“Being calculated?” This is the first time I’ve seen something like this…… Up until now, whenever he cleared a quest, the rewards were given immediately. After staring at the quest window for a while, Ban mulled over the last line that read ‘Reward calculation based on quest performance.’
I see, 58 believers were created…… It seemed to have happened because the one who performed the miracle wasn’t the god but himself, the apostle. Was the reason Orma didn’t seem to have any particular changes because it was before the reward calculation?
“Ah, Ban-gong! Are you alright?”
“……Jaena-ssi.”
“You suddenly collapsed, so Orma-nim was very surprised! Of course, I was too.”
“What about you, Jaena-ssi? Are you alright? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Oh right, I was kidnapped, wasn’t I? I’m fine! Perfectly fine!”
Jaena had such a bright face that he seemed to have forgotten he’d been kidnapped. Well, it’s good that he’s fine, but…… To be this cheerful, Ban could kind of understand why Orma found Jaena terribly annoying.
After crying and being a nuisance with incomprehensible words about tiger butter, Jaena had already forgotten about that and began leading Ban to where the meal was prepared, saying things worked out well. Even while moving, he was busy talking to people here and there and interfering. His attitude showed no concern whatsoever that the snake tribe had tried to burn him alive as a living sacrifice.
“Gasp, isn’t that sacred fire? Aha…… it’s just regular fire! Ooh, it smells delicious. Is this perhaps black grass? Ah…… black grass can’t be used as food ingredients? Oh my, it’s not burning! But the food smells really good!”
Being cheerful is a good thing, right……. Ban watched Jaena bouncing around with an enigmatic smile.
Come to think of it, it seemed like the snake tribe didn’t have many people, but there appeared to be quite a few more than he thought. Was it 58 people who became believers in that quest earlier? Not everyone would have become believers who worship Orma, but with that many, fortunately it seemed the snake tribe wouldn’t be completely wiped out like in the game for the time being.
“Excuse me…….”
A small voice came from below. When he turned his head toward where the sound was coming from, a young snake tribe girl was shyly looking at Ban.
“Did you call me?”
“Apostle-nim…… P-please accept this…….”
What she whispered softly and handed over was a wreath made by weaving black grass. The crudely woven black wreath looked uneven and jagged, exactly like a crown of thorns that might appear in the Bible, but Ban bent one knee and sat down to meet the girl’s gaze while giving a gentle smile.
When he tilted his head as if asking her to put it on him directly, the snake tribe girl’s face turned bright red and with trembling hands she barely managed to place the wreath on Ban, and he pretended not to notice and offered his thanks.
“Thank you.”
“……Um, uh…… we can also make fireproof clothes from black grass…….”
He knew that already. After all, the reason the demons recruited Abish was because of the black grass that could withstand even Muhwi’s flames.
That was also why users in the game recommended the Black Wildwood story quest. Quite a few mid-bosses hurled fire or made fire-attribute attacks, so utilizing this black grass made it easy to block them.
……Of course, Orma had nothing to do with fire, so it was no help at all in conquering him.
“And also…….”
“What’s this ugly thing? Who put this on my apostle?”
“……Orma-nim.”
Did he really have to say such mean things and make a child cry? Orma approached with a fierce grin, but when tears welled up in the snake tribe girl’s eyes and Ban shook his head desperately as if he couldn’t take it anymore, Orma hurriedly changed his expression. Orma, who had been full of mischievous laughter, added with a slightly flustered face while carefully adjusting the wreath.
“……Th-there, that’s good, okay?”
At Orma’s touch, golden flowers grew on the wreath and sparkled beautifully. Ban slowly stood up as the petals gently fell before his eyes and the girl, who had looked like she was about to cry, brightened up.
“You’re quite fickle, aren’t you?”
“You’re the weird one for caring about every little thing.”
Even as Orma said that, he followed along wherever Ban went. He didn’t eat meals, but whenever Ban ate, he would watch from beside him, so it seemed he was going to do that again this time.
Ban still felt too embarrassed to make eye contact with Orma, but Orma actually seemed more bothered by that and grumbled while frowning.
“I made flowers bloom for her. That kid liked it too. So why are you still mad?”
“……I’m not mad.”
“Then why are you avoiding my eyes?”
“…….”
Ban kept his mouth shut, pretending not to hear. Afraid that just looking at Orma would make him remember how he had buried himself in Orma’s arms and rubbed his cheek against him, he unconsciously just hurried his steps toward Jaena, who was shouting, “Over here, Ban-gong! You can eat here!”
“Ban, are you ignoring me right now? Why do you keep pretending not to see?”
That’s when it happened. With a clear notification sound—*ding*—a system window appeared.
[Quest rewards have been calculated!
Current Status: Apostle of ‘Orma’ / Faith: 56
Faith Level: 2
Faith Gauge: 10/12
▷ Hidden Quest Clear (Knight of the Black Wildwood) +7
▷ Witnessed God’s Miracle +2
▷ Witnessed God’s Authority +1
Congratulations! You have acquired the special title [Knight of the Black Wildwood]!
