#154

‘Is Adna really in a position to say that?’

If anyone were unparalleled in being clueless about such things, it would be Adna.

I wouldn’t have cared if it were anyone else, but hearing this from the iron-walled Adna wounded my pride a bit.

It felt like I was intentionally writing the wrong answers to come in dead last in the entire school, only to have some guy ranked third in the grade look at my score and sigh.

In short, it was fucking irritating.

‘…Let’s calm down.’

The one Adna called a useless piece of trash was Fabio, not me.

And without knowing the context, it was only natural for her to misunderstand.

How could Adna possibly know that Pandemonium had played that prank just to bury the topic of the Council and give me a little bit of grief?

More importantly, that wasn’t the priority right now.

‘I have to avoid Adna’s surveillance somehow.’

If an apostle is attached to me, the restrictions on my actions become too great.

I wouldn’t have to worry about running into Nyapoleon or Insanity, but everything else becomes a problem.

She might allow me to write letters to a lover, but I wouldn’t be able to include a single piece of important information in them.

‘…I think I could manage some chatting when she’s not looking.’

Even an apostle shouldn’t be able to peek into the System window.

But when she said she would stay by my side, did she mean literally right next to me?

How many hours a day would she be there?

8 hours? 16 hours? 24 hours?

‘24 hours would be fucking overkill.’

However, Adna’s attitude was unusual.

‘Adna is now convinced that I’m at least Stage 1 Madness.’

In truth, Stage 1 Madness in the Dark Realm is practically the same as being an ordinary person who simply refuses to budge on certain beliefs.

It’s not a state where one hears hallucinations or sees visions.

Andrea, who believes Athanas must die the moment his name is mentioned, is exactly at Stage 1 Madness.

When Andrea actually sees Athanas, he’ll be disgusted that such an evil being is walking around pretending to be normal and hiding his true nature, but he will still correctly perceive that ‘Athanas’ looks like an ordinary person to others.

But what if Andrea were at Stage 2 Madness?

He would hear Athanas, who passed by with a silent nod, whisper in a voice audible only to him: ‘Stand there like an idiot and watch me slaughter the children here.’

Then Andrea, who cherishes children, would do anything to stop that atrocity.

To others, he would simply be a Bishop who suddenly went insane and stabbed a volunteer.

‘…If her goal is to monitor me so I don’t become a psychopath like that, she really won’t take her eyes off me for a second.’

She’ll probably inspect every single one of my belongings.

Any item that negatively affects the mind will be confiscated.

‘Regardless of other things, I can’t let her find Reyes’s ring.’

Because that is a Distorted One’s Relic.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.

How can I ‘persuade’ Adna that I am sane and possess sound judgment?

I can’t even use Forced Persuasion on Adna.

“…I spoke too harshly.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t realize you would be so shocked that you’d turn pale.”

‘What?’

Ah.

Adna had just called me a useless piece of trash.

She seems to have mistaken my reaction for being shocked by those words.

I decided to take advantage of that misunderstanding.

“No, I’m just a bit flustered. I really didn’t think it would be meant in that sense. I don’t know how to handle this now that the rumors have spread so far….”

“If you wish, I can use Oblivion to clean it up completely. I can make it so there is no memory of the confession, nor of you even meeting them.”

“Ah, no! That’s alright.”

‘Holy shit, she’s so extreme.’

Oblivion.

It’s not like she’s rolling back a server.

Is it the Church of Order’s practice to just treat an accident as if it never happened?

‘It’s just gossip.’

“Is it okay to use Oblivion like that? For something so trivial….”

“Normally, it is not. But you are a Watched One.”

Adna continued with an expressionless face.

“Any matter related to the Being Beyond the Starry Sky can be handled without permission or prior notice.”

The moment I heard that, I felt my breath hitch.

‘…Does that mean she can erase my very existence at any time?’

If Athanas forgot all memories of me and we became strangers who had never met….

“Fabio?”

“I-I’m fine.”

I took a deep breath.

I have to look normal right now.

Sane.

‘So what if she does?’

Come to think of it, it’s not that serious.

It’s better for him to forget me than to fall into hell because of me.

It’s not like we had that great of a relationship anyway….

“It would be best to rest for a moment.”

As the Saintess lightly pressed my shoulder, I slumped down helplessly.

‘…When did she move the chair?’

“If you need time to think, I will leave you alone for a while.”

No, I want to be alone in ‘my room.’

Not in a room where the corpses of girls sliced alive are laid out.

She wasn’t pressing down with that much force, but perhaps because of my center of gravity, I found it impossible to stand up.

As the Saintess leaned over me, her white hair slid down like a veil.

While my gaze was momentarily stolen by that sight.

[…It is a white that feels as if all colors have been stolen.

It is beautiful, but for some reason, it makes me feel sad.

I suppose I really have to call her Saintess now?

Instead of ■■■■.]

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme,’ ‘memory recall’ is provided as text.]

‘…What is this?’

The window disappeared as I blinked.

This isn’t ‘Fabio’s’ memory.

‘Perpetua?’

Are Perpetua’s memories going to keep popping up now?

Even without contacting the remains?

