“I have already submitted the request.”
“…What?”
Eliya, who had stord into the Head Priest's office fuming after hearing U-jin's request-that-wasn't-a-request, couldn't believe her ears.
The reason was simple.
Citing everything from trust to the possibility of him being the Demon King's Army's strategist, the Head Priest had refused her request to issue U-jin the ‘The Chosen One’ trait, yet now he was saying he had already submitted the request to headquarters.
“Wait… you’ve already submitted the request?”
As she asked once more, the brush of the Head Priest, who had been drawing a morize Paper, stopped.
“…I do not like to repeat myself, rculurt.”
“……”
Eliya wanted to smack the jaw of her superior, who was spitting out such words so nonchalantly as if he didn't even rember refusing her, but she barely managed to suppress the urge and asked calmly.
“…I don't understand why you refused before when you were going to approve it so easily like this, Head Priest.”
Perhaps feeling a pang of guilt this ti, the Head Priest cleared his throat and answered.
“Ahem… The macroscopic situation has changed. After Lord Button's visit.”
“……”
“I didn't ntion it separately since the official notice from headquarters hasn't arrived yet, but… during the interrogation, Lord Button took out his Scales.”
“……!”
“In other words, a full-fledged inquisition process took place in the prisoner cell where Mr. Seo U-jin was being held.”
The Head Priest’s words made Eliya's eyes widen.
It was only natural.
The famous Scales of Louis Button were sothing one couldn't easily see unless a new bishop was being appointed.
If not for a bishop's ordination ceremony, Louis's Scales were only brought out to confirm the death sentence of a condemned prisoner already prosecuted as a Demonic Species and whose trial had concluded.
That was how much of an absolute standard they served as.
So, from Eliya's perspective, she couldn't help but wonder if, contrary to what she knew, U-jin's trial results had turned out poorly.
…However, from the Head Priest's next words, Eliya could tell that was not the case.
“And in that process, the Scales sided with Mr. Seo U-jin.”
“……”
“…Lord Button said that his Demonic Nature value was below 10%. As you know, rculurt, that's a value that could never be achieved if a Demonic Species was hiding inside.”
“Ah……”
A faint sigh of relief.
“…Actually, the request itself wasn't made by our Gateway Priesthood, but by Lord Button himself. He volunteered to be Mr. Seo U-jin's notary.”
“……”
“So the trait issuance itself will likely be reviewed positively. Though I can't easily guarantee it, as it is a highly exceptional case.”
It went without saying, but the notarization of an Inquisitor was by no ans a light matter.
To begin with, the influence of an Inquisitor within The Order was significant, and the fact that the number of people Louis Button, the ‘Inquisitor of the Scales,’ had personally notarized as ‘good’ during his hundred-plus years in the position could be counted on one hand also added to its weight.
Eliya couldn't understand why Louis Button was defending U-jin to such an extent, but she could clearly see that the matter concerning U-jin was proceeding more positively than she had thought.
As in.
『...Just go. It'll probably be a different reaction this ti.』
It was truly just as U-jin had said.
‘…Just how much does this man know?’
Eliya had no idea where U-jin's unbelievable proficiency and knowledge stemd from, but she was certain of one thing: it wasn't sothing an ordinary Plane Transcendent could possess.
“Since the appointnt ceremony is already over, we can't hold another one, but… as soon as the official notice from headquarters arrives, Lord Button has decided to personally bestow the dal as a gesture of apology……”
“……”
“For now, please return and wait.”
“…I understand.”
And so, inwardly vowing to uncover his secret(?), Eliya left the Head Priest's office.
***
The official notice of exoneration from The Order's headquarters didn't take long.
After eating the at Loxy grilled and lying down comfortably in the waiting room I was assigned, I received a request through Eliya to co to the VIP room.
Without a second thought, I set off.
It was obvious that this was the ‘award ceremony’ I had been waiting for.
I walked down the long corridor and opened the door to the VIP room.
Clank—
“You've arrived, Mr. Seo U-jin.”
“Yeah.”
“…Please sit here.”
In the VIP room, Louis and Loxy, who was borrowing Kim Sia's body, were sitting opposite each other.
…I wonder if he even knew that the one inside that body was the Succubus who had caused all this trouble.
Louis took my informal reply and naturally guided to sit next to Loxy.
Plop—
As I sat down, Loxy flashed a seductive smile and started teasing .
“…Oh my. The man of the hour, Mr. Seo U-jin, has made his appearance.”
“……”
“As a matter of fact, we were just talking smack about you, Mr. Seo U-jin. Saying, isn't this on the level of soone who's already done the Gateway Zone once before? Fufu.”
