Chapter 74
A blue screen.
Reward notifications packed tightly inside it.
To think these were all quests I had completed in a single night.
‘Somehow, I feel a sense of déjà vu from right after Chil-ya...’
Of course, I wasn't complaining.
Opening gift boxes was always exciting.
There was no one in the world who disliked Christmas, and even fewer who disliked Santa Claus.
“Hmm.”
I calmly scanned the screen.
My wandering finger clicked the window that had appeared first, as expected.
As my finger moved over the smooth glass pane, a crisp mechanical chime rang out.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the hidden quest!]
-Title: Continued Growth! Continued Balloon!
-Content: Achieve 500 parries with the growth-type weapon ‘Balloon Sword+’.
[Through your astonishing persistence, you have fulfilled the conditions!]
-As a reward, the weapon's grade will increase.
The Balloon Sword quest.
It was a notification that appeared while I was busy restoring villagers who had turned into ghouls.
I slipped a hand inside my robe and pulled out the brightly colored weapon.
From the outside, it gave off a soft glow, as though an LED had been switched on.
‘It’s so soft...’
Lol, just kidding.
I kneaded the flesh of the half-baked balloon knife.
Ding-!
[Balloon Sword+]
-Classification: Growth-Type Weapon
-Grade: D+
-Growth Limit Grade: None
-Condition: Colorful, Soft, Sparkly
-Description: This is a special balloon sword. It emits a faint purifying light from its blade. It can use the passive skill ‘Sparkle!’. This is a growth-capable weapon.
[Skill Name: Sparkle!]
-Heals the target stroked with this weapon.
-This ability's range and effects increase as the grade of its exclusive weapon rises.
There were quite a few additions to the wording.
Leaving everything else aside, the weapon's grade had risen by three full levels.
‘It even got a skill?’
Sparkle!
It was quite the magical-sounding name.
It seemed to be healing-based, and apparently grew according to the weapon's grade as well.
“Could this... eventually become an actual holy sword?”
I let an absentminded mutter slip.
It looked ridiculous with all sorts of options attached to a mere balloon knife.
If I really raised it to the highest level, would an Absolute Holy Balloon Lightsaber be born?
‘...That’s fucking cool.’
I’d have to keep raising it diligently from now on.
Now that it had a healing option, it seemed like its uses would become much more varied.
It had seen little action because it had been overshadowed by Squirmy until now, but it would be a different story if it grew into an entirely different field.
‘Squirmy can be used for combat, and this one for cleanup.’
A perfect balance.
I smiled at the unexpected windfall.
Afterward, my finger clicked the remaining rewards without hesitation.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the hidden quest ‘The Path of the Saint’.]
[You have acquired the item ‘Faded Rosary (C+)’.]
Ding-!
[You have cleared the sub-quest ‘Lunar Eclipse (月食)’.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Harbinger of the Apocalypse (A-)’.]
One was an item, and the other was a skill.
The item was what first caught my eye.
I read through its description without much expectation.
Ding-!
[Faded Rosary]
-Classification: Accessory
-Grade: C+
-Condition: Worn, Damaged
-Description: This is a rosary left behind by a believer in the past. Though its color has faded over the long years, it still contains a sacred aura. When equipped, it increases the Good Deed points acquired through the title [Saint] by 200%.
“What...?”
The contents were impossible to read without my pupils widening.
A 200% increase in Good Deed points acquired through the title [Saint].
I never expected it to have an effect like this.
‘Honestly, I didn’t expect much when I saw it was only C-grade...’
An increase in experience gained.
And not just a little—it doubled it.
I had already been keenly feeling the need to work on my stats.
‘I need to build up my body overall.’
A glass-cannon stat spread, with only Agility sticking sharply upward.
In fact, the recoil had hit me hard after my one-on-one duel with Jersian.
My body couldn't handle the Speed that had ranked up to B-, along with the effects of all those items.
I couldn't keep suffering overload every time.
‘I need my other stats to catch up too.’
At the very least, I needed to be able to wield the paddle at hand perfectly.
In that sense, upgrading my Agility stat was forbidden for the time being.
If I raised it any further, it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to handle the speed and something would end up crushed.
‘Anyway, with this, working on my stats should be much easier.’
I thought as I fiddled with the worn rosary.
Its heavily peeled surface had a rather peculiar texture.
“Still... I’ll be able to acquire Good Deed points whenever major incidents occur.”
This was a world where extras were swept away like autumn leaves.
Even without a calamity, the same went for minor events.
There were more people to save in the future than I could count.
If I siphoned off a pile of points each time, working on my stats didn’t seem like it would be such an arduous journey.
‘I earned nearly 8,000 points this time too.’
Thanks to that, I had raised my Agility stat straight to B- grade.
If I maintained a similar pace going forward, I thought I could build a decent body by the final battle.
‘Good.’
As expected, the [Saint] title was the most promising one I possessed.
After putting the rosary around my neck, I scanned the remaining skill description window.
Ding-!
[Harbinger of the Apocalypse]
-Classification: Activated Skill
-Grade: A
-Attribute: Isolation, Domain
-Description: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This is a skill said to be used by the Red Knight and the Black Knight among them. When activated, it spreads a barrier centered on the caster, reaching up to 1 km. Targets struck by the skill become trapped inside the barrier along with the caster. The greater the caster’s mana, the greater the barrier’s strength, duration, range, and so on.
Barrier magic.
It seemed to refer to that ominous dome I had encountered several times.
The barrier that had covered an entire village last night.
‘This looks pretty useful too...’
It seemed to be a skill with a lot of potential in many ways.
In other words, I had acquired a Domain Expansion.
I could isolate an opponent in this domain, or conversely separate civilians and protect them.
