PMEVBO 48

The two Patjwis were in their late twenties or early thirties. They chuckled among themselves as they entered the room, then spoke one after the other.

“You’re heading out of the castle soon, right? Before you get on your carriage, cover the other one with a tarp. Looks like it’ll rain today.”

“Hey, yes, could you please…”

Then the two men spotted me standing behind Seriha. When our eyes met, they both stopped in their tracks, their mouths agape. Their expressions were as if they’d seen a ghost.

I, who had been bent over packing the picnic basket, straightened my back, narrowing my eyes.

No way these bastards know who I am…?

But that was just my overactive imagination.

A moment later, Patjwi 1 cleared his throat and asked in a greasy voice.

“Ahem. Wh-who might you be…?”

…And there I was, thinking they’d recognized me as that infamous bastard priest at first glance.

No, then why are they acting like that?

They were all staggering around like drugged mosquitoes, completely out of it.

Anyway, since they asked who I was, it was only polite to answer. But I couldn’t just spill the beans about my identity to the Patjwis when I’d kept it hidden even from Kongjwi. That wouldn’t be loyal.

I did consider ignoring them and walking out, but that damn request was grating on my nerves.

I finally stood tall before Seriha.

“Me? A toad.”

“Huh? Why a toad all of a sudden…”

I decided to answer with action instead of words. I opened the water bottle I was holding and proceeded to splash water on the Patjwis’ oily faces, one after another.

“Ugh!”

Their water-soaked faces gleamed like toads. I gauged their expressions and grinned.

“Seeing your faces suddenly makes me want to wash them. Hey, I’ve got a favor to ask too.”

I splashed water again. By the second round, the Patjwis weren’t taking it lying down. 

But no matter how much they squirmed and twisted, they were still in my grasp.

“What the… arrgh!”

In the end, they had no choice but to offer their faces to me.

Thanks to my fantastic water control, the bottle still held plenty. But the water fight ended after just two rounds. 

Because Seriha rushed over and grabbed my arm.

“Lu-Lucariel, maybe we should stop now…”

What a good kid.

I obediently closed the water bottle cap. Taking advantage of that moment, Patjwi 1 grabbed my collar.

“Cough, cough! What the hell is wrong with this crazy bastard…?!”

I sighed and stared down at Patjwi 1. Wondering how much force I’d need to twist his wrist without breaking his bones.

“Let… let go of him…!”

Seeing me like that, Seriha must have misunderstood something and tried to rush at Patjwi 1. 

His resolute face resembled a puppy charging at a monster to protect its master.

But before Seriha could intervene, the game ended. Patjwi 2 suddenly muttered.

“…Butterfly-shaped birthmarks?”

“What…?”

“They said that wretched priest exiled here has such birthmarks…”

Patjwi 2’s pupils shook as he alternately pointed at my neck and under my eyes. Patjwi 1 also turned pale and backed away from me.

I just stared at them, switching my gaze between the two. Before long, both fled together, their faces as blue as bruises.

“S-sorry for the disturbance! I’ll be going now…!”

“Hey, wait for me…!”

The hurried footsteps grew faded away, then vanished entirely.

That was when Seriha spoke.

“A priest? What on earth…?”

Unable to comprehend the situation, Seriha blinked. His mysterious pupils, resembling a total solar eclipse, trembled.

I never thought those bastards would figure out who I am, even this late.

Given how things were, it was probably best to tell Seriha the truth. I couldn’t keep deceiving him forever, and the quest was over anyway. I scratched the back of my neck and spoke calmly.

“That bastard priest is actually me.”

“……Huh?”

“Lucariel Nebella Sarachephon. That’s my name. ……I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time.”

Seriha seemed shocked, struggling to speak.

An awkward silence fell. I smiled bitterly and said.

“……Well then, I’ll be going.”

Just then, I felt a burning warmth like it was searing my wrist. Seriha, gripping my wrist, spoke in a trembling voice.

“Wait. ……Don’t go, Abel.”

“What?”

……Abel?

Seriha’s alias, Abel, was actually the name of a real person.

Though known to the world as having lost his life in an unexpected accident, the First Prince had narrowly survived. He was the First Prince. That was Seriha’s true identity. And the benefactor who saved the First Prince’s life was a man named Abel.

