Chapter 133

Chapter 131 – New Weapon – 5

As I regained my senses, the first thing I did was look back at Minerva.

After all, she was the one who witnessed the Pope and me making out for nearly ten minutes in front of her. Who knows what thoughts she might have had seeing that?

“Do you have something to say to me, child?”

But, Minerva’s expression was surprisingly calm. It was so different from what I expected that I was taken aback.

“…It’s nothing.”

I held my tongue.

With Minerva standing there so composed, I couldn’t very well ask her why she could remain so unfazed after seeing the Pope and I deep in a kiss.

‘Well, I guess Minerva has no reason to be shocked.’

After all, Minerva and I weren’t particularly close, and it wasn’t a sudden display of affection but rather a blessing bestowed by the Pope.

Considering all the common sense bent by the mod so far, it was highly likely that Minerva thought the Pope had just bestowed a bit more potent blessing.

Despite Aurora’s bewilderment upon hearing Stella’s heretic identification method.

“I’m so sorry to keep you waiting! Here, the holy water infused with light you requested!”

That thundering voice rang out. Minerva’s eyes naturally shifted forward. I followed her gaze.

‘What the heck, why is that so big?’

And I was flabbergasted by the sheer amount that came in one bottle. The size difference between what I expected and what the holy knights brought in was like heaven and earth.

I thought one bottle would be roughly the size of a regular water bottle or maybe a bit bigger, like a 1.5-liter PET bottle, but what they presented was entirely different.

The glass bottle held by the knights was so large that I could fit inside it with room to spare.

I turned to Minerva with a sense of disbelief. But Minerva’s face was as calm as ever. That enormous glass bottle was indeed what she considered one bottle.

At the realization of this unimaginable scale, as I struggled to find words, the knights who had approached us with utmost caution gently placed the glass bottle on the ground.

Fearing they might mishandle it, the knights took five steps back from the bottle, then immediately knelt and bowed their heads.

“We’ve brought it! Distinguished Guest!”

“…Good. Well done.”

“Yes! Thank you! Is there anything else you need?”

“I don’t need anything else, and we’ll handle the next part ourselves, so you may take your leave.”

“Understood!”

The knights rose from their positions, performed another 90-degree bow towards me, and tiptoed their way out of the building.

I couldn’t help but marvel at how they managed to walk on their toes despite wearing such thick armor.

“You look quite surprised, child.”

Minerva approached me. I spoke with an incredulous tone.

“Is this really what you meant by one bottle, Minerva?”

“Indeed. I thought you would know this naturally; I was mistaken?”

“I expected something much smaller.”

I carefully observed the glass bottle filled with the holy water infused with light. Inside the transparent cylinder, the liquid was so clear and pure it felt like it was empty.

I absentmindedly fiddled with the brooch pinned to my left chest. The Pope herself had once said that with this brooch, I could carry not just one bottle of holy water, but a hundred without any issue.

All of a sudden, I realized how valuable this brooch truly was.

“Even I have never seen this amount before, so it’s understandable. If it’s this holy water, you could become the richest person in the Empire.”

This was also true in the game.

Up until the 11th round, when the enemies’ specs peaked, among the few items that saw rising prices with each round was the holy water infused with light.

After the 11th round, the price of the holy water infused with light skyrocketed to where you’d be dumbfounded. It was practically a quest-only item, so it was rare to purchase.

“Now, it’s time for me to fulfill the reason I came here.”

Minerva lightly flicked her fingers. The top of the cylinder opened smoothly. In her hand was a small potion bottle.

From inside the cylinder, the crystal clear liquid floated gently up and began to fill the potion bottle. Minerva’s delicate finger movements looked extremely cautious.

Considering the nature of the holy water infused with light, it was only natural.

‘Because it’s really ridiculously fragile to impact.’

The most symbolic and fatal feature of the holy water infused with light was this.

At the moment any liquid suffers an impact beyond a certain threshold, it instantly turns black and loses its potency as holy water, and that ‘certain threshold’ is astonishingly low.

The infamous difficulty of Ceres’ material collection quest was for this reason. Due to its sensitivity to impact, even the slightest misstep from the character could render it useless.

Normal walking, running, rolling, swinging a weapon, being hit, using special weapon abilities, enchanting, casting spells, invoking sacred spells, using consumables, and all other random actions.

All of these were deemed ‘impacts’ that would spoil the holy water.