The only minor problem was that my mana sensitivity was a mere E+.
‘A skill whose power is determined by the caster’s mana.’
It was different from a growth-type skill.
It wasn’t that I had to strengthen the skill itself; rather, the skill grew stronger as I grew stronger.
In any case, it wasn’t a skill with particularly high potential if I deployed it now.
It was a skill I could look forward to becoming useful several months from now.
‘That’s another reason I need to work on my stats.’
I figured it was a good thing while I was at it.
I had to do it anyway, and having definite rewards waiting made it easier to stay motivated.
‘And finally.’
By then, only the last window remained.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the main quest!]
-Title: Water Knows the Answer!
-Content: Secure the New Kingdom vampire ‘Jersian’. Make him submit through various methods of persuasion.
[Through your astonishing efforts, you defeated the target!]
-Your reward will be provided. Please check the status window.
The reward that had clearly been marked as ???.
Only now that the quest was complete had its contents been revealed.
I could only hold my breath for a moment and stare at the letters above the status window.
[Reward: A clue about ■■■]
-Please click to confirm.
“······.”
It was happening again.
The thing that had blackened the entire status window last time.
Blurred letters, as if veiled in heat haze, hurt my eyes.
What on earth was ■■■ for the status window to send me such a strong warning?
‘The main quest reward is definitely something capable of affecting what lies ahead...’
There was no shortage of unsettling aspects.
Even as I furrowed my brow, I carefully pressed the status window.
Ding-!
As expected, the screen blackened again.
The frame tore violently, as though an error had occurred.
Only a bizarre ripping sound rang in my ears.
“······.”
It was the same as last time.
The screen displayed only meaningless words, then finally went dark as if powering off.
I kept my gaze fixed silently on it.
The status window returned to blue as if nothing had happened.
The letters that had been dyed red had also returned to their original color.
‘This...’
There had definitely been something there.
It didn’t seem like something I could simply dismiss with an uneasy feeling.
If the same phenomenon happened twice, it was hard to call it a coincidence.
My temperament wasn’t optimistic enough to write it off as a mere system error.
This was a warning.
The status window was warning me.
‘But what...?’
That was the problem.
I had absolutely no idea what it was pointing to.
Since it consisted of nothing but vague sentences, it was difficult even to grasp its meaning.
The three blurred letters were, as expected, what looked the most suspicious.
‘Is it a place name? Or the name of something...?’
■■■.
Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like a particularly pleasant entity.
I manipulated the status window this way and that, lost in thought.
‘I’ll have to investigate this too.’
Something that might be connected to the status window,
related to the Evil God’s mask,
and might become a danger in the future—
something consisting of three letters.
The range of the hint was fairly broad, but if I used it as a basis to find a clearer clue, there was nothing I couldn’t do.
“Phew...”
With a sigh, I closed the status window.
As if my head wasn’t already hurting enough, I had one more thing to think about.
‘I’ll figure it out slowly.’
I flopped down onto the sofa.
It was unsettling, but it wasn’t something I could solve immediately.
Besides, honestly, I didn’t even have the strength left to move a finger anymore.
“Let’s sleep for now. I’ll think about it after I wake up...”
The moment I leaned back against the backrest, my eyes slowly closed.
I let my consciousness drift away as it was.
A deep breath escaped me.
It had been a damn long day.
***
Afterward.
Fortunately, the days that followed happened to be the weekend, so the catastrophe of having to attend lectures in this condition didn’t happen.
I spent two full days resting on the sofa.
‘Carmilla...’
My roommate, the vampire princess, and my one and only master.
The girl stayed shut in her bedroom for both days.
There was unusually little life in her red eyes.
Normally, since it was the weekend, she would have whined at me to play with her.
‘She’s quiet.’
It was as if she were a different person.
The atmosphere that had been innocent and eccentric, like that of a younger sister, had disappeared.
Instead, she seemed deep and somehow sad, like a woman many years more mature.
“······.”
Carmilla Blandir.
The last princess of the fallen vampire dynasty.
It was a gaze befitting such a description.
The girl merely sat there stiffly, without much expression.
Whenever I tried to speak to her, she either smiled weakly or failed to answer, seemingly lost in thought.
‘Was the shock that great...?’
Reuniting with an old retainer.
It seemed to have shaken Carmilla to her core.
‘She probably needs time to think.’
I quietly watched Carmilla.
So she could sort out her feelings and get back on her feet on her own.
Approaching her wounds carelessly seemed likely to backfire right now.
For now, I would take a step back.
‘I wonder if she’s all right...’
I was worried.
The silence inside the dormitory seemed to continue like that.
If Carmilla hadn’t barged into my bedroom on the second night.
“Your Highness?”
Blood Weaving.
I was bound at the arms and legs by ropes woven from blood.
Carmilla, half-naked, was straddling me as I lay on the bed.
“Your Highness.”
I called out to her in confusion, but no answer came.
It seemed reason had already crumbled away from those red eyes.
The scene looked as though a girl were pouncing on a boy.
I was dressed in thin pajamas, while Carmilla wore nothing except a single shirt.
Her characteristically sweet scent brushed past me through the thin pajamas.
“Your Highness? Please calm down and untie th-this...”
“Victor.”
Rustle-.
The curves of her body blurred together, leaving behind a soft sensation.
The shirt barely covered only the tips atop the snow-white mounds.
The girl’s fingers came to rest on my cheek.
“Stay still.”
“······.”
Her lips parted and closed.
Unable to move a muscle, I was being pounced on by the naked princess.
Carmilla’s pupils trembled as though they might shatter at any moment.
Her body heat passed between our touching skin.
That chill—I could only break into a cold sweat.
‘What is this.’
How had things ended up like this, exactly.