Rise of the OtherGod Apostle: Not a Cult Leader, but a Serf?!

#074Reader Mode

#074

I never expected that reaction from him.

…But I guess it makes sense, considering how harshly I had rejected him every single time before.

Trying to play it cool, I quickly added, “Don’t worry about it if you have other plans.”

“No, I would really enjoy having a meal with you,” Athanas said, rising from his seat, his eyes never leaving mine. “I thought you had an appointment today as well.”

“…Well, the person I usually eat with suddenly told me he’s busy today.”

“Is that so? It’s my good fortune then. Thanks to that, I get to spend some time with you.”

Wow, seriously…

Ever since I started thinking about dating sim games, everything he says sounds like it’s ripped straight from one.

I wish someone would just use Oblivion on me.

I didn’t want to be so hyper-aware of it, but part of my brain kept rendering the whole scene as if it were from [Heretic♡Love: The Apostle of an Othergod Wants to Love!] and it’s driving me absolutely crazy.

The problem is that my point of view feels way too much like the heroine’s perspective.

I mean, come on. The female character who wanted to eat together so badly that she canceled her existing plans, but pretends it was just a coincidence?

That’s totally an event that happens when your favorability rating reaches around 40% in a dating sim.

But seriously, after only inviting him to a meal three times or so, ‘Fabio’ finally approaches while blushing like a schoolgirl…

Isn’t this attack strategy a little too easy?

Well…I guess he was purposely designed to be an easy target.

It’s like those video games – the monsters that look simple and unremarkable are always the weakest, while the ones with intricate designs and all sorts of extras dangling off them are the toughest bastards around.

By that logic, you could say ‘Fabio’ is clearly one of those rabbit-level monsters that populate the areas right outside the village gates.

Meaning he gives off the vibe of being the lowest-grade prey, the kind you could catch just by swinging a stick his way.

He’s like a random passerby character created for that “Even this nobody gets an ending route?!” reaction in a dating sim boasting, [All characters can be romanced!]

Now Athanas, on the other hand…

Just by looking at him, you can feel the weight of his entire scenario bearing down on you.

He’s even a guy who has ‘Heretic Slayer’ as one of his possible futures.

This bastard’s route is on f*cking brutal difficulty and his true ending is definitely a merry bad ending.

He seems like a character so packed with spoilers that even if you only unlock the good ending, your dialogue completion rate wouldn’t even hit 10%.

People probably can’t say much about him without giving everything away, but they’d be frothing at the mouth just to scream his name from the rooftops…

Speaking of Heretic Slayer, his ending was honestly a merry bad ending too.

Lost in thought, I happened to glance over at Athanas again just as our eyes met.

Wow…

First time I’ve ever seen Athanas f*cking smiling.

I wish I could save this as a screenshot…

…But isn’t smiling at me when our eyes meet a sign of interest?

I had that crazy thought for a split second before snapping back to reality.

I told myself to keep an open mind, but now I’m just getting delusional.

Imagine if someone posted a question like:

[Our eyes met and he smiled at me. What should I do if this person confesses their love?]

I would have clicked my tongue, thinking they must have an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex.

“I hope that person is busy tomorrow too.”

“…Why?”

“I’d like to have a meal with you again tomorrow, Fabio.”

…Seriously isn’t this totally hitting on me?

“Haha…” I laughed awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

In my head, two voices started bickering. One insisted, “He must really really hate eating alone!” while the other yelled, “Does that even make sense, you idiot bastard?!”

This is taking up way too much f*cking memory…

If I don’t force quit this crazy [Heretic♡Love] program running in my mind, I’ll be obsessing over it all day.

Let’s just mention what I had thought about earlier at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m glad to hear that. To be honest, I was a bit worried about going around alone after meeting a strange person recently…”

“A strange person?”

“Yes, even though I was clearly wearing a blue fascia, he asked if I could read the doctrine with him.”

I paused for a moment, but Athanas didn’t react much.

“…The thing is, I’m still new to this, so I didn’t know what it meant to be asked to read the doctrine together. Thank goodness I refused, saying it made me uncomfortable. If I had agreed without knowing, it would have been quite embarrassing.”

“Sounds like you had a close call.”

“Haha, definitely. I’ve already pledged my body and soul to serve my Countess. I would’ve almost betrayed her!”

I watched Athanas’s face closely as I said this.

No reaction even after saying that much…

He probably already knew the significance of the blue fascia. And as a holy knight devoted to the God of Order, he couldn’t possibly have chaotic evil tastes like NTR…¹T/N: NTR stands for “Netorare,” a genre of manga, anime, and other forms of media that typically involves themes of infidelity or cuckolding. In NTR stories, one character (often the protagonist) has their romantic partner seduced or stolen away by another character, leading to emotional turmoil and often explicit scenes of betrayal or sexual encounters.

