Chapter 33: Skill Tree 3
In the 11th floor, I encountered a beautiful priestess, but nothing really happened.
Our current party was composed of an experienced tank, a pathfinder, and a mage.
Furthermore, priestesses climbed the tower for their faith, not for money or fame.
It was impossible to lure them away.
In an awkward atmosphere, we simply exchanged formalities and parted ways.
At least, that's what I thought.
"Um, Roland? We received a party request from the temple."
"Isn't that a good thing? Why are you reacting so nervously?"
"To be precise, a priestess who was already adventuring requested to join your party."
In the morning at the Adventurer's Guild, Ellis came to our party's table and shared some odd news.
Priests serving the goddess, the only god and the creator, regarded the suddenly appeared tower as a blasphemous space.
They believed that venturing into the tower to aid injured or dying adventurers was a form of asceticism.
This meant that once a priest joined a party, they rarely switched parties.
They willingly took on this hardship for the sake of adventurers, not for wealth or fame.
"Did their party disband due to issues?"
"No, it's a party led by a veteran tank who descended from the 24th floor."
Ellis, as a guild receptionist, seemed a bit flustered, as if this was her first time encountering such a situation.
As we discussed the priestess, Han Se-ah and Grace naturally joined our table.
The three women began to chat immediately.
"Sister, what's going on?"
"A priestess wants to join your party."
During their free time yesterday, Han Se-ah and Grace had somehow managed to win Ellis over, and Ellis now regarded them as sisters.
I stepped back and listened to their lively conversation, which naturally led to Ellis explaining the situation.
She told them why priests climbed the tower, and why the Adventurer's Guild made an exception to actively arrange parties for them.
"In their doctrine, the tower is a blasphemous space not created by the goddess. The real problem is the criminals who target priests, thinking that the goddess's eyes don't reach them."
"I see."
Even bandits in the kingdom's remote areas knew to fear the goddess, so they rarely killed priests.
They might steal valuables made from silver, but they usually let priests go unharmed, unless they were truly desperate.
There was also the belief that if a priest was harmed by bandits, inquisitors and holy knights might turnover the entire area.
But the tower was different. Empowered by the belief that the goddess's gaze didn't reach the tower, some adventurers who doubled as murderers didn't discriminate between adventurers and priests.
They believed they wouldn't be pursued since any evidence would disappear within the tower.
"So, was there a problem with the priestess's party?"
"That's the strange part. There's no issue. Instead of discussing it here, why don't you just talk to the priestess directly?"
Grace and Se-ah seemed to understand the situation after listening to Ellis' explanation.
As Ellis said, this was a question that couldn't be resolved without hearing from the priestess herself.
No matter how much we speculated, it would be best to hear from her directly.
"Is she here?"
"Yes. She was waiting even before the guild opened. Being a priestess, she's incredibly diligent."
Ellis nodded, giving a knowing smile to Se-ah and Grace before standing up from the table.
As a receptionist who loves beauty and elegance, she quickly befriended the two due to their attractive appearances.
Not long after heading to the reception room on the second floor, Ellis returned with a woman.
The woman walking down the wooden stairs with Ellis was the priestess I had seen in the forest on the 11th floor yesterday.
She wore a simple, yet elegant nun's robe that concealed her figure, with her hair meticulously hidden beneath a bonnet.
Her small, pale face was framed by the bonnet, with golden eyebrows and light blue eyes.
She looked beautiful, but her expression was somewhat blurry.
"Ah, hello?"
"...Hello. You're Roland, right?"
Han Se-ah, surprised by her extraordinary appearance, quickly looked around as she greeted her.
However, the priestess, with a voice barely above a whisper, acknowledged Se-ah's greeting while staring intently at me.
It could be considered rude, but Han Se-ah's excited voice made me realize that now wasn't the time to dwell on such things.
"Oh, a 5 healer has appeared!"
Not just a 4, but a 5 healer, as Han Se-ah blurted out.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, uh, yes. I just got a cramp in my leg."
The priestess whispered worriedly, looking at Han Se-ah who had abruptly jumped up from her chair.
I took a quick glance at the chat window as the excited camera focused on the priestess.
Of course, with the priestess' gaze locked on me, I couldn't openly read the chat, just sneak a peek.
As expected, the chat was going wild, flowing like a waterfall.
If it weren't for my magically enhanced vision, I wouldn't have been able to read the frenzied messages.
Our party was already strong, with 3 Grace leaning more towards being a guide than a combatant, but still above average.
Add a 5 healer, and our party would become disgustingly powerful.
"May I ask why you sought out our party?"
"...Isn't it Roland's party?"
"Hanna is the leader of our party."
The priestess tilted her head, seemingly puzzled.
Finally, her gaze shifted from me to Han Se-ah.
She must know that to join the party, she needed the permission of the party leader, Han Se-ah, who had come looking for me.
I wondered why she had sought me out after only seeing my face on the 11th floor.
The drone camera buzzed busily in front of the priestess, and Han Se-ah's eyes spun as she conversed.
She must be reading the stat and skill windows while talking about recruitment.
The chat moved too quickly, so I headed to the forum instead.
With the influx of people, several users were watching the live stream and summarizing it in real-time on the forum.
"Does coming to find Roland mean you want to join our party? Are there any issues with the party you're already part of?"
"No, there were no problems with my party members. They were all very kind."
Han Se-ah leaned forward, seemingly to hear the priestess's whisper better.
Grace glanced at me, unable to grasp the situation from Han Se-ah's intense reaction, but I couldn't help but have a similar response.
5 'Saint Candidate' Irene.
A priestess with significantly higher magic power than health, indicating she was purely support-based rather than a monk or paladin.
However, her impressive stats as a 5 weren't the important part.
The title before her name was more crucial.
'Saint Candidate?'
The temples in this world were governed by a pope who established temples in various cities, dispatching archbishops and priests, all with a Christian-based appearance.
That made sense, as Heroines Chronicle had designed characters based on Christianity.
A priestess wearing revealing nun attire with garter belts or a paladin with a crucifix necklace on exposed cleavage.
Anyway, being an Saint Candidate likely held considerable influence.
Frankly, wouldn't she be just below the archbishop overseeing the adventurer city's temple?
If she became a Saint, even the city's nobles would have to bow to her.
Of course, I had never seen her before.
Not in this world, nor in Heroines Chronicle.
I would have remembered a 5 Saint Candidate character.
"Why are you climbing the tower, priestess?"
"Because the goddess's will is there."
"The goddess's will?"
Focusing on the conversation, she elegantly grasped the emblem of the goddess hanging from her necklace.
It was absurd that a crucifix was engraved in the center of the emblem without a depiction of Jesus Christ.
The lack of foundation in this world was astonishing.
Was it okay to use a crucifix so casually in a virtual reality game?
Would virtual reality games be banned in certain countriessuch irrelevant thoughts crossed my mind as Irene continued speaking after kissing the emblem softly.
"I have many shortcomings compared to the other sisters."
'What are you talking about, what's lacking about a 5?'
Han Se-ah probably had the same thought.
***
Is it because of regular updates? I think that's the biggest difference when I checked the other novels out. Pretty interesting, I'm only reading Genius Warlock, Instant kill and recently Damn Reincarnation. Those all have regular updates so I never realised.
Oh and Surviving the Game as a Barbarian. But thats on an official reading app, a little different I think.
2/4 Enjoy the chappy!
Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.
It helps the website and helps people find this novel!
Novel illustrations are also found on the ko-fi link below! Check out the gallery page inside the ko-fi page.
If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support our translations or subscribe to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can do so via Ko-fi.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel