Responsibility
The expedition's return proceeded without any trouble.
The expedition members, who had heard Riod's sudden declaration of return in the middle of the night, looked baffled, but they had no real complaints since no one wanted to refuse going home and sleep outdoors instead.
They preferred heading back to Fernin even if it meant a late departure, so they could sleep warmly in their own beds.
Inside the carriage returning to Fernin, Elenoa cradled the survivor girl from Bram Village on her lap. The girl was still fast asleep.
"What do you plan to do with this child?"
"I'll leave her at the nursery."
"The nursery?"
"Yes. I personally sponsor one. I'll ask them to take her in."
"...Come to think of it, you once donated a hundred... that amount of money to our family under the guise of sponsorship."
For a moment, Elenoa nearly said "platinum coins" but caught herself, mindful of the surrounding gazes, and changed her words.
"Do you have that much money?"
"Ha, why? Do you need some?"
Eunhyeon chuckled at her blunt question and shot back.
"I'm not joking—a hundred... that sum of money handed over in one go? And come to think of it, you sometimes demonstrate this ability to create objects out of thin air. Don't tell me you're counterfeiting them..."
"If they were counterfeit platinum coins, the duke would have noticed by now, or there'd be a huge uproar. They're legitimately in my possession, so don't worry."
In truth, the Replication power granted by Urd, one of the Three Goddesses of Fate, was an outrageously overpowered ability—one that could even surpass the powers of Verdandi or Skuld in certain ways.
Being able to replicate and produce any object perfectly after seeing and owning it once meant that the six hundred platinum coins Eunhyeon had given to Abros might also be "counterfeit" produced through this power.
Elenoa's concern was entirely justified.
If it were revealed that the duke's family—the highest nobility in the kingdom aside from the royal family—was using counterfeit coins, it would bring shame not just to the house but to the entire nation.
[This child values the power my sister bestowed more highly than mine... It leaves me with such complicated feelings...]
'You know that's not what I meant.'
Eunhyeon looked up at Verdandi, who was pouting after reading his thoughts, and smiled.
Because it was such a cheat-like ability, Urd had imposed restrictions on Eunhyeon's use of it.
She forbade excessive use of powers on a scale that could significantly impact the world.
Personal use was allowed, but mass-producing the continent's highest currency, platinum coins, and disrupting the economy was impossible.
The restrictions were vaguely worded, but since they prevented Eunhyeon from abusing the power for evil, he accepted them without much complaint.
Thus, aside from summoning weapons in battle, Eunhyeon rarely used Replication.
Lately, the only time was building his private fifth-floor house deep in the Arkys Great Labyrinth.
"I could see you pulling a scam like that and passing counterfeit coins to my father."
"Why bother with something so troublesome? What would I gain by making an enemy of the duke and stirring chaos in the kingdom?"
"Then where on earth did you get all that money?"
"I cleared dungeons."
"Dungeons...?"
"Yes."
"That's not an amount you get from conquering a few dungeons."
Mindful of the eyes around them again, Elenoa tugged Eunhyeon's ear, covered her mouth with her hand, and whispered softly into his ear.
"Of course."
"Pardon?"
Eunhyeon mimicked her action, covering his mouth and whispering into her ear the number of dungeons he had conquered so far. Elenoa's eyes widened like a startled rabbit's as she heard an unimaginable figure.
"You! Your adventurer rank right now is... Mmph?!"
"Shh."
"Mmmph..."
"You'll wake the child."
The survivor girl on Elenoa's lap stirred faintly at her raised tone.
"And this isn't the record reported to the guild. You get what I mean, right?"
Elenoa nodded slightly, understanding the implication to keep it secret. Eunhyeon finally released his hand from her mouth.
It was an unbelievable number of conquests, but Elenoa found herself thinking it might be possible for Eunhyeon—and that absurdity frustrated her.
"Why... tell me something like that? If it's a secret, you could've just not said anything."
"You suspected me of using 'counterfeit currency'—something ridiculous—so I told you. Honestly, doesn't it make more sense that I earned it conquering dungeons?"
'Honestly, neither seems believable.'
Elenoa glared at him suspiciously through half-lidded eyes, but Eunhyeon ignored her gaze.
"By the way, where did your two escort knights go?"
"They wanted to talk with you alone, so I had them ride in another carriage. This one's just for patients anyway—no real danger."
"I'm right here."
Even with her secret connections to the duke's family, conversing intimately with an unrelated man in such a public setting with so many eyes wasn't ideal.
She was a noblewoman destined for a political marriage someday.
"That's why they wanted to talk to you."
"Hmm? What about?"
"Don't you owe me an apology first?"
"Hm?"
