âNo, Ellie! Donât you trust me?!â
âJonah, you have a complicated past.â
âThatâs not fair! Just because I often play tricks on you, do you think I do that to everyone?!â
âYou just admitted to playing tricks, didnât you?! Are you confessing to being a repeat offender?!â
Ellie screamed, and I felt wronged. In the midst of this, Karen quietly raised her hand.
âMay I say something?â
ââŠWhat is it?â
Ellie frowned, clearly wary of Karen. But for me, it was a welcome interruption.
âInquisitor Karen! Please tell the truth! I didnât do anything wrong, right? I just asked for a donation of your entire fortune, right?â
âAh! Jonah, Jonah! Do you think that makes sense?!â
âItâs true.â
ââŠ?â
Ellie wore a dumbfounded expression. Karen continued speaking to her.
âI said it was my entire fortune, but itâs not that much money. Since Sir Jonah said he would use it for a good cause, I trusted him and gave it to him.â
âBut still, itâs your entire fortune.â
âMore than anything, thanks to Sir Jonah, Ian, who took the curse in my place and collapsed, was able to live. If I think of it as the price of his life, I donât regret it.â
âOh.â
Ellie nodded as if she had just remembered something. She probably heard the story of what happened at the temple while she briefly went to the warehouse with Lydia. After struggling for a while, Ellie finally sighed deeply and slumped her shoulders.
âIf thatâs the case.â
âHehe. See? When have I ever done something to worry you, Ellie? Please, place more trust in me.â
âNo, youâre still doing things that worry me right now.â
ââŠDidnât we just agree to go to the first floor together?â
âRight. Lydia said that even if I told you not to come, you would follow anyway. âŠIâm just wondering, can you tell me why you want to confront One Who Devours the Twilight directly?â
âWhy, you ask.â
I tapped my chin thoughtfully for a moment. Where should I start, and where should I end? Should I tell her that this world is made up of my settings? That there are too many seeds of tragedy sown, so I need to become at least a bit stronger to stop them when necessary? Or⊠that I have a sense of crisis, fearing there might be a setting error for reasons unknown to me?
Of course, it was impossible to tell her all of this. Even if I did, Iâd probably be treated as a lunatic. So, I had to be a bit more vague, but I made sure to pinpoint the true nature clearly.
âI need to tie up loose ends.â
ââŠâŠ.â
âItâs something only I can do.â
âIs that so.â
âYes. Asking for your help doesnât mean asking you to fight in my stead. It means asking you to help me tie up my matters.â
âI understand.â
âPlease, I ask you again, Eli. Help me. Even without one arm, youâre strong, arenât you? Please use that strength for me.â
ââŠAlright.â
Eli nodded and added another word while scratching the back of his head.
âBut thereâs a condition.â
âWhat? What kind of condition?â
âNo matter what, donât stray from the side of others. Be it me, Lydia, or even this inquisitor. Never jump into danger, and make sure you come back safe without a single injury. âŠCan you promise that?â
âYes. Iâll do my best.â
âDonât try; just do it.â
âBut if Ellie is in danger, Iâll have no choice but to rush over.â
âDonât worry, that wonât happen.â
âI also wonât need to rush in if Ellie is safe. âŠThis is only in the case of a battle with One Who Devours the Twilight, right? Please donât stop me from fighting with the floor guardian. I also want to try and gain power.â
âWhat? Why are you bringing up the floor guardian all of a sudden? You said weâre going to the first floor.â
âEh? Iâm talking about the guardian of the first floor.â
â???â
â???â
Ellie and I looked at each other, puzzled. I noticed Lydia, who had carefully closed the door of the warehouse, and Karen, who had been fiddling with the statue of the goddess, also had their eyes wide open.
âOh dear. Did I not mention this?â
âThis is the first Iâve heard of it!â
âYeah, itâs my first time hearing it.â
âCould it be that the heretics are aiming forâŠâ
I nodded toward the three, who were gasping in shock.
