Ch.4242. It’s Just a Joke

The last time I visited the mental realm was four days ago.

At the Wind God’s sanctuary, Kaordix grumbled with a displeased tone while bestowing a new blessing. He said that blessings weren’t normally given so easily. This time was an exception, but in the future, I would need to diligently accumulate good deeds.

At that time, I thought I wouldn’t need to summon Rex to the snow field for a while.

But another exception had occurred.

Kaordix spoke, calming his excitement.

[You did very well. My warrior.]

Defeating the Minotaur alone would be considered a great achievement, but there was another reason for Kaordix’s excitement.

The chaotic disorder, Pandemius, was literally a being of a different “caliber.” He was on an entirely different level from the Wind God Boreas, who barely governed the area around Lindvale.

The Cult of Chaos was spread throughout the continent. Naturally, there were countless followers of Pandemius. Though a deity’s power wasn’t necessarily determined by the number of followers, Kaordix knew Pandemius very well. He was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

And now, a sacred artifact of Chaos had been destroyed. Although it might have been somewhat flawed to be called a sacred artifact, the fact that it contained Pandemius’s divine power remained unchanged.

It was an achievement incomparable to merely hunting a few monsters.

[What should I give you?]

Kaordix looked at Rex with a smile. Rex had always been his favored servant, but today he looked even more lovely.

On the other hand, something felt unsettling in a corner of his mind.

Pandemius. That perverse being was difficult to predict.

Rex didn’t seem to know, but the ritual in the 9th layer had been perfectly successful. There were no mistakes or errors. Pandemius should have responded to the call of his lowly followers.

Kaordix had not interfered with the ritual at all.

Of course, he had been prepared to intervene if the situation became urgent. It would have cost him a considerable amount of power, but Rex was his top priority.

However, before that happened, Pandemius had stopped the ritual himself. He was a strange god who moved solely according to his own interests. Yet his divine rank was nearly as high as Kaordix’s own.

Despite their various connections, he remained completely incomprehensible.

The Minotaur… must have been sent by the Wind God as an apology. That woman—Boreas—knew that Kaordix wanted Rex to grow. She was wagging her tail in fear even though Kaordix had already stopped caring.

It didn’t matter. Pandemius was chaos. Nothing was more foolish than trying to understand his intentions.

Still, it would be better not to reveal these behind-the-scenes details.

His beloved servant didn’t need to know anything. He would handle all the messy things himself, hoping Rex would continue to live purely as he did now.

But someday, that boy would also be worn down by the world’s hardships. As always. That fact was truly regrettable.

Kaordix cleared his thoughts and recalled his original purpose.

He needed to bestow a reward. That was a god’s proper duty.

Hiding his bitter feelings, Kaordix spoke.

[My warrior, listen well. What I shall give you is…]

Just then, something appropriate came to mind.

***

I woke up from sleep.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I winced at the bright sunlight. Rex pulled the blanket over his face.

Judging by the bustling noise from outside, it seemed to be well into the afternoon.

The reason I didn’t get up immediately was that I needed to organize my thoughts.

Divine power.

What Rex had received from Kaordix wasn’t divine force or a blessing, but divine power. I wasn’t sure what the difference was between a blessing and divine power, but it was certainly no ordinary ability.

[If not for Pandemius’s sacred artifact, I wouldn’t have unlocked it even after years.]

The expression “unlocking divine power” made it seem as if it had originally been sealed.

I hadn’t been told what kind of ability it was. Usually, when bestowing blessings, Kaordix would always explain their effects, but this time he only said that I would naturally understand when the appropriate time came.

‘What could it be?’

Rex closed his eyes and contemplated internally. Nothing seemed particularly different. There were no physical changes, and the total amount of divine force remained the same as yesterday.

Rex pushed the blanket away with his foot and got up from bed. It didn’t seem like continuing to worry would lead to any clear answers. He had no choice but to trust Kaordix’s words and wait.

“You’re up?”

When I went downstairs, Wolfram greeted me.

“Good morning.”

“The sun’s high in the sky—you’ve got it good. Did you come back last night?”

Rex nodded with a bitter smile. Wolfram pointed to the table with a gruff expression.

“Just eat.”

That was exactly why I had come down from my room. When Rex sat at an empty table, Wolfram soon brought out stew and milk.

Just as I was about to thank him, he suddenly held out a letter.

“It’s from Dunstan.”

“Mr. Dunstan?”

Wolfram waved the letter in front of my face, as if to say I should check it myself rather than asking. Rex responded with a troubled expression.

“But I don’t know how to read.”

Before leaving the village, I had never felt inconvenienced by being illiterate. Now it was different. Not being able to read caused too many problems.

Wolfram made a sour face and said:

“…Neither do I.”

“I’ll go to the Pennybrook Company myself.”

I could roughly guess why Dunstan had contacted me. It must be related to selling the byproducts from the boar monster. Since it had been about a week since arriving in Lindvale, it made sense that buyers might be emerging.

However, what puzzled me was why Dunstan would send a letter when he knew I couldn’t read.

