The Request.
“Around here.”
At the ranger’s gesture, the Blue Flame Priest of the Holy Fire Church slowly bowed his head in gratitude.
“Thank you for your guidance. Would you mind stepping back for a moment?”
“Yes.”
As the ranger slowly stepped back, the Blue Flame Priest took a step forward and gently beckoned. A blue flame rose from his fingertips and gently enveloped the earth.
The blue flame crawled over the earth like a living thing, melting away the snow. The ranger was truly awed by the sight.
“Truly, this is a power to behold.”
The blue priestess, who had blown away all the snow around her, did not answer. His pupils flickered with blue light as he swept across the wintry earth, stripped of his pure white robes and revealed himself.
“Apparently, it’s been quite some time, so some monster or beast must have eaten the corpse.”
“Is that so, I suppose that’s understandable.”
The Blue Flame Priest stared at the dry land in silence, then slowly spoke up.
“Perhaps you could tell me the names of the cities around here?”
***
“Priest, thank you so much. Truly, if it weren’t for you, Priest, I would have died this evening.”
A week after the demon rampage. Pierre still wore bandages all over his body.
I smiled and patted Pierre on the shoulder.
“I was just doing what a human being is supposed to do. Don’t worry about it.”
Pierre’s pupils fluttered wildly with emotion. He choked, unable to get the words out easily.
“Priest—.”
“Take care of yourself back home. We’ll visit you when we get a chance.”
The deaths of his companions at the hands of the bandits had been quite a shock, and Pierre had informed me yesterday that he had decided to give up on mercenary work and return to his hometown. Now he was curled up in a corner of the top wagon traveling through his hometown.
With those big, cow-like eyes, Pierre said to me.
“If you do come, I’ll treat you well, even if you’re a raggedy old man!”
“I’ll have to remember that and pay them a visit.”
From the front of the procession at the top, I heard Moorish shouting; it was nearing departure.
“It’s time to part ways, farewell.”
“Take care, priest!”
Pierre greeted me with a laborious swing of his stiff arm. I bowed lightly, then headed through the gates to the mercenary guild.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do to pass the time today, Mother.”
“Murder!
“I’ve listened to Mother’s advice to stop playing and do something, but I still have enough money in my pockets that warms my heart every time I look at it. You know very well, Mother, that I must hide and keep quiet now.”
“Murder!
The Mother of Corruption berated me, knowing full well that I needed to stay hidden.
“Well, you’re right,” I said, “but what was I to do with the two gold pieces of advance payment?”
“Murder!
I said, patting my breast pocket.
“Phew, this won’t work, so I’ll have to use another trick I’ve been saving up.”
“Murder…?
“I heard while passing by earlier, there’s a new drug that’s good for beautifying your skin. I’ll buy it on the way and carefully apply it to every inch of your body. How do you like it?”
“Murder…!
I smirked and walked away lightly. My mother’s hands clicked excitedly in anticipation.
I closed my eyes, and the divinity I had absorbed from the last incident rose from within.
[Divinity: 3482]
After saving the demon, I went around and harvested most of the corpses I could find. Thanks to this, I was able to obtain quite a bit of divinity. Genocide is indeed a sad thing, but the living must go on living.
Orbs, incidentally, was a three-fingered human. Harvesting his mangled corpse yielded a whopping 1,000 Divinity.
As I walked into the mercenary guild to buy some skin beautifying potions for my mother’s hands, Erin shouted out.
“‘Demon Slayer’ Priest Marnak!”
“How many times have I told you not to call me by that nickname, every time I am called by it, I am truly embarrassed.”
Indeed. By the time the dust settled, Lord Tredon had publicly announced that I had saved his life with the last breath of a giant demon. This earned me the unwarranted nickname of “Demon Slayer.
Erin loved it, and whenever she called me Demon Slayer, she would call me Demon Slayer without even trying, and it always drew the attention of those around me. Like now.
“Is that priest the famous ‘Demon Slayer’?”
“From what I’ve heard, he’s not what he looks like, but he’s quite skilled, and just the other day he single-handedly slaughtered seven bandits.”
“If he can take down a demon, why can’t he take down seven bandits by himself? I’m still afraid of where that giant monster will pop up again.”
Overhearing the chatter about me, I turned to Erin.
“What happened to the return of the holy object?”
An opaque mirror and a pure white sword. As long as the mirror was sealed with the Divinity of Corruption, of course the pure white sword was just a mundane holy object and did not gain any divinity.
Erin smirked as she answered. White teeth added to the charm of her mischievous laugh.
“I left it at the top of the passage, but are you sure you don’t mind if I don’t give you a name?”
“Of course.”
There was no need to tangle further with those fanatics from the Church of the Cross. The demon-revealing mirror and the demon-slaying sword weren’t things I needed anyway, and if I kept them, I might run into one of the Protestant priests who came to retrieve the holy items.
