Chapter 146: The Hidden Effects of the Saint’s Skills
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 146: The Hidden Effects of the Saint’s Skills
But this wasn’t a situation where he could just stand there, paralyzed by fear.
Approaching Sara, who was covered in blood when he was the one in the wrong, took an incredible amount of courage, but Guwon moved closer to her anyway.
Then, he grabbed both of Sara’s hands tightly so she couldn’t run away.
Sara flinched, trying to pull her hands back.
She’s reacting like this to me just holding her hand…
“Sara. Listen, there were unavoidable circumstances that led to me sleeping with Vanessa.”
“…I’m sure there were.”
Sara’s reaction was different from what I’d expected; it was somewhat lukewarm.
Did she blow off some steam by slaughtering monsters? No, that didn’t seem right.
This was a different reaction from someone whose anger had subsided.
How was I supposed to interpret this?
Right. It was as if she didn’t have the mental space to care about something like that.
But did that make any sense? This was the same girl who had reacted so violently she’d stormed out of the mansion the moment she found out I’d slept with another woman. How could she suddenly not care? It didn’t add up. Unless her feelings for me had suddenly gone cold…
As that thought crossed his mind, Guwon felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.
Come to think of it, she has a very decisive personality, one that cuts ties cleanly.
This was a truly dangerous situation.
They say indifference is scarier than criticism. This was exactly that kind of situation.
“Sara. Listen. It turns out my skill had a special effect that even I didn’t know about. That’s why I had no choice but to sleep with Vanessa. Think about it. No matter how much I tried to seduce her, with Vanessa’s personality, would she have ever slept with me if it wasn’t for something like that?”
Even after hearing Guwon’s words, Sara still looked confused.
But she closed her eyes and seemed to ponder something deeply, then shook her head vigorously and looked at Guwon.
Her expression was as cool and composed as ever.
“…What are you talking about?”
Thank god. It seemed she still had enough interest left to ask.
“You know how when monsters get hit by my skill, they ignore you guys even when you’re close and only charge at me? Well, it turns out that anyone affected by my skill can’t have their sexual urges satisfied unless I’m the one to relieve them. Vanessa was accidentally hit by my skill, and for that reason, we had no choice but to sleep together just that one time.”
“Accidentally hit by your skill? Accidentally?”
“Well, I left Holy Ground Proclamation on all night to try and strengthen its power. And as it happened, Vanessa was within the skill’s range.”
“You go to sleep with a skill like that active, knowing someone might be in its range?”
It was more like I left it on hoping someone would be in range.
If I told her the truth, I’d get my ass kicked, right? But I couldn’t risk telling another lie here.
“Actually, I was kind of hoping… wait. Don’t get mad, just listen. It was never my intention to do anything to any woman who happened to be in range. I may be a pervert, but I’m not such trash that I’d use a method like that to force myself on a woman I have no feelings for. Why would I do something like that when I have you guys? I just thought, maybe if someone was in range, I could watch them masturbate or something. It was a purely perverted impulse like that…”
“…Do you even understand what you’re saying right now?”
Yeah. I know full well how stupid it sounds.
But what can I do? It’s the truth.
“And you said that if someone is affected by your skill, they can’t be satisfied until you relieve them, right? You thought it would just end with them masturbating?”
“I swear, I really didn’t know the skill had that effect until then. I only found out for the first time because of what happened to Vanessa. I swear on my life, it’s the truth. Please believe me.”
Sara stared intently at Guwon’s face.
Guwon met her gaze without looking away. This time, he truly wasn’t lying at all.
“Hah. You’re spouting such nonsense that it makes me feel stupid for even doubting you.”
Finally, Sara let out a deep sigh and spoke.
The reason she believed him was a little suspect, but it seemed she was believing him for now.
“So you believe me?”
“Don’t get happy. Even if that’s the truth, the fact that you slept with Vanessa doesn’t change, and the fact that you lied to me doesn’t change either.”
