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

#067Reader Mode

#067

Okay, I’ll admit it – my mixed signals might have caused some awkward misunderstandings.

If a female character invites you to her room and coyly whispers, ‘Do whatever you want with me,’ even a goblin like me would think she’s trying to seduce me.

But in that situation, shouldn’t a proper gentleman’s response be more like, ‘A measly goblin trying to seduce me without knowing his place? How unpleasant! Begone from my sight, vile creature!’

Instead, this guy goes, ‘A goblin, you say? Hmm…intriguing.’

Such a strange taste…

Sure, with a charm stat of 30, which is average looks – not hideous but not turning heads either – I guess I’m not totally undateable.

The real issue is that this was only my second time hanging out with Ter. We’d barely spent three hours together if you added it all up. And yet, there he was, all too eager to entertain my imagined indecent proposal!

At that point, doesn’t it mean he has zero standards?

And he’s not just some priest but a holy Apostle for goblin’s sake!

“No, it’s not that I’m disappointed in you, Ter. It’s just a result of my ignorance.”

“…You can be honest with me.” Ter replied.

Ugh, it’s so annoying being around a guy who can see emotions.

I tried to fake how I felt, but then it hit me.

Should I even keep trying to level up my relationship with this guy?

I sneaked a glance at Tertius.

His face was beet red and he still couldn’t look me in the eye.

He looks completely mortified.

Well, I guess from Ter’s view, he just got an unsolicited love confession from a stat 30 charmer…

And it wasn’t even triggered by maxing out favorability first.

I decided to smooth things over.

“I’m serious Mr. Ter. I really don’t have any bad feelings towards you. I’m just… confused, that’s all. I need some time to gather my thoughts and make sense of this new situation.”

Rubbing the back of my neck, I went on.

“How should I put this… It’s like being told that you can suddenly eat bricks when you’ve spent your entire life believing it was impossible. It’s as if someone casually said, ‘Hey, what’s the big deal? Bread and bricks are practically the same. They’re both made from dough and baked, right?’ No, wait, it’s more like discovering that the very buildings we live in are actually constructed from giant loaves of bread…”

Even to my own ears, I was starting to sound crazy.

“More than anything, Mr. Ter, if you had known that my intentions were pure, you would’ve stopped immediately, wouldn’t you?”

“…Of course.”

“Then why would I be disappointed in you? From now on, I’ll be more cautious to avoid any such misunderstandings. I’m confident that this will never happen again.”

“…Never?”

“Making a mistake when you don’t know any better is one thing, but knowingly repeating it after gaining an understanding would be unacceptable. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve learned from this experience, and I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

I can still see Elamin’s face in my mind, looking at me like, ‘The hell am I gonna do with this idiot?’

Seriously, this is really humiliating…

Adna turned to me, her eyes searching mine as she asked a question, “Fabio, if you find yourself in a situation where another man approaches you with sexual intentions, how will you handle it now?”

I didn’t even hesitate. “I will refuse.”

“And what’s your reasoning behind that decision?”

“Pardon? Well… it’s simply because I don’t want to? Even though I know it’s possible now, it’s not something that’s ever crossed my mind before, so I have no desire to do it. And I believe that responding to such feelings would be disrespectful to the other person.”

“What if the person making advances towards you is a woman?”

“Hmm… I would have to turn her down as well. Honestly, I think it would be irresponsible to have such intimate contact with others when I don’t even know what kind of entity’s blessing is currently on my body.”

“Even if she’s a high-ranking member of the clergy who would be unaffected by such matters?”

…The only high-ranking clergy member I know of is Adna herself.

Oh right, there’s Casimir too.

Saying yes now would be like stepping on a landmine, wouldn’t it?

Imagine asking a homeless guy, ‘How would you feel if the princess of this country was into you?’

And the beggar goes, ‘The princess? Oh my, just thinking about it feels good!’

From Her Highness’ view, wouldn’t she feel disgusted? Thinking, ‘How dare a bum like you even fantasize about being with me?’

“Still… how could I possibly dare do such a thing? It’s not something that should ever happen.”

Adna just stared at me, not saying a word.

…Crap, did I set off a bomb after all?

“Well, to be really honest, I find such matters a bit unfamiliar and uncomfortable…”

“…I feel the same way.”

