༺ Mentor (3) ༻
Korin Lork’s offer conveyed by Ednar Illusan sent a huge wave of commotion throughout Mound.
Normally, they would have ignored his word, however, he revealed his knowledge of their group, the members, and even its location at Dana Shee.
Most importantly, his offer was backed up by the Saintess.
Some voiced out their wishes to follow what he offered – they were the ones who were exhausted from the long life of living in secret and hardships, but they were a minority.
The majority didn’t wish for a change despite trusting the Saintess.
There was also a small group that was strongly against the offer. The problem was that their group was one of the groups with the biggest amount of say inside Mound.
“What is Leprechaun that senile old man thinking!”
“Why wouldn’t he turn it down on the spot? Illusan that bitch should also be considered a traitor for even bringing such an offer!”
“It must be one of the dirty tricks of the Kingdom!”
Werewolves.
They were a group of beastmen, who prided themselves in being one of the top military forces within Mound alongside the vampires.
“Mr. Ku Shee. What is your opinion on it?”
The question directed at Ku Shee immediately gathered the eyes of the surrounding beastmen. Suppressing their will to discuss their frustration and anger, they waited for the alpha of their pack to make a decision.
For vampires, elders who lived the longest tended to take the lead, whereas beastmen were led by the bloodline.
The blood of the sublime king who gathered all the beastmen who had been roaming across the world in fear of the Full Moon – the proof of that bloodline was the fur gleaming in silver. It was proof that their blood was pure.
For beastmen, gold and silver wolves were the symbol of power and legitimacy.
“I…”
Ku Shee carefully parted his lips.
What happened 10 years ago was most certainly his fault, and that was what was pushing their entire race into the pit of annihilation.
However, he didn’t regret his actions. He would have made the same choice even if he were to go back to the past.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Despite the tragedy it led to, it was an inevitable deed that had to be done.
The ones that escaped the purge of the Saintess over to the Old Faith would probably start talking about their union, and he would become the number one target of their fury.
‘Turning back now will not resolve anything.’
It would be great if things could end with just his own life but…
Their race was able to become one only because of the presence of a silver wolf, which was him.
They were able to aim for one goal because they had a silver wolf as the leader.
It was too late for him to shoulder the responsibility and guilt by himself.
“Princess Miruam and us… One of us must cease to exist.”
If one of them had to be gone, it was clear what their choice would have to be.
“We cannot co-exist with her. Even if this may be a huge sin, I would gladly become the worst evil of the world if I must.”
In the end, it was just an extension of what happened ten years ago.
Like how they took everything Miruam had, and like how Miruam had been hunting them down over the last ten years.
They had to kill each other to survive.
***
Throughout the Summer Holiday, I was a bit worried about Estelle after her journey to Mag Mell.
At the start, I was concerned about the reaction she would have after realizing the true identity of the god she had believed in her entire life but I thought everything was fine after seeing her behave as normal.
She then returned to Zeon while saying that she had some errands to run but…
『Saintess Estelle, punishing the corrupt traitors of the Order!』
“…What the heck.”
What I heard in the news was that Estelle had crushed the heads of the pope and the cardinals after her return.
It wasn’t technically a bad thing for us.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Unlike the Old Faith, the Pursuers of Paradise weren’t able to seize control over the entirety of the New Faith because of the Saintess. Considering how the role played by the Saintess during the final war was to go around fighting half of the Order as they yelled out, ‘All hail Valtazar!’ It was good that we dealt with them beforehand but…
I don’t remember her being this type of character?
-Ding! Ding! Ding!
In any case, on that Saturday, I was waiting in front of the clock tower in the plaza, as the tower’s bell signaled the start of the afternoon.
『Superb! O mighty warrior! A mere human lasting this long against this king is a wondrous feat!』
『I don’t want to hear nonsense from a tyrant who got chased out of his own country.』
While waiting for the Saintess to arrive, I recalled the power of Eochaid Bres’ Sun – the large star that threatened to scorch the world.
‘It is going a lot better so far than it did in the game but…’
We exterminated the Tower of Mages, acquired Claiomh Solais and Undry, and even dealt with Valtazar’s faction that was hiding inside the New Faith.
Marie, Alicia, and Hua Ran were all looking exceptional compared to how they were in the game, and both Master and the Saintess were on my side.
Even the wolf siblings, who used to be the subordinates of Dun Scaith, were with us.
