Chapter 42: Pluto's Black Star (1)

༺ Pluto's Black Star (1) ༻

I was very much embarrassed by their attention which had suddenly shifted to me.

My blushing face and timid attitude due to the sudden influx of gazes fixed on me made way for an extremely stupid display, making me want to die of shame.

"W-What am I needed for?"

Cassandra slowly and gently walked over to me at my panicked inquiry. She then placed her hands on my shoulders, I don't even know how she was able to do it in spite of being blind but she did nonetheless, and addressed the adventurers around me.

"When it comes to the blessing of Light, Hassan of Samaria here is the most blessed among us. His prayers are the most likely to reach the silent and lofty peaks of mount Olympus."

Cassandra's words spread like wildfire and created a rather big commotion instantaneously.

"That guy was a blessed?"

"Isn't the God of Light famous for not easily blessing people?"

"I don't think the priestess from Delphi, the great temple of the sun, would lie to us..."

"Be quiet."

It was Hippolyte's heavy voice that finally put the chattering group's debate, about my status as a blessed, to an abrupt halt in a single instant. Her words just had that much weight.

The silver-ranked warrioress then walked closer to me with a group of adventurers trailing behind her, including the sword maidens, and stood up just below my face, glancing straight at me with her steely eyes.

Fuck, the people of this world had no awareness of any form of personal space. It was kinda embarrassing every single time they nonchalantly walked up so close to me without respecting my personal boundaries. It felt very shitty, in fact.

"Can you do it?"

"T-That..."

How can she look straight into my eyes like that?

As I returned her gaze, I abruptly recalled the scene in the cold lake last night— the scene of our entangled bodies under the moonlight, and felt blood rushing to my little brother at a frightening pace.

"If you succeed, I will back you up for your promotion to bronze rank and even personally request Baltma for it."

Holy god-fucking-damn, a promotion?

"I'll give it a try, but I have to warn you, I can't assure you of the success."

Promotion to the bronze tier? Fireworks and fanfare for my promotion party began ringing in my head.

I thought It would take another half a year for me to leave the iron tier, at the minimum. Although this was a very happy occasion, I still felt a chill go down my neck looking at the pair of brown eyes nailing me down.

"Then, try. Pray."

And so I started a strange prayer ceremony while surrounded by the other adventurers.

Everyone looked at me with some nervousness, anticipation, interest, or doubt; some form of emotion rested in their gazes without exception. My mouth dried up while my hands got sweaty from nervousness and anxiety.

"The prayer of a blessed Samaritan. I'm really looking forward to this."

Hippolyte was urging me to start. Fucking hell, what was I to do now? As I said before I have no prior religious experience.

What am I supposed to do if you guys suddenly ask me to pray? All I could think of right now were the ancestral rites my father used to force me to join four times a year. Damn, should I just try and do that? It was worth a try, at the very least.

"Then, please, can you spread out some food around here? Just a bit from the rations you guys have packed."

Hippolyte nodded and soon after the Sword Maidens reluctantly began putting down some food from their bags on the ground while glancing at me with stern eyes.

Putting food on the muddy floor didn't feel right to me, so I took out some crocodile skin and set the assembly of dry rations, dried fruits, and the newly acquired crocodile meat on them.

I think this was good enough as a ritual table, filled with the ritual offerings, for the ancestral rites, but if my strict father saw this makeshift table then he would be angrily badmouthing me while spitting out in rage.

As the eldest son of a large family, he had always been passionate about ancestral rites.

I, then, sat neatly in front of the ancestral rites table, then I made two bows toward the muddy ground; wet sounds were made whenever my head touched the mud.

Twice? Maybe doing thrice was appropriate since it was a god. Damn, I'll do it once more; just to be safe.

Splash-

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know too. I guess it's a kind of Samaritan prayer?"

"It has a primitive feel to it."

"That's how they did it in ancient times, I suppose."

Contrary to the noisy adventurers that were making a ruckus, Casandra's voice was muffled and barely audible, like a forced-out whisper.

"I heard that in ancient times, before even temples were built, people used to pray after preparing offerings such as food and other kinds of sacrificial objects. Burning offerings before praying was an everyday occurrence to the people of the old."

"Indeed, this is the old-fashioned way. How unexpected."

"Let's see what happens from now on."

**********

The crowd and I were immersed in a state of awkward silence after I bowed three times toward the simple makeshift ritual table.

Only fog and the cries of wild animals were filling our surroundings.

Even after waiting some more, the fog showed no signs of lessening, it didn't even stir the slightest.

Well, that's about what I expected.

Although I was full of confidence in my abilities after what happened these few days, I still didn't believe in the gods of this world and didn't offer them even a single prayer since getting sent here for who knows what reason!

Damn, this is plain embarrassing. Won't they beat me up if nothing happens after all the ruckus they made and the anticipation they placed on me?

Just as I started worrying about the dark future that was surely ahead...