Athanas… you must really hate eating alone that much, huh…?

Come to think of it, the reason Athanas visited the branch library every day was because he was being ostracized. Even though I had only woken him up in passing, he suddenly started sharing his own story…

He must be the type who lacks boundaries because he has so few friends.

…Like a stray dog, wagging its tail happily for any scrap of affection, even if it’s a homeless person that pets it.

Thinking of Athanas’ reaction in that light made my heart ache a little.

I should eat with him tomorrow too.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The lunch spread was a succulent roast duck wafting an intoxicating blend of spices, along with some pickled herring, clam chowder, and fluffy white bread.

I nearly gaped at the massive amount of food Athanas had brought to the table.

If he was born nowadays, he would’ve been a smash hit doing mukbang videos online…²T/N: “Mukbang” is a Korean internet phenomenon where hosts, known as “broadcast jockeys” or “BJs,” eat large quantities of food while interacting with their audience via a live stream or recorded video. The term “mukbang” is a combination of two Korean words: “muk” (먹), meaning “to eat,” and “bang” (방), meaning “room” or “broadcast.”

There probably wasn’t much to eat during the Heretic Slayer timeline, so how did he power through it?

Is that why he always looked so grumpy and never smiled?

Because he was hangry?

Getting an adequate amount of carbohydrates is a necessary condition to stay happy and sane…

“…What kind of person is the Countess?”

“The Countess?”

The random question while I was watching him do mukbang made me buffer for a moment.

The Countess…

She’s the master that ‘Fabio’ sincerely serves.

The one who asked ‘Fabio’, an ordinary serf, to become her exclusive reader…

…Clearly a woman with bizarre tastes?

A noble who picks up a giant centipede near a stream and says, “I’m going to raise this as a pet.”

No matter how you think about it, it’s just plain weird behavior.

But I couldn’t say that to Athanas.

I’ll put it roughly like how Elamin sees Casimir.

“…She’s generous enough to give an undeserving nobody like me a chance to serve her. How could I dare criticize her? She’s my everything. Even if she didn’t care about me at all, I’d still serve her with all my heart. But she even sent me to the Cathedral to get an education and experience new things. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for her kindness.”

“You seem to hold her in extremely high regard. May I ask her name?”

“That…we agreed to keep it secret.”

“I understand. I won’t pry then.”

He’s really glossing it over vaguely.

Maybe it’s some etiquette thing, since hiring a reader is kind of a private matter…?

After that, we just chatted about random stuff.

I was trying to find the right moment to bring up my main reason for being here, but Athanas beat me to it with good timing.

“How can I make amends for soiling your robe yesterday?”

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. They were just some robes they gave me.”

“Still…”

“Well…if it’s really bothering you, maybe you could help me out with a small favor?”

“Of course, I’ll help with anything I can,” he readily agreed.

“It’s nothing much…”

“Please feel free to tell me.”

“Well, I haven’t been at the Cathedral long and there are many places I wish to visit, but going alone seems a bit…”

“I could give you a guided tour if you’d like?”

“If you have the time, I would appreciate that greatly.”

Athanas smiled. “I can probably spare a day or so. Where would you like to go? The pantheon? The bell tower? The grand chapel? If there’s a particular Saint you revere, we could visit sites related to them. The cemetery where saints are buried is always a popular destination.”

I hesitated for a moment.

The smart thing would be to play it safe and tour the typical sights first to avoid raising any red flags…

But time was a luxury I couldn’t afford to waste.

“Actually…I was hoping visit the basement of the branch library, if that’s possible.”

Athanas looked surprised. “The basement… you say? Why do you want to go to such a place?”

I tried to casually see if Athanas might know anything about that area, even if there’s a 0.01% chance…

It’s difficult to tell from his reaction.

His surprise seemed natural enough.

Still, I couldn’t quite shake my suspicions completely.

Deciding to play it off as a silly whim, I said, “Oh, it’s nothing really. I’m just a country bumpkin, you see. Where I’m from, big fancy buildings with basements are practically unheard of. So when I first saw the branch library, I couldn’t stop glancing at the basement entrance, curious about what’s down there.”

“I see…Although I suspect there’s nothing too extraordinary down there.”

“Exactly! That’s why I want to go there first,” I explained. “You know how honey always tastes super sweet, no matter what? But if you eat honey and then take a bite of a carrot, suddenly the carrot doesn’t taste sweet at all. So wouldn’t it be wise to eat the boring carrot first?”

Athanas nodded slowly, looking a bit confused but going along with it anyway. “If that’s what you need, I understand.”

“Thank you! Actually, I could go down to the basement alone, but it’s just so dark down there that I couldn’t muster up the courage.”

“…It’s dark?”

“Well, yeah, of course it’s pitch black since it’s a basement, right? I figured there might be some lanterns around, but there weren’t any.”

