What? Why is he here?
Didn't he leave the territory?
I was so shocked that I couldn't say anything. Then, Terdius turned around.
He looked like he was about to leave right away, so I grabbed his sleeve without thinking.
"Did you come to help?"
Only then did Terdius look at me.
"Didn't I swear on my name? After that day, I would not interfere with anything that happens in Holden territory, as long as it wasn't related to Diego Faith."
What's with this attitude?
"Then why did you help me now?"
"I acted as an individual, not as a member of Diego Faith."
Huh, this guy?
"But, this is the only time."
Terdian left those words and walked away. His figure disappeared from my sight in an instant.
Did he come to help me after all?
-What a strange kid.
'Tell me about it.'
I turned around quickly. The crack was still open. Then, I saw Alphius and Chester, who looked confused.
"I'm sorry, Master. We were too late."
"We apologize..."
The kids' shoulders sagged, and I felt worse. Actually, they weren't that late. The hidden route was harder than I expected, and for some reason, Terdius seemed to be nearby.
Alphius and Chester arrived in less than 20 seconds after I called them.
"It's okay, kids."
I comforted the kids' shoulders.
"I'm fine for now. But the crack is still open, so let's focus on that first."
"Yes, Master."
"Yes."
The monsters came again. I swung my club, and the kids also entered the battle mode.
When the third wave finally started, I was quite surprised.
Kieeek!
Whiik, phatt!
'Do I even need this?'
I felt a strange sensation of losing strength in my hand holding the mace.
Chester fought like a true paladin, cutting down the monsters with ease. He moved lightly with a sword that was as big as his body, not inferior to Terdius.
He cut down the monsters on the ground and jumped into the air to deal with the flying ones.
"He's a cheat character."
And, Alphius was also a cheat character. I underestimated him because he was a high priest who didn't fight much. It was my mistake.
Ziiing---
Alphius created a barrier to protect me and himself and released his holy power as I did.
"Wow..."
The real munchkins were these two.
Of course, I also swung my mace occasionally to kill some monsters, but I couldn't compare to the two kids.
Chester moved without rest as if he had infinite stamina, slaughtering the monsters.
"Am I too weak for a master?"
Even Alphius, who was clearing the monsters in front of him, seemed to have much more holy power than me.
He kept shooting out holy power that I just gave up after a few tries.
Thanks to the two kids' amazing abilities, there were almost no monsters left.
And finally.
Kuuung---!
The crack closed.
Once the crack closed, all we had to do was deal with the remaining monsters.
I swung my mace to wipe out the few remaining monsters.
And when Chester cut down the last winged goblin, the battle was over.
"Master, it looks like everything is cleared."
Alphius wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled brightly.
"Master, are you okay?"
Chester returned from the battle and looked at me worriedly.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
Probably.
"Master!"
"Ma, Master!"
Although my legs gave way and I fell to the ground.
"I'm fine, kids. It's just that my strength is gone."
-You did well. My little lamb. My angels as well.
Kyros expressed his joy without hiding it. What's wrong with him? Did he cry?
I smiled faintly and looked at the kids.
"You did well, kids."
I stroked their hair and sent them to inform the citizens of Rovel that the crack was closed.
Meanwhile, I turned my body and looked at the night sky.
I couldn't believe that I had participated in a battle just now.
Holding a weapon and fighting against weird monsters.
The sensation left in my hand felt strange.
It was then that I heard something like cheers.
"Oh! Master! Thank you!"
"Kyros! You saved us!"
It was the people of Rovel who came out of the temple following Alphius and Chester. Among them, Kyros' followers cheered at me and the sky.
"Thank you both!"
The followers didn't forget to thank Alphius and Chester as well.
I couldn't just sit still when they showed their support. I gathered my strength and got up.
The people of Rovel were already close to me.
"We're glad we could help."
I smiled at them with a business-like smile. Then, Alphius and Chester came to my side and stuck to me.
"But are you all okay? Is anyone hurt?"
I asked with a concerned tone, and the people started to shout.
"We're fine!"
"We're all safe!"
"I tripped while running away, but I'm okay!"
"The monsters couldn't approach us when we were in the temple!"
"That's right! It's all thanks to Kyros!"
Exactly! This is the timing. The perfect timing for recruiting Kyros' followers!
I didn't miss the opportunity and put my hands on the shoulders of the two kids next to me.
"These two are the high priest and paladin of Kyros' church. As you have seen, they are very strong friends."
Although they looked like young children, everyone here must have witnessed Alphius and Chester's power in the temple.
As I expected, the people cheered.
"That's right! We saw it! How you two fought against the monsters!"
"Thank you!"
