1.
As Nahan gently laid Hestia down on the floor, an emerald light gathered around him and formed the towering figure of a man.
The moment he manifested, he approached Nahan with large strides, bowed his massive frame, and asked,
-[Who is the senior warrior?]
“Huh?”
-[I’m asking who the senior warrior is!]
As expected, his voice was thunderous.
Among the countless people present, only Nahan and the unconscious Hestia frowned.
Regardless,
Balak Gardner, the progenitor of the Gardners, called out once more with a voice brimming with anger.
-[No matter how much time has passed since my eternal rest, how dare some upstart interfere in the warriors’ duel?!]
That was when Nahan finally realized.
‘Ah, this crazy old man is upset because I interfered in Asha’s one-on-one fight with him.’
At the same time as this realization, Nahan asked,
“So, what exactly can you do about it?”
-[What did you say?]
“If I’m interfering, or if I drag you out of this kid’s body, what can you do?”
Through this event, Nahan learned something:
The power of the Divine Protection Shield came entirely from Balak Gardner.
That was why, the moment Balak disengaged from the emblem, its function stopped. Now that he had been extracted from Hestia, the power had returned.
Although he might be able to leave at will, he could always be retracted.
Of course, even this required the condition of <Direct Contact>, but
-‘This guy probably doesn’t know that yet.’
As if reading Nahan’s thoughts, Balak’s eyebrows furrowed.
-[This was a duel between warriors! Something you had no right to interfere with!]
“A duel, huh? What would you have done if this girl had died because of you? If you want to fight so badly, why don’t you fight with your own body?”
-[What kind of foolish person are you?! Does it look to you as if I am alive?!]
“…Foolish?”
The ancestor of all stone-heads – Balak Gardner – hearing such a remark made Nahan feel tens of times filthier than usual.
So, dropping the last vestiges of respect he had maintained until now, Nahan asked again.
“So, what exactly can you do?”
-[Hmph! I can do anything! Battle, sparring, battle I say!]
“What if I don’t let you?”
-[What did you say?!]
Nahan alternated his gaze between Hestia and Balak Gardner, then smiled faintly.
“You designated her as your medium, didn’t you?”
-[…What? Since when did fruit come into this conversation?!]
‘You idiot. Medium.’
Anyways, while climbing the stairs and gathering information through the system, Nahan learned the following.
“Balak, you can no longer possess anyone other than me and her.”
-[…What did you say?!]
For Balak’s sake, Nahan explained slightly in more detail.
A Medium.
It is the chosen proxy of deities, high-ranked spirits, or souls like Balak. Upon selection, they wield powers close to the original entity’s own.
Normally, if the Medium requests it, the spirit can descend with the consent of the divinity. But Balak was an add-on with the <Divine Protection Shield>.
Since the <Divine Protection Shield> now belonged to Nahan, Balak was also under Nahan’s control.
To put it simply,
“You’re my property now.”
-[What dishonorable trash!!]
The moment Balak finished speaking, his soul rushed towards Nahan.
Even as a spirit entity, Balak emitted an oppressive presence at the level of ‘Kwangmyeong’. However,
【The soul that belongs to you – <Balak Gardner(SS+)> is attempting an attack.】
【Would you like to suppress him?】
【Accept / Decline.】
As per the information he had gathered while ascending, the system suggested suppressing him.
Just before pressing the button,
Nahan hovered his finger over the accept button and offered Balak a proposal.
“Sir, if you listen to me, I’ll release you from this affiliation within a few years.”
-[I’ll let you free if you kill me!!!]
“Your choice.”
Click.
A smirk adorned Nahan’s face as he lightly tapped his finger.
The enraged Balak realized it too late,
【Suppressing.】
【Presenting custom-tailored fear to the medium – <Balak Gardner(SS+)>.】
Thud.
A garish warning message appeared in front of Balak along with a single book landing before his eyes.
-[What is…!!]
Attempting to turn and flee immediately, Balak was restrained as if by an invisible force, and transparent bindings materialized around him.
The book was placed at his eye level,
Flip.
And a pen was placed in his hand as a sheet of paper filled with addition and subtraction problems for elementary students slid open in front of him.
-[Nu, numbers…?]
“Numbers?”
Glancing at it briefly, it was a book filled with basic arithmetic problems, similar to a primary school workbook.
‘Is this tailored fear? Binding him to a chair and making him solve math problems?’
Although Nahan was confused,
-[Damn it, I understand. I’ll accept your offer. Can you hear me? Listen! In a few years, I’ll help you, but please remove this accursed book from my sight immediately. Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?!!!]
Watching Balak react as if facing a ghost, Nahan nodded.
-[Please! I’ll never threaten again! I’ll even teach you everything about my visions!!]
Even as he was dragged off like an unruly schoolboy, pleading, Nahan shook his head.
“I can’t.”
-[W…what?]
“I can’t. It appears you’ll have to solve an entire book to be released from this binding.”
Truthfully, Nahan could probably release him immediately, but
-‘Why should I?’
Since he was already annoyed by his loudness and the trouble he caused, Nahan decided to teach him some discipline now.
“As a warning, if you try anything or disobey, it will activate automatically.”
-[…I will remember that.]
With that, Balak began to solve the problems, solidifying the established hierarchy between the two.
Finally, Nahan sighed as he looked down at the sleeping Hestia in his arms.
“What exactly am I supposed to do?”
