Chapter 63: A Sudden Turn (5)
I played H&A for a long time, but I played the RPG genre itself even longer.
And there were some chronic habits that any core RPG user had.
For example, the compulsion to always check behind the starting position to see if anything was there.
Or the compulsion to talk to every NPC you could talk to.
And the compulsion to complete every side quest before entering the final battle.
…Listing it out like this, it seemed like RPG players had OCD.
Anyway, one of these chronic RPG compulsions was hoarding potions.
Especially if the better the potion was, the more you tend to save it, ending up not using it even in the final battle due to excessive hoarding.
As the game progressed, your gold would increase exponentially. But the shop items had been outdated for a long time.
So, to get better equipment, you either had to grind or complete high-level quests.
And by that point in the game, whether it was grinding or high-level quests, you had to battle, so potions were essential.
But you had to save the good potions, so you would end up buying a lot of the potions available in the shop.
After all, you would have a large amount of gold.
So, every time you visited a shop, you would buy potions in bulk and also buy various types just in case something happened…
And at some point, even if you weren’t preparing for a high-level quest, you would find yourself hoarding all sorts of consumables to their limit.
The H&A inventory allowed you to stack up to 100 of the same type, so it was easy to hoard.
Well… It might not resonate with those who have never played an RPG.
“How many potions did you even stock up?! And all of them are of superior grade!”
“I’m the type who values having emergency medicines on hand.”
“This is beyond emergency medicine! These are supplies!”
Elisha exclaimed, forgetting her usual tone and looking at the pile of potions.
Suppressing a laugh that almost escaped, I dropped more potions.
“That was a healing potion.”
Rattle.
“This is a stamina potion.”
Rattle.
“There’s also a mana potion.”
Rattle.
“Oh, and I also prepared an antidote and paralysis cure potion. There’s a creature that uses poison.”
I remembered the creature with an unidentified look—either a snake, a duck, or a raccoon.
I briefly recalled the bizarre look of its avatar.
Seeing all the colorful potion bottles rolling around, Elisha began to tap my shoulder, flustered.
“Where did you get all these potions…? If you put this much in a pocket space, there’s no room for anything else!”
“Um… Well, it’s supposed to be a secret…”
I whispered in Elisha’s elongated ear that this wasn’t just some pocket space, but a power I obtained from conquering dungeons, a blessing from the Gods. It was the same lie I told Carla before.
To that, Elisha nodded.
“If it’s a blessing from the Gods, it’s possible. There are still many mysteries after all.”
“Exactly. Since I have ample pocket space, I tend to carry a lot of things like potions.”
“…Saying ‘a lot’ is an understatement, but thanks to that, we survived.”
Perhaps Elisha was concerned about the injured, as she glanced at those she brought with her and let out a sigh of relief.
Then she became serious again.
“I had a hunch that you were no ordinary citizen the moment you owned Carla, who became a slave.”
“I do have a bit of money.”
Elisha waved her hand dismissively as if to brush off my playful comment.
“Are you changing the topic despite knowing that I’m not talking about the number of potions? Well, that’s fine. What I want to ask is…”
“It’s the only one.”
“Why are you hesitating so much?”
“Yandel. You said that this raid was caused by the Archbishop of the Church of the God of Tainted Unity, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“What do you plan to do now?”
“I’ll kill him.”
“The Archbishop?”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
“…You have a plan, right?”
Elisha seemed taken aback by my resolute answer. And I smirked at her.
“Of course.”
“Great. I’d like to hear the entire story, including that part. If it’s reasonable, I will support you with all my might.”
“If Glenchiel helps me, that would be wonderful. But wait, I still have something more to take out.”
“More potions to take out from here?”
Thud.
“Ah.”
Elisha’s expression blanked as she looked at the bundle of scrolls that fell onto the pile of potions.
“Is there… a category for these too?”
Thud. Thud.
“….”
While treating Elisha and her group, we shared information on what we’d learned.
For some reason, the way Elisha looked at me started to calm down from how she used to see me as some treasure goblin.
“Now I see why you, Yandel, chose to fight rather than flee. I thought it was because you are a follower of the Righteous Radiance, but it seems you have a better chance of surviving this way.”
“…Is it because of the support from the Righteous Radiance Church that we talked about last time?”
“Is there any other reason? Well, anyway, if this matter is settled successfully, any church would gladly support you.”
Elisha’s tone suggested she was still bothered by my previous refusal to sponsor me.
Recalling the scenes of Helena’s battles made me shake my head.
“It’s true that I believe the only good follower is a dead one, but the priests of the Church of Righteous Radiance aren’t at that level.”
“They’re completely insane. They’re on a different level than my fanatical passion.”
Wait, does Helena only particularly react to followers and monsters?
For a moment, I remembered how Helena used to tear the enemies apart with her bare hands.
Elisha blinked her blue eyes, contradicting my denial.
“Well, seeing as how you, who have been hiding your abilities and living the academy life, have come forward so much to catch Edmerek, isn’t it understandable to get a misunderstanding?”
“Eh. I wasn’t really trying to hide it. I just had no reason to show it.”
“If you say so, but I don’t know how others think about it.”
I instinctively looked at Helena as Elisha spoke with an implicit meaning. Helena met my gaze and smiled warmly.
