Chapter 18. Recruiting a Companion
The masked person, having heard the terms of Radel's deal, nodded his head in resignation.
A lot happened after that as well.
Radel, questioning how he could trust a verbal promise in this harsh world, drew up a contract on the spot, and the masked person, unable to refuse, accepted it.
Of course, the negotiation process wasn't smooth.
The masked person briefly resisted after seeing the amount of the ransom written in the contract.
"Mmph! (This is too expensive!)"
"Huh? I wrote down the same amount as Armandy's ransom. Should I lower it?"
Hearing Radel's words, the masked person suddenly calmed down.
A ransom cheaper than that incompetent Armandy? It sounded like he was cheaper than Armandy!
He would rather pay more; that was something that could never happen.
The masked person, who was quietly putting his thumbprint, tried to resist again when another contract was pushed in front of him.
"Mmph? (What's this?)"
"This is a donation to the temple. You should be ashamed of yourself for secretly infiltrating the sacred Grand Temple. I hope you pay it with a repentant heart."
The masked person tried to resist once more, but seeing the apprentice holy knight silently draw his sword made him feel that making a donation, something he had never done in his life, was not a bad idea.
The masked person quietly put his thumbprint.
"It was a good deal."
Then, with a notification sound, a message appeared before Radel's eyes.
Tiring.
[A part of the quest’s condition has been fulfilled.]
Condition: Gusto Zebro’s deep impression(4/5)
'He must have been pleased that I told him to donate to the temple.'
Radel smiled with satisfaction as he collected the contracts, then remembered something he had forgotten.
"Ah, there was that."
Radel took a pen out from his clothes.
It was the invisibility artifact he had taken from the masked person.
After testing it with Gusto earlier, the result was that Gusto became invisible, but the artifact didn't work on Radel.
Having confirmed that, Radel could guess why his trait, Status Effect Nullification, didn't react when the masked person used the artifact.
Status Effect Nullification worked on the principle of blocking magic that directly affected Radel's body, like Heal, curses, or Illusion Magic.
However, the invisibility artifact worked by assimilating the user's body with the surroundings, making them unnoticeable, like a chameleon.
From here, Radel formed a plausible hypothesis.
Illusion Magic directly affects Radel's mind because it casts magic on others. Thus, it is judged as a status effect and nullification is triggered.
Even if someone uses the invisibility artifact, Radel's body doesn't change. Thus, Status Effect Nullification is not triggered.
Then what if Radel uses the invisibility artifact himself?
Tiring.
[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]
[The artifact's effect disappears.]
'As expected, it still doesn't work even if I try again.'
It seemed that if Radel used the artifact, his state would change, so it wouldn't be applied.
'There might be other reasons I don't know of.'
An artifact with this level of performance was highly likely to be a dungeon reward or an ancient relic.
Such artifacts were difficult to analyze with the current level of magic.
When Radel was a Hunter, he had sometimes been lucky enough to obtain artifacts as dungeon rewards.
Among them, there were some he could use, but most were unusable by him. Back then, he didn't know much about magic, so he sold them off without knowing the exact reason.
Anyway, what was important was whether it was useful or not.
Radel gave up his lingering attachment to the invisibility artifact.
"But if I return this, won't you use it to spy on me again?"
As Radel held the pen and looked at the masked person, he stealthily avoided Radel's gaze.
Radel sensed that a new negotiation was necessary.
"Come to think of it, colleagues might run into each other during a mission. So how would they recognize each other……. I wonder if they have something only they know……."
The masked person got goosebumps at Radel's muttering.
The 8th Prince, not content with extorting money, was now trying to find out the organization's secret information!
"I feel like there might be a way for me to know if I'm being watched. I'm really curious what it is?"
The problem was making a deal with this psycho in the first place.
The masked person was gradually sinking into a pit of chaos.
* * *
Tiring.
[All conditions for the quest have been fulfilled.]
Condition: Gusto Zebro’s deep impression(5/5)
Radel checked the system window while organizing the contracts.
He had just released the masked person.
He was inwardly proud that he had made the deal peacefully without using physical methods until the end. Gusto must have been deeply impressed by this non-violent and humane demeanor.
Indeed, Gusto was in a state of being impressed by Radel.
'How can such a royal exist?'
Even Gusto, who had experienced a rough life on the streets, was amazed by Radel's thoroughness.
On the other hand, anger welled up at the life of the royal family that had pushed Radel to become so strong.
Because he is a powerless prince.
Because he has nowhere to lean on.
The prince was desperately trying to extract information even from the assassin who had attacked him.
Other royals would not live like this.
While Radel survived by any means necessary, they would live a life where others protected them instead. But the only one protecting the 8th Prince was the Nameless God.
That was what moved Gusto.
“……I have something to tell you, Your Highness.”
Gusto knelt before Radel.
“I am no different from that man earlier. I have, in fact, been watching you, Your Highness.”
Who was it that suspected the prince who had no one to rely on but the Supreme Deity?
“I was ordered by the bishops to continuously test you, Your Highness, as you prayed.”
Who was it that, trapped in the past while thinking all royals were the same, did not see him properly?
