Through one thing and another, they eventually started traveling together with Jaena, but contrary to Ban’s worries, Jaena and Orma didn’t clash much. No, to be precise, it was closer to Orma thoroughly ignoring Jaena…… and Jaena also didn’t particularly pay attention to Orma.
Had it been barely a week and two days since they left the village? Thanks to Orma’s divine authority, they were free from the disaster’s sunlight, but that couldn’t solve everything.
“Haeek, hek…… Ban-gong…… Please give me some water…… I’m so thirsty.”
“……What you drank earlier was the last of the water. Please endure a little longer. We’ll stop by when we see a nearby village.”
“Huing……”
Unlike Orma, who had no need to drink water or eat food, Ban and Jaena thoroughly followed the laws of living beings. Since they had barely bought just enough for Ban’s portion to begin with, the food and water inevitably ran out quickly. At the news that there was no water left, Jaena eventually sprawled on the horse despite Orma’s sharp gaze.
“Sit up straight.”
“Oh god…… Your believer is dying of thirst. Please bestow some water……”
“Am I Banan? Just die of thirst.”
“Ugh…… Orma-nim has no mercy.”
“My mercy is sufficient in letting you live.”
He was already displeased that Jaena was depleting Ban’s food and water, and now he was even whining to Orma for water. Enduring that is my mercy. Seeing Orma smile with a menacing face while saying that, Jaena pouted his lips.
And Ban, who had been quietly observing Orma’s attitude, also flinched.
‘……This is bad.’
The truth was, Ban also had something to plead to Orma. The reason they had only prepared water and food adequately for Ban was because of the aftermath of buying two horses. The thinned wallet soon cried bankruptcy, and at this rate, even if they arrived at a nearby village, they’d end up sleeping on the streets instead of at an inn. One might say that since it was a game world he had directly played, he should know something that could make money, but that was precisely why Ban was now reading Orma’s mood.
“Why are you like that again?”
The god, who read his Apostle’s gaze like a ghost, turned his head sharply and asked. Ban smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek.
“Um…… Orma-nim.”
Having confidently said he would rescue him from Hell so he wouldn’t be lonely, it was embarrassing to now ask for money, so his voice naturally became smaller and his face reddened.
To Orma’s eyes, Ban suddenly appeared to be blushing shyly while calling him, so he unknowingly just blinked blankly, but at the words that followed, even he had no choice but to ask back with a dumb face.
“You said you hid treasure in a dragon’s lair. Is that true?”
“……What?”
“There’s such a legend, you see. That the Evil God hid the world’s greatest treasures in an evil dragon’s lair.”
“So what. If it’s true? Don’t tell me you want it?”
“……Yes.”
Ban answered in a voice that grew smaller. Orma stared at Ban for a long time with a dumbfounded face, denying reality.
No way, with that innocent face he couldn’t have just said such bullshit…… But eventually he couldn’t hold back and burst out shouting.
“Are you seriously blackmailing a god now?!”
“Umm, it’s not blackmail…… I’m asking you to help your poor Apostle and believer.”
“How shameless of you.”
“Huing…… Orma-siyeo, if we continue like this, Ban-gong and I will die of thirst and starvation!”
“Die then. Just starve to death, both of you. This is what happens when you do annoying shit like stopping destruction. Why not just let the world be destroyed? Just abandon everything and drop dead.”
Despite the harsh words and fierce gaze, Ban was steadfast. Strictly speaking, saying he was blackmailing a god wasn’t entirely wrong, so he thought he might as well be shameless about it. Of course, some embarrassment still remained, so while his face was expressionless, his cheeks were flushed reddish.
“If I die, who will put Orma-nim to sleep?”
“……What?”
“You sleep holding me every night, so if I die in agony and collapse like that, won’t Orma-nim’s sleep end that very day?”
“Aha, I wondered! Every night Orma-nim holds Ban-gong tightly while sleeping, so that wasn’t nighttime service?”
“Since he needs me to sleep, in a sense it is nighttime service……”
“Will you both shut up?!”
