Chapter 178
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ True Faith (1) ༻
The capital was in a festive mood after the victory against the Tower, which had kidnapped the Saintess. The bustling banquet of the palace was planned to be held for 7 days and nights.
This was already the fourth day but I was still attending the banquet because I was one of the main protagonists of this festival. What was fortunate… was that I had a partner to go with every day.
“---Sir Korin Lork and the Captain of the First Sword Squad of the Arden, Sir Lunia Arden!”
The only problem was that the partner was being changed every day.
“Oh my, he has another partner again. The day before was the youngest daughter of the Arden household, and yesterday was a sister from the Chapel of Zeon, right?”
“And it was Young Lady Dunareff 3 days ago.”
Countless whispers and gazes were on me. I even saw a newspaper this morning that said how I was scandalously swapping out partners each day, and from the looks of things, it seemed that I would be seeing the same article tomorrow.
“What are you looking around for?”
“The surroundings were a bit noisy, you see.”
Today, my partner was Lunia. I was getting asked out to be a partner by the girls one by one but… wasn’t this something that was supposed to be done by the male?
“Having a fiance too superb is also something to consider, I suppose. However.”
She grabbed onto my tie and suddenly pulled me towards her, filling my vision with her proud and confident smile.
“Do not concern yourself over others. You have to look at only me today.”
“K, kuhum…!”
Is this what a girl's crush is?
As expected of the most popular female hero of contemporary times, she was unhesitant and proud in everything she did.
“You seem busy these days. You’ve met with the King, the Saintess, and even the Queen of the Alleyway, have you not?”
“Ah… How did you know that?”
“There is someone who testified that you spent a long time with her inside an odd-numbered resting room of the banquet hall.”
“...Putting aside the witness, do you know her?”
“She did show off her sharp fangs once, saying that she wanted to eat me up.”
Hoh… I already knew that Ednar was an all-rounder, but I wasn’t expecting her to even reach out to Lunia-noonim.
“I assume it didn’t go through?”
“Of course not. I have no interest in getting whipped to satiate sexual desires. What I disliked the most was that I had to be on the receiving end of it.”
“You are indeed more like an ‘S’ than an ‘M’ if we had to choose from one of them.”
“I can fulfill your secret dreams if you want me to.”
“Haha… no thanks. I am extremely normal when it comes to preferences.”
But Lunia in bondage, huh…? Fu~, that would be a delight to the eyes. Not like she isn’t already, though.
“By the way, Ms. Lunia. Don’t you think your dress today is a bit… too bold?”
Lunia was in an unconventionally shocking outfit. She wasn’t wearing anything apart from her luxurious dress that was exposing an aggressive portion of her breasts and a pair of knot sandals.
Thanks to that, her white and unblemished skin was practically on full display, all the way from her shoulders down to her feet, and it was overall an outfit that no one would be able to wear unless they were extremely confident in their figure.
“It is quite warm in the East and most party dresses are designed like this. Plus, this is only a little less than what I usually put on in the first place.”
“I can see from the way you sisters dress up but… please wear this only when it’s the two of us. It feels like a shame to show this to everyone else.”
“If you so wish.”
As soon as Lunia clicked her fingers, the Five Swords ladies, each wearing a dress, walked up to her from all sides.
One of them handed her a cigar, while another carried a thick and black fox-furred scarf and put it around her shoulders.
The men around us lamented and went, ‘Ah…!’ but we ignored them and headed to a private area on the terrace.
“You’re… very prepared.”
“It is nothing much. It was just a little show for everyone to see what type of woman my fiancé has brought to the banquet.”
“Ahaha…”
“If you wish to be the son-in-law of the Ardens, you must be proud wherever you are.”
Hmm… My mind was already in a mess thanks to Alicia, and yet Lunia was saying a similar thing.
“Wasn’t it a fake engagement?”
“Oh dear. Was that your perception of it? That is a little sad.”
Wrapping her arms around my neck, Lunia gazed directly into my eyes. The vivid scent of her body came very strong.
“How far have you gone with my sister?”
“D, did she tell you?”
“Do you think that fool would have? I could see it from her expression though.”
“Hmm…”
I recalled what happened a few days ago - Alicia’s confession and the deep and thick kiss we shared. Never had I imagined that the bashful and dotish Alicia would do such a thing.
“Say it. Quickly.”
“W, we kissed.”
“In detail.”
Lunia interrogated, with her face right in front of my nose, so I couldn’t help but tell her the entire truth. After hearing the story from me, she seemed slightly surprised but soon let out an unreserved laughter.
