#056

Unfortunately, Fabio was not the kind of trash who would completely ignore someone when they were sharing a heavy story.

‘A person should be consistent in their behavior.’

He had been polite even to the bell ringers before coming to the Church of Order; it would be a bit odd to start ignoring people the moment he arrived at the Church.

Reputation management was very important.

“I may not be able to be of much help, but I can at least listen to your story.”

‘Please, just decline.’

However, Athanas seemed genuinely touched by my words.

I began to feel burdened by the way Athanas was looking down at me.

“…Fabio.”

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to have anyone to eat dinner with today?”

“I do.”

“…I see.”

‘What, was he going to ask me to eat together if I didn’t have anyone?’

I felt something going wrong.

If I kept drifting along like this, I was going to be promoted from ‘a random passerby’ to ‘his only friend.’

‘Should I change Fabio’s concept a bit?’

Maybe not a complete asshole, but a socially awkward, wall-building type.

‘No, really, if some random Holy Knight 1 had approached me like this, I would have just eaten with them and become friends.’

But this bastard is Athanas.

The protagonist of this work.

An aspiring Contractor of an Othergod who hangs around with the protagonist of Die Heretic!

It was an absurd combination.

Athanas spoke hesitantly.

“Then, would it be alright if I joined you?”

“…That’s a bit…”

“A bit what?”

“Actually, it’s quite a bit.”

“Quite… a bit?”

“Yes.”

‘You shouldn’t entertain people of that type.’

There is always that one person who doesn’t stop talking even when you give them half-hearted, short answers.

In those cases, the only solution is to say you’re too busy to check your messages and just leave them on read.

I put on my coat and organized my books.

“I’m busy, so I’ll be going now. If you feel sleepy before I come tomorrow, write the time you want to be woken up on a wax tablet or something. I’ll wake you up at that time.”

“…You are remarkably thoughtful.”

“Well then, I shall be going.”

“Um….”

“Do you have anything else to say?”

Athanas hesitated for a moment and then unnaturally shut his mouth.

“No. Please get back safely.”

‘Thankfully, he didn’t ask to walk together.’

I felt relieved.

If he had said he wanted to follow me, I would have suddenly remembered something I had to do while walking, apologized for not being able to come tomorrow, and never stepped foot in the Branch Office again.

‘I don’t want to be observed as being close to Athanas.’

Surely, some player among them was observing Athanas.

I didn’t want to catch anyone’s eye.

As I stepped outside the Branch Office, the approaching winter was felt more through the early darkness than the cold.

‘…That means the days will get even shorter from here.’

Since the Winter Solstice, the day with the shortest daylight, is the Day the Starry Sky Opens.

I paused for a moment and looked up at the sky.

‘Less than two months left now.’

A few kids ran past me.

The sound of their laughter as they ran felt like a cliché cinematic device emphasizing that this was still a peaceful time, and I couldn’t help but smile.

‘It really is peaceful….’

To think that Athanas’s greatest struggle in life is currently his jealous peers.

If this peace continues, the current Athanas will become a completely different person from the Athanas in Die Heretic!

‘…I hope Adelaide is like that too.’

I hope Adelaide doesn’t become something like the Gray Saintess, but just receives her Ordination normally and lives a life devoid of hardship.

I hope she lives without even imagining that Order could collapse.

And of course, I hope she never knows what she is capable of in such a world.

I hope she reads the stories of the Martyred Saints and thinks that she could never do such a thing.

…An Adelaide who lives such an ordinary and happy life would be a completely different person from the Adelaide in the game I loved.

‘…Then again, I never imagined Athanas would have a personality like that.’

Thinking of Athanas made me smile again.

That look on his face when he collapsed in futility.

‘I wish I could have taken a screenshot.’

It was a scene too good to keep to myself.

I really should show it to the other players….

Words wouldn’t even convey half of that feeling.

‘In just two months….’

Then we’ll be able to laugh and chat about it among the players, right?

* * *

“Athanas! Where the hell have you been crawling from?”

A young man with verdant green hair ran toward Athanas with an angry expression the moment he spotted him.

“…Sereno.”

“Hey, you really should be grateful to me. When they were checking the headcount, I covered for you by saying I saw you organizing your equipment. Otherwise, we would’ve all been out searching for you.”

“Thank you. You saved me.”

“You think you can get away with just a thank you?”

“…I’ll maintain your equipment for the next week.”

“A month! And add room cleaning to that!”

“If you have a conscience, be satisfied with a week.”

“Fine, if you tell me what you were doing today that kept you away, I’ll settle for a week. Where on earth were you hiding?”

“So, I should do the equipment maintenance and cleaning for a month?”

Sereno’s eyes widened.

“You really don’t want to answer that much? Seriously, what were you doing?”

Athanas didn’t answer the question and began organizing his personal belongings.

“I asked what you did! Athanas!”

Sereno continued to pester Athanas, who remained silent.

Unfortunately, since this was a Two-Person Room, Athanas had no way to kick out Sereno, his roommate.

“Fine, I’ll be generous. One day! I’ll let it slide if you do the cleaning for just one day! In exchange, just tell me why you skipped training today.”

“…I fell asleep.”

“What?”

