The White Church was the singular and most authoritative church on the El Dorado Continent.
Thanks to this, it was able to spread its influence widely by receiving the support of many people.
However, recently, a series of misfortunes had cast a somber mood within the Church.
And now, a secret meeting was underway on the upper floors of the main building.
“You’re saying they’ve been unreachable all this time?”
“Yes, that’s correct, Grand Bishop.”
A priest said with a grim expression.
A novice priest, whom the Church had been concerned about, had gone missing. The paladin who had accompanied them had also gone out of contact.
If it were just any novice priest, the Church wouldn’t have been this concerned.
However, the missing individual was no ordinary novice priest.
This had caused an emergency among the Church’s upper echelons.
It was Yuel, a novice priest comparable to a Saint, who had disappeared.
“I told you to just stay put, but look at the mess we’re in.”
The Grand Bishop slammed his desk, expressing his anger.
He had repeatedly told them that staying put would lead to them becoming full-fledged priests.
For some unknown heroic complex, they had headed towards the Sail Kingdom and then lost contact.
The problem was that the Sail Kingdom was adjacent to the Demonic Realm.
‘I truly hope nothing bad happened….’
However, the Grand Bishop’s hope was utterly shattered.
“We’ve confirmed that the holy relic Yuel possessed was activated. We tried to find the location, but…”
The relic had been activated.
But they couldn’t find the location where the relic had been activated at all.
This could only mean one thing.
Yuel was dead.
Even though the relic had been activated. It was a powerful relic, capable of easily defeating even a 5-star monster.
Yet, they were so easily overcome?
This was no simple matter.
‘Is it a space where Holy Power cannot reach?’
Using a relic generated a vast amount of Holy Power.
At least, they thought they could pinpoint the location of the activated relic based on that, but that wasn’t the case either.
The Grand Bishop quickly racked his brain.
Yuel was dead.
It was highly probable that Yuel had crossed the mountains of the Sail Kingdom and headed towards the Demonic Realm.
He didn’t know how Yuell met his end, but going to the Demonic Realm accompanied by only one paladin was foolish.
“Huu…”
It was a done deal.
No matter how much they discussed this issue, the deceased Yuel would not come back to life.
It was a painful loss for the Church, but they had to create new opportunities from this incident.
“Grand Bishop, I’ve already reported that matter to His Holiness the Pope.”
The Grand Bishop turned his head and looked at the owner of the voice.
Helisa, the Saintess of the White Church.
A Saintess who had appeared after 100 years was like a savior to the Church.
The Grand Bishop smiled warmly at the Saintess, as if looking at his granddaughter.
“A priest of the Church has gone missing in the Sail Kingdom. This is a serious matter, and I request the dispatch of an Inquisitor.”
The Grand Bishop was delighted as if watching his granddaughter’s talent show.
“It’s truly a blessing for the Church that the Saintess is attending to such matters.”
Geographically, the Sail Kingdom was the country furthest from the White Church.
Naturally, the Church’s influence in the Sail Kingdom was smaller compared to other countries.
Here, influence meant the royal family and nobles.
If they could assimilate only them into the Church’s influence, they could turn the Sail Kingdom into the Church’s puppet.
The problem was that there hadn’t been any suitable opportunities to build influence until now.
But now, it was different.
Whether Yuel had crossed into the Demonic Realm and died was irrelevant.
The fact that they had last headed towards the Sail Kingdom was the truth.
Since a priest of the Church had gone missing, they planned to dispatch an Inquisitor using this as a pretext.
The Sail Kingdom could absolutely not refuse.
If they approved the dispatch of an Inquisitor, it would only strengthen the Church’s power within the kingdom.
Conversely, if they refused, they could appear to be complicit in the priest’s death.
If they showed such an attitude, it would naturally strengthen the Church’s justification for dispatching an Inquisitor.
The Grand Bishop smiled sinisterly, then opened his mouth as if remembering something.
“By the way, Priest, how is the sealing stone coming along?”
The Grand Bishop’s voice was cold.
The Church’s underground had been ransacked.
Not only was the ransacking a major incident, but a monster sealed within the sealing stone had also escaped.
“Many priests have been working to resolve this, but we haven’t even found a clue.”
The Church’s underground was by no means a careless place.
Magic and intrusion were absolutely impossible with various Holy Powers, and most importantly, Inquisitors were stationed there on rotation.
Someone had infiltrated such a place without anyone knowing.
“We interrogated the Inquisitors who were on duty at the time, but it was useless.”
Ultimately, no one knew.
The Grand Bishop’s head ached.
He had no idea how to handle this.
The Yuel incident provided justification to search the Sail Kingdom, but this incident was on a different level.
As the Grand Bishop pondered, Saint Helisa cautiously raised her hand.
“Umm… Grand Bishop?”
“Yes, Saintess. What is it?”
“As far as I know, the being whose seal was broken this time is a 3-star Succubus. Is she that dangerous? I think we could just ignore this.”
A 3-star Succubus, while unknown to ordinary people, could not harm the priests of the Church.
She couldn’t understand why the Church was so concerned about a being that wasn’t a significant threat to them.
“Heh heh, you are correct, Saintess. However, the problem is that the monster that escaped this time is not an ordinary Succubus.”
The Grand Bishop coughed once and continued speaking.