Knight of the Black Wildwood / Special Title
A title honoring the knight who protected the Black Wildwood.
In the future, you will be gloriously recorded as the hero of the snake tribe and the apostle of Orma.
Strength +10 Agility +10 Charm +10
Fire Attribute Attack Resistance +100
Exclusive Skill: ‘Black Rain’s Advent’ can be activated]
He stopped in surprise before he could even read it properly.
The first thing Ban checked was the faith stat. If he had fully received the reward the hidden quest initially proposed, it should have been 60, but perhaps because it wasn’t Orma who stepped in, the faith only reached 56. Still, since he had passed the critical ’50’ branching point, Ban hurriedly turned his head to look at Orma.
“Are you alright?”
“Geez, now you finally look at me…….”
“Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable? Or has anything changed?”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
He examined Orma in a fluster, but there didn’t seem to be any particular changes. When Orma just looked at Ban with a blank expression as if wondering what was wrong with him, Ban belatedly felt awkward and carefully let go of Orma.
“What changed?”
“N-nothing.”
How could he say that since his faith increased, there might have been changes to Orma? Ban deflected, saying he’d said something unnecessary, and sat down next to Jaena who was already eating, but Orma continued to press him.
Was it absurd that he suddenly tried to check on his well-being, or was he worried that Ban would close his mouth and avoid his gaze again? At the clinging questions, Ban finally responded with a tired face and a half-hearted reply.
“I mean, um…… didn’t you arbitrarily break the prohibition that Muhwi imposed on the snake tribe? I suddenly thought, what if that affected you, Orma-nim, so I asked.”
Oh, now that he’d said it, it was a pretty decent answer. Since even other gods usually don’t interfere with rewards and punishments given by gods, it was something to worry about, but Orma just snorted.
“Muhwi, to me?”
“……Well, I suppose that’s true too.”
Thinking about Muhwi and Orma’s relationship, it was an absurd worry, but…… Still, since Muhwi hasn’t had any contact with Orma since he became a god, wouldn’t he not know what thoughts Muhwi has about him?
Jaena, who had been busy eating with his nose buried in his plate, looked up suddenly as if something occurred to him when he heard their conversation. Then, after staring intently at Orma, he opened his mouth with an unusually serious face.
“Orma-nim…… weren’t we planning to go to Yeru next?”
“I suppose so.”
It was a carefree answer as if it were someone else’s business. Anyone would think he wasn’t going, but still, considering that Orma had strong antipathy toward gods, this was quite a relaxed response.
Thinking about when Banan’s story came up and the expression he made saying he didn’t want to go to Siol, well…… He must still prefer Muhwi over Banan.
“What if there’s really a war between Muhwi and Orma-nim? What if he gets angry that you arbitrarily forgave the snake tribe?”
“Let him be angry.”
“No, that won’t do! There’s Bion near Yeru!”
“Bion?”
“It’s our tiger tribe’s village.”
“Aha…… So what?”
What do you want me to do about it? It was a consistently indifferent answer with obvious irritation, but Jaena still had a serious face.
“What if…… what if because of me, our tiger tribe also gets caught up in Muhwi’s wrath and ends up like the snake tribe?”
“Then that’s unfortunate.”
“Orma-niim!”
“Ah, seriously so loud. Do you think Muhwi would get angry over something like that?”
“Well, I don’t know! I’ve never even seen Muhwi, so how would I know! Rather, are you close with Muhwi, Orma-nim?”
“Stop talking nonsense. Who’s close with who?”
“Hmph! Then you and I are in the same boat when it comes to Muhwi!”
……No, but Orma would still be closer than Jaena, right? After all, they’re father and son.
Ban thought that to himself as he began cutting the well-cooked meat placed in front of him. Hmm, when he put a piece in his mouth, it melted smoothly and was very delicious. It seemed like beef, and very properly cooked…… The snake tribe shouldn’t have been able to leave the Black Wildwood very often, so he didn’t know where they got something like this, but he could tell it was very precious hospitality.
“This won’t do, Orma-nim. Just in case, let’s pack lots of black grass from here.”
“Why bother with something annoying? You pack it.”
“What if we get burned up by sacred fire!”
“If I could die from that, I would’ve bashed my head against Muhwi a long time ago.”
“Ugh, even if Orma-nim doesn’t die, I’ll die and that’s the end for me!”
“Ha, you think if you block the sacred fire with black grass, that’s the end? Humans can die from suffocation just from acrid smoke…….”
Orma, who had been kindly playing along with Jaena’s worries, stopped speaking abruptly as he was about to snap back that if Muhwi put his mind to it, he could easily kill a weak human like you. At that silence, Jaena looked at Orma with wide eyes, but he ultimately couldn’t finish his words.
After a long silence, the expression slowly disappeared from Orma’s face, and then he stiffened and raised his hand to fumble around his mouth and nose. When Ban also looked at Orma with a puzzled face, he finally muttered with a face that had turned pale.
“I…… I…… since when…… have I not been breathing?”
