Ch.130Chapter 130. Breaking the Seals (3)

Chapter 130. Dungeon Conquest (3)

Gruaga Castle.

I felt like I’d heard of it somewhere, so I searched the community.

[Fumofumo: Guide) Everyone should try for the hidden piece.]

Ah, right. I remember now. I saw it in this guide.

Imperial Arena, Necromancer’s Tomb, Skull Mountain Range, Gruaga Castle, Assassin Guild Headquarters.

Fumofumo, who was a member of George’s raid party, said there would be hidden pieces in these five locations. He mentioned that since they were secret dungeons or special rewards in the game, they might exist in this world too.

He was right. I’ve already been to the Necromancer’s Tomb and the Imperial Arena and obtained hidden pieces.

I got the zombie control skill from the Necromancer’s Tomb and the Meteor Sword from the Imperial Arena. Both have been very useful.

There might be a useful hidden piece at this Gruaga Castle too.

Let me ask.

– Have you heard of the term ‘hidden piece’?

“No. This is my first time hearing it.”

– Is there any unusual item kept in Gruaga Castle?

“…I’m not sure.”

Hmm. Perhaps information about hidden pieces is only known to possessed individuals. I asked hoping she might know the location of a hidden piece, but no luck.

I considered asking MeleeSpy about the hidden piece information like I did with the Imperial Arena, but decided against it. He wouldn’t give information to someone acting as Malak’s messenger.

– Why did you choose Gruaga Castle?

“A high-ranking demon with one eye lives in Gruaga Castle.”

The Saint continued with a detailed explanation. When the Empire had not yet fallen, there were several demon subjugations led directly by the Goddess Church.

The church’s subjugation team encountered a being with the head of a crocodile, upper body of a lion, and lower body of an unknown animal during their last mission.

“Despite its ridiculous appearance, it was a powerful demon. The subjugation team suffered near-total casualties during the engagement.”

The Saint said she saw the appearance and abilities of that crocodile-lion(?) demon through a survivor using the psychometry ability the Pope had mentioned.

Apparently, it had the ability to paralyze people who made eye contact with it. Unlike Medusa’s ability that turns bodies to stone, it causes paralysis symptoms that prevent movement.

Thanks to devotees who knew how to use the Goddess’s blessing, they were able to take at least one of the demon’s eyes.

“Since the battle took place at Gruaga Castle, if that demon is still alive, it would be there. Demons rarely change their residences.”

Good. Let’s go to Gruaga Castle first.

By the way, I suddenly became curious about something.

From what I’ve seen so far, not all Goddess Church followers can use supernatural abilities called ‘blessings.’

Except for Sister Grace, the first church member to join us, the Pope, the Saint, and a few other devotees, everyone else was an ordinary human.

I asked if there were conditions for using blessings, or if blessings could only be used by a chosen few.

It wasn’t crucial information, but it seemed good to know.

“When humans born with spiritual abilities join the Goddess Church, they can handle small blessings. The Goddess awakens their abilities. Church members call such people ‘vassals.'”

Vassals, huh. I have vassals too.

My status window refers to the priests who serve me as ‘vassals.’ Of course, not only priests can become vassals.

To become a vassal, one needs magical (spiritual) power, a kind of supernatural ability. Even non-priests with supernatural abilities could become my vassals.

Both the Saint speaking with me now and Lakye, who’s leaning against Totem #1 while looking indifferently at the Saint, are vassals.

So… a vassal refers to innate supernatural ability users who have become followers of a specific god.

It’s basically like a shaman who’s received divine possession, if that makes it easier to understand.

– I see.

The reason priests like Paya, Muri, and Bojak could use supernatural abilities called magic before becoming my vassals was probably because they were vassals of other Roas.

Oh, not Paya. Paya served the real Malak from the beginning.

– Saint, are you also a vassal?

“Yes. You could say I’m a special vassal. My ability is unique.”

So she’s an elite vassal. She must have been born with strong spiritual abilities.

“As you know, I’m not just Ishtania’s vassal. I’m now Malak’s vassal too.”

She smiles again. What does she mean by that?

Is she saying that a vassal with unique abilities belonging to the Goddess now belongs to you too, so treat me well?

