“An enhancement potion, huh… What an interesting woman you are!”
Minerva’s face was lit up with a smile. She didn’t seem the slightest bit displeased, as if she understood why Ceres had been picking a fight with her since the moment they met.
‘Is this what happens when NPCs are bald and have no chests? What a terrible bunch of humans.’
In a world where Erica and Selene were considered lacking, what would someone like Ceres, who completely lacked a chest, be treated as?
I, too, had at one point thought those two were underwhelming, perhaps my head was a bit off at that time.
In fact, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that Erica and Selene were somewhat flat. It felt like two sets of values were colliding in my mind.
‘Could this really be due to that dark magic?’
Since it was said that magic was messing with my head, it felt like any slight distortion in perception was automatically blamed on that dark magic. I would have to get a clearer explanation of its range from the witch when I met her.
“Is it actually possible to make a potion that increases breast size?”
“It’s theoretically not impossible. But why go through the trouble of creating such a potion when it’s more beneficial to conduct magical research once more and create another potion instead?”
‘Wow, so it is possible.’
The idea that a potion could actually enlarge breasts by mere consumption was fascinating on many levels.
After all, they had eventually succeeded in developing a hair-growing potion in the game, so it wasn’t difficult to guess that the potion created by Ceres would succeed as well.
‘They succeeded, they succeeded…’
Right. They did succeed.
“Are we going to gather holy water, then, child?”
I snapped out of my thoughts. The next steps were no longer my concern.
“Is there a place you know to buy it?”
“I do know. I stopped by briefly to gather that before.”
“If you can teleport us there, I’ll handle everything from that point on.”
Minerva nodded once and lightly tapped her staff on the ground. With a sensation of weightlessness surrounding us, our bodies were enveloped in a blue mass of light.
When the blue light dissipated, the surrounding scenery had transformed 180 degrees. There stood prominently white buildings and paths made of white bricks.
The Holy Kingdom.
I took a brooch from my pocket and pinned it on my left chest. Minerva, seeing it, wore a look of great interest.
“Child, that is….”
“Have you seen this before?”
“I haven’t seen it directly, but I’ve heard of it. It’s a brooch that symbolizes the pope’s distinguished guests, it doesn’t just apply to one but both the sun and moon, doesn’t it? So that’s why you seemed so confident. With that brooch, you can surely obtain the holy water filled with light.”
Her silver eyes slightly narrowed.
“However, child. The fact that you have that brooch means…”
“Let’s hurry. We don’t have time to waste. We need to finish this quickly and go look for the crystal scroll.”
I interrupted her, stepping forward. It was clear to anyone that I was trying to dodge the topic, but it seemed Minerva was willing to let it slide as she calmly followed behind me.
After moving between buildings for a few minutes…
“Here they come.”
Perhaps sensing the mana waves released when we teleported, around ten holy knights charged toward us on horseback from a distance.
Dressed in white armor from head to toe, even the horses they rode were pure white. The weapons tied to the saddle were the only things that looked ordinary.
I couldn’t tell their genders; the armor was too thick for their shapes to show, and they had helmets hiding their faces.
The lead knight stopped in front of us and raised a flail.
“Stop! Who are you!? If you don’t speak, we’ll consider you heretics and deal with you accordingly!”
The knight in front yelled at us. One thing was clear, her voice was definitely female. I silently pointed at the brooch pinned on my left chest.
The knight looked at where my finger was pointing, froze for a moment, then jumped off her horse in shock and knelt down.
The others followed suit, taking turns to confirm my brooch and quickly dropping to their knees. The clatter of armor falling and intertwining echoed for quite a while.
Soon, all twelve knelt on the ground and bowed their heads.
“Distinguished guest, we greet you!”
“Distinguished guest, we greet you!”
Their voices rang out like a bell. In particular, the knight who had forcefully spoken first was shaking as if she were about to collapse.
‘What’s with this person?’
Was it that they were about to kill someone for raising their voice at someone wearing that brooch? I thought it was natural to have precautions against unknown individuals since we were near the papal palace.
The question soon faded. I recalled the knight mentioning we would be treated as heretics if they didn’t reply to us.
No matter how ignorant they were, in treating the pope’s distinguished guest as a heretic, there would be nothing more blasphemous in the eyes of these devout followers.
