A Battle of Wits.
["Would you believe me if I said, 'I don't know'?"]
A shameless lie — so blatant not even a passing mother would fall for it. I didn't feel the need to dignify it with a response.
At the end of that tense silence, the first to yield was Aurelius. He raised both hands playfully and clicked his metal jaw.
["Unlike the rumors, it seems the Defier of the Dark Gods needs a reason to hunt down their worshipers."]
He brought up his duty as a priest who serves the gods — but of course, that meant nothing to me, who serves the Mother of Corruption.
I smiled and replied,
"I'm here now as a mercenary. It just seemed like our employer might've conveniently forgotten to include a few details about this job."
His metallic eyes, unreadable as ever, calmly looked down at me.
["You've come as a mercenary, then..."]
"Kill!!!"
Mother growled in annoyance at how long-winded he was being, while I quickly considered my options.
Do I press him now, force out the information he's hiding? Or do I speak to the others and break our contract, leave him behind?
Judging by his behavior, Aurelius clearly knew the reason behind the attacks. And I needed intel — especially on the worshipers of the dark gods, who seemed closely tied to the main quest.
As my thoughts leaned toward using force, Aurelius finally spoke.
["Out of respect for your reputation, my priest, I will share the reason only with you. Can I trust you to keep it secret?"]
I looked up at him and answered,
"If it's a secret worth keeping, of course."
After a brief pause, Aurelius lowered his voice.
["Bring 'it' here."]
The guard standing beside him disappeared somewhere. Aurelius sank into his chair and began to explain.
["The attacks began after I received a certain 'item'. I made a deal with the client to deliver it to the capital. Took an advance payment, too."]
The dried blood of snow bats clung to my hair and now trailed down my cheek. I roughly wiped it off and ran a hand through my hair.
"From what I've seen, whatever you were paid, the losses your caravan suffered seem too great. Isn't this a job worth abandoning?"
["I was paid with Immortallium. And I'm to receive the rest upon arrival."]
No wonder he's holding out.
The guard returned with a box about the size of a grown man's torso, covered in strange engravings. Aurelius tapped the box and spoke.
["This is the item. Honestly, I don't understand why the dark god worshipers want it so badly. Another priest, who died during one of the recent attacks, examined it too — and even he couldn't figure out why they were after it."]
He opened the box slowly, smiling quietly.
["But I figured, perhaps the Defier of the Dark Gods, the great Priest Marnak, might see something the rest of us can't."]
When the black box opened, the item inside revealed itself.
It was a necklace — made of bronze-like metal, coppery in hue. What stood out was that it was a relic.
"Kill!!!"
Specifically, a relic containing a sealed portion of Mother's divine power. I instantly understood why the worshipers were after it.
But how? Even with Mother's hand guiding me, how were they finding relics containing her sealed divinity?
A hundred thoughts stormed through my mind, but I forced my expression to remain calm, answering Aurelius in a steady voice. His eyes were meticulously scanning every twitch of my face.
"I'm not sure either."
["I see. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting much. You — put the item back."]
The box was shut. I briefly considered drawing my blade and taking the relic by force. But I had too much to lose right now.
The reputation I'd built, my companions...
And acting rashly for a single relic could ruin my chances of tracking down the others. There was still plenty of time before we reached the capital. Anything could happen along the way.
I gave Aurelius a calm smile.
"I understand your situation. But now that your little secret is out, I believe the terms of our escort contract need... adjustment, don't you?"
Aurelius clacked his metal jaw and asked,
["What is it that you want?"]
I held up two fingers.
"You'll need to double the reward you originally promised."
Aurelius grumbled that I should quit being a priest and become a merchant instead, but he accepted my terms. I shared the good news with the party, and they praised me for a job well done.
"Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill..."
Mother, in the form of a young girl, was pacing around my private tent — the one Aurelius had graciously provided. She gently tapped her chin while spinning in circles, clutching a glowing orb of divine energy she hadn't yet absorbed.
Honestly, I didn't expect her to come up with a miracle solution by spinning in circles, but it was cute to watch her think so hard. I found a bit of amusement in it.
"Whew."
After drying my hair from a recent wash, I saw Mother stop in the center of the tent and stare at me intently. I chuckled softly and asked her,
"Have you, by any chance, come up with a brilliant idea?"
"Kill! Kill!"
Mother had grown quite accustomed to the body of that girl—so much so that she no longer needed physical contact to speak to me.
"Mother."
