episode_0052

at las!

I was thrilled to be standing under the bright sunlight.

I thanked the sun god for safely escaping the labyrinth and said goodbye to my group.

Thanks to sharing life and death together, we have developed a deep friendship.

So it took a long time for us to say goodbye and part ways.

“Arthur Priest.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Just take a look.”

“Yes.”

Princess Rasiel took me to a quiet place.

“The first expedition didn’t yield any results. Honestly, I was confident, but I didn’t know it would end so vainly.”

“Don’t be discouraged. This is just the beginning.”

I don’t know how many times I’ll have to enter the labyrinth in the future, but I’m already starting to feel discouraged.

“Everything my sister said seems to be true. The labyrinth isn’t a place you can break through just because you’re strong. Next time, I’m going to prepare more thoroughly for traps. And that’s exactly what my sister was worried about.”

“Introducing a new outsider into a team made up of trustworthy people means there’s a hole in it.”

What Princess Canabi was most worried about was an internal spy.

If it weren’t for that internal spy, Princess Kanabi wouldn’t have been cursed, and the second expedition could have caught the monster and lifted the curse.

“I’m worried that I can save the right person, since I couldn’t even catch the traitor inside. Even if I save the wrong person, there might be someone who is persuaded and becomes a traitor.”

“Didn’t you choose someone who wasn’t like that?”

“Yes. Most of them are people who are entangled with me. Betraying me is no different from giving up your own life. So even if you try to betray me, it will be impossible.”

“Didn’t you choose someone you were close with and who wouldn’t betray you?”

Princess Rasiel snickered with her young, angelic face.

“No way. My sister blindly trusted people without any restraint and ended up like that, so how can I trust people completely?”

“… … .”

It was a shame that the imperial family, and not just anyone else, had such deep distrust and negativity towards ‘humans’.

Such an attitude would be unfortunate not only for the person she distrusts, but would also be terrible for the person herself.

Because humans are social animals, we interact with each other and feel a variety of emotions.

But how lonely would the princess be if she grew up like this?

At least there was someone I could share my feelings with.

‘Will Princess Cannabi be enough?’

The problem is that Princess Cannabi is also very wary of people.

Even if two people live together, they will be trapped in a small space and will not even realize that it is the inside of a well.

Those two needed to grow by meeting more people and gaining more experiences.

It’s too much to just close the door for fear of getting hurt.

‘Maybe it’s because there’s no adult to guide the two of them.’

The only way to survive is through isolation.

I want to change both of them, but it seemed like I needed to fix Princess Rasiel first.

The group became friendly and acquainted with each other, but none of them readily approached Princess Rasiel.

‘Come to think of it, I was mostly alone when I went into the labyrinth.’

Although he didn’t say anything, it was obvious that he was telling me not to come near him.

The only people she talked to and spent time with were the group of ‘childhood friends’ she had mentioned before.

Perhaps because they thought that they couldn’t go deep into the labyrinth with just their childhood friends, they recruited more skilled people from here and there, but there was a problem with hiring them when they needed help and then discriminating against them.

‘If the team atmosphere continues like this, we’ll eventually split into two groups.’

A group of nobles gathered around Princess Rasiel.

A group of powerful people gathered around a leader.

It was not pleasant to see everyone keeping their distance and discriminating against each other when even uniting as one was not enough.

Furthermore, if you listen to Princess Rasiel, isn’t it true that there is a separate reason why the group of people centered around the leader cannot betray the princess?

‘A and B are perfectly divided.’

I am not trying to completely reject the caste system.

However, from the beginning, dividing the group like this was something that had to be avoided for the sake of the future.

‘If we solve them one by one, Princess Rasiel will be able to walk the right path.’

The first thing to do was to change the way Princess Rasiel and her childhood friends acted so awkwardly towards the rest of the team.

The only good thing was that they didn’t show that kind of attitude to me.

They will respect me because I was a priest.

“Then, are you planning to save someone who has a reason not to betray in that way, even if it means filtering out traps?”

“That’s right. But that will take some time. It took quite a while to find the party just now. And the empty seats will have to be filled again.”

“Then… the second expedition will be a long time later.”

“Okay. Until then, please take good care of your sister.”

I fully understand what it means that Princess Rasiel, who does not easily trust people, has entrusted her sister’s safety to me.

“Yes, I understand.”

A small glimmer of faith in the girl’s eyes.

