Chapter 21 – Isolation Zone (2)

The moment the city gate opened, no monsters came bursting out. Of course, the ‘player’ party that had gone in ahead would have taken care of them. Sure enough, the area in front of the gate was a mess of minced meat, with no space to step.

“A disgusting sight.”

Irian, who had entered first because he had opened the gate, turned his head away from the sight of the mountain of corpses and the stench that stung his nose.
The rest of the group who followed silently observed the hellish scene unfolding before their eyes. They observed the fragmented bodies, recorded them in writing, and sketched them in drawings.

The elites of the Order were not simple-minded or ignorant. Only those who had their talents and abilities recognized throughout the world where the Order’s influence reached could come to the central Order located in the Holy Nation of Hespote.

“Hmm. Their swordsmanship is quite something. Though, of course, not as good as mine.”
“I concur, brother. Still, to cut them so cleanly, they’re quite skilled. Look at this. They’ve sliced it in two with a single blow?”
“Oho! This is getting exciting! We can’t lose to those Empire bastards. I’ll cut them in two with a single blow as well.”

…Of course, the Holy Knights were an exception.
In this violent world, no matter how much flowery language the Order spouted, they didn’t demand erudition from the Order’s sword, the Holy Knights, the Order’s military force. Being faithful and good at fighting was enough.

“There’s hardly any bodily fluid. And the blood that is there is dark red and highly viscous.”
“Their appearances are all different. It’s peculiar.”
“Looking at the cut surfaces, the insides have hardened. Is this also a characteristic of the monsters?”

Fortunately, the trainee priests diligently continued their observations, recording their findings in reports. The sight of them rummaging through and analyzing the corpses wasn’t exactly… pleasant, though.

“Seeing that they react to divine power even in death, they are definitely seeds of evil.”
“So, it’s the work of demons after all. Those cruel bastards.”

I felt sorry for the priests who were trembling with anger, but this wasn’t the work of demons. Or rather, it should be said that it wasn’t what the demons intended. Well… this isn’t the modern era, and it’s not like we’re going to ask the demons about their intentions before beating them up, so it doesn’t matter. In this world, the common sense is to beat up demons without question.

“Let’s go inside. Before the Imperials destroy everything.”
“The problem is those heretics from the Apostle Church, not the Imperials. They’ve joined hands with the Imperials and followed us all the way here, they say. Honestly.”
“Heavens. Are there such unfaithful people? The Empire has been following the Holy Spirit for a long time, yet they’re with heretics. It’s deplorable.”

We’re not really in a position to say that, considering we came all the way here with those heretics, all chummy-chummy.
It was obvious that saying it would only earn me glares, so I swallowed it down. By the way, what is that player thinking? Leading the Apostle Church group all the way here.
I don’t know if the player persuaded them or if the Apostle Church people just latched on, but it’s unlikely that a player who can use the status window wouldn’t recognize Lilis.

Even though he was a jerk, the player didn’t seem like a moron. It’s obvious that if he saw a heroine-level beauty in the Apostle Church group, he would at least wonder and check her status window.
Could this be some quest I don’t know about?

One of the reasons I didn’t get tired of this shitty game was its randomness.
As I explained before, just like how a random personality is added to the fixed basic personality of an NPC each time you start a new game, randomness is also applied to events and quests.
Of course, the main quest’s big picture is similar. If that changed randomly, the game’s story would go off the rails. However, there was quite a bit of randomness in the minor parts, causing small changes.

Especially in the case of sub-quests, you never know what kind of event or quest will occur each game. Some appear, some disappear, which is enough to drive a person crazy.
This is why, even if I didn’t know about this event where the Apostle Church appears, I can’t conclude that it didn’t exist in the game.

It’s possible that I just didn’t know about it, and it might have appeared when another player played. No matter how much I’ve played the game, it’s possible that it never appeared due to the low probability of a random quest, or that the quest existed but I missed it.

‘Still, the quest itself hasn’t changed, so it doesn’t matter if the Apostle Church people are here or not. The problem is who finds the secret location first, since it changes every time.’

