Chapter 3
Boyhood’s End
The day someone connected with their blessing could be called the most important day of their life.
A boy who dreamed of becoming a guard protecting the order of their town discovering they were a Brawler, another who hoped to be a pillager riding through fields learning they were a Torturer meant for dark prisons.
A normal village boy becoming the great Hero.
These changes could be for better or worse…but Divine Blessings changed their lives either way.
“It’s rare to skip the first hints of awareness of your blessing and connect with it outright,” Mido muttered blankly, as if he couldn’t quite wrap his head around this reality.
Parents often agonized over what blessing their child possessed. Just a year ago, Gonz, Mido, and I were drinking together while my shop was being built, and they both mentioned being worried about Tanta’s blessing.
Craftsman, or something else suited to being a carpenter, would’ve been ideal for Tanta. However, even with something generic like Mido’s Warrior, Tanta could still be a carpenter. The true issue was if he had a Divine Blessing that made his dream impossible.
Divine Blessings were gifts from God. There was no refusing a blessing you didn’t want.
“Dad, Uncle Gonz…”
Tanta gripped his chest uneasily.
“Hey Tanta, are you sure?” Gonz asked. He’d already asked that a few times.
I put a hand on Gonz’s shoulder. “Tanta’s blessing is Cardinal. One of the most powerful…and most limiting blessings in the world.”
Cardinal Ljubo had been right. God had decided Tanta was a Cardinal.
“Let’s have breakfast.” I passed out some tomato soup to everyone. “It isn’t watered down with added water, just the juices of the tomatoes themselves. It’s good.”
“I’m not really hungry,” Tanta said.
“That’s totally understandable, but your head will get foggy if you starve yourself. And eating can make for a good change of pace to sort things out.”
I took a sip of soup to show Tanta and the others, and while their expressions remained gloomy, they all started eating.
Cardinal, huh?
The church was the largest organization on the continent, and Cardinal was the one and only blessing permitted to ascend to its highest ranks.
Unlike the Hero, which served no role without people to aid, the Cardinal had a powerful influence on the world in times of peace and war alike.
It was a grand blessing that could leave a mark on history, for good or ill.
“Thank you.”
Tanta had finished eating.
Now we had to talk about what to do, although admittedly, I’d already made up my mind. The challenge would be how to guide Tanta.
“Hey, Big Bro… What does Cardinal mean?” His voice was full of trepidation.
“What does it mean? Hmm…”
Among Tanta’s friends who’d connected with their blessing, Al, with his Weapon Master blessing, was the best comparison.
Al had set off on a journey as a shotel-wielding adventurer, making a name for himself in the surrounding regions as an up-and-coming rookie.
He’d thought he would work in the harbor district like his father, but that changed when his Divine Blessing emerged. Unlike Tanta, Al had never been attached to his idea of the future. You could even say he discovered what he wanted to be during the Devil’s Blessing incident.
“What if I’m like Al? What will I do if I want to be a priest more than a carpenter?”
“That’s certainly a possibility.”
“I don’t want that!” Tanta’s cry was pained.
“Tanta.”
“Ms. Ruti?”
Ruti spoke up before I could say anything. She sat down before the troubled boy, looking him in the eyes. “You aren’t your blessing. No matter how powerful the impulses, your blessing cannot become you.”
“It can’t become me?”
“Yes. Your blessing will pressure you to listen, and it might hurt, but it can’t replace you,” Ruti explained earnestly. “It can’t steal your will from you.”
“I don’t get it…”
It didn’t seem like Tanta understood what she meant. Ruti looked frustrated. However, it was so minor that Tanta likely didn’t notice.
“It means you don’t have to give up your dream of being a carpenter,” I explained. “Just don’t forget that. We’re all on your side. When you’re worrying or having trouble, come talk to us. We’ll support you.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Tanta still looked uneasy, but I thought he felt a little better.
“All right, let’s talk about the skills Cardinal has access to,” I said.
“Eh? But…”
“Not to become an actual Cardinal, of course. I mean to pick ones that will help you be a carpenter. You can’t change your blessing. It’s a part of your life. Instead of rejecting it or becoming subservient to it, you should treat it as another aspect of yourself. Think of it that way, and it will be a tool to help you.”
“You said something like that to Al, too, I think.”
I nodded. “That’s right. Your situation is different from Al’s, though, and from Ademi’s, too. There are bound to be times when it feels difficult, but Ruti’s right, just talk to us or Gonz or your parents if you’re struggling.”
“Okay…!”
There are things I knew now that I didn’t when I’d helped Al.
I knew of a medicine that empowered blessings, an evil woman who rejected her blessing and made a fool of the world, and the ruins of an ancient people with the technology to manipulate blessings freely.
Most importantly, I knew that the Hero and Demon Lord Divine Blessings were created to mimic how the first hero lived.
“Brother.”
I was staring out at the sea while holding a recently cleaned dish.
“Sorry. I was just thinking for a bit.”
I put the plate down and turned to Ruti.
She’s grown a bit.
“You surprised me when you spoke to Tanta,” I said.
“I didn’t want him to give up on being himself.” She looked a little bit down.
“I don’t think there’s anything more reassuring than knowing he’s got you in his corner.”
“I’ll do whatever I can. I want him to make his dream come true.”
Ruti’s life had been uprooted by her blessing like no one else’s.
She’d never had any choice but to live as the Hero.
Undoubtedly, she saw some of herself in Tanta, and she didn’t want him to give up on his dream because of his blessing.
She had despaired during our travel, hardly ever showing any interest in the people she saved. Yet now, she worried desperately for Tanta.
That was why I felt confident Tanta wouldn’t have to give up on his dream.
“Huh?” I saw Gonz out of the corner of my eye.
Is he going somewhere?
“I’m going to go check on him real quick,” I said.
“I’ll come, too.”
Ruti and I followed after him. He was headed into the forest.
He came to a stop a short distance from the edge of the woods, in the shadows where it was hard to see him from the beach.
“Gonz.”
“…!”
He frantically wiped his face when he heard me. His eyes were red and bloodshot.
“Heh, hehe… I’m pathetic. I’m supposed to be the reliable guy.”
“The shock must’ve been especially hard for you, since you care for Tanta like a son.”
“I thought I was ready for this.” He shook his head. “I was hoping for Craftsman, but any average blessing would’ve been fine. A carpenter can get by on common skills if they put in the effort. The rest comes from the person’s sense, and Tanta’s a clever kid. It should’ve been fine.”
“…”
“I don’t know anything about the Cardinal blessing, but if the church finds out, they’ll take him away, right?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “If a report of someone with a Cardinal blessing reaches the Last Wall fortress, an official will come to get him for sure.”
“Dammit. How many other blessings are there? Why did it have to be this one?”
“Once Tanta’s calmed down, I’ll have to teach him how to hide his blessing.”
The church wouldn’t accept a Cardinal living as a carpenter easily. At the very least, it would force Tanta to undergo education in a monastery and train as a holy person. Only after all that would he be free, and that was if he was judged unsuited for the high ranks of the church.
Most likely, he’d live sequestered in religious devotion until his late thirties.
It was better than the Hero because there was a chance of being free, but it still promised a lot of lost time and a significant detour before Tanta could be a carpenter.
“Bishop Shien will probably be willing to keep this secret, but that won’t extend to everyone in the Zoltan church. To them, someone being a Cardinal is a gift.”
“A gift…”
“To devotees who live for God, at least.”
Thud!
Gonz punched a tree. He ground his teeth audibly.
“It’s fortunate that Tanta connected with his blessing here, removed from Zoltan,” Ruti said. “Here, we can worry about it ourselves without fear of anyone finding out.”