I felt that I had to do my best to ensure that that trust would not be betrayed again.

◎ ◎ ◎

The first labyrinth exploration went by so quickly.

“Father Arthur!!”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“You’re not hurt!!”

When I tried to recall what happened, the memories were all jumbled up and confusing.

“Have a nice trip.”

“How was the labyrinth?”

“Have you seen the monster?”

That doesn’t mean it was completely meaningless.

Entering the labyrinth, not only did God grant me new knowledge, but my divine powers also increased.

It wasn’t a lie that the growth rate had increased several times.

‘It’s dangerous, so I can’t force you to do it, but if you have a desire to improve, you should definitely go into the labyrinth at least once, right?’

Not only that, but you can now handle divine powers with much more precision than before.

It was a bit disappointing that I gained knowledge that was focused on buffs that helped in battle rather than knowledge that helped in treating patients.

‘But since it’s now possible to buff with divine power, hunting has become much easier.’

The temple I returned to after a full month.

A warm smile naturally formed on my face as I looked at the temple members welcoming me.

“Is it Seol-in?? How big is it?”

“It will be four times that of Priest Rumi.”

“Eek!”

“Oh my god… .”

Everyone was very curious about the labyrinth.

Priests and nurses who did not have patients in charge were crowded together and were busy listening to my labyrinth experiences.

“I will never go to a place like a labyrinth!”

“I really want to go. It looks so amazing.”

“Are you really going? I heard you’re getting support from the punitive force.”

“Umm… Father Arthur, do you think it’s okay for me to go into the labyrinth?”

“I received some new knowledge from him this time. I think it will be okay if you learn it.”

“Did you gain knowledge again?!”

I didn’t mean to brag, but the priests couldn’t hide their envy at my words.

“It seems that Priest Arthur is being watched by him.”

Even if it was possible to get lucky once, being chosen by him twice and receiving his knowledge was something that could never be explained by luck.

“I said it without thinking, but the knowledge I received this time is buff knowledge and nothing special.”

This is common knowledge that you can learn as a basic skill by taking the regular combat priest course.

Still, the envious looks from those around me never went away.

“Even if it’s basic knowledge.”

“I’m jealous that you gave it to me because it seemed necessary.”

“You’re not watching me right now, are you? You all know that jealousy and envy are seven sins, right?”

“Would anyone dare to feel that way about Father Arthur? After all he has done for us.”

It seems that the work of generously sharing knowledge was not entirely meaningless.

He warned them to refrain from harboring negative feelings among themselves in case something unexpected happens.

“When will you enter the next labyrinth?”

“You’re not going to be going in right away, are you?”

“Our priest needs to rest… .”

While I was receiving such welcoming greetings from the priests.

When Father Cardon heard that I had returned, he approached me.

“You’re back.”

“Priest Cardon!”

His face looked exhausted, as if he had worked hard to take my place.

I heard that the priests have come with a lot of additional support, so things have become more spacious… .

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Wasn’t that something I should have asked?”

“You look more tired than me after going to the labyrinth.”

“… … .”

Father Cardon smiled awkwardly as if he was shocked by what I said.

“The past month has been a month of many thoughts.”

“I think it would be better to go inside and have a chat.”

I was really curious as to how Priest Cardon came to be like this.

◎ ◎ ◎

“I feel like I am a very lacking person. I was confident that I could fill the empty spot of Father Arthur, but when I tried it myself, how did Father Arthur hold up?”

“What do you mean by holding on?”

“Right now, this temple is operating abnormally. Isn’t it a situation where more than 100 patients are rushing in at a time? I’ve never heard of a temple that receives such an absurd number of patients every week.”

When Father Cardon took over, he had never experienced this situation before, so he probably didn’t understand the busyness and difficulty of it just by hearing about it.

“If the government had known, they would have made a branch a long time ago. It wasn’t something that could be done just by adding people.”

But our temple is doing well.

When I looked at Father Cardon with that meaning, he said as if he was going to go crazy.

“The problem is that the system that Priest Arthur created made this ridiculous situation possible.”

It’s so hard I could die, but somehow treating patients is possible.

I knew it was a viable business, but there was no reason for the school to spend more money to open a branch.

“Did I do something wrong…?”

“It’s not my fault. I’m just too competent. I managed to hold out for about a month, but I’m not sure if another manager will be able to hold out here well.”