of Nain Gard."
"Understood."
We listened to Delia's explanation of the etiquette we needed to observe when meeting the Temple Master.
After passing through a long corridor and arriving at the center of the temple, Delia stopped walking.
"This is the shrine dedicated to Lord Odin. If you go inside, my father will be waiting for you."
A shrine dedicated to Odin, the progenitor of magic, had been built there.
It was the place where the Temple Master, Lawrence, was waiting for us.
"Let's go in."
As we entered the shrine, we saw an old man in a pure white robe sitting on the floor in a formal seated posture.
Behind the old man were massive statues depicting various gods of Midgard. Among those gods, a one-eyed god perched on a throne could also be seen.
That was Odin, the progenitor of magic.
"You have endured a long journey to come here."
A white-haired old man sat with a long, pure white beard flowing down.
The Temple Master Lawrence spoke to us.
Bella, as if having met Lawrence before, prostrated herself with a familiar attitude. We simply had to follow Bella's lead as best we could.
Only after performing nine prostrations were we able to rise from our spots.
"It has been a long time, Lord Lawrence. I am Bellatrix, the Vice Guild Master of Gjallarhorn. I have come to visit you, Lord Lawrence, on an important guild matter."
"It is good to see you again! Bellatrix, was it? You were but a young girl when we met alongside the Guild Master before. You have grown up entirely in the time I haven't seen you, so it seems the time has come for you to inherit the role of father."
"Lord Lawrence, you are no different now than you were then. You look exactly the same as when I saw you 10 years ago."
"Much has changed. My health has worsened compared to before. It is now becoming difficult for me to even move, as my time to leave this world draws near."
Contrary to his words about poor health, Lawrence was extremely vigorous. His limbs moved perfectly fine; no matter how I looked at him, he didn't seem like an old man about to die.
Bella revealed to Lawrence the purpose of their visit to the temple.
"Our Adventurer's Guild is currently suffering from a severe shortage of mage manpower. The guild has over a thousand affiliated adventurers, but among them, there are only 4 proper mages. It is no exaggeration to say that the mage is practically treated as a nonexistent class when forming adventurer parties."
As expected, Bella's situation was the guild's manpower shortage.
She said she had visited Nain Gard to solve the problem of the guild's mages continuously decreasing every year.
"Gjallarhorn wishes to officially sign a contract with Nain Gard. When issuing high-importance quests, we would receive support from the mages of Nain Gard. Naturally, we will provide fair compensation."
"Do you mean you wish for us to dispatch Rune Mages?"
"That is correct. Mages who use Ancient Magic would be a great help to adventurers."
"Let me see the contract. I shall read it over."
Bella had even prepared a contract and presented it to Lawrence.
Lawrence began to meticulously read Bella's contract.
'Gjallarhorn is signing a contract with Nain Gard?'
Honestly, from the perspective of an adventurer like me, this was a very important moment. Because if the Adventurer's Guild officially signs a contract with Nain Gard, I might finally meet other mages besides myself when undertaking quests.
Rebecca and Kate, fellow adventurers, were listening to Bella's story with interest.
"They said mages might be dispatched to the guild? Kate."
"Isn't that a good thing? Whenever a magic-related quest comes up, Mongma-nim is the only one who gets worked to the bone. What do you think, Mongma-nim?"
"Hm? Well...."
However, I couldn't focus on Bella's story at all.
For some reason, I was more concerned about the statues behind Lawrence.
'What is this?'
The progenitor of magic, whom Nain Gard worships.
A one-eyed god perched on a throne.
It was a statue of an old man, a crow hanging from each shoulder and a spear held in one hand.
I couldn't take my eyes off the statue of Odin.
"He looks like someone I know...."
It was absurd.
But I felt like I had definitely met him somewhere before.