New Weapon – 5

Coming to my senses, I first looked back at Minerva.

She was the one who had witnessed the Pope and I, embracing and exchanging tongues for nearly ten minutes right before her eyes. I had no idea what she might be thinking after seeing that.

“Do you have something to say to me, child?”

However. Minerva’s expression was unexpectedly calm. It was so different from the reaction I had anticipated that I was the one who was surprised to see it.

“……It’s nothing.”

I held my tongue.

Minerva, the one who had witnessed it, was standing there so calmly. It wasn’t my place to ask her, ‘Why are you so calm even after seeing the Pope and me deep-kissing?’

‘Indeed, there’s no reason for Minerva to be surprised.’

First of all, Minerva and I weren’t in any particular relationship, and it wasn’t as if we had suddenly engaged in a public display of affection by kissing and exchanging tongues; it was clearly the Pope who had bestowed a blessing.

Considering the common sense that had been altered by the ‘mode’ until now, from Minerva’s perspective, it was highly probable that she simply believed the Popes had bestowed a slightly more profound blessing.

Aurora, however, had been flabbergasted upon hearing Stella’s method of heresy discernment.

“I am sorry to have kept you waiting so long! Here, it’s the Holy Water imbued with light that you requested!”

A booming voice rang out. Minerva’s eyes naturally turned forward. I followed suit and shifted my gaze.

‘What the, why is it so big?’

And then, I was astonished by the quantity of ‘one container’. There was a heaven-and-earth difference between what I considered ‘one container’ and what the Holy Knights brought in.

I had thought ‘one container’ would be about the size of a regular water bottle, or perhaps a bit larger, like a 1.5-liter plastic bottle. However, what was presented before my eyes was completely different.

What the Holy Knights held in their hands was a glass bottle large enough for me to fit inside with plenty of room to spare.

I turned back to Minerva, my expression filled with bewilderment. But Minerva’s face was calm. It meant that this enormous glass bottle was indeed what she had considered ‘one container’.

While I was speechless at the unimaginable scale of the unit, the Holy Knights, who had walked up to us with extremely careful steps, likewise set down the glass bottle they were holding onto the floor with extremely careful movements.

As if afraid they might accidentally mishandle it, the Holy Knights retreated five paces from the bottle, then immediately knelt in place and bowed their heads.

“We have brought it! Honored Guest-nim!”

“……Yes. You’ve worked hard.”

“Yes! Thank you! Do you need anything else?”

“We don’t need anything else, and we’ll handle the rest ourselves, so you may withdraw now.”

“I understand!”

The Holy Knights rose from their spots, bowed 90 degrees to me once more, then tiptoed out of the building.

I wondered how they could tiptoe so well while wearing such thick armor.

“You have a very surprised expression, child.”

Minerva approached my side. I opened my mouth, my voice filled with absurdity.

“Is this what Minerva-nim meant by ‘one container’?”

“That’s right. I thought you would naturally know, child, but was I mistaken?”

“I thought it would be much smaller than this.”

I carefully observed the glass bottle containing the Holy Water imbued with light. Inside the transparent cylinder, a clear and transparent liquid filled it so completely that it almost gave the illusion of being empty.

I unconsciously fiddled with the brooch pinned to my left chest. The Pope of the Sun himself had said that with this brooch, I could take not just one container but even a hundred containers of Holy Water without any problem.

I realized anew just how valuable this brooch truly was.

“It’s a quantity even I am seeing for the first time, so it’s perfectly understandable. With this much Holy Water, one could become the wealthiest person in the Empire.”

It was the same in the game.

Until the 11th playthrough, when enemy spec increases reached their limit, the Holy Water imbued with light was one of the few items whose price increased with each passing playthrough.

After the 11th playthrough, the price of the Holy Water imbued with light was astronomically expensive. In fact, it was almost never purchased as it was practically a quest-exclusive item.

“Now, it’s time for you to fulfill the reason I came here.”

Minerva flicked her finger lightly. The top part of the cylinder slid open. In her hand, a small potion bottle had already appeared.

Inside the cylinder, a clear and transparent liquid, like air, began to float up and flow into the potion bottle. Minerva’s movements as she manipulated her finger seemed extremely careful.

It was natural, considering the characteristics of the Holy Water imbued with light.

‘Because it’s really damn weak to impact.’

The most symbolic and fatal characteristic of the Holy Water imbued with light.

That was, it was insanely weak to impact.

The moment the liquid received more than a certain amount of impact, it would immediately turn black and lose its power as Holy Water, and that ‘certain amount’ threshold was incredibly low.

That was also why Ceres’s material procurement quest was notoriously hellish. Due to its characteristic of being insanely weak to impact, the moment a character made even a slight mistake in movement, it would become useless.

Basic walking, running, rolling, weapon swinging, being hit, using special weapon abilities, enchanting, casting magic, casting divine spells, using consumables, and all other miscellaneous actions.

