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

#041Reader Mode

#041

Ex… husband? And he’s here in the Cathedral?

Wait, you guys got married, divorced, and still get along?

“To be precise, he was someone I married before converting.” Casimir explained.

“That’s right. Once we took our oaths, everything in our past, including our marriage vows, became irrelevant.”

Ah…so when they both converted, their marriage was considered nullified…

This reminds me of some Buddhist stories I’ve read. Where couples find spiritual enlightenment, convert and leave their worldly lives behind.

Guess that makes sense if they’re both clergy now and why they’re pretty chill about it.

“But even without such vows, my heart belongs entirely to Casimir.”

…Wait, what?

They still have feelings for each other?

No, that’s right. Here, romantic relationships aren’t forbidden.

Not getting married but still being soulmates is technically not against the rules…

But after becoming clergy, isn’t your duty to God supposed to come first? And your spouse second?

“Elamin. You must remember that you’re now devoted to Roklem.”

“Of course. How could I not worship the Lord? After all, He’s the heaven under which Casimir shines.”

“You always see the Lord only through me.”

“That’s because Casimir is my heaven.”

Wow… you’re making such reckless remarks.

“…Even if I say you’re not my heaven, Elamin, and that you’re not important to me?” Casimir retorted.

“Casimir, my devotion isn’t because of your love. Even if your heart doesn’t have room for me, I’ll still serve you with all of mine. Admiring a Casimir who does not consider me important? That’s my unwavering choice.”

“That’s too bad.”

“…Why’s that?”

“It’s a shame because you’ll never experience a Casimir who doesn’t care about you. That’s what I’m saying.”

“You mean…?”

“To me, you are incredibly important. I plan to cherish you in the future as well. My feelings for you won’t change either.”

“……! Casimir!”

Ugh…

This is just cringe-worthy…

I mean, the lovey-dovey talk is one thing, but seeing a bearded grown man get all blushy and teary-eyed? It’s a bit too much.

Please, just let me go and get the f*ck away from me….

If Casimir wasn’t still gripping my shoulder, I’d be halfway to the other side of the room by now.

What the hell was the Saint thinking, dumping me with someone who’s planning to go f*ck her ex? Didn’t he consider that my duties might take a backseat to their f*cking?

It’s not like I don’t matter…

…But then again, do I?

I quickly calmed down from my momentary irritation, realizing my place.

I’m not an important unit or anything, I’m just one among 16 players. At best, I’m the most harmless, and at worst, completely useless.

Back when I played with Mothergod, if I ran into a character with these kinds of stats, I would’ve castrated them immediately for hindering human evolution…

But compared to that, the Saint’s current treatment of me feels quite humane, attentive, even forward-thinking.

Of course, I thought that way because it was just a game.

I would never support a horrific concept like eugenics¹T/N: “Eugenics” is the study or practice of improving or controlling the genetic traits of a human population, typically through selective breeding or other methods, with the aim of enhancing desirable characteristics and reducing or eliminating undesirable ones. Or in MC’s case, castrating them Lol. in real life.

It was just an in-game playstyle for Mothergod, who was all about evolution.

And just to be clear, I only castrated them, never killed.

Anyway.

It’s incredible how quickly humans adapt. Just earlier today, I was trembling, thinking I was going to die.

Now here I am, grumbling about not being the center of attention for a Three-Star unit, despite being personally escorted by someone so high-ranking.

The old saying ‘save a person from drowning and they’ll demand a boat’ really rings true.

One should know their place.

I had to remind myself of that again.

This is a Three-Star we’re talking about. Not someone I can dare to criticize…

“So, how did this kid… Fabio end up becoming a reader?” Elamin asked.

“Why don’t you take a guess?”

Seriously? We’re playing guessing games now?

You’re a Three-Star, for goodness’ sake. Act like it.

“Given that Casimir personally escorted him here…” Elamin mused, thoughtfully stroking his beard.

If the head of the Inquisition’s knights personally escorts ‘Fabio’, he must be from a heretical background. What else could it be?

“…Could he possibly be your new lover?”

“Pardon?!” I gaped in disbelief.

Really? Are we really stooping to such sh*tty jokes now?

Is this some weird display of dominance, like an animal marking its territory in front of a cockroach?

