Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

I made my way out of the ensuing fight as quickly as I could. Between the panicked Aspirants and the general chaos of the situation, it wasn’t hard to lose myself between the various winding streets and low walls despite my gaudy outfit. Yet even in the ensuing chaos, I noticed someone staring at me as I was running away.

Off in the side, up a small hill, gathered a group of a few hundred new arrivals. These Aspirants weren’t integrated into either the B or the A group yet, having just arrived at Pandora for less than 12 hours, and were acting as interested spectators to my orchestrated play. They, like the people who have yet to arrive, will be brought into the fold soon enough in the coming days, but that wasn’t what caught my interest.

Among the spectators was a man I recognized, not because I knew him from my past, but because he was the priest that Jae-Hyun wanted me to recruit at all costs. I had made it a priority to find him prior, but he must have only arrived now with this new batch. The timing was a little off of what the Regressor predicted, but given how many changes were made in this timeline, discrepancies would naturally appear as more time passes.

I wonder what Jae-Hyun will do when he can’t rely on his past knowledge anymore, but knowing him, he probably has 15 different plans in place for such an inevitability. Thankfully we’re still early in the Trials and we could rely on his foresight for a bit longer.

I refocused my attention on the priest, and I swore I saw him smile at me when our eyes met. But there’s no way that he would have any insight about what had happened, I was almost completely sure that he wasn’t even here for longer than a day… right? Then again, what use was there for common sense when it came to people who had interested the Regressor?

Either way, at least I knew that he was in the town, so I’ll have to make some time to make proper introductions, but not now. After organizing everything that had happened in the last few days, I was thoroughly tired and needed a little break. I quickly changed back into my normal clothing and finally slumped down in exhaustion.

Vadeem, Noel, and Jae-Hyun should be busy for a while longer sorting out the mess that I had created, and Yoona and the twins should be well on their way to help out now. That left me with some time all to myself.

Now I could have sworn I had to do something when I had the chance to relax for once, but I couldn’t remember what it was for the life of me. I’m pretty sure that it was important as well.

Hey, Noe, you remember what it was I was supposed to do?

“Negative, my Host,” she answered.

I felt my muscles ease and relax just hearing her voice.

Noe continued in that lulling tone, “But I am sure that it is not important if you cannot recall. I would suggest that the Host take this time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. There is a lovely bench around the corner for you to soak up the sunshine.”

Yeah… that wasn’t a bad idea.

I followed Noe’s advice and found the bench in question. It overlooked a gentle stream that curved its way out into the horizon, and I just bathed in the sunlight for a little while. All the tension and stress just seemed to melt away. I’m sure that I’ll remember what I had to do later on.

I must have dozed off at some point because the sun was setting when I looked up again. I was just about to get up to move my aching body when I saw that someone had taken the seat beside me. And it was that creepy priest.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“I believe so,” he answered simply as he stared off into the horizon, “But let’s enjoy the sunset for now.”

“Yes, we should,” I answered calmly, “It is a lovely time of day.”

I was so used to dealing with insane people that I kind of expected something like this to happen. If the man just wants to watch the sunset while being super creepy, then let’s just watch the sunset and be creepy together.

And so the two of us just stared off into the distance and watched as the sun dipped below the horizon and dusk’s cool air washed over us. It was a pretty sight, I’ve always liked the twilight haze.

“Thank you for allowing me this moment of calm,” he finally said, “it is rare to see a kindred soul so far from home.”

Ok, so I’ve no idea what he’s speaking about, but my weeks of dealing with Noel had taught me a thing or two about these types of people. Let’s put that valuable practice to use. I’m a different man now that I’ve been dealing with constant random bullshit!

“It is indeed, I was hoping to see someone with the same mentality here,” I answered with the creepiest smile I could muster, “What brings you to my neck of the woods?”

He returned the smile and I swear he was trying his hardest to out-creep me at this point, no one could force their lips to move in such an unnerving manner. I saw a strange light pass through his eyes as he smiled even harder.

“I wanted to introduce myself after seeing your beautiful performance tonight,” he answered with a whisper, “it was beautifully done.”

So he somehow knew I was responsible for everything that happened, even though he wasn’t even here when I first set up most of my plan. That’s fine, it’s not the strangest thing I’ve seen so far.

“Ah, you liked that little play of mine?” I said casually, “Not many would understand the artistry behind my actions.”

He nodded, “But I can understand your actions, Walter.”

Yup, and he even knew my name. Fine, if you want to be so damn eerie, I can be as well.

