Chapter: 431
The Apostle of the Arts Church, Prete, had been busy lately.
He usually spent most of the year wandering around the continent, but now he was stuck in the Arts Church without being able to go anywhere.
This was something that those who were clamoring for him to finally do some apostolic work would surely welcome, but unfortunately, this time it was not.
Even those who normally pestered Prete were practically dying trying to keep up with the soaring demand for accessories.
When they initially planned to create accessories related to Lucy in the Arts Church, the members were certain these accessories would be popular.
With the church’s artistic sense combined with the artwork that was Lucy Allen, how could people not crave it?
Thus, they had originally planned for some level of mass production from the beginning.
They hoped that more people would come to know about the manifestation of the goddess, Lucy Allen, and prepared to roll over like dogs.
However, even the church did not foresee that the demand for accessories would skyrocket like this.
“… I never imagined demand would explode to the point where scalpers would emerge.”
Prete’s face, having not rested for even a moment recently, looked so haggard that it was hard to believe he was the man who had captured the hearts of countless noble women, but his eyes still sparkled with passion.
“The young lady’s beauty is truly overwhelming. This is a joyous matter. I must work harder.”
Karia, caught up in the madness of fervor, couldn’t help but feel disgusted.
She had thought he was crazy before, but it seemed he became even more so when it came to the employer.
If it weren’t for the position he held, she wouldn’t want to deal with him at all.
“How is the employer bearing someone like him? If it were me, I would have probably told Benedict to half-kill him.”
“Karia? Are you listening to me?”
“Don’t worry. I’m just letting it flow in one ear and out the other.”
“So you are still listening, I see.”
“I’m saying I’m not listening! Don’t interpret it however you like, you brat.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Karia leaned back on the sofa and continued.
“If you’re right, it means the Arts Church is going to focus on making accessories here for a while.”
“It seems so. Considering the struggle to fend off the followers of the Evil God, this works quite perfectly.”
“Right. I indeed was too eager at the end of the year.”
During the vacation, Karia’s activities were not limited to just teaching Jack.
If anything, teaching Jack was merely a secondary aspect; what she truly did was reduce the influence of the followers of the Evil God.
Since last year, after being saved by Lucy, Karia had been fulfilling her requests, naturally realizing that Lucy was fated to confront the Evil God.
She hadn’t received any direct word, but it was hard not to know.
The path Lucy Allen had walked was undoubtedly one befitting an Apostle of God.
With the grace of being saved from the Evil God’s invasion, Karia was doing various things to repay her favor toward Lucy Allen.
One of those was to reduce the strength of the Evil God’s followers in advance.
The fewer activities they had, the less risk Lucy Allen would have to face.
Using her past connections, Karia had been working in collaboration with several churches, acknowledging that it was about time to get organized as Prete suggested.
Due to the fervent attacks against the followers of the Evil God, the followers themselves started to erase their traces.
Even regarding the Followers of the Void, they had become so elusive that Karia found it hard to even track them.
Now it was wise to pause and tidy things up internally while waiting to move again.
“It seems quite chaotic at the Jushin Church as well, so it’s time to take a breather.”
“What happened at the Jushin Church?”
“Oh. A few pigs went missing over there. The rumor going around is that it was the work of the followers of the Evil God, but according to their insider, the possibility of internal conflict seems high.”
As Karia recalled Johan’s words about the Pope directly stepping in, Prete’s crystal ball suddenly began to shine.
The moment Prete saw the light, he forgot Karia was right in front of him and immediately took out the crystal ball, activating it.
Karia’s curiosity about who might be contacting him was quickly quelled as Lucy’s face appeared above the crystal ball.
Thinking about it, it was only natural. This crazy pervert would lose his mind over nothing but that.
While Karia couldn’t hide her feelings of disdain, Prete was all ears to what Lucy had to say.
Hearing Lucy say she needed him seemed to move him to the point where he looked like he would burst into tears at any moment.
When an alarmed Lucy abruptly ended the call, Prete jumped up from his seat.
“Excuse me, Karia! I have urgent business to attend to right away!”
“No, I was just listening to what she said too. There’s no need to rush out right now.”
“No, I must go! How could this foolish man keep the young lady waiting!”
Shouting that they needed to go to the place Lucy mentioned immediately, Prete dashed outside, barely saying goodbye.
Left alone, Karia furrowed her brow, letting out another sigh.