Eunhyeon tilted his head, feigning ignorance, and Elenoa clenched her fists, truly angry now. Suppressing the urge to punch that face, she spoke slowly.
"You stabbed a sword into my chest."
"Yes. I did."
"You did?"
"...? Did it hurt? That's strange—I shouldn't have felt any pain..."
"Pain isn't the issue—! Huuuuuh!"
She nearly exploded but took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Fine. We'll skip that... but will you explain exactly what happened?"
"Just as it sounds. I forcibly injected the relic's holy power into your body. Before the vessel containing more holy power than it could handle shattered, I forcibly expanded your vessel. But since it was forced, there will be lingering aftereffects. Your body will feel shaky, and even minor shocks or pains will seem amplified."
When the holy power was first injected, Elenoa's body was like a rubber balloon overinflated with air.
Filled beyond its limit, it risked bursting like a balloon from the excess. But before Eunhyeon could intervene to prevent disaster, she had adeptly followed his advice, activating and regulating the holy power to gradually expand her vessel's limits and avoid rupture.
"...My body still feels shaky. How long will this last?"
"Once your vessel expands enough to fully accommodate the holy power, the aftereffects will vanish. It depends on your aptitude."
Judging her current state, Eunhyeon figured full adaptation wouldn't take long.
"My current state is, perhaps..."
"Exactly. You're beyond an ordinary mid-level priest. If you get certified at the temple, they'd probably promote you to high priest without further review."
"Haa... You've done something outrageous again. This time to my body... What do you plan when we reach Fernin?"
"I'll have to meet the duke first."
"My father...?"
"It benefited you, but I arbitrarily forced your rank higher. I think it's right for me to report it. Besides, we're picking a fight with the temple—now that you're involved, I won't just leave the duke in the dark."
"......"
"I'm not the type to cause trouble and shirk responsibility."
"I'll hold you to those words."
The Artia Knight Order expedition successfully returned to Fernin and informed the adventurers that the guild would handle payments later, then swiftly headed back to headquarters.
"Is it really impossible?"
"No."
"Pl-please, just let me see the internal structure once... I-I'll pay whatever you want!"
"This unit reports all missions completed. Recommend proceeding to the next destination promptly."
Eunhyeon firmly refused Cecilia's pleas to peek inside Emilia, shaking his head. Emilia seemed genuinely annoyed by her presence and urged them onward. Watching the scene, Elenoa stifled a laugh.
"May I take this child? Depending on her, I'd like to train her as a maid at the duke's mansion. She'd get better treatment than an orphanage, at least."
Elenoa gazed at the Bram Village survivor girl on Reno's back and made her request. Eunhyeon nodded.
"If you're willing, I'd be grateful."
In the late pre-dawn hours just before sunrise, Eunhyeon and Elenoa's group split off en route and headed to the Armitas Duke Mansion.
Elenoa's sudden early-morning return threw the mansion into a bustle.
After thanking her escort knights for their hard work, she led Eunhyeon to Abros's study, where Alex joined them.
Having heard every detail of the expedition in the study, Abros swallowed hard with a grim face.
"Hm, chimeric bio-alchemy fusing corpses and beasts, necromancy controlling corpses at will, and repeated village raids to procure more bodies."
"I'll head to the duchy immediately."
Recognizing the severity, Alex received Abros's nod and left the study at once to prepare for the early-morning journey to the Armitas Duchy.
With no clear intel, checking if similar massacres like Bram Village had occurred near his territory was the best counter to the necromancer for now.
"Planning to interrogate the captured bandits?"
"Yes. They're imprisoned in the Artia Knight Order's cells."
"Hm... Nothing for it but to leave that to Marquis Olivion. The real issue... is Elenoa's priest rank. Elenoa."
"...Yes, Father."
"What do you want to do? If your rapid rank-up comes to light, the temple might take notice."
"I can't stand by after the temple's actions. I intend to accept this man's proposal."
"They might try all sorts of tricks to recruit you if your rank is exposed."
"Father... you'll protect me, right?"
Her voice lacked confidence, trembling slightly with worry that her actions might disgrace the family.
"Ha, no matter what anyone says—even the temple—if they touch my daughter, I won't stand idly by. And you wouldn't have pulled such a stunt on my daughter without thinking, right?"
Abros glared sharply at Eunhyeon, who met his gaze head-on with a relaxed chuckle.
"Of course. I proposed screwing over the temple, and I forced your daughter's rank up to draw their attention. No plans to wash my hands of it. I'll take proper responsibility."
"Responsibility... That's a heavy word. Can you truly bear it?"
"Pardon? Of course."
Amused that father and daughter used the exact same phrase, Eunhyeon tilted his head briefly before answering without hesitation.
Like father, like daughter—or in this case, like father, like daughter.