The young emperor, who had just ascended the throne, saw his first child born to a beautiful dancer before his imperial wedding. The Pope baptized him, and thus Seriha became the First Prince of the Empire.

Even as an illegitimate child, the emperor’s child, baptized by the Pope, could inherit the throne. Seeing Seriha as a thorn in her side, the Empress ordered assassins to kill the young Seriha and his mother.

But Seriha was saved by a man named Abel and grew up under him like a commoner until his late teens.

Then one day, Abel revealed the truth. He was the assassin hired by the Empress. He had killed Seriha’s mother on her orders, but couldn’t bring himself to kill the child. So he made it look like the child was dead and took him in to raise him.

The man who was both the enemy who killed his mother and Seriha’s savior left him after that confession.

In the original story, Seriha only confided the story about Abel to Isabelle.

After hearing it, Isabelle asked.

‘Why did you choose his name as your alias? For revenge?’

‘No, because I missed him…….’

‘You miss him? ……The man who killed your mother?’

‘Even if he killed my mother, he was family to me…I want to see him again.’

But even by the time the original story reached its bittersweet ending, Seriha never reunited with Abel.

The strange thing is, Seriha called me… no, Lucariel ‘Abel’.

…Why on earth?

Was it just a slip of the tongue?

…Come to think of it, I used to call everyone ‘hyung’ because the word was stuck in my mouth, and it made me cringe.

While I was trying to convince myself, Seriha suddenly let go of my wrist, startled.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Um, what I meant to say was… Ugh.”

Suddenly, Seriha clutched his head and staggered. I quickly supported him from the side.

“Headache?”

“Yes, a bit… I think it’s from not sleeping for days…”

“Yes, you look exhausted.”

The dim dawn light seeping in through the window illuminated Seriha’s pale face. I carefully lifted him and sat him down on the bed in the corner of the warehouse.

“…Thank you, Lucariel.”

“It’s nothing. Rest now. You said you had to go out soon.”

Just as I was about to step aside to let him rest comfortably, Seriha timidly tugged at my sleeve and asked.

“…Would it be alright if I came to see you later? I’d like to talk again.”

“Sure, let’s do that.”

I chuckled softly and nodded.

Only then did Seriha smile, looking relieved. His dimpled cheeks were quite cute.

***

On the way back to my room after leaving the warehouse room.

I checked the status window I’d left open. It had been like this for several hours now.

───【Skill Draw Ticket】───

Would you like to use a Skill Draw Ticket (1x)?

Yes/No

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No way, you bastard.

Just thinking about how I accidentally hit ‘Yes’ last time and blew my Discernment skill still made my teeth grind. I snorted and pressed ‘No’. 

I didn’t forget to open the inventory window to check if the skill draw ticket was saved properly.

Skill Draw Tickets: 1

Yes, that’s the spirit.

Until my inventory expands with a level-up, using skill draw tickets is strictly on hold. Like a honeybee gathering nectar, I just need to hoard them for now.

But something happened.

Ping!

───【 Main Quest 】───

Hunt monsters!

(0/1)

D-?

Reward: Level Up, Disable ‘████’ Position Lock.

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This time, it wasn’t a sub-quest. The long-awaited main quest had appeared.

And leveling up plus disabling location lock as rewards? It was exactly what I’d hoped for.

But… suddenly monsters?

Wait, monsters never even appeared in the original story! So why the sudden monster hunt?!

D-?

D-0(10m)

What? …10 minutes?

“You bastard…”

This damn shitty game is clearly trying to screw the player over.

Damn it, how the hell am I supposed to hunt a monster in just 10 minutes…?

Monsters weren’t just going to suddenly appear inside Hayut Castle. I’d have to crawl into some dungeon or something to even find monster-like creatures to hunt… And right now, my location was fixed inside Hayut Castle.

The cooldown on my Guidance skill still has ten days left…

Then a flash lit up outside the window.

A vivid blue flash sliced through the hazy dawn sky. Soon after, a huge clap of thunder echoed.

Ding-a-ling!

───【 Main Quest 】───

A monster has appeared!

Hunt it to complete the mission.

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