"Hassan of Samaria. Brother. Why don't you try offering praises or compliments?"

I could hear Cassandra's voice from behind me, I felt like I was stuck in a deep and dark hole and a rope of salvation was finally offered to me. She was my savior, I'm sure of it, damn it!

"Praise?"

"Yes, brief praise is okay. Please do your best. You can recite a prayer. Samaritan dialect is fine t..."

I couldn't hear the rest of her words as I was immersed in my thoughts. She wants me to praise a god? Nothing comes to mind though. I'm not the kind to easily praise others, to begin with. Hallelujah... Fucking hell, that isn't the right religion, for fucks sake! What should I say?

Right now the closest thing I knew to prayers was the ridiculous "Praise the chaos" or whatever that line I often had to mutter to invoke the status screen.

Shit, being ridiculed never killed anyone, I have nothing to lose, I'll just do it.

"Praise the Sun-!"

Just when I uttered such a ridiculous and awkward praise that almost made me cringe visibly.

Ding-

You can borrow the authority of the gods by consuming 200 task points.

Your current task points are 217.

『Yes.』

『No.』

Holy. Fucking. Shit! Letters appeared! They really appeared!! I've never seen these before. Even an optional "Yes/No" appeared too.

I felt hope and a sense of deja vu when I heard I could consume 200 task points to borrow some power from the gods.

"Nothing is happening."

"Was he lying?"

It was time to move, I couldn't hesitate anymore when they were slowly giving me more and more suspicious and scary looks.

I'm gonna get promoted if I do well. Damn, I'll raise my rank to the next tier! More money and an even more comfortable life was awaiting me! Wooohooooo!!!

Ding-

My hand moved and pressed on the floating 『Yes.』option, the letters faded away with an artificial noise akin to those you'd hear when choosing an option in a mobile game.

What's going to happen now? I'm so nervous that I couldn't even breathe properly.

Swish- Bang-

Something flew out through the fog with lightning-fast speed. Brushing my face, it crashed on the muddy ground with a resounding splash, nay, it was more of a thud than a splash which was weird for the muddy and watery ground we were standing upon. At the same time, the thick fog that was surrounding us began to slowly clear up, faintly revealing the bright sky as if the previous fog was merely an illusion.

Holy shit, what was that?

Did that thing just fly in from the fog and then get stuck on the ground? The speed and weight looked way too much. Was this a missile or a meteor or something similar? Fucking shit, just what the fuck was that?

The land surrounding me was actually hollowed out as if an object of considerable mass had collided with it. It was akin to the state when a meteor had just landed on earth with a terrible momentum. And in the middle of that hollowed space, was an object blazing with fire.

"An arrow...?"

Luna said it was an arrow, and I also confirmed that fact with my own eyes.

Instead of feathers, fluttering and shining gold flames were vividly burning at its end. It was a very hard-to-process scene, especially for me who had come from a world without magic.

It soon disappeared, like a flame that had burned out all of its firewood with a whoosh sound.

"Wow, damn, the fog cleared up in an instant!"

"It wasn't just the fog! Look! Even the mud has suddenly dried up!"

"What!? What just happened? I didn't see anything, I just heard a loud sound!"

The adventurers began loudly rambling with each other in shock at the earthshaking changes around us. Hippolyte then interrupted them after looking at the hollowed-out ground.

"The food and leather on the ground are gone. It seems the great God of Light has accepted the tribute. The way the floor is dented and this heat..."

Hippolyte, then, knelt down on the spot where the arrow was and swept the floor with her palm.

The priestess from Delphi was also kneeling next to her and was also getting a feel of the ground. She then spoke in her characteristic quiet voice.

"He never answered no matter how many tributes I offered. To think he'd answer so quickly... Uuh, Uuuh, Uuuuggh..."

Cassandra who was looking fine just now suddenly started convulsing violently.

"Ugh, Gugh, Hah, Haagh-!"

S-shit, what the hell is happening? Is she having an epileptic seizure?

In this world where people had weird eccentricities and bizarre conditions, I wouldn't be surprised to see someone suffer from a mental illness or two.

Even if it was a well-dressed Priestess who seemed to be living quite the good life.

"The priestess from Delphi. W-What's happening to her? What's wrong?"

Even Hippolyte couldn't stay calm after seeing her body shake like that, as if she was going through a great amount of pain.

She then grabbed the slender shoulders of Cassandra, who now started foaming from her mouth, and began shaking her back and forth.

"Wake up!"

"Geuh, Uuuugh. O-Oracle-!"

"It's an oracle?"

"...Geuh, the s-sun rose high from below the ground and stayed in the sky for three days. Nothing could hide from its bright light whether it was high in the mountain peaks or deep on the sea floor... But it then sank back into the earth, breaking with it its own covenant and crown of light..."

**********

Cassandra who had lost her consciousness after rambling that oracle of hers suddenly woke up after a few dozen minutes.