“Oh, right.”
Erin, who had clapped her hands in unison, spoke to me in a soft, ear-ringing voice.
“When Father Marnak was away for a while, your lordship’s soldiers came and looked for him, and they told me to come to your lordship’s manor at your earliest convenience.”
“I see.”
Erin sneaked up on them, glanced around, and then whispered in a low voice.
“Perhaps the lord wishes to give you a job as a priest of Marnak. Such secretive work pays well, but it can also be very dangerous, so please consider it carefully.”
“How on earth do you know such things?”
“I know all sorts of things, so you’d better get going. It would be very rude to keep my lord waiting.”
Gently pushed by Erin’s hand on my back, I stepped out of the mercenary guild.
“Kill! Kill!
My mother, who had been eagerly anticipating the application of a skin beautifying drug, grumbled. I patted my breast pocket and continued on my way.
“Why are you so upset when you’ve just gotten the news that your mother was hoping for?”
“Murder?
“Uh-huh. Why don’t you just take it easy today, your attitude is so different from earlier, isn’t it?”
“Murder!
“I know you’re upset for no reason. Just bear with me for a moment while I hear what your lordship’s business is, and then I’ll get back to work and give you a thorough rubdown.”
“Murder!
A dramatic compromise was made and I headed for the lord’s mansion.
***
“Welcome, Priest, I’ve been waiting on my fingers and toes for you to arrive, and somehow you’re getting more radiant every time I see you, hahaha!”
Elaborately carved wooden limbs and prosthetic hands. And a demon with a transparent prosthetic eye greeted me.
“You’re too flattering.”
“There is no such thing as too much praise for our ‘Demon Slayer’ Priest Marnak!”
The demon poured me a cup of hot tea. His wooden hands moved as smoothly as if they were living creatures. It was a strange sight to behold.
I took the tea, sipped it, and smiled.
“The demon that the Demon Slayer is said to have captured is here, alive and well, isn’t it?”
“Even demons have to live, no life is born to die, is it not?”
The demon smirked and sank into a chair, crossing his wooden legs.
“It’s always a wonder to see a wooden prosthetic leg with no gadgets, and it moves so naturally.”
“That’s only in front of priests, not in front of everyone else, and besides, I had to pay a heavy price for this natural movement.”
“What price?”
Taking a sip of tea, the demon laughed mischievously.
“Soon, the hair roots of this body will lose their strength and fall down the storm drain like leaves in mid-autumn, and when you see me in a few months’ time, a glittering Mindong Mountain will greet you.”
A terrible price indeed. He must be a devil to pay such a price so easily.
As I marveled inwardly, the devil sneaked in a request.
“Priest, do you have a week or so to spare?”
“The time is fine.”
I had no work to do, my pockets were deep, and I was using this as an excuse to get away.
“Well, that’s great, because I have a job for you, and they’ve handpicked you to be their chaplain.”
I looked at him questioningly, and he quickly continued.
“My guess is that they heard of the Demon Slayer and thought you were the right man for the job. After all, it involves the ruins of an ancient empire.”
I was genuinely surprised.
“There were ruins of the ancient empire around here?”
“Well, they say they’re here to explore the ruins of the Ancient Empire, and the man leading the group is a noble from the capital, so it’s not entirely untrue.
The Ancient Empire was an empire that united the continents long ago, ending the era of the crooked mages. The idea is that the relics of the ancient empire are precious treasures with powerful powers that are lost to the intelligent people of today, who have lost the advanced technology that the ancient empire achieved.
In other words, most of the game’s high-tier items were labeled as relics of the ancient empire.
It was a concept similar to the dungeons often mentioned in other games.
“Murder!
Like my mother, I realized that I had to see this one through.
“I’ll take that job.”
“We haven’t even talked about compensation yet, and you’re already accepting?”
“What’s the pay?”
“A whopping five gold coins, all of it up front. Plus, if you make a significant contribution to the capture of the ruins, they’ll give you one of the artifacts we find.”
I quickly replied.
“I will definitely do it!”
***
There were three of us in total.
One presumably a wizard in thick robes, a horned man armed with a large shield and axe, and finally a man in leather armor with a bow strapped to his back.
“May unwavering happiness remain in your life. I am Marnak, a priest of the Goddess of Preservation, guardian of daily life.
As I bowed my head in greeting, a handsome man with a bow walked toward me, smiling cheerfully. At first glance, he appeared to be a lanky man, but his thick limbs belied his appearance, and it was clear that he had been training regularly.
“Good to see you, priest. I am Carmen Valtas, the one who requested this job. I’ve heard so much about Lord Tredon. He is said to be a very wise and brilliant man, and I am truly delighted that we have come to meet and work together.”
I replied with a quiet smile.
“I wish you well.”