“Until someone woke me up, I was just fast asleep. That is truly all.”

“Really?”

Sereno looked skeptical, but then suddenly realized he had suffered a great loss and raised his voice.

“You! You did that on purpose! You knew I’d ask with a condition!”

“You are very generous to let it slide for one day.”

“I take back what I just said! Cancel, cancel!”

“The Lord said that words once spoken cannot be taken back. A Holy Knight, who should set an example, must not violate the Doctrine.”

“Isn’t that a bit rich coming from a guy who didn’t show his face during working hours?”

Athanas didn’t answer and simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Anyway. Since you slept all day, you take two shifts of the Night Watch for me. You won’t even be sleepy, right?”

“No. I’m still tired, so I plan to go to bed early today.”

“What? You want to sleep more? As I thought, the part about sleeping was a lie, wasn’t it?”

“If you wish, I can prove it’s the truth before an Inquisitor. Without even going that far, there is a witness who saw me sleeping….”

Athanas trailed off.

“What is it? Why the sudden serious face?”

“Sereno. I have a favor to ask.”

“All of a sudden?”

“When I bring a certain person here, if I give you a signal, could you pretend that we are on very bad terms?”

“What? Why on earth would I have to do that?”

“Because I lied to the person I met today, telling them that I am being bullied and am in a very lonely and difficult situation.”

Sereno let out a hollow laugh, bewildered.

“Bullied? By us? You? Give me a break.”

“Regardless. Can you do it?”

“Why did you tell such a ridiculous lie in the first place? And who is this person?”

Athanas remained silent.

“Hey, if you don’t explain, the moment you give the signal, I’m going to tell that person they’re being fooled.”

“…His name is Fabio.”

“And? His affiliation?”

“A Chanter.”

“A Chanter? How did you even run into a Chanter?”

Sereno suddenly seemed to realize something and looked at Athanas with wide eyes.

“Wait, don’t tell me that ‘sleeping’ part meant something else?”

“…Not at all, so don’t get any strange ideas. I really did fall asleep while reading a book at the Branch Office.”

“You went to the Branch Office, not the Main Hall? Why?”

“…I just felt like being in a quiet place. Anyway, that’s not the point. Since I lied, I can’t get caught.”

“I seriously don’t get it. Why did you tell such a nonsense lie?”

“I needed an excuse to start a conversation.”

“…You brought up being bullied out of the blue just to start a conversation? Give me a break.”

“He was the kind of person who would have clearly cut me off and left if I hadn’t brought up something of that magnitude.”

“What… did you get a Revelation? To get that person’s attention by any means necessary?”

Sereno had said it sarcastically, but Athanas fell into thought with a quite serious expression.

“A Revelation…. Perhaps it was something like that.”

“You got a Revelation to seduce a Chanter you just met?”

“I had a strong feeling that I needed to verify what kind of person he was.”

“Did you get a Revelation from Valentine?”

Valentine is the God of Sacred Love and Lovers under the Order.

However, since the ‘institution’ of marriage was the domain of Loclem, the God of Order, and conception and childbirth were the domain of Ledeia, who was the Goddess of Healing as well as the God of Fertility, Valentine’s jurisdiction was limited to Fruitless Love, Pleasure Without Responsibility, and Unbound Affection.

One of Valentine’s Core Doctrines was that a secret relationship, sustained solely by love without being bound by responsibility or duty, was the purest form of love.

Because of this, few people openly admit to believing in Valentine, but many offer prayers to him. Thanks to such ‘Shy-Valentines,’ Valentine held a fairly high position even within the Pantheon.

In particular, Valentine was famous for the Revelation Showing True Love in Dreams.

The problem was that the ‘true love’ Valentine spoke of was not Eternal Love. He showed the person who would evoke the most intense emotions in one’s life, but he did not guarantee that the feelings would be mutual.

Since he often showed dreams of another partner even to lovers who had already sworn to be each other’s only one, Valentine was also regarded as the God of Whims and Ruin.

Athanas was about to deny it immediately, but then he realized he had no answer to the question of what kind of revelation it was if not that.

‘…It might be useful to let the misunderstanding stand.’

Even with [Regression], the amount of time he could turn back was not long, so there were many limits to what Athanas could do.

To put it simply, Athanas didn’t dare investigate places that took over an hour one way. This limitation was why Athanas had been continuously searching for a companion to join him in this grave mission.

‘But if I say I seem to have received a Revelation from Valentine, other people will easily accept it even if I leave my post or act in ways I can’t explain.’

Because nothing makes a person more irrational than love.

“…Perhaps.”

“Wow….”

Sereno let out an exclamation.

To receive a Revelation from Valentine!

And not just anyone, but Athanas!

The boring Athanas, who would dismiss people and tell them to train more if they were chatting about gossip!

Since Valentine’s revelations more often than not end poorly, it wasn’t exactly something to congratulate, but from an observer’s perspective, there was nothing more entertaining than this.

Whether a Blessed Love ends well or in ruin, it always makes for a great story.

“So, will you help me?”

“Of course I’ll help! With something this interesting!”

…Seeing Sereno’s eyes sparkle, Athanas briefly considered turning back time to make this conversation never happen.

Chapter 57