#021

“Th-then… that woman, no, that apostle is….”

“Apostle Ada is the fifth apostle, the Paladin and the Sword of Judgment,” the Saintess (male) explained.

I was hit by a shock so great I felt like I might lose consciousness and collapse.

‘The person’s name is… really Ada and Pellagio?’

Is that for real?

The short-haired woman removed her head ornament.

She was a beauty with deep blue-silver eyes that gave off a chilling vibe.

‘She looks like the type of character who would never laugh at a joke, no matter what, and would just stare at you in silence for three minutes until you wanted to die.’

To put it in a metaphor… she was the kind of beauty who would be turned into a meme with a caption like [Adna is bursting into laughter, clutching her stomach] if the corner of her mouth rose by even a single pixel.

‘I bet she has a lot of core fans, but since I’ve never seen a single screenshot of her, she must die early in the game.’

Adna gave a small nod toward me.

“I am Holy Knight Ada.”

…I bit my tongue hard to keep from spitting out my drink.

But as if to mock my efforts, the Saintess (male) delivered a finishing blow.

“She is considered one of the finest experts in shield techniques within the Order Sect. Because of that, she has even earned the epithet ‘The Unshakable Iron Wall’!”

The Unshakable Iron Wall of A….

…Stop it!

My life bar is already at zero!

“How embarrassing. I am still lacking in many ways. You may simply call me Ada.”

“Ah… could I perhaps continue to call you Lady Adna…?”

Ada frowned slightly, her elegant brows knitting together as if she didn’t understand.

“Even after realizing I am not the Saintess, are you still reluctant to call me by my name?”

No, while “Saintess Ada” was the biggest shock, “Knight Ada,” “Holy Knight Ada,” “Paladin Ada,” and “Iron Wall Ada” all have an overwhelming level of destructive power.

“Apostle Adna. Please do not force him,” the Saintess (male) told Ada, then turned to me with a gentle smile.

“Fabio. You may also call me by whatever name you find comfortable.”

“Then, may I call you… Pell-nim?”

“Of course.”

Thank goodness.

If I had to call him by that full name every time, I would have bitten my tongue so often that my Silver Tongue would have become a Bronze Tongue.

“C-could I ask more about… the beings beyond the stars?”

I asked very cautiously.

In truth, I was still a bit tense because I couldn’t wrap my head around why the Order Sect would tolerate someone associated with an Othergod.

‘Still, the Sai… ntess swore on Loclem’s name to protect me, so they probably won’t kill me just for asking.’

Aside from the fact that the Order Sect considers Othergods the ultimate taboo, there was no information available in the game or the setting guides.

Seeing as they were on the verge of collapse in Heretic Slayer because they couldn’t stop the Plague God, and in Conclude, they failed to prevent the opening of The ‘Stars’ and the birth of the Concluder, I had merely guessed that they didn’t know much about Othergods.

‘But looking at Pell’s attitude, it seems the Sect knows more than what was in the original work.’

Did another prospective Contractor surrender before I did?

Or perhaps, since the power balance between the Order Sect—who knew nothing—and the strongest of the sixteen hardcore gamers who survived the fight was too skewed, some adjustment was made in that dimension beyond the stars.

“What is it you are curious about?”

“…Am I the only one who has received a Blessing from the being beyond the stars?”

For now, I revealed the minimum amount of cards I held.

If the information the Order Sect had about Othergods was obtained from another prospective Contractor, the situation would change depending on how much that person had spilled.

What if that prospective Contractor had played the part of an innocent local who had been fed strange information, and then I suddenly blurted out that Conclude is a game and everyone brought here is a hardcore player?

‘That would be extremely awkward.’

Conversely, if the other person had confessed everything and the Order Sect already knew about “players” and “strategy games,” my attempt to hide information might look pathetic, but it wouldn’t cause a major problem.

I might get a warning not to play tricks, but it was better to listen first and then adjust my attitude than to unnecessarily reveal all my cards.

“There are others.”

“There are…?”

“I have met them personally,” Pell said with a chillingly beautiful smile.

“Everyone I met chose to leave the insolent ones outside the stars and belong to the Order.”

‘…Did they fall for a honey trap?’

Well, with a face like that, I feel like I’d unconsciously stamp a document if asked to sign up for a whole-life insurance policy with a monthly premium of a million won.

‘Still, it’s a relief he’s a Priest with that face. If he tried to scam people, he could have brought down an entire nation with ease.’

I used to think it was ridiculous to pick a Saintess based on looks, but when I consider that they’re isolating an ecological disruptor within a religion to protect the Order, it makes some sense.

‘Imagine if this face entered the marriage market. Families would collapse, society would crumble….’

With looks like that, he’d have no choice but to become an idol, the face of a religion, or a true idol receiving religious worship.

‘Or live as a shut-in for the rest of his life….’

“…What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Ah, I was just thinking that the Saintess’s face is truly beautiful…”

Even as I said it, I didn’t feel like I was flattering him.

I believed that calling a face of that caliber “beautiful” was an objective statement of fact, similar to looking at the midday sun and saying it’s bright.

“Am I… beautiful?”

That’s why I was actually surprised when Pell asked back.

‘Are his eyes so pale that he actually has cataracts?’

Or does he love being called beautiful so much that he never gets tired of it, so he’s playing the “I don’t know” card to hear the compliment one more time?