“Ruti…”
“It’s fine to be unsure. But we should talk it through together.”
Ruti was encouraging Gonz.
“You’re right. We can’t change Tanta’s blessing now… So we should focus on what comes next.”
“That’s right.” Ruti bobbed her head.
“All right, I’m done grumbling! I’m Tanta’s uncle and his senior as a carpenter! And Zoltan’s top carpenter at that!” Gonz slapped his cheeks. “If I can’t protect the dream of my favorite pupil, then I’m a disgrace to the craft!”
“That’s the spirit,” Ruti said.
“Thanks Ruti, Red. I’m okay now!”
Despite Gonz’s declaration, he and Tanta would undoubtedly face more challenges going forward. That’s just how Divine Blessings were.
Raising a child was probably similar. At least that’s how it felt to me, but I hadn’t actually brought up a child myself yet.
Seeing that Tanta and his family had calmed down, Yarandrala and I headed to the village.
We’d nearly forgotten it thanks to the abrupt blessing trouble, but we still needed to inquire about Eremite.
“I’m just going to ask a couple questions; I could have gone alone,” I said.
“Oh? Do you not like walking with me?”
“That’s not what I said.”
Yarandrala giggled, but turned serious after a moment. “That Eremite girl bothers me.”
“She’s certainly an odd one, but when she came over, you kept your distance. That’s rare. Usually, you dive in the moment you set your mind on something.”
When Tanta connected with his Divine Blessing, Yarandrala had comforted and encouraged him, but she seemed more subdued than the rest of us.
“I was surprised, since I always knew you to be the type to be up front in any situation,” I said.
“You and Ruti did a good job being there for Tanta, so my instincts told me I ought to focus my attention elsewhere.”
“And that’s Eremite?”
“I can’t explain it, but she’s suspicious.”
“Well, that much is certainly true.”
“It’s more than that… I’ll stay wary of her, so you just think about Tanta.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you came along on this trip.”
Yarandrala was a high elf who’d been an adventurer for far longer than me. Her instincts must’ve detected something from Eremite that slipped by me. That instinct was crucial for anyone who quested and sought out danger.
“What a shame this couldn’t be a fun little trip. The swimming and barbecue were so nice,” Yarandrala lamented.
“I invited Tanta along partly because I thought it would be nice to be nearby when he connected with his blessing. Still, I would’ve preferred to let him make some more pleasant memories first,” I replied.
“There will be more opportunities for that. We need to make the most of this trip, so that his unwanted blessing doesn’t spoil it.”
“Yeah.”
Maybe I’ll check if there’s anything tasty to buy while we’re in the village. Perhaps lunch can include some seafood.
“If the villagers have fresh salmon, I won’t even have to cook it. I could just add some seasoning and serve it on pasta. I brought along a bit of olive oil.”
“Nice idea!” Yarandrala said.
Tanta liked pasta, so he’d probably enjoy that.
Raw salmon had a different texture than what he usually ate, making it a new experience and, hopefully, a nice memory. While Yarandrala and I chatted about that, some men from the village came out to receive us.
They were all deeply tanned.
The guy walking at the head of the group greeted us. “Oh, you’re the visitors from the other day.”
These had to be fishers. Most of them would’ve been away when we arrived.
“Do you need something from our village?”
Our goal was to ask about Eremite, but bringing her up risked sounding conspicuous and unnatural.
“I was curious about the south salmon recommended to me yesterday, so I came to buy a few,” I answered.
“Great timing. We caught some fresh ones the other day. You should try some.”
“Sounds good!”
Fish practically right from the net were bound to be delicious.
Yarandrala and I followed the men into the settlement. I was growing more excited about cooking with each passing moment.
The villagers gladly sold us some south salmon and several other types of seafood.
We bought at asking price, not bothering to haggle, which left the village leader in a great mood. He gladly shared some of a local alcohol made from fermented palm tree sap. Apparently, it was quite rare, never leaving the island since it didn’t keep well and turned to vinegar quickly.
One sip revealed the drink’s powerful sourness, making it the sort of thing a person would either love or hate.
Both Yarandrala and I thought it was interesting, at the very least.
“Ahh, this is nice. Other than the occasional merchant, we hardly ever get a chance to talk to outsiders.”
I only had a sip of the alcohol, but the village leader polished off an entire helping in a flash.
This seemed as good a chance as any to broach the subject of Eremite.
“By the way,” I began. “Last night, an ascetic hermit who apparently lives on the island came down to meet us on the beach. Do you know her?”
“Ahh, so you met her already.”
“We only spoke a little. It didn’t seem like she was upset. I was just surprised she’d bother to speak with us, since she claimed to be in the middle of an observance of solitude.”
“Indeed. She’s only come to us a handful of times. To keep her from being disturbed, we suggested she keep to a place on the island where no others go.”
The leader went on to explain that Eremite arrived here on a little boat roughly five years ago. She’d claimed to hail from a church in Central, and that she was here to train. The locals hadn’t thought of any reason to refuse her presence.
They’d been wary initially, watching to make sure she wouldn’t cause trouble. Eremite lived entirely self-sufficiently in the woods, though, and they stopped paying attention to her over time.
“She’s been out there for half a decade. It’s really quite something,” the village leader said.
Five years, huh?
“Does she know about the war with the demon lord’s army?” I asked.
“Now that you mention it, I don’t think it’s ever come up. We don’t hear much about that ourselves. Merchants mention a war here and there, but that’s all, really.”
Someone from the church being ignorant of the campaign against the demon lord with the fate of the world hanging in the balance was hard to accept. However, even a devout believer could be in the dark with no one to tell them what was happening.
Our chat prompted the village leader to inquire about the war’s progress.
He was surprised when I told him about the incident with Prince Salius and how Zoltan had influenced the fighting, albeit indirectly.
“There wasn’t any sign of Eremite doing anything on the island, was there?” Yarandrala, who’d been in silent contemplation this whole time, asked abruptly. It was rare for her to ignore the flow of the conversation so completely.
“Uh, well, we don’t really see much of her. So I guess it’s hard to say what she gets up to,” the leader answered.
Yarandrala watched his face closely, checking for a lie.
I gathered that the man didn’t know why she peered at him so intently, but he looked uncomfortable regardless.
If she hadn’t been such a beautiful high elf, he might’ve gotten upset about it.
For her to be this wary…
“Ahhh! Someone! Anyone!” came a shout from outside.
We hurried to the person calling for help immediately.
“Chief! It’s bad!”
“What is it?!”
“A boat capsized!!!”
“What?!”
They had to be talking about one of their fishing ships.
“A signal came from the lookout! We have to go help right away!”
“Wait, why did it capsize? Did Boles say how it happened?”
“Ah, s-sorry, I panicked and hurried to tell you…”
“You idiot!”
Evidently, this was a rare occurrence. The entire settlement was in disarray.
“The lookout is up on that platform there, right?” I asked.
“Y-yes.”
Outside the village, a sentry platform was suspended between a few close trees. People watched from there to see if anything went wrong with a fishing boat on the water.
“I have a skill that makes me faster than most people, so I’ll go find out what went wrong,” I said.
“Huh?!” The chief was stunned, but there wasn’t time to explain everything.
“Yarandrala.”
“Leave it to me, I’ll get ready.”
I activated Lightning Speed and dashed over to the lookout in one burst.
“Whaaa?!”
Shocked cries from the villagers quickly faded into the distance.
Upon arriving at the lookout, I leaped up without using the ladder.
“Y-you’re the guy from yesterday!”
“Don’t worry about me. Where is the ship?”
“O-over there!”
One look was enough to discern what was happening.
“Blade sharks!”