“You do, Adna?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

Phew, I knew it. If I had responded with a casual ‘Sure, why not!’ just now, a landmine would’ve gone off for sure.

“That’s a relief. Being an outsider to the Order, I was worried that I might be the odd one out. I’ve been agonizing over whether I should just get used to it even if I don’t like it…”

“You should never feel forced to engage in anything that makes you uncomfortable, Fabio.” Adna’s words carried a reassuring warmth even with her stone-cold poker face.

Apparently, me not being interested in that stuff made Adna ease up a bit.

“If anyone persists in harassing you after you’ve made your boundaries clear, tell me immediately. I’ll take care of them for you.”

“Adna…”

No wonder Ter’s love remains unrequited despite his desperate pining.

Adna is just as much of a steel fortress in that department.

A playboy and an iron-walled maiden…

That combo is forever destined to be parallel lines, unless the guy has some serious self-reflection and approaches her sincerely.

I glanced over at Ter again.

Judging from his gloomy face, he seemed super worried that this whole fiasco had tanked Adna’s opinion of him.

“…And that applies to that man over there as well,” Adna remarked, her gaze flickering towards Tertius. “He claimed he was unaware. It won’t happen again.”

“Haha…”

I really feel like a side character in a ‘90s rom-com manga.

What Adna just said – that’s 100% what a tsundere female lead would declare while brandishing her fist. ‘If that creep bothers you again, you tell me! I’ll teach him a lesson!’

Of course, if Adna actually throws that punch, the wall will collapse and the floor will cave in…

But honestly, is this the right time for you two to be starring in a romantic comedy?

It’s absurd when you really think about it.

There are only 50 days left until the stars align and heaven splits open.

Supposedly, the only ones in the know about Othergods are the Apostles and the Knight Commander of the Heresy Inquisition.

So shouldn’t they be super busy right about now?

…Could it be that Mother God spent her clear points on something like [Intelligence Debuf for All Church of Order Members]?

Otherwise…

“Sir Pell, pardon me, but is this really all there is to our important discussion?”

“Yes, that covers the essentials. Is there anything else that piques your curiosity?”

“No, not at all. I’ve had my fill of surprises for one day.”

I’m genuinely shocked by how short-sighted these guys are.

Is this really the time to be fretting over a goblin’s lack of knowledge about human hookup culture?

Is this truly the kind of convo three Apostles should be having when the fate of the world is at stake?

“If that’s the case, may I take my leave? I think I need some time to reflect on everything I’ve learned today.”

“Of course.” The Saint gave me a gentle smile. “And even after you leave, don’t hesitate to call upon me whenever you find yourself in need. Whether it’s because you yearn to delve deeper into your past life, have other pressing questions, or even for a reason as trivial as wanting to see my face.”

As I listened to the Saint’s words, a bunch of questions I wanted to ask were right on the tip of my tongue.

But in the end, the only thing that actually came out of my mouth was:

“…Don’t you have a very busy schedule as the Saint?”

“As I told you before, I have plenty of free time.”

How the hell do you still have so much downtime?

“Don’t the other Watched Ones take up your time? It seems like you would be busy just with that.”

“Even so, Fabio, I can always make room in my schedule for you.”

…He’s not dropping any hints at all.

I thought I might be able to sneakily suss out info like how many ‘Watched Ones’ had joined the church or what the current situation was…

Looks like I’ll have to take a more direct approach.

“If it’s possible… could I reach out to the other Watched Ones to ask them something?”

It’s only natural for ‘Fabio’, who’s totally lost after hearing about ‘Perpetua’, a past life he has zero memory of, to think of the other ‘Watched Ones’ who may have gone through the same mind trip.

If the ‘Watched Ones’ aren’t allowed to know each other’s identities, wouldn’t it at least be possible to chat while staying anonymous?

“As I said before, meeting them would be difficult.”

“I’m not saying I want to meet them directly. If I could just pass along a letter or some questions…” I tried to argue.

“That would also be an issue.” The Saint shook his head.

“…Didn’t you say I could ask about anything I was curious about?”

“Fabio, if it’s something that would benefit you to know, I will gladly tell you.” The Saint flashed me a saccharine smile. “But I’m not answering because that’s not the case here.”

…So you’re straight up telling me you have no intention of answering.

But it was the response I expected.

