True Consciousness (4)

It is said that the royal family, The Great Mother Goddess Order, and the Explorer Association have historically cooperated to protect the city whenever Omen Phenomenon occurred.

More for securing the rights and interests surrounding the Labyrinth than for the purpose of ‘protecting the city where everyone lives!’

But Balkan wasn’t interested in such trivial matters.

The work he had to do.

The work only he could do.

The work he had to do to protect his loved ones and eliminate enemies.

He was only thinking about that now.

“The Royal Knights will cooperate with the subordinate guards to protect the Barrier surrounding the explorer area.”

The knights standing before the Second Princess Celsia nodded.

They felt like a kind of last bastion.

If even they were to collapse, the damage from the Monster Backflow would spread to other areas.

“The Explorer Association will be in charge of street fighting in the city. They will install barricades and Artifacts in the city to respond to the Monsters spreading through the alleys. The best case scenario is to end it near this Labyrinth Entrance… but it won’t be easy.”

The most determined were the explorers of the Association.

In the chaotic situation where mid-level Monsters were pouring onto the ground, the explorers were clearly the best at catching Monsters.

Besides, most explorers affiliated with other organizations, not just those directly under the Association, were likely to leave Labyrinth City or go into hiding until the Omen Phenomenon subsided.

The difficulty of this city defense battle would be determined by how much those people could be reduced and controlled.

That was entirely the role of Idelbert, the head of the Association.

“The Order will be in charge of supporting the city’s defense and the Pacification Ritual… and entering the Labyrinth to set up a Holy Barrier.”

The priests and Paladins nodded at Serif’s declaration.

The Barrier, created with Divinity that was said to be stored every year for the Pacification Ritual, could crush high-level Monsters just by touching it, and even inflict serious injuries on mid-level Monsters.

If such a Barrier were deployed at key routes or Portals in the stratum, it would certainly be of great help in a situation where Monsters were flowing back.

“Disciple. You will support the Order along with the explorers of Eden.”

Balkan nodded as the answer he had roughly expected came out.

The explorers in the 15th floor Eden would assist the Order, roaming the Labyrinth so that they could safely deploy the Holy Barrier.

‘Besides, I have a Demon Worshiper of Arrogance who can use Portal Magic, and I can also handle Divinity.’

He was practically the right person for the job.

With less than two weeks left until the Omen Phenomenon, Portal Magic was of considerable value since Barriers had to be set up throughout the Labyrinth.

“Thank you for your help, Balkan.”

“Of course.”

Balkan grabbed Serif’s outstretched hand and shook it.

Rubbing… fidgeting…

“…Serif?”

“Ah…! Y-yes!”

Was it because it was a long time since she had physical contact?

Serif, who had been fiddling with the thick hand of a male for a while, belatedly came to her senses and let go of his hand.

The meeting continued after that. It mainly discussed which forces would take on which roles, and who would replace them if they were unable to fulfill their roles.

“We have to gather all the merchants and other forces. I can’t stand those who took all the profits when the Labyrinth was fine running away as soon as the crisis hits. If you don’t want to be banned from entering the Labyrinth by the authority of the Association head.”

“I agree. The royal family is also planning to put as much pressure as possible on the nobles. They need to realize why they exist as nobles. There will be no shortage of material support.”

“The Order will be departing from noon tomorrow. There isn’t much time left until the Omen Phenomenon.”

After several hours of such conversation, the meeting ended.

Just as the people who had filled the conference room began to leave one by one.

Tap tap.

Something fluffy gently tapped his shoulder.

When he turned his head, a pure white cat tail was wagging listlessly.

“I’m sorry, Balkan.”

Balkan tilted his head at Serif’s sudden apology.

“Sorry for what?”

“You haven’t been out of the Labyrinth for long, but I’m giving you another burdensome role…”

Balkan shook his head at those words.

“It’s something I have to do, so I can’t help it.”

He still thought this Labyrinth City was terrible, but he had made quite a few memories while living here for over a year.

If it was to protect a place where precious people and precious memories remained, he would have to move his body hard, even if it was a little tiring.

Fortunately, he was able to have a little peace of mind after spending a night with Ellie.

“Besides, I’m getting a little energized thinking about the ‘special reward’ that Serif mentioned before coming to the conference room.”

“Hiccup…! I-is that so…?!”

Serif shuddered and looked around at the playful answer.

Her eyes were as if she was checking someone.

Soon, taking advantage of the fact that no one else was watching, Serif quickly handed something over.

“…A water bottle?”

Five bottles filled with transparent liquid.

The glass bottle looked quite luxurious, but it didn’t seem like something Serif would give so carefully.

“It’s Holy Water, concentrated with Divinity… If you drink just one sip, you can recover more than half of Balkan’s current level of Divinity… It’s very thick… Holy Water.”

“More than half with one sip?”

“When I tested it briefly, it was roughly that much…”

Huh.

Balkan looked at the Holy Water Serif had given him again.

Unlike Mana, there were almost no ways to recover Divinity.

There were Mana recovery potions, but there were no Divinity recovery potions.

Even if you went into the fountain in the Labyrinth, your health and Mana would recover, but your Divinity would hardly recover.

[Blessing of Radiance] had excellent quality of Divinity, but it didn’t have a large total amount of Divinity.

Besides, Divinity exhaustion was harder to endure than Mana exhaustion.

How many times had he squeezed out all his Divinity and almost fainted?