The vessel had been split in two and was sinking. A pair of blade sharks circled the wreck.
A blade shark was a demon beast type of monster with sharp fins extending from its back and chest that it used to rip through prey.
They were considered difficult enemies for C-rank adventurers, and when fully grown, their dorsal fins could cleave through a boat’s hull. Adult blade sharks were about three meters long and even menaced vessels large enough to carry up to sixty people.
“Looks like they tore apart the ship already,” I remarked.
Fishers clung to the sinking remains, trying to beat back the circling monsters with their harpoons.
“Not good.”
The blade sharks were clearly preparing to strike.
We have to help now, or it’ll be too late!
“Yarandrala!!!” I shouted.
There was a gust of wind as a massive ball of fluff flew toward the lookout platform.
“What’s that?!”
“A flying plant!” I answered while grabbing onto the gigantic dandedragon seed.
Yarandrala’s Singer of the Trees blessing gave control over plants.
The carnivorous dandedragon grew only in the most remote regions. It was one of many exotic plants Yarandrala, who’d traveled the world, employed. The seed floated smoothly through the air, even with me hanging on.
“Yarandrala! Find a boat and follow me!”
“Got it!” she answered. I saw her running toward the beach.
I trusted that she’d be fine and tilted the seed to adjust my landing point as I glided toward the sea.
“Now!”
I drew my bronze sword as I plunged down.
There was a splash as a blade shark tried to tear into me with its ventral fin, excited over the fresh prey.
Underwater combat was considered the ultimate struggle for a D-rank adventurer, and plenty of C-rank parties couldn’t handle it, either.
The human body wasn’t suited for fighting submerged. It couldn’t breathe water or move easily in such conditions. Certain Martial Arts and spells required tremendous practice to activate underwater.
The best choice was relying on spells or magic items to move freely underwater. The ability to react to a sudden emergency like this one was what it took to be a true adventurer.
“Bring it!” I gripped my sword by the handle with one hand and by the lower part of the blade with the other. This technique, called half-sword, was originally intended for extremely close-range combat, but it also worked well in the sea.
It was hard to put much strength into a full swing because of the water resistance and the inability to put your full weight into the motion. However, thrusts still worked. You could impale an enemy with raw strength instead of relying on speed or weight.
When the blade shark passed, slicing at me with its ventral fin, I thrust my weapon into its stomach.
There was a burbling sound as blood came out of its mouth.
Just one attack isn’t enough underwater, huh?
Since I lacked inherent skills, I had no choice but to make up for that with swordsmanship. Underwater, however, I couldn’t exert enough force. I had no choice but to wear my opponent down slowly, but the longer this dragged on, the more my breath would become an issue. Popping up to breathe would create a big opening.
Ideally, the blade sharks would attack me more aggressively, yet after their first strike, they backed off, keeping their distance patiently.
They’re cautious. That’s trouble.
But that cautiousness was also why none of the fishers had died yet. A more forceful blade shark would’ve already pulled one down into the depths.
I guess I can’t call this bad luck, then. Better change tactics, though…
I made a shallow cut into my own thigh. Crimson blood quickly darkened the water.
“…!”
The blade sharks’ behavior changed instantly.
Blood frenzy—one of their famous qualities.
A natural condition that made them more ferocious and aggressive when they smelled blood.
The monsters were visibly excited, both attacking in unison.
I calmly dealt with their attacks one by one, thrusting my sword into them.
Finally, the blade sharks ran out of strength and floated to the surface, lifeless.
“Buhaaaa!”
Fresh air filled my lungs. It was quite invigorating.
“Are you okay?!” a fisherman asked frantically.
“Haah, haah…”
It hadn’t been a difficult fight, but I was out of breath. Anyone else from the Hero’s party wouldn’t have had this much trouble. Combat in special environments had always been a weak spot for the Guide blessing.
I caught my breath as I grabbed onto a part of the ship.
“…I’m fine. I took care of the blade sharks. Help should be coming soon, so just wait a little longer.”
My only wound was the cut I made in my own thigh. As the thrill of fighting subsided, the pain of the salt water in the cut really started to sting.
“Who are you?”
“An apothecary from Zoltan.”
The fisherman looked like he wanted to say something, but it wasn’t like I was trying to hide anything. That’s really who I was. I wasn’t anyone other than Red, the apothecary from Zoltan.
“I look away for one minute, and you go out to fight in the ocean?”
“I should have gone with you.”
Rit and Ruti were both a little miffed when I told them what happened.
“How did this happen?” asked Gonz. He and the others were more surprised than angry.
After I defeated the blade sharks, Yarandrala came to pick up the fishers with an older boat.
When we made it safely back to the beach, the villagers gathered around to celebrate, offering their heartfelt thanks to Yarandrala and me.
“They usually don’t give us any trouble, so I figured it’d be fine at first,” one said. They explained that blade sharks rarely got so close to the island, and even when they did, they’d be gone the next day if the fishers left them alone.
It had been thirteen years since the last time the village lost a ship to blade sharks. A few people had died then, so that there were no casualties this time was treated as a miracle.
Ruti hummed. “The village’s worst luck in thirteen years on today of all days.”
“It was really fortunate that you were here, Big Bro!” Tanta said.
“I guess so,” I answered. “I’m glad no one was hurt.”
“But you were hurt.” Rit rubbed the faint wound where I had stabbed myself in the thigh through my clothes.
“S-stop it, that tickles!”
Yarandrala had already mended it with healing magic. The traces would be gone by tomorrow.
“I did that to myself! It was a necessary sacrifice to ensure I won!” I hurriedly explained while fleeing Rit’s hand.
Mido sighed exasperatedly. “The way you overreact like that is embarrassing to watch, Red.”
“Getting so worked up over having your thigh touched. How pure.” Nao smirked.
Gugh.
“You wouldn’t have been hurt at all if I was there,” Rit chided.
“That’s right. I should have been with you, Big Brother,” Ruti added.
“That’s true, but you two weren’t there, so there’s no helping it.”
Had Rit or Ruti been there, the blade sharks would’ve gone down easily. But that was combat. Comrades weren’t always there to help.
I was confident that I’d made the best choice given the situation.
“That means we just have to stick by you forever, Big Brother.”
“Exactly. A perfect plan, Ruti.”
“Wait a minute…”
It was just a small cut.
“Let’s get back to the subject at hand.” Tisse mercifully pulled the conversation back on track.
Nice job, Tisse.
“You said we were invited to a feast tonight in the village,” she said.
“Yeah, to celebrate the safe return of the fishers,” I replied. “We were invited, too.”
Tisse nodded. “Nice, I’m curious about their local cooking.”
“True.”
The village chief had invited our whole group.
“Being able to join a village banquet here is a pretty special experience. I’m sure it will make a nice memory for you, Tanta,” Yarandrala said.
“Memory…” His expression darkened. Ordinarily, he would’ve been excited by the mere talk of adventure from someone like Yarandrala.
It’s only natural, I guess. Nothing’s really changed since he connected with his Divine Blessing this morning.
“You’ve got a lot to think about right now, but it’d be a shame to let something upsetting ruin the trip, right?” I said.
“Yeah…”
“So let’s have fun and make some nice memories. It’s your first trip out of Zoltan, after all.”
“Yeah, okay.” Tanta slapped his cheeks. “All right, let’s have the best time ever!”
I couldn’t help smiling. It was heartwarming how similar he was to Gonz.
“You’ll be a great carpenter, Tanta. Since you’re Gonz’s nephew.”
Personal bonds are stronger than Divine Blessings, I’m sure of it.
Evening settled over the village on Regret Island.
Most of the locals never left the island, and those fishers that did only went as far as Zoltan. There wasn’t much in the way of luxury here. A feast was the greatest event these people knew.