“Thank you, Father Marcus,” I answered, “It saddens me to see so many who do not understand what I do.”

“Yes, the masses need a symbol of hope and clear leadership to grow in these trying times. The Lord’s trials will push everyone to their limits, and I fear that many would not make it if not for your actions.”

I nodded, “But I fear my actions will not be enough.”

“No,” he agreed, “but that is why you were seeking me out, was it not?”

I turned towards the priest and looked at him fully for the first time. Let’s see what I can see with my Rookie Arbiter skill first.

Class: Priest of Profane Promises (S Class Support)

Description: ???

Strange… I couldn’t see his full information.

“Ah, my apologies,” he said, “Here.”

Class: Priest of Profane Promises (S Class Support)

Description: Lead the masses into the Promised Land, let them hear what they want to hear, and see what they desire to see. You will rescue the common folk from their feeble lives with the Promises of the Profane.

Goddamn it, why was everything he does so uncanny? Not even the Regressor could tell that I was looking at his information, but not only did this man know about it, but he could somehow stop my title’s skill from working. Yet he just allows me to view it anyway?

“Thank you,” I answered sincerely, “And yes, this is why I sought you out, although you beat me to it it seems.”

He laughed jovially, “I do like to take the initiative at times, but I feel like the Lord has chosen to guide me to you for this particular meeting.”

“Then it is good to finally meet you, Father,” I said and extended my hand in greeting.

He took the offered hand and shook it. However, I could swear that I felt a slight movement under his skin as I shook his hand. It was so weird that I had inadvertently twitched the feelers that were hidden in my palms.

A look of shock filled his face as he felt the strange sensation, and he burst into laughter. His face and body started to move as if thousands of insects were crawling just under his skin, and I was honestly afraid that he would burst into something horrible if he didn’t stop laughing.

“I apologize, Walter,” he said at last, and I saw that the last of the weird movements stopped as he composed himself, “But I never thought that we would be so similar. Yes, I believe that we will get along splendidly!”

I matched his madness and laughed as well, “Yes, indeed!”

His laughter stopped abruptly, “But you are not the sole leader of this operation.”

I nodded, “Yes, our Guild is run by another. I merely help out in the shadows.”

“A noble cause,” Marcus replied, “One that I will surely help with, but let us go meet your master first. I wish to see the organization that I will be a part of in the future, and if it will meet my needs.”

“I’m sure they will,” I assured.

Yup, let’s let the Regressor deal with this new lunatic since he seems so keen on collecting them. But I will admit that as creepy as this priest was, he possessed abilities that not even Jae-Hyun had. I can’t even imagine what else he could do, especially considering what I just witnessed earlier. I don’t think I wanted to know the full extent of that particular ability of his, however.

I quickly sent a message to the Regressor letting them know that I had Marcus coming over to meet the rest of the gang. I wasn’t sure if Jae-Hyun wanted him to meet his sister so soon, so I didn’t message the rest of the guild members. He could bring whoever he thought appropriate.

He immediately agreed to meet us back at the guild headquarters, instructing me to lead him to that underground meeting room. I guess he wants Yoona introduced to him after, maybe force him to keep his horrible uncanniness in check before he scares the crap out of the teens. Normally, I would be against keeping Yoona and the twins in the dark for this long, but I’ll make an exception for this dude.

“My leader has agreed to see you,” I said to him, “If you would please follow me, I’ll take you to our headquarters.”

Marcus nodded gently and walked with me to the guildhall. We took our time, and while I wanted to say that we enjoyed the beautiful dusk atmosphere, I would be lying. He hovered just about a step or two back, never walking with me or in front of me, and he stayed completely silent. All I could feel was a pair of eyes staring into my back, right through me. Holy shit I couldn’t be more glad to get away from this man.

Where the fuck does the Regressor find these goddamn weirdos? I tried to outweird him but it was clearly futile.

Marcus never said a word even when he saw the strange building appear out of nowhere, and never asked me how we were able to afford to purchase this plot of land in the first place. It was like he either knew the answers to all of these questions or simply didn’t see the point in asking. I suppose it was nice that I didn’t have to talk to him any more than I needed, but surely he would be curious about something.

But no, he continued in utter silence even when we arrived at the underground meeting room. He naturally took one of the seats by the table and patiently waited for the Regressor to come. Thankfully Jae-Hyun didn’t make us wait too long, and he brought the usual gang with him as well.

Marcus greeted Vadeem, Noel and the leader kindly in turn, before putting his creepy smile back on as he waited to see what Jae-Hyun had to say.

 

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