Ch.35Request, Demon Hunt (3)

Shortly after arriving at the temporary base, a soldier who looked like an officer approached us.

“Hero, you’ve arrived…”

“Mage.”

“…Mage, have you arrived?”

“Good. So what exactly is the request?”

Leo asked with a satisfied smile. He seems quite pleased to be called a mage.

The soldier who looked like an officer stared at Leo with disapproval while explaining the request.

“Mage, you’ll need to design a magic circle in that tent over there.”

“Perfect. Then I’ll go get to work. Don’t do anything weird while I’m gone.”

With that, Leo walked toward the massive tent with light steps.

“The rest of your party will help us by guarding this place.”

“How exactly are we supposed to guard it?”

“Demons attack this place periodically. When they do, you’ll hunt them alongside us.”

“So we don’t need to leave this base?”

“That’s correct.”

This is truly a perfect request. I do have some unpleasant memories of facing demons, but it doesn’t matter since Agath and Rebecca are with me.

So I just need to stay put until the request is completed. It’s quite cold, but I can endure that much.

Now I just need to ask where we’ll be staying.

“By the way, where will we be staying…”

—WAAAAAANG!

Suddenly, a siren blared.

“What’s that sound?”

“The demons are invading again. Now we need to go hunt them.”

Having to work right after arriving is quite annoying, but thinking about the payment immediately motivates me.

Working until Friday for 25 million won per day… I’m truly so happy.

***

When we reached the outskirts of the temporary base, I could see hordes of demons approaching in groups. Just counting their numbers, there must be well over a thousand.

What’s worse, mixed among the demon horde were those unkillable demons I had seen before.

“…Since I might develop PTSD, would it be okay if I ran away?”

“Why run when they’re all weak demons?”

“You remember how I was nearly killed by those demons before, right?”

“Unlike then, you now have Divine Power, so you can take down creatures like that as easily as eating you.”

“…That’s really a terrible comparison.”

Anyway, it seems I now have a way to defeat those demons. Do I just shoot Divine Power instead of mana?

“By the way, what exactly is Divine Power?”

“Think of it as mana without risks.”

“Isn’t that too overpowered?”

“But its effects are very limited. First, it can’t harm opponents unless they’re demons or similar creatures, and the techniques you can use are extremely limited.”

So Divine Power has fewer risks but limited applications. I guess there’s no such thing as a perfect ability.

“But you said before that Divine Power manifests as healing. What if I shoot it and end up healing the demon?”

“For them, healing and purification are the same thing. So just shoot.”

“Then why does holy fire even exist?”

“Obviously to burn demons more effectively.”

Agath smiled wickedly, speaking in a way that made it hard to believe she was a holy knight. There was even a hint of madness in her voice.

“Then I’m going to hunt those creatures!”

Agath ran toward the demons as excitedly as a child at an amusement park.

“…I don’t remember Agath having this kind of personality.”

“The stronger one’s faith, the stronger their anger toward demons and similar beings.”

“Why is that?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, we need to hunt those demons.”

Light gathered in Rebecca’s hands, forming a bow and arrows. Then she smiled pleasantly and said:

“It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to crush these vermin!”

With that, Rebecca also rushed toward the demons.

…What kind of education did these people receive at the church?

I should follow them. Not only would it be awkward to just stand here, but I also want to experiment with Divine Power.

***

Thanks to the two people rampaging wildly at the front, the demon hunt ended peacefully. Still, I learned enough about Divine Power.

First, I can only shoot a maximum of 10 shots of Divine Power. These shots recharge at a rate of one per hour.

Unlike mana, I can’t split one shot into 10, nor can I fire one shot with the power of 10.

But the power is tremendous. Just one shot can easily kill those demons I encountered before.

However, it’s much weaker compared to Rebecca’s arrows. For reference, Rebecca shot several hundred arrows just now.

This is the result of the Goddess working 165 hours a week to earn Divine Power. Still, it’s better than nothing…

As I was walking dejectedly, Agath made me even more depressed.

“You seem like a downgraded version of Rebecca.”

“Why suddenly say that?”

“First, your roles overlap. You both attack from a distance, and you both can heal. But all of those abilities are much weaker than Rebecca’s.”

