By Zephyria 
Soaking in the warm water, all sorts of random thoughts crossed my mind.
What if all the players who were swayed by the Order were just playing dumb like I am?
No, were they actually swayed at all?
What if they were actually allied with other players and just infiltrated by pretending to be swayed, only to maliciously spread false information?
What if the advice that it’s better for players not to meet was just a strategic move to avoid having such a deception discovered?
‘…Now that I’m not worried about dying immediately, my mind is wandering everywhere.’
I splashed some hot water on my face.
‘Get a grip.’
Why was I even thinking about stepping forward?
The more I thought about it, the less reason the Order had to treat me with kindness and humanity.
That treating a player poorly might cause other players to feel hostility toward the Order?
‘If they do something to me and it just doesn’t get out, isn’t that the end of it?’
In the first place, who on earth knows that ‘Fabio’ has come to the Order?
Antonio?
‘I can just lie to Antonio and tell him I’m doing well.’
Moreover, the Order possesses the power of [Oblivion].
Even if Antonio actually came to see me in person, they could use illusions or oblivion to make him feel no sense of incongruity.
‘With such a useful cleanup ability…’
An aspiring Contractor of the Othergod who walked right into their laps, and is even under a Taboo of unknown origin?
‘If I were them, I’d isolate and imprison him and test him until I knew exactly what that Taboo was.’
No, seriously.
This isn’t a thought process born from being a gamer; it’s a choice made because this is reality.
Suppose you’re digging for information and one guy’s mental landmine goes off, turning him into a vegetable.
Compared to the possibility that the world might perish because that information was missing, isn’t one person becoming a vegetable an infinitely small risk?
Besides, I’m someone who exists outside of Order.
If they are Priests of the Order Sect, wouldn’t they naturally think that an heretic outside of Order should be sacrificed if it increases the probability of saving the world even by a little?
No, they wouldn’t even think of it as a ‘sacrifice’ in the first place.
Because they’d be giving him a chance to contribute to Order.
Wouldn’t it be a great honor for a heretic to get a chance to get even slightly closer to the Land of Order?
‘For fanatics with that kind of thought process to leave me alone to this extent…’
It must be because they are truly overflowing with leisure.
To the point where they feel there’s absolutely nothing more to gain from me.
‘Well, they’re so leisurely they’re practically idle, which is why the sixth one is preoccupied with his own unrequited love.’
If they were actually busy, would an apostle and the Knight Commander be mobilized to guide me? They would have just thrown some bastard they didn’t recognize into the dungeon and said they’d check on him later.
Thinking that way, the heaviness in my heart vanished completely.
‘Right. Even I would let such a pathetic brat go just because it’s funny, since I’m bored and have nothing to do.’
If you put yourself in their shoes, isn’t it like this?
The Galactic Federation sends a notification that Earth’s invasion protection period has ended and sixteen alien civilizations have announced their intent to invade.
So, Earth is on high alert, hunting for aliens, when a report comes in that there’s a suspected illegal alien immigrant in some rural village.
Anyway, since he’s an alien, they bring him in, only to find that for the six months he’s been on Earth, he spent his days farming in a greenhouse and his nights learning Hangeul from the village head.
When you bark at him, asking if he’s an alien, he starts sobbing and says, ‘I love Korea…! I want to… become a Korean…! Long live… the Republic of Korea!’
‘I’d let him go.’
As expected, it seems most beneficial to continue being the bastard who knows nothing.
‘Yeah, let’s keep pretending not to know.’
Having reached that conclusion, I finished my bath.
The clothes Elamin had prepared were in a basket.
Under-pants and a chemise made of white linen, a wool tunic that reached the ankles, and a hooded cape.
Long socks and leather straps to keep the socks from sliding down.
A belt-like muffler dyed in deep blue—this was probably the Pasia.
As I put on the Chanter set, I marveled at the wealth of the Order Sect.
‘To give all this for free just for changing classes!’
Just this tunic would cost at least ten silver coins to buy at a market.
And these socks, knitted so softly and densely, would probably fetch nearly one silver coin…
I let out a sigh as I tied the sock garters just below my knees.
‘Sigh… after living as a serf for six months, I’m actually getting emotional over socks.’
Antonio used to spend his spare time knitting socks; when he sold them, he got one silver coin for ten pairs, but usually, he gave them out as payment whenever villagers helped him with work.
I remember telling him that if he was going to knit them anyway, he should use better yarn and make expensive socks to get a proper wage, to which Antonio replied, ‘You children need something to wear too.’
‘Because serfs would just work naked if they were worried about ruining their clothes…’
During the hot days in the frontier village, many people worked the fields barefoot, wearing only their under-pants.
I always wore shoes, wondering how they planned to avoid getting a Clostridium infection.
Still, because Antonio kept giving them out, they did wear socks while working.
‘Though seeing people in just underwear and socks wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight…’
How on earth did Antonio, who lived like such a civilized person in the Capital Church, survive as a bell ringer in a frontier village?
‘Well, even I, who came from the 21st century, somehow managed to live as a serf.’
