Venom had always thought that luck followed him. Or rather, he believed he was strong against misfortune.
While drinking, he got into a fight with someone sitting next to him, ended up killing him, and was subsequently captured while trying to escape. It was by sheer chance that he had stumbled into the Abyss Cult, which allowed him to keep his life.
Since joining the cult, he found himself in one of the most dangerous roles—searching for sacrifices. Yet, he managed to create a Chaos Crystal from the sacrifices he had secretly acquired.
It was a strange situation where, after every stroke of bad luck, some good fortune would follow.
Thus, Venom had an expectation that after the misfortune he had just experienced, good luck would come his way.
“It’s unfortunate to have exhausted all the Chaos Crystals, but at least I was able to escape,” he thought.
Suddenly, the knights and soldiers of the Imperial Palace arrived.
With his level of ability, escaping the surrounding forces was impossible, but he barely managed to break through by using up his secret weapon, the burrowing snakes.
Thanks to that, he was now left with nothing, but what mattered was that he was alive.
“Having rolled with the cult, I’ve learned a few dark magic spells here and there,” Venom reflected.
In his eyes, the forces attacking the cult seemed unlikely to win, no matter how powerful the cult leader was.
In fact, thinking about the Abyss Cult potentially vanishing, it felt like a great opportunity.
Though Venom had the skills of a subpar dark wizard in a forest without ogres, he realized that now even dark wizards of his level would be hard to find on the continent.
If he were to establish a new dark magic organization, he thought he could live just like the once-deified cult leader.
After all, the success of dark magic depended more on the amount and quality of sacrifices than on one’s innate ability or training.
Imagining a much stronger self, the exhaustion from fleeing began to fade away.
“I’d like to use the Goldfull Valley teleportation portal.”
“Identity Token confirmed. Please come this way.”
Venom followed the guide from the Mage Tower to the teleportation portal.
Upon seeing the crowd surrounding the teleportation site leading to Goldfull Valley, he was inwardly surprised.
“What’s with all these people trying to go to such a rural area?”
The reason Venom chose Goldfull Valley as his escape location was that he was familiar with the area since he had grown up there, and it was a quiet countryside.
In the past, it was famous for gold mining, but nowadays, it was an unremarkable place, hardly attracting any outsiders.
“I can’t get a figure in the capital because the guys are camped out waiting every day.”
“True, right? There’s a limit to the quantity you can buy, and even if you go during lunchtime, the items are gone.”
Venom secretly eavesdropped on the conversations of nobles who looked quite affluent while waiting for their turn at the teleportation portal, but he couldn’t grasp the topic at all.
“A figure? What on earth is that? Is it some new product?”
Was it true that something unavailable in the capital could be found in Goldfull Valley?
Venom tried to theorize as best as he could, but it was an area that defied his understanding.
And then, there was a man cloaked in a thick robe who somehow caught his attention.
He couldn’t see his face clearly, which was partly covered by the robe, but just from the chin visible, he could feel he had a chiseled, handsome face.
However, what made Venom concerned wasn’t the man’s appearance. It was the unsettling sense of power radiating from him.
Even though he was a mediocre dark wizard, he could distinguish between strength and weakness like a wild beast.
Right now, Venom sensed an incredibly dangerous aura of strength emanating from that cloaked figure.
He wanted to escape immediately, but not wanting to draw suspicion to himself, Venom found himself boarding the teleportation portal to Goldfull Valley alongside the crowd.
*
“Let’s go! Rach!”
Rach, the puppy belonging to his young master, made a face like a child reluctant to wake up for school at the sound of his delighted young master’s voice.
Rupert realized through Rach that animals possess an incredible ability to express emotions.
The yearly event of Aida and Rach strolling through their territory had become a tradition.
Every morning, noon, and night, the sight of Rach pulling the cart carrying Aida had already become a well-known spectacle in the territory.
The combination of a child with a puppy was not only adorable to look at, but on some days they would carry milk, and on others, candy to share with the kids they met, who would eagerly follow them.
Of course, Aida couldn’t be sent off alone; he had secretly asked the soldiers to guard her, so there had been no problems.
Since it was such a rural area, the people there were all quite simple.
“Young Master, it’s nearly time for the Saintess to visit. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Of course! I’m feeling much better now.”
Alain showed a worried expression at Rupert’s answer, but it wasn’t a lie.
Since he had collapsed, he had been eating proper meals and, in the mornings, training with Mularus in the training grounds.
In fact, he had instructed the staff working at the workshop to participate together, so to an outsider, it would seem like he was training soldiers.
Moreover, by going to bed at a fixed time, he was getting enough sleep, feeling his mind clearing up.
“But I can’t help but crave Vitality Potions! Seriously.”
However, aside from his improving health, he couldn’t seem to tolerate the withdrawal symptoms from the Vitality Potions.
No matter how much he tried to cope with coffee or other beverages, the craving for Vitality Potions only grew stronger.
