Chapter 157

Chapter 157. Beneath the Surface (4)

“Temple, it’s a personal matter, so don’t follow me.”

I had a feeling that if I went to Karlos’ temple, I might be able to gather some clues.

Even if that wasn’t the case, I thought it would be better to visit once than to leave a lingering unease.

It seemed to be an unexpected answer, as Kim Yul blinked in surprise and asked again.

“At this hour?”

Yang Taeho, who had been patting his stuffed belly and finishing his beer, also showed a bit of interest.

“So, we can take a break then?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t an important enough matter to drag these people, who were screaming with their whole bodies that they wanted to rest.

I began heading to the temple, leaving my party members behind.

The temple located in Callum Castle was in a deplorable state with windows and outer walls shattered and broken everywhere.

Construction workers came and went daily for repairs, making the atmosphere rather chaotic.

The area that was being restored the slowest was…

“Karlos.”

It was an outcome that surprised everyone.

Most had assumed Palao’s restoration would be the slowest.

However, in reality, Palao was quickly reestablishing its prayer room and replacing its damaged images and statues with new ones.

Even with a few believers, they were making minimal preparations.

On the other hand, Karlos had shown no movement at all.

“This is not just slow restoration, it’s more like abandonment.”

The temple before me seemed like a ruin, with wrecked buildings and broken structures.

“It feels eerie.”

The state of ruin made it appear almost ghostly.

“The temple of Karlos was always the smallest.”

The Karlos Order’s temple was generally more modest compared to others. It was common for them to lack any sculptures or statues representing their god, sometimes only consisting of a lone main building.

There weren’t many priests assigned to these temples either.

In Callum Castle’s case, there wasn’t a single priest present.

Because of that, no one came to visit Karlos’ temple in Callum Castle.

Standing before the deteriorating temple, I felt a strange sensation.

‘They truly are indifferent.’

Of course, upon reflection, it wasn’t strange.

Looking back at the bits of the Order’s history I’d picked up along the way, the Karlos Order never seemed interested in expanding its influence.

Jordan, who had educated me on the tendencies, history, and power structures of each order, described Karlos as a bystander.

– They don’t particularly enjoy letting a divine force intervene in our lives.

Even though he belonged to a religious group, Jordan’s words were considerably softened.

The fact that Karlos, who could be considered the master of the Order, was indifferent to expanding its influence was clear enough.

In fact, the Karlos Order never showed any noticeable activity, and it had the fewest number of members.

Yet, the number of its devotees was the largest.

“If the Demi-humans earnestly desire any miracle, that would be the miracle bestowed by Karlos.”

Reflecting on what Jordan had told me, Karlos’ ruined temple seemed even more bizarre.

To think they would neglect a temple with so many followers.

In a world where communication with gods was possible, it was unlikely that priests would have made such decisions on their own.

Thus, the ruin I saw probably was the result of Karlos’s neglect.

At least clearly, Karlos was observing me and even attempted to facilitate my experiences.

The unilateral kindness had its limits.

“But if they’re going to assist with things like the Roulette, I should at least tolerate a little voyeurism.”

Since I already had the Damned System on my back, adding one more observer wouldn’t be a huge issue.

“The second apostle targeting me also seems linked to Karlos’ interest.”

Having part of the mystery solved, I left the prayer room with a lighter heart.

And in the opposite corridor, I encountered a busy-looking Priest of Karlos hurrying toward me.

The priest who had guided me to the prayer room paused upon noticing me, displaying a shocked expression.

At first, I wondered what was causing his reaction, but soon realized.

“Ah.”

It was likely due to the residue of Karlos’ divinity clinging to me.

As I brushed my altered eyes, now golden, the priest bowed and congratulated me.

“Congratulations.”

I uneasily scratched the back of my neck.

Though the priest probably assumed I received Karlos’ blessing directly in the prayer room, that wasn’t the case.

“They might not believe me if I try to explain.”

Typically, players used only the powers of their affiliated gods.

I was free from that rule, and word about that wasn’t entirely unknown among the Order’s members.

“The power of Karlos is hard for even his own priests to obtain; gaining access could cause quite a stir…”

The very thought made my head throb.

However, resorting to silencing the priest was out of the question.

In reality, there was little I could do to smooth over the situation.

“It would be best if you pretend you didn’t see anything.”

At most, I could only request the priest to keep quiet.

“Very well.”

The response was affirmative for now.

How much I could trust that verbal promise was uncertain, but for the time being, it was all I could do.

“Thank you. I must be going now…”

“May Karlos’ kindness accompany you on your path.”

Suppressing a sigh, I bypassed the priest.

I could only hope today’s events wouldn’t spread.

Pulling a baseball cap from my inventory to cover my transformed eyes, I quickly left the temple.

* * *

The following day, my party and I headed to a level 4 corrupted area.

The Ordained mission that once required over two hundred people to complete when we first tackled it…

We cleared it with a team of just four.

Though it took us a full day, it was accomplished.

“In terms of mana absorption efficiency, it’s better than lower levels.”

While the additional rewards from destroying the messeo were lacking, when considering the mana alone, the balance between time investment and efficiency wasn’t bad.

We returned to the inn in a rather content state.

There, awaiting me, was a visitor.

“K!”

“Rivan, the priest?”

It was Rivan, who had been ordained as a novice priest with the new year.

“How have you been? I’ve been hearing about your achievements, K. I always support you…”

Rivan, who had been quite energetic even at our first meeting, began pouring out a backlog of conversation upon seeing me.

It took a while before he got to the point.

“Oh, my! Look at me! I came to deliver a letter for you, K!”

I accepted the small envelope Rivan handed me.

The fact that someone sent me a message by letter instead of through a chat suggested that the sender was likely from Bihar.

“Why did it go to the Habon temple?”

Receiving a letter wasn’t all that surprising.

Just like the letter from Viscount Bolvita, as my achievements became known, I heard of many invitations sent to Bennett’s estate.

“I did live in that estate for over three months, after all.”

Most of the invitations were from Ferrell’s aristocrats.

I was too focused on mana absorption in corrupted areas to attend those.

Rashar often turned them down on my behalf.

But this letter had been sent to the Habon temple, not the Bennett estate.

Curious about who the sender might be, I looked at the bottom of the envelope and found an unfamiliar name.

“Ladriol…”

It was the Biharin I had once released from restraints.

Remembering the instructions I gave him, I quickly tore open the envelope.

Its contents were troubling enough to make me frown.

Damned System