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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: A Perplexing Request
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The vibration of the necklace grew more and more intense as Seraph drew closer to me.
Eventually, she stopped right in front of my nose.
She wasn't very tall, her head reaching about my collarbone.
She looked up at me, tilting her head.
Wagging her tail gently, she stood on tiptoe, bringing her face as close to mine as possible.
So close that if I hadn't been wearing my helmet, our lips would have almost touched.
Her crimson eyes, as if stained with blood, were quite eerie.
But things imbued with ill omens often shine more beautifully than others.
Seraph's red eyes reflected the sunlight streaming through the window, shining even more dazzlingly.
Through the small eye-slits in my helmet, our gazes met.
My black eyes were reflected in her red ones.
“……”
Meeting my gaze, Seraph froze like a stone, unable to speak, simply staring straight at me.
Intently, very intently.
I couldn't hold back and finally spoke.
“What in the world do you think you're doing?”
My whole body was stiff as stone, only my mouth moved.
When I spoke, Seraph’s tail shot up. Her fluffy ears also twitched significantly.
It was like someone who was deeply engrossed in observing a work of art had been startled by a touch.
But her expression followed her body's reaction a few seconds later, as if she were artificially creating it.
“Oh. My apologies. I got a little carried away without realizing it. Did I startle you badly?”
Seraph waved her wand once, and my body regained its freedom.
I was so startled that I wanted to draw my axe first and then think. My axe was my friend; it always provided mental support.
But now was the time to temporarily cut ties.
The woman in front of me was a high-ranking member of the church. Drawing my axe carelessly could lead to unknown consequences.
“I didn’t have any ill intentions. This was my mistake. I didn’t mean to go this far, I’m truly sorry.”
Seraph carefully bowed her head. Her tail, which had shot up, drooped down.
However, my heightened vigilance didn't easily subside, so I placed a hand on my waist where my axe was.
‘She’s so relaxed.’
Seraph’s demeanor was incredibly relaxed.
Even with an armed person standing before her, she remained completely still.
It wasn't particularly strange.
[Seraph Adeline LV.50]
With a level that high, why would she even bat an eye?
I figured in Seraph’s eyes, I was probably on par with a Goblin.
That made it even more puzzling. Why would such a powerful individual apologize so readily to me?
If I were that strong, I'd probably puff out my chest and say, ‘A person can make a mistake, don't be so arrogant,’ but she bowed her head to me so easily.
‘Given how readily she apologizes, it doesn’t seem like she was trying any dirty tricks…’
Two possibilities flashed through my mind.
‘Either she truly has a kind heart and is a good person, which is why she apologized to me, or she wants something from me and thus easily lowered her head.’
It was a bit ambiguous, but after much thought, I dismissed the former possibility.
‘Seraph stopped my movements without any explanation or consent. By force.’
Even if she was in a hurry, a truly good person wouldn't easily do such a thing.
Therefore, the possibility shifted to the latter.
‘She wants something from me?’
– I have something I want to ask you.
– Can the two of us have some quality time together?
Considering her previous statements, that seemed like the correct assumption.
However, this conjecture also made me slightly tilt my head.
‘Me, specifically? Why?’
Seraph’s background as someone holding a position in the temple also played a part in this thought.
In the Labyrinth city of Valerius, the temple's influence is among the strongest. And Seraph holds a considerably high rank within the temple.
What could someone of her stature possibly want or need to ask of me, a Labyrinth Floor 1 explorer who only obtained his explorer's license barely a month ago?
I had no power, no authority, not even wealth.
All I had at the moment was this mysterious body.
However, in this world, my body held sufficient value.
‘…Mainly for sexual purposes.’
Countless individuals who had tried to ravish me flashed before my eyes.
I was disappointed. Is even the clergy like this in this world?
“The reason I stopped you was none other than—”
“Are you planning to ravish me too?”
I was so frustrated that I just blurted it out.
“That’s… what?”
Seraph, who had been smiling sweetly and nodding mechanically, looked at me with a flustered expression.
A brief silence ensued.
Immediately after, the subtly overwhelming atmosphere and mechanical expression instantly shattered.
“No, I am not?!”
With her tail and ears bristling, Seraph, her face flushed crimson, frantically shook her tail and spoke urgently.
“Why would you think such a thing?! Th-that, th-that kind of thing with a man…! I-it’s blasphemous…! It’s an outrageous act that doesn’t align with the teachings of the Earth Mother Goddess!”
Her reaction was very different from what I had expected.
