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

#086Reader Mode

#086

I thought his jaw would drop the moment he laid eyes on it.

To my disappointment, he didn’t seem all that impressed.

“Anyway, this means that if anything happens to me, the Saint will know immediately. Of course, I can also summon the Saint before things even get to that point. Isn’t it incredible?”

“……”

“…It’s alright to be a little awestruck, you know.”

Instead of being amazed, Athanas clenched his teeth.

“…How could you be so reckless, relying solely on that one thing?”

“What do you mean, ‘that one thing’? How blasphemous! This is a holy relic bestowed upon me directly by the Saint himself!”

I was so startled that I nearly leaped out of my skin.

Seriously, how could he be so unfazed by this?

Does he think I’m making this up?

I could understand Athanas’ skepticism, considering there’s no particularly noticeable aura emanating from the relic until it’s activated, as I was informed.

“I get that it might seem unbelievable for someone like me to possess an item capable of summoning the Saint. But I assure you, this really is a holy relic gifted to me by the Saint.”

“…I’m not doubting it because I suspect it’s not a holy relic.”

Then why?

“The thought that I might not have known when you were in danger…”

“No, I already told you, it’s not dangerous! How could I possibly be in any danger while carrying this holy relic?”

“……”

Without a word, Athanas grabbed my other hand.

What?

Then, just like that, he pushed me onto the bed.

Before I could process what was happening, I found myself blinking, both hands pinned above my head.

Athanas whispered to me in a hushed tone, “…Can you still say that now?”

What the hell?

Is he pretending to have won by simply mounting someone who isn’t even putting up a fight?

Is he an idiot?

“No, do you think I’d just be lying here doing nothing if I were in a dangerous situation? I would have resisted long before it even got to this point!”

“Then what do you think would have changed?”

I was about to retort that of course it would have made a difference, but I hesitated.

…What was his strength stat again?

I narrowed my eyes, deep in thought. If I spoke with confidence only to be swiftly overpowered, wouldn’t that be utterly humiliating?

No, in the first place, it’s not like I’m going to engage in a subdue-mission with Andrea.

What matters now is proving that this situation poses no danger to me whatsoever.

I spoke with a confident expression.

“Actually, I have one more hidden trump card that I didn’t mention earlier. It’s something I can use even when my hands are restrained like this. That’s why the current situation isn’t dangerous for me at all. In fact, you could even say it’s advantageous. The enemy will think they have completely immobilized me and let their guard down. Athanas, you thought the same thing, didn’t you?”

“……”

“…Of course, I can’t tell you what that trump card is. Because it’s truly my last hidden ace up my sleeve. It’s not that I don’t trust you. But you never know with people, right? If there’s an enemy who can read memories, just reading one person’s mind would put both of us in danger. So I wouldn’t want to know if you have any hidden cards either. Wouldn’t that be safer for both of us?”

“……”

Athanas stared at me in silence, still positioned on top of me.

The extremely awkward and uncomfortable silence persisted.

“…Um, I’m a little short of breath. Could you please get off me?”

Only then did Athanas let out a small sigh and release my arms.

I got up from the spot, rubbing my wrists.

Wow, he’s really f*cking stubborn…

I would have understood if he had just explained it to me.

Did he really have to assert his dominance by pinning me down like this?

Amidst all of this, I felt a twinge of sadness sensing the difference in our stats. To think that I have to grovel even to Athanas, who’s not even a mid-level unit yet…

“Well, I’m truly sorry for acting without discussing it with you. I got anxious because I couldn’t find any trace of Adelaide even after searching the entire orphanage.”

“…I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to get angry.”

Athanas continued, his tone serious. “But just because you have a way to escape danger doesn’t mean that moment isn’t extremely perilous. So if you think you’ll end up in such a situation, please make sure to tell me. No, just let me know all your destinations beforehand. When, where, what you plan to do…”

…What am I, a village bus?

With a fixed route and schedule?

“How can I know in advance what I’ll be doing that day and tell you? What if the schedule changes? How do I notify you then? And most importantly, what difference does it make if you know?”

“…So I can rescue you in case of an emergency.”

