Whether Ban knew or not that his God was grumbling with a gloomy face over him, he didn’t even give Orma a glance and picked out more clothes that he thought would suit him well, asking.
“This would be fine too. Please ring these up together. And is there an inn nearby?”
“Ah, are you on a pilgrimage journey as well, Sir Holy Knight?”
As disasters had been worsening recently, pilgrimage journeys where priests serving each God rushed to nearby temples to offer prayers to their Gods were in fashion. When humans faced trials they couldn’t dare overcome, they would immediately run to their Gods and offer prayers, so this meant that this disaster was that frightening and terrifying.
The shop owner, thinking that Ban and Orma were also on a pilgrimage journey, showed an awkward smile as if he now understood why they were buying travel clothes.
“There is an inn, but I don’t know if they’ll have rooms available. The number of priests making pilgrimages to the temple of God Serka in this area, like you Sir Holy Knight, has increased.”
Ban nodded as the shop owner kindly guided him, holding an armful of purchased clothes.
“Thank you!”
The shop owner, grinning from ear to ear at the sales after a long time, came out all the way to the door despite the scorching sun to offer his greetings. Though the sun was finally setting little by little and the sky was dyed with red sunset, timewise it was already late evening, nearly 9 o’clock.
Orma, who had been docile until now, followed behind Ban and quietly asked.
“You’re not seriously planning to wander around everywhere trying to stop the destruction, are you?”
“That’s what I’m thinking of doing.”
“……I don’t want to. Just tell them to all be destroyed and die. I’m not going.”
As if he really didn’t like it, Orma even stopped walking and stood still. Ban, who had expected from the beginning that Orma wouldn’t cooperate obediently, shrugged his shoulders.
“I have a question—if the world is destroyed, what happens to you, Orma-nim?”
“……What?”
“If everything dies, can you die too? Or… even then, will you be unable to die and be left alone in the empty void with nothing?”
“……”
It was truly pure curiosity, but Orma stepped back with a face that had turned pale. That was precisely what Orma, who had lived alone and lonely, feared most, and the reason he had struggled so desperately to die.
He had spent long years alone in a Hell with nothing, that is, in a place like the world after destruction. So… he already knew his own future. Orma knew a fear far more distant and terrible than humans who feared death, the end that would come under the mere name of disaster.
The shadow stretching behind him gradually deepened and lengthened, then swayed as if wanting to immediately escape into the Hell where he had been hiding. Though the Hell where he had been stuck for so long resembled the world where nothing would remain after destruction, he feared the future of being left alone.
Seeing him raise his hand to cover his mouth, it seemed he was about to dry heave at any moment as if feeling nauseous despite not having eaten anything for a long time. The shadow beneath his feet, grown ferocious, fed on its master’s fear and grew vigorously, drawing an ominous appearance like a monster. His ragged breathing pierced clearly into Ban’s ears.
Facing his God’s fear, Ban was momentarily flustered and hurriedly approached Orma. Not knowing what to do, he desperately tried to soothe him in a fluster.
“I’m sorry, I asked because I was curious…. It’ll be okay. I, I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“You……”
“I’ll make sure that absolutely never happens, I won’t leave you alone and lonely, Orma-nim.”
“……”
The golden eyes whose weakness had been exposed became clouded for an instant. Ban, who had ended up learning that Orma’s greatest fear was becoming a ‘complete God’, squeezed his eyes shut. When he was already struggling this much with a body that had become immortal, there was no way he would want to become a transcendent being called a God.
But ironically, the point was that Orma’s powerful divinity was needed for the world not to be destroyed. His vivid and pure darkness was terribly incompatible with the disaster that acted as if it would burn the entire world with light.
Unable to do this or that, the saying that sometimes ignorance is bliss flashed through Ban’s mind. Still, now that he knew, he had to say something, but his mind just went blank. This is bad. He resented himself for not being eloquent.
After anxiously opening and closing his lips repeatedly for a while, Ban thought he should at least tell him his plan and began to rattle it off.
“So what I’m saying is… wouldn’t it work if we stop the destruction? If we purify the disaster contaminating the places where each God’s blessing and power are strongly spread with your power, Orma-nim, we’ll be able to stop the destruction.”
“……”
The specific method to save the world was detailed in the game, so it wasn’t that difficult to remember. The player would tour the regions where each God’s blessing had descended and witness the danger of the disaster. But there was nothing the player could actually do. How could a mere human block the scorching sunlight?
They called the pouring light the ‘Erosion of Light,’ so conversely, they could only keenly feel that Orma, who was called the God of Darkness, was needed. However, the Orma the player faced in the final chapter had gone mad from being unable to die, so…..
“First, I plan to go to Siol, the sanctuary of God Banan, which is closest to here.”
“……Banan?”
Orma, who had barely calmed down and was quietly listening to Ban’s words, scrunched up his face. As if he didn’t like the sound of any God’s name just by hearing it, his face looked displeased, and Ban hurriedly added an explanation again.
“Yes, God Banan is the God of water and abundance, isn’t he? So if Siol becomes contaminated, the damage will be most severe.”
The risen temperature, the lengthened days, the scorching sunlight. The parts suffering the most damage from that disaster were the things Banan governed, so if Banan collapsed, the world, which was already struggling, would collapse at an uncontrollably fast speed.
Despite Ban’s persuasion, Orma didn’t hide his eyes full of dissatisfaction, but that was all. As if he understood that it was something that had to be done regardless of his dislike, he answered weakly with a small sigh.
“……Fine.”
After that, Orma was quiet all the way until they arrived at the inn. When Ban glanced back, he seemed deeply lost in thought about something, but whatever it was, Ban couldn’t stand worrying about Orma, who seemed drained of energy. He’d rather see him grumbling like before… what should he do?
“Welcome!”
Inside the inn they arrived at while lost in thought, there were many guests. As the clothing shop owner said, there were the most people wearing priest robes as if they had come on pilgrimage journeys, but there were also quite a few who looked like they had hidden away to avoid the disaster.
The innkeeper welcomed Ban and Orma with a beaming smile even though they looked suspicious at a glance. Ban began ordering things that might lift Orma’s mood while surveying the interior of the inn.
“First of all, what’s the most popular meal menu you have?”
“Roast chicken or smoked meat platter sell the best.”
“One of each of those please, and if you have cold ale, I’ll order two glasses with that. Please also prepare some water for washing…. Ah, and do you have a room available for one night?”
The innkeeper, who had been writing down Ban’s orders one by one on paper, looked alternately at him and Orma standing blankly behind him while fiddling with his beard as if troubled, then said.
“Um, customer. Preparing the food is no problem, but the cold beer is all sold out right now. What with the weather being what it is…. We do have some cider left, shall I prepare that for you instead?”
“Yes, please give us the cider then.”
“Understood. And the water for bathing… as you know, water prices are like gold prices right now so it’s very expensive, will that be alright?”
“……How much is it?”
“To generously prepare enough for two people to wash, it would be about 1 Gold.”
Damn expensive. 1 Gold was a week’s salary for a Holy Knight affiliated with the Serka Order. Ban nodded while shedding tears of blood inside. Conversely, the innkeeper couldn’t hide the corners of his mouth lifting in joy and twitched as he wrote up the order.
“I’ll prepare it right away! Including the meal, cider, and bath water, that will be 3 Gold total! Oh, and about the room….”
What, 3 Gold? And there’s more left? Ban couldn’t hide his dizzy mind at the continuing words and nodded blankly, recalling his meager wallet situation.
And the result was disastrous.
“……What are we going to do about this?”
“What can we do when there are no rooms? We just have to sleep together.”
Perhaps because it was a popular inn, there was exactly one double room left. When only the two of them were left alone, Orma finally revealed the temper he had been holding back. He was about to continue grumbling, asking if they called this a double room when there was just one big bed, and how much they were charging for something that looked cramped at a glance. However, Ban had actually been waiting for Orma to throw a tantrum instead, so as soon as he heard his grumbling, his eyes lit up instead. Facing the sparkling sky-blue eyes, Orma hesitated and couldn’t continue his words.
“Isn’t it exciting to eat food after so long? If you’re hungry, it’s also fine to go down and have a meal first. Ah, or would you like to wash up first? You might feel uncomfortable.”
“……”
With a face full of things to say, Orma pressed his lips tightly shut again. What else doesn’t he like? Ban, who was organizing the clothes he bought, tilted his head toward him again and asked while blinking his long eyelashes.
“So, would you like to wash first? Or eat? Or if not that….”
Huh? Something feels strange as I’m saying this. It feels like some bullshit like ‘or if not that… me?’ should come next, doesn’t it? Smiling awkwardly at the thought that he had unknowingly said something only newlyweds would say, Orma bit his lips and snatched away the new clothes Ban was holding.
“……It’s annoying, so get out.”
That irritating Apostle bastard can wait until later. First, I need to do something about this ‘beggar appearance.’