The subtly alluring and mechanical expression on Seraph’s face was gone.
Her natural face, flushed red with embarrassment and shame, was, at a glance, nothing more than an ideal female.
‘I honestly thought she was interested in ‘that’ kind of thing, seeing as she suddenly shoved her face in front of mine, but I guess not?’
Honestly, I thought it was a pretty plausible guess.
It was also Seraph’s fault for vaguely hinting at ‘quality time’ and leading me to imagine ‘that’ kind of thing.
It felt like only yesterday that I was almost assaulted by nuns and beggars.
“...So you weren’t planning to take turns with explorers or beggars, using me day and night until not a single sperm cell was left?”
“No, I wasn’t! Th-the holy Earth Mother Goddess’s church strictly forbids such shameless and obscene acts as doctrine… W-wait a moment.”
Seraph’s eyes trembled greatly, as if an earthquake had struck.
“Y-you too, ravish me…? Like explorers or beggars…? D-don’t tell me…”
Seraph was speechless. Her trembling eyes blankly swept over my entire body.
Her gaze undoubtedly lingered on my face, then my stomach, my chest, and finally, my crotch.
Then Seraph’s eyes squeezed shut. Her tightly bitten lower lip quivered.
“Th-that… H-how, how could such a thing… Oh, oh…”
Seraph’s face turned pale as she looked at me.
***
Seraph felt her heart sink.
The reason was none other than the words and actions of the man before her.
A strong sense of alarm regarding ‘obscene acts that deviate from the teachings of the Earth Mother Goddess.’
Statements that suggested he had suffered harm and trauma from ‘such acts’ before.
Seraph, a devout follower who had never once masturbated in her life, had seen countless individuals react similarly to the man before her.
Male explorers who had gone mad, crying out for female companionship after being assaulted by monsters; men who had suffered collective trauma from beggars or explorers.
As a priestess, she naturally encountered such people, and the man before her displayed similar caution.
It was all too easy for Seraph, as a woman and a priestess, to surmise what he had endured in the past.
Of course, Seraph, now a high-ranking priestess, no longer experienced the same shock she once did when encountering men who had suffered ‘such’ things.
“...I apologize. I questioned you too aggressively. Please forgive my disrespect.”
“...Ah. Ah… J-just a moment…”
But now, she felt a shock so profound it made it hard to breathe.
Seraph clutched her throbbing head and took a moment to compose herself.
*Buzzzzzzz—*
“Ugh…”
She had placed a hand on her chest to breathe more easily, which caused the necklace to stimulate her chest again.
– When the suitable one approaches, the necklace will tremble and let you know. Violently, like a magic dildo. *Pfft.*
The words of the wicked demon, who had uttered vulgar and obscene remarks, came to mind.
The demon was cunning and shrewd, but it did not speak ‘lies.’ The necklace must be a genuine holy relic.
‘…If this necklace truly is a holy relic, then he is…’
The man before her truly was.
‘…The suitable one.’
The individual Seraph had long sought, following a single divine revelation from the Earth Mother Goddess – a figure destined to change the fate of the world. A massive and brilliant Blessing.
That the suitable one was a man was unexpected enough.
‘…And he even… suffered ‘that’…?’
Seraph felt an inexpressible sense of frustration.
She had never imagined that the brilliant Blessing she had finally discovered after so much hardship would be smeared with the impure saliva and bodily fluids of women.
‘If only I had found him sooner… perhaps he wouldn’t have had to go through ‘that’?’
It was a futile wish. The situation had already occurred, and he must have suffered a great emotional wound.
‘…In that case.’
“...May I ask for your name?”
“...It’s Balkan.”
“Balkan. Balkan…”
Seraph savored the name for a while, repeating it, then looked at the helmeted man before her, Balkan.
His black eyes, shadowed within the helmet, met Seraph’s red eyes.
Looking into his eyes, Seraph felt an inexplicable sense of mission.
This great Blessing. This man. Balkan.
‘I must save him.’
She wanted to separate him from those who would defile Balkan purely for their own sexual gratification, blind to the future, and heal the trauma in his heart.
‘So that he can walk the righteous path.’
However, the temple’s power was not complete. The political situation in the Labyrinth city was even more volatile than before.
Sadly, there was not much she could do for him.
‘…But, at least some guidance…’
***
“Oh. Where did you go?! I was surprised when you disappeared while receiving the silver coins!”
I stopped Densi, who had rushed over breathlessly and was about to throw herself into my arms.
“Something suddenly came up.”
Densi said I had disappeared while receiving the silver coins.