“Let’s cut loose and have some fun,” I said.
“Their butts are showing.” Tanta watched wide-eyed as the celebration heated up.
The villagers had welcomed us with open arms.
Plates filled with fresh and delicious seafood and fruit.
At first, the people treated us like guests of honor, offering various foods, but as the revelry intensified, they forgot about us, preferring to sing and dance.
Before long, it grew somewhat indecent. Some did odd, silly struts with their rear ends showing.
Dances like this weren’t uncommon in remote villages, but for Tanta, who’d never left Zoltan, it was clearly a shock.
“Maybe this was a bad idea…”
“If he can’t handle this much, he’ll never be a top-class Zoltan carpenter.”
Mido voiced a concern, but Nao quickly brushed it off with a laugh.
However, when some half-naked women came by and called Tanta cute, Nao changed her tune and shooed them away.
“Hahaha.”
Tanta himself got over the shock fairly quickly, laughing and smiling cheerfully.
Although crude, the islanders were joyous that their friends and family members had made it back it safely, and it really shone through.
Tanta, Mido, Nao, Gonz, they were all grinning.
“I’m glad we brought them,” Rit said from her spot beside me, a smile on her face.
“It’s an outrageous banquet…but it will make a nice memory.” My expression mirrored hers.
“Are you going to join in, Red?”
“I’ll have to politely decline.”
While the adults drank and had a wild time, the kids gathered around Tanta, the first outsider child they’d ever seen.
Red and the others watched, charmed by the scene.
Ruti and Tisse sat a little further away from the center of the celebration. Ordinarily, Ruti would’ve taken the seat right beside Red, but today, she had something else in mind.
“Tisse.”
“Yes. It’s quite distant, but I can sense a presence.”
“Someone is observing the settlement using magic. A very subtle magic. Several concealing spells have been woven into it, to make sure it goes undetected.”
“It seems I cannot perceive that magic.”
“Only a master would. It’s a weak spell that only transmits sound, so it can be heavily disguised. The caster isn’t an amateur openly relying on obvious magic.”
“It doesn’t appear Red or Yarandrala have noticed.”
Yarandrala was a masterful caster, but she relied on spirit magic, like Rit. Their powers relied on spirits, meaning they had trouble sensing high-level mystic or cleric arts that could deceive those spirits.
“For Yarandrala not to notice means it isn’t normal,” Ruti said.
“Is it Eremite?” Tisse asked.
“I don’t know, but that’s likely.”
“Should I investigate?”
“…It’s dangerous to go alone, but I’d prefer to avoid making contact with her myself.”
“You and Yarandrala are quite wary of her.”
“…We seem to be the only ones who sense something odd about her.”
“Hmm. I’m suspicious of Eremite as well, but she didn’t leave me with a powerful impression.”
“There has to be a reason why only the two of us picked up on it.”
Like Yarandrala, Ruti detected something was off about Eremite.
The next day.
We all went swimming in the morning and returned to the tents around ten.
“You got sunburned out there,” I commented, looking at Tanta’s face.
“It stings.”
“I gave you some sunscreen. Did you not put it on yesterday?”
“I forgot about it because of the blessing thing.”
“Ahh, fair enough.”
Tanta’s mood had improved significantly. The feast last night had probably done a bit of good.
“Here.” Ruti passed me a drink.
“Thanks.”
“It’s coconut water.”
“Coconuts sure are convenient. If only they grew in all the forests around the world.”
Ruti giggled. “You say the silliest things sometimes, Big Brother.”
Safe water from younger coconuts, food from mature coconuts, and rope from the bark of their trees. You could even make alcohol or vinegar from the tree sap with just natural fermentation, and you could distill it to get more concentrated alcohol, too. Plus, the wood from the trees could fuel campfires.
During the Hero’s party days, there were few trees I was happier to see than coconut ones.
“Okay, things have settled down a bit, so do you want to talk a bit about a plan for developing your Cardinal blessing?” I asked Tanta.
He nodded. “Okay.”
“We talked some about skills a little yesterday. Do you remember all of it?”
“I remember that the Cardinal is focused on clerical arts, but has access to a lot of other skills, too.”
“That’s right. The Cardinal has a pretty broad role.”
The Divine Blessing of the Cardinal enjoyed a lot of options.
Combat, leadership, management, intrigue, searching for truth… Once someone with the Cardinal blessing made it into the upper ranks of the church, they could set their sights on just about whatever campaign they liked.
However…
“In your case, we’ll want to prioritize skills useful for carpentry,” I said.
“Mhm, that’s most important.”
“To be successful, you’ll want to take the common skill Elementary Production up to a minimum of level 5. Cardinal has inherent skills that increase physical abilities, but investing in them would be a waste.”
“Ugh… Is Elementary Production really the only one that will help?”
“Apparently, Demis doesn’t believe a Cardinal should build many things. However, you can use clerical arts to make up for lacking the Construction skill. It requires magic power, though, so you’ll have to pick and choose how you use it.”
“Magic!”
“Also, you can heal anyone who gets hurt on the job. You’ll be able to choose from all but the highest of clerical spells.”
Learning that Cardinal couldn’t match Saint or Hierophant in clerical magic had been a surprise. Apparently, Demis thought a Cardinal’s role didn’t include mastering the pinnacle of holy magic. However, the blessing could manage more powerful spells than a standard Priest.
“You definitely want clerical arts skills. The question is what other skills to pick to match with them.”
While Tanta and I talked, Gonz, Mido, and Nao watched quietly behind him.
Normal people didn’t know much about the Cardinal blessing. If I hadn’t used my status as a vice-captain of the Kingdom of Avalonia’s Bahamut Knights to gather more knowledge on Divine Blessings, I would’ve been in the dark, too.
“I think spending your starter skill points on clerical arts abilities is a good way to begin. At level 5, you should focus on combat skills to help raise your blessing level, then work toward level 9 to start picking up skills for carpentry. That’s when you should rank up Elementary Production. After that, you can work your job normally and aim to get your blessing level up to 15 in around ten years. By then, you’ll be pretty much done.”
With that plan, as long as he didn’t run himself out of magic, the strength he got from his blessing would give him carpentry abilities about on par with Gonz and his Craftsman blessing. Should he ever want to raise his blessing level more, he’d have the combat capabilities to do so without much issue.
It was enough to survive in a world filled with endless fighting and overcoming anything that would keep him from his dream.
“…” Tanta fidgeted, as though he wanted to say something.
“If you’ve got something on your mind, feel free to tell me,” I said.
“Would taking Elementary Production from the start…be a bad idea?”
“Well, it will make it harder to raise your blessing level. Getting to level 9 will require around five years, I think.”
That time could be considerably shortened if Tanta pushed himself to defeat powerful enemies, but he wasn’t interested in becoming strong, so I didn’t consider that option.
“But I want to start working as a carpenter sooner… I’d planned to begin with Dad the moment I connected with my blessing…”
“All right. In that case, let’s make a plan centered around taking Elementary Production first.”
Tanta looked at me, worry plain in his eyes. “Um… Is that okay?”
“Of course! All this strategizing is meant to help you fulfill your dream. The most important thing is that it suits what you want.”
“Th-then I want to start working with Dad and the others as an apprentice once we get back to Zoltan!”
“In that case…”
“Wait a moment.” Gonz leaned forward, joining the conversation. “Elementary Production isn’t necessary. Lots of my apprentices don’t have anything but enhanced physical abilities.”
“But the things I make won’t be as good without the skill, right?” Tanta looked at me.
“That’s right. The skill does make a big difference.”
“See!”
“But there are things you can learn, things you can do, even without it,” I added.
