Chapter 16. Apprentice Holy Knight
Tiring.
[The quest has been successfully completed.]
[Your faithful prayer has reached the heavens.]
[Voices supporting you rise within the Order of the Nameless God.]
A familiar notification sound rang as the message appeared.
The quest was a success.
‘I did it.’
Radel felt the string of tension he had been holding onto for three days snap.
In an instant, his vision went black. No matter how much his health had improved, there was no way his body could endure three straight days of prayer without a proper meal.
Thud.
Radel tried to get up but lost his balance and fell sideways.
Seeing this, Gusto rushed over in alarm.
“Your Highness!”
Tiring.
[Healing Magic is not applied due to Status Effect Nullification.]
Radel knew Gusto was casting Heal, surprised by his collapse, but…….
[Healing Magic is not applied due to Status Effect Nullification.]
[Healing Magic is not applied due to Status Effect Nullification.]
Thanks to that, he felt even more dazed.
“Stop…….”
“Your Highness?”
“You can stop……. It’s no use, anyway…….”
“What do you mean? No, why isn’t Heal working?”
Afraid that Gusto would start casting Heal indiscriminately again if left alone, Radel quickly grabbed him.
However, from Gusto’s perspective, it looked like the collapsed prince was squeezing out his remaining strength to tell him that he didn’t need to be treated.
“Is there a reason you are refusing treatment like this?”
“Divine power, waste…….”
To tell him not to cast Heal because it was a waste of divine power, even as he was collapsing and running out of energy.
It felt as if he was saying to save the divine power for later if it was going to be used on him.
Gusto couldn’t understand the prince.
No, he didn’t want to understand.
There was no way a royal like this could exist.
Why did this person not take care of himself to this extent? He was born as the most precious person in the empire, so why?
As if it would be fine if he died right now.
“It’s alright, I, if I rest…….”
Radel barely managed to continue speaking before he completely lost consciousness.
“Ha…….”
Gusto’s expression, which had remained composed until the end, contorted.
Looking at the 8th Prince kept reminding him of the old days.
He was an orphan from the streets. Wandering from place to place, he had been on the verge of starvation when an old man saved his life.
The old man was a beggar but had deep faith in the Nameless God. He said he saved Gusto following the god's teaching to love thy neighbor.
He diligently attended the temple to listen to sermons and especially liked stories about the royal family.
Whenever he had the chance, he would excitedly chatter to Gusto about the color of the royals’ eyes and the Abilities they received from the god.
The old man believed the royals were the living blessing of the god.
And on the day of a royal procession, the old man was struck by the horse a royal was riding and died.
When Gusto rushed over in shock, the royal’s attendants kicked him, and the old man stopped them even as he was dying.
‘I’m okay, just go and rest…….’
That was the last thing he said.
Gusto knew it wouldn’t have been strange if the old man had died at any moment.
The old man always seemed to be waiting for death. His family had died long ago, and he had no lingering attachments to the world.
But because his eyes shone when he talked about the royal family, Gusto also wanted to believe that the royals were the god’s blessing.
……There was a time when he wished that were true.
It was the first time Gusto had seen a prince who said he would be fine if he just rested, despite being in pain.
He knew well enough that he was different from the other royals.
Now he knew it so well that it was infuriating.
* * *
“Your Highness, are you awake?”
Radel felt a sense of familiarity as he lifted his eyelids.
That voice, it was very familiar.
“This is the Grand Temple’s Treatment Room. You’ve been lying here for about a day.”
He had expected it, but it was indeed Kirio Tites.
It was true that he was happy to see him in this unfamiliar temple.
However, before Radel could say anything, Kirio’s nagging poured out.
“I heard you were living in the prayer room, not sleeping or eating properly. It’s truly troublesome for you to do this when Heal doesn’t even work on you.”
“……I’m sorry.”
Radel apologized quickly.
Nagging from a current Inquisitor.
He was already under suspicion by the temple, so he was in a position where he couldn't make a good enough impression.
“Anyway, you’ve worked hard. I wanted to visit sooner, but I was delayed because of a dispatch.”
A dispatch?
An Inquisitor on a dispatch?
Could it be that heretics had appeared in some faraway village?
Radel decided not to delve any deeper.
“I see. I was aware that you were busy, Brother.”
“Haha. It’s not the kind of work you’re thinking of, Your Highness.”
Kirio said with a casual laugh, as if he had become more comfortable after confessing his secret suspicion that Radel was a heretic.
Was it because the Affinity was over 50?
He recalled how Ivan from the Ability Management Bureau had also unhesitatingly written him a recommendation letter for the academy once his Affinity surpassed 50.
It seemed that an Affinity of 50 was not just a simple number but an indicator of how much one trusted the other person.
It would have been convenient to know Affinity levels when he was a Hunter in his past life, when forming a party.
It would have been nice to know whether that guy was going to backstab him in the dungeon or not.
It was just when Radel was feeling a sense of pointless regret.
“By the way, you did well. How you endured the Trial of Three Days…….”
“Pardon?”
Radel was startled.
Wasn’t the Trial of Three Days the quest that Radel had just succeeded in?
It was surprising from Radel’s perspective how Kirio knew about it.