Her golden eyes revealed deep feelings of friendship and respect for me.
No… don’t look at me with those eyes. It was as if she were seeing a benevolent individual who spent all his wealth to subdue the followers!
Elisha chuckled behind her fan, seeing me tremble in silence.
That damn fan—she really carried it everywhere.
Elisha said to me after heaving a sigh,
“Anyway, back to the main topic. Yandel, if what you say is correct, it would certainly be safer to counter-attack the enemies.”
“Sigh... Yes. It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that our opponent is none other than Edmerek.”
“I know Edmerek well. He’s quite a renowned follower.”
“He’s always involved in major incidents.”
Edmerek had the ability to excel in guerrilla warfare and terrorism rather than in direct combat.
And before the Apostles were born… the early followers of the game were no different from a terrorist group.
Of course, Edmerek was bound to be famous.
“No matter how many times he dies, he changes his form and reappears. He is an unstoppable attacker. A monster that devours people whole. It’s certainly surprising to learn that Edmerek, who goes by these terrifying titles, has an obvious weakness.”
“Why such an ostentatious nickname? Just calling him ‘Vomiting Edmerek’ would suffice. You can also call him a puker.”
Despite my sarcastic response, Elisha didn’t react. She simply continued with a serious expression.
“We can quickly determine the kind of abilities he uses, but his weakness is another matter. Yandel, I don’t think you’re lying to me, but…”
“You’re suggesting that I might be misinformed?”
“Exactly. I’m not yet sure if I can entrust you with my life.”
I mean, I suddenly appeared and faced not just a regular Bishop but an Archbishop. And although he was a prominent terrorist, I was aware of his secret weakness that no one else knew about, and I was telling them to rush at him.
It was as if she was saying that.
If I were in Elisha’s position, I’d find it hard to believe. Maybe she suspected that I might be a spy trying to trap all of us.
Thinking about how to gain Elisha’s trust, I pulled out a dagger from my inventory.
Swish.
“This is called the ‘Glowing Lion Dagger.’”
“It’s a cool name. It doesn’t seem like an ordinary item.”
“Of course. This dagger was made from a fang personally extracted by the Righteous Radiance. And in the Church of Righteous Radiance, it’s considered a sacred artifact.”
“Excuse me?”
Elisha’s eyes widened at the sudden mention of the sacred artifact. But it was too early for her to be surprised.
“I acquired it after conquering a dungeon like my pocket space. And before I even entered the academy, I used this dagger to kill a Bishop of the Church of Tainted Unity.”
“You couldn’t even use magic at the time, right?”
“I couldn’t, but Carla knew how to. And this isn’t just any sacred artifact. If stabbed with this, a bishop can’t move an inch.”
“It’s always Carla…”
Elisha nodded as if she had expected this. Since I had told them that anyway, I might as well spill it all.
“The dungeon conquest can be verified by the Gef City guards. And Priestess Helena over there will vouch that the Glowing Lion Dagger is a sacred artifact.”
“Why are you suddenly saying all this? Just because you have a sacred artifact, should we trust your words?”
“No. This is to prove my purity.”
Before Elisha could react, I suddenly stabbed the Glowing Lion Dagger into the palm of my other hand.
Thump.
“Argh…”
“Hey, Yandel?!”
Ah, that hurt. But it was bearable.
Seeing me harm myself, a shocked Elisha quickly sprinkled one of the remaining potions from the floor on me.
As my palm healed rapidly after removing the dagger, I added,
“If this dagger is drenched in the blood of a Bishop or a traitor conspiring with them, it will emit light and burn their flesh.”
“You stabbed yourself just to prove that you aren’t a traitor?! Are you insane?!”
“Well… we have plenty of potions. A little stab in the hand shouldn’t be a big deal.”
“It hurts, you know! Normal people wouldn’t stab themselves just because it hurts!”
Elisha raised her voice, clearly taken aback. But this was the easiest and quickest way, wasn’t it?
Trying to hide my slightly gloomy feelings, I continued.
“Anyway, I’m not a spy or anything. Rather, after killing the Bishop of Tainted Unity, I was publicly recognized. Their followers also mentioned recognizing me as a target.”
“Wait. You were publicly recognized?”
Killing a Bishop was certainly a great deed, but it wasn’t enough to be publicly recognized.
If the Tainted Unity had reverted all his spies to a blank state, and was enraged at the death of Pietro, who wasn’t destined to die…
I had to sprinkle some extra details here.
“Yes, public recognition. No matter how autonomous the evil Gods are, they don’t just publicly recognize someone for killing a Bishop.”
“… Unless you’ve discovered something you shouldn’t have.”
“Like the vulnerabilities of key figures within the cult, for example.”
Shrugging, I answered, and after a moment’s hesitation, Elisha sighed deeply and nodded.
“Alright. I’ll completely trust you, Yandel. But please don’t do such foolish things like stabbing yourself when you think I might not believe you in the future.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Lady Glenchiel.”
While Elisha kept touching my palm that had now, she whispered,
“Assuming everything you said is true, there’s a place where Edmerek might be.”
Elisha raised her head and slowly looked in the direction of the dungeon’s boss. Towards where the Giant Evil Rabbit resides.
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