Episode 164

3.

Kim Buja's prediction had not been wrong.

For a mission that screamed great difficulty, there was indeed a perk to match.

It existed inside the Temple.

Not as an item, but as a person.

"Hmm."

The saintess, who had marched off so gallantly with her Holy Knights months ago, was now greeting him unconscious on the floor.

And her clothes—if you could even call them that—were shredded to the point that she was practically half-naked.

Whether the princess and the saintess were meant as gifts to make Gold Missions more exciting, or as a way to help him get closer to them faster, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to complain.

After all, both the princess and the saintess were peerless beauties, each with her own distinct charm.

Of course, in this situation, he didn't find himself swallowing nervously or feeling some long-suppressed desire flare up.

It wasn't because he had Jeong Seora, who was easily their equal.

It was because of the countless marks carved into the saintess's naked body as she lay there.

'Yeah, religion is always scarier.'

There was no need to wake her up to figure out what had happened.

If your dog went off to fight the neighbor's mutt and you later found it collapsed in some alley, panting and barely conscious, the culprit was obvious.

'She's bolder than I thought.'

The only thing that surprised him was that she had held out this long.

He hadn't been able to think of any good options himself, but he hadn't expected her to march straight back to the Temple and directly challenge them.

Unless the pope had made the first move.

Either way, her mental fortitude was impressive.

'If it were me, I'd have sold out the princess on the spot.'

She must have had multiple chances.

From the pope's perspective, the saintess was not a card he could discard lightly.

Even if the pope himself didn't care, the saintess had received the direct blessing of the god.

Her divine power was one thing, but the weight of the title "saintess" on this continent was beyond imagination.

Especially since the video they had shown had spread across the continent, the pope wouldn't have been able to throw her away easily.

And yet, seeing the state she was in now, it meant she had resisted to the very end.

Impressive, yet foolish.

"Tsk, tsk."

He had no intention of forcing his own values on her.

Everyone lived according to their own beliefs and convictions.

He opened the Gold Shop, bought a 3,000-gold elixir, and popped the cork.

Pop.

A subtle fragrance tickled his nose.

It smelled vaguely of rosemary, with a sweet note that made you want to drink it even if you didn't need healing.

He poured half the elixir from the fist-sized vial over the saintess, from the top of her head down to her toes.

The elixir soaked into her skin quickly.

He held the remaining half in his mouth, then leaned down and let it flow into hers.

Her full lips met his. She probably hadn't been able to wash for quite some time, but whether it was thanks to the elixir or her divine power, there was no smell—only a faint fragrance.

'So this is holy power?'

He let the pointless thought drift by as he made sure she swallowed the rest of the elixir.

Soon, the saintess, who had been lying there like a corpse, began to regain some color in her cheeks.

'Expensive stuff really is the best.'

There was a reason it cost 3,000 gold.

Normally, he would have gone for a cheaper Half Elixir, even if it took longer to work, but now that he had some breathing room, he chose time over frugality.

"…Oh, my God."

At some point, the saintess had opened her eyes and was staring straight at him. Her soft voice reached him as their gazes met.

She carefully folded her hands over her chest in prayer.

The fact that she still thought of him as a god made him flinch internally.

"Have you been well?"

It was only because he had heard it without any mental preparation after so long, but his hand still moved on reflex, ruffling her hair as a bright smile naturally spread across his face.

"Ah."

"You can be informal with me. I'm not a god. Back then, the god just borrowed my body for a bit, that's all."

"Ah…"

She looked briefly shaken by the revelation that the one she had thought was a god was actually human, but she soon nodded.

He knew it would be hard for her to fully understand, but he had a reason for saying it.

They would be traveling together from now on.

The image of an omnipotent god who couldn't even handle a single pope and had to roll around in the mud with the saintess, suffering through all sorts of hardships, was a bit off. It would also make her attitude unnecessarily passive.

"In that case…"

"Call me Buja."

"…Yes, Buja. But where is this place?"

"I prayed to the god."

"Ah!"

The saintess, who had pushed herself up, turned to the statue beside them and began praying again.

He had no idea how she had ended up here, but since he roughly understood the situation, he didn't mind stealing the credit.

At the same time, he slipped in a question.

"What happened?"

He kept his tone casual, as if he knew the broad strokes but not the details.

"The moment we entered Arhel, an army was waiting for us."

Arhel was the capital of the Empire.

In a way, it was the obvious outcome.

He had said there were two options, but from the pope's perspective, there had only ever been one.

He understood that better than anyone, being the same kind of person.

If he had been the pope, he would have chosen the same method.

The safest, surest, and most advantageous moment.

Even if it was the imperial capital, it now belonged to the Allied Forces, and no matter how elite the First Holy Knight Order of the Temple was, they were not strong enough to defeat the Allied army.

"So you surrendered?"

"I did not want any unnecessary bloodshed."

On top of that, she had surrendered immediately.

From the pope's point of view, everything had gone exactly as expected.

He couldn't help but sigh.

That kind of naivety was exactly why she kept getting used.

What good were the god's favor and overwhelming divine power?

She was being led around by the nose by the simple schemes of a pope who did nothing but stroke his beard and chuckle.