“I did not believe in you, Your Highness. I neglected my duty of escort and tested you, Your Highness, suspecting you of heresy. Please, punish me in the name of the Supreme Deity.”
Gusto did not have the courage to look Radel in the face. It was hard to imagine the extent of the betrayal Radel would feel upon learning the truth.
Of course, Radel had no such thoughts.
It was because he already knew the general situation through the quest window.
'This friend is also quite principled.'
Was it because he was an apprentice holy knight? Gusto seemed to have deep faith and was sincere and principled.
It made sense that Kirio seemed to cherish him.
'Still, he's not bad to have as a companion.'
Radel recalled the quest reward, 'recruit a companion'.
He was better than those guys who were all talk.
His abilities were also good.
A holy knight with the divine power of a high-ranking priest? If this were his past life, he would have immediately formed a party and left for a dungeon teeming with undead.
Just like with Kirio, what Radel had to say this time was already decided.
He helped him, whose face showed bewilderment beneath a stoic expression, to his feet.
“Brother Gusto, it's alright, please rise. You have done nothing wrong.”
“What do you mean by that……”
Suspicion?
With rumors of the 8th Prince being a heretic rampant in the temple, it would be stranger not to be suspicious.
Surveillance? A test? He hadn't even felt it.
Radel just assumed Gusto had done something and let it go.
It wasn't very important since it was a completed quest anyway. Right now, the quest in front of him was more important.
“Those were helpful things for me. You said you were testing me, Brother, but if it weren't for such a trial, I might not have been able to finish my prayers to the end.”
“……That can’t be, that can’t be.”
Gusto shook his head, denying Radel's words. Radel didn't back down either.
“I'm serious. Do you not believe me?”
At Radel's sincere words, Gusto's expression wavered. At that moment, familiar notification sounds poured into Radel's ears.
Tiring.
[The quest has been successfully completed.]
[You have given the apprentice holy knight trust.]
[Apprentice holy knight, Gusto Zebro, wishes to become your companion.]
Tiring.
[The subject’s Affinity has surpassed 50 due to the quest’s influence.]
[The condition has been met.]
[The Status Window will be opened!]
Name: Gusto Zebro
Age: 17
Position: Supreme Deity Order Apprentice Holy Knight
Stats: Health 85, Magic Power 76, Strength 78, Agility 75, Intelligence 67
Overall Ability: A-
Skills: Light of Healing(B), Sword of Evil Destruction(B), Sacred Aura(B)
Traits: Holy Knight’s Vow(S), Unseen Hand(S)
Affinity: 50
'Wow.'
Radel was surprised after checking Gusto's status window. It was because his stats were not like those of an apprentice.
There was hardly any difference even when compared to Kirio, a First-class Priest and an Inquisitor.
Furthermore, he had two S-rank traits.
However, there was something that bothered him.
'Unseen Hand? For some reason…….'
It seems like a trait that thieves would have.
Is it alright for an apprentice holy knight to have something like this?
Radel began to worry just a little about the sleight of hand of his deeply faithful companion.
* * *
The Bishop Council reconvened after the three-day Grand Feast Day ended.
The atmosphere was different from a few days ago.
It was because they all knew the story of the Feast Day of the ‘Thirsty Land’.
There was no one who didn't know the meaning of the rain that fell on the last day.
“Are you saying that rain was really a miracle?”
“That is a rash thought.”
“But everyone saw it.”
Lambrado Altante listened to the murmuring bishops and smirked.
“It seems even heretics can perform miracles.”
At Lambrado’s words, the bishops trembled.
“What blasphemous words are those!”
“Watch your mouth, Bishop Altante!”
Lambrado confirmed that the attitude of the reformist faction bishops had certainly changed from a few days ago.
When did they ever try to brand the 8th Prince as a heretic? Now they were being extremely cautious.
The reason was that the 8th Prince had captured the hearts of the Grand Temple's priests in just three days.
From apprentice priests to veteran high-ranking priests, whenever two or more gathered, stories about the 8th Prince flowed out ceaselessly.
Things like the 8th Prince's character, and his rare faith for a royal. Among them, the most popular were stories like the Trial of Three Days that the 8th Prince saw through to the end, and the miracle of the rain that fell on the last day.
The reformist faction bishops didn't like this atmosphere, but they chose to keep their mouths shut and watch, as they had also seen and heard things.
Besides, they had something else to believe in.
“Now, Brother. Please come forward.”
The Archbishop, who had been silent until now, spoke.
The bishops’ gazes immediately turned to the front of the Archbishop.
There stood Gusto, the youngest apprentice holy knight.
A sense of relief spread across the faces of the reformist faction bishops. It was the moment when their prior arrangement to have Gusto test the 8th Prince came to fruition.
There was no way that principled and strict boy would go easy on the 8th Prince. Besides, Gusto greatly disliked the royal family.
They had no doubt that he would find fault with something and bring down the 8th Prince.
“You have worked hard watching over the 8th Prince until now, Brother Gusto. Please tell us what you have seen and heard during that time.”
Gusto bowed to the Archbishop and then prayed briefly. Then he spoke seriously.
“He is a saint.”