Chapter 46
Securing Materials (1)
“Uh, what. You’re here.”
The mont I woke up, I sensed an unfamiliar presence. I checked to see what it was, and Worden was there. But these bastards weren’t saying a single word.
“…….”
“…….”
The two who created this vomit-inducing silence still hadn’t exchanged a single word even now.
I had been half-asleep on the sofa, sure, but what the hell were these guys even doing?
“What. Don’t tell you two haven’t said anything this whole ti?”
“…….”
“…….”
“Well, I’ll be.”
Winter couldn’t easily get close to people unless they were as easygoing as Canis. Still, I thought that since a newcor had arrived, she’d at least do sothing as a senior.
“You beca a senior and a newbie joined—what are you doing?”
“Y-Yes…? I an, what am I supposed to do…? I don’t know either.”
Winter muttered gloomily. I snickered and gestured to Worden. He was sitting there stupidly with his mouth slightly open, buried in his padded coat, but he didn’t move.
“Hey.”
“Huh? Yes?”
Only after I got up and tapped his shoulder did Worden co to his senses. I seriously wondered if we really needed a guy like this. But I had already accepted him, so there was nothing to be done.
“Got anything you’re curious about?”
“Hm? No.”
At his tone of complete disinterest, Winter’s eyes widened. He was a guy who had no interest in anything except thrill and danger.
Since I knew his personality, I just brushed it off as him being a lunatic, but to Winter he probably just looked rude.
“Oh, what. You don’t have a mark yet?”
“……You fell asleep as soon as you got here. The whole ti.”
Winter looked at in disbelief. Oh, right. I had a round with Worden and ca straight to the chapel. And then I lay down on the sofa imdiately.
I didn’t know when Worden arrived, but at least an hour must have passed.
“First, we should give you the mark. Give your hand.”
Worden obediently held out his hand. I tried to bestow the mark, but it seed our Goddess was in a bad mood again.
With no other choice, I took out the Holy Scripture. The book was summoned into my left hand with a faint glow. Worden’s eyes widened as he looked at it.
“Our beautiful Goddess. Why are You in a bad mood again?”
“Huh?”
“My Goddess. Even if this guy looks a bit unreliable, he’s fairly usable in his own way. Probably.”
Watching say strange things toward the Holy Scripture, Worden’s expression changed amusingly. When I recruited the rfolk, She had granted permission in one go.
Now Her face seed filled with doubt. Isn’t it because you don’t look like much? At that, Winter suddenly put on a gloomy expression.
“What’s with you now?”
“No… I was the sa at first too.”
“You think I gave you Silent Bell for nothing?”
“Ah.”
After scolding Winter for her foolish thoughts, five minutes passed. Only after thoroughly appeasing Anaye’s temper was I able to inscribe the mark onto Worden.
Worden examined the back of his hand once, then quickly lost interest.
“Anyway, with this, welco. You see that pure white one over there?”
“Yes?”
“She’s the only priest of our Order.”
“Ah. Then? What about ?”
“You’re a Believer. If you do well, I’ll promote you to priest too.”
“Hm? Yes.”
Why was this guy so lacking in spirit? I roughly smacked Worden on the back. The way his sentences always sounded like they ended with a question mark was oddly funny.
When I gestured to Winter, she let out a deep sigh and began explaining this and that. Truly a capable subordinate.
The problem was that Worden didn’t focus on a single thing. Only when Winter was on the verge of losing it did he finally start showing interest.
“Cult Leader.”
“Yeah, what.”
“You know? I’m that useless.”
I wondered what nonsense he was about to say. I yawned widely and stretched.
“You’re quick on your feet.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve got the guts to jump into dangerous situations.”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s enough.”
I already knew his potential and his growth direction. I wasn’t hoping for so absurd talent.
What I needed was the right person in the right place. Recruiting Winter had been in that sa context. As long as they developed and could pull their own weight, that was sufficient.
“Stick close to Winter. Your instincts are a bit special, so you’ll pick up on danger quickly.”
At the ntion of her na, Winter pointed at herself with her index finger. I nodded, and a strange reply ca back.
“Am I fighting too?”
“Huh?”
Did her conscience finally explode? I stared at Winter with cold eyes. She looked slightly flustered. Of course, considering her safety, it would be best not to have her participate if possible.