I guessed Seraph had used some kind of magic. I also vaguely explained to Densi what had happened with Seraph without going into detail.
“...Hmm. Is that so? Oh. I properly collected your share of the silver coins, Master.”
Densi said that and held out three silver coins.
“Why only three? You said five.”
“Hehe. Do you want them? Do you wish to receive them?”
“Do you want to get hit and give them, or just give them?”
“Eh… Then I have no choice but to choose the former, do I…? H-hit me hard, please…”
I gave Densi, who was trembling and offering her solar plexus, a punching bag experience. I was about to take Densi's share, as she was virtually my bound slave, but a minimal sense of modern conscience surfaced, so I left it as is.
“Heeek… Hmph…”
“Where’s Jeremy?”
“Ah… He said if he delayed any longer, his girlfriend would turn to dust, so he went to get a preservation spell for her head.”
Jeremy also said he would meet us in a few days to settle the spoils from the Labyrinth and then left.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“My former master is dead, so shouldn’t I settle my past now? I’m planning to raid that old hag Deluna’s hidden slave contract documents and some trivial items, then live a new life with a new identity in the explorer's district.”
Densi recited her future vision quite confidently.
“What are you talking about? A new identity?”
“Huh?! *Cough*—!”
I grabbed Densi’s leash and tugged it.
“For a slave, only the master changes. Doesn’t it just mean changing the master’s name on the contract?”
“...!”
Densi, who was gagging from the leash around her neck, looked up at me as if asking what kind of diabolical idea that was.
“Th-that… That’s true, but…”
“Why? You don’t want to?”
“...Actually, I’d rather prefer it…”
I made plans to meet Densi, who trembled for a long time as if excited, in a few days.
Densi also returned to the lawless Western District.
Finally alone, I headed to the temple’s counter.
“His name was Adolf. His race was Dwarf.”
When I handed over Adolf’s cross necklace and staff, the female clerk at the counter nodded with a businesslike attitude.
“Received. May he safely embark on his journey to the Earth Mother Goddess.”
A staff member came to take away the staff and cross necklace.
“Oh dear. Hey! We checked Adolf, and he had 4 counts of sodomy charges and was an exiled priest! No need for reverence, just put it away somewhere out of sight.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Phew. That was a close call. A man like this should absolutely not reach the Earth Mother Goddess.”
The female clerk, who had been sifting through documents, let out a sigh of relief.
Now I understood why Adolf had engaged in such disgraceful acts.
His equipment, which I had gone to the trouble of collecting, was simply put away somewhere out of sight.
Was it because he was an excommunicated person from the church?
The staff didn't seem interested in how Adolf had met his end.
I felt a strange self-loathing for feeling relieved by that fact, but I suppose it was time to adapt and accept this world.
It seemed I would be staying in this world for quite a while.
– Please head to the Labyrinth.
Seraph’s ‘personal request’ came to mind.
Whether to call it fortunate or puzzling,
her request had a common thread with my own objective.
– Gain experience there, make companions, and grow stronger. Become strong enough to steadfastly endure any danger that approaches.
I had planned to do that anyway, even without her saying it.
– That is my personal request.
Why did Seraph go so far as to make a request for me to grow stronger?
What kind of people were the Explorer’s Guild? What exactly was the Curse’s Puppet?
Diana, level 70, Seraph, level 50, and other suspicious individuals.
The Labyrinth city was complex, chaotic, unpleasant, and enigmatic.
Everyone saw things differently. Each had their own thoughts and intentions.
As someone only a month into this other world, everything felt unfamiliar and difficult.
The disparity between me, who had just finished my first exploration, and them, was keenly felt.
Having deeply felt my powerlessness, the task ahead was simple.
‘Become stronger.’
Strong enough to smash everything and survive, without having to ponder all these complicated intentions.
***
But if a person only runs forward, they'll only get exhausted.
“Oh, Balkan! You’re back! Welcome home!”
“Diana!”
Diana, who was serving food at the tavern, spotted me instantly and waved with a pure, bright smile.
Right. Sometimes, I need to look around and rest. Honestly, this Labyrinth trip was too hard.
I was too stressed and had too much to worry about.
So, on impulse, I ran to Diana and hugged her tightly.
“B-Balkan?! Ugh…!”
“I missed you, Diana…”
“...?!?!?!”
As I hugged her, the only person who cared for me without ulterior motives, like a mother, a wave of exhaustion washed over me.
“Mama Diana…”
This is the true Earth Mother Goddess…
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