“Hahaha. Quite daring for that dimwit of a sister. Right. Now that is what I would expect from a successor candidate of the Ardens.”
“Umm… technically speaking, shouldn’t she be considered your rival, Ms. Lunia?”
It was weird for me to say it myself, but wasn’t her reaction slightly odd?
“Two beautiful sisters contending for one man. As the man in question, you have to feel honored.”
“It sounds like the introduction of a romantic drama full of blood though…”
“There would be more to the cast for the drama. My sister is not the only girl interested in you, after all.”
“How did you… know that?”
“Only an idiot wouldn’t.”
Sorry for being an idiot…
“Well, do not feel too pressured by it. A hero must rightfully know how to take several women for himself and satisfy all of them.”
“W, what do you mean?”
“If you wish to walk the path of a hero, you must also embrace the heroic quality of obtaining every beauty you come across.”
“What in the world is wrong with you sisters?! Are you sure there isn’t some weird gene inside your head?!”
How could someone so easily tell their husband to take in more wives? What was wrong with both of their views on love?
“However, it is still upsetting that my sister has taken the lead. What belongs to her is also mine. I have the rightful duty and absolute right to steal from her.”
Saying that she suddenly wrapped one of her arms around my waist and grabbed onto my chin with the other. Gazing down into my eyes, she lifted the corners of her appealing lips.
“No matter what you do with my sister, you must do the same with me.”
“N, Noonim?”
Her lips came closer and closer.
The time spent with Lunia was certainly more indulging and sensual than the time with her younger sister.
………
……
…
“K, kuhum…!”
While Lunia was having a business chat with a general of the royal military, I roamed around the hall grabbing food.
Most of the dishes inside the banquet hall were plain and were in small bite sizes, so I could not remove the taste of Lunia from my tongue no matter what I ate.
“Haa…”
After Hua and Ran, it was Alicia and even Lunia… Considering Marie on top of that, I couldn’t help but think how others would view me as the biggest son of a bitch…
Why am I this popular…? And why didn’t any of this happen back on Earth?
None of this ever happened, even when I was playing around with Younghee-noona, Hanbyul, Seyoung, Chulho, Sangwoo, Misha, and Fujiwara…
We were all single, so we used to go on trips with just the two of us as friends. I suddenly remembered the time I went to Hokkaido for the hot springs with Sangwoo. The scenery was great and I missed the awesome Winter Festival there. Everything was great except for the gay bar though. I wonder how he accidentally came across that place?
‘Ehew… Maybe I should visit some hot springs when it’s all over.’
I wouldn’t be able to go on friendship trips like back then, but it would be great if we could go together with the members of our Guardians guild.
As such, I was reminiscing the memories of my time on Earth when I saw one of our guild members in the hall. It was a boy who looked rather gloomy despite his neat outfit - he was Germain Luther, a spy from the Old Faith.
“Yo~ Germain.”
“H, huh? Senior Korin?”
“We’re not in the Academy so just call me ‘Hyung’. Ah, you can’t call me ‘Bro’ okay.”
“Mhmm… Hyung.”
“Are you enjoying the banquet?”
“It’s not bad.”
Ever since he realized that the Old Faith… Chapel of Xeruem had been conducting a disgusting transaction with the Tower of Mages, Germain appeared to be in deep thought every time I saw him.
“I was just wondering if I had the right to be here or not because I didn’t even do anything in the actual fight.”
Germain was one of our guild members, so he was also part of the fight against the Tower of Mages.
But of course, he was probably tasked by the Chapel of Xeruem to monitor the movement of us and the Kingdom and secretly convey it over to the Tower of Mages.
“Well, you can’t always be at the center of a war. You’re still young so you will have plenty of opportunities in the future.”
“...”
His conflicting emotions were on full display on his face. He was probably feeling guilty for deceiving me right now.
But considering how he had been brainwashed by the order ever since he was young, it was hard to imagine that it would be easy for him to change his thoughts and values.
That was, however, completely up to him. I had to make decent use of him until he made a decision.
“Here. Try this cake out. The patissiers of the palace are top-notch.”
“Sorry, I don’t like sweet stuff. There are too many sweets here.”
Although he was keeping it a secret, it appeared that he wasn’t into the luxurious food of the higher-up nobles, as someone who had previously been a priest of the Old Faith.
“If you don’t like the food here, you can request something else. There’s a restaurant on the other side of the corridor, and it’s in a buffet format.”
“Really…? I didn’t know that.”
It was something I only knew thanks to Miru from the last iteration. The palace wasn’t a friendly place to first-comers after all.
