"Awesome!"
I thought that I would get to use Guard Points first, but, unexpected, I am able to use the Intelli Points first.
Intelli Points are not as useful as Guard Points because they can only be used for magic.
However, that was still very good. I had already experienced what it was like to increase the strength of my magic using Spirit Energy. The Dragon Fear will see a vast improvement from the increase in magic points.
It could be very helpful in clearing the Southern District.
I couldn"t help but smile in joy.
The bishop smiled as well.
"Congratulations. Our Athena Temple will now work together with the Ares Temple in order to clear the headquarters of the Church of the Sun. Will you help us out again? A fitting reward will be given based on your merits."
The bishop looked at me and started to smile even more.
He seemed confident that I would not reject his offer.
The chance of personally being rewarded by the king would be considered a great honor by any of the Kingdom"s citizens.
However, I had no interest in such a thing.
I would soon erase the Ameri Kingdom from history. I may completely get rid of it, or, if that doesn"t seem possible, at least reduce it to the size of the Batoru Kingdom.
So why would I care about being rewarded by the king?
I still respectfully declined.
"It is disappointing, but I have urgent business to attend to, so I am unable to accept that quest."
The bishop looked completely shocked.
"Urgent business? What could be more urgent than this?"
"It is a personal matter. It will take at least two years. Is it possible to push back the attack on the Church of the Sun until then?"
"That is not possible."
I knew that it would be impossible. I asked just so that he could shoot me down.
I sighed as if I was really disappointed.
"Haaaa, I really wanted to grasp this opportunity, but oh well. I can only give up on something that is not meant to be mine."
"Hoo, how disappointing."
The bishop sighed as well.
"Then I will be leaving now as my matter could use every extra second I could give it."
"Go ahead. Do come back if your matter ends up being resolved earlier than expected."
"I understand, bishop-nim."
I immediately headed out of the temple.
Shione walked me out. n.o.body questioned Shione being alone with me because of our long partnership in the Demon Cave Clearing Squads.
"Anybody over there will be able to tell you the location of High Village. But I am wondering whether you will be able to escape. Can you do it?"
"I will have to do it. The bigger issue is what is waiting afterward."
It was an issue related to the Southern District.
She had every reason to be afraid. No priests have yet to successfully complete a quest related to the Southern District. The Southern District was still a mystery that was known to be a region of impossibility.
I had chosen to head to such a location with Shione, as well as Harrison"s group that could be considered the future of the Batoru Kingdom.
Harrison"s group had agreed to go with me to the Southern District. They had to do so in order to be allowed to ascend the Altar of the Sun.
It would be a pretty serious adventure. If we fail and Harrison"s group ends up being decimated, the Batoru Kingdom would lose its future. It would be weird if she was not worried when n.o.body has completed a Southern District quest yet.
However, I was confident that we would succeed since it was all within my calculations. I was also much stronger now than when I had tried it in the game.
"I also know how to value my life. Do you think I would attempt such a thing if I had no confidence? You at least have no reason to worry for Harrison-nim. I plan to lend the Unicorn"s Horn Flute to him for the duration of the quest, as we discussed."
"I understand. He should have received the quest from the temple by now. Please meet up with him as quickly as you can."
"Then I will be waiting for you in High Village."
"Yes, see you there."
I said goodbye to Shione and left Huksen.
"I knew they were good at information gathering."
I could see Kaldera waiting for me even though I had not contacted her in advance.
I was certain she got the information of my return through the Magician"s Tower.
She kind of hopped over as soon as she saw me before flinching after seeing my travel buddy.
"You"re here ……omo!"
It was because my travel buddy was the Dark Elf, Rohas.
He really causes issues wherever we go. His entire body and face were covered by a robe, but he still gave off such a strong presence.
I had to waste my time explaining the situation every time.
However, there was no need to do so with Kaldera.
"Ah! This sir must be Rohas-nim, your new slave."
She really had a strong information network. Not only did she know that I took a Dark Elf as a slave, but she even knew his name.
But how can I fix this punk Rohas"s personality? He should at least slightly bow to show some respect at this point.
He had his head up like a supercilious person.
"That is correct. He"s a rude punk, so please understand if he is not very respectful."
"That is okay, I have heard about it. But it really has been a long time. I"ve stopped by Huksen a couple times but I could never see you because you were always in a Demon Cave."
I had heard about Kaldera coming over as well. She had left me messages every time she came.
But I never replied to any of them.
But seeing her made me recall our night together:
She took off her shirt and climbed onto my bed.
I unfastened her stockings and slowly rolled them off. Her pants were next and then her underwear.
She shivered and closed her eyes as I left the garter belt on to confirm her nakedness.
Her hand touches my chest and began to fall in excruciating slow designs while I laid there, as still as a rock.
We could not get enough of each other that night.
She continued to make me hard over and over again as I rolled her over and put it in once again. This time, she was wild. The bed began to creak and her breath became short. I even had to brace my hands on the wall as I hooked her knees around my torso to drive myself deeper.
"Oh," she moaned, "just like that."
April fools! Everything beyond the : never happened.
To be honest, Kaldera was a bit burdensome. I could enjoy a night with other women and say goodbye, but I didn"t think that would work with Kaldera.
I felt as if enjoying her body once would chain me down for good. (TL: Now we know they didn"t do it last time.)
I felt really sorry about what I did last time as well. Kaldera had thrown away her pride and took off her shirt, but I still did not take her.
But the way she was looking at me still did not change.