Swoosh—
I turned my head to look at Louis.
He answered a question I hadn't even asked.
“…I said no such thing.”
“…How very grateful I am.”
Smile—
Loxy, who had been smiling while looking back and forth between and Louis, nonchalantly stood up and spoke.
“Well then, this extra will make her exit now. You two must have things to discuss.”
“…The coordinates for your Lair will be issued through your assigned Acolyte Priest. It may be a bit cliché, but… I will pray that the grace of the Guardian Cross be with you, Hero Candidate Kim Sia.”
“Fufu. Yes. Though it probably won't be much help……”
“……”
“Well then, I'm off!”
Click—
The door to the VIP room closed.
I imdiately got to the point.
“The dal?”
“…Let's have so context, Mr. Seo U-jin.”
“People in the know shouldn't waste ti. Let's get this over with quickly. The rest of the formalities are a waste of ti anyway.”
“…In my opinion, I don't think you should be classified as a person 'in the know'.”
“There you go again, splitting hairs over nothing.”
“I still think it's not nothing.”
Despite his words, Louis rummaged around and took out a small wooden box that was placed on his lower right.
Thud—
“Hurry up.”
“…I'll do it at my own pace, so please do not rush .”
Shaking his head as if displeased, Louis slowly broke the seal on the wooden box and began to speak.
“As you may know, this award ceremony is being conducted as an abbreviated version of the 131st Hero Candidate Appointnt Ceremony that took place a few days ago. Normally, it is customary for the Head Priest who oversees the Gateway Priesthood to pin the dal himself, but……”
“……”
“As a gesture of gratitude and apology for the trouble you experienced due to The Order's mistake, I, your superior in rank, will be pinning the dal.”
“Stop trying to take credit and just open it.”
Throb—
A vein popped on Louis's forehead at my repeated urging.
He let out a sigh through his nose and opened the box.
Creaak—
“……”
Inside the wooden box was a plain, dark gray dal.
A small dal, exactly the sa shape as the one Kim Sia, who had just left the room, was wearing.
“Oh.”
As I let out a soft exclamation upon seeing the dal, Louis added a brief explanation.
“…This dal is called a 'Starless dal'. It proves that while you are not yet an official Hero of The Order, you have passed through the Gateway Zone and are qualified as a Hero Candidate of The Order.”
Swoosh—
“The dal has several roles, of course… but the most important one is that it is a dium for the Satellite Magic, Starlink.”
Satellite Magic.
It might sound like a difficult term at first, but what it ant was simpler than one might think.
It was a system established by The Order to maintain trust between Heroes and Constellations, ensuring that a Hero's quest progress was always within the cognitive range of the Constellation governing that region.
To put it simply, it was a concept similar to live streaming.
Through this Satellite Magic, the Constellation that assigned the quest could confirm whether the Hero was diligently carrying it out, and by watching the Hero's performance during the quest, they could use it as a reference for future Exclusive Contracts or designated requests (appointnt request).
…To add one more thing.
The reason I went so far as to get locked in a cell to recruit the Succubus was ultimately to tamper with this annoying voyeuristic system.
“…Therefore, once the channel is opened by formally registering the dal, you, Mr. Seo U-jin, will also enter the cognitive range of the Constellation that governs the region you visit… That is the full explanation of this dal.”
Hup—
Having finished his explanation of the Satellite Magic, Louis suddenly picked up the dal and got down from his chair.
He continued what he was saying.
“…That's what I explained to Ms. Kim Sia, but in truth, this dal has a slight difference from the one she took.”
“…Yeah. It looks that way to , too.”
Just as he said, my dal had exactly one difference from the one she wore.
The border.
Unlike the plain border of her dal, the border of my dal was wrapped in a glossy purple decoration.
And what that ant was simple.
“…It's an old story, so you may not be aware, Mr. Seo U-jin, but until about 100 years ago, we used to issue a direct trait from The Order called ‘The Chosen One’ to the Hero Candidate who passed the Gateway Zone with the top score.”
“……”
“It's a system that was discontinued for certain reasons and is now effectively abolished, but… your unprecedented performance in the 131st Gateway Zone and other various factors aligned well, so we received special permission from The Order's headquarters to issue it.”
The Chosen One.
The trait from The Order that I had been waiting for so long had been issued.
Grin—
“…I'll pin it on you. You can check the ability for yourself.”
[A new Trait authority has been detected.]
[A new Trait is being added to the Trait List.]
[Trait, ‘The Chosen One,’ is now applied.]
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