Or maybe they just enjoy using people as extras in their personal romantic dramas…

“That’s right. He’s quite adorable, isn’t he?” Casimir casually agreed, resting her chin on my left shoulder. “Now, don’t get jealous and teach him well. I’m contemplating adding him as my fourth husband.”

Wait, fourth? Who were two and three?

No, that’s not even the main problem here.

Don’t drag me into being your prop for your impromptu drama without asking…!

“Don’t be jealous? That’s too much to ask. But I’ll try. The last thing I want is to be hated by you, Casimir.”

“Me? Hate you? That’s impossible. You’ll forever remain my first, Elamin. If you get jealous, I’ll just find it cute.”

“Casimir….”

Damn, this is even more of a headache than the Adna and Ter melodrama.

This is the kind of sh*t where mental distress compensation feels warranted.

Thankfully, I’ve seen enough of these twisted jokes.

You gotta get serious to shut it down.

Dealing with Casimir’s antics is one thing, but if someone else jumps on the bandwagon, this could drag on forever.

“Um, Commander Casimir?” I cautiously interjected.

“Yes, Fabio?”

“…I know you’re joking, but honestly, it’s making me quite, no, extremely uncomfortable. I’d appreciate it if you could please stop.”

“What? Joking? You’re not actually upset because you’re not the first, are you?”

Don’t f*cking grab my chin with two fingers while saying that.

As my expression soured, Casimir finally backed off, still smirking.

“Seeing how you’re not fond of it, I guess I shouldn’t tease you anymore. I’ll stop here.”

“…Thank you.”

“What? It was a just joke?”

Why does Elamin look so surprised?

I figured he knew Casimir well enough to recognize her sense of humor and was just playing along.

“The part about him being my new lover was completely a joke. Fabio has a complex background… but it’s confidential, so I can’t disclose the details. I’m here with him under orders from above.” Casimir explained.

“Ah… I see. I thought you brought him because you found someone you liked again.”

Again?

Has she done this sort of thing before?

But wait, was the second and third husband thing not a joke either?

“Well, under different circumstances, perhaps he might have been a possibility,” Casimir mused.

I don’t even want to think about it.

This would be a totally f*cked up situation if the genders were reversed.

Imagine a middle-aged male inquisitor scooping up young village women he fancies, turning them into nuns but actually keeping them as secret lovers…

In a world governed by actual gods, how is it allowed for an a*shole like this to exist?

Of course, it’s possible that it wasn’t a kidnapping. Maybe the village girl, smitten with the handsome heretic inquisitor, saw it as a once in a lifetime chance and begged to be taken as mistress with tears, clinging and all. But still, for a clergy member to go along with that is crazy, isn’t it?

This is exactly why Roklem should have banned romance in the first place….

“Anyway, Elamin. Could you get some clothes for Fabio to change into?” Casimir requested.

“Sure. What color fascia should I bring?”

“Let’s go with same blue,” she replied.

Fascia? What the hell is that?

I quickly glanced over at Elamin’s outfit.

The only blue item was a scarf-like fabric tied around his waist.

So that’s a fascia?

It kind of reminds me of the belts worn by guards in those historical dramas.

But why the focus on color?

Colors usually symbolize something, like ranks or roles, right?

Like how cardinal red is symbolic in Catholicism, is blue associated with readers or something?

Is there a different meaning for each color?

Maybe blue’s for heretics…

While I was lost in thought, I saw Casimir hugging Elamin’s waist and whispering in his ear, continuing their flirtation.

Can’t they at least do that when nobody’s around?

Or at least let me have a book to bury my face in.

Standing here like this is just awkward…

“Fabio.” Casimir suddenly turned to me.

“Ah, yes?”

“Do you enjoy baths?”

“Um? Yes, I like them.”

“That’s good, then.”

Why does she care if I like baths?

“Coming from the desert, bathing in water was a strange and foreign concept to me before my baptism. I was asking just in case.”

Did she ask because I’m an outsider to the Order?

But baths?

Maybe it’s because the Plague God hasn’t shown up yet.

The Dark Realm still has bathhouses up and running.

In Heretic Slayer, nobody had bathed for years.

Because the [Plague God] had spread a disease that infected anyone who touched contaminated water, Roklem issued a decree not to bathe unless it was with water provided by the church.

But in a situation where people were becoming mutants from drinking polluted water due to the scarcity of drinkable water, who would dare to use purified water for bathing?