Even if ‘Fabio’ is ignorant, he’s still a ‘potential contractor of an Othergod’. A chosen heretic.

There was no reason to reveal the church’s secrets to someone like that.

I nodded.

“Thank you for your consideration!”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Consideration my a*s!

I dunked my head under the bathwater and let out a muffled scream.

Damn it, I thought I was gonna lose it from the sheer frustration.

Constantly having to censor my own thoughts because there’s a bastard who can see emotions – I swear my brain was about to short-circuit.

…Even if I try to have some me-time with my own thoughts in my room, that invisible door still leaves it wide open.

So here I am, hiding out in the bathhouse. At least in a private bathroom, I can shut the door and actually be alone.

Okay, let’s try to sort out this mess in my head.

The Saint has no clue what a player is.

And he thinks the play logs are real-life events.

…Which means to the Saint, the other players must seem like people who have memories of destroying the world over and over.

How would the Saint have reacted when those kinds of people said they wanted to join the Order?

Did he let them in, but not really buy into what they were saying because he couldn’t trust them?

Or maybe it’s just that info about ‘players’ can’t even reach the Saint due to some system restrictions.

What if the players tried to explain multiple times but kept failing…

…Then are the limitations on the players’ end?

“Hey System, are there any rules against explaining about the game to NPCs?”

Radio silence from the System.

“System, how much intel about players can the Saint access?”

Again, nothing.

“System, how can I get the scoop on other players?”

No response.

“System, what happens if I say another player’s username? Does the whisper function kick in?”

Crickets…

No matter what I asked, the System was giving me the cold shoulder.

Some help you are.

I slid deeper into the water, blowing frustrated bubbles.

…Should I just risk it and start name-dropping the usernames I know?

I mulled it over for a long time but ultimately decided against it.

What if the first person I ping is the psycho who’s still hell-bent on clearing the game?

Just knowing my username might be enough for them to pull some stunts.

In a world where names hold significant meaning, it might be possible to mess with someone just by knowing their handle.

Above all, the other players probably didn’t start off with an incompetent unit like ‘Fabio’…

…I feel like I’m the only one doing a free-to-play run while everyone else is whaling.¹T/N: In the gaming industry, the term ‘whaling’ refers to a specific type of player or customer who spends a significant amount of money on in-game purchases or microtransactions without even blinking an eye. These individuals are often referred to as ‘whales’ because they represent a small portion of the player base but contribute a large portion of the game’s revenue, much like how whales are a small but important part of the ocean ecosystem.

Anyway.

I can always shout out gamer tags later, so I can revisit that idea if other methods don’t work out.

My mind wandered off again.

If I were a player who turned to the church first…

How would I have tried to send a message to other players?

…I’d leave a note somewhere only players would know to look, using a code only players would understand.

Gamers are used to these kinds of puzzles.

The code doesn’t have to be super complex.

You could just write something that only someone with Earth common sense would get.

Like leaving the next clue in a place Santa Claus frequents…

Even if locals stumbled across a clue with that line, they’d never guess the answer is ‘chimney’.

Even someone who’s not the sharpest tool in the shed could come up with this kind of riddle on the fly.

And as for a spot only players would know…

It’d be a place with a hidden item.

A place any gamer would 100% want to scope out.

If it’s that kind of place…

It would be the secret room with the Retrograde.

The underground basement of the branch library.

The one I was about to check out but didn’t.

At the time, I bailed because I thought someone might be watching.

Of course, in hindsight, that was a dumb thing to worry about.

If those Apostle bastards were actually doing their job that well, I wouldn’t be having these thoughts right now…

If there are no signs of something being torched near the basement door, I can assume I’m the only player who can roam free in the Cathedral.

But if there are scorch marks…

There’s a 99.9% chance it was a player’s doing.

The reason I didn’t say 100% is because there’s a 0.1% chance Athanas did it.

Obviously, the odds of Athanas having memories of Heretic Slayer are basically zilch.

Because if he was that heretic-slaying butcher, there’s no way he’d look all sad and dejected after hearing I won’t have lunch with him.

…Come to think of it, I don’t really have a reason to avoid Athanas now, do I?

I was keeping my distance in case I ran into another player, but now I’m in a situation where I actively need to seek out other players.

The Saint probably won’t know who Athanas is either…

I guess I should try asking him to grab a bite together first thing tomorrow.