TLWCL 14🔐

Chapter 14 …

“Forgive me, Ascetic!”

Bang!

Antonio collapsed in front of me with a sound like his knees had shattered. He pressed his head to the floor and shouted so loudly it echoed.

I set down my utensils and slowly turned around. I tried to hold back a sigh, but the overwhelming feeling of helplessness made it escape anyway…

Normally, I would have asked why he was apologizing, but I already had a good guess why he was saying it.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, Antonio. I only wish for you to be devoted to your family, and I understand that I am the obstacle to that. Even if you have taken on the responsibilities of a proxy, I don’t wish for it to ruin your life.”

Antonio remained silent, trembling all the while. Seeing him shivering there on the floor stirred a pang of sympathy in me.

‘Should I enforce discipline… or show mercy?’

Two choices appeared in my mind.

I slowly brought my hand to my chin and swept my bangs aside.

Two choices…

Do I really have to choose between just two?

I continued speaking.

“I quite like children. They are full of endless potential… brimming with life. They possess a brightness and innocence that you rarely find in adults. When I first heard from Antonio that such a child was lying sick, my heart ached.”

Antonio continued to tremble.

I didn’t lift him up or scold him, yet I kept talking.

“If there is a god, why would he give Antonio such a harsh fate? And why must even innocent children suffer? If gods truly exist, shouldn’t they punish the cruel and evil who feed on human suffering? Yet, they allow pain to fall upon the innocent.”

I stepped down from the chair and rested my hand on Antonio’s shoulder. He flinched at my sudden touch, which I found rather amusing.

“Those who live righteously are betrayed, while those who commit evil oppress the good, living comfortably on their blood and tears. Amid such absurdity and contradiction, if a god exists, he surely would not have created this world.”

Antonio’s cold sweat left dark marks on the wooden floor.

“As an ascetic who has appeared to free all from suffering, I cannot help but think like this. If I were to cast off the title of ascetic and truly become a god, I would never have created such a world…”

A brief silence fell before I continued.

I gently lifted Antonio’s chin to make him look at me. He met my gaze.

Smiling, as I always do, I said to him,

“So, Antonio. Start with small but correct deeds. Taking care of your daughter is a duty far more important than any mission, isn’t it? As my proxy, I trust you can handle such a responsibility.”

I tapped his soft, slightly coarse brown hair twice.

Mixed emotions of tension and anxiety overwhelmed Antonio, and he hit his head on the floor once again.

“I will follow your will, Ascetic. Please forgive the actions of this lowly, foolish proxy…”

“Oh, Antonio… you’re going to get a wound on your forehead.”

I quickly lifted his head from the floor.

After hitting the floor so hard twice, a small wound had formed on his forehead. By tomorrow, it would likely be a deep purple bruise.

If I had a healing relic, I could have treated it and solidified his trust… but unfortunately, the healing relic had to come from the future Cardiel.

I wished Cardiel would obey as easily as Antonio, but being a priest, it wasn’t so simple.

“I forgive you. Acting foolishly from time to time is an unavoidable nature of all living things, isn’t it? So… I understand perfectly.”

I stroked his hair a few times, feeling the strands brush against my hand.

“I am grateful for your boundless mercy, Ascetic.”

“Now, let’s finish our dinner. At this rate, the food will get cold.”

Tomorrow, I’d need to check if the Lion’s Heart had stirred… and then I would need to visit Cardiel.

The need for a healing relic was becoming increasingly urgent.

‘Maybe I just need to throw on a robe and cover my eyes with a veil? That should be enough to keep the aura in check.’

I asked Antonio to find me a veil to cover my face.

“Understood. Um, Ascetic, will you be staying at my house continuously…”

“Yes. Of course. If it’s inconvenient, I’ll move elsewhere.”

“Oh, no! I merely asked if it might be inconvenient to host you. It is truly an honor to have you in my home…”

From then on, Antonio’s words were nothing but flattery. Listening to them nearly made me choke.

The next morning, I woke up and washed my face quickly.

I put on a simple white shirt and black pants. Throwing on a robe over that completed my outfit for going out—a rather minimalistic ensemble.

“…?”

While buttoning the shirt in front of the mirror, I noticed a white mark on my body.

A pattern near my neck and collarbone, one I hadn’t seen when I wore the shirt yesterday.

It looked like a tattooed choker drawn on pale skin.

…Wait.

It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar…

[‘Necklace of Lanoop’ User: Cernuan Lumiere]

Ah, so this “bound item” manifests like this?

