Chapter 60 …
After that, the king and I shared a good laugh and gradually built some rapport.
The king looked like a generous, grandfatherly franchise mascot, but he wasn’t naïve to the core. Even while engaging in trivial small talk with me, he was probably calculating how much he could extract—and how much he couldn’t.
The same was true for me. Even if I wrapped myself in the guise of a saint and acted innocent, I had to be careful not to let my outward shell and unique aura make me look like a helpless lamb.
“Once the schedule is finalized, we will contact your attendant separately. It will likely take about two days.”
Someone who seemed to be the king’s executive secretary exchanged contact information with my side’s attendant to coordinate schedules.
In any case, successfully entering the country was good enough. Now all that remained was to very secretly and very grandly steal another nation’s sacred relic.
“We will guide you to your accommodations.”
Since the continent was nearby, the time difference wasn’t severe, but there was still some fatigue. After all, we had ridden in a carriage for four days straight with barely any rest, so my body felt stiff.
‘It’s only this tolerable because the carriage was top-tier… seriously.’
If it were a country allied with the Empire, or a major city within the Empire, portals would be installed everywhere.
But this was Senta, a land in the middle of war. There was no way portals existed here, so we had endured the full four-day carriage journey.
“Please rest comfortably until the schedule is set.”
Yelena, Kardil, and Kalebrin were each given private rooms, and they were even better than the ones we had stayed in at the Central Church. The treatment befitting an envoy was thorough.
At the very least, the king’s words—“I want a ceasefire”—seemed sincere.
Or perhaps it was a scheme to curry favor with me in advance because he desired my abilities.
‘Alright… then now…’
I began rummaging through the room. I was checking for surveillance artifacts or magic circles.
A magic circle was hidden behind wallpaper that had been lightly peeled back, and inside the bed sheets, mixed in with the padding, was an artifact stele.
‘Breaking it would just make things annoying.’
The magic circle behind the wallpaper wasn’t something I could properly analyze, so I’d need to bring Kardil.
Kalebrin, being a shaman rather than an orthodox mage, would probably just stare blankly at it like, “…?” even if he saw it.
I might as well hand the surveillance artifact over to Kardil too. Perfect.
After dumping all of that on him, I planned to contact Antonio via Voice Transmission.
‘The range for one-person transmission is 100 kilometers… from here, it’s just barely within range.’
I currently had 95 points. Each believer quest gave 30 points, plus a bonus of 5 points for completing a consecutive quest chain.
In other words, my wallet was in relatively good shape.
‘Voice Transmission turned out to be pretty useful, so wouldn’t it be fine to level it up two more times?’
Thinking that, I lightly knocked on the door of the room next to mine—Kardil’s.
“Brother Kardil. Are you there?”
“Yes… I am.”
I heard shuffling footsteps inside. The steps stopped in front of the door, and his face appeared through a narrow gap.
“What is it?”
“Well, I found an artifact and some magic circles in my room, but since I’m not a mage, I can’t tell what they were installed for. I came to ask for your help, Brother Kardil. Did I interrupt your rest?”
“No, it’s fine… let’s go take a look.”
Tying up the hair he had loosely let down, Kardil headed toward my room.
Despite his rough attitude and sharp tone, he was still one of my ‘believers.’ Faith and trust from believers were eternal, so even a Kardil who spoke like that just looked adorable to me.
Once inside my room, Kardil swung his head around, searching for magic circles. In addition to the one I had found, he discovered more beneath the chair cushion and even on the ceiling.
He walked in circles around the room, analyzing the formations.
“Hmm… this one’s definitely a defensive barrier. And this… what is this? Vision and auditory sharing magic circles are densely intertwined. They’ve mixed in elven-style magic formations…”
Kardil muttered things I couldn’t quite understand, but his conclusion was simple.
“It’s eavesdropping and surveillance magic. They’re probably listening to this conversation too.”
He said it boldly—essentially declaring, We know you’re watching, so don’t try anything funny.
“Well… I guess they were planning to pass it off as a defensive setup by mixing elven magic circles with ancient shamanistic formations.”
Crack.
Kardil crushed the artifact stele with one hand, opened the window, and shook out the fragments like pebbles.
Was it really okay to break it like that? Well… it was already broken.
Even if artifacts were softer than stone, it still shouldn’t have been something you could shatter with one hand. Truly befitting Kardil, the ‘Healer of Ruin’ from the original story who punched everything to death.
“I focused mainly on healing… but I picked up a bit of other stuff while studying. I can understand it, even if I can’t use it.”
Kardil was not only well-versed in Imperial magic circles, but had also dabbled in all kinds of miscellaneous magic—a genuine genius. Of course, all of it was likely learned with the pure-hearted intention of healing others.
‘It would’ve been nice if we had brought that apprentice Archmage. We might’ve even been able to reverse the eavesdropping.’
It was a shame, but unavoidable. Even with Archmage potential, he was still just a student—it would take at least two more years before he’d be truly useful.
I placed my hand on Kardil’s shoulder and infused him with healing power. The fatigue vanished from his body, and Kardil brushed my hand away lightly.
“Don’t use it for such trivial things.”