“This will save me in most situations, so it’s not necessary.”

“Don’t put too much trust in that holy relic.”

“If I can’t trust this, then what should I trust?”

“Me…”

“What can one holy knight do in a situation where even the Saint’s holy relic isn’t helpful? What, do you have some amazing hidden ability?”

Athanas shut his mouth tight, as if he was angered by being hit where it hurts.

I let out a deep sigh.

“Athanas, I’m not looking down on you. But if it comes to that worst-case scenario, at least one of us should survive, don’t you think? That’s the rational approach.”

I tucked the holy relic back inside my clothes and gathered my thoughts. “We need to figure out a way to communicate with each other, anyway. Today, I managed to get out by saying I had a prior appointment, but tomorrow I might get stuck and won’t be able to leave. It’d be nice to have a way to let you know not to bother coming.”

“…I’ll come to pick you up at the appointed time.”

“What?”

“I, unable to control my desire to see my lover as soon as possible, will go to where you are.”

Athanas’ expression turned absurdly serious as he continued talking nonsense.

“…And I’ll pace back and forth in front of the door, asking everyone who walks by when they think you’ll come out. Eventually, those people will get fed up and won’t be able to keep you there anymore.”

Is he crazy?

“What in the world are you hoping to achieve by doing that…?”

“I’ll probably hear that I’m blinded by love. Just as we wanted.”

…No, do we really need to combine [Operation: Press Players’ Trigger Button] with [Operation: Rescue Adelaide]? It’s like trying to do the laundry while taking a bath—inefficient and messy.

I replied with distaste. “This plan… it’s better if we hold off for now. I’ll come out tomorrow at this time on my own. So don’t even think about coming to meet me. Got it?”

A lover visiting me every day at my workplace, with that old fool around? Just thinking about the lectures he’d give me made my head spin.

“Is there a reason it needs to be postponed?”

“I want to focus all my energy on finding Adelaide. I need to know where she is.”

Athanas didn’t look fully convinced, but he let it go for the moment.

“Are you certain she’s not at the orphanage?”

“I’ve met all the children there, especially those around 8 to 10 years old. I’ll double-check, but I’ve checked the nameplates in all the rooms. Adelaide wasn’t one of them.”

“How can you be so sure her name wasn’t there?”

…What’s he getting at?

“What do you mean, ‘how’? I read the nameplates. If it’s not there, it’s not there.”

“…Remember, she was known as the Saintess, so she likely has a different name right now. Do you know what her original name might be?”

Oh.

My thoughts halted for a moment. Then I recalled—Apostles have separate baptismal names, don’t they? It was a setting detail absent from the game, so it slipped my mind.

“…I didn’t even consider that.” I said, feeling a flush of embarrassment creep up the back of my neck as I realized I hadn’t accounted for the fact that names change when one becomes an Apostle. It was a recent discovery for me, and I felt foolish for not remembering sooner.

“So, what could her name be now? It wouldn’t be drastically different, would it?”

I had learned that the current Saint’s name was mostly unchanged, save for a single letter, when he became an Apostle.

“It’s difficult to say,” Athanas replied. “Sometimes the baptismal name is similar to the old one, but often it’s something entirely different.”

“Then I’m back to square one,” I sighed. “I’ll have to rely on her physical description and hope for the best.”

Given that her hair and eyes haven’t turned grey yet, she would have black hair and obsidian-like eyes. Although young Adelaide never officially appeared in the game, I was confident I could recognize an 8-year-old version of her immediately.

“For now, I’ll try to get close to the children and ask them questions casually,” I said, formulating a plan.

As I pondered my approach to get them talking about friends who are no longer at the orphanage, Athanas unexpectedly interjected.

“Can we meet briefly before you go to see the bishop tomorrow?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Before 4 AM?”

“Yes.”

“Why at that hour…”

“There’s something I want to give you.”

Can’t you just give it to me at this time tomorrow?

I didn’t understand, but because Athanas looked so serious, I nodded obediently.

He probably wants to give me some kind of amulet before meeting the Othergod’s servant.

There wasn’t much else to discuss after that.