Normally, Buja didn't bother trying to change other people's beliefs or values.

That wasn't because he respected them.

It was because it was a hassle.

Changing thoughts that someone had lived with for years, even decades, was nearly impossible, and even if it was possible, it required a tremendous amount of effort and stress.

But this time, he had to.

More importantly, the saintess had already broken her own convictions once.

It had been because of her faith in the existence of a god, but she still misunderstood that the object of that faith was him.

"You should have turned around and forced your way back out."

"But…"

Telling someone what they should do "next time" was useless nagging.

There might not be a next time, and even if there was, they would only remember his words in the moment, hesitate, and then fail to act.

In a situation that urgent, if hesitation crept in, the odds were high they wouldn't follow through.

On the other hand, if he pointed out her mistake, she would start thinking about it from now on.

She would dwell on it, wondering if she had really been wrong, replaying it from different angles, and slowly brainwashing herself.

He used the word "brainwashing" because this method only worked because she blindly trusted the god.

Kim Buja's words were, to her, the will of a god.

"Innocent people would have died. The Holy Knights might have been sacrificed, too. But what did you gain by avoiding that?"

The saintess fell silent.

"Nothing, right? Even now, the pope and the Allied Forces are spilling rivers of blood to drown the continent in darkness. And what were you doing during that time? Getting captured, tortured, and stubbornly clinging to your pride?"

The saintess had held to her principles.

She had followed the god's words—no, his words—not to compromise with darkness, and she had never once bowed.

But now, the very person who had praised that resolve was denying it outright.

Confusion was written all over her face.

Even so, Buja didn't panic.

To break someone armed with their own will, you had to bombard them with contradictions and confusion.

In the end, it was all just wordplay.

And with the power of "god" backing his words, even if his logic was flimsy, it was more than enough to be effective.

"When the god spoke through me and told you not to compromise with darkness, it didn't mean you should throw your life away just to be stubborn. If necessary, let people bleed. Don't stop because others might be sacrificed. If the moment calls for it, compromise. What matters is the essence."

"…The essence."

"The god loves even those who don't believe in him, right?"

"Yes."

"He doesn't even hate those who pursue darkness and reject Him."

"He simply does not wish to see humanity destroy itself…"

"Exactly. You get what that means?"

To be honest, even as he spoke, Buja wasn't entirely sure what he was saying. He was just letting whatever came to mind spill out.

Even so, the saintess was gradually organizing her thoughts.

After all, his point boiled down to one thing.

"The balance between good and evil has to be equal. When the scales tip too far to one side, good can become evil, and evil can become good."

"Right. So in that moment, you should have run no matter what. Even if it meant throwing the Holy Knights in as sacrifices, you had to live. Look at the princess."

"Ah…!"

Cling to life.

Fight and win.

The saintess recited the god's words and understood that this was what they meant.

"If you win, you are good. If you lose, you are evil."

She remained silent, processing his words.

All the nonsense he had spouted ultimately condensed into one line that sounded profound.

And given the reality that the Allied Forces and the pope had become "good," while the remnants of the Empire and the saintess had been painted as "evil," there was no faster way to make her understand.

"I am sorry."

"Just do better from now on. That's all."

The saintess learned quickly.

She knew how to accept change, and she had already shattered her own firm convictions once to declare open war on the pope.

This time would be no different.

She would take Buja's words to heart and make them her new creed.

Whether this was right or wrong didn't matter.

The current continent wasn't fighting over who was good or evil.

It was about who was stronger.

Game, reality, continent, dungeon—only the backdrop had changed. Nothing else was different.

The strong were righteous.

Their words became truth.

That was why, if you wanted to live as a good person, you needed power.

The standards of good and evil weren't set by oneself, but by history and by others.

"Let's go."

He gave the saintess, who had risen to her feet and nodded with newfound resolve, a once-over.

The wounds that had covered her body were gone entirely, erased without a trace by the elixir.

Her pure white naked body naturally filled his vision.

"Mm."

The scraps of cloth she still had on were so pointless that they only made things feel more suggestive.

"You should put something on."

He quickly opened the Gold Shop and bought a robe and underwear for her to wear.

"Thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you."

Ever since his awakening, it felt like his life had turned into a flower-strewn path.

In both reality and Gold Missions, he felt a growing desire to give it his all, and a new energy in his step.

And it wasn't as if he was just loosely entangled with these women.

He had Jeong Seora as his girlfriend, of course, and on top of that, he had even unlocked a "Communion" system with the saintess and the princess.

He still didn't know exactly how that system would activate, but…

"Ah, God… no, Buja, you should probably put something on too."

"Hm?"

As she tightened her robe, she spoke, and he glanced down.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Only then did he realize.

He was dressed in the same "back to nature" style.

He must have gotten used to it, because he hadn't felt the slightest sense of wrongness.

"You should wear this, Buja…"

"No. I'll just buy another one."

The moment he tried to buy another robe, Kim Buja understood.

He finally understood how "Communion" activated.

No, he understood more than that—he understood what it truly meant.

Vwmm…

"Then I will simply wipe the dirt from you."

"…Huh?"

He watched as the saintess approached without hesitation, her hands glowing with holy power as she began to brush the dirt and grass from his body.

* * *

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.