I’m a vassal, so be nice to me~!

It’s not like she’s being cute or anything.

Since she’s blind, I can’t read her eyes to understand what she’s thinking. It’s not important, so let’s move on.

Then what about the paladins? Should those possessed individuals also be considered vassals?

– Then what kind of beings are paladins?

Let me ask this while I have the chance. The Saint is one of the few people who can satisfy my curiosity about this mysterious world.

I asked Pope Holland various things too, but he couldn’t answer well. The information I’m hearing now might be exclusive knowledge that only the Saint possesses.

“Paladins are those chosen by Ishtania. They’re also called ‘the blessed ones.’ Paladins at their peak can use Her power. They’re incomparable to vassals.”

So paladins are like devotees who received personal blessings.

I thought paladins were avatars of the Goddess. That’s because compared to priests or the Goddess’s vassals, the power they could use was too strong.

Perhaps the Goddess bestowed personal blessings on the possessed individuals, just as I gave personal blessings to Kanto, Paya, and Lakye.

While I gave various blessings like berserker, elementalist, guardian, etc., that Goddess woman just gave the same paladin blessing to everyone.

She must be a twisted god who doesn’t respect diversity.

– My questions have been answered. Thank you.

I gave the Saint a light compliment and sent her away. Now I need to get to work.

“So, are we going to this Gruaga Castle?”

Lakye, who had been leaning against Totem #1 and staring intensely at the Saint for about an hour, stood up.

He maintained the same posture without changing his expression, which was honestly scary.

It was almost like a pressure interview.

If I were in the Saint’s position, I might have trembled and fainted. Being a Saint isn’t for just anyone.

– I plan to go after finishing some minor tasks.

I have quite a few tasks backed up due to the Golden Sun tribe joining and dealing with Charon.

A thousand people have joined. The tribal federation headquarters is gradually reaching its limit.

It’s not the limit of accommodation space. The castle was built to accommodate about ten thousand people.

It’s not just a fortress built for military purposes, but a city protected by castle walls. There are quite a few civilian residential areas, so it’s still spacious enough.

The problem is food. There isn’t enough food to feed over a thousand people.

Even at this moment, farmers are sweating as they grow crops, but that was food prepared for only hundreds of people.

It’s woefully insufficient now.

There’s no choice. It’s time for me to step in and use the ‘power of the rain and harvest god’ to duplicate food.

Just like Jesus in the Bible performed the miracle of five loaves and two fish, using the bread and fish duplication cheat.

– Let’s go to the village.

“You want to see those seed-sowers.”

Lakye, who dislikes farmers, sighed. Perhaps because he grew up in a barbarian society, he looks down on those who aren’t warriors or priests.

It seems his inherent hatred for humans is compounded by contempt for the weak.

The problem is that I’m the Rain and Harvest God. Unlike other Roas who focused on hunting or war, I’m closer to an agricultural deity.

Farmers have every reason to worship me, yet Lakye insulted them.

This could only be seen as an insult to me, Malak, the agricultural god… but that seemed too harsh to say, so I decided to simply caution him. Copying a template.

– Although farmers may seem less impressive compared to warriors, they too are remarkable. They nurture life, harvest it, and feed many with their produce. So never disrespect farmers again.

For a moment, I almost brought up Park Ji-sung’s left foot and Kim Yuna’s right foot. Copying templates is really hard.

“I spoke nonsense out of ignorance. I apologize. This won’t happen again.”

Lakye bowed his head with a look of realization. He’s really a good kid. He just doesn’t know better.

I accepted Lakye’s apology and said we should depart.

Now, shall we go duplicate sweet potatoes, potatoes, and wheat?

***

After finishing the crop duplication, we arrived at Gruaga Castle.

– What the…!

Someone had arrived before us. He even carved a message into stone.

[I’m so sorry about this! To the paladin wandering in search of hidden pieces!

This ‘MeleeSpy’ will be taking the hidden piece.

Oh, and don’t worry, I’ve already dealt with the high-ranking demon.

Hahaha, fanfare~!]

Ha. This is infuriating. So the high-ranking demon MeleeSpy killed was the crocodile-lion.

This bastard. You’re not helping at all.