That was even more of a burden. I guess I"m not ready to be chained down to one woman for the rest of my life just yet.
"Is Humbley-nim inside?"
"He is currently in the Ameri Kingdom. He should be back in about 5 days. Won"t you please come in?"
"No thank you. I have a lot of thing to take care of. I will be back in 5 days."
Kaldera looked extremely disappointed.
I understood why she would feel that way. She had already revealed her feelings for me and even showed me some skin, even if it was covered by her underwear.
That is why it is probably difficult for her to just pretend as if nothing happened. Furthermore, Kaldera and I have to keep seeing each other for business reasons.
In that case, she probably decided to go all in and keep coming at me until I buckle.
But then my only choice is to keep running away. I only see Kaldera as a trade partner.
"Then I will be back in a few days."
I turned away from Kaldera"s sad gaze and headed toward the Ares Temple.
There was chaos at the Ares Temple as well because of the Dark Elf Rohas. Well, I may be exaggerating as it was just a moment of nervousness before I explained it in detail.
Of course, I kept the important details like the Peria Mountains, the Altar of the Sun, Spirit Energy, etc. out. I just said I took him in as a slave while clearing Demon Caves in Huksen.
The priests finally let me in after what felt like an eternity of explanation.
"Normally we are not allowed to let a Dark Elf enter, however, we will make an exception for you, Kang Hwi Ram-nim."
In simple terms, my high fame, involvement in the Demon Cave Clearing Squad in Huksen, and the fact that I was granted an audience with his majesty allowed them to give me special treatment.
"Thank you very much."
I entered the temple with Rohas.
Thankfully, Kaicher was inside the temple.
Kaicher was also wary of Rohas. Maybe I should leave Rohas behind next time I go anywhere.
However, I was able to calm Kaicher down with a shorter explanation than the priests at the entrance.
"I see! Anyway, long time no see. Have you been well?"
He really has not changed at all. His handsome face that makes me jealous, the flawless skin, and even the priest robe and the length of his hair had not changed at all.
I guess it has only been 2 years. He should be taking the Immortality Potion every so often, so these two years to Kaicher would be no different than just a few days or a few months, at max.
His expression and tone were the same as well. He was the type who would not speak unless there was something he needed to say. He would just look off to a distant mountain, thus making it difficult to figure out what he was thinking.
Maybe that was why, but it felt as if we had just said goodbye yesterday.
"Did you make your preparations?"
Kaicher turned toward me and looked confused.
"I told you that you"ll need to go to the Southern District for a quest with me in a few years. Did you forget about it?"
Kaicher was still silent. The fact that his expression didn"t change much should mean that he remembers my comment. Does this mean he didn"t think I meant it?
Was my presence that low at that point? I thought I had made a decent impression on him by then.
It didn"t matter. There was nothing for Kaicher to prepare. I just needed him to be healthy.
"Get ready. We are leaving in half a month. Oh, where is the bishop-nim?"
"Are you really heading into the Southern District?"
It"s so hard to get him to talk.
It was my turn now. I ignored his question in order to give him a taste of his own medicine.
"Is he over there?"
This was not my first time in the Avanguarde Ares Temple. I clearly remembered the last time I was here, and so I confidently started to walk toward the same location as last time.
Kaicher started to walk with me.
"Is it for the Blessings Quest?"
Keep eating this bitter medicine. Do you know how boring it is waiting for an answer that will never come?
But that wasn"t my style at all. It was hard for me to stay quiet whenever Kaicher asked me a question every so often.
In the end, I raised the white flag of defeat first.
"It will be hard to recruit people. The Southern District is too dangerous for just the two of us."
"Don"t worry about that. I already have a lot of trustworthy comrades. All you have to do is follow me."
"Trustworthy comrades?"
He would be shocked if I told him about it. It was extremely rare for a human to have Dwarves as comrades. Even if they did, it would usually be one or two Dwarves at max. n.o.body would be like me and have twenty-ish Dwarves, with one even at the level of One with the Sword.
There was also Harrison"s group. They promised to only send the best warriors of the Batoru Kingdom when I told them about the Altar of the Sun and the Fairy"s Quest related to it.
But it was not time to reveal all of that just yet. It would not be smart to spread the news about traveling with Dwarves.
"You"ll see."
Kaicher"s eyes were full of curiosity.
However, he could not ask further because we finally saw the bishop.
Kaicher seemed to want to ask something before he closed his mouth.
Instead, the bishop approached me and asked a question.
"You are the one who received the Blessings Quest! It doesn"t look like you have completed the quest yet, so what brings you to the temple?"
"I am about to head to the Southern DIstrict to complete the quest. That is why I wish to make a request to you, bishop-nim?"
"What is it?"
"I wish to take priest Kaicher with me."
Kaicher might be my most trustworthy comrade. Goonto is probably stronger than him, but Kaicher can use his divine powers to help us in many other ways.
The bishop looked toward Kaicher, who walked in with me, while Kaicher was looking at me with a slightly deep gaze.
The bishop did not contemplate it too long.
"There is no reason that he cannot go with you. However, the Southern District is such a dangerous place that I cannot force him to do so. Priest Kaicher, the decision is your own to make."
Do I need to convince Kaicher again? I do have a few strategies I have prepared, but I don"t know if any of them will work.
However, there was no need for me to do so. Kaicher answered almost immediately once the bishop gave him the power to decide for himself.
"I will go."
Translator: Miraclerifle
Proofreader: Borderline m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t