< 68 : The White Knight (2) >
“The wind is cool today.”
The summer sky was blazing with the sun.
A moist breeze flowed in through the open window.
The cool wind brushed my cheek and passed by in the scorching sunlight.
It was a refreshing wind that I could not imagine on a normal day.
I reached out to the window, feeling the wind coming into the house.
And then I closed the window completely.
“But air conditioning is still the best.”
No matter how cool it was outside, air conditioning was the best in summer.
Beep.
I picked up the remote control and turned on the air conditioner as soon as I closed the window.
The air conditioner turned on and cool air slowly started to flow in.
The outside air was nice in the cool weather, but the cool wind inside was more pleasant.
After turning on the air conditioner with the remote control, I lay down on the bed with my smartphone.
“Then let’s play some games that I’ve been putting off today.”
I couldn’t play games properly during the weekdays because I was busy.
I planned to finish everything that I had postponed when I had some free time.
Thud.
I touched the screen of the smartphone with the loading screen, and soon the game scene appeared.
The first thing I saw was Eutenia moving on a carriage.
My eyes naturally went to [Divine Relic: Etalia’s Compass] in her hand as I logged into the game.
“She’s working hard without resting.”
Eutenia had been busy moving around with [Divine Relic: Etalia’s Compass] for days.
Even when I logged into the game for a moment, it was hard to see Eutenia resting and stopping the operation of the Divine relic.
It was understandable, since the Divine relic had a very heavy penalty.
If you stop using the item arbitrarily, you will have to wait for two days of game time to reuse it.
That’s why it made sense that Eutenia was moving around without a break.
“You’re working hard.”
I felt like giving her a reward or something when I saw her struggling.
I opened my inventory and handed her a [Sponge Cake].
A cake appeared on Eutenia’s lap, who was looking at the compass.
Eutenia looked at the cake for a moment, then looked up at the sky and thanked me as usual.
-“Thank you.”
This should be enough for a gift for her hard work.
There was nothing else to give besides cake anyway.
If I wanted to prepare a better gift, I would have to spin the lottery.
After giving Eutenia a gift, I moved my eyes to the bottom of the screen and started checking the message box.
It was to check what happened last night.
When I clicked on the message box at the bottom of the screen, I could see some messages related to Estasia.
-[Cherubim: Estasia] has manifested a miracle.
-<Karma’s Judgment> calculates causality rate.
-Karma increased by 5 points.
-The number of followers of the Order increased significantly.
-Some followers acquired <Fanatic> trait.
-Karma increased by 2 points.
-[Cherubim: Estasia] has manifested a large-scale miracle.
-<Karma’s Judgment> calculates causality rate.
-Karma increased by 15 points.
Estasia was different from Cuebaerg in that she could obtain karma without hunting.
She could obtain karma through special events called miracles.
Moreover, the karma that Estasia obtained was a kind of karma that could reduce causality rate correction factor.
That’s why it was enough to make me happy that there were more messages related to Estasia than before.
“There are quite a lot of events related to Estasia lately.”
In the early days, there were more events related to Cuebaerg, but these days there were more events related to Estasia than him.
It felt like Cuebaerg’s activity cycle had slowed down overall.
The amount of karma he obtained was similar to before, though.
Maybe it was because as Cuebaerg’s activity decreased, karma acquisition increased elsewhere.
It was thanks to the followers of the Order who were actively working.
I read down the karma acquisition messages with satisfaction and found some strange messages at the bottom.
“What is this?”
At the very bottom of the message box.
There were some messages that I had never seen before.
I read them one by one with tense eyes.
The content of the new messages was enough to surprise me.
-You acquired <Regular Meeting (Lv.MAX)> skill.
-You can temporarily summon up to 12 distant invitees’ astral bodies to the meeting room.
-The number of participants in <Regular Meeting> cannot exceed 12 people.
-You cannot inflict damage on each other in the meeting room.
-You can place items from your inventory in the meeting room.
-You cannot communicate with the apostles during <Regular Meeting>.
-<Regular Meeting> skill will be deactivated for 14 days after use.
-You can set a cycle to automatically open meetings.
I acquired a new skill without leveling up.
The name of the skill was <Regular Meeting>.
According to the description, it was a skill that could temporarily summon up to 12 people to the meeting room.
And you couldn’t hurt each other in the meeting room.
“<Regular Meeting>? Summon them to the meeting room?”
It was a skill that could gather apostles for a meeting, or so it seemed, but it wasn’t that kind of skill when I read the details.
You couldn’t communicate with the apostles during the regular meeting.
It meant that it wasn’t a skill for communication between me and the characters.
And you could place items from your inventory in the meeting room, according to the description.
That was more absurd than not being able to communicate.
“Why do you need to put items from your inventory in the meeting room?”
It was more efficient to go directly to the target and give them something if you wanted to give them something.
<Regular Meeting> had a penalty of two weeks of game time for holding it.
Even if you tried to give something with this skill, you would have to wait at least a few days.
But you could freely put things in the meeting room.
What was the point of putting bread and snacks from your inventory there?
It was hard to understand from the perspective of reading the skill description.
“…Is that really what it means?”
I thought about it and realized that it might be true in this game.
You had to gather them in the meeting room and take care of their snacks too.
The more I looked at it, the more amazing skill it was.
And there was one more skill associated with this <Regular Meeting> skill.
It was a skill called <Regular Meeting: Invitation>.
-You acquired <Regular Meeting: Invitation (Lv.MAX)> skill.
-You grant a ring to the target that allows them to enter the meeting room.
-The target with the ring will be transported to the meeting room as soon as <Regular Meeting> is opened.
This skill was a skill that allowed me to select the characters who would attend the <Regular Meeting>.
