Chapter 116The village chief appointment ceremony that started abruptly was grander than expected. I knelt down on one knee and bowed to the lord while the reporters around me recorded it with their cameras as if they had found a scoop. It was obviously a live broadcast.
s.h.i.+t. Originally, I would"ve run away but for unknown reasons, I couldn"t escape. It was due to the message that appeared in front of me.
[The village chief"s appointment ceremony is being held.]
[Your body is being controlled for the sacred event.]
[The system is moving your body.]
d.a.m.n developers. I thought that I was going to swear at them the next time I visited Union. If I had known this then I would"ve concealed my ident.i.ty.
Loud voices were heard from the side of the reporters.
“The Hero of Windia is being appointed by Lord Edward. Surprisingly, this is the first time a village chief is being appointed…”
“The Hero of Windia is being given the t.i.tle of village chief despite not having a n.o.ble t.i.tle. This is a virtue that gives a glimpse of his humility…”
“I am looking forward to seeing what village he will be appointed the chief of. Why choose a village chief out of so many positions? I"m looking forward to seeing what the young village chief will do.”
…They were just talking bulls.h.i.+t. There were no other novels like this. It seemed to be true that the reporters" original job was actually to be a novelist. They were firmly committed to it even if they misunderstood. I wasn"t a young village chief and what humility?
At this moment, Edward yelled, “Hero of Windia, Jackson!”
At the same time, roars erupted around me.
“Ohh! That person"s name is Jackson!”
“Big news! His name is Jackson!”
“The camera! Zoom in on his face! Hurry!”
This little boy revealed my name. I rolled my eyes and stared at Kerenos next to me. Based on the way he flinched, he seemed to feel guilty.
“I, Edward Windsor, lord of Windia, haven"t forgotten your courage and dedication to Windia!”
…No, please forget it. If it was possible, I"d like to treat it as nothing happened.
Edward read from a long piece of paper and listed my accomplishments for a long time. Every time, there was a burst of shouts around me.
“Hey, he helped hunt the goblin priest?”
“Did he hunt the giant spider king by himself?”
“He killed the spider queen by himself!”
“There is a reason he is still friendly with the orcs!”
It was like he was bragging about me. Every time the little boy"s mouth opened, the reason I hid my ident.i.ty from Union started to fade away little by little. No, no matter what, this was too sudden…
“Jackson, get up.”
“Yes, my lord.”
s.h.i.+t. Was my body moving on its own? In spite of my indignation, a soldier held out a golden branch to Edward. There was another burst of voices.
“Ohh! That is a sacred branch!”
“It is a precious branch that only grows in places where G.o.ds are wors.h.i.+pped!”
“Wasn"t there a temple near this place?”
Edward opened his mouth, “Thanks to you, I was able to reclaim the Temple of the Wind. Fortunately, the temple is safe thanks to the G.o.ddess" protection. You deserve the blessing of the G.o.ddess of the wind, Huera.”
At the same time, a world message emerged.
Ttiring~
[World: The ancient temple hidden in Windia has regained its light! This is a temple dedicated to the G.o.ddess of the wind, Huera. Many believers in the Orca Kingdom are delighted to hear the news!]
[The smile of the G.o.ddess of the wind has doubled everyone"s movement speed for a day.]
“Amazing. The G.o.ddess directly gave a blessing! This is my first time!”
“Is the G.o.ddess watching?”
“I"m envious.”
It was like I was caught by a rat when backing away from a cow but this was a good thing for me. The most important thing was that she could help wake up Prometheus. I was going to ask Huera to share her divinity. It was good since I also had to go there because of Aiolos" egg.
Then Edward started to slap my cheeks with the golden branch. It felt worse than I thought.
Slap! Slap!
The funny thing was that the worse I felt, the more envious people looked. It had no effect. s.h.i.+t. The ceremony was soon over and a message appeared.
[You have become the village chief of an unnamed pioneer village to the east of Windia!]
It was a familiar message. This was what I refused the other day but this time, it seemed a bit different.
[If you refuse the position of village chief, Windia"s lord will chase you to death.]
[It is recommended to accept the offer if possible.]
…It was bulls.h.i.+t. I could hear my hopes of rejecting the village chief position being shattered. I was forced to get a job in the midst of a difficult job crisis.
I was 68 years old.
* * *
[The old scarecrow has been slightly broken.]
[The strength stat has increased by 1.]
“Sigh. It"s hot.”
Park Muyeol put down the wooden sword that had been hitting the scarecrow and wiped at his sweat. Originally, hitting the scarecrow was only possible for the graduates of the training camp. It was only possible to do it for one hour a day and people had to pay a fee. However, it was free for him 24 hours a day. This was because he became the first user to be a teaching instructor at Mulan.
“I"m sorry, I"m late.” Kim Gitae, who had the name "Haeba," greeted him. He still had the status of a trainee.
“Tsk tsk. Young people are lazy.”
“You are too diligent. It isn"t time to start training yet.”
“Ah, is that so?” Park Muyeol coughed.
