“Waaah! I’m baby Jonah! I can’t walk on two legs!”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Jonah? If you’re all better, come down already…”
“Cireda! Cireda!”
I clung tightly to Ellie’s neck with one arm and flailed my other arm around in protest.
It’s not every day you get a legal chance to cling onto Ellie, who’s wearing a skin-tight bodysuit.
I gotta milk this for all it’s worth…
With that in mind, I briefly marked my territory on Ellie’s back.
Amongst all the evidence piled up by Karen, which included the mark of the One Who Devours the Twilight, she cautiously spoke up.
“Lord Jonah, how do you plan to handle this?”
“Handle what?”
“The aftermath. If you could tell me how much to disclose to the Temple and what to keep secret, I will comply. Otherwise, I’ll take care of it as I see fit.”
“Oh, if that’s the case…”
After taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I nodded.
“Let’s just keep it all a secret!”
“Excuse me?”
“Inspector Karen came alone to punish the heretics despite all the warnings. I believe the only way to save Inspector Ian is to kill the one who cast the blessing… or rather, the curse.”
“But it’s not really a curse, so killing the caster wouldn’t solve anything…”
“I know! Just let’s pretend it’s that intense!”
“Pretend…?”
I explained further to a puzzled Karen.
“When I returned to the center of the First Floor, waiting for you, Inspector Karen, were only traces of fierce battle and pieces of monsters I’d never seen before.”
As I spoke, I handed one of the thorns I’d cut from the King of Thorns to Karen.
“The One Who Devours the Twilight managed to summon the Guardian of the First Floor, whom we thought didn’t exist, using some method, but they ended up perishing with the Guardian due to exhaustion from the ritual!”
“Huh? But wouldn’t that mean your achievement is nullified?”
“I don’t care! That was just a thought I had while licking Ellie’s nape and thinking it was savory.”
“Y-Yo, Jonah! You were thinking that?!”
Ellie trembled in shock and, after stabilizing her balance to avoid a clumsy fall, continued.
“The summoning conditions for the Guardian of the First Floor. This cannot be disclosed.”
“Why not? I don’t presume to understand the Goddess’s will, but if I had to guess, the First Floor is like a training ground that transforms ordinary people into adventurers.”
“That’s actually true.”
“Oh… Goddess… Ah, anyway, if we could regularly exterminate the Guardians, it would help adventurers grow, which aligns with the Goddess’s intentions, right?”
“That’s a fair point. However, I’m afraid you don’t quite understand, so let me clarify… what I want to hide isn’t the utility of the Guardians, but the summoning conditions.”
“What kind of conditions are these?”
Karen blinked, while Ellie and Lydia held their breath. Even Lemon and Apple, looking my way with sly eyes for some reason, awaited my words.
After a moment’s pause, I spoke in a calm voice.
“All monsters on the First Floor and Elf corpses. Intense vengeance. And a sincere prayer to the World Tree.”
“…Ah.”
Suddenly, Karen’s expression hardened, as if she had finally realized something.
Right. If it’s known that Elf corpses are the summoning condition, it would definitely put beginner Elves at risk…
“I understand. The faith that should go to the Goddess may flow towards a dead god.”
“Deth?”
“Yeah. Offering faith to a dead god only returns emptiness. I don’t want to create victims like the Elves of the past. Jonah, you epic!”
“Deh deth?”
“As an Elf, I also agree with Jonah’s opinion.”
“While it’s not our generation’s issue, I’ve only heard that clinging to a rewardless prayer is like slowly walking to death.”
“……”
My head throbbed a bit from their perspectives, which were completely different from mine.
“Don’t you guys think that having Elf corpses as material might create innocent victims? Especially Lemon and Apple. You two are Elves, right?”
“But Elf corpses are already out there in the market. That means they’re already being eyed.”
“Every day, dozens of innocent victims fall into the hands of raiders, regardless of their race.”
“Ah.”
True. Upon reflection, Elf corpses were already traded at a high price.
In other words, whether I disclose the summoning conditions or not, Elves would remain prime targets for raiders.
Though official trade requires a rather cumbersome process… there’s definitely more to life than just the official routes.
“Oh, I see… So Lemon and Apple being caught and on the verge of death isn’t because they like being forcibly tied up, but because their worth is high…”
“Were you looking at us like that?!”
“Hmph… Not bad for a guy.”