The characters who received the skill were given a ring, and only those with the ring could enter the meeting.
The total number of characters who could attend the meeting was 12.
<Regular Meeting: Invitation> skill was not something that I could use recklessly.
I sighed briefly and looked at <Regular Meeting> and <Regular Meeting: Invitation> skills.
I wondered how to use these skills.
“A meeting between the characters. How do I do this…”
As I was thinking about how to use the skills, I saw Eutenia eating cake.
Eutenia was eating the cake that I gave her, just like last time, without leaving anything behind.
Even if the meeting was held, Eutenia and the apostles would have to attend anyway.
I would definitely use <Regular Meeting: Invitation> on Eutenia sooner or later.
If I wanted to test the skill, it would be best to use it on Eutenia first.
“First of all… I’ll give it to her first.”
I decided and used the skill right away.
Squeak.
A target marker appeared on the screen with a cluster of light.
I placed the target marker on top of Eutenia and touched it, and the target marker disappeared and light wrapped around Eutenia.
When the light that wrapped around Eutenia faded, there was a ring on her palm.
It was a gold ring with a mysterious pattern engraved on it.
Eutenia found the ring and smiled as she put it on her finger.
***
Gilford Proud.
He was the leader of Gilford’s Mercenary Corps and the Hero of Abundance, and he was now passing through the western part of the empire.
Around Gilford were mercenaries who followed him.
He would have normally gotten a carriage to move around, but this area was not easy to get a carriage.
And it was even harder to get a carriage that could carry all the mercenaries.
That’s why they were walking on foot, enduring the summer sun.
“Leader… where are we going?”
Jenny, who blocked the sunlight with a thick magic book, asked Gilford, who was walking ahead of her.
Jenny, a mage, looked exhausted as if she had reached her limit of stamina.
She was different from other mercenaries who didn’t train their stamina properly.
Gilford stopped his steps and spoke to her, seeing her worried look.
“It would be better to talk while resting.”
“I agree… too.”
“Let’s all take a break here.”
At Gilford’s order, the mercenaries put down their luggage and sat down on the ground.
Moving under the scorching sun was exhausting even for mercenaries who had crossed countless battlefields.
All the mercenaries sat down and rested, and Jenny also sat down on a nearby rock.
Gilford leaned against a tree next to her.
The lush leaves made a shade that blocked the sunlight.
It was a place where he could avoid the sun.
Gilford looked at Jenny in the shade and opened his mouth.
“According to Ascalon, there are some enemies in this area who are showing signs of unrest.”
“Signs of unrest?”
“They are trying to awaken the sealed ancestor of vampires.”
The ancestor of vampires.
Jenny opened her eyes wide and looked at Ascalon when she heard that story.
The story of Ancestor Pluto was quite famous among mages.
Research on monsters was a common field even for non-black mages.
As far as Jenny knew, the ancestor of vampires was a monster that was sealed in a war long ago.
“Hu, they are trying to break the seal of the ancestor of vampires?”
“Yes. Their goal is to break the seal and get their hands on the Divine relic that was used for sealing.”
“Isn’t that very dangerous? Can we stop them with just our mercenary corps?”
“Of course, since he is powerful enough, we need to stop them before he breaks free from his seal.”
“Leader…”
Jenny looked at Gilford and the mercenary corps with a worried expression.
The ancestor of vampires was powerful enough, so the magic that sealed him must have been powerful too.
They were trying to break through such magic by force and release him from his seal.
They were followers of an evil god.
Their level could not be ordinary.
“Don’t worry. Even if he wakes up, I’ll put him back to sleep.”
Gilford tapped Ascalon and said to the worried Jenny.
Woo woo woo.
Ascalon, who was hanging on his waist, responded.
Ascalon spread his voice to Gilford.
-“The ancestor Pluto is a dangerous being.”
“Even if we all attack her, we can’t beat him?”
-“If Pluto wakes up, she will surely annihilate you.”
“Hmm…”
-“It would be better to finish the job before she revives. Even a weakened ancestor is enough to deal with you.”
Ascalon completely shattered Gilford’s boastful words to Jenny.
Gilford smiled bitterly and looked at Ascalon, then pulled it out completely.
A brilliant light burst out from the divine weapon in the shade.
Woo woo woo.
Ascalon started to vibrate more strongly.
Ascalon, emitting a strong light, continued to talk to Gilford.
-“You should give up the idea of proceeding with a weak mental state like before.”
“There’s no need to worry about that. If she’s not that kind of opponent, I don’t have to avoid fighting.”
-“I hope you keep your word.”
Ascalon had been showing a negative attitude towards Gilford ever since he faced Estasia.
Tsk.
Gilford clicked his tongue as he held Ascalon.
It was annoying when a colleague who had been fighting with him for a long time showed such a look.
Gilford also complained to Ascalon.
“You make me look so pathetic.”
-“You have already given up your duty as a hero once.”
“…I had no choice but to do that then.”
-“Of course, you don’t have to worry too much this time. You will have reinforcements to help you.”
But Ascalon didn’t care much about Gilford’s words.
Rather, he brought up the story of reinforcements to Gilford.
He had someone who was looking for him desperately.
Gilford was surprised by Ascalon’s words and asked him about the reinforcements.
“Reinforcements to help me?”
-“There is someone who is looking for you desperately.”
“Someone who is looking for me? Are you telling our location to the enemy?”
-“I have no reason to do such a troublesome thing. It’s just a simple foresight. According to my foresight, she will meet you soon.”
“Who is she?”
-“The Saintess of Abundance, Serena Etherlent.”
The Saintess of Abundance, Serena Etherlent.
Someone from the temple was looking for Gilford.
Gilford’s face hardened at the unexpected news.