Saying these guys have no shame, Orma raged furiously. At the ominous energy the god emitted, even the docile horse reared up, and Jaena, caught in between, rattled along unable to control his body. Jaena cried out “Agugu, I’m dying!” asking for help, but all Ban could do was wait for Orma’s anger to subside. After throwing a tantrum for a while like that, Orma glared at Ban menacingly while breathing heavily with irritation.
Hmm, still, this much means he’s not really angry. When Orma was truly angry, black shadows would spread in all directions from beneath his feet, unfurling a complete darkness and brutally slaughtering everything dragged inside. Recalling that brutal appearance in the game, Ban glanced at Orma.
He considered prostrating flat like at the inn, but remembering Orma getting even angrier then, he changed his method. Thinking about it, his god seemed to listen better when he begged simply.
“Orma-nim, please help me……”
“……I told you not to open your eyes like that.”
How exactly am I opening my eyes to make him flinch like that? Ban thought he was portraying the appearance of a pitiful and pathetic Apostle in his own way. Could it be that wasn’t working and Orma had been indulging him all this time?
“Haah……”
Orma couldn’t hide his frustration and let out a long sigh. Then with a headache-stricken face, he looked at Ban and said.
“Fine, whatever. Those things mean nothing to me, so I can give you as much as you want. But there’s no guarantee that bastard is still in his nest.”
Orma’s words weren’t wrong. Ban nodded while recalling the illustration of the evil dragon, Gailust, that appeared in the game. The evil dragon that carried pitch-black darkness and boasted glittering red eyes. They said he was driven mad by being tainted by Orma, but he was still a faithful subordinate who followed him, so it wasn’t strange that Orma had entrusted treasure to the evil dragon.
Lost relics, grimoires, holy swords containing divine power, and besides those, large gems the size of human fists and magic stones lined up…… If they could just get there, they wouldn’t have to worry about not only travel funds but also retirement funds, but the problem was, as Orma said, the location of the evil dragon’s nest.
“Ooh, treasure! I think I’ve heard that story too. But where is the evil dragon’s lair?”
“There.”
“There?”
Orma simply tilted his head toward the sky. Of course, Jaena didn’t understand what he meant and tilted his head, but Ban knew. It was befitting a fantasy genre game—a floating island in the sky, the ‘Sky Island.’
It was also the site of the final battle with Orma, but regrettably, after Orma went berserk and covered everything in pitch black, all Ban could see was black ash and sand flying in the sky. According to the game’s description, normally it was so beautiful that people would say angels might live there.
But as Orma said, the disaster had begun, so even though it was a dragon, there was no telling whether it would continue staying on an island floating close to the sun.
“Don’t tell me you mean the sky?”
“Yes.”
“T-the story of an island in the sky is something that only appears in fairy tales, isn’t it?”
Jaena’s eyes widened. Finding that amusing, Orma giggled and his golden eyes flashed brightly. Perhaps Jaena’s rather cute reaction tickled Orma’s fancy, as he lightly dusted off his hand and poked at the air. Then he reached deep inside and pulled out his golden spear from within.
“Uwaa! How did you do that? I want to do that too!”
Jaena made a fuss. Well, even Ban had sparkled his eyes with emotion when he first saw Orma and his weapon in the game trailer. Orma cleanly ignored Jaena, who was hopping beside him making noise constantly asking if he could touch the golden spear, how it suddenly appeared from thin air, and if he could teach him spearmanship. And just standing a couple steps back looking at the sky where the scorching sunlight poured down…… he threw his spear!
“U-uwaa! Ban-gong! Orma-nim threw his spear into the sky!”
“Mm, that’s the method to summon that island.”
“Ueh?”
Does that make sense? Even though I may look like a young child on the outside, I’m twenty-five years old, so please don’t tease me like a child…… Just as Jaena was about to answer that.
In the clear sky where the sun had been shining brightly, suddenly with a flash, an intense explosion sound came as if lightning had struck. After the roar so loud it made their ears ring passed, only silence settled as if nothing had happened.
Just as Jaena was about to open his mouth to ask what on earth he had just done, suddenly a shadow began to fall as if dark clouds had gathered in the sky. At the same time, in the place where they raised their heads…….
“An, an island?”
“Oh, it’s the Sky Island!”
An island the size of a lake was floating leisurely in the sky.
