Chapter 4: Tiamat (2)

“Let’s have a conversation then, Miss Outsider.”

In a corner of the inn. The priest smiled as he sat alone.

The others, following the priest’s orders, were pretending to mind their own business, and it was obvious that all of their attention was focused on us. After glancing at them, I fixed my gaze on the person in front of me.

The important thing was this side.

I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. I was grateful for his help, but it was too early to be relieved.

‘If he becomes an enemy, it’ll be much more dangerous.’

There was also a possibility that the situation would be better if the guard were to take my side.

Naelun. A priest who worships El Seneca.

He was someone I didn’t remember. It was natural, as he wouldn’t be a very important figure.

“What is your purpose here?”

The priest’s words were quite abrupt.

When I frowned, his smile deepened.

“It’s fine. I’ve blocked the sounds, so you don’t have to worry about eavesdropping.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Well, I suppose it’s hard to trust me. Then I’ll have to start the conversation on my end.”

Naelun said, tilting his head slightly.

“You were about to use your strength a moment ago, weren’t you?”

“…”

“When I saw you, my senses were stirred for a moment. It was like a chill ran down my spine. You have the power to tear them apart. Though the foolish guards and the locals didn’t realize it.”

I didn’t know what the mechanism was.

However, it was clear that he had captured something.

I secretly raised my tension.

Some of my secrets were revealed. I couldn’t predict how Naelun would react.

“Yes, that’s right. So?”

Denial was meaningless. I affirmed it for now.

“That was a justified response. The guard was rude and aggressive.”

“Is his suspicion true?”

“No. It’s something I don’t know.”

“I see. Honestly, I’m not at all interested in that part. More than that, I roughly understand your identity.”

In fact, no matter what those men were, there was nothing to make a fuss about.

Especially since the priest had appeared.

He assumes my identity. It was embarrassing, but not to the point of showing it.

Because it didn’t make sense.

“First, let me ask, are you aware of your own manner of speaking?”

“Of course. A strange question.”

“Haha. I thought so. It was too natural. An outsider looking down on the locals and disrespecting me, a priest.”

“Ah.”

“Have you noticed now? I won’t ask your true identity, but you should be more careful.”

He smiled, as if offering advice.

Only then did I realize the priest’s thoughts. This man was deluded.

By the settings of ‘Tiamat.’ The power that goes beyond the ordinary and the lofty dignity that can’t be considered common.

Several clues intertwined to automatically put a mysterious and secret veil over him.

He was probably considering me a nobleman in disguise. If so, the current attitude was fully explained.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you don’t have to worry about me speaking about you. I’m good at keeping secrets.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

“It’s nothing. More than that, could you show your face? I need to see it once so I can recognize you later. I swear there are no bad intentions.”

Currently, I was lowering the hood of the robe down to my temples and slightly lowering my head.

My face. Even if I kept my existence a secret, it was natural to be curious about who I was.

I made a decision.

Since he wouldn’t find out no matter what, I decided to show it.

I intended to confirm one thing.

In terms of putting a nail in Naelun’s delusion.

“Alright. Remember it well.”

Immediately after I said that while raising my head.

Srrrk. I lifted the hood and slightly lifted the robe.

The bare face revealed between them. My vision widened, and the surroundings seemed brighter.

I stared at the man in front of me.

His eyes widened, and his mouth opened.

Like meeting a predator, or as if he had seen a very shocking scene, his expression froze.

The emotion on the priest’s face was definitely shock.

“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Apprentice Priest Naelun. I am a follower of El Seneca, the mother of noble order, who visited Juleng on a sacred mission.”

He introduces himself without being asked.

There was no trace of doubt in Naelun’s expression.

“A sacred mission. The village seems peaceful, though.”

“The exact place of dispatch is not Juleng. I’m just passing through here since there are no people there.”

“Really? Where’s your dispatch location?”

I asked subtly, as if I wasn’t interested.

I didn’t expect an answer, but surprisingly, I got one.

“Hmm. Although I expressed it as a dispatch location, there is actually no specific place. If I have to say, it would be the whole area around here. I have come to investigate the movement of monsters.”

“The movement of monsters?”

“Yes. The movements of the monsters are strange, so it is necessary to understand the details. First, I’m planning to go to the forest, where monsters usually appear.”

It was at that moment.

Transparent letters appeared before my eyes.

The quest window. Uncover the movement of monsters.

The reward was one stat point.

