Chapter 88: Holiness and Impiety – 4

Chapter 88: Holiness and Impiety – 4

“…How should I interpret this?”

The letter from Elena was simple.

It stated that our contact had likely been discovered.

…Furthermore, since she was the most intensely pursued target by the Holy Kingdom, their attacks on me would become even more persistent.

Of course, it seemed she wasn’t just planning to give me trouble, as a magic circle that weakened divine power was enclosed.

……It’s a mystery how Elena even made this.

And, as a postscript, there was the news I definitely didn’t want to hear: she would be visiting soon.

“Um, th-that… Are you okay, Boss-nim?”

“If you’re asking about the shop, it’s fine. If you’re asking about my safety… well, I guess? Like, I might die if things go wrong?”

“…That’s not something you should be saying so calmly at all?!”

“In that sense, I need to prepare a bit.”

The newly acquired Potionization skill.

If this potion could perform at the level I was imagining… wouldn’t it be possible to materialize those crazy chains that persistently followed me into a potion?

…It seemed like it would be quite interesting if this were registered in the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’.

*Potionization is complete, and you just need to make it with the ingredients.*

‘Good timing. I need to prepare as quickly as possible.’

Thinking that, I looked at Lily, who seemed quite confused.

…Indeed, I was at the center of this incident in many ways, so it made sense to me, but for Lily, it must have been a bolt from the blue.

The problem was… would the Holy Kingdom’s bastards leave Christie and Lily alone, since they had contacted me?

Christie would soon become a Knight Commander, so the Holy Kingdom wouldn’t be able to touch her even if they wanted to, but Lily……

Hmm, I might end up seeing Lily (or what used to be Lily) the next day.

‘Would it be safer for her to hide by my side…? Or should I just leave her with Christie?’

…Hmm, it seemed safer to leave her with Christie than by my side where magic would explode and greatswords would fly.

Of course, there was something else I needed her to do before that.

“Follow me, I think I need some help.”

“……Before that, Boss-nim. What on earth did you do for the church to act like this…?”

“Hmm… To put it simply, it’s because the potions I sell are superior to the priests’ healing. Well, there might be other trivial reasons like their pride too.”

…Of course, according to Elena’s letter, the reason the Holy Kingdom was specifically targeting me again seemed to be my contact with Elena.

……Looking at it this way, I wondered what Elena had done for the Holy Kingdom to react like this just from contact.

Considering what she said when we met before, it seemed like some kind of prophetic ability… Could an ordinary human acquire such power?

“J-Just for that reason?”

“Well, of course, I also openly said that the church bastards aren’t truly serving God, but are just desperate to live well themselves.”

“…Isn’t that blasphemy?”

“How can those who don’t even follow God be holy? Oh, by the way, that’s just my personal opinion, so you don’t necessarily have to agree.”

However, Lily quietly shook her head at my words.

…Indeed, she had been rejected by a priest because she had no money, so it made sense.

“Anyway, I need some help with what I’m preparing now.”

“……Weren’t you going to run away?”

“The safest place from the Holy Kingdom is here in the Imperial Capital. And you were doing this in my house, so the inquisitors came looking last night… you know?”

“…Why doesn’t the Empire properly deploy troops when something like this happens?”

“Because to the higher-ups, we’re just ordinary person 1, person 2? Since they have something to extract from the Holy Kingdom, they’d probably say it’s even better if the Holy Kingdom causes more trouble.”

At least, that was the personality of the Empire’s Emperor I had read about in the novel.

A person who wouldn’t feel any guilt about sacrificing commoners if it benefited the Empire.

…From a commoner’s perspective, he’s a truly infuriating type of person.

Actually, strictly speaking, I was under the patronage of the Ducal Family, but that wasn’t a very effective status with the current Imperial Family, who intended to antagonize the Ducal Family.

“……My patriotism seems to be dropping in real-time.”

“What about you? Aren’t you going to run away?”

“I’ve already received grace from Boss-nim, so I must stay until the end.”

“Grace, you say? I just gave you cheap medicine that’s easy to make, that’s all.”

“That cheap medicine saved both of my remaining family members, so aren’t you a true benefactor?”

Lily’s expression as she said that was quite resolute.

…I hadn’t really felt it, but it seemed she was very grateful to me.

*Because a benefactor who saves sick and dying family members is always the most appreciated.*

‘…Is it really that much?’

*I keep telling you, you’re severely underestimating your own worth. You’re much stronger than you think.

Haven’t you already won a chase against inquisitors, who are considered strong on this continent? And you can even change the fates of main characters.*

‘……That’s true.’

A complex emotion arose for a moment.

The thought that I might be stronger than I thought, and that someone’s fate could be saved because of me.

…Looking at it this way, it really felt like I had become the ‘protagonist’ of some story.

Well, maybe I really am playing the role of a protagonist in some world, by the system?

“Alright, let’s go upstairs then. I’ll show you a little bit of this Boss-nim’s trade secrets, okay?”

Of course, even that could only be thought about after surviving and finishing this branching point.

***

“……It’s truly amazing. How on earth do you make it like that with mana and ingredients?”

“I told you, it’s a trade secret. And it’s not even properly finished yet.”

“…Is it usually like this, or is this particularly difficult to make?”

“This one is particularly difficult. If it were always like this, how would I have made enough potions to fill the shop?”

As she said, the ‘Divine Restraint Potion’ obtained through the Potionization skill boasted an absurd difficulty.

What kind of mana control was needed, to a level barely visible to the eye…?

Fortunately, Lily consistently supplied the ingredients next to me, allowing me to focus purely on making the potion.

Any missing or insufficient ingredients were resolved by the system, which ‘specially’ provided ingredients at a discounted price ‘just this once.’

……It’s a potion based on ‘Trace of God,’ just like the stamina potion, but why is the difficulty like this?

Before I knew it, the sun set, and moonlight streamed into the attic.

The number of failures… I stopped counting after it exceeded 10.

Lily, who had been supplying ingredients, had collapsed from exhaustion and fallen asleep while bringing the greatsword Christie had sent for today’s preparations, and time was slowly running out.

However, I wasn’t particularly anxious.

…Because I suddenly remembered what Ria had told me this morning.

That I was a more amazing person than I thought.

I decided to have confidence in those words.

Also, there was no benefit in feeling anxious and worrying.

‘…What kind of power is divine power?’

A power bestowed by God, a power that replaces mana.

A power that allows one to use unique divine magic, though other magic cannot be used.

A power excellent for restoring life, as it is a power bestowed by the Creator God.

And……

A power that, while restoring and giving birth to life, can also inevitably bring death.

Divine magic based on healing focused on the restoration of life, while the divine magic used by inquisitors focused on death.

…According to the novel’s setting, the closer one was to life and mercy, the more excellent healing magic one could use.

Then, conversely, if one was closer to death, could they use the divine magic used by inquisitors better?

If so…… what about me, who experienced death once and was thrown into a new world?

“Ah, it’s made.”

*See? It’s all made well, isn’t it?*

In my hand was a glass bottle containing a light similar to the chains I had seen last night, no…

a light that felt even murkier and heavier.

*Potion Information

-> Divine Restraint Potion

=> A potion created through the Potionization skill. It is the potion form of Divine Restraint, a divine magic used by the Holy Kingdom’s inquisitors.

=> The compatibility between the creator and the magic contained in the potion is extremely good, and the creator has recognized this! Quality greatly increases!

+> Resulting Quality: Masterpiece / However, this is a branching point situation, and since a complete contract has been made between the system and the user, additional corrections are applied!

+> Final Quality: Masterpiece of Potions

*

……It seemed I had succeeded. And properly, too.