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

#093Reader Mode

#093

He can’t even say who he made the promise to?

I racked my brain, trying to piece together the clues buried in Athanas’ cryptic silence.

Just a few hours ago, when he handed me the reliquary, he wasn’t this haggard.

What could have happened in such a short time?

Sure, it was dark then, and I might have missed something, but…

One thing I knew for sure: he didn’t look this drained when he slept beside me yesterday.

“Can’t you at least tell me who you made this promise to?”

“…I made the promise to myself.”

“What?”

“Because no matter how hard you try, you can’t run away from yourself.”

What are you saying?

A promise to himself?

Isn’t that just a fancy way of saying he made a resolution?

“Hmm… So you’re saying you’ve made a promise to yourself not to burden others with your worries?”

Athanas nodded, leaving me feeling a bit stumped.

… Couldn’t he just say he decided not to whine about his problems to other people?

I had been worried he might have run into some nutjob or got himself cursed. Actually, come to think of it, he looked about this drained when he randomly got that nosebleed too.

“…I see. Alright.”

“…You’re not going to ask for more details?”

“Huh? Didn’t you just say you were keeping it to yourself?”

What did he expect me to do?

Was this some roundabout way of saying he wouldn’t bring up his issues, but if someone asked, he’d share everything? Like, ‘I swore off ordering takeout, but I never said I wouldn’t chow down if someone else got it for me’?

“If I ask you to talk about it, will you tell me what’s troubling you?”

“If I believe that sharing would be more beneficial, then I can tell you.”

“Alright…so right now, is confiding in me the better choice?”

Athanas parted his lips, then pressed them together. “…I don’t think so, not yet.”

“I see. Well, let me know when the time’s right.”

Athanas’s brow furrowed slightly. “…Aren’t you getting suspicious or annoyed that I’m being so maddeningly secretive? Thinking that someone who’s this evasive can’t be trusted…”

“What? Not at all! Athanas, when I said I had something I wanted to keep secret, you let it go right away! I have no intention of prying into your business either.”

“…..”

Athanas gave me a look I couldn’t quite interpret. I thought I’d aced it with that response, but…

His reaction seems pretty lukewarm.

What was he hoping I’d do?

Did he want us to bare our souls, sharing every last secret between us?

That’s impossible. I will never, ever reveal the fact that I’m a player, even if my life depends on it.

Think about it. Imagine someone saying to you, “You might not know me, but I know you inside and out because I’ve played your life simulator for, like, 300 hours.” You wouldn’t go, “Wow, you really get me! Let’s be besties!”

No, it would feel absolutely awful and creepy as hell.

Keeping this a secret is definitely the best decision—for both me and Athanas.

“Oh, that reminds me,” I said, eager to change the subject. “There was something else I wanted to ask you about…”

“…Go ahead, ask.”

“What exactly did you put inside that reliquary?”

The question had been nagging at me for a while now. The reliquary’s contents were wrapped up in linen, making it impossible to tell what it was just by looking. Of course, I could’ve unwrapped the cloth myself, but I wasn’t about to risk getting scarred for life by some [This Image has been Censored for your Mental Health] kind of situation.

I’d rather stay blissfully ignorant, honestly…

But then again, what if Athanas had actually stashed a piece of himself in there? If the Distorted One’s creature gnawed on it to trigger its “distortion” power, who knows what kind of chaos that could unleash? What if it caused some seriously messed up status effects, like ‘tracking’ or ‘paranoia’…

“You never thought to open it and take a look?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Severed body parts really creep me out, probably because I haven’t received the Blessing of Order.”

“Well, it’s probably for the best.”

I stopped fiddling with the reliquary, a realization hitting me.

So, there really is a human body part inside?

“…Whose body part is it? Can you at least tell me that much?”

“It’s mine.”

“What? Why on earth would you put your own body part in there? What if the Othergod’s servant had taken the reliquary? Don’t you realize what they might have done…”

“Did it get taken previously?” Athanas asked, cutting me off.

For a moment, I was too stunned to speak.

I did manage to get it back, but yes, it was stolen once.

He got so pissed when I was just alone with Andrea, asking if I’d lost my damn mind. If I tell him I ran into an Othergod’s creature today, he’ll really lose it…

Especially considering that today, I couldn’t even use my so-called ‘secret trump card’ that I was so confident about, leaving me with no good excuses.

…He already thinks I’m a f*cking loser, but if he hears about this, he’ll write me off as a completely hopeless piece of trash.

But if I don’t report this because I’m too scared of getting scolded, that’s when I’ll ‘truly’ become trash.

“…Okay, I’ll tell you everything. Just hear me out without interrupting,” I said, taking a deep breath.

But hey, I did gain a lot from the experience too, so maybe he won’t be as pissed once he hears the whole story.

“So here’s what happened…”

As I recounted the earlier events, I made sure to emphasize multiple times that Andrea had no suspicions about me and that the creature was pretty dumb, so it wasn’t a huge threat.

