#152

Adna had a history of smashing doors with an axe.

I hurriedly opened the door before the sound of knocking could turn into the sound of destruction.

“Lady Adna! What brings you here?”

Fortunately, Adna was not armed.

‘Though I can’t let my guard down just because she’s bare-handed.’

I still couldn’t forget it.

She had clearly stopped her fist in mid-air, yet the shockwave alone had gouged a hole in the ground.

Just recalling the sight made the hairs on my body stand on end.

Her silver-blue eyes scanned me before shifting to the space behind me.

“…What is that vermin?”

‘Vermin….’

“Fifth Apostle of Order, I am ‘Callister’.”

“Aha. The Director’s ‘equipment,’ then.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Why is the equipment here?”

“I was here to engage in an academic discussion with Fabio….”

“I did not ask you.”

Callister’s lips moved, but no sound came out.

Adna continued with an expressionless face.

“To hear an explanation from equipment is a ridiculous thing. It is like asking a sword for the crime of harming a person.”

“A-Adna….”

“That does not mean I intend to interrogate you. Fabio. I know you are innocent. I will ask the explanation of the one who must take responsibility.”

‘Does that mean she’s going to find the Director?’

Cold sweat soaked down my spine.

Right now, in the Director’s office….

‘No!’

“Lady Adna, before that, may I ask what brought you to look for me?”

I had to stop Apostle Adna from storming into the laboratory at all costs.

I cannot let Reyes hit Game Over right now.

Reyes is enduring even a slave contract to find clues about the House Lizard….

“It is a summons from the Saintess.”

“Why would the Saintess….”

“I heard there was something you requested.”

Something I requested?

‘What did I ask for?’

Was it when I summoned the Saintess because of Reyes?

The Saintess had appeared like some terrifying boss monster, but then she had left with surprising docility when I told her nothing was wrong.

At that time, the Saintess had asked if there was truly nothing I wanted, and the business I had casually brought up was….

‘…Did I ask her to tell me about Perpetua?’

It was information that didn’t really matter now, but I beamed as if I had been waiting for nothing else.

“Really? Finally!”

Pretending to be unable to contain my joy, I grabbed Adna’s wrist.

“You came all this way just to tell me that! Thank you!”

“…I simply came because I was idle.”

“Still, you spent your time for my sake.”

‘I have to draw aggro!’

Right now, Adna stood frozen, held by me.

With a single flick of her hand, she could fling me across the floor like a deflated balloon doll with 25 durability.

‘That’s exactly why she can’t push me away.’

As long as there was a decree from the Saintess, Adna could not harm me.

But what if I were too weak?

A slight swing of her arm could cause severe injury.

Last time, after giving a verbal warning to let go, she had exerted physical force into the empty air.

‘…And if she did that, Tartarus would come rushing over in a panic.’

That would be enough time for the Director to prepare.

The Director had the experience of conducting forbidden research, so he would have been sufficiently prepared for the appearance of an Apostle.

Adna’s glass-bead eyes stared silently at my hand.

“…What happened?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked what has happened while you served as a Chanter.”

‘Asking so broadly….’

How was I supposed to answer?

Too many things had happened.

And most of them were things I couldn’t tell an ‘Apostle of Order.’

‘It’s not like this is a descriptive exam question asking me to write down everything I’ve learned.’

There was only one answer I could give.

I’m fine thank you.

“Nothing special. What misfortune could possibly occur in this sacred Capital Church, protected by the Apostle of the Iron Wall?”

Adna tilted her head slightly.

“Is having an arm cut off not a ‘special’ occurrence to you?”

‘Shit.’

How did she notice?

Can she perceive it because Ledeia’s divine power remains in my arm?

But the Saintess hadn’t said anything….

I swallowed hard.

“How… did you know?”

“The scar that was there when I saw you before has disappeared.”

‘When did she see that? No, more importantly, she still remembers that?’

Shit, I don’t even know what scars Fabio’s body had.

Adna rolled up my sleeve and examined my arm closely.

Then, she traced a line along a certain boundary with her finger.

“It was severed here.”

My stomach churned slightly.

“If it had been a simple amputation, the part below this should be the original body.”

Adna slowly felt her way down the arm and fiddled with my fingertips.

“Everything up to here is a newly created part. Where is the severed arm?”

“That is….”

“If you do not remember, I will ask the Director.”

“N-no. There is no need to ask. I can tell you.”