So in Heretic Slayer, regardless of whether one was a clergy, a peasant, or a noble, everyone was filthy.

I just hope that crazy player still obsessed with clearing the game isn’t a chosen Apostle of the Plague God…

The last thing I want is to be stuck in a dirty and disgusting medieval world.

“How about taking a bath before changing into new clothes, if that’s alright with you?” Elamin suggested.

A bath! Finally!

At Elamin’s offer, I could feel my modern self getting excited.

It feels like forever since I’ve had a proper bath!

Only after possessing a serf did I realize how luxurious a warm soak is.

Constantly topping up hot water to keep it warm and getting the temperature just right?

This was a luxury only those with several servants could enjoy.

“I’d love that!” I eagerly replied.

“Right this way to the bathhouse then,” Elamin offered. I followed, trying not to get my hopes up too much.

With these guys, you never know. They might call something totally weird a bath, like with the muscle pain treatment case, so I couldn’t fully relax until seeing it for myself.

But thankfully, the bathhouse was actually a bathhouse.

However, stepping inside stirred a strange sense of déjà vu, like I’d seen this before…

“You can disrobe inside, go on ahead,” Elamin said and pointed the way.

The layout resembled modern bathhouses, but that strange sense of familiarity still lingered as I glanced around.

Maybe they used this huge place for something else after the bath ban?

It must be a place I’ve seen in Heretic Slayer…

“This private bath is yours alone,” Elamin explained.

…Ah, got it.

“It’s your first day with us, so I figured you’d be more comfortable here than in a public bath.”

My eyes kept returning to a marble table featured inside and Elamin noticed.

“Oh, this marble bed is for massages and such. Would you like to have one?”

I quickly shook my head no.

“Really? It’s said to be very relaxing and relieving. Maybe some other time, then?” He offered.

No way.

Absolutely not.

It’s not that I have anything against massages, but not on that thing.

Seeing that bed, it finally all clicked.

Damn, this is [The Infirmary] from the game…

And this place will be used as an operating room in the future.

I can remember some quack doctor tying down helpless patients to this marble bed, hacking away in brutal amputations with no anesthesia. Their agonized writhing and screams as blood sprayed everywhere…

In [Heretic Slayer], this place was a nightmare – dried crimson stains coating all surfaces, the patients’ tormented wails echoing off walls, vacant-eyed doctors roaming in bloodied gowns.

Turns out it originally was just a bathhouse…

Seeing this place so different from how it appeared in-game truly shocked me.

The world can really turn into hell in the blink of an eye.

When playing with the Plague God, the unwritten rule was to start by taking down the [Goddess of Healing]. Now I truly understood the chilling logic behind it.

There were no real doctors in the empire.

And in a way, it made sense too.

Why bother studying medicine when priests could miraculously cure anything?

Like, someone with late-stage liver cancer can get treated by a priest who doesn’t even know what liver cancer is. They just cut open the belly, toss in Ledeia’s maggots, and boom – the maggots would eat away the cancer and turn into new liver tissue. If I could do that, I’d have ditched traditional medicine too.

But if the Goddess of Healing dies, we’re doomed.

With the empire’s medical knowledge amounting to little more than emergency first aid until a priest shows up, who could handle the endless tide of plague victims or let alone the wounded?

And who would even volunteer for such a hopeless nightmare?

…No wonder patients screamed curses – “You damn heretic!” while in pain here.

The only ones with a hint of medical knowledge were the ex-heretics.

And those poor quack doctors swore up and down protesting, “Damn it! I’ve renounced heresy and have been baptized too!”

They were completely overwhelmed.

From the quack’s perspective, it was unfair. They weren’t real doctors, just had a vague idea of what a doctor did, and yet they’re thrown into the impossible medical chaos of treating patients.

This insight really puts the game’s setting into perspective.

Heretic Slayer was set in an apocalyptic world…

But here in the Cathedral, things are so good right now that even a serf like me can fill up a bathtub, enjoy a hot bath, and then just drain it all away…

“Pull this rope for more hot water. Take your time and come out when you’re done.” Elamin said, leaving me to bathe in privacy.

“…Okay.”

This feels strange.

How much does the Order or the Saint really know about all of this?

I mean, I called the situation in Heretic Slayer an apocalypse, but that’s nothing compared to the depraved things Conclude players were up to…