The synchronization speed is fucking fast.

No, more importantly.

‘Perpetua knew the Saintess?’

“I will be right beyond that door, so call me if you need anything.”

A soft voice brushed past my ear.

All sorts of complex thoughts boiled up.

‘What is the Saintess thinking?’

What meaning does it have for the Saintess that I recall my ‘previous life’?

‘If it’s because of my request, there was no need to bring the remains.’

I clearly asked for it to be organized in writing.

The one who forced me into contact with the remains without warning was the Saintess.

The Saintess clearly wants me to remember something.

‘…What was the relationship between Perpetua and the Saintess?’

It felt like they were very close even before she became the Saintess, not just simple acquaintances.

And what are those obscured letters?

[SYSTEM: This memory is blocked due to ‘Oblivion.’]

‘Oblivion?’

I frowned.

I guess things that weren’t done to me cannot be nullified?

‘Come to think of it, that makes sense.’

Setting a ‘read-only’ lock on a file on my own hard drive is a completely different technology from restoring a file that was corrupted from the moment it was downloaded.

Regardless, it didn’t seem like a good idea to dig deeper into Perpetua.

Perpetua’s life was probably miserable and horrific.

I didn’t think anything good would happen by knowing those memories in detail.

‘…I’ll go and tell her I’m not curious anymore.’

Adna will surely tell me I’ve made a good choice.

As I stood up, the scroll that had been resting on my lap rolled away.

‘Oops.’

When did that get put there?

Since there was no string to tie it, the scroll unfurled on its own.

‘…I didn’t intend to open it.’

Surely this doesn’t count as ‘read’?

As I hurriedly picked it up, the words at the end of the scroll naturally caught my eye.

[Perpetua Opia]

‘Opia?’

Was Perpetua from the Opia family?

I didn’t know because the family name disappeared after she became the Cult Leader.

Even if one had a Divine Bloodline, the original Divine Power becomes unusable the moment the contract is signed.

Unless they have the ‘Legitimate Heir of Nobility’ trait, there’s no reason to care about the Cult Leader’s original family during gameplay.

‘…The Opia of Consolation.’

The symbolic color of Opia is light purple.

The Blessing of Consolation removes anxiety and grants a calm mind.

It’s a very useful blessing when utilizing Units with low mental strength.

It was also a Sacred Relic that beginners essentially had to farm.

This is because those with low mental strength easily fall into a state of madness, ignoring orders and committing erratic actions.

‘Though I intentionally don’t use it.’

The reason is simple.

If a Unit with low mental strength overcomes madness on their own, their Faith increases significantly.

Should I rob them of such a growth opportunity?

Just to reduce the inconvenience caused by erratic behavior?

‘I can’t do that.’

In Conclude, innate stats do not change much.

The limit of stat increase through training also varies greatly depending on whether a talent-related trait is attached.

The Dark Realm is also a filthy world of talent-obsessed people where innate ability is the most important.

‘Of course, one can overcome such limits by receiving a blessing from a god….’

In reality, blessings only deepen the gap between the rich and the poor.

Honestly, even if I were a god, I would pour points into a genius to make them a super-genius.

Because a genius cannot be replaced by mediocre people.

Conversely, making a stupid person mediocre?

That’s a complete waste of points.

You can just pull a naturally mediocre person.

‘It’s perfectly logical, but sometimes that’s the part that’s irritating.’

Shouldn’t high religions pursue equality?

The geniuses would have lived well even without a god, so why should I help them?

That’s why I intentionally poured points into the deficient ones.

The problem is that those with low mental strength also betray you quickly.

So, before pouring points in, I have to ‘screen’ for those who are worth it.

Overcoming madness on one’s own was one of the screening criteria.

‘If they can’t overcome it, they go completely insane and become useless….’

Well, I wrote in the Doctrine that those crazy for the faith also go to heaven.

They probably returned to their senses after death.

I’ve never tried resurrecting useless ones, so I don’t know for sure.

I rolled the scroll back up diligently, keeping my gaze far away to avoid looking at it.

‘It’s a bit a shame it’s not the Horeum family.’

If Perpetua had been from an inventory family, I might have subtly asked if I could take a few of the remains, but I have no need for the Blessing of Consolation.

First of all, it doesn’t work on me at all.

And Athanas has high mental strength, so he doesn’t need it.

‘…Is the Saintess from the Opia family?’

I could guess that much without even looking at the contents of the scroll.

Secret information that must not be taken out.

The description suggesting they were close before the Saintess became an apostle.

There’s a high probability she’s a relative of Perpetua.

‘Are those four obscured letters something like “cousin brother”?’

What was the Saintess’s name before she became an apostle?

Pel….

Pelagio.

‘…….’

It’s a shocking name no matter how many times I see it.

How can a person’s name be Pelagio?

No matter how you call it, it’s weird.

Brother Pelagio, Elder Brother Pelagio….

[…I suppose I really have to call her Saintess now.

Instead of Brother.]

‘Huh?’

[SYSTEM: You have successfully recalled a memory that was blocked by ‘Oblivion’!]

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme,’ the status condition ‘Oblivion’ is nullified.]