Ch.16Stat Farming! (3)

“Would you mind giving me some information?”

I asked that while looking at the completely incapacitated mage.

It wasn’t a question I expected to be answered willingly.

These were people who had been conditioned to commit suicide when captured. It was clear they wouldn’t be able to reveal anything.

Besides, in their Berserk state, they didn’t have enough rationality left for conversation.

‘But perhaps that’s exactly why there might be a possibility.’

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I gathered my magical power and activated Charm on my opponent.

“Tell me what you know.”

My voice, infused with magical power, echoed throughout the area.

Was it because my Charm stat had increased?

Or because the magical power accumulated in my body had grown?

Even though this was only the second time I was using Charm, I could feel everything in this place focusing on me with just one word.

Not just the mage before me, but the birds flying in the sky, the tiny insects, and even inanimate objects that shouldn’t have any will of their own seemed to be concentrating on me.

“Ah… ah…”

The mage who had lost her rationality to Berserk painfully dragged her deformed body and crawled toward me.

Whether she saw me as a god or not, she bowed her head before me and began to confess her sins.

“We… didn’t… want… this…”

As if feeling wronged.

“We were… forced… to come… here…”

As if begging for forgiveness.

“The Evil God…! The Evil God…! Deceived us…!”

She spat out words as if her situation was utterly miserable.

How should I react in this situation?

Should I sympathize?

Should I empathize?

Or should I be angry?

I considered various reactions but ultimately showed none.

I wasn’t a god who embraced all sins.

And this person wasn’t an innocent lamb.

‘A contract requires consent from both parties to be established.’

I simply looked at her with cold eyes and stated my business.

“Tell me what you know about the Evil God. For example, why you came here or what the Evil God’s purpose is.”

“Something… he had… disappeared… he said. So… we came here… to investigate…”

So it was indeed about the trait I had obtained. I wanted to learn more about the trait, but she didn’t seem to know much, so I moved on to the next question.

“Then what is the Evil God’s purpose?”

“The Evil God’s purpose… is the destruction of the world… For that… he’s looking for fragm—”

Crack- Bang!

As she was answering my question, the mage’s head seemed to be crushed by something and then exploded in an instant.

Despite the sudden situation, I remained calm and simply wiped the blood that had splattered on my face.

“Are you okay?!”

Lilly, on the other hand, seemed quite shocked.

She had been watching from behind and quickly flew over to me.

I answered calmly to reassure her.

“I’m fine, don’t worry too much.”

It wasn’t just empty words to reassure her.

I had already anticipated this might happen when I heard the mage’s answers.

If anything, I felt she had spoken longer than I expected.

Thinking that, I wiped all the blood from my face.

Blood had also splattered on my body, but below my neck, I was already covered in my own blood, so I didn’t feel the need to clean it.

After finishing the cleanup, I summarized the current situation with Lilly.

“I’ve gathered as much information as possible.”

“Seems like it. I didn’t expect we’d find a way to make an Apostle talk.”

The original purpose of coming here—obtaining the trait—had already been completed.

The sudden appearance of the Apostles could actually be a good experience.

‘So, those were their targets after all.’

I felt like the puzzle pieces of information that had been lacking were coming back to me one by one.

While I was thinking, Lilly also seemed to be pondering what we had just heard.

“World destruction and fragments… This doesn’t match what I knew.”

However, since there hadn’t been many successful communications with Apostles, she couldn’t quite grasp it.

There was also a slight misunderstanding.

“The Evil God’s purpose isn’t world destruction.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know the process or outcome, but at least the Evil God’s purpose itself isn’t world destruction. What would he gain from just destroying the world?”

Simply acting to destroy versus doing something close to destruction because something is needed.

Both might feel similar from the perspective of those being affected.

If my world is being destroyed, I would think that entity is trying to destroy our world.

But to prepare a counterattack rather than just being a victim, a clear distinction was necessary.

“If he has a purpose, there must be things he shouldn’t do.”

After hearing my words, Lilly fell into thought for a moment before messing up her hair vigorously.

“I’m really not good at thinking hard.”

“So what are you going to do?”

I knew Lilly’s character well—a mage who secretly disliked using her brain—so I didn’t intend to force her to understand.

But seeing that she seemed to have another plan, I asked out of curiosity.

“I’ll have to ask the others. There are people who specialize in tracking Apostles. If I send them the information we got, they’ll handle it.”

A fairy tracking team for Apostles.

Considering the abilities of fairies and the existence of Apostles, it was certainly a plausible organization.

And it made sense that Lilly knew so much about Apostles because of her connection to such an organization.

As Lilly was organizing the information we had gathered, she suddenly seemed to remember something and approached me.

“Oh, do you know anything about the fragments?”

“I don’t have anything definite on that yet.”

I had some ideas about what they might be referring to, but I decided to keep quiet for now.

If the fragments were what I thought they were, they were things neither Lilly nor I should meddle with carelessly at this point.

“Really? That’s a shame. More information is always better.”

Having completed the necessary content, Lilly activated what seemed to be a transmission spell, sending a magically created letter.

‘Looking at her using magic, she’s actually quite smart…’

She had abundant talent in magic and an exceptional mind.

That had been my consistent assessment of Lilly from the game until now.

However, there was also the assessment that her brain seemed to stop working when it came to anything other than magic or her interests.

As I was looking at her, wondering why she was wasting such a good mind, she naturally reacted.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

If I told the truth, I knew I’d face immediate retribution.

I smoothly deflected her suspicion with a smile.

“Something seems fishy…”

Nevertheless, Lilly tilted her head suspiciously, but since I didn’t say anything more, she let it go.

“So, what are you going to do now? Do you have any more business outside?”

“No more business. I should head back now.”

Even if I had more to do, lingering here wasn’t necessarily a good choice.

Having attracted the Evil God’s attention by obtaining the trait, I needed to leave this place, as new Apostles might receive quests and come here at any time.

“Just one last thing to check.”

Still, with Lilly’s help available in case of emergency, I moved with relative ease.

I headed to where the Apostles’ bodies were.

Since I had gathered them in one place while wiping off the blood, I could check easily.

But when I arrived, all the bodies had disappeared, leaving only their possessions on the ground.

“What? Where did all the bodies go?”

“It’s a side effect of the potion, or rather, the predetermined end.”

If you drink the shapeshifter’s potion, you die after two hours.

And when you die, your entire body melts away without a trace.

Since I came to check for useful possessions rather than the bodies, I examined their belongings.

‘All worthless, huh.’

Most of the equipment they were wearing had been destroyed during the transformation as their bodies grew.

The rest of the items weren’t useful either.

Just as I was thinking of leaving, a strange medal caught my eye.

Its shape wasn’t much different from the badges adventurers carried around. However, there was a clear difference in the engraved pattern.

A picture of a planet and a hand grasping that planet.

That was what was engraved on this unusual medal.

“Oh? Lilly, do you know what this is?”

“Ah, I forgot. That’s a kind of symbol that Apostles carry around. If you take it to the church, they’ll give you a reward.”

At the mention of a reward, I perked up slightly.

Having spent most of my money on recovery potions, I was a bit short on travel funds.

“That’s good. Let’s rest when we get back and then visit the church.”

Since neither Lilly nor I had any time to rest, we quickly set off, hoping to finally get some rest.