“Red’s right. How to use the tools, making plans, reading blueprints… There’s a lot I can teach you, and there’s plenty for you to learn.”
“But I won’t be able to make things as well as I could with the skill, right?”
“True. No matter how hard you try, you won’t close the gap between having the skill and not.” Gonz crouched to meet Tanta’s eye level. “Doing all of the work at the bottom rung, not getting to feel the excitement of having made something great… It’s rough, but you can do it.”
“…”
Tanta’s face tightened as though he were in pain.
He looked ready to cry, but he was doing his best to think hard on what he ought to do.
“Tanta.”
“Dad.”
“I didn’t start out as a carpenter.”
“Mhm, you were an adventurer.”
“I dreamed of being a powerful guy like Galatine. I wanted to leave my mark on Zoltan’s history with my sword. I never did become strong enough, though, and wound up retiring. Gonz hired me after I quit being an adventurer.”
“Dad…”
“My life took a detour. I have a lot of skills that a carpenter doesn’t need. My Warrior blessing doesn’t have much that would’ve helped regardless. Listen…”
Mido had chased a dream and fallen short. His life hadn’t been a smooth and easy climb.
“I’m happy. It’s been a joyous life. I’ve grown into my job and advanced enough that Gonz can trust me. I even have a beautiful family. So, Tanta, I think the plan where you take Elementary Production first, and grow while making good things as a carpenter, is fine, too.”
“M-Mido!”
“Gonz, I want to respect what my boy chooses. If it fails, we’ll come together again and figure it out. Failures and detours aren’t the worst things. The only bad choice is to be unhappy.”
Gonz and Mido explained their views to each other without malice. Both were concerned for Tanta, in their own ways.
“Big Bro…what should I do?”
“I’ll support whatever you decide, Tanta,” I said. “Two experienced carpenters who care a lot about you have given their thoughts. You should share yours.”
“Mhm…”
Tanta made up his mind and looked forward.
There were people who asserted that a child became an adult when they connected with their Divine Blessing. Not because they suddenly became stronger, but because that was the day they decided their future for themselves.
Tanta faced Gonz and Mido and, stammering several times along the way, explained how he felt.
Whatever route he chose, he would undoubtedly become a good carpenter.
After lunch, I lay in the shade of a tree, relaxing while listening to the sound of the sea.
We hadn’t settled on a course of action for Tanta’s growth plan yet, but he had a better image of his future as a carpenter now.
Connecting with his blessing had been a life-changing event. It was natural to be uneasy. That’s why it was important to help him find his way and what it would look like.
Without that, his blessing would drag him along and force him down its preferred route.
“It’s ironic. The day someone realizes with the path God bequeathed them is so often when they embark on their personal quest.”
With guidance, it was possible to awaken to your own will. And I’d learned that will was a fascinating thing, and difficult to control.
“Red.”
“Rit? Oh, and Ruti and Tanta, too.”
The three of them had been playing in the sand, but now they were finished.
A fantastic sand castle stood prominently on the beach not too far away.
Did Ruti go overboard?
“That wasn’t me,” she said, as though reading my thoughts. “Tanta took the lead making it.”
“You did, Tanta?”
“Yup! I made the plan, and Big Sis and Ms. Rit helped me build it!”
“Amazing!”
I couldn’t have done that. With my knowledge, it would’ve wound up like a frontline fort. I had no sense for ornamentation.
“The pillars have flower motifs on them. Wow, that’s neat.”
“You have good eyes, Big Bro.”
“This is a masterpiece for sure.”
It was a shame that it would end up crumbling since it was made of sand.
“Once I become a carpenter, I’m going to build a house that can stand for a thousand years!” Tanta declared.
“I can’t wait to see that. When my shop starts showing its age, maybe I should ask you to renovate it.”
Tanta grinned. “Leave it to me! I’ll make you an amazing shop that’s just as good as Uncle Gonz’s work!”
He sounds a lot more cheerful now.
The problem of his blessing’s impulses still remained, but he had a strong vision of his dream. He would be fine.
“Hey, Red,” Rit said. “We were going to go for a walk over to the wharf. Do you want to come?”
“A walk? That sounds nice.”
I stood and brushed off the sand on my back.
It was the third day of our trip. We’d planned for a five-day vacation, so we were in the back half now.
We weren’t likely to visit this island again except for an outing like this, so taking in the sights sounded like a good idea.
“We should get some water bottles before we go,” I suggested.
“Mhm.” Ruti proudly held up her water bottle with Mister Crawly Wawly drawn on it. “It’s important to drink enough water.”
The island’s drinking water came from a spring farther inland. It was concealed by the woods, meaning there was a chance of running into monsters, although not a particularly high one. Just to be safe, we advised Gonz and the others not to fetch water alone. Still, Gonz and Mido would be able to handle any creatures around here.
If either of them was attacked, they likely wouldn’t even be hurt so long as they brought a machete for cutting through the dense foliage.
Thus far, there’d been no monster attacks. The creatures of the island seemed to possess enough wisdom to keep away from dangerous visitors.
“Why is the spring water not salty even though we’re in the middle of the sea?” Tanta inquired while we filled our bottles.
“The rain that falls here passes underground and wells up here,” I answered.
“Oh!”
Tanta’s bottle was a hollowed-out calabash. There was a sketch of a smiling face drawn in black ink on the side, giving it a childish kind of charm.
Water burbled when I dipped it into the spring.
Summer sun came through the trees in shafts, illuminating the verdant forest. A powerful orchestra of insects played while we sweated from the heat.
“This is the epitome of summer,” I mused.
Tanta looked puzzled. “Huh?”
“It means I like this season.”
“Then I epitome summer, too.”
He seemed to enjoy using the new word he’d picked up.
“Red! If you don’t teach it properly, he won’t know the true meaning!”
Oops, Rit got angry.
“What it means is…”
She quickly instructed Tanta on the proper definition.
“Ohhh.”
We’re going to end up having this same sort of exchange with our own child someday too, aren’t we?
That sounded like it would be fun.
“Big Brother.” Ruti nudged me.
Eremite, huh?
“Mm.” Ruti gestured “sharp ears” with her fingers. So, Eremite was using magic to listen from a distance.
Ruti had mentioned it being a highly disguised spell, and now I understood just how well it was obfuscated. Even after she told me, I still couldn’t sense it.
Rit nodded silently and continued speaking with Tanta.
“Big Brother, we should really get some sunscreen if we’re going for a walk. I’ll go back to the tent to get it.”
“Okay, be careful.”
Ruti broke off from the rest of us. I’d heard last night that she wanted to avoid making contact with Eremite.
After she left, we acted like nothing had happened and continued to fill our water bottles. It hardly took any time at all.
“All right, let’s go!” Tanta smiled innocently.
No sooner did we make to return to the beach than I noticed a presence move. It had done so unguarded. Nearby fauna rustled.
Tanta stopped. “Is someone there?”
Naturally, Rit and I had to stop, too.
Did she make herself known intentionally so that this would happen? I wondered. I might have been overthinking it, but it was probably best to keep wary.
“Good afternoon. Thanks be to Lord Demis’s mercy, known to all beings equally.”
There was a smile on Eremite’s lips, but the belt covering her eyes concealed any trace of a motive.
“Good afternoon, Eremite.” I dodged her comment while maintaining a tone appropriate for general chatting with someone I didn’t really know. “Coming all the way here from the Dark Forest for water must have been difficult.”
“I tipped over my water jug… It occasionally happens when one cannot see,” Eremite answered with a chuckle.
“That must be hard…,” Tanta said quietly.
“Thank you for your worry, child. But this sort of adversity is but one part of my study,” Eremite replied happily. “And it gave me the chance to meet you all a second time.”