Athanas was in the process of gathering information about the research director, but nothing particularly noteworthy had been found yet. That was all.

As the strategy discussion ended, I quickly flopped onto the bed.

“Fabio?”

“Wake me up later.”

“…Are you sure that’s wise?”

“I woke up at 4 AM today,” I grumbled, eyes closed. “It’s only fair that you let me sleep a little before lunch. You do have a conscience, don’t you?”

Come to think of it, didn’t Athanas always doze off before I even agreed?

He’s truly an outrageous bastard.

“…Fabio.”

Why are you calling me? I was just about to fall asleep.

I sensed Athanas sit down beside me.

…Is he checking to see if I’m asleep now?

In that moment, I felt like if I opened my eyes, our gazes would meet at an uncomfortably close distance. But then I thought, well, I’m just gonna keep them shut. It seemed like a good idea. Maybe Athanas can put himself in my shoes and understand how ridiculous this situation is…

And just like that, I instantly fell into a deep sleep.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

I should’ve known better than to trust him!

I asked him to wake me up once, and he ends up dozing off alongside me? Has he lost his mind?

When I opened my eyes, filled with a sense of foreboding, and saw Athanas’ peaceful sleeping face right next to me, the feeling I felt was…

It wasn’t even late evening yet, but somehow lunch had come and gone without me noticing.

What the hell is Athanas doing at night that he’s sleeping so much during the day?

Normally, missing one meal wouldn’t bother me, but today it felt unacceptable. I had to entertain a bunch of kids on an empty stomach!

Won’t I pass out like this?

But my body, probably used to the physical labor of farming, held up despite the skipped meal as I arrived at the orphanage.

It was a bit embarrassing, though, when my stomach let out a loud growl during playtime with the kids.

Then, a five-year-old kid pulled out a snack from his pocket – leftover from lunch – and offered it to me with flushed cheeks.

“Fabio, have this.”

I’d rather starve to death than eat that.

I watched as he pulled it out of the same hand he’d been wiping his nose with just moments ago.

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to reject the kind gesture, so I accepted and ate the biscuit with a smile.

…I’m just gonna trust in the sterilizing power of stomach acid.

Then the other kids started rummaging through their pockets to give me something. When I received a handful of dried beans that a kid said he’d saved to feed the birds, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Kids, I’m not a pigeon…

There was even a kid who gave me bread that still felt warm.

“…Where did you get this from?”

“I got it from the kitchen!”

“Shh…”

In the end, I ended up doing an impromptu play about why you shouldn’t take things without permission during the afternoon. Andrea, who seemed to have nothing better to do, would watch me play with the kids from a distance and then disappear at some point.

He’s like CCTV.

In the midst of all this, I also asked the kids about friends who had left the orphanage, but I didn’t get any leads on a girl with characteristics similar to Adelaide’s.

If a player had taken Adelaide out, it would’ve been within the last six months, since that’s when I took over this body. But even the kids who’d been at the orphanage since they were babies swore they’d never seen a girl like Adelaide.

Am I misremembering something?

Was she from a different orphanage, not the Cathedral? Or did the game intentionally make it sound different?

…I think checking the registry would be the best way to get to the bottom of this.

But how can I access the registry without arousing suspicion?

Maybe I can offer to help with the workload as a thank you, like I did with Antonio.

For now, I decided to casually bring it up.

…If he’s hiding something, he’ll definitely find a way to shut me out.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The next day at 4 AM.

As soon as I opened the chapel door, a warm, dry breeze hit me in the face.

Did he start a fire?

It was freezing yesterday, after all.

My fingers were so stiff from writing that I kept dropping my pen.

…But I told him it was okay, and yet he still went out of his way to help.

Andrea was nowhere to be seen, as if he’d stepped out for a minute.

I hesitated for a moment before taking off my coat, unsure of what to do next.

What should I do with this?

The item I got from Athanas was a necklace-type reliquary.

You know, that disturbing practice where lovers cut off body parts and store them as keepsakes.

The reliquary with Athanas’ name engraved on it was glowing with a silvery-white light.

…There can’t be something inside, right?