"Kill?"
At my soft call, Mother tilted her head, as if she had no idea why I was calling her.
"So after all that deep thinking, your grand idea is to sneak in and spy on them? And if we get caught, just silence everyone in the way by killing them?"
Mother nodded with a proud look.
"Kill!"
"If there are no witnesses, it's the perfect crime, huh. Do you seriously think that makes any sense? Come here."
"Kill!"
As I opened my arms, Mother eagerly jumped into my embrace. I gently stroked her soft hair and began speaking calmly.
"We don't yet know the full extent of Aurelius's strength, so we shouldn't act recklessly."
The metal-bodied Kinfolk, like Aurelius, were essentially bad matches for me—a priest of decay.
Because metal doesn't rot.
My power Pit of Decay was completely useless against them. Curse of Decay wasn't meant for combat in the first place. Realistically, the only useful abilities I had were Gate of Decay and Giant of Decay.
In the end, if I wanted to kill Kinfolk, I'd have to use physical force strong enough to exceed their body's durability.
"The best-case scenario is that the cultists of the Evil God somehow steal that relic, and in the process of me retrieving it, I manage to siphon off Mother's divine power before returning it to Aurelius."
"Kill?!"
Mother jolted, eyes wide as if to say, "Wait, that's actually a thing?!"
"...Kill?"
"You ask if I've been hiding my genius this whole time? You flatter me. But I'm sure you'd have come up with the same plan if you'd thought about it a little more. Still, things won't go as smoothly as that."
"Kill?"
At her question, I smiled gently and answered.
"As you saw earlier, he didn't bat an eye while a few of his guards died. He stayed behind with his personal escort, only focused on protecting the cargo. No matter what power the cultists have, it's not going to be easy to steal from him without being noticed."
"Kill..."
"For now, I plan to observe a little longer. We still know too little—about Aurelius, about the cultists pursuing us... Mother, just trust me—"
SCREEEECH!!!
A horrific scream that grated on the nerves. The snowfield bats were attacking the caravan again.
"It seems the cultists are trying to wear down the caravan guards with repeated ambushes. What a pain, I just got cleaned up. I'll have to postpone your palm massage for a bit."
"Kill?!"
"I need to help the guards. Please return to your hand form for now. I promise I'll give you a proper massage later."
"Kill..."
Mother let her arms droop and transformed back into my hand with a flicker of dark light. I quickly tucked her into my coat, grabbed Butcher, and burst out of the tent.
GAAAAHHHH!!!
This time, it wasn't just snowfield bats.
A creature about 2.5 meters tall—with goat hooves and head, a muscular humanoid torso, and white fur—was clashing with the caravan guards. A bipedal monster known as a Capel.
CRASH!
"Aaaaargh!"
One of the guards was gored by the Capel's horn and sent flying. He crashed headfirst into the ground and didn't move again.
I quickly revved up Butcher and dashed across the snowy field.
VRRRRRRMMM!!!
The Capel's gaze snapped to me as it prepared to charge another guard. The roar of Butcher was perfect for drawing attention—just like this.
"Haah!"
RAAAAGHHH!!!
With a roar in response to my battle cry, the Capel lowered its head and charged. The tip of its horn came straight at me without hesitation.
VRRRRRMMM!!!
I swung Butcher. The high-speed spinning immortalium blades literally shredded the Capel's horn. Without stopping, the blades cleaved into its skull and tore through its brain.
Flesh and brain matter splattered everywhere. My freshly cleaned hair and body were once again soaked with blood and gore.
Looks like I'll need another wash.
THUD.
The headless body of the Capel collapsed. I quickly scanned the area.
Aside from the bats, there were six Capels in total. I could sense the divine presence of the Evil God's cultists from far away—they had no intention of fighting directly.
Looks like this batch is a little more cowardly.
Just as I was about to charge the next Capel—
Something leapt out of the woods, heading straight for me. I reflexively raised Butcher, but when I saw who it was, I reached out with my left hand and caught her by the neck.
Dangling violet hair.
It was Perli. Dangling from my grasp, she coughed and smiled brightly.
"It's been so long! So long! I thought about you a lot! Did you think about me?"
"Not at all."
"That's okay! That's okay! I thought enough for the both of us!"
There was a good reason I lowered Butcher once I realized it was her.
"I have something to ask you."
Perli rolled her violet eyes around once and beamed.
"What'll you give me if I answer?"
She was never one to keep secrets.
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