Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 184

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Chapter 51

Because he’s a good person.

The kind Adam wouldn’t be able to cruelly reject the Elderly High Priest either.

Then the Elderly High Priest’s eyes lit up.

“That won’t be enough. After ascending to the throne…!”

“You want quite a lot.”

I said curtly.

At my words, the Elderly High Priest’s face hardened.

The Elderly High Priest glared at me, but I smiled back at him.

“Until when did you think Adam would only listen to your words? When he was young? Or after becoming an adult? Or even after ascending to the throne?”

I continued speaking gently.

“Don’t be unreasonable. You knew Adam would eventually escape from your grasp, didn’t you?”

Sorry, but it seems like he was never under the Elderly High Priest’s control in the first place.

I swallowed the rest of my thoughts and smiled sweetly.

The Elderly High Priest, who I thought would explode with anger, surprisingly didn’t react much, perhaps because he was aware of it himself.

Or maybe his heart felt a little lighter since he had stepped down from his position as High Priest anyway.

“Those who have something to protect inevitably develop weaknesses. They do things they wouldn’t normally do, and eventually make foolish choices. Everyone has been like that. Just like how you’re sparing my life right now.”

The Elderly High Priest spoke in a low voice, muttering more quietly toward the end.

The Elderly High Priest handed over the book he was holding without hesitation.

I carefully received the book that looked so old it might split in half if handled wrong.

My goodness, it felt even older than the ancient books I had seen in the Demon King’s Castle.

Or perhaps it was of the same grade.

The Elderly High Priest spoke with difficulty in a tired voice.

“Do you know about Mia’s Forest?”

“Yes. I almost died after entering there. I literally got lost, true to its name…”

I answered the Elderly High Priest’s sudden question.

Mia’s Forest was a name I couldn’t forget for various reasons.

That’s where Adam was pierced by an arrow…

‘And he survived thanks to the Sacred Relic resonating strongly.’

Why was he suddenly bringing up that story?

I was about to ask again when I closed my mouth at the Elderly High Priest’s following words.

“Mia’s Forest, yes. It’s Nermia’s Forest. It wasn’t named that because people got lost there, as commonly known. Although such phenomena did occur due to divine power…”

“…!”

“It was also deliberately left alone. Because we wanted to perfectly preserve the traces of the First Saintess in the cabin inside. But I should show it to you.”

The Elderly High Priest’s gaze turned to the book I was holding.

Could this be something belonging to the Saint?

I heard there were hardly any items left by the First Saintess.

I fidgeted with the ring, which was one of them.

The reason they carefully wrapped this small ring and enshrined it in the temple for hundreds of years was probably because this was her only remaining trace.

She appeared suddenly and left behind only writings about how she benefited the world widely with her vast divine power, having no connections or family.

‘Why did the Elderly High Priest give me this book?’

And at this timing, no less.

But before I could ask, the Elderly High Priest turned away with a relieved expression.

The plain white priest’s robes seemed to have lifted a burden from his shoulders instead.

* * *

Having lain down on the bed first, I noticed the book placed on the drawer.

It was the book the Elderly High Priest had forced upon me.

I felt strange about the Elderly High Priest’s incomprehensible behavior.

However, regardless of the Elderly High Priest’s true intentions, it was certain that the diary belonged to the First Saintess.

Wooong-

The moment I picked up the book, the Sacred Relic resonated.

As if it recognized a book with the same roots as itself.

‘It doesn’t seem to be fake.’

I opened the diary-like book.

Being an old diary, the content at the beginning was illegible.

At least the content on a few pages was readable.

[I had a lot of divine power but didn’t know how to use it. Fortunately, perhaps I could share it with someone.]

[I shared my divine power with Nermia. He said he would go subjugate the Demon King in my place with his abundant divine power. That wasn’t why I shared my power, and I feel bad as if I sent him to his death. Still, he has the strongest divine power, so maybe it’ll be okay…]

The writing inside was already torn and completely faded, making it impossible to understand.

However, what could be glimpsed occasionally was that her beloved lover had gone to subjugate a suddenly appeared Demon King.

That she had shared her divine power for him.

The diary was filled with content about missing the lover who had gone to subjugate the Demon King.

It contained recollections of her distant lover’s past, how happy those days had been, and plans for what they would do after subjugating the Demon King.

And after that, there were messy pen marks scrawled everywhere.

‘This is…’

I hurriedly flipped through the diary.

The pages fluttered as they turned.

When I felt the paper with my hand, the surface was bumpy.

She had been crying while writing her diary.

[A second Hero was chosen. In place of the dead Nermia, he asked me to give him power to completely kill the Demon King this time. I couldn’t refuse. And he eventually…]

The content afterward was illegible, but I knew.

It would be similar to what I had seen in the Demon King’s Castle.

Whether Demon King or Saint, people who lived for long periods seemed to have a habit of recording things.

‘This feels a bit unsettling…’

A diary of someone already dead. I couldn’t understand why the Elderly High Priest showed this to me.

Was it to tell me not to get attached because Adam would eventually die?

‘I still don’t understand…’

I closed the book.

If the First Saintess was the one who brought me into the game, there must be a reason.

But she was someone who had died hundreds of years ago.

I didn’t know how she was still exerting power until now, but I couldn’t think that her will still remained.

I tapped the diary placed on the table with my finger and rested my face on my knees.

“Excuse me, First Saintess. If you want something, please tell me clearly.”

Naturally, there was no answer.

Since I hadn’t expected one, there was no disappointment either.

An answer came from elsewhere.

Your Hero calls for you.

‘Huh?’

Come to think of it, a small voice had been flowing from earlier.

I looked around but couldn’t find even a strand of Adam’s silver hair.

I suddenly drew the curtains and opened the window wide.

Then Adam, holding a large tree, waved his hand gently.

“Adam, what on earth did you prune?”

“I brought a flowering tree that Eve likes. I hope you’ll think of me every time the tree grows.”

“…You didn’t uproot an entire tree, did you?”

Adam said it was just one flowering branch, but the size visible in the dark silhouette seemed unusual.

However, Adam only brushed it off with an embarrassed laugh.

“Come in quickly. Ah! Not through the window.”

“Understood.”

Having already prevented Adam from climbing through the window like a thief, I picked up the diary I was holding to put it away.

Just then, I saw Adam entering the room.

“You’re not welcoming me? Are you just going to read?”

Adam said as he briefly kissed my forehead.

He reached out and lit the lamp on the side table.

“Of course I’m welcoming Adam too.”

I touched my forehead where his lips had been and looked back at him.

Adam glanced briefly at the old book, then gazed at me again.

“Did the Elderly High Priest give it to you?”

Ah, he saw it after all.

It seemed he had heard part of my argument with the Elderly High Priest earlier, then went to prune trees in the Temple Courtyard to pass time without interfering.

One flower tree in the temple courtyard. Meriel would curse and plant a new tree for him.

“That’s right. But I’m not sure what it’s about. I thought reading the book would give me the same power as this Relic…”

I said while fidgeting with the ring that was a Relic. However, the diary didn’t seem to have the same ability as the ring. Even if they belonged to the same owner, not all items seemed to possess divine power.

“Why the Relic?”

“Just wondering… whether the owner of this Relic was truly happy…”

I fidgeted with the Relic.

Though I didn’t continue speaking, Adam, who knew the Relic’s owner was the First Saintess, said nothing.

Gentle arms embraced me tightly.

“Eve, don’t worry about anything and sleep well.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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