One after another, people logged in. They were all trainees he was in charge of. Today was his first day teaching swordsmans.h.i.+p as a swordsman instructor.
“Everyone, gather here!”
Once Park Muyeol shouted, everyone greeted him and gathered together. Their eyes were s.h.i.+ny like lanterns but Park Muyeol was strict when it came to swordsmans.h.i.+p. The moment his expression became serious, everyone gulped. The same was true for Kim Gitae.
“Look. I"m very strict when it comes to swordsmans.h.i.+p. It will be very tough training. However, if you learn from me, then at the very least, you can sweep through the sword compet.i.tion. Do you still want to learn?”
He could hear the trainees rolling their eyes. They all seemed to notice something. Park Muyeol pointed somewhere. “Look at that.”
Everyone"s eyes turned in that direction. It was Instructor Momori whose eyes were s.h.i.+ning fiercely. Of course, it was his baldness that s.h.i.+ned even more.
“If you don"t like it then you can learn from him. I"ll let you go if you want.”
There was a sound as Momori turned his head and laughed. The young men in front of him shook their heads.
“I-It"s okay! Grandfather, I"ll learn from you!”
“I don"t want to shave my head!”
“I want to learn from Grandfather!”
“The other day was too wonderful!”
“Please teach me, Grandfather!”
Park Muyeol was satisfied with everyone"s answer and smiled slightly.
“Then from now on, as your swordsmans.h.i.+p instructor, can I speak to you without honorifics?”
The young men smiled and answered at the same time. “Yes—!”
Park Muyeol smiled. “Then lie down on the ground first.”
* * *
At this time, I was heading to the Temple of the Wind. Before that, I stopped by the lord"s castle to talk to him and was told he would send me to the village in a week. I tried to refuse again but it was useless. “He has the stubbornness of a bull. It can"t be helped.”
[Grruk. I like bulls. Let"s eat Minotaur meat!]
“Minotaur meat? Are you hungry?”
[That"s right! I"m hungry! Come, give me a bull!]
“How funny. I"m not hungry.”
[Kuaaaaak! I"ll eat you!!!]
…This was a real dog-like personality. I looked at this guy who didn"t hesitate to threaten me and subconsciously clicked my tongue. How could he live with that type of personality?
I arrived at the familiar entrance. It was the place where I had secretly observed Dorothy and Daniel in the past. The knight guarding the place was polite. “I received a message in advance. I greet the Hero of Windia.”
I followed him into the cave. The iron gate I saw last time had melted in the lava and the smell of sulfur filled the cave. The sight of lava that hadn"t cooled down yet was faintly visible. It seemed not all the lava had cooled.
“I haven"t introduced myself yet. I"m Kyle, a member of the Sylphid Knights.”
“Yes, it is nice to meet you.”
“There is a lot of lava that hasn"t cooled down yet. Please step carefully.”
Kyle warned me every time a lava pool appeared. Every time, I jumped lightly and avoided it. The deeper I went inside, the hotter it became.
“The Temple of the Wind is safe because it is the place where the G.o.ddess" protection is working. I can"t believe it still exists in this hot lava. I haven"t believed in the G.o.ds before but now I have to believe it. Haha.”
“I see.”
If my memory was correct, the Temple of the Wind was built more than 500 years ago. At that time, the power of Jupiter was scattered around the world and Gaia made other G.o.ds besides the original three G.o.ds. Huera was a G.o.ddess created at that time. Well, since she was born at the same time as Prometheus, they could be called siblings.
“We"re almost there now. Pa.s.s through here and we will arrive at the Temple of the Wind.”
We came through the darkness and a huge s.p.a.ce appeared. However, the exposed appearance of the temple seemed a bit dangerous.
“No, what is this? The lava…!”
As he said, the Temple of the Wind was surrounded by lava. It seemed that the overflowing lava had blocked the way to the temple. Kyle"s expression became dark. “How can we get to the temple?”
He looked desperate. He was embarra.s.sed but I wasn"t surprised. I pulled out Minotaur"s Blazing Horn from my inventory and calmly started to cross the lava.
“D-Danger…!”
Kyle"s eyes widened with surprise. The lava swept over my lower body but I didn"t care.
[Your fire resistance is 100%.]
[You won"t receive any damage.]
Kyle murmured with a blank expression.
“What the h.e.l.l…”
I told him, “You go back first. Shouldn"t you inform the lord about the situation here?”
“T-Then you…?”
“I have something to do for a while.”
I crossed the lava with my hands behind my back. Kyle had a blank look on his face and soon disappeared. I stepped inside and the fresh wind blew me back.
[This is where the G.o.ddess" protection applies.]
[You have entered the Temple of the Wind.]
[Movement speed has increased by 10%.]
“Well, it is amazing how it is fine in here.”
The lava flowed outside the light green border and there was a breeze like a spring day. The sound of birds was very peaceful. I could see the divine well that Edward had told me about in the distance. Was that the place to obtain the divine wind?
So I wandered around the temple and looked. It was at that moment…
[You came. I have been waiting.]