I spoke urgently, but my mind was a blank sheet of paper.

‘Shit, what am I supposed to say?’

The story about going to meet the God of Records was completely out.

That bastard of a Record claimed he never rebelled, but the fact remains that he was marked for not listening to Order.

Publicly, it was known that he was being punished for defying Order.

An heretic from outside Order went of his own accord to find a god who rebelled against Order?

That’s basically lying down and asking for a Game Over.

‘…What could cause someone to lose an arm in the Middle Ages?’

A slip of the hand while chopping firewood?

Getting caught cheating at cards?

Getting eaten by a shark?

All of them were unrealistic.

‘Shit, I have no choice.’

“I donated my left arm to the Director! Of my own will!”

“…Why would you do such a thing?”

Though Adna’s expression didn’t change, I felt as if she found it utterly absurd.

“Because I am an existence outside of Order. For the sake of Order, that much is….”

“…You must have been warned about the Director. How did you come to meet him? Did he seek you out first?”

“No! I went to him of my own accord.”

“The reason?”

“I was curious about other existences outside of Order besides myself. I thought the Director might know.”

Adna stared at me in silence.

“A-and, the biggest reason I was told not to meet the Director was because I would feel repulsion toward his appearance, right? The cause of that feeling is that I have not received the Blessing of Order. Thinking it over, I felt that shouldn’t be the case. Since I haven’t received the Blessing, shouldn’t I strive even harder? I thought that if I worked to feel that what Order declares as beautiful is indeed beautiful, I might become a bit closer to Order….”

“What a ridiculous thing to say.”

“I-I am sorry.”

“No, there is no need to apologize. It is unlikely you desired to have such foolish thoughts. Just as no human intends to be born dull and is thus born.”

‘She’s still fucking harsh.’

“If fault is to be questioned, it must be asked of the Director who took advantage of your naivety.”

“The Director is….”

“A man you have no need to defend.”

I shut my mouth, fearing that trying to defend him would only have the opposite effect.

‘…Now that I think about it, why should I protect that crazy scientist?’

After all, it’s true that he cut off my arm without permission and is conducting suspicious research.

Haven’t I done my best by giving him a plausible excuse without revealing the ‘truth’ that he is seriously searching for the past that Order erased?

“I shall retrieve your arm.”

‘I was actually worried about that.’

I’m grateful she’s taking it back.

The Director will probably throw a fit, claiming it’s unfair to take away a reward he rightfully obtained, but why should I care?

“But shouldn’t we respond to the Saintess’s summons first?”

“…I will call another Apostle.”

“No, I would like Lady Adna to accompany me.”

I deliberately acted nervous.

In reality, I was so fucking terrified that I didn’t even need to act.

“Actually, I’m very nervous right now. Lady Adna, do you know what I requested?”

“…I do not. I simply stepped forward to go because I was told to bring you.”

“I said I wanted to know more in detail about the life I lived previously.”

I gently grabbed Adna’s sleeve.

“I would like Lady Adna to stay by my side during that time.”

“…The Sixth would be better for such a thing than I.”

“But that person can read my emotions. I feel naked in front of them….”

I studied Adna’s expression.

It was still a face that gave no hint of what she was thinking.

“I want someone I can rely on, like Lady Adna, to be with me.”

“…Ha.”

Adna let out a short sigh.

“Very well. I shall stay by your side.”

“Thank you!”

“You truly are….”

Adna trailed off.

‘…Unreliable? A moron?’

Adna remained silent for a long time before speaking.

“…What of the Blessing of Pain Relief?”

“Pardon?”

“If the Blessing of Consolation did not work, the Blessing of Pain Relief would not have worked either.”

Adna’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

“Does it not hurt to have an arm severed while the sense of pain is intact?”

‘Shit, you think I can just say that?’

But I couldn’t say that it hurt so fucking much I almost died on the spot.

Because then she’d ask why on earth I would “donate” it.

“…It hurt, but it was more bearable than I expected.”

“Do you speak sincerely?”

“How could I dare lie before Lady Adna?”

“Your mind is completely diseased.”

“Pardon?”

“No, do not mind it.”

‘How can I not mind that?’

Adna suddenly turned and began to walk.

Flustered, I followed behind her and drew letters on my palm.

[Contact Director]

[Beware of Apostle]

Actually, he’d probably handle this on his own even if I didn’t tell him.