Lemon looked horrified, while Apple nodded calmly. Meanwhile, Lemon seemed to recoil even more from the revelation.
They really are never boring to watch. I’m glad I made it in time to save them.
If I had missed it by a bit… I might’ve had to summon the Guardian using Lemon and Apple’s corpses.
“Ugh…”
I sighed deeply and buried my nose in Ellie’s hair. Just then, the duration of the Mini Sanctuary ended.
My body is already fully healed, so it doesn’t matter…
“Gah!?”
Suddenly, I felt blood boiling in my body and a sharp pain hit me.
“Jonah?!”
Ellie, who had half-given up and was gently carrying me, gasped and turned her head, while Lydia immediately prepared a potion and Karen readied a healing spell.
Just as Lydia was about to pour a potion into my mouth, I mustered the last remnants of my strength to shake my head.
“D-Don’t bother…!”
“Don’t be stubborn. What if you have some side effects? Just drink the potion first.”
“Aah… no. I’m really fine!”
“There was poison on the thorn. I neutralized it with the dagger’s power, but maybe just a bit is left…”
Lydia stroked my back, attempting to feed me the potion again. But this wasn’t something a potion could fix. That’s because…
“Authority…”
“Huh?”
It felt similar to the sensation I had when pulling a divine ability from the gacha.
A feeling of something shifting deep within me. There was a moment of pain, but it wouldn’t last long.
Unlike skills, where knowledge is forcibly etched in my head and the body is optimized in the process, all I had to do was endure the moment when the authority is engraved on my soul.
Sure enough, just a few seconds ago, I felt like my insides were flipping over, but now, I felt only a refreshing sensation as if I had just received a full-body massage.
And naturally, the way to use the authority sprang to mind.
“Basilieus.”
As I uttered the name of the authority, I felt the touch of wood covering my head.
It was just a simple design, weaving ash wood into a ring with a little decoration. If I were to call it a crown… it would be too crude.
Perhaps it felt like this when all the thorns were shaved off the crown sitting on the King of Thorns’ head.
However, the power contained within it was undeniable.
“Grow.”
With that single word, a blade of grass nearby gracefully grew and bloomed into a flower.
It resembled the scene just before the King of Thorns appeared, when nature around it grew wildly.
Nevertheless, the warm sensation spreading in my body slowly seeped out, leaving me feeling hollow.
This wasn’t just due to some extra mana I consumed.
It was the pure divine power left in my body, which I refined from the distorted blessing that had previously consumed Ian’s body. That was the force that made the plants grow.
I could probably grow plants quickly without consuming divine power as well, but rapid growth would be tough like this.
The surrounding crowd began to gasp as they witnessed the flower blooming from a single word.
“Jonah?! What is this…?”
“It’s the power of the World Tree. I’ve never seen it before.”
“Well, the labyrinth is a place directly managed by the Goddess. This is also the Goddess’s will, right?”
“…It really is the power of the World Tree.”
“Except for Dame Eve, we Elves still have no powers left, do we?”
Not bad.
Though it’s weak for now, if I gather more divine power and research its application, it’ll surely be helpful.
However, the rapid growth of plants after consuming divine power was merely a side effect.
Like any other authority, I instinctively knew how to utilize it once it was bestowed upon me.
I could manifest the authority like I did now and didn’t have to spend divine power to do so. Just by having it, my growth rate would sharply increase.
Just like how I made that plant bloom moments ago.
…And this growth boost effect applies to all kinds of growth.
Of course, it includes the achievements gained from training and the rewards given for surviving the labyrinth.
While other authorities might wield great power in themselves, like how Cena caused minor natural disasters with the elemental divine abilities he obtained rather easily, Basilieus is different.
On its own, it holds no particular strength. But if I strive to grow stronger, it promises the greatest rewards among them all.
“So…”
The name Basilieus means king in Greek.
It’s an extraordinarily fitting name for a typical power of the king’s return.
With my thighs tightly gripping Ellie’s waist, I straightened my back and spoke in an intentionally solemn voice.
“Now Jonah is no longer a baby. I’m a king!”
“Aah, Elves don’t serve kings! Elven Forest has been a republic for 400 years!”
“A king who can’t bring in the money is unnecessary! Revolution!”
“……”
And just like that, I was immediately deposed.
…Come to think of it, the whole notion of a fallen royal family has a certain allure.
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