But was this world such an easy place? She would inevitably face battle anyway. Better to have her adapt now at a relatively lower difficulty than stand there like an idiot later.
More than anything, it would be such a waste to let the ntal defense granted by Anaye’s Silent Bell sit unused in daily life. It was minor, but it even had stamina recovery.
“You’ve got particularly sharp instincts, right? Especially when it cos to survival. Think of yourself as Winter’s bodyguard.”
Roles could change as much as needed. That was sothing to think about when the ti ca.
One reason I recruited Worden, aside from the low recruitnt difficulty, was that I could secure Winter’s safety with sothing close to certainty.
“Anything else?”
“Um, not yet? No.”
“Good. If you’re curious about sothing, ask Winter.”
“……?”
At Winter’s response, I waved my hand dismissively. It felt like I was solving one issue per day. Thanks to that, I had a lot to think about. Naturally, that ant more ti spent in contemplation.
It was about ti for a reaction from the Imperial side. I had planned to wait a little longer, but considering the business, the earlier the timing, the better.
“Co to think of it, Winter.”
“Yes?”
“That research you’re doing with that Canis guy?”
“It’s only been two days……”
“I was just curious about the progress.”
“It’s still a long way off. But we did learn sothing new. It’s not really that related, though.”
What mattered was whether it would turn into a business or not. If my prediction was correct, that alone would be enough to fund the operation of the Order.
Of course, if the Order grew larger, it would fall short, but that was a matter for later. At her ntion of sothing new, I tilted my head.
I wondered if there was really anything more to uncover from that research.
“I can activate your mark, Senior.”
“Really?”
“Yes. When I infused Divine Power from the sa Order into it, it seed to recognize it as mine.”
That wasn’t bad at all. I was about to let it pass when sothing suddenly tingled sharply in my mind. I looked at Worden.
Worden, who had been staring blankly into space, flinched at my sudden gaze.
“That’s good.”
“Yes?”
When playing other characters in the ga, Worden’s priority always got pushed back. There were so many outstanding nad characters that there was no real need to use him.
His ability to sense danger was quite a rit, but in the ga, it never truly stood out. It was a limitation of the system.
Attribute-based ranged dealing was attractive, but not to the point of obsession, and there were better alternatives like mages.
On top of that, his tendency to jump into danger was also a problem. A ranged dealer was a role that projected sustained firepower from the rear of allies.
“A slingshot’s range is awkward.”
The slingshot itself had an awkward range. As things progressed into the late ga, its limitations would beco even more apparent.
Since his talent related to alchemy was fairly decent, I needed to think about how to make good use of that.
‘I should try unlocking the Relic first.’
The slingshot Worden possessed was a Relic. A Relic could draw out its full power when paired with certain specific items.
Through what took the form of a trial, it was important to unlock the Relic’s complete power.
It wouldn’t be too late to figure out the true performance of Worden’s Relic and then think about what ca next.
“Senior.”
“Yeah?”
“Is this fri……end going on the pilgrimage too?”
“Of course.”
Worden seed not to know what that was. This ti, even before I could explain, Winter stepped in and did it herself.
After hearing the explanation, Worden’s face flushed. He was delighted at the thought of going sowhere that sounded dangerous no matter how you phrased it.
I shook my head with cold eyes. A severe pervert.
“Should we get priest robes for each of us?”
“Priest robes? Ah, co to think of it.”
“We are a proper Order, after all.”
Now that I thought about it, priest robes seed like the most important thing. Even I had gotten so used to my combat uniform that I hardly wore them.
I decided to choose sothing more practical, sothing that clearly showed we were an Order.
Then the first thing to resolve would be the materials for the priest robes. And Episode 3. I stood up from my seat.
***
As Davide left the chapel, it was once again filled with an uncomfortable silence. Once the strong presence disappeared, Worden began staring blankly into the air.
Winter looked at Worden with complicated eyes. Aside from his awkward way of speaking, he seed ordinary, just like her. But his attitude and behavior were anything but ordinary.
Worden reacted only to Davide. Toward Winter, he gave only the bare minimum response, and even that was because of Davide.
She felt displeased at having her existence ignored, yet when she saw his hollow eyes afterward, an inexplicable sense of pity arose.
“Um…… Do you have anything you’re curious about?”