All of those were judged as ‘impact’ and would spoil the Holy Water.

In other words, while transporting the Holy Water, players must not run, roll, swing their weapons, be attacked by enemies, or use magic or divine spells.

Even fast travel using statues and various forms of rest affected the Holy Water, so fast travel to Ceres’s hut was impossible.

Other materials could be transported via fast travel without issue, so it was clearly an intended feature by the developers.

‘It means you absolutely have to walk to move.’

Therefore, players had to seal off all other actions and only ‘walk’ to transport the Holy Water to Ceres’s location.

Even normal movement was judged as an impact and would spoil the Holy Water, so it wasn’t just walking, but walking at the slow pace that came from pressing the Alt key.

The only place to obtain Holy Water was the Holy Kingdom, and Ceres’s house was located at the very edge of the Empire. This effectively meant having to travel from one end of the map to the other at the slowest possible pace.

In such a situation, if you were hit by an enemy, it was over. If you rolled to avoid an attack, it was over. Even if you tried to deal with enemies from a distance, it was over the moment you cast magic or divine spells.

Even walking in a straight line without any interruptions in between was an enormous distance, but if there were enemies in the way, you absolutely had to go far around them, and considering impassable terrain, the actual distance was about twice that.

‘At first, everyone thought it was an impossible quest to clear.’

No matter what method was used to deliver the materials, the Holy Water would spoil, to the point where some people even mistakenly believed there was a bug making the quest impossible to clear.

Eventually, when the finally revealed clear method was posted on the community, countless users were horrified upon checking the hellish transportation conditions.

‘You have to walk slowly from one end of the map to the other, you can’t be hit by an enemy attack even once in between, and you can’t use statues. That’s just insane.’

All those circumstances were included in the reason why Holy Water was so damn expensive. How could anyone possibly travel around and sell something that spoils just by a human carrying it at a fast walk?

“Child?”

I was lost in thought, recalling that filthy something from the past that couldn’t even be called a memory, when I heard Minerva’s voice and snapped back to reality.

“What is it, Minerva-nim?”

“Are you done thinking? I called you because your face looked too serious. I apologize if I interrupted you.”

“No, Minerva-nim. It was just a useless thought.”

“For something like that, you had quite an angry expression, didn’t you?”

“……”

I couldn’t help it. It would be stranger if such thoughts didn’t show on my face. Minerva looked at me like this, smiled slightly, and then moved her finger.

“Receive it.”

The potion bottle was placed very lightly on my palm. It was small enough to hold three or four at once, but its price would be enormous.

“Are you sending the rest to the Magic Tower?”

“I must.”

Minerva lightly waved her staff. A much more complex magic circle than usual appeared all around. Blue light clusters rose from each magic circle, enveloping the cylinder.

The light clusters, triple-wrapped around the bottle of Holy Water, flared brightly. Before long, the cylinder had vanished without a trace.

“Now, the rest can be entrusted to the other children. Come, let us return as well.”

The magic circle used to transport the Holy Water enveloped both our bodies. Overall, it felt much cozier than the usual teleportation I experienced.

I closed my eyes, frozen in place, embracing the potion bottle with both hands, then opened them upon feeling the light gradually fading.

“……”

Right in front of me stood Ceres, with a surprised expression.

“How are you already here? I thought it would take at least a few days…… The Holy Kingdom people finish their work this quickly?”

“It just ended up this way. Here, it’s the promised Holy Water.”

I held out the potion bottle containing the Holy Water. Ceres, with wide eyes, rushed over and carefully received the Holy Water as if it were a sacred ancestral tablet.

“Finally…… finally…….”

Ceres’s face was on the verge of tears. Her eyes were brimming with them, looking as if they would spill at the slightest touch.

“There’s no rush for emotion until after you succeed, so start quickly. We also have a promise, don’t we?”

“Th-that’s right! I need to do it quickly! It won’t take long, so make yourselves comfortable as if you’re at home! I’ll really be back soon!”

Ceres, trembling all over, disappeared beyond the wall with the potion bottle, then swiftly rushed back and scooped up the remaining materials she had left on the desk.

Soon, a terrible smell began to waft through the air.

“It’s done!”

How much time had passed? Ceres, with an excited expression, came running towards us holding a small potion bottle. It was the same glass bottle that had been used to contain the Holy Water.

Seeing that, I abruptly cut off my story about the crystal scroll. Minerva, who had been listening to my tale with great interest, made a face as if the world had collapsed.

Ceres, who had run right up to us, stopped. And then, she bowed deeply.

“Thank you. Truly. It’s all thanks to you. I will certainly…… certainly repay this debt. On my honor.”

I nodded silently. Minerva was staring intently at me, not Ceres. After all, I would soon encounter the real thing in person, so why bother listening to a story?

“Then…… I’ll drink it?”

With the happiest expression in the world, Ceres uncorked the potion bottle, gazed at it with tearful eyes, and then gulped it down in one go.