Event - 3
Harvest Festival?
The festival opening on the estate in a few days?
And she wants me to be her partner for it?
Unable to make heads or tails of it, I looked over at Sowol — only to find her equally baffled, clearly having no idea what Lyla was going on about either.
"A few days back, we received a request from the Lord of the estate," Lyla explained. "He asked us to run patrols during the Harvest Festival so the residents can enjoy the celebrations in safety."
"Oh. I see."
A similar event had existed in the game, and it paid out reasonably juicy rewards if you put in a moderate effort, so there was no reason to pass it up.
"Yes, so our warriors will be moving in pairs. Which is why I'd like you to be my partner for it, Master."
"Hm. If that's all it is, there's no harm in it."
I'd been planning to let Sowol take it easy during the festival anyway, and I didn't exactly have a packed schedule of my own. A bit of patrol duty wouldn't kill me.
"Can I still sneak in some snacking while we patrol, though?"
"Haha... anyone else would struggle, but I suppose it's fine if it's you, Master."
Good. Then that was settled. Having said her piece, Lyla gathered up Sowol's luggage and headed inside.
"Will you be all right?"
"With what?"
"You'll have to oversee my training during the Harvest Festival as well. Can you really manage patrol duty on top of it?"
"I was planning to rest during the festival anyway. You should enjoy it too, you know."
"Aren't you resting rather often lately? You took a break just this time as well."
"Don't worry. I intend to teach you the Second Form of the Moonlight Sword Style before the festival."
"Pardon? Already?"
She had received the First Form, Moonlight Wave, only a short while ago, so the news that she'd be handed the Second Form so soon must have come as a shock. As Sowol stared at me with wide, rounded eyes, I gave her dainty nose a light pinch.
"Why else do you think I've been so busy preparing your tonic?"
Once she'd finished every last drop of it, I could begin the transfer immediately — there was nothing to worry about.
I sent Sowol back to her room, and when I returned to my own quarters, Serin was already getting ready to leave.
"Here. The holy water."
"Ooh!"
Every ingredient was finally in my hands. While I stood there marveling at the genuine article — holy water radiating a faint divine radiance — Serin scooped up her bags. She meant to depart at once, it seemed.
She had a long road ahead of her, and it seemed only right to see her off, so I followed her out.
"I wonder when we'll meet again?"
"Hard to say."
If I had to guess, it would be during the Religious War event partway through the main story — the one that was absolutely mandatory for unlocking the True Ending.
"That said, you'd best be careful."
Apparently she had dug into all sorts of things while staying here. Serin passed me a bundle of documents pulled from her bag, and a quick look through them revealed intelligence that the cults had set their sights on So Jung-yang.
"The cults' finances haven't been in great shape lately. Which makes it likely they'll make a move on the Eastern Merchant Group — the very group that's been profiting handsomely off trade with the East."
Take down the head of the Eastern Merchant Group, brainwash his heir Sowol, and help themselves to the guild's assets — was that the scheme? Things were drifting along exactly the lines I had anticipated.
Not that I had any intention of letting it happen.
"Shouldn't the Church be handling that, then?"
"That's why I'm leaving half the paladins behind. And with you here on top of that, I can rest reasonably easy."
She wasn't wrong. With the paladins' considerable strength plus mine in the mix, an assassination attempt on So Jung-yang would be doomed to fail.
And yet I couldn't stand at So Jung-yang's side every hour of every day, and leaning on me alone for something like that felt more than a little reckless.
"Once I've linked up with the Church's other forces, I intend to sweep the cults out of this region. That secret cultist seal you gave me points to one of their gathering grounds, so that's where the mop-up begins."
A cold smile settled over her lovely face.
Right, then. If you're going to hunt cultists, give it everything you've got.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No. Just come fight for me when a large-scale battle breaks out."
And that large-scale battle would be none other than the Religious War... I'd better make sure I show up. I answered by giving Serin's shoulder a friendly pat.
"Well then, I'm off."
Raising a hand in a casual farewell, Serin departed with her paladins. I watched her figure shrink into the distance, then stuffed my hands in my pockets and headed back to my quarters.
"All right. Time to take care of my own business, then..."
I'd worked hard to gather every last ingredient. It was high time I got started on Sowol's tonic.
Stepping into my room, I began the preparations — if they could even be called that. With all the materials assembled, all that remained was to synthesize them using my alchemy skill.
I laid the fruits of my labor out on the table: the holy water Serin had crafted, the Healer's Grace, and a whole medley of other components. One by one they went onto the desk, and before long there was no space left.
Gazing down at the pile, I raised both hands, and a magic circle began to trace itself into the air above my palms.
"Synthesize."
A gentle cascade of light began drifting down from the circle. The moment it touched the materials, they started vanishing one by one — and when the last of them had gone, a large vessel sat revealed above the magic circle.
There it was: the tonic I'd made for Sowol. The Crimson Moon Elixir.