The location changes every game, so it’s a part that requires grinding. If I were thinking about safety, I would have to lead the group and search one by one… but because of the player and the Apostle Church people, I can’t just take it easy and go for safety.

“There’s a monster in front.”

I was lost in thought and noticed it late.
A monster with a hunched back like a hunchback was rushing at us, raising its sharp claws. The sight of its purple eyes glowing, its bizarre appearance, and the grating sounds it made were quite threatening, but.

‘Holy Strike’

At the same time as I sent a mace made by condensing divine power flying, a barrage of divine power masses poured down all at once. Soon, there was a flash of light, and the monster’s body was shattered into pieces.

‘Nothing special.’

In the first place, I’ve been living with the ‘Saint’ trait for 16 years, so if I were to be defeated by a low-level mob like that, I should just quit the game. No matter how much my physical abilities have declined, that’s just my real body, not the current ‘Yurian’ body… wait?

‘Could it be that the clumsy trait was created because of that…? Nah, that can’t be.’

Considering my excellent physical abilities when I was young, there’s no way that’s possible.
…Why am I crying?

“Each individual isn’t that threatening. Although the danger level varies from individual to individual, it’s not high.”

After a few light battles, the danger level of the monsters was assessed.
It would be dangerous for ordinary people, but that was about it. Now that I’ve got a grasp of things, I need to decide on a direction.

‘What should I do? Go for stability? Or go faster?’

I glanced at the place where my gut was sending danger signals, and a small monster was rushing at me. It was born from the body of a child, so it didn’t even reach my waist, but it looked bizarre.
After smashing it with divine power, my thoughts became clear.
Let’s go fast.

“Sir Jacob.”
“Hmm?”
“How about we split up the group? It seems that the monsters aren’t that threatening, so let’s search quickly. There’s definitely something here.”

I met his gaze head-on with confidence.
Originally, the proper way would be to carry out the quest step by step and find out that there’s a secret hidden here. But if the ‘player’ decides to skip the intermediate steps, I’m the only one who’ll look like a fool for following the proper way.

Of course, it’s possible that he might unexpectedly search for clues one by one, but so what?
I’m going to take the easy way. Finding clues isn’t that important to the story anyway.
Above all, a feeling close to certainty tells me that the player is thinking the same thing as me. Where would the Korean trait go? Get results quickly and grow, that’s all.

“If you say so, then there must be something. Good. How do you want to divide the group?”
“I’ll leave that to Sir Jacob.”

It’s good that he trusts me, but I felt like this old geezer was testing me, so I subtly backed off.
I hate smart people. It’s hard to use my brain.
Under Sir Jacob’s leadership, the group scattered. It seemed that he was mostly concerned about the balance of the Holy Knights and priests, so I had to separate from Diana, who was also a priest.

Before scattering, I quickly waved my hand at Diana, who was looking at me with a pitiful expression and moving her lips, and then turned my body. It would be weird if she tried to follow me.
Even though we’re childhood friends and the saint and guardian who have no choice but to stick together, there’s a limit.

Until now, there hadn’t been much talk because of this reason, combined with the image I had built up and the protection of the high-ranking members of the Order who had experienced the saint’s tantrums when she was separated from me in childhood, but I always had to be careful.

If a grown man and woman are too close, especially if it’s a saint who must be pure, it’s inevitable that people will notice. You have to be even more careful when there are many eyes watching.
Since Sir Jacob is with her, there’s no need to worry about safety, and it’s not like that stiff Holy Knight grandpa is going to rush at her, calling her ‘Saintess~’, so there’s no need to worry about the men either. Perfect.

“Walk faster.”

As I was nodding to myself, Irian, who had become my companion, scolded me for no reason. Is he sulking because he’s separated from Diana?

“Carry me on your back then.”
“You crazy bastard.”
“Like it’s something new.”

It’s a combination of Irian, who is said to have the potential to become the strongest Holy Knight in the future, and who is actually quite skilled now, and me, who has divine power comparable to the saint. Thanks to that, there are only two people in our group. Well, it’s convenient.
As I followed him, I realized that this wasn’t right.