“Lanterns…”

Athanas seemed deep in thought for a moment, then nodded again.

“Ah, I see. Yes, I guess having a light source would be necessary for someone not accustomed to dark spaces.”

“Can holy knights see clearly in total darkness without lanterns?”

“We undergo special training to develop that ability.”

They can see in the dark just with training?

I was newly realizing this was indeed a different world.

Is technological progress slower here because they can bypass certain limitations through sheer willpower and training?

“In that case, I’ll bring a lantern with me tomorrow,” Athanas said.

Tomorrow.

It made sense. It would be difficult for a holy knight to just drop everything on such short notice.

I nodded. “That works for me.”

With the shorter winter days, work wrapped up early anyway. Plus, I was still feeling the effects of my sleepless night, so a day of rest sounded pretty great.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

And the next day…

…I arrived first.

Only a handful of librarians were around, busying themselves reshelving books.

I grabbed a book and flipped it open, organizing my thoughts.

The secret space where [Retrograde] is hidden can only be revealed by burning away a specific section of the wooden floor. If someone tried to access it recently, there would definitely be signs left behind.

Even if they managed to replace the entire floor, it couldn’t have been more than a year ago. There’s no way they could hide the fact that it would look brand spanking new.

…If the floorboards are worn out with no traces of fire damage, I’ll “accidentally” drop my lantern today and start a little controlled blaze. If asked, I’ll pretend it was a mistake.

No need to worry about putting it out separately.

I don’t know the exact principle, but in the game, only that particular spot would burn clean. Of course, there’s always the chance that it’s just a regular old floor with nothing hidden underneath. In that case, the flames might spread like wildfire.

But if that happens…

I can always call on the Saint for help.

Sure, it might be overkill, like using Excalibur to kill a chicken, but it’ll get the job done.

And if anyone can confirm the area isn’t suspicious, it’s him. Looking a bit weird to the Saint is a small price to pay for making sure [Retrograde] doesn’t exist down there.

But if the hidden space is real and [Retrograde] is inside when I pry it open…

I was planning to let Athanas take it.

I’d considered claiming it myself, but let’s face it – ‘weak Fabio’ doesn’t have the skills to wield it effectively.

It’d be great for fixing mistakes, hiding, or making a quick getaway, sure. But…

This isn’t a game where I can survive alone just by being good at hide-and-seek if the Order isn’t on top of things.

Athanas might be a bit flustered, but if I explain it right, I might be able to convince him to work with me.

But if persuasion fails…

…I’ll have to report to the Saint that Athanas seems to have gotten his hands on [Retrograde].

Even the most saintly person would have to be on high alert once they understand the power of this ability.

The best way to stop the world from going to ruin is for the Order to get their act together in time.

If I, being immune to mental interference, obtained [Retrograde], there’s a chance they might not really listen to what I have to say because it would seem too suspicious.

They’d probably think the Watched One awakened some weird power thanks to an Othergod.

It should be fine if it’s Athanas since he’s received the Blessing of Order.

And if there’s some secret space with signs of someone being there…

“Sorry I’m a bit late. Shall we head down now?”

Athanas’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

…I should take a look for myself first, then figure things out from there.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

I was hoping to find signs of a player here…

But the moment I saw the burn marks exactly where I expected them to be, it felt like my heart dropped to my feet.

Athanas held the lantern close to the floor, examining the marks with a discerning eye. “These marks… appear to be intentional.”

“Wow, that’s incredible. Doesn’t it look like some kind of secret door?” I put on an excited voice, forcing it a bit.

“I see. But I’m not sure if we should open it.”

“…Wouldn’t it be locked if we weren’t allowed to go in?”

After a moment’s consideration, Athanas felt around the edges of the door, his fingers tracing the warped surface.

The door can be opened once the heat has warped it.

“It’s not locked.”

With a resounding creak that echoed through the room, Athanas lifted the door, revealing a dark space below.

If I’d come alone, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to lift that.

While that thought crossed my mind, Athanas fearlessly climbed down.

“Wait, it could be dangerous…”

“It’s not that deep of a space.”

Just like he said, when Athanas reached up his hand, it poked out from the floor.

Just a bit over 6 feet deep.

I tried to carefully climb down after sitting on the edge, but without a word, Athanas grabbed me by the waist and lifted me down like I weighed nothing.

“…Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

This is… probably the first time someone had lifted me like that since I was around 5 years old.

I shone the lantern around the hidden space.

“What do you think this place was used for?”

The area was small, probably less than 40 square feet, so it didn’t take long to look around.

In the center of the secret basement was a stone coffin, resembling one in appearance but far too small to actually be a real one. It was in this very coffin that [Retrograde] was meant to be kept.

And that stone coffin…

…is already open.

My heart started pounding like crazy.

“Is there… something inside?”