Otherwise, there’s no way he wouldn’t know he’s beautiful.

“Then, have you ever met a single person who thought the Saintess was not beautiful?”

“It’s not that, but….”

“Then how can you possibly doubt the fact that you are beautiful?”

Pell gave a slightly awkward smile, perhaps feeling guilty for fishing for compliments.

“No, it’s just that I didn’t expect that I would appear beautiful even to you, Fabio.”

“…I-I may be a country bumpkin, but it’s not like I’m blind.”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

Pell looked down bashfully, making his incredibly long eyelashes stand out.

No matter how many times I saw it, his beauty was shocking.

‘It’s a real relief the Saintess was already dead and didn’t appear in Heretic Slayer.’

If Pell had appeared in Die Heretic!, sales would have probably jumped by 1.2 times, but I was certain that the majority of those 20% of players would have been the kind of bastards I’d hate to associate with.

‘Even the name… Holy Moly.’

I don’t know for sure, but I bet the number of Die Heretic! doujins at those events with numbers after the ‘C’ would have tripled.

For the record, I really wanted to remain ignorant of people who consume content in such strange ways, but when I volunteered as a board moderator, the bastards talking about new doujin releases kept crawling back even after I exterminated them, so I found out.

‘I truly felt like I had peered into the abyss….’

I became a moderator because I couldn’t stand the bastards posting Adelaide lewds and wanted a clean board, but instead, I had to check every single disgusting thing one by one without skipping.

Because to ban them, I first had to click the post.

‘I almost quit the game back then because of the sheer existential dread.’

I should have just quit then….

“Well, the fact that the Saintess is beautiful is a law certified by Loclem, is it not?” Pell said softly.

“That is why I didn’t think I would look beautiful to you, Fabio.”

‘Does he mean that since I’m a heretic outside the Order, he didn’t imagine we’d share the same standards of beauty?’

“…Didn’t you hear you were beautiful quite often even before you became the Saintess?”

“But I do not know what the world looks like through your eyes, Fabio.”

‘Does he think heretics see red as blue or something?’

“To think that I am beautiful even in your eyes… I am very pleased.”

‘Does he actually have narcissism?’

Well, it’s understandable.

According to the Relative Squid Theory, the more beautiful a person is, the more like a squid the people around them look. If he has a face like that, he must live feeling like a lonely mermaid princess among deep-sea creatures.

So, it’s possible he’d grow to love his own face excessively.

“The Blessing of Consolation does not reach you, but it means my beauty has reached you.”

Pell smiled, his eyes curving.

You heretic bastard who can’t even receive a Blessing.

But at least you have eyes to recognize beauty.

Doesn’t it make you feel good to see the beautiful me?

This is the grace of the Lord~ Look upon this face full of Order and harmony and believe in Loclem, or something like that.

It was absurd, but the effect was certain.

Even though Pell was the one who swung a sword at me earlier, I didn’t feel any resentment; I was just continuing to think about how handsome that face was.

I had even drifted off for a while during a damn important conversation.

“Ah, returning to the topic….”

To prevent myself from getting distracted, I fixed my gaze on the tip of Pell’s chin.

“If possible, could I meet those people?”

As long as that prospective Contractor isn’t a Mothergod Fanatic, I think we’d get along well.

There are so many things I want to ask.

Since I’ve been in the countryside for six months and know nothing, they’ll likely know much more than I do….

“…I believe that would be difficult.”

Hearing Pell’s words, a sudden chilling thought occurred to me.

‘Does “choosing to belong to the Order” mean they were sent to a heretic concentration camp?’

I might have just farmed while possessed by a serf, but those who possessed the bodies of noble trash might have committed actual crimes….

“May I ask why?”

“Ah, it was a request they made. Every single one of them asked that even if another related person was discovered, their identity should not be revealed.”

‘Why?’

“As for the reason… they said you would understand if I told you that there is still someone who has not given up on the game.”

I blinked silently.

My mind raced.

‘Did the other prospective Contractors contact each other?’

And among them, there was a lunatic who, even though the game became reality, was still trying to play it like a game….

‘To such a [Player], the failures who cooperate with NPCs must be thorns in their side that they absolutely want to eliminate.’

In such a situation, if the users who surrendered to the Sect knew each other, kidnapping and torturing just one person would reveal the current identities of the other users.

‘The person who asked the Saintess to convey that must be someone who has encountered that crazy [Player].’

Since their own personal information was already known to that lunatic, they left this message because meeting another user directly to provide information would put that user in danger.

‘What a smart and kind person….’

They’re probably a [Pioneer of Civilization] type.

However, as I realized the way to meet a modern person in this primitive Medieval-land was blocked, an inevitable sense of disappointment washed over me.

Especially since that modern person was presumed to be a “God-tier” player, the disappointment was even greater.

Seriously, I feel like I could survive just by talking about trivial things with them….

‘Was I lonelier than I thought….’

“…It is alright if you did not understand. It is no problem for you.”

‘……?’

I buffered for about 0.5 seconds at the Saintess’s sudden remark before I realized what he meant.

‘Does this bastard think I’m depressed because I didn’t understand the message he sent, which was specifically meant for someone who would understand?’

What does he take me for?

An uneducated serf?

22 – #022