Ch.4949. Rest

Ragnis arrived at a village on the border of the Regalium Kingdom, guided by her patron deity.

Being such a remote location with few outside visitors, there was little wariness toward Ragnis’s arrival.

“…”

Ragnis felt an awkward atmosphere in this unexpected peace.

She wanted to find a place where she could rest comfortably.

If she let go of her tension even for a moment, she felt like she might lose consciousness.

“Young lady.”

As she was walking through the peaceful countryside scenery, an elderly woman sitting in the distance called out to her.

“…?”

“My, how pretty you are. Would you like to marry my son?”

What is this?

A sudden marriage proposal.

“I serve a deity.”

“Oh my, that’s what I said! See, I told you she looked too busy!”

The scolding came from the elderly woman’s acquaintances nearby.

Exaggerated fuss and meddling.

These people, too old to move easily—

They were seeking new stimulation in their unchanging daily lives.

Ragnis perfectly fit what they were looking for.

Her body covered in wounds, yet the emotion dwelling in her eyes showed she was still alive and moving toward her purpose.

Anyone could see she must have quite a story.

“Oh my, what happened to your ear?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Stop asking her questions!”

“She’s a priest! She must have been through things…”

More fussing beside more fussing.

Ragnis felt her energy draining despite barely speaking a few words.

There was a warmth to it, but she felt that if she said the wrong thing, she would be helplessly swept up in their pace.

The thought of them continuing to force food on her even if she was full kept circling in Ragnis’s mind.

‘But aren’t I actually older than them?’

However, there was one fact they didn’t know.

Ragnis was an elf—a being most ordinary people would rarely encounter in their lifetime.

As the situation grew increasingly chaotic, Ragnis hurriedly moved away.

But the curious gazes of the villagers followed her for quite some time.

Children playing in the fields, women carrying babies on their backs, middle-aged men drunk in broad daylight.

To their eyes, the appearance of an outsider was quite fascinating.

‘This is uncomfortable.’

Ragnis longed for the comfortable forest scenery where no human presence could be felt.

The rich scent of grass through her nostrils, the calming chirping of birds.

Even the warm sunlight filtering gently through the dense trees.

No matter how much she hated her own kind and their constellations, she had no intention of denying her own roots.

Ragnis loved the forest.

“If you need any help, go find the village chief!”

A villager concerned about Ragnis’s rough appearance advised her.

Ragnis quietly nodded and decided to go straight to the village chief.

“May the blessing of the stars be upon your path.”

The man she met who was called the village chief was dressed simply, matching the peaceful village scenery.

Intelligence flowed through a face marked by the passage of time.

The chief had treated her with respect from the moment he first met Ragnis.

Her rough appearance was evidence that she knew how to fight, and he could sense the faint flow of divine power.

A devotee of a constellation.

No matter how detached from the world’s trends this village might be, they weren’t ignorant enough to be unaware of their majesty.

“I’ll bring the village’s skilled healer, so please rest comfortably in your room.”

Everything in the village was kind to Ragnis.

-Ugh… how filthy. A slave, you say.

-Hehe… but she’s still an elf, and quite pretty, isn’t she?

-Still, don’t eye her. Her dirty blood might rub off on you.

Memories of her time as a slave flashed through Ragnis’s mind.

They were cruel and painful memories that couldn’t even be compared to the current kindness.

Ragnis felt a strange emotion at this sudden change in her daily life.

She thought of the figure who had given her the precious status of “devotee.”

‘You.’

The mysterious constellation who suddenly appeared and saved her from the assassin’s pursuit.

She had joined hands with him for survival, but still couldn’t understand why he had chosen her.

-Whoosh…

In the bathing space filled with misty steam.

Ragnis poured water over herself once more to wash away the dried blood and dust in the bathroom prepared for her.

The water flowing over deep wounds might become poison, but thanks to the blessing bestowed by the master of the Black Abyss, she had already avoided critical injury.

Feeling the sting on her skin, Ragnis gathered her drowsy consciousness once more.

-Swish.

She touched around her neck, feeling for where the slave mark would be.

She could still feel the burned trace under her fingertips.

“…”

She had managed to hide it from the villagers, but it was something she needed to be careful about.

In this world, there was nothing good about revealing that she was a former slave.

The chief’s consideration continued afterward.