“Lift your heads. We’re not here for that—”
“How dare you speak so high to us, distinguished one! Please, treat us with humility!”
Bang! The knight slammed her helmet on the floor fiercely as she bowed her head again. That reaction made even me—the one who spoke—jump.
I glanced at Minerva, who had a somewhat perplexed expression. With a smile on her face, she leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“Why not just give them what they want, child? Sometimes excessive consideration can turn into poison.”
I nodded dumbly. I never dreamed I would be treated like this just by pinning on a brooch. I thought they might just treat me a bit more courteously.
“Alright then, I’ll drop the formalities. Lift your heads and look at me. I didn’t come here to receive bows.”
“Understood! Distinguished one!”
With that booming voice echoing once more, their heads lifted. What had been a shining helmet was now a mess covered in dirt.
“I have a request; is that alright?”
“A request? Such a thing is beyond consideration! Please, issue your command!”
“… Right. I did come to issue a command.”
“I will gladly accept it! What is your command?”
“Can you retrieve holy water filled with light?”
The knight replied without a hint of hesitation.
“Of course! How much do you require!”
I turned slightly to glance at Minerva. She seemed fairly surprised.
“Well, it seems I’m living to hear such words. Truly, being with you never ceases to be surprising.”
It was surprising. Even in the game, holy water filled with light was something where the buyer didn’t determine how much they would get, but rather the seller decided how much they would sell it for.
I suspected Minerva had never experienced being asked how much she wanted, as it would likely be the same for her.
“They say so. How much do you need, Minerva?”
“…You mean me, child?”
“Is there anyone named Minerva here other than you?”
When I mirrored the words Selene had said in Ceres’s house, Minerva’s eyes widened momentarily before returning to their original form, as if she had caught on to my intent.
“So, not too much… just one vial will be sufficient.”
“Did you hear? One vial. That should suffice.”
“Understood! We will escort you to the building for distinguished guests; while we prepare the holy water, can you please wait there?”
“Sounds good.”
“Yes! Thank you for permitting us to escort you!”
The leading knight responded vigorously as she mounted her horse. The other holy knights followed suit, raising clouds of dust as they left, while the remaining three approached us.
“We will escort you, distinguished one.”
Again, it was a female voice. We quietly followed the guide. The place where the knight stopped was in front of a building that was about 4~5 stories high. Two knights politely opened the doors for us.
Once we entered, a lavishly decorated room revealed itself. The knights who guided us bowed one last time, wishing for us to wait here, before departing.
I sat on the sofa. The moment Minerva plopped down, she looked at me with eyes dripping with honey and smiled.
“Thank you, child. I’ve received unexpected consideration.”
I thought that getting close to Minerva here was probably not a good idea, but honestly, I was half indifferent about it.
With my favorability already skyrocketing due to just one crystal scroll, pouring a vial of holy water filled with light on top wouldn’t change anything significantly.
Moreover, if I wanted to keep Kaiquilia restrained, staying close to Minerva was actually the best option. Unless I was planning to rely on popes once I crossed into the Holy Kingdom.
“You don’t need to thank me. I received help from you as well, after all.”
“Wasn’t that a deal in exchange for the crystal scroll?”
“There was no mention of providing items from the Mage Tower.”
Thanks to that, I had skipped all the middle processes and directly entered the Holy Kingdom, so I didn’t think it was such an unreciprocated favor.
“Hmm… I understand. Then I won’t bring it up anymore.”
True to her word about excessive consideration being poison, Minerva gracefully took a step back.
Seeing her mystical smile made me wonder if the woman before me really was the same person who had just been rushing to find the crystal scroll. Which Minerva was the real one, I wondered.
‘Right now, she gives off a vibe of a wise sage who transcends life.’
—Bang!
Suddenly, the door swung open forcefully. As I turned to see what was going on, radiant golden sunlight poured in.
I reflexively covered my eyes. Glancing to the side, I could faintly see Minerva looking somewhat surprised between the flowing light and her hand blocking her view.
The light began to fade shortly after. After a few blinks to regain my eyesight, I turned my head, brimming with questions about what was happening.
“It’s been a while, my distinguished guest.”
And I locked eyes with Floretta.
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