Sara shot a glare at the relieved Guwon.
“Why did you lie in the first place? If it was unavoidable, you should have just told me the truth from the start.”
She was right. In the end, trying to smooth things over with a lie had only made things more complicated.
The reason I couldn’t just admit I’d slept with Vanessa… it was obvious.
But… no. I have to tell her the truth.
Guwon steeled himself.
“It’s because I like you. I didn’t want you to hate me for sleeping with another woman.”
If he only thought of Sara as a fellow adventurer, there would have been no reason to hide that he’d slept with someone else. In fact, he could have even bragged about his level going up. In the end, this was the only reason he’d hidden it.
With Diana and Leia around, he had avoided saying he liked her so openly until now, but he couldn’t hold back in a situation like this.
“Hmm…”
Guwon had said it with considerable resolve, but Sara just gave a lukewarm response and turned away.
Then she turned back to face him and said.
“…But how did you know I was here?”
She even changed the subject. What was this?
But Guwon answered obediently.
“You’re beautiful, so you stand out. I just asked around and was able to find you easily. Still, it would have been impossible to find you like that inside the dungeon, so I had to wait for you here.”
“Then who was that adventurer you were with earlier?”
“Huh? Just some guy who was passing by.”
“For someone you just met, you two seemed pretty close. Don’t you know each other from before?”
“Close? I told you I had a drink with the guy I beat on the 2nd Floor yesterday, right? That guy just happened to be sitting next to him. That’s all. We just had a drink together.”
“…I see. So if he was with someone you beat, that man must also be an adventurer on the 2nd Floor, right?”
Sara was being strangely persistent with her questions about Pots.
“I guess so. Why? D-don’t tell me… you’re interested in a guy like that?”
“Yes. I’m quite interested. Would you introduce me if you get the chance?”
Sara replied in a cold voice.
What?! What part of that guy could possibly interest her!
Whether you look at his appearance, personality, or abilities, I’m better in every way!
“No!”
“Then I have no choice. I’ll just have to make contact myself. If we’re both adventuring on the 2nd Floor, we’re bound to run into each other eventually.”
“Wh-wait a minute. Sara. I said I was wrong, okay? You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not joking.”
Sara replied with a more serious expression than he had ever seen.
“Sara. Please, don’t do this. I was wrong. I like you. I don’t want things to end like this.”
Guwon immediately started pleading.
It was possible Sara was just trying to make him jealous to get back at him.
But he didn’t want to act all cool and confident by betting on that possibility. Even if there was a 1% chance she was serious, he felt that stopping her was his top priority.
“Let’s go back to the mansion. I feel grimy with all this blood on my clothes.”
But Sara walked past Guwon coolly.
And for the entire walk back to the mansion, Guwon tried his best to win her back.
“Hey! What do you even like about a guy like that?!”
He finally blurted it out.
Hearing his words, Sara stopped in her tracks.
“Who said I liked him?”
“Wh-what?”
Sara seemed to be contemplating something, then, as if she had no other choice, she continued.
“That man… is my grandfather’s murderer.”
And with that, Sara dropped a bomb he had never expected.
“What? Wait. Huh? What did you say?”
The words were so unexpected that Guwon, flustered, asked her to repeat it several times.
“A few months ago, he came to my village and killed my grandfather while trying to rape me.”
The moment he understood, blood rushed to Guwon’s head.
“What?! Rape?!”
“It didn’t happen. I told you, you were my first. He tried to rape me, but my grandfather caught him. It turned into a physical fight, and he killed my grandfather and ran away. I came here for that revenge.”
Alright. I’ve decided. Let’s kill him.
I knew I didn’t like that bastard from the moment I saw him.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
“He’s probably on the 2nd Floor right now. I’m going to go kill him and come back.”
But Sara blocked Guwon’s path.
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you. This is my revenge. I can’t let you get blood on your hands.”