Having sowhat registered Winter’s faint presence, Worden turned his head. Winter flinched at the dry eyes staring at her.
Those eyes, like a dead fish’s, examined Winter for a long ti. Eyes that sought to grasp sothing hidden beneath the surface.
For so reason, Winter swallowed dryly. Only then did Worden tilt his head.
“You can speak? Casually.”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you a priest? You can speak comfortably.”
“W-We’re in the sa year.”
“We’re in the sa Order? Your status is higher than mine.”
“Uh-huh. Okay.”
Worden’s sharp sense reacted. This thing that responded only to danger and threat stirred faintly for a single mont.
Worden wondered what it was. He hadn’t felt this level of danger since the wildcat he encountered in the mountains in the past.
A wildcat wasn’t a particularly strong animal, but it was never sothing to underestimate. It was still undeniably a carnivore, existing as a predator.
This girl possessed a similar kind of danger. Even as Worden answered blankly, he observed Winter. What was it that could cause danger?
‘I don’t know.’
She had a kind personality. She disliked hurting others and had proper manners. But there was no warmth in it.
How was she when dealing with Davide? Affectionate and informal, like a close friend. She generally got teased and gave amusing reactions. Along with that, there was an undeniable bond she couldn’t hide.
“Has it been? Long?”
“Huh? What has?”
“You. Priest? With the Cult Leader.”
“Oh, no. Our Order hasn’t even been around that long to begin with. I t Senior back then, right?”
Of course, Worden didn’t possess any expertise in human relationships. He found that sort of thing botherso. He wasn’t particularly interested either.
But that didn’t an he wasn’t curious about the relationship between these two. Davide genuinely worried about Winter.
And that was what intrigued him. In Worden’s life, Davide was the one most closely connected to death. The wildness he had briefly shown was worthy of being called a beast.
He couldn’t understand why soone like that regarded Winter as a friend.
“Ah? I get it.”
“What?”
Lost in his own world, Worden didn’t hear Winter’s question. Only then did he realize what was frightening about Winter.
Davide, who emitted killing intent like a beast. A being who had both the ability and the possibility to kill him and Winter without hesitation.
And yet, Winter trusted such a being firmly.
“You? Trust the Cult Leader?”
“Yes.”
Winter also thought of Davide fondly. She didn’t add a single word to what he said and treated Worden—whom he had brought—without any suspicion.
It must have been Davide’s independent decision to recruit him, yet she had no complaints at all. That ant she trusted him that much. Was such a bond possible in such a short ti?
Her returning answer was calm.
“What kind of person? Is the Cult Leader?”
“Hm? Ah, well. If it’s Senior, he probably dragged you in without much explanation.”
Was that the right way to put it? It was Davide who had suddenly rushed over, but it had been Worden’s own will to join the Order.
“He’s a scary person. Sotis he really is scary.”
“Right?”
Worden nodded without thinking. He had seen Davide charging at him with the face of a yaksha.
The fear that mont brought—and the exhilaration he felt because of it—were things he had experienced for the first ti in his life.
“And he’s soone you can trust.”
“Soone you can trust?”
“Yes. Everything Senior does succeeds. And every word he says, he keeps. If he says he’ll return, he returns. If he says he’ll solve sothing, he solves it. It’s kind of amazing.”
Was that really his image? Worden hadn’t spent much ti with Davide yet, so he couldn’t quite feel it.
His ferocity and roughness were like a wolf clamping down on the back of your neck. From that angle, perhaps it was true.
“I worry about him a lot.”
“You? Worry?”
Was this woman insane? Worden didn’t bother hiding that thought. Seeing his expression, Winter laughed awkwardly.
No matter how he thought about it, Davide didn’t seem like soone who caused others to worry.
“He gets hurt a lot.”
“Ah.”
“Whenever sothing happens, it’s always like that. He cos back badly injured. His fighting style is like that too. He acts like soone who has no attachnt to his own body.”
“…….”
“He’ll be covered in burns all over his body, it must sting terribly, but his expression doesn’t change. As if he can’t feel pain, steadfastly, he protects what’s in front of us.”
Winter thought she had often seen Davide’s broad back. The sense of reassurance that sturdy figure gave her.
Worden looked slightly surprised. The expression the girl showed. That face she must have revealed unknowingly while lost in thought.
There was nothing but complete trust in it.
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