In other words, players couldn’t run while carrying the holy water, couldn’t roll, couldn’t swing weapons, couldn’t get attacked by enemies, and couldn’t use magic or sacred spells.

Even fast travel using statues and various forms of rest affected the holy water, preventing them from reaching Ceres’ hut via fast travel.

Other materials could be transported using fast travel, so it was clearly intentional by the developers.

‘Basically, they want you to walk.’

Thus, players had to walk ALL the way to where Ceres was while sealing all other actions.

Even normal walking was deemed as impact, meaning they had to use the slow walk activated with the Alt key.

The only place to acquire the holy water was the Holy Kingdom, and Ceres’ house was situated at the very edge of the Empire. This implied walking from one end of the map to the other at the slowest pace.

In that midst, if players were hit by enemies, it would be game over, rolling to dodge would mean game over, and even attempting to handle things from a distance would mean game over the instant they started casting spells or sacred incantations.

Even if one was to walk straight without interruption, the distance was enormous, and if there were enemies, they had to detour extensively considering impassable terrain, effectively doubling the distance.

‘Initially, I thought it was a quest that couldn’t be cleared.’

No matter how players attempted to deliver the materials, the holy water would spoil, leading to assumptions that there was a bug making the quest impossible to clear.

Finally, when the clearing method was revealed in the community, countless users were shocked at the absurd transportation conditions.

‘To move from one end of the map to the other, you have to walk slowly, and you can’t take a hit even once in between, nor use statues. That’s just insane.’

The exorbitant price of the holy water also stemmed from such circumstances. How could anyone carry a product that spoils just from walking quickly?

“Child?”

I was lost in thought, recalling that dirty something from the past that I couldn’t even call a memory until Minerva’s voice snapped me back to reality.

“What’s the matter, Minerva?”

“Is your thinking done? Your face grew so serious that I called out to you. If I interrupted you, I apologize.”

“No, it’s nothing, Minerva. Just some pointless thoughts.”

“You looked pretty angry for such thoughts, didn’t you?”

“……”

There was no help for it. It would be stranger if such thoughts didn’t show on my face. Minerva looked at me with a slight smile and moved her fingers.

“Here, take this.”

A tiny potion bottle was gently placed in my palm. It was small enough that I could easily hold three or four at once, but its price would be astronomical.

“Will you send the rest to the Mage Tower?”

“That’s the plan.”

Minerva waved her staff slightly. A much more intricate magic circle than usual appeared all around. Each magic circle emitted a blue light mass that enveloped the cylinder.

The light mass wrapped thrice around the bottle containing the holy water and blazed bright. Not long after, the cylinder completely disappeared.

“Now, the rest can be entrusted to the other kids. Now let’s return.”

The magic circle used to transport the holy water enveloped us both. The overall feeling was much cozier than the usual teleportation.

I closed my eyes stiffly, holding the potion bottle with both hands, then opened them as I felt the light gradually dim.

“……”

Right in front of me stood Ceres, her expression one of shock.

“How did you get here so fast? I thought it would take at least a few days… Do the Holy Kingdom folks really finish their work this quickly?”

“It just turned out this way. Here, the promised holy water.”

I presented the potion bottle filled with holy water. Ceres rushed forward with wide eyes and received it gingerly as if it were a precious relic.

“Finally… finally…”

Ceres looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, as if they might overflow with just a touch.

“You can save the gratitude for after we’ve succeeded. Let’s get started quickly; we have things we promised, right?”

“Y-Yeah! I need to hurry! It won’t take long, so make yourselves comfortable like at your home! I’ll be back really quickly!”

Ceres trembled all over as she clutched the potion bottle, dashed over the wall, and quickly returned to scoop up the remaining materials from the desk.

Soon, a horrific smell began to waft through the air.

“It’s done!”

How much time had passed? With an excited expression, Ceres rushed over to us holding a small potion bottle. It was the glass bottle originally used for the holy water.

Seeing that, I abruptly cut off my conversation about the crystal scroll. Minerva, who had been listening eagerly, looked as if the world was ending.

Ceres, having raced to our very front, stopped walking. She then bowed her head slightly.

“Thank you. Truly. It’s all thanks to you guys. I will definitely… absolutely repay this kindness. On my honor.”

I nodded silently. Minerva wasn’t looking at Ceres but staring intently at me. After all, we would soon meet in person anyway, so what was the point of chatting about it?

“So… shall we drink it?”

With the happiest expression in the world, Ceres uncorked the potion bottle, glanced at it with teary eyes, and gulped it down in one go.