‘I can use this well this time.’

Since Holy Water that could recover Divinity was unheard of, it would probably be more expensive than a decent top-tier potion set.

“I’ll use it well.”

When he expressed his gratitude for obtaining a good recovery item, Serif shook her head.

“No, no! I’m sorry that I could only make five…”

“Did Serif make it herself?”

“Ah…!”

When he asked back without much thought, Serif’s face suddenly turned bright red.

The Holy Water made directly by the Saintess of the Order.

The nuance was a bit lewd, but that couldn’t be the meaning.

If it was Serif, she would have made it in a clean and legal way.

“…”

But Serif’s face, which was blushing bright red, stimulated some strange imagination.

It wasn’t a story to be so embarrassed about, but she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even lift her head… Did this really feel like the Saintess’s ‘Holy Water’?

There was one more strange thing.

“…”

It would be over if she just said yes or no, but Serif kept her mouth shut.

Balkan recalled the oath Serif had made before.

‘Serif cannot lie in front of me.’

The oath Serif had made to regain trust after not telling the contents of the Question Mark Blessing in the past.

The fact that Serif was not opening her mouth like this meant.

Perhaps this Holy Water was… made in a slightly immoral, depraved way?

“Disciple. Come here for a moment.”

It was Idelbert, Serif’s older sister, who appeared, breaking the subtle atmosphere.

Her nose twitched as if she smelled a strange scent, and then turned to the Holy Water Balkan was holding.

“…Hmm?”

Idelbert, who looked at the Holy Water Serif had made with a very subtle groan, curled up only one side of her lips.

Balkan was strangely familiar with that smile.

It was the playful expression that her younger sister often made, thinking only about how to tease her family…

“Because we have to talk about the reward for capturing the Demon Worshiper of Arrogance.”

But fortunately for Serif, Idelbert brought up another matter without mentioning the identity of the Divinity recovery Holy Water—

“Put that bathwater in your backpack or something.”

“!!!! Sister—…!!!”

It wasn’t. Idelbert took advantage of Serif’s carelessness and revealed the identity of the Divinity recovery Holy Water.

Balkan stared blankly at the Holy Water bottle at the truth that came after a moment of silence.

“Bathwater…?”

Did that murmur sound like a sign of contempt?

“I-I’m sorry, Balkan… I was thinking about what would be the most helpful thing for Balkan, and I, I made something like this for the first time, and it’s the first time I’ve given it to anyone, uh… I was thinking about Balkan and practicing Divinity, and this was accidentally made while I was bathing… Th-that’s, that is…”

Serif, who looked almost like she was about to cry, babbled and insisted that the Divinity recovery Holy Water was not made with bad intentions at all.

Judging from the fact that words kept coming out without getting caught, it was clear that everything she was saying now was true.

“I-it’s definitely not dirty… It’s Holy, Holy Water made with a body that has been bathed and purified… Hiccup… Grrr…”

Poong.

“…Eh…?”

Balkan listened to Serif’s tearful appeal and opened the Holy Water bottle she had given him.

And.

Gulp, gulp!

He swallowed it as it was.

“…”

“…”

Even as Idelbert and Serif stared blankly, Balkan continued to drink the Holy Water.

‘…No way.’

And, he was shocked by the change that began to occur inside him the moment he drank the Holy Water.

It was filling up.

Divinity.

The Divinity accumulated in his dantian swelled up in an instant, energetically overflowing and spreading throughout his body.

Squeeze!

[Kkeuaeuk…! Y-you!! Why are you suddenly acting up!]

When he grabbed Bernie on his back with his hand overflowing with Divinity, Bernie, who was extremely incompatible with Divinity, was startled and cursed.

Beyond simply recovering Divinity, the remaining Divinity did not evaporate and circulated in his body, becoming constantly ready for use.

Perhaps because it was water with the Saintess Serif’s thick Divinity melted into it, he felt a strange savory taste, and above all, the effect was unusual.

“…It’s an amazing effect.”

“I-is that so…?!”

“Yes. It’s really amazing. If it’s not a problem, could you make more later?”

“…B-but, this is, that…”

“Bathwater?”

“…”

Serif, who blushed as if she was embarrassed and sorry, barely nodded.

Balkan smiled refreshingly at Serif.

“It’s okay. It was delicious.”

“…”

“And if it’s Serif’s bathwater, I’d be happy to drink it. It splashed into my mouth a few times when we took a bath together last time.”

“…”

Serif, who couldn’t bring herself to meet Balkan’s eyes at that answer, covered her flushed face with her hands and lowered her head.

Twitch, twitch…

And, she saw it where she lowered her head.

His depraved thing, swollen and enlarged after drinking the Saintess’s bathwater.

‘Ugh………’

Thump, thump…♡

Serif felt the throbbing of her uterus and moved her tail.

Swish, swish…

Instead of answering, the pure white cat tail wrote letters on the floor.

—I’ll make more for you…♡

Balkan looked at the 450 gold coins and the Relic of a type he had never seen before placed in front of him.

The reward that was hanging around the neck of the Demon Worshiper of Arrogance, which he had seen in the Explorer Association’s wanted poster someday.

“Somehow, even after seeing something like this, you seem happier when you drank my sister’s bathwater. You perverted disciple.”

Idelbert looked at Balkan, who had a calm expression even in front of the huge reward, as if she was dumbfounded.

Balkan just chuckled.