I tried to wrap the Pasia around me, but since I didn’t quite know how to tie it, I just draped it over my arm and stepped outside, where Elamin was waiting.
“Have you been waiting this whole time?”
“No, I thought you would be finishing up soon, so I came early. Please don’t worry, I haven’t been waiting long.”
“Um, could you show me how to tie this? I tried doing it myself, but it didn’t work out well…”
When I held out the Pasia, Elamin smiled.
“That is because the Pasia is meant to be tied by someone else. One cannot achieve this shape alone.”
‘…I have to have someone tie my belt every day?’
I was a bit flustered.
“Isn’t that too inconvenient?”
“It is meant to be inconvenient. It is like a vow not to let one’s conduct become lax.”
‘No, I feel like it would come undone just by sitting slightly crooked or running around.’
Just as expected of a Priest, assigning useless meanings to clothes.
Don’t they have things like reciting prayers while buttoning up a cassock?
I thought I was lucky that there was nothing like that, but…
“What happens if there’s no one to tie it for me?”
“There is a simplified way to tie it alone, but since it is only permitted in unavoidable situations, you must not walk around like that here in the Capital Church.”
“Then if the shape gets ruined…”
“I will tie it for you again, so do not worry.”
‘Wow, this is damn annoying and burdensome.’
Ah, maybe the point is that because asking someone to tie it again is a hassle, you end up maintaining a correct posture?
‘Well, without something like this, those who received Ordination without any intention of becoming Priests would probably run around like hooligans.’
I came to a certain level of understanding regarding the role of the Pasia.
“There, this is how you finish it.”
“…I have no idea how to do it just by watching.”
“Haha. You don’t need to know yet.”
‘Do I have to know eventually?’
The thought of having someone tie my belt every day was already tedious.
When we arrived at the building where the Chanters stay, Elamin pointed to the room at the very end of the second-floor hallway.
“Usually, two people share a room, but you, Fabio, will be using this room alone.”
‘What a win.’
They probably gave me a single room because it would be easy for a sane Chanter to notice something was off if we shared, but as a modern person who desires privacy, I was simply happy.
“Please go inside and let me know if there are any items you need.”
“I’m fine. Just having my own room is enough for me!”
This wasn’t a polite lie; it was the truth.
Until recently, I had lived using a single chest as a storage box, a table, and a chair, so why would I complain about the lack of a sofa or a desk?
As I opened the door with a joyful heart, I saw Knight Commander Casimir tapping the wall with the scabbard of her sword.
“…Knight Commander Casimir?”
“Oh. Fabio. All washed up?”
Casimir spoke while continuing her mysterious activity.
“The Chanter’s clothes suit you well.”
“…May I ask what you are doing?”
“Ah, I am checking the Blessings originally cast on this room.”
“Blessings?”
“Things like soundproofing Blessings or heating Blessings.”
Soundproofing solved by a Blessing.
In the modern era, one could make a fortune by casting Blessings on luxury apartments plagued by noise between floors.
“I think it would be good to put a Blessing of Pasia here as well… For now, sit.”
Casimir naturally closed and bolted the door as she strapped her sword to her waist.
“Uh, the door…”
“The soundproofing Blessing only works once that latch is closed.”
‘I mean, I get that, but why are you locking the door without leaving the room first?’
It’s not just anyone; it’s the Knight Commander of the Inquisition. That’s terrifying.
Imagine the head of the secret police saying, ‘This place is soundproof,’ and then locking the door.
Think about what usually happens after that.
“Do you know what Antonio intended to give you?”
‘Is she going to say that something like me, a heretic, doesn’t deserve to have it?’
“…I know nothing other than the fact that it is a consecrated object.”
Casimir took out a brass-colored disc slightly larger than a palm.
“This is an astrolabe, also called a star clock.”
Ah.
That thing. A tool to tell the time by the position of the stars.
The ones hanging next to bell towers are almost the size of trays, but there are portable ones too.
‘In this era, something with such precise craftsmanship must be unconditionally expensive.’
“This one is special among them. It is a Sacred Relic personally consecrated by the Saintess, received during the Archbishop’s Ordination ceremony.”
‘Antonio was an Archbishop?’
My eyes widened in surprise.
He was a bigger shot than I thought…
Casimir placed the astrolabe on my palm.
“This astrolabe, which received Loclem’s Blessing, can tell the time even in places where there are no stars.”
Just as Casimir said, the needle indicating the time was moving slightly even though I hadn’t touched it.
‘The needle moves without a movement…!’
Is this… the power of a Blessing?
‘But in the end, isn’t it just a clock?’
In this era, it would be an incredible over-technology… no, a technology reachable only through the Blessing of God, making it extremely precious and mysterious, but from my perspective, it’s a ‘so what’ kind of item.
I come from an era with GPS technology that can determine an exact location by communicating with satellites orbiting Earth; why would a clock be amazing?
‘A regenerated eyeball is far more amazing.’
Still, this might be for the best.
If it were something incredibly amazing and useful, it would have been heartbreakingly wasteful to return it to Casimir.
‘Thank goodness. It’s not very useful.’
