Ch.116Chapter 116. Battle for the Saint (2)

Chapter 116. Battle for the Holy Maiden (2)

I should ask Noah first.

[Malak asked how things are on your end]

[PetiteNoah: Ah]

[PetiteNoah: Everyone’s inside the cathedral!]

[Nothing happened?]

[PetiteNoah: No!]

[What’s the basement hermit doing?]

[PetiteNoah: Lying down sleeping!]

What a fortunate possessor.

[Check the body of the enemy captain that the Guardian tortured to death]

[There should be something like a gold badge]

[PetiteNoah: Σ(°△°)]

[PetiteNoah: …the corpse?]

That’s a strangely irritating emoticon. She only uses ones we don’t use in Korea.

It’s at times like this I become conscious that we’re from different countries despite being from the same Earth.

[It’s Malak’s order]

[PetiteNoah: (;;;*_*)]

[PetiteNoah: Okay…]

I was about to say “If you send one more emoticon, Malak will come flick your forehead” but I held back.

Sigh, let it go. Noah probably doesn’t realize how urgent the situation is.

After taking a short rest, I mounted Tteuntteuni and took off again.

[PetiteNoah: I checked~!]

[PetiteNoah: There’s something like a cowboy badge? Similar? But the upper part is damaged!]

It must be a sheriff’s badge. Cowboys don’t have badges.

[OK]

Getting the team leader’s badge has failed. The Pope told me it’s a delicately crafted magical tool that won’t function properly even with slight damage.

Well, I’m not too surprised.

Nothing changes by feeling anxious. Rushing would only mess things up.

– So the badge is damaged. Let’s wait for the enemies coming to the cathedral in two days.

It’s not like we have no options.

“…I apologize. It was my carelessness.”

Lakye’s face turned red, probably thinking he made a mistake. His eyes are blinking rapidly too.

– It’s fine. We’ll just get another one.

He’s quite cute at times like this. If he treated others even half as well as he treats me, he wouldn’t be eating alone.

…But imagining Lakye blushing in front of others doesn’t sit well with me either.

“They’re terrible people. Ordering to capture the Holy Maiden if she’s there, and if not, to kill all the goddess’s followers before returning…”

I departed with the grumbling Pope on Tteuntteuni. He was shuddering, probably disturbed by the memories of the Reptilian team leader he saw in the recording.

Squeak…

Tteuntteuni looks quite tired after flying for hours with three people. His eyes are drooping.

Is it because he’s carrying an overweight middle-aged man instead of a high school girl paladin?

“Tteuntteuni, you’re a good boy? Just hang in there a little longer.”

Squeak…!

Thanks to Tteuntteuni, who worked hard without any compensation, we safely arrived at the cathedral.

“Ah, here it is. There was some blood on it, so I wiped it with cloth.”

I checked the badge Noah had found earlier just in case, and it was indeed damaged.

There’s no magician here who could repair this.

It’s impossible to move it to Totem 1 and call Harry to explain its appearance or structure. How would I know the structure of a magical item?

Without an altar, I couldn’t send it to the Tribal Federation either.

“Should we keep it for now? Maybe Harry or Luna could learn something new from it.”

So I entrusted it to Paya. She’ll deliver it properly.

– Let’s rest for today.

Everyone must be exhausted from fighting and flying. I told them to get plenty of rest since we need to conserve our strength.

Now that it’s quiet, let me organize my thoughts.

1. The Reptilian soldiers said reinforcements would arrive here in two days.

We just need to deal with the team coming in two days and get a clean badge. That’s Plan 1.

The two-day delay is a bit concerning, but what can we do? I just hope it’s not too late.

2. The headquarters of the Evolutionist School is between Linea and Quinton.

Linea is where Siwoo and the Gray Mist tribe live, and Quinton is where the Dark Cloud Demon and Dina’s special forces fought.

The Holy Maiden’s hideout and headquarters are quite far apart, so without flying transportation like Tteuntteuni, it would take at least three days to walk there.

I’m assuming news of the Holy Maiden’s capture won’t spread within the school for at least two days. The reinforcements will come here.

If the Reptilians don’t show up after two days, we can go wait near their base.

The Pope, who saw the Holy Maiden’s recording, said the Evolutionist School sent several teams to places where they suspected the Holy Maiden might be.