"Uh, Uuh..."

The woman woke up behind me in a state similar to the ones I'd seen on those experiencing a hangover. She then shouted in surprise at the realization that a man with tanned skin was holding her on his back.

"W-What the hell is going on?"

"I had to lift you on my back since you lost consciousness. Get off now since you have regained your consciousness. You're heavy."

I wasn't really bothered by the duty of carrying her being dumped on me. It was like having to carry another piece of luggage after losing at rock-paper-scissors.

I even liked it at first since it meant I'd be carrying a soft-looking woman on my back. I couldn't say the same thing after walking a few kilometers with all this load under the rays of the scorching sun, however.

"I was unconscious? Okay, first things first, sorry for showing you such an unsightly side of me."

Cassandra came down and patted her body to dust off the leaves and other residues that got stuck on her clothes. She then slowly came to my side and quietly expressed her thanks along with her apology for burdening me so.

"Hassan of Samaria. I'd recommend visiting Delphi if you have the time after we're done with this mission. It seems to be the wish of the great God of Light and the Sun, Apollo himself."

"Delphi?"

Where is Delphi situated anyway? I heard people say that it was the city where the headquarters of the church believing in the Sun God was located.

In a world without cars and buses, traveling to another city required a lot of effort. This quest wasn't called an expedition or journey for nothing.

"That's all I can tell you as a mere mortal."

Cassandra distanced herself from me after leaving those words. It seems she didn't care about any kind of question I might have for her sudden and cryptic recommendation.

"Heugh, uh, ugh-."

Luna then walked up next to me, making strange groaning noises.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I think I sprained my ankle. There was a rock and I kinda tripped over and fell..."

This troublesome bitch walked so freely on the muddy ground and then ended up injuring herself on dry ground.

Was it similar to having your feet hurt on the plain ground after having fun jumping on a trampoline?

Maybe her feet that were used to the muddy terrain couldn't adapt to the suddenness of the dry ground.

"I-It hurts-."

"Oi, let me see. There doesn't seem to be any problem on the surface."

I was used to curing strange diseases so a simple ankle strain shouldn't be too much of a deal, right? I put my hand on Luna's wrist.

"I-I hurt my feet, so why are you touching my arms...?"

"Stay still. Don't speak."

Ding-

[Stats] Name: Luna Knox Dotty

Level: 8

Conditions: Curse of Knox>Curse of Erebor>Mild Growing Pains>

There was nothing mentioned about a sprained ankle. What was the difference between what appeared on my ability and what didn't? More research on this was needed to ascertain that fact. For now, I should approach this the traditional way.

"Want a massage to make you feel better?"

Well, I didn't really need the help of my ability to cure something as trivial as this.

Just as I was trying to reach for the ankle of the sitting Luna she suddenly swung her hand and blocked mine mid-route.

"H-having my ankle touched in public is a little..."

"Ah..."

I forgot about that. I can't even imagine the number of rumors that me touching her feet right here would produce.

Whisper- Whisper-

"The Samaritan prayer method wor..."

"Put food on the floor and keep bowing down..."

Since the weird ancestral rites incident from earlier, people began keeping their distance from me while muttering to themselves.

"What's going on there?"

As if thinking it was strange for us to slow down, Hippolyte stopped walking and looked at us with that indifferent gaze of hers. There was a slight frown forming between her brows as she looked at us.

"Hey, is there something wrong? Any problems?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"We're already behind the schedule. Nothing should be in our way since the fog has been cleared and the ground is now dry. So, we need to speed up."

Then we started walking again. It was a ruthless march. It was frankly quite difficult to keep up with Hippolyte, who was leading us as though she was running.

"What do you want to do Luna? Should we take a break?"

"N-No, we can't do that. I need to get promoted to the bronze rank..."

Luna, who was weakly limping, began walking again with a pained expression on her face. I can't stand this, she just looks so pitiful.

"Want me to carry you on my back?"

"C-Can you? I-I owe you one then, Hassan."

I bowed down a little then Luna approached me and wrapped her arms around my neck as if she had been waiting for this to happen for ages. The weight of my luggage and her combined was rather significant.

Perhaps because I had become stronger, I wasn't feeling too bothered about it. Luna who could barely have a proper meal every day was thin and light, to begin with, so there wasn't any additional burden to speak of.

Touch-

Maybe because of the bag on her back, Luna kept leaning forward. Because of that, I could feel her warm and soft front pushing on my back.

In addition to that, and although I had no impure intention, I could feel her soft and springy rear after lifting her from her butt.

"Is it too heavy for you...?"

"No, it's alright."

"But it's so hot. I'll blow some air for you."

It was very commendable of her to blow some air on the back of my neck with "Hou, Houuu" sounds. My body, however, was getting hotter instead from the stimulation that action brought to my very core.

Fuck, this was getting dangerous.