Strong warriors give birth to strong warriors. The beastmen believed this, and they faithfully followed the orders of the chieftain, the strongest warrior among them.
Of course, that wasn’t entirely wrong. After all, there was such a thing as the law of heredity. But like ‘mutations,’ there were always exceptions.
“The successor’s trial…”
Orma seemed to recall something related to that and muttered quietly. Soon, he realized Jaena’s difficult situation and let out a sigh as if expressing frustration, frowning.
“I see. Whatever it is, there’s no way that weak fool who’s all talk could have passed the successor’s trial.”
“…Yes, it’s probably the situation you’re thinking of, Orma-nim. Jaena-ssi must still be unable to return home. He’s still in the middle of taking the successor’s trial. That trial is probably about finding me and stopping the calamity happening in the world right now, and naturally, the beastman tribe and their chieftain aren’t expecting anything from Jaena-ssi at all. Perhaps even Jaena-ssi himself doesn’t have much expectation either.”
“Yeah, he did seem pretty clueless.”
“Haha… Even if Jaena-ssi seems spoiled and immature, isn’t he older than me? Crossing a distant continent alone to find someone whose face he doesn’t even know and stop a calamity—he couldn’t have missed that this essentially means ‘go die in a foreign land.'”
“Even if he somehow finds you, he wouldn’t believe a human could stop the calamity.”
Though it might have been dressed up with words like prophet or savior from prophecy, Jaena must have realized the reality. Yet Jaena was quite spirited and cheerful. He seemed to think, ‘They told me not to come back? Then I just won’t go back!’ He also didn’t seem particularly interested in becoming chieftain or pursuing the peak of power or martial strength.
That’s why Ban had pretended not to notice even after realizing Jaena’s identity. He had thought lightly that if it became necessary someday, Jaena would tell him directly…
“In other words, Jaena-ssi is in a state where he can’t return home, and he has no reason to leave us of his own accord. Jaena-ssi’s only ‘support to rely on’ is ultimately you, Orma-nim.”
“…Not you, but me? Isn’t it you he believes in?”
You’re the god, not me, right? Ban stared blankly at Orma without answering, conveying that meaning.
Eventually, Orma exhaled roughly with a “Ha!” as if annoyed to death and shouted.
“So what do you want me to do about it? We already looked around and he wasn’t there.”
“Please release your shadows. I’ll go look for Jaena-ssi.”
The darkness that exists everywhere in the world was Orma’s eyes and limbs. When Ban pointed at Orma’s feet and spoke, Orma bit his red lips tightly, showing his displeasure.
Of course, it wasn’t that he disliked lending his shadows to Ban. He just didn’t like this situation where Ban had to go around here and there looking for that annoying little tiger brat.
But if he honestly said he didn’t want to, he was afraid Ban would erase his expression completely like before and stare at him. Why was he hesitating so much over something like that? He didn’t understand it himself, but Ban caught on to Orma’s hesitation like a ghost and let out a small sigh.
“I know you don’t like Jaena-ssi, Orma-nim. Even so, if I ask, you’ll do it for me. But…”
“But?”
“Jaena-ssi believes in and follows you as a god, not me, Orma-nim. As you know, most beastmen believe in the god Muhwi as their native faith. But Jaena-ssi changed his religion immediately upon seeing you, Orma-nim, to that extent…”
“Are you saying he has no faith right now?”
…Is that it? Strictly speaking, it seemed like he just didn’t think much about religion… Ban, who had been pondering, realized he’d been caught up in Orma’s mischief due to his own poor way with words and urgently shook his head frantically.
When Orma even burst into a small laugh at that sight, Ban eventually cried out as if frustrated.
“That’s not it…! Isn’t he a believer whom you, Orma-nim, have acknowledged? O Orma, please bestow mercy upon your believer.”
His earnest gaze was directed entirely at Orma. He didn’t seem to think for a moment that his god wouldn’t grant that prayer.
‘Geez. He’s either cute or devout—why not pick just one…’
Orma thought that and ended up nodding his head.
Of course, no matter how many reasons Ban gave for why they needed to find Jaena, the fact that he didn’t particularly care about Jaena didn’t change. Even if he released the shadows as Ban asked and found the guy’s corpse, he’d obviously react indifferently.
