Ch.68Exploration Complete

“Have you been well these past three days, guest?”

“What troubles could I possibly have in a forest like this?”

“I see. I’m glad to hear you’ve been well.”

The coachman bowed respectfully, holding his hat against his chest. The adventurer party surrounding the carriage on both sides and behind merely nodded slightly in greeting.

Time really flies—it’s been three days already.

To cut to the chase, none of the concerns I had came to pass.

I’m talking about disasters like the nearby land being severely contaminated, remnants of black magic being discovered, or multiple black-blooded monsters appearing.

In fact, things went so well that I was the one caught off guard. It seems the creature encountered Christine before it could properly begin its activities.

I had been worried about what to do if the black-blooded monster had started spreading its poison and contaminating the surroundings.

The lake is intact, there’s no sign of contamination in the area, and nothing unusual is being detected. It was the best-case scenario I could have imagined.

Now all that remains is to hope that Charlotte will detect and deal with any other black-blooded monsters that might appear elsewhere.

‘Well, thanks to that, I spent two whole days crushed under a rock.’

I unconsciously brought my hand to the back of my neck and massaged it a few times. Just thinking about it made my neck feel stiff.

Of course, with my super-regeneration ability functioning normally, it was merely psychological.

Being crushed under a rock for two solid days, repeatedly being pulverized and regenerating while listening to prayers was mentally quite exhausting.

Not because it was physically painful, but simply because there was nothing to do.

My eyes were blocked by the rock, all I could hear were my bones breaking and prayers, and I couldn’t speak. Spending two days like that was naturally boring.

This was the “ritual” Christine had mentioned. Crushing me under a rock or some heavy object, while unleashing holy power in hopes that my immortality would disappear.

Originally, it was supposed to be performed after I returned with a thousand sacrifices, but at that time, much to Christine’s misfortune, Serena was standing firmly by my side, so it couldn’t be done.

After that, I was unexpectedly summoned to the royal palace, so it was postponed again.

She did try to crush my heart in an abbreviated ritual before the royal summons, but how could Christine be satisfied with just that?

Rather than letting it explode at some unknown time, I suggested it first. A full week would be too much, so we shortened it to about two days.

I don’t understand what meaning this has, though. After all, Christine’s god is me, so what’s the point of praying to me to remove my own immortality?

Still, I’m letting it be, just in case. I have nothing to lose anyway.

“Would you like to return to your starting point? Or perhaps you have another destination in mind?”

“I have no other places to visit, so let’s return to where we came from.”

“Understood. Please board the carriage.”

At the coachman’s words, one of the adventurers standing near the door politely opened it. After Christine boarded first, I followed, and the door closed behind us.

Perhaps because she had devoted herself to prayer for nearly two full days, Christine’s expression was extremely serene.

The adventurers must have signaled that we were all aboard, as I felt the carriage carefully moving forward.

The interior of the carriage remained luxurious.

Separate from that luxury, when Christine tried to kneel on the floor as if it were natural, I stopped her.

Prevented from her action, Christine sat demurely on the chair right next to me. I stroked her brown hair a couple of times.

“Good job, Christine.”

“Obeying the word of God is my natural duty. Please withdraw your praise.”

“I’m saying good job because you did well. What else should I say? Don’t waste energy on things like this, just stay quiet.”

It wasn’t wrong to say she’d done well, considering she had completely overturned the lake area with holy power. It might be better to hope this area isn’t discovered for a while.

It probably looked like what would happen after a 50-year drought without a single drop of rain.

The ground was cracked like glass, nothing remained on top, and the trees and grass that had formed the forest had all evaporated, leaving only an endless landscape of yellow-brown soil.

This disaster occurred because Christine had used holy power to completely purify the surrounding area.

Returning it to a state where living things could survive would take decades naturally, and would require additional magic—powerful magic at that.

This was because the faint holy power mixed with the soil was still exerting its influence.