He must have a secret to not have been burned at the stake while investigating forbidden things all this time.

‘But it’s inconvenient that this only sends and doesn’t receive.’

This way, I can’t tell if the other person has checked it.

It would be much more useful if I could receive even just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’….

‘No, cancel. Cancel that.’

The thought of maggots crawling under my skin to signal ‘yes’ made my whole body break out in goosebumps.

I don’t need a receiving function.

Such a horrific function should not exist in this world.

Barely suppressing the urge to scratch the back of my hand, I focused on walking until I was suddenly before a grand door.

Adna stepped forward and opened the door.

“Fabio.”

The Saintess was wearing a face ornament.

Thanks to that, I could skip the process of being entranced by her beauty and discover something else striking.

‘…Boxes?’

Dozens of ornate boxes were placed in an orderly fashion at the Saintess’s feet.

It looked like a scene where artifacts found at an excavation site were laid out without numbers.

“These are….”

“Things left behind by Perpetua.”

‘…Personal belongings?’

I said I was curious about Perpetua’s human relationships, not her belongings.

More importantly, is it okay to bring belongings like this so carelessly?

‘Isn’t Perpetua still alive?’

Becoming the Happy God’s Contractor means she’s alive until the ‘Stars’ open.

‘…Wait, now that I think about it, this is strange.’

Then how does the Saintess perceive me right now?

Of course, Loclem knows that this world has repeated several times.

Therefore, there is no logical problem with the Saintess perceiving me as the Fabio who ‘was Perpetua in the previous cycle.’

‘But what if the Perpetua of this cycle exists simultaneously?’

Then what about that Perpetua’s soul?

“Most of these are the remains of the child herself.”

“…Remains?”

“Yes. I have collected every single piece without exception.”

I shifted my eyes to look at the boxes again.

Some of the boxes were as large as a standard shipping box.

When I thought about what was inside, I was momentarily stunned.

“…When did Perpetua die?”

It’s not a contradiction if Perpetua died before the ‘Stars’ opened.

Because there are things the players have done in this cycle.

‘Many things must have changed already.’

Reyes’s Winter Flower operation is one example.

Fertile farmlands turned into lands where crops died in vain, and over ten thousand people were ‘disappointed’ because of it.

The other Othergods likely didn’t ask for easy conditions either.

‘Something among those must have affected Perpetua as well.’

“Yesterday.”

‘Yesterday?’

“Then these remains….”

“Most of these were created before then. All but one were created during her lifetime.”

‘…Remains from her lifetime?’

A strange, too strange combination of words.

Even if I consider that in the Church of Order, which pursues eco-friendly human sacrifice, cutting off and regenerating body parts isn’t that strange….

‘The number of boxes… isn’t it too many?’

“What was the cause of death?”

Adna posed the question.

I looked up at the Saintess.

The Saintess answered calmly.

“Dehydration.”

‘…A person died of dehydration?’

In the Dark Realm, where the Blessing of Healing exists?

“They said she didn’t react to anything and hadn’t eaten or drunk for several months.”

Hearing that explanation, something suddenly came to mind.

‘No way.’

No, it must be a simple coincidence.

In the first place, Perpetua is a unit that appears when you pick traits like depression, anhedonia, or emotional deficiency.

It’s more likely that extreme depression manifested as catatonia.

I’ve heard that in times when there were no psychiatric medications, there were many depressed patients whose bodies stiffened and could not move.

“To fix that, an excommunicated healing priest was called, and her body was replaced several times….”

I felt Adna looking at me.

“…They said there was no reaction even when the Blessing of Pain Relief was intentionally not used.”

The Saintess slowly bent her waist and picked up a box smaller than a palm.

“Like someone who felt no pain at all, she was said to have a faint smile on her face.”

The Saintess walked toward me and opened the box.

I took a step back.

No, I tried to step back.

“I was very curious. What on earth was she thinking? What pleasant imagination was she having that she completely forgot reality….”

The Saintess took my right hand and poured the contents of the box over it.

White fragments overflowed onto my hand.

A few rolled onto the floor.

I recognized them as human teeth.

[SYSTEM: You have come into contact with the remains of ‘Perpetua’.]

[SYSTEM: For units with a playlog, memories can be synchronized.]

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

“Please, could you tell me?”

The system window flickered before my eyes.

At the Saintess’s request, I instinctively thought.

‘The last thought Perpetua had?’

[Happyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappy]