Chapter 19
"Cough, cough!"
I was startled by my mother's sudden words. Oh no, I'm going to die.
"Revy! Are you okay?!"
-My child, are you okay?
I heard the voices of my mother and Kyros, who were as surprised as me. No, give me some water instead of talking!
"Drink this, Revy."
Fortunately, Sevenus, who was the only one who didn't panic in this chaos, handed me some water.
"Cough!"
I drank the water as soon as I received it. Thankfully, I calmed down slowly.
Why did the conversation change from the compensation of Kyros Faith to visiting the temple in person?
Was I too lost in other thoughts?
Now that it's come to this, let's think about decorating the temple later.
"I'm fine, Mother. But, you're going to visit the temple of Kyros Faith in person?"
I only answered questions during the tea time, but now it was time to join the conversation.
"Yes."
My mother smiled gently and answered.
Hmm. Of course, I planned to make my family members Kyros Faith believers someday.
If that happened, I would meet them as the leader of the church, so I thought I would meet them then.
Was I too careless? I didn't expect to meet my mother so soon.
'Of course, I could ask Alphius to act as the leader instead of me.'
But that was not possible.
My mother was not an ordinary noble, but the lord of Holden Territory, where the main temple of Kyros Faith was located.
It was right for the leader to show up in person.
Moreover, my mother was not calling for the leader of Kyros Faith, but visiting in person.
Kyros Faith had to show proper courtesy accordingly.
'I guess there's no choice.'
It was right for me to meet my mother as the leader.
"Wouldn't it be better for me to go? You're busy, aren't you?"
While I was thinking about it, Sevenus asked my mother.
"That's true. The affairs of the territory are not settled yet."
After the incident with Rizes Church, my mother was overhauling Holden Territory.
She investigated the taxes of the nobles, as well as their embezzled funds and tax evasion records. The ball that Viscount Louis Kennel threw up was shaking out the nobles of the Holden Family.
'Some of them are about to be kicked out.'
She also visited every corner of the territory to check on the lives of the people and confirmed everything by herself.
Moreover, she still had not finished her original 'royal' related work, so she needed ten bodies.
Even so, she cared about her children and barely made time for tea time.
"Of course, I'm not going to visit right away. I'll have to meet this leader after I sort out the management of the territory."
Soon, my mother's eyes turned sharp like a well-honed sword.
"I have to see for myself if he is trustworthy or not. To prevent what happened in Rovel from happening again."
I swallowed my saliva unknowingly. It was a woman who was once called a Sword of the Battlefield.
But fortunately, there was still time left.
My mother and Sevenus did not trust the leader of Kyros Faith yet, but they had at least some goodwill towards him.
"By the way, what about Rizes Church?"
"Fortunately, Diego Faith has started investigating them."
"Hmm. I see. Then I can trust and leave it to them."
Rizes Church was so mysterious that it was hard to find them in Holden by themselves.
'It's easier to leave this kind of thing to Diego Faith.'
Of course, I knew where Rizes Church bastards were, but I wouldn't tell my family their whereabouts.
It would be dangerous if they touched them wrong.
So now is the time to focus on opening the temple.
At sunset, somewhere in the forest.
"Huff, huff!"
The middle-aged man ran and ran. He had to get into the village before the sunlight disappeared completely behind the fog.
But now that he had been running for a long time, he was out of breath and could not run anymore.
But he thought of his children who were waiting for him at home.
'I can't die, I can't die! If I die, my children will!'
To feed his children, and for the people of the village who were like his family, he searched for food in the forest.
He couldn't get out of the forest because of the magic that hung over it.
That meant he had to go back to the village to survive.
He gasped for air, and the fog gradually thickened.
'Please, please. Diego, God!'
The distance to the village was only a few tens of meters. There wasn't much left.
The man squeezed out his last strength, then ran, and ran.
Finally, he saw the village in his sight.
He clenched his teeth.
At that moment, the fog completely thickened and the sunlight disappeared.
'God! Please, help me!'
The man prayed to God.
Awoo!
Behind him, he heard a terrible beast's roar.
Grrr---
The sound of the beasts increased in an instant.
"Hurry, hurry up!"
The entrance of the village came into view. The gatekeeper called him urgently.
Grrr!
The man ran faster and faster.
'Not much left!'
God didn't abandon me!
He thought so.
At that moment,
Thud!
The man's foot tripped over a stone.
"Krrk!"
His body rolled on the ground.
The gatekeeper who was looking at him turned pale.
Behind the man, a pack of beasts appeared in an instant.
"Kraaak!"
Blood splashed and the man's scream filled the forest.
The gatekeeper closed his eyes and turned his body.
"I'm sorry."
And next to him, a young man who was watching the situation also closed his eyes.
The young man clasped his hands and prayed earnestly.
'Please, Kyros. Please help us!'
After finishing training with Fanatic, I returned to my room and immediately took Pasrel poison, washed up, and lay down on the bed.
'It's nice that these days are monotonous.'
It would be nice if my life was always like this, but unfortunately, I didn't have much time left.
'I have to make an excuse for becoming a Kyros Faith believer soon.'
Being the second child of the Holden Family was a pretty good position.
However, it was like a mountain to climb for me to clear my main quest.
The deadline for the quest was only three years.
Almost a month has passed already.
'I have to finish building the temple first.'
After completing the temple, I planned to visit there often when I went out during the day.
Not as the leader of Kyros Faith, but as Revelof Holden.
I would naturally appeal to the fact that I became healthier thanks to Kyros Faith, and say that I would listen to the religion as a way of repaying their grace.
That's why I was postponing the doctor's examination.
'It's a perfect scenario.'
But first, I need to hire an artist as soon as possible.
Alphius and Chester said they were looking hard, but there was no progress.
Actually, it was possible to open the temple without Kyros' statues and portraits.
But there was a reason why they said 'opening effect'. It's the law that people flock the most at the beginning of anything.
'I can't miss the timing.'
And that was the best time to attract a lot of believers.
When there is a lot of influx of people, if Kyros' statues and portraits play the role of beauty, the believers will increase in no time.
'Hmm, what should I do?'
-My child.
As I was rolling around in bed, lost in thought, Kyros called me with a serious voice.
'Yes?'
-I hear a desperate voice calling me from somewhere.
At the same time, a system window appeared.
[Sub Quest Occurred!]
[Sub Quest 'Salvation' 1. <Desperate Prayer>
Content: In a deep village somewhere in Cartel Forest, a fervent prayer for Kyros, the God of Beauty, is taking place. Head to Cartel Forest for Kyros, the God of Beauty.
Goal: Find the believer who is praying fervently for Kyros, the God of Beauty, somewhere in Cartel Forest within 24 hours. (This quest is a linked quest)
Success: Found the clue for the next quest
Failure: -
Final Success Reward: Agent Draw Ticket (5 pieces)]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
After reading through the quest window that suddenly appeared, I hesitated for a moment.
I had seen the 'Cartel Forest' quest many times in HSAW.
The problem was, that I only cleared this quest once.
The reason was simple. The reward was not worth the time spent on the quest.
But this was a condition that I couldn't refuse.
The final reward is five agents draw tickets?
'How can I refuse this...'
I pressed the 'Yes' button as if I was possessed.
-My child, thank you!
As soon as I pressed the accept button, Kyros said with a touched voice.
'No problem. It's for our few believers.'
Of course, I was going for the reward.
In fact, now that Kyros' power had recovered to some extent, wouldn't I be able to get some draw tickets if I pushed him? But I didn't want to ruin our relationship with a needless gamble.
'It's better to be sure.'
By the way, it was strange that a quest appeared at this time. It was different from the original story.
In HSAW, the Cartel Forest quest appeared when Terdius finished his business in Holden Territory and headed to the next city, near Cartel Forest.
When I first received the 'Cartel Forest' quest, I cleared it, but after finding out that the reward was not satisfying, I just ignored it and passed by.
It was just a sub-quest in the original story anyway.
'If you refuse the quest, you get an annoying debuff called 'Curse of the Dead', but...'
It didn't matter much because the buff duration was only about three hours.
But now, because of a believer's prayer for Kyros, the quest appeared even though I wasn't near Cartel Forest.
'Did I change the plot by interfering?'
Or maybe, the prerequisite for this sub-quest was 'after finishing things in Holden Territory and waiting for a few days'.
Whatever it was, it didn't matter much.
'By the way, if there is a believer who reached Cartel Forest at this point...'
-It must be either Rovel's believer or one of Elyn's few believers.
'That makes sense.'
Right now, Kyros Faith's believers were only that much. Thanks to Rovel's believers who were actively preaching, there were more believers in Elyn too.
Anyway, since I don't have much time, I need to contact Zain first.
"Zain."
[Yes, customer.]
When I called out with my voice training system, Zain's voice came to my ear.
This was possible because Zain became dependent on me through the contract of 'Sacred Book'.
Simply put, it was like a 'whisper' system in games.
But what?
"Customer?"
This kid. He's getting out of hand.
[Oh, no. I mean, Master.]
"That's right. Get two horses ready right now."
It took quite a distance from Holden Territory to Cartel Forest, so I needed a means of transportation.
[Understood. But if you need two horses, do you have a companion?]
"Yep. Of course."
[If you don't mind, can I ask who it is?]
Do I have to tell him?
"Of course, my companion is you, kid."
[...What?]