“Trivial? Easing a brother’s fatigue is nothing at all.”
“If you use it on trivial things, you might not be able to use it when it really matters.”
Was he talking about divine power?
That made sense. Beginner healers often mismanage MP, using healing skills for minor injuries and then being unable to cast them when someone was critically wounded.
But that was an MP issue—and different from me, who drew power from a sacred relic.
“It’s fine, Brother Kardil. I don’t fundamentally rely on divine power.”
“Then… magic power?”
“Not that either.”
Kardil made a puzzled expression, looked like he was about to ask more, then gave up and headed back to his room.
“If anything happens, let me know. You know… with that thing that rings in your head.”
I smiled faintly. Apparently, Voice Transmission felt like something echoing inside one’s skull.
“Of course. You should rest well today too, Brother. Tomorrow will likely be a forced march.”
Kardil waved a hand dismissively and disappeared as he closed the door.
At that moment, an attendant came in and informed me of the upcoming schedule.
‘We’ll be able to go as far as the World Tree.’
Since visiting the World Tree was part of the standard sightseeing route to experience the great nature, that was only natural.
After dismissing the attendant, I lay down on the bed and opened my skill window.
[Owned Skills]
Weakness Detection Lv. 2
Baptism Lv. 2
God’s Aura (Passive) Lv. 1
Scales Lv. 1
Punishment Lv. 1 (Auto)
Voice Transmission Lv. 1
[Points: 95]
‘God’s Aura works just fine even at level 1. Scales and Punishment aren’t urgently needed. Weakness Detection can’t really give me more benefits since my base level is low. Same with Baptism.’
Buying a new skill felt burdensome and didn’t suit the current situation.
The skill unlocked by leveling up so far was [Life Drain: 150], but as long as I had the power of a healing relic, there was no need to suck the life out of others.
‘Yeah… leveling up Voice Transmission is the best choice.’
Even then, it only cost 20 points—decent value.
[Do you want to level up Voice Transmission?]
[Voice Transmission Lv. 2: You can now convey your thoughts to a target within 100 km.
(Activation limited to targets whose name and face you know. Two-way communication enabled.)]
‘Two-way communication…!’
What used to say one-way only now said two-way communication enabled.
‘With this, even while I’m in Senta, I can contact Antonio or Austin Gerard…!’
Although the distance limit and lack of group communication hadn’t improved, the benefits of two-way communication were far greater.
It felt like a very satisfying purchase.
On top of that, since I had just displayed something bordering on a miracle in Senta earlier, believers had already begun to form here. Before long, I’d probably be able to steal their vision as well.
And if that happened…
‘That’s basically full remote control, isn’t it?’
My body could stay at the lodging while I communicated remotely through stolen vision and Voice Transmission, then easily administer punishment through the Scales–Punishment combo.
I had 75 points remaining. Since better and more expensive skills would unlock as I leveled up, I decided to wait.
‘First… let’s try contacting Austin Gerard with my newly upgraded Voice Transmission. I was fine with just a wider range, so this is really fortunate.’
Unfortunately, Austin Gerard was not a ‘believer’ and didn’t harbor much faith in me, so I couldn’t steal his vision.
But Voice Transmission worked regardless, as long as I knew the target’s name and face.
[Searching for target: Austin Gerard]
[Connect?]
[Connecting…]
[Connected!]
Your current thoughts are being transmitted to the target.
‘Sir Gerard, how are things on your end?’
Austin Gerard was the vice-captain of the Lion’s Heart Order—an Imperial knight and one of the blades the Banquet Hall could use most effectively.
The Banquet Hall had already sent him to infiltrate Senta and search for the sacred relic.
This was information the “young lady” had tipped me off about.
‘Ah—are you perhaps… the Ascetic?’
‘Yes, it’s me. How are things going there? Is everything proceeding well?’
Having already exchanged words via Voice Transmission several times, Austin Gerard quickly adapted to responding through the skill.
‘It’s not easy. The World Tree is within the Elves’ Forest… but the elves won’t let me pass freely. I disguised myself as a merchant, but they firmly said that unauthorized merchants aren’t allowed entry. I don’t think I can go any further on my own.’
How had Austin Gerard known that the sacred relic was at the World Tree, and how had he managed to reach it across the vast Senta continent?
Because I had told him.
The moment I informed the Banquet Hall that a relic was in Senta, they sent Austin Gerard to infiltrate and retrieve it.
They were probably worried that I might find it first and do something strange with it.
I had thought travel between Senta and the Empire was almost impossible due to restrictions—but seeing that the Banquet Hall dispatched Austin Gerard, the method was likely arranged by the Dowager.
It was fortunate that the young lady had tipped me off about the Banquet Hall’s mission beforehand, allowing me to act one step ahead. And it was also fortunate that the one dispatched was Austin Gerard.
He had met me before and already held a favorable impression of me. On top of that, he was easily swayed—making him very easy to work with.
The Banquet Hall didn’t know I could use Voice Transmission like this.
Which meant… my relic-stealing plan would succeed.
Alone in the empty room, I smiled. Everything was going so smoothly that I couldn’t help it.
‘Sir Gerard… there’s something I’d like to tell you…’