A little disappointing, but it was the first quest I finally encountered. The foundation for growth had opened up.

I pressed the hood down even deeper to hide the corners of my mouth that were unintentionally turned upwards.

Misinterpreting the look, Naelun gave a wry smile.

“That’s right. Changes in monsters are common. Even if we have to check, the probability of a real change is low. It’s treated as a chore entrusted to those who have no one else to pass it on to, down from the church. Apprentices like me.”

Even a priest is an apprentice. He is revered in a small village, but that’s the treatment he gets in his own home.

He was right.

“It’s not something to hide, either. That’s why I told you. It’s supposed to be confidential.”

However, the appearance of the quest was the same as a prophecy that a change had occurred.

“Thank you. It helped.”

“Yes? Hahaha. You have such a good heart. It’s a boring story, though.”

He burst out laughing, as if he had misunderstood something.

When in fact, I only spoke the truth.

Quests don’t just happen. You have to indirectly approach something special to get a glimpse of a tail. It was enough to be grateful for the delivery of such a quest.

“You’ll be busy running around this area. There won’t be just one or two monsters.”

“That’s right. I’m also planning to reduce the number. The residents will be safer, and then they will praise the noble El Seneca.”

Naelun looked like a faithful person.

If that was all there was to him, he could be said to be the owner of the best personality in this world. Of course, I didn’t want to confirm his humanity.

After he finished speaking, he said goodbye and stood up from his seat.

The white robe disappeared, and a few minutes passed.

I also stood up.

“…!”

Following that, a large number of presences were stirred.

As I met their gaze, they avoided my eyes. The conversation with the apprentice priest had been long.

They couldn’t look down on me either.

I looked at their faces one by one. It was to find the proud face that had reported me.

One, understanding my intention, carefully opened his mouth.

“That, that guy just ran out a moment ago. Shall we go and catch him?”

“No. It’s fine.”

He wouldn’t be able to climb up again, and that was enough.

As I took a step, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. The brilliant sunlight shone as I opened the front door.

The darkness of the night had disappeared.

“Then I’ll try investigating as well.”

The direction was the forest.

In this world, monsters were as common as animals, and they lived in most places that humans hadn’t occupied. For example, forests and jungles.

It wasn’t for nothing that Naelun mentioned the forest.

“Although I have no intention of going with you.”

I couldn’t tell what he saw in me.

If I abused my power, he might find out that the source of my power wasn’t magic but something else. Above all, I wouldn’t be able to use the summons, which were the core of Tiamat.

It was also a good thing for him.

He would solve any possible misfortune for me. Perhaps, I would be able to avoid the dangers I would have had to face.

I couldn’t avoid danger, and I shouldn’t. The game we created was made to provide rewards proportional to the trials.

“Oh, El Seneca.”

“A priest has come to Juleng. It is certainly a sign of blessing.”

“Seeing that he comes to a small village like this to inspect it shows the authority of the church is high. There’s no place the goddess’s gaze doesn’t reach.”

I passed by a few people while wearing my hood.

The priest’s visit seems to be a hot topic.

Inspection. He had packaged his purpose that way. It was a wise choice, as the truth would only cause anxiety.

“The goddess’s gaze?”

One word bothered me.

A small irritation. As my emotions calmed down, I swallowed a sigh.

There are many places where the goddess’s gaze doesn’t reach. Juleng alone wouldn’t have the slightest bit of interest.

The gods of this world were not omnipotent.

They were certainly great beings, but there were many of them.

Above all, even the goddess of order and law, who has the greatest influence on the continent, was just a ‘general audience’ creation.

Me? I was a fallen one.

Once a creator, but I had lost everything and fallen.

Compared to my colleagues who were still up there, I had become a very pitiful situation.

“I hope I don’t get bitten by a bug…”

I entered the nearby forest after confirming that no one was around.

Entering a lush forest without a repellent.

I couldn’t help but feel uneasy, even though I had become a being who surpassed ordinary people. Rustle.

I pushed through the thick grass that was up to my knees for a moment. Then I felt a sign.

“A monster?”

I lowered my posture and prepared for battle.

Then, the creature that appeared from over there was smaller and more delicate than I thought. A white rabbit.

The tension faded away, and my strength was released.

As I walked on, I encountered an unexpected situation. The rabbit didn’t run away even though a person was approaching.

Suddenly, I reached a thought and crouched down, extending my hand. A sign of goodwill.

