Forsaken Priest of the Hero's Party-Chapter 58: I Wont Run Away Anymore

Firefly Crystal Fruit. A mysterious fruit that permanently improves one’s constitution and mental strength and reconstructs the body.

The moment she took a bite, Ardein realized that she had made a fatal mistake.

I shouldn’t have eaten this now.

When her own body reached its limit.

When a point was reached where it was difficult to improve further through training.

When the wall of her own limitations blocked her way...That was when this treasure should have been consumed.

She felt like she had suffered a loss by swallowing this precious thing now, but still, a gain is a gain.

The mana circuits engraved in her body were reconstructed more efficiently, and the speed at which the surrounding mana was drawn in also became faster. As her body was reconstructed closer to a more complete state, her bones became stronger and her strength increased. Her appearance became more beautiful, and her figure became more pronounced.

It’s an incredible fruit. Even if it only works once, it permanently improves one’s constitution and talent. It’s far superior to any elixir I know of. To be able to mass-produce something like this.

The princess’s gaze couldn’t leave the golden tree. If she could, she wanted to uproot that tree and transplant it in the backyard of the Imperial Palace.

There were so many things that could be done with that fruit that it was delightful just to think about it.

Just selling the right to take the fruit for money would bring in a huge sum. And this was only the simplest way to use that fruit.

Ardein, as a former ruler who knew well which of wealth and power was more important, happily imagined various ways to utilize the Firefly Crystal Fruit.

It could be given to those loyal to the Imperial Family to further strengthen their loyalty, or it could be used to deal with high-ranking nobles who want to improve their own military power.

Or it could be used as bait to gather her own forces.

If this fruit could be mass-produced, she could instantly create her own elite army that is far stronger than ordinary armies with improved constitutions and physiques. If she had just picked out a thousand people right now and fed them that fruit, a special unit would easily have been created.

Those amazing wings of imagination soon stopped because Kyle called her.

The reason was simple, because he didn’t know what was waiting for him at Layton’s house.

If what was there was really an Evil God...She was the only one qualified to deal with it. After all, gods are not meant for humans to deal with in the first place.

Only masters like Ardein or heroes who have risen to a similar rank have the right to fight against gods. Lower beings will just die by getting caught up in the god’s power, let alone fighting.

“So...You’re saying that there could be an Evil God roaming around here.”

The princess’s mind spun quickly once again.

What is an Evil God?  It is the biggest enemy of the temple. Although the power of the church and temple is mighty, they also have a weakness, which is that they always have to prioritize doctrine.

If they catch evidence that an Evil God has appeared and shoved it in front of the temple, will those bastards have time to interfere in the empire’s politics? They won’t even have the mind to obstruct Ardein’s affairs.

From that day on, all claims related to politics won’t even reach the bishops under the Pope, let alone the Pope himself.

The Gods are most wary of these corrupted Divinities, so will they even pay attention to such worldly affairs now?

When the Goddess desires the subjugation of the Evil God, who would waste time dealing with other matters? Only Heretics would do such a thing...And those don’t tend to live long in the temple.

So, if the existence of an Evil God the day the temple will launch a political offensive against her will come much later. At least for the time being, they will have to focus on subjugating it.

If I can just catch the evidence, I might be able to turn the temple’s attention away from me... from the empire.

Of course, Ardein wasn’t so stupid to wish for what appeared in this land to really be an Evil God.

Gods are unpredictable beings. Evil Gods, whose origins are twisted, are even more so.

Its existence was a Herald of disaster.

Although she could gain incidental benefits from it, those gains would be absurdly small compared to the losses. The princess didn’t want the empire to become even more of a mess.

But if one Evil God really appeared, she would have to lead the situation in a way that is somehow advantageous. Because opportunities always come in the midst of a crisis.

*****The Vampires rejoiced the Sun’s touch for the first time in their lives.

Some of them took off their tops and basked in the sunlight, but that was still considered quite proper.

While others enjoyed the sunlight completely naked, top and bottom. It’s not noon yet, and it’s not summer, and although spring is in full bloom, a cold wind still blows in the morning.

The sunlight wasn’t strong enough to enjoy, but they still spread their arms and relished the sun. Someone lay on the ground with their arms and legs spread, shivering from the cold but still enjoying the light.

Roka, who woke up after a good sleep, looked puzzled when she saw the scene and shook her head wildly. She must have thought she was still dreaming.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Ah, Master!”

When she saw me, the child’s tail perked up. Roka looked around at herself with a dazed expression, then got up and walked over to me. The child hugged me tightly, and I did the same to her.

“I’m glad you’re safe. Really.”

“Master, I, I won. I defeated the woman who tried to catch me.”

Roka clenched her fist with a much more confident attitude than before.

The child’s eyes shone as she told me about her exploits. But that fist was trembling.

The first kill is like an indelible scar. You can make other wounds numerous so that one scar isn’t special. But a scar that has already formed never heals again.

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“...And so I turned that woman into ashes. Just by touching the light, that’s what happened.”

There’s no point in arguing right or wrong about that. It wouldn’t have been a better ending for Roka to be caught by Kamira without resisting than it is now.

In the end, people have to live while getting hurt. If you don’t like that, you have to leave the secular world, hide in the mountains, and live by picking herbs. But such people are rare.

Sometimes betrayed, sometimes frustrated, people are the ones who rub against each other even while getting hurt.

It’s also people who can comfort the wounds left by others.

The Lord takes care of me, and the Lord takes my wounds. That is the privilege I have as a priest and the reason I have the duty to erase other people’s wounds. But Roka is not like that.

I can only hope that I can sufficiently comfort this child’s wounds.

“Roka. Since you just woke up, rest here. The princess and I will go to Mr. Layton’s mansion for a bit. I don’t know what I’ll see there, but it won’t be good.”

“You’re going to leave me behind?”

“Maybe something very dangerous is waiting for us there. I...”

The child stared at me intently.

She didn’t even wait for the next words. Roka retorted firmly.

“Master. There’s one thing I learned while fighting.”

Roka didn’t let go of me,

Instead, she wrapped her tail around my leg to block me.

“If you run away, you’ll only keep getting pushed back. Once you take a step back, you can never return to where you were originally. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

So what can I say to that?

A firm determination has already settled in the child’s eyes.

“It hasn’t been long since we met, but you’ve already grown up.”

I just admiringly stroked her hair neatly.

“Our Roka is all grown up now. Yes, if that’s your intention, let’s go together.”

Perhaps I was subconsciously thinking of Roka as a ‘child’.

The child grew faster than expected, very fast, and her mind had already become an adult.

I still need to be behind this child as a guardian, but now it’s time to respect this child’s will. Not as a child, but as an independent adult.

Besides, even if an Evil God is really waiting there, I should be able to do something about it.

I definitely can’t use it twice, but maybe once.

I still have one chance left to use the Blossoming Starfall.

Considering the case of the other Evil God I met, the Blood God Atorije, it will probably work.

It’s a miracle that dealt a fatal blow even to the Ancient Demon King, a mortal who transcended the Gods.