Seeing Radel’s surprise, Kirio also became flustered and asked.
“By any chance, did you not hear about the Trial of Three Days from the priests?”
“I haven’t heard anything about it.”
Radel played dumb.
There was no need to bring up a quest that others couldn’t even see, and he truly hadn't heard anything from the priests.
“Then does that mean you prayed for three days straight of your own accord……?”
Kirio’s eyes trembled.
Radel didn’t know what was what, but he concluded it was best to stay quiet and read the room.
It seemed that although the Trial of Three Days appeared as a quest, it was something the Supreme Deity Order had actually intended to assign to Radel.
Whatever the case, he had succeeded, so Radel thought there would be no problem.
“……Your Highness.”
There was another problem.
Kirio’s eyes were turning red again.
‘What am I to do with this person?’
Kirio’s eyes grew moist with a fresh wave of emotion.
‘To possess such a noble character as to approach the Supreme Deity even without knowing anything. Oh, Supreme Deity……!’
As expected, Kirio’s eyes were not mistaken.
He even felt that those who slandered Radel, a man of such character, as a heretic were the true heretics.
Kirio once again felt confident in his belief. The conviction that Radel would understand the story he was about to tell.
“I have something to tell you, Your Highness.”
Wait, didn’t something like this happen last time?
‘What is he going to confess this time?’
Radel began to fear his moist eyes.
He was afraid a secret greater than being an Inquisitor would come out, but the words that came from Kirio’s mouth were completely unexpected.
“……Please, forgive Gusto.”
“Are you speaking of the apprentice holy knight?”
Gusto, wasn’t he the apprentice holy knight who had watched over him while he prayed?
He was a benefactor who had helped Radel whenever his concentration waned.
“That’s right. Brother Gusto Zebro.”
Tiring.
[A follow-up quest has been generated by the success of the previous quest.]
[The Apprentice Holy Knight’s Confession]
You have been asked by the Inquisitor to forgive the apprentice holy knight.
The apprentice holy knight, who holds a deep distrust of the royal family, suspected you, a prince, and secretly interfered with your trial.
However, you successfully completed your prayer, and now the apprentice holy knight is doubting himself.
Give him a deep impression and earn the apprentice holy knight’s trust.
Condition: Gusto Zebro’s deep impression(2/5)
Success: The Inquisitor’s gratitude, recruit a companion
Failure: Fail to recruit a companion
A quest appeared.
Now that a quest had appeared, was there any reason not to do it?
“I understand.”
Radel nodded his head in a daze.
* * *
With a brightened face, Kirio disappeared, saying he would bring Gusto.
Bringing Gusto wouldn’t immediately complete the quest, but Kirio had seemed so insistent that he agreed.
According to Kirio, Gusto was someone with a strong animosity toward the royal family.
‘He lost the grandfather who took care of him in his childhood to the royal family.’
From what Radel heard, it wouldn’t be strange for him to feel not just animosity, but hatred toward the royals.
‘The sight of the young child carrying his grandfather’s body on his back and walking for days to reach the temple is still vivid.’
Kirio said he was an apprentice priest at the time.
The temple took Gusto in, and Kirio, an apprentice himself, educated the apprentice’s apprentice Gusto for several years, but unlike his growing faith, his anger toward the royal family did not disappear.
‘He has no good memories of the royal family, will this work?’
Radel checked the quest window again.
Condition: Gusto Zebro’s deep impression(2/5)
There was no time limit like last time, but instead, there was a condition to give him a deep impression.
What was strange was that Gusto had already been deeply impressed by Radel twice.
‘When?’
Recalling Gusto’s utterly stoic face, it seemed he wouldn’t be easily impressed, so it was truly a mystery.
‘Recruit a companion upon success…….’
The quest reward wasn't bad.
Radel still had no one he could call a companion. His foundation had been weak even before he recalled his past life, so he had no opportunity to make friends his age.
Kirio and Ivan were individuals with high Affinity for Radel, but they were more like helpers when you thought about it.
The person with the next highest Affinity after those two was, ironically, Armandy.
It was likely because they had grown quite fond of each other after spending two days together.
Radel suddenly wondered if he was doing well.
Thanks to catching Armandy back then, he had obtained a lot of information and received a hefty ransom. It seemed things had gone well after handing Armandy over to the Ability Management Bureau.
Come to think of it, Radel still had Armandy’s notebook.
He hadn’t been able to return it when he parted with Armandy.
‘I wonder if he’s looking for it? I should return it when we meet next time.’
Being alone in the Treatment Room made him think all sorts of things.
He had also first met Kirio and Armandy in a treatment room. This place had a similar structure to the Imperial Palace's Treatment Room.
Radel was recalling that memory when he discovered a water pitcher on the side table next to the bed.
Perhaps because it was a similar size to the water pitcher from his memory?
He felt a sense of nostalgia.
Picking up the water pitcher, Radel gripped its neck and swung it just like he did then, recalling the memory.
‘Was it around here?’
The spot where Armandy had been standing?
Thwack!
But at that moment, Radel felt an unexpected impact in his hand.
I can’t see it, but something is here!
Cold sweat ran down Radel’s back.