“It’s not that way. Let’s go this way.”

He was clearly walking without thinking. I followed Irian, who seemed to be walking just because there was a path, and realized that I couldn’t keep going like this, so I changed the route. If I followed Irian, I would just walk, catch monsters, walk, catch monsters, and repeat endlessly.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. We have to look around everywhere anyway, right?”

This idiot. He’s not stupid, but the problem is that he doesn’t use his brain.

“They say that if you’re ignorant, your hands and feet suffer, sigh.”
“Are you calling me ignorant right now?”

I ruffled Irian’s hair as he growled, and he made a fuss, yelling ‘Kyaak kyaak’.

“People have to think. Don’t you know me yet? Do you really think I’d investigate this wide area until my feet are blistered? Just follow me.”
“……Lead the way.”

It seems that investigating the entire isolation zone, which is wider than I thought, is annoying.
Since there’s no one to watch, should I try a little trick?

What was the reason I chose the priest class in the first place?
It was because I kept failing every time I tried to raise a combat class in this shitty game that demanded physical abilities despite being a dot game, wasn’t it?
That’s right.
I’ve played this shitty game dozens… no, not dozens. Hundreds of times.

After hundreds of attempts, I realized, ‘Ah, with my physical abilities, I can’t do melee classes,’ and then I tried ranged classes. I tried everything from archers to mages and despaired again.
And finally, I settled on the flower of the priest class, the healer.
When I first started, I think I decided to form a party with heroines and become a cheerleader. But somehow, my party members are quite weak.

Diana and Irian. And Karsilla… I need to raise her more for now. In many ways.
Besides them, Renga Taiga is ambiguous, and it’s questionable whether Lilis will even join. Hmm. I’m short on party members.
I’ve digressed, but the important thing here is that.

I’ve played the new game hundreds of times.
No matter how random it is, the game’s capacity isn’t infinite, and of course, there’s a limit.
How many times have I done this quest while playing hundreds of times? The Irup Lowlands are essential for farming after the early stages, so of course, I’ve done this quest countless times.

Especially since this quest is an important turning point where the player first meets the main heroines, the saint and Irian, the details may change slightly, but it has always existed, so my memory of it is even clearer.
In short, I know from experience roughly where the secret locations are created.

‘If I look around about 5 or 6 places, it should appear, right?’

I’ll look around the places that appear often, and if it’s still not there, I’ll go to some more minor places. There’s no way the player will be faster than me, right? How many times have I restarted until now?
I confidently moved my feet, then stopped.
…Wait. How do I find the places I know? How did I find them in the game?

‘I found them by looking at the mini-map. …Mini-map? World map? M?’

Shit. Of course.
There’s no way my life would be that easy. Why doesn’t this shitty game support a mini-map? Damn real-life system.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going?”
“…Wait a minute. I’m finding the way.”
“What? It’s all a path, what are you finding? Just walk along the path.”

I stared at Irian’s face, then turned my head away.
There are people you can trust, but if I ask Irian to find the way, he’ll never find it. Sigh, my fate.

“What was that look just now? I feel bad.”
“It’s your imagination.”

He’s twitching his nose, but I just looked at him, what can he do? He can only turn his head away in a huff because he feels bad.
I looked around to find a building to use as a landmark.
It’s a slum, so there aren’t many tall or big buildings. Is that building in the distance the meeting hall? The location of the meeting hall on the mini-map was… slightly east of the center.

Then this place is… roughly around here? Then I should look around from here.
I figured out the location by drawing a mini-map in my head, and as I started walking again, I couldn’t help but laugh at Irian’s actions of following me, making loud thumping noises with his feet. He’s cute, so cute.

“Why are you laughing so creepily?”

Irian, who was grumbling, probably doesn’t know. That underwear from last time, I still have it. When should I return it? It’ll be fun to think about how I’ll tease him while returning it. It won’t be boring.

“Why are you laughing, it’s annoying.”