Taken steadily over ten days, it bolstered stamina, mana, and physical strength alike — and it was an absolute prerequisite for wielding Moonlight Flash, the Second Form of the Moonlight Sword Style.
I picked the vessel up and headed straight for Sowol's room. I was just about to knock on the door — a routine I knew well by now — when voices drifted out from within.
"Hahaha~! Who else is going to do the checking if not me?!"
"Why would that need to be you...? Haah... Do you really have to take it that far?"
"Fret not, my lady! There's no chance whatsoever of me falling for him. You don't honestly think I'd get into a jealous brawl with you over the man, do you?"
"...Th-that's not why I'm saying any of this?!"
A cheerful voice, and one laced with flustered dismay. Were the two of them fighting? Wondering what on earth was going on, I knocked.
"It's me. Mind if I come in for a second?"
"Kyaaaaah! Master?!"
"Wh-when did you get here?! I'll have the door open in just a mome— oof!!"
— CRASH!!
What was that noise now? Something had definitely toppled over in there. Listening to the groans drifting from inside the room, I found myself wavering over whether to open the door at all.
"Uuuuugh... ow, ow, ow... W-welcome in, Master."
The door swung open to reveal Lyla in a state of complete disarray. I stole a glance past her shoulder and spotted a chair lying knocked over on its side.
"Ah. Ahahahahaha..."
Since Lyla — who looked for all the world like the sole architect of that little catastrophe — was laughing awkwardly, I reached out and smoothed down her tangled black bob. She flinched at my touch, but seemingly felt no real aversion, because she held obediently still.
"Ah... th-thank you."
"Did you fall? Looks like you scraped your knee."
A fresh-looking scrape marred Lyla's snow-white knee. Left alone, that would surely scar — and we were hardly strangers. The least I could do was treat it.
"Eek?! What are you doing?!"
"Hold still. Yeesh, that has to sting. What were you in such a hurry for that you wiped out like that?"
"Ugh. Well, that's..."
I placed my hand on Lyla's knee. Flustered, she tried to yank her leg back, but I kept it firmly in place.
"Heal."
Then came the recovery spell. A soft glow shimmered from my palm, knitting the wound closed.
Lyla stared blankly as the scrape vanished in an instant and her leg returned to its long, smooth glory — then, visibly astonished, she turned to me.
"Isn't Heal holy magic? I heard only priests were allowed to use that..."
"Not if you're carrying a holy relic."
I showed her the bracelet fastened around my wrist — one of the lucky opportunities I'd snapped up some time ago. Healing magic was essential for everyday life, so acquiring it had never been negotiable.
"Whoa... isn't that thing kind of incredible?"
She understood perfectly well just how precious a relic was that could grant holy magic to someone who had none at all. To the girl goggling at my wrist, I declared with no small measure of pride:
"The Church offered me a bishop's seat in exchange for this one. Anyway — what was all that about in there?"
"Huh?"
"I could hear you two all the way from outside the door earlier. Were you fighting?"
"Ahahaha! Fight? What fight! Isn't that right, my lady?!"
"Yes. We weren't fighting."
Sounded an awful lot like a fight to me?
But with the pair of them grinning like that, all I could do was let it slide.
"So what brings you here today?"
"Ah. I brought this."
I set the vessel of tonic — the Crimson Moon Elixir — down on the desk. When Sowol tilted her head at it, I poured a measure of the elixir into a cup and held it out to her.
"What is this?"
"A tonic. It's called Crimson Moon Elixir, and it'll do wonders for your growth."
"Eh... isn't it bitter, though?"
"Good medicine is bitter by nature. Drink up."
She haggled and grumbled with her mouth, but the moment the cup touched her hands, Sowol downed the elixir without a second's hesitation. Then her whole body gave a violent shudder — bitter it truly was, then.
"Uuuueeegh..."
"Here. Candy."
Only after chasing the taste away with the candy did Sowol finally unclench her scrunched-up face. Then, apparently sensing something shifting within her own body, she put on a thoroughly baffled expression.
"Huh? Wh-wh-whaaat?"
"My lady? What's the matter?"
"There's... power in my body..."
"You couldn't buy this with money if you tried, so make sure you drink it every day."
"It's really that valuable?"
"Invaluable."
Given what the ingredients alone had cost, that was no exaggeration. The thing had devoured every last coin of the wages I'd received to date, plus a hoard of rare herbs I'd stockpiled during the gathering work.
"Something this precious... and you didn't keep it for yourself, Master?"
"Precious as it is, do you really think it's more precious than you? None of those useless thoughts — just drink it every day like I said."
Was she moved? Sowol's eyes had gone glassy and moist. I stroked her hair, then turned to Lyla.
"I've become a man capable of all this. Are you truly content being just my festival partner?"
Honestly, when I considered the things I could now do — the things I could now give — the present situation was the opportunity of a lifetime for Lyla.
And yet all she had applied for was a partnership.
"Yep! That's all I need!"
"Well, aren't you lacking in ambition. Fine. Then that's how we'll do it."
What can I do when she insists that's all she wants?