Finding my confused expression quite amusing, Wolfram chuckled with a mischievous smile.

“I’m joking.”

“What?”

“A company employee gave me the letter and said that your items will likely sell soon, but they’re negotiating to get a better price. So they asked me to tell you to wait a little longer.”

Rex looked at Wolfram with disbelief. I had thought he was just gruff, but he could joke too? As I let out a hollow laugh, I resolved to learn how to read somehow.

Right now I had only fallen for a joke, but I might get blindsided somewhere else if I wasn’t careful.

“Stop staring and eat your food before it gets cold.”

Wolfram snickered as he went back to the kitchen.

Rex sighed deeply and drank the stew.

As much as I hated to admit it, Wolfram’s cooking skills were quite good.

***

Today I’m not going to the dungeon.

Not just today. For at least a week, I’ll have to sit around twiddling my thumbs.

Berger had told me to stay quietly at the inn for three or four days, and it would take Harald quite some time to resolve Yakof’s situation.

Yakof’s home was in a village a bit away from Lindvale. It would clearly take at least a week to travel there and back.

That didn’t mean I had absolutely nothing to do. I needed to visit the Adventurer’s Guild to receive my nameplate, and I could walk around to memorize the city’s geography. Training was a daily routine, so that was a given.

For today, since I had an appointment with Chloe, I decided not to go out separately.

“Have you been waiting?”

Chloe arrived just as I was finishing my meal.

Her outfit was quite different from usual. She wore a snow-white dress shirt with a black corset cinching her waist. Below that was a skirt that covered down to her ankles.

Rex stared at Chloe with wide eyes.

Under that gaze, Chloe fidgeted, twirling her hair with her finger. Having always met while wearing leather armor and fully armed, she felt strangely awkward.

Rex silently looked Chloe up and down for a while, then abruptly stood up.

“W-what’s wrong?”

Chloe stepped back in surprise. Her eyes trembled as she watched Rex approaching with heavy steps. There was also a subtle expectation mixed in her heart.

“Chloe.”

Strangely, as soon as she heard his voice, Chloe’s heart began to pound. The inn seemed to have gotten warmer. Despite it still being spring with cool weather, it was truly strange.

“…Yes?”

Chloe swallowed hard and nodded. All her attention was focused on Rex’s lips, making her dizzy. Even Chloe didn’t understand why she was acting this way.

She had never cared about others’ gazes before. There were so many men who approached her for her beauty that she was almost at the point of dressing sloppily on purpose.

Today was different. She had taken out clothes she usually treasured—ones she wore only once or twice a year because she didn’t want them to wear out.

That was already getting carried away, but what followed was even more ridiculous. She washed her face several times in case there was any eye discharge, and carefully styled her hair to make sure no strands were out of place.

Still not satisfied, she undid her hair tie and was choosing a different color when she almost missed the appointment time.

Yes, Chloe had dressed up. Excited about meeting Rex, she had done something she never normally did.

It was a feeling she couldn’t understand herself. She inexplicably became nervous whenever she stood before Rex.

Because Rex was strong? That couldn’t be it. Among the men who had fawned over Chloe were several with promising futures. Only Rex was special.

‘I shouldn’t expect anything. But… just in case.’

Chloe gazed at Rex with anticipating eyes.

Finally, Rex opened his mouth.

“What’s with that outfit?”

“…Huh?”

Although she had told herself not to expect anything, Chloe’s expression immediately hardened upon hearing his disappointed voice.

Rex continued with an indifferent face.

“You said you wanted to practice blessings. How can you move in clothes like that?”

Faced with this unexpected criticism, Chloe hung her head. Something hot seemed about to surge up from within her.

“I-I’m sorry…”

She managed to compose herself, but couldn’t prevent her voice from becoming wet. Her excited mood had plummeted instantly.

‘How stupid of me.’

Rex’s complaint was justified. It was her fault. Who in the world would wear a flowing dress before training? Belatedly, shame welled up.

‘I should go back.’

I just remembered an urgent matter. We’ll have to postpone our appointment. Sorry, see you next time. That’s what she would say, then leave the inn immediately.

She didn’t want to stay here any longer.

With such thoughts, she raised her head to find Rex grinning at her.

Chloe stared at Rex with blank eyes. Rex scratched his cheek awkwardly and said:

“I was joking.”

“…What?”

Rex let out an awkward laugh.

The memory of being tricked by Wolfram had suddenly come to mind, and he thought, “I can’t be the only one who gets fooled”—but Chloe’s reaction was much more intense than expected. When she had started to tear up at his thoughtless words, he truly felt like his heart had dropped.

“J-joking?”

“Ahaha…”

Chloe blinked her eyes, then belatedly understanding the situation, bit her lip. That was a joke? Once again, something hot welled up inside her.

Chloe unconsciously clenched her fist.

“C-Chloe? Calm down first. It was just a joke…”

Rex broke into a cold sweat as he watched Chloe approaching with heavy steps.

Wolfram, who had been watching the commotion from the counter, remarked in a dispassionate tone:

“You deserve a beating.”