“And because this astrolabe contains a vast amount of divine power accumulated by the Archbishop’s daily prayers, it allows even someone who is not an Archbishop to declare a sanctuary as long as they recite the prayer.”
‘What?’
I couldn’t help but be flustered by Casimir’s explanation.
“Um, even to someone like me who doesn’t know much, this is too…”
“A precious object.”
‘Antonio…!!’
Is he actually crazy?
He just handed something like this to a serf?
‘I’d agree even if people said he’d gone senile.’
No, seriously.
To put it in a metaphor, it’s like a head monk giving a palm-sized gold Buddha statue from the Goryeo dynasty, designated as a national treasure, wrapped neatly to a beggar who is setting off on a journey.
‘He should have just given me the socks he knitted himself…’
“I… I cannot receive something like this.”
“Then you should have refused it back then.”
“I did refuse it then! But Lord Antonio went as far as entrusting it to Lord Nasir to give it to me…”
“Then he must have given it to you because he thought you needed it that much. Take it.”
“No, but it’s too important and precious for me to keep…”
I carefully held out both hands.
“Lady Casimir. Please take this.”
“…Why are you giving it to me? It is your item.”
“Because if it’s Lady Casimir, you’ll be able to keep it safe.”
“Are you planning to use me as a vault keeper?”
“If you’re willing to be one.”
Casimir gave a small smirk.
“Then how do you intend to pay the fee?”
“…As you know, I have nothing right now.”
‘Wow, this thug is trying to shake down a beggar.’
Is she planning to take it out of my Chanter’s salary?
She’s really trying to squeeze every last drop out of an ant.
Casimir spoke with a sly smile.
“If you have nothing, how about paying with your body?”
I frowned.
‘What kind of unfair contract is she trying to make…’
The wage of a serf in this era is about one copper coin a day.
A knight’s daily pay is at least two silver coins, and for someone like a Knight Commander, the unit goes up to gold coins.
“Do you dislike it?”
“It’s not that I dislike it… it’s just that it makes no sense. How could a serf’s wage possibly cover a Knight Commander’s daily pay?”
“Daily pay… I can just give you a bit of a discount. If you just manage to please me, I might even add more.”
‘That means if I don’t please her, there’s no discount.’
I wasn’t so stupid as to be fooled by such an ambiguous verbal promise and enter a contract that would send my life spiraling down.
“…Rather than that, I will propose something else.”
“What is it?”
“While Lady Casimir keeps this astrolabe, I will give you the ‘right to show this astrolabe to others’ as the storage fee.”
“What?”
Casimir had a look on her face as if I were talking nonsense.
“…What benefit does that give me? Not the right to use it in an emergency, but the right to show it to others? What, am I supposed to brag about it?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Casimir frowned slightly.
“The more precious an object is, the easier it is to protect if no one knows who has it. The more I let it be known that I have it, the more the cost of keeping it should increase, don’t you think?”
“Isn’t it worth enduring that cost?”
“Bragging?”
“Because this is Lord Antonio’s astrolabe.”
Since it’s an item given at the Archbishop’s Ordination, there’s a high probability that this astrolabe was custom-made.
‘With the technology of this era, it’s harder to make them perfectly identical like mass-produced goods.’
“Anyone who knows Lord Antonio would be able to recognize that this is his item, wouldn’t they?”
“…And?”
“The thing you asked about when we first met, that was about Lord Antonio, right? And those hypocrites who claimed they would respect Lord Antonio’s wishes and cover it up must be Lord Antonio’s acquaintances.”
Casimir didn’t answer, but I interpreted the silence as an affirmation and continued.
“If Lady Casimir wishes to make Lord Antonio’s deeds widely known for the public good, those people will step forward to stop you, saying they are protecting Lord Antonio’s wishes. They’ll say things like, ‘Do you think Antonio would want this!’”
I held up the astrolabe and spoke.
“At that moment! You subtly show this.”
“…Are you telling me to lie and say Antonio gave this to me?”
“Huh? No, you just have to show it. If they interpret it that way, that’s just their imagination at work, isn’t it?”
Casimir looked down at me intently.
“…What if they get angry, saying my father didn’t give it to me for that purpose?”
“The fact that the news reached the frontier village means that spreading Lord Antonio’s achievements was quite effective.”
I placed the astrolabe in Casimir’s hand and said.
“Well, when did Lord Antonio ever care if Lady Casimir was angry? He did it because it was the right thing to do.”
“…True.”
“Lady Casimir, you should also do the right thing. Without worrying about what Lord Antonio would say.”
“Haha.”
[
SYSTEM:
‘Knight Commander Casimir’ is deeply influenced by your words!]
I flinched at the sudden appearance of the system window.
[
SYSTEM:
An anecdote is added to the achievement of ‘Miracle of the Silver Tongue’.]
[
SYSTEM:
Affinity has increased very slightly.]
‘…She was influenced by this?’
I mean, it’s a good thing, but…
I took my eyes off the system window and looked up at Casimir.
Casimir was wearing a warm-looking smile.
“Fabio. You are…”
‘Really a genius among geniuses?’
“It would be best to cut out that tongue of yours right now.”
“…Excuse me?”
Chapter 43