‘So then what is it? What is this ominous feeling in my mind?’
Is… something going wrong?
For some reason, I had that ominous doubt budding in my head.
I was thinking about all that when I spotted Estelle getting off a magic carriage at the stop.
“Dongsaeng~!”
Recognizing me from a distance, she hopped her way towards me.
I was worried that the people around us would notice her due to how much of a celebrity she was, but no one even spared her a glance, which must have been the power of a magic spell or her prayers.
“Give me your hand!”
She immediately asked for my hand upon arrival.
“But… why?”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})“You don’t want to?”
Why is my hand the first thing she asks for? It’s not like I hate it but…
“It’s not like I don’t want to but…”
“Then give it to me right now!”
Saying that she snatched my hand for herself.
I know we pretty much saw each other’s bare bodies but isn’t she still being way too bold?
“Wow… Maybe it’s nothing new, but your hand is really big. It’s big, coarse and reliable!”
“Can you please stop stroking it?!”
With her usual cunning smile on her face, Estelle gazed up into my eyes.
“You wanted a kiss last time for saving me, and now you’re pretending to be a gentleman?”
“I meant a kiss on the back of your hand. I’m not that inconsiderate, okay? Plus, it’s one of the dreams of a guy to—”
“It was my first kiss, though.”
“Ugh…”
She emphasized how it was her first kiss with a cute smile. Yes; it was true that the first kiss of a Saintess/Princess was very significant and was worth emphasizing on, however…!
“Dongsaeng. I’m hungry. Buy me food.”
“Fuu… Do you like pasta?”
“Yes! Do you know a good place?”
“Let’s go grab a meal first then.”
……
…
After finishing our meal at a nearby pasta restaurant, we naturally moved on to a cafe.
A normal coffee was fine for me, but girls really liked the fresh strawberry latte here. Including the last iteration, all the 70 or so girls that I brought here loved it, so I was sure that even the Saintess would take a liking to it despite her being a picky eater.
“Wow~ this is great! How did you find this place?”
“I was on my way back from Professor Deina’s house and just dropped by.”
In the last iteration, after I went to her house for a rice cake that she wanted to share, she suggested buying me a meal but I knew how impoverished her life was so I took her to a nearby cafe instead, which happened to be this one.
Surprisingly, the drinks here were very good.
Maybe I should come here next time with Hua Ran and Alicia.
“Korin-dongsaeng. Are you thinking about something else?”
“Hmm? Ah, sorry.”
Hearing me admit that I wasn’t focused, Estelle looked at me with a small pout of dissatisfaction.
“You have to focus on Noona when it’s just us two.”
“By the way, why are you telling me to call you ‘Noona’ all the time? It’s not like we are related.”
“Umm… Are we strangers then?”
Estelle immediately turned dejected the moment she heard me say that.
She’s… acting, right? She must be but…
Seeing that dispirited look on her face made me feel bad.
“We are not strangers. I guess, more like friends…”
“We even kissed though.”
“Friends that are more than just friends…”
In the middle of my own words, I stopped to think for a little bit more. What even was one step above being just friends?
“Hmm hmm. I am fine with that for now,” she remarked.
“More than friends but less than lovers. It might sound ambiguous but…”
I was about to restate our relationship but she cut me off instead.
“After you graduate, let’s get married. Okay?”
“Where did that come from?”
What is wrong with her? I almost choked on my coffee!
“Think about it, Korin-dongsaeng. You are a hero who saved the princess from evil mages.”
“If you put it that way, I guess so. Yes. And?”
“From time immemorial, it’s been a tradition for a princess to get married to the hero who saved her life. That’s a fitting reward for having her life indebted, isn’t it?”
Estelle said while trying to entice me with a bashful smile on her face. Just like Princess Miru, the two princesses had an alluring charm to their smiles that was detrimental to men.
“I’m giving you a chance to propose to the most noble and beautiful princess of this continent. My hero~”
Hearing that from a princess like Estelle with her cheat-like appearance from head to toe was rather nauseating. She rested her chin on her two hands like a flower pot, showing off her appearance.
As always, she really was sickeningly beautiful.
Her appearance was no longer in the spectrum of human beauty and was like the textbook example of an ideal beauty. Adorable pink hair, clear facial features, jade-like skin, and an abundant body line.
A master of beauty… Even the word, ‘goddess’ wasn’t enough to describe her beauty which could make countries fall.
“What are you thinking of?”