He bandaged her shallow wounds and took her dirty clothes for washing.

Now Ragnis had regained some of her former beauty, looking fresh and clean.

“If you’ve come to this village guided by a constellation, there must be a great purpose… but please rest well for today.”

The chief continued to worry about Ragnis’s fatigue.

-Creak.

Though more modest than when she lived in the great forest, Ragnis was very grateful for even this much.

The one-eared elf, blankly looking around the room, walked to the bed as if entranced and flopped down on it.

The warm and soft sensation against her skin made her consciousness flicker, about to fade away.

“You look comfortable.”

And someone grabbed Ragnis’s consciousness, pulling it back to the surface.

“…”

She turned her head with a drowsy mind.

Her head was still planted on the bed.

A world half-hidden by the white blanket.

Beyond it, a figure in black clothing wearing a black mask was sitting on the floor, watching Ragnis.

A grim reaper? Ah, right.

In the dreamlike sequence of events, Ragnis’s intellect refused to grasp the situation.

But her survival instinct, sensitive as it was, immediately whipped her mind into proper thinking.

“You can stay as you are. You look exhausted.”

“…Master of the constellation.”

Ragnis tried to move her body like a rusty machine.

But faster than her, the master of the Black Abyss gently pushed on her shoulder.

“…Ugh!”

“Ah, sorry.”

With her whole body complaining of muscle pain, even a small impact made her fine features scrunch up.

“I just wanted to tell you to rest comfortably.”

Following the guidance of the Black Abyss’s master, Ragnis buried herself deeper into the bed.

“I’m glad the village is taking good care of you. It would have been troublesome if they had shown any strange reactions.”

The master of the Black Abyss expressed relief.

What deep consideration from a constellation who came to check on his devotee’s condition personally.

“…”

He had come to have a conversation, but with Ragnis already losing consciousness in comfort, that seemed quite difficult.

He even felt sorry for the devotee who was trying to force her blurry eyes open to look at him.

Though he, as a constellation, didn’t realize it, Ragnis had survived several near-death experiences.

The accumulated fatigue was something that couldn’t be shed with just a day’s rest.

“Poor thing.”

The master of the Black Abyss said this as he covered Ragnis’s forehead with his hand.

A moment of divine power flared, relieving a good portion of Ragnis’s fatigue.

Now she could no longer maintain consciousness.

Her eyelids trembled once, twice.

After that, they didn’t open again.

“Hm? Ah well, she must be very tired. I should let her rest for now.”

The master of the Black Abyss, left alone, spoke to someone.

There were complicated circumstances that Ragnis couldn’t understand.

“She needs to take care of herself first, before thinking about revenge or anything else.”

It seems he came too hastily.

The master of the Black Abyss, whose true name was Ron.

He decided to give Ragnis a little more rest.

#

‘I didn’t think of that.’

Looking down at the sleeping Ragnis, I briefly modified my plan.

I didn’t expect her to pass out in broad daylight, but thinking about it again, it was a natural progression.

I decided to put Ragnis’s growth plan on hold for now and talk about the dungeon first.

“Incarnation of the Black Sun: Do you really need to send your devotees?”

“…What?”

Before officially advertising the newly opened dungeon on a large scale—

Black Sun raised such a question.

“Incarnation of the Black Sun: Even though you say the dungeon was built using the power of the Black Abyss, if devotees bearing the Father God’s mark get involved, it will certainly raise suspicion.”

“Is that so?”

With so many orders seeking dungeons, I thought it would be a natural phenomenon.

Still, the mere existence of our order might raise suspicion.

Black Sun’s claim wasn’t that strange.

“That’s why I was going to use Ragnis.”

“Incarnation of the Black Sun: The Black Abyss devotee could be used for more valuable tasks. So…”

Could be used for more valuable tasks, he says.

Setting aside his habit of treating people like tools, I was worried about his statement that suggested he had separate plans.

Things never ended well when other constellations got involved.

“Incarnation of the Black Sun: How about using our devotees?”

“…What?”

“Incarnation of the Black Sun: With our order’s image, you won’t have to worry about damaging your reputation as you usually do.”

The Black Sun Order, which stank to high heaven from the beginning.

Having postponed Ragnis’s debut, Black Sun was making a surprisingly thoughtful suggestion.