âYes, Iâm not sure where they found out, but it seems theyâve discovered the summoning method for the guardian of the first floor. Whether itâs because theyâre not certain yet, theyâre still in the trial and error phase, but it wonât be long before they actually summon it.â
ââŠThatâs really troublesome. Itâs not just about a power struggle in the temple or corruption or anything like that.â
âJust as Senior Ellie says. If you think about what happens every time another power is transferred to One Who Devours the Twilight, we canât just sit by.â
âBut how did Sir Jonah come to realize this? Donât tell me you already knew about the summoning ritual⊠Oh?â
Karen, realizing something, placed the goddess statue on the table and offered a prayer. Yep, It seemed she thought the goddess of love might have given me a hint because Iâm a saint (not). Deciding to play along, I gave a meaningful smile as if it were true.
âAhaha. It just appeared in a dream for a moment; I wasnât sure if it was real or not.â
ââŠâŠâ
ââŠâŠâ
Elli and Lydia looked at me silently, clearly not believing a word. That was fine since it was meant to be unbelievable anyway. I enjoyed their blatant stares and tapped the table lightly.
âSo, shall we start making a concrete plan on how to storm in?â
ââŠYes. Well, Jonahâs role is decided either way.â
âJonah. Sidelines. Agreed?â
âThereâs no need for Sir Jonah to be in danger.â
The three of them seemed to agree to push me out as if it were planned. What was with this princess treatment? Wait, since itâs a reverse world, it should be âprinceâ, right? Anyway, feeling cherished warmed a corner of my heart, yet I also bristled at the thought they might not trust me. It was a complex emotion.
Is this how a female knight feels when she says not to underestimate her because sheâs a woman? One must indeed be in a position to learn certain things.
Pretending to sob, I said,
âHow could you? You all gathered to help me, yet you wonât include me in the plan.â
âDonât be like that. Itâs just that weâve already decided what you can do; itâs not like weâre moving forward without you.â
âWell, that may be true. But if Iâm just going to be protected and follow along, thereâs no need for me to attend the strategy meetings, right?â
âHuh? Uh, right?â
âThen let me know once everything is decided. Since I donât know anything about these kinds of extermination plans to begin with, Iâll leave it to you all and follow along.â
ââŠConsidering how much you insisted on following, youâre quite compliant now. What are you up to?â
âThat hurts, Ellie. You were jumping to conclusions earlier, and yet you still canât trust me? I just want to witness One Who Devours the Twilight being defeated and take down the floor guardian.â
âWell, thatâs true, butâŠâ
Ellie trailed off, stroking my head firmly as if pressing it down.
âRight. Youâre correct. You should focus on ensuring your safety for tomorrow as much as possible.â
âYes. That was my intention from the beginning when I said I would go ahead. Thereâs a lot to prepare.â
âIs that so.â
I grabbed her hand, which was still on my head, and gently lowered it. Then, I lightly pressed my lips to the back of her hand.
Smooch~
âThank you, Ellie. Youâre fighting for me even though youâve retired.â
âIf you know that, then treat me well from now on.â
Ellie chuckled, but the power of the hand kiss must have been greater than expected. Her face turned bright red, her lips quivered, and she wagged her tail vigorously.
Laughing at her reaction, I turned to Lydia and Karen.
âIâll be upstairs if you need anything.â
I told them before heading to my room with Karenâs hefty purse in hand.
Prepare? Yes, I should. But, whether I should or notâŠit was time to prepare for the gacha!!!
As soon as I closed the door, I spilled todayâs earnings all over the desk. Not only had I wiped out a Hobgoblin tribe, but I also included the reward for moving a drugged man to the temple, and there was even all of Karenâs savings. Unfortunately, it was a pile of silver coins with not a single gold coin, but with this much, it must be a considerable amount of money. I didnât bother counting. After all, it was all going to be spentâno, invested in the gacha.
The goddess statue was gone because I had given it to Karen, but I prayed with a desperate heart.
âIf youâre a human being⊠you know, right?â
Ding!
[Normal Draw]
Use cash or an equivalent amount of magic stones to randomly obtain items and skills between 1~5 stars.
[1 Draw] [10+1 Draws]
âWatch over me!!â
I screamed and frantically pressed the draw button.
The jingling sound of coins filled the air as my pile of silver quickly disappeared. In its place, a flood of various trinkets emerged, accompanied by a message window in front of me.
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
â???â
No, thisâŠthis wasnât what I meant by asking you to watch over meâŠ