“…In the end, everything worked out well. Athanas, it was a good decision to stay away from the orphanage. If you had shown up, it may have aggravated Bishop Andrea’s already ‘distorted’ view of you, and things could have escalated badly, or we may have faced an even more extreme situation.”

Bishop Andrea was displaying an abnormally strong hostility towards Athanas.

It would take a considerable amount of points to manipulate someone’s perception to such a distorted degree.

“From now on, avoid crossing paths with Bishop Andrea at all costs. I’ve assured him I’ll keep deceiving you and that he shouldn’t do anything rash, but who knows how he’ll react if you two meet. Until we’ve secured Adelaide’s safety, we can’t afford to provoke him, alright?”

Instead of replying, Athanas fixed me with an intense stare and I felt an overwhelming pressure that was slightly terrifying.

No system alerts, so he’s just… staring at me?

“Um…if there’s a problem, just say it. Stop giving me that scary look.”

“…Are you finished speaking now?”

“What?”

“You told me not to interrupt, so I was waiting.”

…So you decided to glare at me the whole time?

Ridiculous.

“What if I said I wasn’t done? Would you keep waiting?”

“……”

Athanas’ frown deepened in response.

Quickly realizing now wasn’t the time for jokes, I wiped the smile off my face. “Sorry, I’ve said everything I needed to. Go ahead.”

And before Athanas could launch into a tirade, I hurriedly added:

“Um, I know I’ve made some mistakes and have been shortsighted, so please don’t get too mad at me.”

I followed up with a rather pathetic excuse. “If you get too angry, I might end up hiding my mistakes in the future. Please forgive me this time, I promise it won’t happen again. I really was trying my best…”

“Enough,” Athanas said, reaching out and covering my mouth with his hand. “…I’m not going to get angry. Just shut your mouth.”

I swallowed hard.

Seriously, how is this not angry?

Your face says you’re f*cking pissed.

He looked exhausted and more than a little fed up with having to listen to a goblin’s excuses.

With a heavy sigh bordering on a groan, Athanas exhaled, clearly frustrated by the entire situation.

“Fabio, you really…”

Really what?

Piss you off?

Honestly, shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry right now?

If he had just given me a heads-up before handing over the reliquary, Andrea wouldn’t have flipped out and gotten so agitated.

I’m the one who faced danger because of a poor decision, and I’m the one who fixed the situation and obtained the information we needed.

Athanas didn’t even know what happened until it was all over. So what loss did he suffer that warranted throwing a tantrum?

“…Do you believe you’ve done something wrong?” Athanas asked.

I pointed to his hand covering my mouth, eyebrows raised as if to say, ‘How am I supposed to answer like this?’ But his hand remained firmly in place.

“Admit it with a nod. If not, shake your head.”

…Clever. He’s making sure I can’t weasel out of this with some two-faced argument.

As expected from the future heresy inquisitor.

Basically, he wants me to admit that I’m the one who screwed up before we go any further. Gotta hand it to him, he knows how to gain the upper hand.

Now that I’m looking closer, those intense, haggard eyes glaring at me seem a bit too perfect. Is he just putting on an act to make me feel guilty?

Athanas is a genius at manipulating his expressions. Acting furious even if he’s not? Piece of cake for him.

…But doesn’t the Order have a law stating that declarations made under duress are invalid?

Still, I reluctantly nodded.

“Admitting a mistake is also promising not to do it again. Do you agree?”

Of course.

There’s truly only one thing I did wrong in this situation: not anticipating that even my secret trump card would be useless.

Luckily, everything turned out fine, but if it hadn’t, I would’ve faced a terrible outcome. The memory of my life flashing before my eyes still haunts me.

If I’d known things would go south and summoning the Saint was impossible, I would’ve done anything to avoid coming here.

I nodded again, and Athanas continued, “…Then promise me that from now on, you will prioritize your safety above all else in any situation.”

I blinked.

Is this really necessary?

It was such an obvious request that I hesitated to nod. I mean, seriously, why is Athanas even saying this to me of all people?

I’m already doing that without having to make any promises.

If my safety was 100% guaranteed, I wouldn’t have cared whether this Dark Realm got destroyed or not. I would’ve just lived in blissful ignorance, pretending I couldn’t do a thing about it.

But I can’t exactly shake my head now, can I?

Feeling uneasy, I nodded.

Athanas’ expression softened a bit. “You’ve made a clear promise.”

…Wait, what?

I thought this was just a casual verbal agreement, not some kind of binding contract. But something about the way he said that felt… off.

There’s no system alert, so it’s not like anything is trying to mess with my mind…

The second Athanas moved his hand, I blurted out, “…What happens if I break the promise?”

“Nothing in particular. You’ll just lose some of my trust.”

Losing someone’s trust if you break a promise… A completely ordinary statement, but coming from Athanas, it felt heavier somehow.

“…So, what happens if I lose your trust?”

“Without trust in a relationship, there’s no reason to respect the other person’s wishes. Don’t you agree?”