If the employer had called such a pervert for a reason, it must be because she received some revelation, and it sounded pretty dangerous.
The threats that I haven’t grasped yet are still out there on the continent. Sure enough, the information network seems to be still lacking.
I need to do some organizing. With that thought, Karia decided to leave the external matters to Alsatine and return to the Academy’s streets.
To tidy up the current information network. And to keep in check the growing interest of the First Queen toward Lucy Allen.
“But can that guy even go outside right now? The situation in the Arts Church doesn’t seem so easy.”
As she stood up to leave, the question that popped into Karia’s mind was right in some ways and wrong in others.
It was right that Prete’s claim about going out to handle things was hard to accept, but the next part was different.
“This time, I’ll go!”
“No! It’s me!”
“I won’t let the Apostle monopolize the young lady!”
“Stop with the nonsense! The young lady specifically called for me! Where do you all think you’re going?”
Watching as the people from the Arts Church and Prete fought tooth and nail as they left, Karia couldn’t help but wonder if there was anyone normal in this place.
*
From the moment he lost the bet, Arthur sensed that he would be mocked by Lucy Allen.
No, to be precise, he had known it since the moment the wager was established. Lucy Allen, who loved to tease the losers of bets, would never let those who lost off the hook.
“Why are you rushing me? Don’t you know that losers should squirm? It’s not like I’ve been humiliated by you just once or twice, and you still don’t get the theme. Really. Your intelligence is so pitiful it’s worthy of sympathy. How sad~”
Of course, knowing this didn’t mean he wasn’t angry; Arthur clenched his fists until they bled to suppress his fury.
Right now, Lucy Allen had won the bet, earning the right to demand something from them.
So, provoking her would only lead to an utterly unpleasant experience.
Recently, when he was about to be forced into wearing a bunny girl outfit while dungeon raiding, Arthur learned that provoking Lucy brought nothing but trouble.
Thus, he decided to swallow his pride.
The problem was that his submissive stance only provoked Lucy’s sadistic side further.
“Am I really that scary? The fact that you can’t even squeak. No matter how pitiful and miserable you are, a prince is still a prince, and acting like this is unacceptable, don’t you think?”
“Don’t worry. There’s no one as nice and cute as me in this world. I’ll make sure to have you do something you’ll absolutely love, so just expect it!”
Having seen the devil’s tail in Lucy’s playful demeanor, Arthur had no choice but to respond positively to her various remarks just to survive.
If he didn’t, his dignity might just get shattered.
“I should probably build up enough strength to survive alone in case of an emergency while we raid an external dungeon, right?”
This rationale led him to immerse himself in solo dungeon raids to hone his skills.
Naturally, Arthur wasn’t the only one caught up in this.
Under the threat of ‘if you keep this up, I won’t spar with you again,’ Frey was forced to learn to raid dungeons alone as well.
Likewise, under the ‘don’t worry, I won’t stop you from showing your cute side’ threat, Joy eagerly threw herself into dungeon raids.
Even Phoebe, who seemed unyielding, blushed and walked silently into the dungeon after Lucy told her to do something.
So, the party led by Arthur spent the day before their entrance to the external dungeon drawing detailed maps of the Academy Dungeon.
All to survive Lucy Allen’s pranks.
“Huh. Honestly, it’s not that great. But considering that the losers are a bunch of sloppy guys beaten by a girl, I guess it might be okay?”
As Lucy eyed the various structures of the maps they had drawn, she bobbed her head while organizing the sketches.
“With this, I shouldn’t cry like a lost child even if I end up stranded in a dungeon alone.”
“That means…”
“Tomorrow we’re going to an external dungeon. Get ready, pitiful prince.”
*
Myr, the lord of the vast northern forest and a spirit known for having the sharpest fangs in the world, was moving towards a certain forest after receiving a message from Lina.
While slightly peculiar, Myr’s abilities ranked among the higher spirits.
If she spoke with such certainty, there was undoubtedly something there.
Recalling his past visit to Lina’s forest, Myr praised himself.
If he hadn’t moved thinking it would be fine because it was Lina, he certainly wouldn’t have received such an opportunity.
To be honest, he had felt a bit regretful after being completely stripped by Lina, but now it felt like it was all worth it.
Ah, come to think of it, the one who requested help this time was the very person depicted in the accessories.
Even the depicted image made him gasp in awe—how stunning must the real thing be?
Given Lina’s picky taste, it must be truly beautiful enough to make her lose her senses.
How exciting!
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