‘Of course… normally it would appear in an inventory, but there’s none here.’

There might be some kind of pocket dimension bag created by high-level mages, though.

I buttoned my shirt all the way up. The pattern was barely covered by the collar, but if someone grabbed me by the collar, it would be revealed.

‘Who would even grab my collar?’

Perhaps Cardiel… but he had been calm lately, so there was little to worry about.

Downstairs, Antonio had prepared a delicious meal, a neatly folded veil rested at the edge of the table, and my still-pale daughter was chattering with him as they prepared breakfast together.

“Oh! Ascetic! Did you sleep well?”

The child greeted me awkwardly, a missing tooth showing.

Usually, children this age are shy around strangers, but perhaps she had grown up in an environment where shyness was inconvenient.

“I slept peacefully, thank you. Tradetor, did you sleep well last night?”

“Yes! Oh, Ascetic! My name… Tradetor is fine, but please call me Marietta!”

“Very well, Marietta. Good morning.”

“Yes!”

Her bright energy was refreshing.

I picked up the veil from the table. The white fabric, embroidered with subtle gold, was elegant but not overdone.

I held it up to see how much it obscured. It wouldn’t completely hide me, but it was opaque enough to cover my unusual eye color.

Gray eyes were common, but near-white gray was rare, so that was a concern.

This would do for now. In modern times, I might have grabbed sunglasses, but the medieval world made things more tedious.

Being a merchant certainly helped Antonio acquire such an item overnight.

“Thank you, my proxy. Now I can go on and help those in suffering again.”

“Those who are suffering…?”

The child’s eyes widened at the veil. I patted Marietta’s light brown hair and explained.

“I help people who are sick or in pain, like you, Marietta. It is my glorious duty.”

The child nodded solemnly.

“Thank you for saving me!”

“It is my duty; no thanks are necessary. Ah, Marietta, if you truly are grateful, wouldn’t you tell others about this miracle?”

Classical advertising is always best done through children’s songs.

I smiled warmly at Marietta. I felt a little guilty for tricking a child, but considering that without possessing Cernuan Lumiere’s body I might have spent my life bedridden, it felt justified.

Marietta tilted her head.

“…How do I do that?”

I folded the veil neatly and set it back on the table.

“It’s not difficult. In fact… it should be quite fun.”

Let’s see if I can gather 50 people!

“Calling people together with a song… truly, Ascetic, you are remarkable.”

Being a merchant, he seemed to understand the effectiveness of advertising through children’s songs.

I smiled in response. Ah—the power of orally passed folk tales…

By the time breakfast was over, Marietta had dashed off to play with her friends.

She had only been out of bed for five days, yet her energy was astounding.

I hoped she played a lot, made friends, and spread the word. Hahaha.

“The remedies I brought to save Marietta are finally responding to my body,” I said.

“Good to hear.”

“I pursued merchant work to provide her with precious herbs and medicine. Of course, meeting doctors and priests for treatment was also part of the plan…”

My words trailed off. I sipped my coffee, relieved this world had coffee too.

The cup emptied, and I spread the veil beside the table.

“Time to go out.”

“Yes, I will do my best to fulfill your will today as well.”

Seeing Antonio’s diligence, I had nothing more to say. Yesterday’s irritation was my personal issue.

I carefully adjusted my movements and threw the veil over my face. My vision blurred, so I pulled the hood of my robe over it and stepped out.

In Korea, one would need seasonal clothing, but this constant climate was convenient.

Though monsters here were more dangerous than tigers of the Joseon era, as long as I had the strength to protect myself, life was easy on this continent.

On the way to Cardiel’s cabin, I checked the system.

‘Ah, I can view the status of baptized followers.’

[Evelyn Ariand]
[Antonio Tradetor]

I selected Evelyn Ariand.

[Evelyn Ariand]
-Details-
[Status: Calm]
[Location: North of Astropolis, Indoors]

Hmm, since she’s level 2, only this information is visible for now. Later, it might be more useful.

‘It’s a shame I didn’t level up the Weakness Detection skill…’

I regretted leveling hastily for a moment.

‘Ah well. Points can always be earned again.’

[Number of followers: 29]
[Sub-quest (2): Gather followers. 50 total.]
[Temporary followers: 7]
[Faith: 37]

Faith seemed difficult to accumulate to 100, yet it had reached 37 overnight. Seven temporary followers, excluding Cardiel, were counted.

‘This is doable. The sub-quest reward shouldn’t be too bad…’