The rabbit, which tilted its ears for a moment, approached and entrusted its body without much resistance.

“Cute.”

It was a situation that was normally impossible, but there were quite a few things in this world that made it possible.

One of them was the ‘Wild Hunt’ characteristic.

The person who possesses it gets increased affinity with beasts and wild animals. Come to think of it, I made things like this too.

It was a characteristic that wasn’t bad to have, even if it wasn’t effective on mad beasts.

There was no resistance even when I stroked a wild animal. This was a great thing.

“Maybe it can be sold for money, like its fur.”

Did it understand my words? The rabbit’s fur stood up.

After stroking it a few times, I stood up.

The rabbit looked at me quietly and soon felt something before running away quickly.

The time was coming. Looking back, the monsters I was now familiar with were approaching.

• Krr-krr! Krrk!

• Ker-r-r.

Two Gapsan Monsters.

They were happy to see me, as if they hadn’t seen me for a while, and the guys waved their hands back and forth as they cried.

How do they see me?

Since I hadn’t clearly defined the relationship between the summoned beast and the user, it wasn’t easy to guess.

‘Well, do they see me like a parent?’

If so, it was a sad thing.

I don’t think of them as my children.

I had some affection, but that was all. If necessary, I would abandon them, and I would send them to their deaths.

That was the original use of a phantom beast.

“Alright, an order. Scatter and find the monsters.”

It was time to expand my reach.

As they say, when you want to use even a speck of dung, it’s not there, and the common monsters were not showing up as I was trying to find them.

As if it was happy with the order, the two Gapsan Monsters shouted and separated.

This wasn’t the village.

I summoned the one I had sent back and instructed it to guard me.

In fact, it was a different individual from that time, but there was no visual distinction.

“Ah.”

Before I went ten steps, my feet stopped again.

Something coming through the bushes. A rippling, black energy.

I saw what the average person couldn’t, and I swallowed a hollow breath.

“It doesn’t show up when you try to find it, but it appears as if a ghost when you use your head. It’s always like this.”

Ferocious beasts also exist in this world.

However, animals and monsters were fundamentally different.

Those who openly surround themselves with ominous magic like that guy, or those who look very bizarre, weren’t uncommon to have powers that exceeded common sense.

Something resembling a dark red pig was attacking.

• Kuuueeekk!

Had a pig turned into a monster?

Whatever it was, it would be several times stronger than an ordinary pig. It was a significant number, but it wasn’t a problem.

I stretched out my hands as if pushing against a wall.

The monster, which charged without reducing its speed, was like a truck on a highway.

That truck was stopped on the spot.

• Kkeueekk?

Even in a state of losing its mind, it emits a groan of disbelief. I didn’t care and clenched my fist.

I slammed the pig’s forehead.

With a sound of something breaking, thick blood splattered. It was instant death.

The guy who couldn’t even leave his last words slumped.

“This is easy.”

It didn’t even serve as a warm-up.

It was a character with a good spec. If I had been struggling with a mere mob, there would have been no future.

I searched the pig’s corpse for a moment, but there was no gain. All I got was a very weak experience.

Well, what could I expect from this guy?

I changed direction and headed in the direction that the monster had come from. Monsters rarely exist alone, and if there was anything, it would likely be in this direction.

• Kiiiii….

As if affirming that guess, more and more creatures that were different from the beasts began to appear.

They showed various behaviors, such as wary of me, hostile to me, or observing me. The common point was that no one was friendly.

I recalled the details of ‘Wild Hunt.’

Although the animal loved me, the monsters felt an instinctive threat.

Because, depending on their level, they recognize me as a stronger species, a natural enemy, or a rival.

“Annoying.”

I welcomed it if they came at me on their own.

Piling up dust to make a mountain. If I gathered even the smallest experience points, they would show. I also cleared the quest condition of eliminating a large number of monsters.

I didn’t need the help of the Gapsan Monsters either.

My body, by itself, was enough to tear them apart.

That’s why my discomfort disappeared.

The sounds of being torn, crushed, and destroyed.

After getting rid of the obstacles in front of me for a while, there were no more guys coming at me.

I went further inside.

I glanced at the corpses on the road and looked at a certain part. It was a scene that I couldn’t pass without looking at.

“Looks like I found them after all.”

In front of the space that looked like a small cave.

A large number of corpses were scattered in a place splattered with red blood. It wasn’t just monsters.

Human forms were also visible.