I Became the Evil God’s Apostle 21

It felt like he was possessed by something. Ban realized he had a stupid look on his face, but he couldn’t help standing still for a long while in the spot where Banan had disappeared.

‘…At least she told me the way before leaving.’

Come to think of it, should he honestly tell Orma that he met Banan? It was a strange thought, but he wasn’t particularly inclined to. Just the mention of Banan’s name made Orma become so powerlessly depressed—did he really need to deliberately upset him further?

Of course, Banan seemed to view Orma favorably, but Ban believed there was a reason why Orma jumped at just the mention of a God’s name. An Apostle should take his own God’s side, and it would be strange to just accept it saying another God had bestowed a blessing. Ban shook his head from side to side to clear his mind, then asked someone else for directions and headed to the jeweler’s.

“…Where did you acquire these jewels?”

“They’re from an acquaintance’s inheritance. He entrusted me with disposing of them.”

The jeweler examined the jewels Ban had brought carefully and meticulously, then observed Ban with sharp eyes before asking. If he thought Ban had stolen them based on his simple attire, there was nothing to be done about it, but there was no way something like a certificate of authenticity existed in this world. After finishing the appraisal of all the jewels, the jeweler let out a small sigh and spoke with a troubled expression.

“To be honest, I can only properly pay you for one of these.”

“What? Are you saying the rest aren’t particularly valuable?”

That couldn’t be. Even though they had accumulated like dust for hundreds of years on the Sky Island, each one would be precious and expensive. Orma and Gail wouldn’t have bothered placing fake or low-quality jewels there. Seeing the flustered Ban, the elderly jeweler shook his head.

“Take this crown studded with rubies, for instance. I’ve checked several times, but I’m certain it seems to be a treasure from the ancient Kingdom of Deileon.”

“Ancient… kingdom?”

“That’s right. It’s not simply jewelry with gems embedded in it, but appears to be a relic from an old era. In such cases, the value increases even more, and if the condition is this good despite the passage of time, it must have been preserved with great care. I don’t know how you came to dispose of these, but…”

So he meant that only one item was all he could ‘properly’ pay for because they were too expensive. Ban recalled the jewels—no, relics—piled up like a mountain there and slowly nodded with a pale face. Still, he was grateful that the jeweler was quite conscientious and spoke honestly. Even someone like him who was completely ignorant about such things thought it would be an enormous price, so he’d been thinking he should leave without looking back if they tried to lowball him badly, but they were worth far more than even that.

“So how much would this crown be worth?”

“Let’s see…”

The jeweler turned around with a cautious expression and opened a large safe behind him. In the safe he glimpsed, an enormous amount of gold bars were stacked in neat rows, filling it completely. With that many gold bars, he could only buy one?

“…What do you think, can you take all these gold bars?”

“Pardon?”

…All of them? Ban blinked quietly, wondering if he’d heard correctly, and finally gasped at the jeweler’s following words.

“I see, perhaps it would be more convenient for you to just take this safe as is. Haha, if we include the price of the safe, the price should be about right.”

“No, that’s not necessary. It’s fine. Um… I’m having some difficulty taking those gold bars right now, so I’ll visit again later.”

Ban left those words and hurriedly departed with the jewels he’d brought. Whether he took the gold bars or took the whole safe, either way he’d need a cart, and there was no way he’d have something like that while traveling.

Moreover, though he said disposal, ultimately with such an enormous amount of gold bars, he’d have to go through the annoying process of converting them to money again. Who knew the jewels being too expensive would be the problem.

In the end, Ban could only waste time and trudge back to the inn without accomplishing any of his original goals, such as observing Siol’s situation or disposing of the jewels.

“Orma-nim, I’m back.”

“So then I was eating food with Ban gong, and what I said then was… Ah! Ban gong!”

What Ban saw when he opened the door was Orma lying on the spacious bed with tired air and his eyes closed, listening with one ear and letting flow out the other the chattering of Jaena beside him. Jaena’s ability to keep talking without pause even while being ignored like that was impressive too. He’d lightly thought Jaena had a cute impression, but Jaena seemed to have quite a strong personality.

Meanwhile, as soon as Ban appeared, Orma’s eyes flew wide open as if a savior he’d been waiting for ages had arrived. Seeing clearly that he’d suffered greatly from Jaena while he was away, Ban awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth and admonished Jaena.

“Jaena-ssi, you mustn’t bother Orma-nim.”

“I was just talking about what happened with Ban gong!”

“Ban, why did you come back so late?”

“Hmm… I thought I came back quickly though.”

“No, you’re late. I got all my energy drained by this guy right now.”

Still, he managed to keep him in the room without kicking him out. Ban smiled slightly and hurriedly sent Jaena out, saying it was time for dinner so he should go eat. Perhaps pleased with the inn’s meals, Jaena immediately rushed out of the room, and as if it had never been so noisy, the room instantly became quiet.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“I can eat a little later. More than that, Orma-nim, today…”

Before Ban could even finish speaking, Orma’s golden eyes sharpened, and soon he sprang up from the bed and approached Ban. Then he raised his hand and fiddled with the earring embedded in Ban’s ear—the one they shared between them—and removed something bluish and transparent. Orma’s face, which until just moments ago had merely been listless, instantly filled with ferocity. Orma scanned Ban from top to bottom with fierce eyes and smiled savagely.