“Hnn? What do you mean?”
“What are you thinking about looking at my face?”
…The seductive pink Saintess stared at me with an enchanting smile.
“You know lies don’t work on me, right? Be honest.”
“…I was thinking you were pretty.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, well… And how you’re very pretty.”
“More. Tell me more.”
“You are exceptionally beautiful, Noonim.”
“Am I like, adorable?”
“What? I guess…”
“Do you feel… like kissing me?”
“Isn’t this sexual harassment?”
“I don’t mind you doing it to me, Korin-dongsaeng!”
“Please, stop making these weird jokes!”
Seeing me shake my head, Estelle instead lifted the corners of her lips and gave an alluring smile that could topple kingdoms.
“You are quite cute, aren’t you~?”
“…”
“I wasn’t joking though.”
Estelle said while poking the tip of my nose with her finger.
“Well, leaving the jokes aside.”
After teasing me a whole lot, she suddenly changed the topic in joy. She was very cheeky.
“As you said, there were a lot of rats inside the Order that were above cardinals.”
“I heard from Master that you have dealt with the pope as well.”
“Nn. Pope Sicarii… That traitor betrayed all of us. Of course, I understand that it’s the true faith that he was following, but he wasn’t on ‘our side’, was he?”
“…”
Fortunately, it appeared that the Saintess wasn’t in great despair despite witnessing the truth behind her faith.
“Korin.”
She suddenly reached out and held onto my hands, before talking about something completely unexpected.
“We have to lead them.”
“Pardon?”
Where did this come from all of a sudden?
“We have to lead the pitiful believers that are following the wrong god. We have the duty to guide them to the correct path.”
“Umm… R, right.”
“Right now, I’m working on changing the principles of the New Faith little by little and our interpretation of the scripture.”
“…What?”
“It won’t take long. In just 10 to 20 years, it should be possible to change the target of faith from the ‘Lord’ to the ‘Danann’.”
“Huh?”
“And when that time comes, we will become the master of their new faith. Because we have the right to do so.”
…How am I supposed to react to this?
“When that time comes… the believers of the Order will worship you as their god.”
“…Huh?”
For a very long time, I was simply lost for words.
It literally took minutes to comprehend what she was saying, and my brain froze the moment I understood what she meant.
Is the Saintess… suggesting I become the god of the new world right now?
I wasn’t misunderstanding this, was I?
The Saintess, who used to be the most faithful believer, was now trying to make me a god after her corruption!
“Fufu. I’m looking forward to it.”
Estelle pulled my hand towards her and gave me a loving kiss on my cheek.
“I did well, right?”
“Ah…”
I, is this… okay?
***
Estelle was the Saintess – a believer who believed in the Lord more than anyone else both in the game and in the last iteration.
She was one of the key characters of the last arc, leading the few faithful Holy Knights against the Pursuers of Paradise who sang ‘All hail Valtazar’.
Even aside from her faith, she also had the kind heart of a Saintess so I was expecting a positive response even after revealing the truth about gods to her.
“…So how did it turn out like this?”
A new world? A new god? They’ll worship me?”
Uhh… how did this even happen?
『That is because you are the inheritor of the Sun. The moment Claiomh Solais acknowledged you as its master, you have already technically inherited Nuada’s divinity.』
I suddenly recalled the words from Lugh Lamhfada at Mag Mell. The inheritor of the Sun… inheriting Nuada’s divinity. Besides—
『Brat. This is not the fight between Goidels and the Danann. It is an honorable battle between a Danann and a Danann.』
…They were acknowledging and supporting me based on a different reason to the game. All of them including Nuada, Dagda, and Lugh said that their desires would be fulfilled regardless of the winner.
“Don’t tell me…”
Is this because I was selected by the Sun, unlike how it went in the game?
‘Looking back, I remember Master constantly saying that I was her successor…’
I thought she was talking about the Six Ways of the Spear though!
-Knock knock!
My mind was turning into a mess when someone knocked on the door. I could only think of one person who would knock on my door this late into the night.
Thinking that it must be Hua Ran, I opened the door.
-Creak!
“Who is it…”
Outside the door was a completely unexpected guest.
“Hello, Sir Korin. Did you enjoy your date with Estelle?”
She said with a cold smile on her face as I turned to the object she was carrying in her hands. It was none other than—
“You want this, don’t you? Let’s make a deal.”
—Lia Fail, the Great Stone of Destiny.