“For you, I wouldn’t mind something like that at all!”
“But I would mind! Do you understand? This is my problem. If you interfere… I’ll never speak to you again.”
Sara’s tone was firm.
But Guwon couldn’t back down either.
I swore to her before. Whatever Sara’s goal is, I’ll help her achieve it.
Of course, even without that oath, he had no intention of just standing by and watching Sara handle her revenge on her own.
“I can’t do that. How can I pretend your business is none of my own? Your problem is my problem. Or… is that all our relationship is to you?”
Guwon didn’t think of Sara as just a simple colleague, and he believed she felt the same way.
“But…”
When Guwon went that far, Sara’s resolve seemed to waver slightly.
“At least tell me this. How are you planning to get your revenge? If he murdered your grandfather, can’t you just have him thrown in prison?”
“The village I lived in was a small, slash-and-burn farming community. It didn’t even have a proper lord. I don’t expect them to properly punish a crime that happened in a place like that. And more importantly, I won’t be satisfied with just letting him rot in a prison cell.”
“Does that mean you’re going to kill him?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll become a criminal.”
Sara’s revenge was important, of course. But he didn’t want Sara to become a criminal just to kill a piece of trash like that.
“I’ll have to use the dungeon. If I kill him inside the dungeon where no one can see…”
“But what about your Adventurer’s ID Plate?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Come to think of it, she hadn’t heard the explanation when she first became an adventurer.
“You see the status section on your Adventurer’s ID Plate? If you murder another adventurer, it gets marked there.”
Ambushes on other adventurers in the dungeon, where there are no witnesses, to steal their gains. It was an obvious crime anyone could think of.
To prevent this, the Guild had taken a measure with the ID plates. If an unfortunate incident occurred between adventurers, it would be marked on their plates.
That was why the status section existed on the plates in this world that otherwise lacked detailed stats. If an adventurer killed another adventurer, the word ‘Murderer’ would appear in their status.
Though it seemed to only apply when both the victim and the perpetrator were adventurers.
I had asked if this could be used to prevent all crimes, but apparently not.
They gave me a complicated explanation about mana and whatnot, but honestly, I didn’t really get it, so I just let it go in one ear and out the other.
Back then, I didn’t think it was information I’d ever need.
“…I see. But that doesn’t mean I can give up on my revenge…”
It seemed Sara really hadn’t known about that.
Still, it was clear she had no intention of giving up.
“Don’t be hasty. I don’t want you to become a criminal because of trash like him. Let’s think about it together, slowly. Let’s figure out how to get perfect revenge. I’ll help you think it through.”
“Guwon… Yes. Alright.”
Finally, it seemed Sara had consented to let Guwon help with her revenge.
“What happened to you two? Th-that state you’re in?!”
“Sara-ssi! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
When they returned to the mansion, Diana and Leia were waiting for them at the entrance.
Well, of course they were. She had stormed out of the house without even eating breakfast.
“Ah, no. This isn’t my blood. I was just hunting some monsters for a bit. Don’t worry about it. I’m going to go take a shower.”
Sara said as much and headed upstairs.
“What happened this morning? Would you care to explain?”
“Um…”
Honestly, so much had happened in such a short time that Guwon hadn’t even processed it all himself.
Maybe I should just give them the simple version.
“Sara caught me having sex with Vanessa.”
She already found out anyway. It was only a matter of time before these two did as well. Better to rip the band-aid off, right? I might as well just confess now.
“Hmm. I see. So that’s why young Sara ran out. Huh? Wait. What did you say? You had sex with who? Eh? Whaaaat?!”
Diana seemed to respond calmly at first, but as soon as she processed Guwon’s words, she lunged at him as if to grab him by the collar.
Behind them, Vanessa’s eyes were wide and her mouth hung open as she stared at Guwon, completely aghast.
Sorry, Vanessa. We’ve been found out.