Balak’s descent,
Hestia’s rampage,
my suppression of her.
‘After all, I had already informed Asha that my power, the power of Ian Red, determines life and death by looking at objects.’
Each priest receives only one Divine power.
Of course, there are exceptions where some people bloom with two or three powers, but,
-‘Those people don’t become Free Priests… No, they can’t become Free Priests.’
The church would never let someone favored by the goddess leave.
‘…In the end, that’s all there is.’
I became a Free Priest worried about being a burden to the church with such an insignificant ability, but afterward, I awakened to a new Divine power.
That new power is,
‘Communicating with the soul? Manipulating the soul? Let’s just call it something related to the soul.’
Since I just awakened a few days ago and said I didn’t know, they might let it slide.
‘It feels like the setting keeps expanding, but what can I do?’
Thinking that, as I waited for someone to ascend to my level, the ground thundered with a loud sound, and something leaped toward me.
At the same time, it arrived.
A person who had surpassed human limits, now even bordering on the miraculous—Asha Mirabel.
Arriving much earlier than those who started first, she asked carefully.
“Why is this?”
Caught off guard by her unexpected respect and cautious movements, Nahan couldn’t help but reply,
“Why is what?”
“You treated me so coldly, yet you…”
“Are you referring to Lady Asha?”
“I, me…”
Her face, which was supposed to always be as cold as ice, turned flushed with hesitation.
“Me…!”
Just as Asha hesitated for a long moment before finally saying something,
“Ugh… What happened…”
The Hestia cradled in Nahan’s arms began to stir and open her eyes.
“Excuse me. May we talk later?”
“…Yes.”
After gaining Asha’s consent, Nahan gently helped her sit up and asked,
“Are you alright?”
“…Ah? Priest Ian Red? What exactly happened here?”
Nahan gave her a brief recount of what happened while she was unconscious.
First, the eclipse’s attack.
When he described it as if it were a third-party event, Hestia, after a moment of thought, asked softly,
“Was it the Black Wolf?”
“Can’t say for sure, but probably not. The lord captured a few of them, so we’ll know after the interrogation.”
“Ah…”
Although the reason isn’t known, she was greatly disappointed, but Nahan proceeded to narrate what happened next without much concern.
An unknown entity possessed Lady Hestia and then disappeared.
“What did they look like?”
“Hum…”
Pretending to think, Nahan glanced at Balak and slowly described his appearance.
Hair resembling a lion’s mane,
Eyes of night’s color,
A towering giant like an ancient oak tree.
“Could it be…?”
She murmured as if realizing something, her expression brightening, but it only lasted that much, because
A few more figures arrived, excluding Asha and Hestia.
“Hestia!!”
“Lord Priest. What is the meaning of this?”
Balkin rushed forward anxiously, whereas Tehelaran remained calm with some warriors like Rohan.
In any case, Nahan informed Tehelaran about everything that happened.
“Regardless, after the incident, I stabilized the soul within Lady using the second power I obtained.”
“May I inquire about the appearance of the soul?”
“Ah, that was…”
When Nahan described it once again, Tehelaran quickly grabbed Hestia’s left arm and pulled her sleeve up.
“Aah…!”
Startled, Hestia turned toward Nahan with a blushing face just as Tehelaran noticed the emblem of intertwined greenery and a shield.
“The progenitor has visited then.”
“So he truly was…”
“Go and confirm. If so… First, given the gravity of the matter, we’ll discuss it afterward.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Then, Tehelaran subtly bowed toward Asha.
“Thank you.”
An unembellished, straightforward sentence, befitting the head of the Gardners.
Asha nodded her head in reply, Nahan gave a smile, but
Tehelaran did not lift his head.
“Though I apologize, may I impose upon you once more?”
“Imposing? For what?”
“Would it be possible to discuss further in my office?”
That alone was enough for Nahan to recognize the significance of the matter and nod in agreement.
‘It hasn’t even been a day yet. The Black Wolf should not act again.’
With his consent, Asha and Balkin exchanged looks and asked.
“Where is Marin?”
“Ah, right! He said he liked this man and wanted to come!”
“Such an event!”
“Indeed! Marin taking a liking to someone new!”
Marin, the archmage of the hero party,
was as brilliant as he was lazy and distrusting of others, but it appeared the subquest reward of the trust of ‘Kwangmyeong’ wasn’t a lie after all.
The instant the words ended, a woman with teal hair gently descended, munching on a cookie and looking around before pointing to Nahan.
“Isn’t it you? Free Priest.”
“I am Free Priest Ian Red.”
“Uh huh. I’m Marin.”
Ding, ding, ding.
As Marin approached, munching on her cookie, she offered it to Nahan.
“Do you want some?”
“…Thank you.”
A cookie already bitten into, slightly soggy.
While Asha and Hestia stared intently, Nahan quietly averted his gaze.
Anyway, following Marin’s joining,
They followed Tehelaran to his office where light refreshments were offered before Tehelaran opened the empty vault and began to speak.
“The Divine Shield has disappeared.”
“Wha-!?”
“…?”
“I apologize.”
‘But I can’t return it.’
Regardless of restoring it or the fact that it’s now an owned item.
Nahan inwardly apologized while vowing to return it someday when
Marin, who had somehow grabbed his arm tightly, frowned and muttered.
“Ugh, war is troublesome.”
“Huh? War?”
“The Divine Shield disappeared, right? War is bound to happen soon.”
But isn’t there some connection?