It felt like a revival meeting, being here in the night street, but I was glad.
[All the citizens of Rovel were moved by your words!]
[All the citizens of Rovel became Kyros' followers!]
It seemed that the revival meeting was a success.
-Oh! This is amazing! More followers have joined!
Kyros also expressed his pleasure without hiding it.
By the way, how many people are there in Rovel?
[Total number of believers: 203]
I immediately opened the religious status to check. Excluding me, Alphius, and Chester, it was exactly 200.
At that moment, another notification window appeared.
[You have acquired the title 'Rovel's Idol'.]
['Rovel's Idol': You have made all the citizens of Rovel into believers of Kyros, and you are no different from their idol!
-Title option 'Rovel's Idol is Me': The citizens of Rovel will remain as believers of Kyros forever. Additionally, they will listen to anything you say.]
Wow, I exclaimed softly in my mind.
The wink was good, but this was also amazing.
Of course, I didn't have anything to ask the believers of Rovel right now. But it's always good to have something.
Maybe it was possible because of the influence of the believers who were saved from the underground prison and preached, as well as blocking the crack.
I suppressed the smile that was about to pop out and opened my mouth to the believers of Rovel.
"Everyone, I will finish the renovation of the temple soon, so please visit often."
I had evacuated them all to the temple today, but the temple was still not worth seeing, so I promoted it again.
"Yes!!"
"Don't worry!"
"I'll go and pray every day when the temple opens!"
Many people looked at me and sent me fervent support.
It felt like I had become a real idol.
This feeling, it's strangely good...
Maybe I'll get addicted to it.
I safely blocked the crack in Rovel, received the greetings of the believers, and left Rovel.
Alphius and Chester headed to the temple, and I went into the back alley to go home.
-My child. You really worked hard today.
'What are you talking about? Honestly, Alphy and Chesi did everything.'
-Of course, they were great too. But without you, all this would have been impossible. It was because of my lamb that all these people in Rovel became believers.
'Ahem. Well, that's true.'
-Of course! It's because of my competent first apostle!
They say praise makes even a whale dance.*
[E/N: * The phrase meant that no one is immune to flattery.]
I couldn't control my rising lips and walked along the night road.
-I'm glad all the believers are safe.
That was also largely due to my role.
Fortunately, most of the hostility from the monsters was focused on me. Of course, some monsters headed to the temple, but they were blocked by Kyros' protection.
Thanks to that, not only the citizens but the buildings of Rovel were also hardly damaged.
'Was I lucky?'
And because I made all the citizens of Rovel into believers, Kyros' power grew even more.
Kyros naturally sent me divine power, and thanks to that, the fatigue that had accumulated from the battle melted away in an instant.
At this rate, I might be able to cure Malone's disease soon.
'I wish I could get better and stronger soon.'
As I thought so and was about to get out of the back alley.
Someone appeared between the buildings in the thick darkness.
"Hello, customer."
A familiar face, but meeting in an unfamiliar setting.
"Zain."
I thought he would contact me soon, but I didn't expect it today.
"I'm honored that you remember me, Kyros' Leader."
He knew everything that happened in Rovel.
"Yeah. What do you want?"
"Hooh. I heard that Kyros' leader is merciful and kind to everyone. But you're cold to me, so I'm disappointed."
That's because he's acting like that.
"Do you want me to be kind to you too?"
"Hmm."
Zain pretended to think and scratched his chin. Then he smiled playfully.
"Come to think of it, this isn't bad either. A person who is kind to everyone is cold only to me, that's quite attractive, isn't it?"
No matter how I think about it, we don't match. But I need Zain, so I endure it.
"So what do you need? Do you want to become a believer of Kyros too?"
"Hmm. That... I don't know. I just have one favor to ask you."
Finally.
"What favor?"
"I can't tell you right now."
It's a phrase that would make anyone swear, but I was fine with it. Because I knew he would do that.
He didn't trust me yet because Kyros was just building up his power.
On the other hand, Zain looked at me with a serious face unlike him.
I smiled slyly at his sight. And I answered.
"Okay. I'll grant you that favor."
"...What?"
Zain didn't seem to expect me to grant his favor either. He looked like he had lost his soul.
"Why? You wanted me to grant it, didn't you?"
"That... I didn't think you would answer so readily. Do you know what I'm going to ask and agree to it?"
I know what Zain is going to ask. And I'm the only one who can grant it.
"I don't know."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"But I know very well what it means for a merchant like you to pick me out."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.
And I took a step closer to Zain.
"You need me, don't you?"
[E/N: Mc seems to have made some nice progress these few chapters. The world-building is expanding too!]