Kindness was an effective emotion for getting others to relax around you. It was particularly effective on innocent kids. Tanta was the perfect example.
“Then we’ll be going. Have a nice day, Eremite.”
There was no reason to stick around, so I made to leave.
If only we’d been able to.
A lesser slime clinging to a tree limb above suddenly fell down.
It was a weak monster, but still enough to command Rit’s attention, and she reached for the sword at her hip. At the same moment, Eremite tripped on a tree root as she approached the spring and stumbled.
Tanta reflexively reached out for Eremite. Rit couldn’t step in to stop him, so I did instead.
Eremite’s hand grabbed my arm. Even as she fell, her face turned toward me.
“Thank you.”
“It was nothing…”
A moment after she touched me, Eremite froze for a second, like something unexpected had occurred.
Had she learned something by making physical contact?
“I’m glad you aren’t hurt.” I put some strength into my arm, pulling her back up.
She stepped back smoothly.
Rit had defeated the slime with a single slash and already sheathed her sword.
“Sorry for disturbing your solitude,” I said.
“Not at all. I went against my practice by reflexively reaching out for help in that moment. Please accept my apologies,” Eremite replied.
“It’s probably best not to stick around here too long. We’ll be heading out.”
“Yes. I shall pray you have a worthy day. And child…”
Tanta regarded the woman nervously. “Um, yes, ma’am…”
Eremite smiled at him. “Thank you for reaching out to help me.”
After leaving the spring, we met back up with Ruti.
Tanta had a stick he’d picked up in the woods while walking. He played with it, swinging it in imitation of Rit cutting through the lesser slime.
“Sorry, Red.”
“No, that was my mistake.”
Had Eremite been waiting for that slime to fall?
Surely, Rit and I would’ve noticed.
If the lesser slime had been the starting point and Eremite moved in response, then we would’ve been able to react better.
However, she’d tripped at the same time the monster attacked. It could only be described as a coincidence.
“I don’t know which, but she definitely used some sort of skill.”
It couldn’t have had any impact on us, though. Ruti would’ve noticed.
“I’d never miss anything different about you, Big Brother.”
Ruti was confident about that.
“It had to be a probing ability, a high-level one even Rit can’t sense. We already have reason to believe Eremite is a master at disguising her spells,” I said.
Detection magic that Yarandrala couldn’t notice. What is someone that strong doing on an island out here?
“She’s not fighting the demon lord’s army and never helped during the Devil’s Blessing incident, the war with Veronia, or the trouble with Van. Someone so powerful just hiding out here seems absurd.” I couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter.
“I imagine that was how Bighawk and Lilinrala felt, too,” Rit commented.
“I guess so…”
True. They probably thought it was crazy to run into something so absurd, too.
In our case, we just wanted to enjoy life at our own pace in Zoltan.
“What’s Eremite after?” I posited aloud.
“It’d be nice if she really was here to study in solitude,” Rit said.
I agreed, but my instincts told me that wasn’t the answer.
If she were after money, or this was a political maneuver, I could understand, but the motives of a pious cleric aren’t really as predictable as the average person.
An opponent with an unknown goal… I hated those sorts of fights the most.
“Big Bro!” Tanta shouted.
“What is it?”
“Look! The people are all doing something!”
Villagers had gathered on the beach to do some woodworking near the wharf.
It looked like they were making a fishing ship.
“Oh! If it isn’t our savior!” one of the fishers from yesterday called.
He was directing the construction, giving instructions to the others.
“Good afternoon,” I greeted. “It must be our lucky day if we get to see you building a ship.”
“Oh, really? It’s just work for us, but I guess it’s not something you get to see every day.”
He waved us over with an easy smile, allowing us to have a closer look.
“Until we can get this finished, half the fishers will be stuck on land.”
“Sounds rough.”
“We can make another boat, but there’s no bringing back anyone who dies, so it’s not too bad.” The fisherman wore a cheerful expression as he answered.
The sea separated this island and Zoltan, but the locals’ cheerfulness felt quite familiar.
“I’ve studied a little at a ship-making dock, and made an on-the-spot raft before, but it’s my first time seeing a whole vessel’s construction,” I said.
I’d volunteered to visit the naval shipyards to see what sort of ships they turned out when I was a knight, and I’d built a raft to cross a river on a battlefield once, but this was different. I wanted to see the sort of vessel the locals would make.
A blueprint had been drawn into the sand. There weren’t any precise instructions. Rather, the general notes listed how to combine pieces and the order for creating those parts.
“I guess you always start with the keel, huh?”
The keel divided the ship lengthwise down the center. It was the most crucial piece, and this one had especially sturdy wood.
“It’s the ship’s backbone, so you gotta. People’s bodies are made starting with the spine, too, I bet,” said the fisherman.
“That’s an interesting thought.”
I’d considered a heart to be the first element because a person would die without one. However, the fishers saw the spine as the base upon which to build.
Their work had only begun this morning, and they still had plenty left to do. Many hull pieces would need to be attached to the keel.
“I see…”
Tanta looked on with wholehearted enjoyment. He’d sat next to one of the people connecting boards to the keel.
“Is it that interesting, kiddo?” one of the workers asked.
“Mhm! The nails are different shapes from the ones for making houses!”
“Yeah, they’re boat spikes, made to fit the shape of the planks.”
“And you’re basically only using axes for tools.”
“We cut a piece to the rough size with a saw, then use a hatchet to work it down. We’d have to go all the way to Zoltan to get any other tools.”
“Wow. You can make something that fits this perfectly even without specialized tools?”
Whittling down the wood with a single ax until it was just right was quite impressive.
“I see. If you nail it like that, it won’t leak water,” Tanta said.
“You’re pretty smart, kiddo.”
“Hmm. I see!”
“O-oh?”
Tanta suddenly stood and ran over to the blueprints drawn in the sand. His eyes lit up as he peered down at it, having noticed something. “I’m amazed you can make a ship with just this much of a guide!”
“Because we’ve basically memorized what we’re doing… You interested in fishing or something, kiddo?” asked one of the workers.
“No! I want to be a carpenter!”
“You don’t say! So you must have a good idea of what we’re doing here.”
“It’s interesting how different it is from making a house!”
“Want to give it a try?”
“Can I really?!”
Tanta glanced over at me. I smiled and nodded. The boy straightened up and bowed his head politely at the worker. “Please let me help!”
Tanta had been a child only a year ago. Rit looked surprised, but watched happily as Tanta pitched in.
“He’s good.”
“Yeah.”
He learned how to use the hatchet quickly. It was more about employing the weight of the ax instead of pure strength. The angle of the swing mattered most. So long as that was right, the amount shaved away would be, too.
Upon noticing how quickly Tanta took to the job, the villagers were eager to teach him more.
“I can see why Gonz has such high expectations for him. He takes to learning new things so quickly,” Rit commented.
“God has such poor judgment, making someone that talented a Cardinal.”
“It’s because Demis doesn’t consider the people he assigns blessings to.”
A person’s natural inclinations had nothing to do with their blessing. If they did, there’d never be anyone with a poor affinity for their God-given role.
“Raising a child…”
Rit smiled as she watched Tanta work. It had been a little over a year since she met him, and he’d grown so much in that short time.
How many moments like this had his parents seen?
“I can’t wait,” she added.
“Yeah, we need to consider what to do for our wedding,” I said.
“The standard was getting married three months after getting engaged, right?”
“Apparently.”
That was the norm in Zoltan.
Originally, when parents arranged an engagement, a couple would live together for three months to judge their compatibility. Such was the custom on the southeast section of the continent.