Ah, no. Even so, he did intend to hide it so Ban wouldn’t see that sight. Because his good apostle would gasp in shock if he saw it.
Hmm… But was just that much not enough? Banan, Muhwi, and even Serka all had so many believers following them, yet he’d never seen them cherish any of them.
A heart that holds someone dear just because they believe in you… If he had something like that, he wouldn’t have been called an Evil God. Was it because his mind was shattered? Had he become so broken that he ended up with the same way of thinking as other gods after all?
That would be troublesome. He should always be prepared to return to being an ordinary human and die, shouldn’t he? If it were his past self who had been called a hero, what would he have done?
Well, even back then, he probably wouldn’t have deployed soldiers to search for just one human, or taken action himself as the leader. Still, he could have ‘worried’ about someone with a compassionate heart. Perhaps that was the difference between Orma, who was now called an Evil God, and Orma, who had been called a hero.
Orma tilted his head at an angle and looked at Ban, then grinned. He’d tried to imitate the smile Ban often wore, but Ban himself just looked puzzled.
Mm, it really didn’t suit him after all. When Ban smiled like that, it felt like even the air melted away and a spring breeze blew in, but now he couldn’t even grasp how to appear like an ordinary human anymore.
“You can use the shadows anytime without my permission. But, well…”
You probably won’t be able to spread them out as widely and precisely as their master to search. Orma thought that and began to move the shadows.
The shadow that started from his toes expanded its area and darkly colored everything it touched. When pure black that didn’t tolerate even a hint of light or color replaced the calamitous sun, the plants and small creatures like insects beneath it breathed comfortably as if they could finally live. However, they only conveyed their thanks for the shade that sheltered them from the sun and knew nothing at all about the beastman brat Orma was looking for.
‘The stinging sunlight has disappeared… Thank you.’
‘He’s human but has a tail! Hehehe… How funny!’
‘Why? I’ve even seen a huge talking snake. A human could have a tail too.’
‘A human with a tail… small… Aha, maybe it’s a monkey?’
‘You idiots! It’s not a monkey, it’s a tiger!’
‘A tiger? What’s that?’
‘I know! It has four legs and a long tail!’
‘There are lots of those!’
…Not very helpful. That’s why this was a pointless action. When he glanced over at Ban, his mouth was closed but his eyes were sparkling strangely.
“…”
There was no choice. Not wanting to betray his expectations, Orma patiently explained about Jaena once more to everything the shadows touched. A bit short… looks like a human… but has a tail…
‘A young human child! I saw one yesterday!’
‘He disappeared at night! Oops, not night, it was dawn!’
‘Dawn? I’ve never seen anyone at dawn. Have you?’
‘I don’t know, I was sizzling all over… so out of it…’
‘It’s hot! Save me! I’m burning every single day!’
Orma cleanly gave up on further explanations and told Ban honestly. There was nothing in the vicinity that seemed to be Jaena, only full of complaints and screams from creatures whining about the heat.
“Something’s strange…”
“Right. Did this kid fly into the sky?”
Apart from Jaena being annoying, it was highly suspicious that he’d vanished without a trace. It didn’t make sense that all the creatures existing in this area said they’d never seen such an existence. Ban, who had been deep in thought after hearing Orma’s words, cautiously opened his mouth.
“The talk of heat, is it because of the sunlight? Or is it because of a fire that occurred in this vicinity?”
Orma silently relayed Ban’s question as it was. Then the whispering voices all answered the same.
“…They say it’s because of a fire?”
But why was that? Hadn’t Ban explained that wildfires occur frequently on days like these, and since no one puts out the fires, they continue to burn until everything turns to ash?
“Something… comes to mind. Could you tell me the exact location where the fire is occurring?”
An ominous feeling washed over Ban. He asked, hoping desperately that it wasn’t the case, but at the same time, a clear electronic sound rang out with a “ding,” and a quest window appeared before his eyes.
[Where on earth has your god’s second believer disappeared to?
Hidden Quest: Find Jaena, evangelize to new believers, and save them.
Find Jaena (0/1)
Make New Believers (0/10)
Save Them
Reward: Faith +15, Faith Gauge +7, Special Title [Knight of the Black Wildwood]
Special titles have additional effects and rewards can only be received when quest conditions are 100% achieved.]