If we’re lucky, we might be able to catch a team leader returning from their mission and get their badge.

That’s Plan 2.

I really hope Plan 1 works out.

After relaying all the information we’ve gathered to the Tribal Federation, I logged into the community. Time for me to rest too.

[IbelievedInMonkeyUncle: Real-time paladin… teaching swordsmanship to a kid

The kid said “I want to be a cool person like Mr. Paladin!” so I reluctantly started giving sword lessons;;

But I don’t know anything about it.

The only martial art I’ve ever learned was at a small neighborhood hapkido gym where all I did was yell “Ik-ek~!”

So I just made stuff up.

I said a warrior must cultivate their mind. To become stronger, one must awaken the “mind of nothingness” of a paladin lol

I was trying to gloss over it, but then the kid asked how to awaken this mind of nothingness;;

What do I know? I just told him to do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 30 minutes of running every day.

I said that’s the basic posture of a paladin.

Then the kid seriously said “I’ll start today, please watch over me” damn lol;; How can he do that in a cave where he can’t even eat three proper meals a day?

If he tries, he’ll just collapse. Unfortunately, his dad, mom, and sister were watching us. (First time I saw the mom and sister’s faces)

The dad was about to get serious, so I changed my words. I said if he does 10 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats each, I’ll teach him swordsmanship for exactly 5 minutes a day.

I didn’t think he would, but the kid did it all and stood right in front of me.

So I taught him some fresh, hot basic swordsmanship I just made up for 5 minutes fr

(Photo of a boy with a serious expression holding a wooden sword and inhaling)

The paladin-obsessed kid’s creative swordsmanship… named “Paladin’s First Form, Breath of Wind.”

It’s a skill to manage breathing by inhaling and exhaling quickly while holding a sword.

I don’t know what improves if you do this for a long time lol. What should I make for the Second Form?]

What a cheerful fellow. The next post with the most comments is… this one.

[UsingPresidentialPower: My mother’s name is Kim Soon-hye

This is my first time writing a long post, so please excuse any shortcomings.

Kim Soon-hye is the person who raised a pathetic son who just stayed in his room watching anime and playing games all day.

She’s a worn-out middle-aged woman with permed hair, wearing baggy pants and selling vegetables at the market in XX city.

I never called her mom. I didn’t want to. I would pretend not to know her if I saw her on the street.

I thought it was all her fault – that we had no money, that I had no father, that I only wore shabby clothes.

I resented her a lot. No, I still resent her. If you can’t raise a child properly, you shouldn’t have one; if you’re going to break up, you shouldn’t get married in the first place… I hated her so much.

Since coming here, I’ve thought about Kim Soon-hye a lot. I thought she had cursed me, or that God, unable to bear the sight of my worthlessness, sent me here.

Maybe it’s both. Perhaps Earth expelled me as unnecessary human waste. From Earth’s perspective, it’s just throwing away one piece of trash.

There hasn’t been a night I haven’t cried before falling asleep. When I close my eyes in the dark, bad thoughts keep coming. When I try to think of something else, Kim Soon-hye’s face appears again.

Despite hating her so much, she’s the one I think of in moments like this. I really don’t understand what it means to be human, what family means.

Do you ever want to just give up? Just throw everything away and take the easy way out, something like that.

I want to give up now.

I’m tired. I’m tired of pretending to be okay, maintaining my persona while commenting on the community.

I don’t want to think about anything anymore. I don’t want to think about Kim Soon-hye, and I don’t like myself either.

What would change if I returned to Earth? I don’t have the courage to face Kim Soon-hye again.

I don’t think I could find that brief happiness watching anime and playing games like before.

Since I have no reason to live, this is the end.

Why am I writing this? What do I want to say? Well, I’m not sure myself.

Maybe because Kim Soon-hye might see it? Because I want people to know I’m suffering and dying? Because I want to ask those reading this if they have a reason to live?

I’m quite pathetic, aren’t I? I know that too.

I probably won’t be able to read your comments.

Goodbye.]

…It feels like I was sucking on candy and suddenly bit into a Carolina Reaper pepper.

A reason to live, huh. This person overthinks things. Do we really need some grand reason?

I fell asleep while browsing the community. It was quite a busy day.