Given that we were marrying for love, and already lived together, it wouldn’t have been a problem to be wed immediately, but…
“Still, this is nice, too, this time between engagement and marriage.”
Going from lovers to husband and wife. That gray, transitional feeling would only exist for a while.
“The present and the future are both so nice. This is bliss,” I said.
“Yeah!” Rit agreed.
The world was filled with fighting.
Even here, on an island we visited on vacation, there was a dangerous person like Eremite.
Undoubtedly, we’d be pulled into plenty of battles in the future. Yet we were still able to live happily. We didn’t live to fight, but to have fun and enjoy living.
Rit and I watched as a fishing ship slowly came together.
Apparently, the villagers used these same hatchets to fight monsters, throwing them to drive the creatures away. Tools of war could be used to make a boat.
In my mind, it was the perfect metaphor for the world.
No matter how much God wanted us to fight…
The shipbuilding work ended as the sun began to set.
Tanta helped all the way to the end.
The villagers must have felt guilty for keeping him for so long because they told him several times that he could play if he wanted. However, Tanta remained, preferring to pitch in.
Rit, Ruti, and I chatted lazily while watching from the shade. Nothing about our conversation was particularly special, but it was fun to talk in different surroundings.
And just like that, another day was coming to an end. As thanks for helping, the locals gave us some vegetables.
The past few days have been heavy on meat, so maybe tonight should be a vegetable main, I thought.
“I was thinking of going fishing tomorrow. What do you think, Tanta?” I asked.
“Fishing! Of course I want to go!”
“I’d planned to borrow a boat, but after losing one of their boats, I doubt the villagers have any to spare. One section of coastline to the east looked good enough to cast from, though, we can try our luck there.”
There was actually a rocky outcropping farther east that was likely an even better spot, but it would’ve been dangerous for a kid.
“I’ve heard there are some pretty big fish in these parts. They can get to be a meter long. I wonder if it’s true,” I remarked idly.
“A whole meter?!” Tanta held out his hands. “This big?!” His eyes lit up at the very thought.
Once we reunited with Tanta’s family, he raced over to tell them about what had happened today.
It sounded like a fun talk.
Guess I should start on dinner.
“Red.”
“Tisse?”
She and Mister Crawly Wawly had gone swimming again today. Presently, she had a casual hoodie over her swimsuit. Mister Crawly Wawly had a tiny pair of sunglasses on his head. I doubted they were was very functional.
Either way, they both looked to be enjoying our vacation.
“Having fun?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. We watched a fishing boat being made today.”
“Oh, that’s not something you see too often.”
“We watched for hours, even though it wasn’t our original plan. Honestly, it was a pretty silly way to pass the time.”
“Sounds like it.”
A former knight and an assassin.
We’d both spent a good portion of our lives doing things as efficiently as possible. The longer one wasted on inaction, the worse their position would be tomorrow. That’s the sort of principle we’d lived by.
“Back at my old job, trips were only for training, swimming while fighting monsters, and the like. There was some free time, but I used that to study etiquette and learn politics at the local lord’s manor,” I said.
“So diligent.”
“I was desperate to know all I could before Ruti set out on her journey.”
I never took days off unless they were necessary to maintain my health. Any spare energy was spent hunting monsters to raise my level.
“Being low level in my line of work is a quick ticket to the grave,” Tisse remarked. “I don’t think I was quite as reckless as you were, though.”
“But you still found time to maintain a bath review book and visit lots of oden stalls.”
I hoped to read her book one day. Would I need to visit the Assassins Guild to get a copy?
“Let’s not get too distracted,” Tisse said.
“Ah, right. Did you need me?”
Tisse leaned in close. “I want to show you something.”
“Oh?”
“Over here.”
I followed Tisse to a bucket filled with seawater a short stroll from the tents.
“There’s a bag in here,” I said, noticing the unusual object sitting in the pail.
“Yeah, it’s got some things I caught while swimming.”
I had a look inside. “Ohhh, this is amazing!”
“Hehe. I did what I could.”
The bag held a collection of large clams and scallops.
These would be good steamed or grilled… Hm?
“Pretty nice, right?”
“Yeah, this is a good catch.”
One adductor muscle had something written on it. I peered closely at it in the bag.
Eremite approached camp. Listening now.
Ahhh…
Another one of the shells sported a simple map indicating a spot in the forest, presumably where Eremite was hiding.
“What sort of dish should I make?” I asked.
“Actually, I’ve got an idea I’d like to try, so leave that to me and have fun with Ms. Ruti.”
“Are you sure? Perhaps I should invite her or Yarandrala on a walk, then.”
“Please do. You can leave the food to me. I’ll definitely make a delicious meal.”
“Sounds good. You’ve really gotten better at cooking.”
Tisse was telling me to let her guard the campsite.
I told her about the vegetables the villagers gifted us today while we returned to our camp. Ruti was beside one of the tents, peering up at the moon.
“I like the crescent moon,” she said, eyes still fixed on the bright sliver in the sky.
“Yeah, it’s nice. It’s got a different sort of beauty from a full moon,” I replied.
“Mhm.”
I stood beside my little sister. It was a nice moon.
“Ruti, I was thinking of going for a walk with Yarandrala. What do you think?”
“It’d be nice to be with you…”
“Really? All right. Then shall we go for a stroll?”
“Mhm.”
Ruti had her trusty goblin blade over her shoulder, and I had my bronze sword hanging off one hip.
Monsters liked to attack at night, so it was perfectly natural to carry a weapon.
“Want to hold hands?” I asked.
Ruti shook her head. “No. You can walk in front, I’ll follow you.”
“Okay.”
We waved to Gonz and the others and headed into the woods.
All right, now that we’re out of sight.
“Lightning Speed.”
I dashed through the woods.
Lightning Speed was a skill that accelerated straight movement, so it wasn’t the best for dealing with obstacles. It was only a common skill, after all. A combination of spells like Flight and Tailwind was better for mobility.
That was the typical thought.
I’d already used Lightning Speed to save the local fishers from the blade sharks. Eremite likely suspected it was my quickest means of movement. That would lead her to think she was safe in the woods, which were fraught with obstructions.
“But I already know the forest.”
I’d walked through it earlier. Knowing where the troublesome spots were made them easy enough to avoid. When I burst through the gap in the trees, Eremite was already constructing a seal to perform a spell. My sword came up to her neck before she could complete it, however.
“You shouldn’t eavesdrop on people,” I said.
“Splendid.” She was surprised, but she showed no sign of panic.
“Ordinarily, it would be difficult to harm someone from the church, but I doubt anyone would think twice if an ascetic out in the wilderness was attacked by a monster.”
“That would be troublesome. I am reluctant to die before I complete my observance of solitude.” Still, her voice betrayed no worry. Either she was confident I wouldn’t kill her, or she was bluffing to give the impression that she held the superior position.
“Why is a hermit in solitude monitoring us?” I demanded. “What are you after?”
“I am at all times a humble servant of Demis. That is the purpose of my life.”
“And what does God need to monitor us for?”
“How presumptive of a mortal to try discerning the will of the divine.”
“Typical cleric elitism!”
“Big Brother, above you!”
I reflexively leaped backward at Ruti’s warning.
A shadow thrust a spear into the ground where I had been standing with tremendous force.
A flying demon!
It was a mid-tier demon. A horde of them had once launched a surprise attack on the King of Avalonia’s castle.
“A member of the church sees fit to summon a demon?!” I said in disbelief.
“Evil exists to serve Almighty Demis. There is no reason I should not be able to use it.”
This was an enemy far more powerful than a blade shark. However…
“What?!”
Seeing me ignore the flying demon and charge for Eremite left her stunned. The flying demon tried to run me through from the side, but never got the chance.