“You met Banan?”

“…Yes.”

“What did you do with Banan to come back wearing this?”

He didn’t know what “this” was, but… it seemed sufficient to upset Orma’s mood. Ban was bewildered by the sudden interrogation and Orma’s anger, but calmly gave a simple explanation of what happened today.

Starting with how the woman he met while trying to ask for directions seemed to be Banan, to how she told him to come to the sanctuary together with Orma tomorrow, and how she said she would bestow a blessing upon him.

Orma, who had been quietly listening to the continuing words, muttered with his expression completely gone.

“Banan…”

“Orma-nim? Are you alright?”

“Banan, Banan, Banan…”

Even so, he hadn’t expected such a violent reaction. Orma’s emotions surged so fiercely that Ban was afraid to ask what had happened with Banan. Banan herself had seemed to quite like Orma, but though he hadn’t directly faced her, Orma began to seriously grow anxious.

“Ah, Banan… Divine liquor…”

As if being chased by something, he grew agitated and bit his lips hard, and his golden eyes sparkled and then began to ripple like waves suddenly crashing on calm waters. Moreover, the shadow that had fed on Orma’s fear grew increasingly distinct, becoming large enough to fill the entire room. All of it looked like the prelude to the rampage that would begin right after choosing the “save him” option in the game.

“Are you alright, Orma-nim?”

“…”

The flustered Ban carefully grasped Orma’s arm, but Orma already seemed unable to hear. The shadows flowing from Orma instantly covered the entire room and even flowed outside, drawing screams from people, but the final destination of those things was ultimately Orma himself.

Orma, who had honed the shadows like spears and swords boasting sharp blue blades sharpened and sharpened again, began to unhesitatingly slash and stab himself with them. Very savagely and roughly. While knowing that this wouldn’t kill him, recalling himself from that day when he struggled in disbelief. The darkness, excited by the command to attack, swallowed the blood spurting from its master and, as if still unsatisfied, continued to burrow into his flesh.

Golden ripples wrapped around him, unsuitably. An atmosphere that was instantly sacred yet bizarre and chilling filled the room. Only after hearing the creepy sound of blood spurting and flesh being sliced apart did Ban realize his God had begun to self-harm and hurriedly embraced Orma.

“Orma-nim!”

Then the darkness that had been unhesitatingly attacking itself hesitated. Orma spoke in a trembling voice at the fact that the warm heat that hadn’t existed on that day grasped him desperately without fear.

“…Move aside.”

“What are you suddenly doing right now?”

“I need to see blood to come to my senses. So get away.”

“What on earth are you saying?”

“Look, Ban. Look at what my body is like right now.”

Even as Ban appealed with a sad and pitiful face, Orma’s rippling madness showed no signs of stopping. Orma showed his bleeding and wounded flesh with a bizarre expression, as if forcing a smile.

As if no such wounds had occurred, the sacred golden ripples were arbitrarily repairing his body. Golden threads stitched up the slashed and split flesh, and golden puddles filled the gouged wounds in place of flesh. Even now he could at least see blood because he’d inflicted wounds imbued with his own authority; if it had been an ordinary weapon, it would have healed quickly as if nothing had happened.

Orma hated himself like this intensely. It was always like this when he got entangled with something called a God. Why did it always turn out this way? Only by endlessly drawing blood and creating pain could he finally remind himself that he wasn’t yet a complete God.

A living, breathing being, a finite being, an end, destruction, death… Wasn’t it natural for an absolute being to pursue and yearn for what they couldn’t have?

But Ban was different. Though he was similar in not dying, there was no need for such crazy behavior, and above all, blood spattering and staining that fair face didn’t suit him much. Even when not in his right mind, hadn’t he killed Ban but then wiped the blood that had splattered on that face? He must have done so because he disliked it even in the midst of that.

So… the thought that he hoped Ban wouldn’t fall into the abyss with him crossed Orma’s mind. He doesn’t need to go through this by getting entangled with me. He doesn’t need to know this misery. Orma weakly pushed Ban away, then hastily pulled back his hand as if it were filthy excrement.

“…There are other methods, aren’t there?”

Ban, who had been blankly hugging and looking up at Orma, spoke in a somewhat desperate voice. And before Orma could even react, he pulled him more forcefully toward the bed. Ban quickly stripped off the outer garments soaked and drenched with blood and laid Orma on the bed.

Since Orma couldn’t help but become powerless when Ban’s touch reached him, he could only blink quietly. The darkness that had been eyeing its master opportunistically eventually withered and drooped limply on the floor.

“If you sleep, you’ll be alright. When you wake up, such anxiety will have disappeared.”

“…If I sleep.”

“Yes. Can Gods sleep?”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

Ban tried to smile and lay down beside him, hugging Orma and patting his back. Judging by how his touch trembled, Ban seemed quite startled too… The God ultimately gave in, pretending to be defeated by the Apostle who was doing his utmost to put him to sleep.

The wounds remaining all over his body throbbed, bringing hot pain. It hurts. Still, he felt like a living being.

His eyes closed little by little with relief, and Orma fell asleep, intoxicated by the comfort and warmth that Ban in his embrace gave him.