“Let’s go grab a meal then.”
He came without a partner and must been pretty bored, so I decided to look after him.
***
The festival came to an end, and we were almost done with everything that had to be done at the capital, but it wasn’t over yet.
It was time to meet her.
Under the dark night sky, in the royal gardens located in the outskirts of the capital city - inside the cave that had marked the finale of my date with Hua Ran, was Master, Lady Josephine, and me.
“Personally speaking, I’m against it.”
Lady Josephine voiced her disagreement out of nowhere.
“Now now. Clara. It’s what Korin has decided on. He probably has his reasons and plans.”
Erin said to appease her but… to be fair, it was strange that Master wasn’t the one disagreeing with the plan. Wasn’t she being way too nice to me?
“Erin. You are way too weak to Student Korin.”
Look, even Lady Josephine is saying the same thing.
In any case, I couldn’t proceed with my plan without their permission and assistance. Well, in that sense, the fact that they were both here in the first place was proof that they were both supporting me on this.
“Honestly, I can’t predict how this would span out either.”
“...That is a very irresponsible thing to say of you. The reason Erin hasn’t been intervening in the works of the Order the whole time was to avoid confusion that would sprout with the spread of the Danann religion. The current belief of the Order has spread far and wide, and we cannot predict the outcome that would happen if it is downright rejected.”
“Whatever happens would be a lot better than the destruction of the entire world. The Old Faith has always been a shithead both in the past and the present, but the roots forged by the New Faith will be a detrimental hazard later on.”
“Like I said, where is the evidence to-”
“Clara.”
Master spoke up, putting a stop to Lady Josephine’s question. Lady Josephine didn’t know that I was from the future, but Master Erin knew of my regression so she trusted me 100%.
“Justice is sometimes unable to choose the best option. At times, we can only choose the second-worst option to avoid the worst possible scenario, like how we had to kill numerous priests and mages during the Witch Revolution.”
“...”
“Frankly speaking, I cannot predict how the children would react either. But with Tates and his threat looming over us… we have to make a decision.”
Master said once again to show her support. That was when someone spoke up from the other side of the cave.
“Chairman? Professor Josephine?”
The one who visited the cave in secret with a robe over her was none other than Estelle.
She seemed surprised to realize that it wasn’t just me here and that Master and Lady Josephine were also in our company. But soon, she regained her composure and said with a smirk on her face.
“Hmm~. I was expecting a one-on-one date with Dongsaeng though. How disappointing.”
“Come on. Please. Let’s be serious now.”
“This noona is always serious~”
She always tried to take the upper hand and tease me in our conversation. That was what made her annoying yet attractive at the same time.
“More importantly, you were going to show me something, weren’t you? Is it related to the new Chairman and Professor Josephine?”
“They’re not just related; in fact, they are the core personnel. It’ll be difficult without their permission.”
“Hmm…”
Estelle Hadassa El Rath, the Saintess of the New Faith. A child of the god, who served the ‘Lord’ of the Order more than anyone else.
Today, I wanted to reveal to her the true identity of faith.
“Master. Lady Josephine. Please.”
“...Sure.”
“Can’t be helped. Erin. Student Estelle. Please stand in front of me.”
The two of them walked up to Lady Josephine while I watched over them from a distance.
“Are we teleporting somewhere?”
“Yes, but… to a place very different from the real world.”
“What do you…”
“You will see when you get there.”
Erin answered her question as the dimension started to crack open. It was a fragment of Paradise, Tir na Nog, which required Erin’s permission and Josephine’s dimensional gate.
Mag Mell, the Island of Treasures. My plan for today was to send Estelle to the land of remnant souls of the gods.
***
The three of them teleported away, and I watched over the stars in the night sky while waiting for them to return.
What conclusion would she come to after seeing the real gods? She was an NPC that couldn’t even join the party back in the game and was busy working as the Saintess of the New Faith in the last iteration, so this was a first.
Now, she would witness and encounter the mythological gods at Mag Mell and hear the truth from her long ancestors.
If lucky, she might even obtain a treasure from Dagda.
Like that, I waited for one hour… two hours… and three hours, and only then did the sound of the dimension cracking open echo throughout the cave.
“Haa…!”
Estelle collapsed from the crack along with a heated breath.
“Saintess?”
“Korin… Dongsaeng?”
Drenched in sweat, she gasped for breath as if she had received a great shock. With trembling eyes, she turned at me and—
“---O god.”
She stared at me with eyes that were more desperate for a god than ever before.