He was even contemplating smoking cigarettes, something he had never touched back on Earth; that was how serious the feeling of crisis felt.
“Did those alchemists really mix drugs into the potions?”
Fortunately, despite working fewer hours than before, his pace hadn’t slowed significantly, which was a plus.
It seemed that with his mind clearer, more natural developments and expressions came to him when he was drafting, and he soon finished the work.
Furthermore, his student, Sena, who had been taught alongside him, proudly declared that her talent was at this level! She had picked up artistic knowledge so well that she had already been a great help in both the drafts and the actual work.
So far, she had only done background work and touch-ups, but for Rupert, who wished for even a helping hand, that was already enough.
“According to Manuel, the monk, the Saintess wishes to request a divine painting for the church she’s building. It’s better to speak with her in person about this.”
Nevertheless, even with Sena’s help, he couldn’t take on any extra tasks.
Rupert personally had a desire to attempt work that carried a religious theme, like frescoes or divine paintings.
However, such projects required time measured in years, making it utterly impossible.
After all, with the current comic book project, he was barely managing, and if he were to undertake another large-scale endeavor, he would likely collapse again.
So, he decided to meet the Saintess directly and politely decline her request.
Though his father had offered to meet her and explain, that could lead to complications.
Moreover, no matter how noble he was, being able to see the Saintess, who might be seen only once in a lifetime, sparked Rupert’s curiosity, so he resolved to do it himself.
“Young Master, the church’s carriage has just arrived at the mansion.”
“I understand. I’ll go down right away.”
Seems like the Saintess wasn’t above the common folk; she came as soon as her turn was up.
Rupert double-checked his attire and recalled the stories from the Goddess Church scriptures he had been memorizing to prepare himself for the meeting.
*
“It is an honor to meet the Daughter of Gaia in person. I am Rupert Somerset, the second son of the Somerset House.”
“Rupert, may your mother’s grace be with you.”
The Saintess responded to Rupert’s polite greeting with a gentle smile.
The Saintess’s name is bestowed upon her when the goddess’s oracle is received, and from that moment on, she lives by being called the Saintess or the Daughter of Gaia, leaving her mundane name behind.
Among those, the title Daughter of Gaia is a way to elevate the Saintess.
Through the tutoring he received from Manuel over the last few days, Rupert learned of this, and with the Saintess’s kind response, he felt a swell of happiness.
The delicate blonde-haired Saintess.
Fearing he might be scolded for staring too hard, he dared not gaze directly at her, stealing glances instead at her remarkably graceful face.
Could this be what personified the sacred?
Unlike the Princess or Amelia, whom he had met before, who had a noble elegance, the Saintess exuded a different charm.
Though she was neither overwhelmingly beautiful nor lavishly attractive, just her presence alone brought a sense of tranquility and comfort to those who beheld her.
If he had the time and the distance to observe her, he would have wished to sketch her likeness as it remained etched in his memory.
“I will guide you to the reception room.”
Rupert spoke and gently nodded in response to the Saintess’s actions.
Following her were an elderly man who seemed to be a high-ranking member of the church and two knights in service.
‘It’s no exaggeration to say that the rumor about having no one to compare with but the royal guard is true.’
While following behind the Saintess, Rupert stole a glance at the knights.
Of course, Rupert had no ability to gauge strength merely because he wasn’t a knight himself.
However, he could feel their undeniable expertise from their visible aura.
Recently, the Somerset House had also expanded its ranks of knights and soldiers, which made the difference all the more apparent.
When facing those two knights, he couldn’t help but anticipate a dismal outcome where all his family’s forces would be annihilated.
“I prepared blue tea for you, as I heard you enjoy it. Is that alright?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The decadence of imperial nobility had to be acknowledged, especially in the matter of tea and snacks for welcoming guests, as the sky’s the limit.
Fortunately, the blue tea, also known as green tea, which the Saintess preferred, was a popular and inexpensive drink among commoners.
Had her tastes been more sophisticated, it would have cost quite a sum to procure.
As they shared tea, the Saintess complimented the tranquility of the territory, echoing pleasant words, and Rupert followed suit, reciting praises to the goddess in a rambling fashion.
“Ah, by the way, I heard you collapsed. Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes, thanks to the goddess’s blessings, I am much better now.”
“I believe my visit here was arranged by the goddess as well. May I pray for you, Rupert?”
“Having the Daughter of Gaia pray for me… I cannot trouble her with trivial matters. I will graciously accept your kind intentions.”
“No, Rupert. You already perform a noble task by conveying our mother goddess’s will to the world through the fairy tale book. You are fully deserving of this.”
Rupert gazed at the knights remaining statically like stone statues behind the Saintess and the heads of the cult, but they stayed silent even in the face of her sudden proposed prayer.
‘Is it okay to accept this?’
Ultimately, Rupert, after repeated encouragement from the Saintess, approached her, knelt down, and bowed his head.
*
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