“Have you heard of Ishar?”
“Ishar? I’ve never heard of it.”
Helisa tilted her head.
“Yes, in the beginning, the Goddess created the El Dorado Continent.”
It was a story that everyone on the continent knew.
Why was he telling such a story now?
“Do you know that there was a being who was with the Goddess from the very beginning?”
“What?”
Helisa was surprised.
What the Grand Bishop had just said was something a heretic would say.
However, no one in the meeting room spoke.
It was as if they already knew.
“That is a very evil being. Therefore, the Goddess protected the continent by destroying that being. However, a problem arose. Monsters with his blood mixed in began to appear. Those with his blood mixed in are given a single name. It’s as natural as the laws of the world.”
That name is Ishar.
“But there is no need to worry too much. The name Ishar is nothing more than a shackle. Beings with that name are destined to meet their end by the hands of the Church.”
The Grand Bishop said this, still smiling.
“For now, knowing this much is sufficient.”
As soon as he finished his explanation, he immediately changed the subject.
Helisa fell into thought after listening to the Grand Bishop.
Many things had been happening in the Church lately.
‘Ever since that guy left, incidents have been endless.’
The guy the Saintess was referring to was Kanghyeon Lee.
The Saintess had used her power to send Kanghyeon Lee back to Earth.
Although the Church had initially opposed it, they agreed once they realized Kanghyeon Lee was useless.
‘I thought we could create a second Suho.’
Before Suho, there had been another person who came to the Church.
That person’s name was Suho.
Suho was diligent and had rendered meritorious service, so the Church granted him the position of Paladin.
Kanghyeon Lee was expected to be the same, but he was so incompetent…
Helisa shook her head and began to focus on the meeting.
She had too much to do to worry about someone who had already returned to Earth.
The title of Saintess was by no means trivial.
***
– Payment successful.
– 5,000 Gems will be delivered via mail.
– Payment successful.
– 5,000 Gems will be delivered via mail.
I spent 10,000 Gems at the shop.
It cost a hefty 110,000 won, but I didn’t particularly care.
A dungeon I thought was strong turned out to be of the same rank.
‘One 6-star monster isn’t enough, is it?’
I play games to relieve stress, but instead, I’m getting stressed?
I cannot tolerate such a situation.
If it means protecting my mental health, I can cheerfully spend this much on real money purchases.
Most importantly, I even got a Status Window.
Thanks to that, I was doing the deliveryman job quite smoothly.
There was only growth ahead, so this much expenditure was acceptable.
I received the Gems from my mailbox.
The total number of Gems was 14,300.
Though it seemed like a lot, it was only enough for two draws.
The first thing I did with the Gems was not to draw.
– [Urgent Mission]: Purchase the item [Name Change Ticket] and use it.
– Reward: 1,000 Gems
An urgent mission had suddenly appeared.
“Oh, this is something I haven’t seen before.”
I thought it was just a simple idle game, but an urgent mission appeared.
I immediately went to the shop and looked for the item.
The price was 500 Gems.
And after purchasing and using it, I would receive 1,000 Gems as a reward.
In the end, it was a profit of 500 Gems for me.
“I have to do this right away.”
Well, it’s a trivial mission, but if they give out so much, it’s good for me.
– Purchased [Name Change Ticket].
– Consumed 500 Gems.
Surprisingly, this item could change the name of a monster.
“But who should I use it on?”
I singled out any monster.
– Skeleton Soldier (★) has no name, so it cannot be used.
– Please designate a monster with a name.
A name…
It seems a Skeleton Soldier doesn’t count as a name. It was just indicating the type of monster.
To use the Name Change Ticket, I needed to find a monster with a name.
“Ah, you were here, weren’t you?”
It was my subordinate officer.
My subordinate officer was a 6-star Succubus.
At the same time, she was a monster named ‘Celia Ishar.’
“From now on, your name shall be ‘Celia’.”
Since I had been calling her Celia anyway, just removing the latter part wouldn’t feel out of place.
– Used [Name Change Ticket].
– The name ‘Celia Ishar’ is changed to ‘Celia’.
– [Urgent Mission] Complete!
– Awarded 1,000 Gems.
“That’s great.”
With this, my Gems count became 14,800.
“Shall I try drawing now?”
It was time to draw monsters in earnest.
Gacha always brings excitement and thrill.
***
Three adventurers received a quest for an Iron-rank dungeon from the Guild.
The dungeon was not far from here.
It was the first dungeon for all three of them since becoming adventurers.
“Finally, we can show our strength!”
The first to express his enthusiasm was Denver.
He had been the leader of the alleyway gangs since childhood, so he was full of confidence.
His dream was to be an adventurer.
That’s why he applied to become an adventurer as soon as he became an adult.
He was very excited about entering a dungeon for the first time.
Fear?
Such a feeling did not exist.
Everyone he was with now had grown up together since childhood.
Denver glanced back.
Ronnie and Jane.
Those two were siblings.
Their faces also showed no fear.
If they all combined their strength, their first quest should be easily accomplished.
Denver’s eyes shifted to Jane.
At some point, Denver had started seeing Jane not just as a friend, but as a woman.
‘…’
If he could successfully conquer this dungeon and establish himself as an adventurer…
If such a day came, he would confess to Jane.
Denver strode forward again with determination.