Honestly, when I first saw Christine’s results, I was a bit dumbfounded, but what could I do? It was the result of her trying her best to carry out my orders.

‘The people who have to clean this up later are the ones I feel sorry for.’

There’s going to be quite an uproar. If she had just destroyed the forest, that would be one thing, but the entire surrounding area had withered and twisted.

Suddenly, Christine, sitting beside me, opened her eyes. She had been praying with her eyes closed and hands folded in front of her lower abdomen.

The light gradually faded from her yellow irises, and her expression hardened. Her interlocked fingers came apart.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden, Christine?”

“An unholy presence approaches the divine, my Lord.”

“A monster is coming?”

“Yes, my God.”

The carriage was still proceeding on its way, and I couldn’t hear any adventurers shouting about monsters appearing.

Just in case, I opened the window slightly. I made eye contact with one of the adventurers accompanying the carriage.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing important. Just wondering if there’s anything unusual?”

“Unusual? Um… nothing in particular. Why do you ask?”

“…It’s nothing.”

I closed the window again.

Seeing Christine react this way, something was definitely approaching, but the adventurers following the carriage outside couldn’t detect it?

“Christine, can you tell which direction it’s coming from?”

“Are you asking about the direction from which the monsters are coming, my God?”

“Of course I’m—wait, what? What monsters? There’s more than one?”

“At first there was one, but now there are at least a hundred, at the very least.”

At least a hundred. This was turning out to be extraordinarily unlucky.

Monsters typically act alone, and it’s extremely rare for three or more to move together.

There have been occasions when four or five monsters appeared simultaneously, but even then, each monster was busy doing its own thing.

If, as Christine said, more than a hundred monsters were coming here, there were mainly two possibilities.

Either these monsters were weaker than goblins, or they were a hive-type monster from the start.

“After three quiet days, why now of all times… Alright. How far away is the closest one?”

“Not far, my Lord. They’re moving extremely fast.”

“Sigh… I see, so they’ll be here soon.”

Then I’d better do what needs to be done.

Bang! I roughly threw open the window. The adventurer who had just spoken with me jumped in surprise and looked at me.

“W-what’s wrong?!”

“Be on guard.”

“What? Why suddenly—”

“Monsters are coming.”

The moment he heard those words, the adventurer’s eyes changed. He stopped the carriage and shouted to his fellow adventurers to prepare for battle.

The sound of weapons being drawn came from all around. It was the swift movement befitting an A-rank adventurer party. An adventurer with a drawn sword approached quickly.

“Are you certain?”

“My companion is a cleric. She says they’re moving very fast and are not far from this location.”

“A cleric… So the nun is of very high rank. Understood. Hey! Guard the perimeter tightly! They’re moving damn fast! Sir, I apologize, but would you please stay inside the carriage? Please close the window too, it’s dangerous.”

The most dangerous ones here were actually them, not us, but I obediently agreed and closed the window.

Christine was standing in the carriage with her eyes closed, as if calculating the time remaining until the monsters arrived.

“My God.”

“Speak.”

“What shall we do about the unbelievers outside the carriage?”

“They’re A-rank adventurers. They should be able to take care of themselves.”

“They will not, my Lord.”

Her closed eyes opened. Christine exchanged glances with me. A subtle smile played at the corners of her mouth. Perhaps she was mocking the adventurer party outside.

“They are all destined to die here.”

“…On what basis?”

Before Christine could even open her mouth, the carriage suddenly began to shake. It felt like an earthquake.

Outside, I could hear the horses panicking and the coachman struggling to calm them down.

I opened the window.

Not just the carriage, but the entire surrounding forest was vibrating. An adventurer who spotted me looking out the window called out in a bewildered voice:

“Sir! It’s dangerous! Close the window!”

“Have you identified where the monsters are coming from?”

“We wouldn’t be doing this if we had! There’s no time! Close the window! Hurry!”

“It’s alright—”

Before I could finish those words, the carriage was launched into the air.