“Too slow.”
Ruti’s sword cleaved it in two.
“Holy Strike!”
Eremite loosed a spell at me. A powerful white flash sped from her hands.
“Sacred Magic Shield.”
A conjured shield more powerful than Eremite’s divine attack deflected the bolt, protecting me.
“Impossible…!” Eremite exclaimed.
“Casting magic and handling a flying demon simultaneously is nothing for her.”
Ruti had already defeated plenty of flying demons by the time we left the capital. She was strong enough to take on the four heavenly lords. An ordinary demon wouldn’t give her any trouble.
“Kh.”
“You’re not getting away!”
My sword pierced Eremite’s right hand, and I pinned her down to the ground, thrusting the sword through her hand and into the earth.
“Aaaaargh!!!”
She tried to use magic with her left hand.
“It’s over. Don’t move,” Ruti said.
“…Yes, so it would seem.”
Ruti peered down at the woman, sword hovering above Eremite’s forehead.
Eremite relaxed in a show of surrender.
I quickly tied her up, taking care to bind her fingers so she couldn’t move them. That would keep her from forming the seals necessary to cast magic.
“Why did you attack us?” I demanded.
Since I’d come to Zoltan, this was the first fight where I didn’t know what my opponent was after. However, I had managed to glean something from the skirmish.
“Eremite, you’ve got the Divine Blessing of the Saint, right?”
“You’re clever to have noticed.”
Of the thousands of blessings in the world, Saint and Sage were the only two with access to Appraisal. Saint stood at the apex of cleric-type blessings.
In other words, she knew I was the Guide. She’d used Appraisal when I touched her. Ordinarily, the skill required you to see someone to activate it, but Eremite had blinded herself. Her Appraisal skill must have changed to compensate, becoming a different ability despite having the same name. That was why Rit and I hadn’t been able to recognize it.
“I know the trick with your Appraisal. I won’t fall for it again,” I said. “Knowing that you can use sight-dependent skills with a different sense should be enough to deal with them.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Eremite replied. Even now, she sounded so placid. No hostility colored her voice.
We really needed to find out what she was after.
I couldn’t be certain, but I suspected it had to do with the Hero. The Divine Blessing of the Saint was powerful, after all. I reasoned that Demis had spoken to Eremite in some fashion, instructing her to draw Ruti back to the Hero’s path.
At the time, I didn’t fully comprehend how different Demis’s thinking was from a human’s.
Back on the beach, Tisse kept a watchful eye on the surroundings while she cooked. Meanwhile, Yarandrala communicated with the plants, all the time aware of Eremite’s exact position in the forest.
Two masters on guard.
Not even Red would’ve been able to slip past them.
“The chubby carpenter’s saw was saw-saw-sawing away~”
Tanta was singing a weird tune Gonz sang when drunk as he walked around a few palm trees.
He’d spotted a small monkey near the tents and followed it around. The monkey had climbed a palm, amusing Tanta, who laughed and then started singing.
“And his sawdust-covered wife threw the pot at him~”
“That’s a fun song.”
“Huh?!”
The tall woman in white had appeared before Tanta quite suddenly. Eremite stood before him, belt covering her eyes. Tanta hadn’t even blinked, yet she had somehow approached unseen in an instant.
Red and the others would have been wary of that sort of abnormality, but Tanta had never been on an adventure yet, so he was merely surprised.
“…Ms. Eremite?”
“That’s right. I’m glad you remember my name.”
She smiled. The young Tanta felt a little bit unsettled by her expression.
“Um, did you need something from me?”
“Tanta.” Her expression dripped with affection. “You’ve connected with your blessing.”
“!!!”
Tanta regarded Eremite with surprise, yet the woman smiled as she always did.
Eremite knew the power of weakness, and that was perhaps her greatest strength. The Eremite with Tanta was just an illusion. Multiple layers of complex cloaking magic were layered atop it, but the core was not a harmful spell. It was merely a type of Send Message.
The magic carried Eremite’s image and words. It had no adverse effect on Tanta’s mind or body. The illusory facade of Eremite couldn’t even disturb grains of sand on the beach.
Anyone with a basic understanding of magic could disrupt the spell. It was elementary—first-tier. And that’s precisely why it got past Tisse and Yarandrala. Because it was just an illusion reflected in Tanta’s mind, they didn’t sense it. Yarandrala’s plants noticed nothing because Tanta’s body was the same as it had ever been.
Two of the strongest people on the continent failed to recognize something was wrong, because that something was so weak. That was Eremite’s strength.
“…”
Tanta was silent.
Red had warned him not to tell anyone about his blessing, and he understood how dangerous it would be to confide in a stranger.
“It is fine. You need not tell me the blessing you have been given,” Eremite said.
“Y-yeah, sorry, I can’t say it.”
Tanta bowed apologetically.
The illusion could not exist outside of Tanta’s field of vision, so when he lowered his head, it vanished save for the feet. Tanta, who lacked any knowledge of magic, failed to notice.
When he raised his head, the vision of Eremite returned, and she was able to speak again.
“I am a cleric. God has assigned me this role to guide followers in doubt.”
“Role…”
Tanta looked troubled.
In this world, the common understanding was that clerics and priests were good people. Members of Zoltan’s church had helped Tanta many times in the past. A few holy people were scary, but the general consensus was that they were all generally kind. Bishop Shien, the leader of Zoltan’s church, was a local hero, friendly and charismatic with everyone.
As a child, Tanta had been taught to respect followers of God.
“I have a dream of being a carpenter, but…my blessing doesn’t have anything to do with that, so I’m a little worried.”
Tanta kept his exact blessing private, but voiced a worry that many struggled with.
Eremite listened silently, only responding once the boy was finished.
“I can understand your confusion. You’re not alone. Many believers struggle to reconcile their Divine Blessing and their life.”
“That makes sense.”
“I’m sure your friends believe that you should choose the path of a carpenter instead of following your blessing.”
“Mhm.”
“Then, allow me to speak of the joy that comes from accepting the role of one’s blessing.”
“But I’ve always dreamed about becoming a carpenter.”
“I understand, but were you to proceed without knowing what might come if you only accepted your blessing, you might come to regret it.”
“…”
Tanta’s face puckered in protest. He had his dream of becoming a carpenter, and even though he was a child, he understood that even if he failed, it would still have been his choice.
He wouldn’t consider any route but his own.
And Eremite knew that. That’s why she didn’t reject his dream. Not at first.
“Do you know the story of Blessed Scribonius’s Temptation?”
“Scribonius…? Umm, that’s the important person who used his ring of blessing on a sick friend, right?”
“Yes. He was a man who prayed for the happiness of his friend over his own. The important point of the story is that the demon showed Scribonius both a happy future and an unhappy one.”
“Both…”
“Scribonius gave up the happiness that awaited in the future and accepted misfortune so that he might fulfill his vow to save his dying friend. He died in his prophesied misfortune and was beatified as Blessed Scribonius.”
“God didn’t save Scribonius?”
“God did save him. Scribonius died, but to this day, he is remembered and honored as blessed.”
Tanta thought for a moment, not quite understanding.
“Umm, so you mean that I have to know the future where I don’t become a carpenter, too?”
“Yes, knowing both and then choosing your path is the trial that God asks of us, and the love God shows to us.”
Tanta struggled to comprehend.
“You’re not saying I have to give up my dream, are you?”
“Just like your friends, I believe it is important you choose your path for yourself. However, it would not be fair to choose without also knowing the joy of accepting your blessing, would it?”
“I guess so… I can at least listen…”
Eremite smiled. “Tanta, allow me to share with you my story… The story of Saint Eremite.”
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