“…”

“Plus, Rebecca can do much more than you. So the only thing you have over Rebecca is your lewd body…”

Due to life’s absurdity, I unconsciously put a gun to my head. Should I just pull the trigger…

“…I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful with my words from now on.”

For some reason, Agath started watching me extremely cautiously. If she had just joked like before, my situation would have felt less pathetic.

But thinking about it, there is one thing I’m better at than others: housework.

…Life really doesn’t feel worth living.

***

Now I can rest freely until the next demon invasion. Plus, the inside of the quarters is surprisingly warm. But I can’t rest in those quarters.

That’s because our lodging isn’t private quarters but communal quarters.

And it’s women-only communal quarters with only women around.

So I came out of the quarters and am now shivering outside. But it’s much more comfortable than being inside.

I plan to only be in those quarters when I sleep.

As I was shivering in the extreme cold, I suddenly heard a loud noise.

“Lady Agath! Please stop!”

“I just want to look once! Just once!”

Looks like Agath is up to something weird again. Let’s go see what’s happening.

When I arrived at the source of the noise, I saw nuns desperately trying to restrain Agath.

“What are you doing now?”

“See that statue of the Goddess over there? Aren’t you curious about what’s under her skirt?”

Just the usual Agath. I thought something serious had happened.

“Lady Agath! Please come to your senses!”

“But there’s nothing in the doctrine that says you can’t peek under the Goddess’s statue’s skirt!”

“There’s blasphemy in the doctrine!”

“This is pure affection for the Goddess! So it’s not violating the doctrine!”

As I was about to leave, I found something good to pass the time.

Agath trying to look under the statue’s skirt by any means, and the nuns trying to stop her—this is enough entertainment.

If only I had popcorn and cola, it would have been perfect.

“Please stop! This is morally wrong regardless of doctrine!”

“I’m just expressing my love for the Goddess! I’m not doing anything weird!”

“At least watch your language!”

“I want to sleep with the Goddess!”

The nuns were all shocked by Agath’s statement. If this isn’t blasphemy, the world is truly going to hell.

“I want to have intense, slimy sex with the Goddess!”

“Lady Agath! Please shut your mouth!”

“But honestly, the Goddess is quite sexy!”

“Aaaaargh!”

Normally, Leo would have appeared by now to restrain Agath with his fist of “magic.”

But Leo is busy designing magic circles and can’t come here. So there’s no one to leash Agath.

Thanks to that, Agath is freely expressing her desires. I’m glad I’m not the target.

“What is everyone doing here?”

Unfortunately, Rebecca appeared. I feel like she might be able to leash Agath…

“Lady Rebecca! Please stop Lady Agath!”

“What has Agath done to cause such a commotion?”

“She’s making a fuss about looking under the Goddess statue’s skirt!”

Rebecca’s expression suddenly darkened. Does she still have affection for the Goddess?

But my expectation was immediately shattered.

“Ptui.”

Contrary to my expectation, Rebecca went to the Goddess statue and spat on it. The nuns’ eyes began to shake wildly in shock.

“…Lady Rebecca?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Seeing the face of that non-existent bitch suddenly made me so disgusted that I committed an unseemly act.”

Right now, you’re witnessing a saint denying the Goddess’s existence and insulting her at the same time.

Moreover, her apology wasn’t for cursing the Goddess but for spitting.

Even for a saint, this seems a bit extreme…

“Is that allowed?”

“Don’t worry, I’m the Goddess’s representative, so I won’t be punished even if I violate the doctrine.”

As if to prove her words, the nuns did nothing but give Rebecca bewildered looks.

I had a reasonable suspicion that perhaps Leo had been leashing Rebecca as well.

“Then you could rape Lite too, I’m jealous…”

“Lady Agath! Please mind your language!”

“I want to devour Lite like a slug every night!”

Along with the Goddess statue, I became a target despite just standing there doing nothing. So I immediately left the scene.

It’s a shame I couldn’t watch more, but if I stayed, I felt I might become mentally devastated like those nuns.

It’s getting cold, so I should return to the quarters. It’ll be embarrassingly awkward, but less terrible than this cold.

I’ll just use my phone in a corner and never look anywhere else.

So I left Agath behaving as usual and returned to the warm quarters.