Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 86

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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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Chapter 86

“There’s nothing wrong with being pretty.”

I said while trying my best to look away from Adam.

Look at Adam—if he said he needed a liver, there would be people overflowing to volunteer and bring him even a rabbit’s liver.

Honestly, looking back, when I readily agreed to Adam’s request not to go, I think I was half-enchanted too.

‘Adam’s very existence is like a honey trap.’

If Iselda was like a gorgeous rose, Adam was like a modest lily.

It wasn’t exactly a fitting comparison for a man who had just become an adult, but for Adam, it was something anyone would acknowledge.

“So you like Iselda better than me? Enough to keep calling for her?”

“Why is the conversation jumping to that?”

“You said pretty things are the best for Eve’s eyes to enjoy.”

I didn’t say it to that extent!

Adam, who suddenly started agitating and fabricating, became noticeably sulky.

‘Is this person perhaps sulking?’

A sulking Adam—how could this be so unfitting.

Still, just in case, I said:

“Adam is pretty too!”

Ah, doesn’t this sound like a compliment?

However, unexpectedly, Adam seemed pleased with my words.

“Where?”

He urged me to continue as if asking for a detailed explanation.

“Just… everything.”

He had no rough edges to the point where I couldn’t pick just one thing to mention.

Within what sounded like a half-hearted answer were reasons I couldn’t dare speak aloud.

His clear face that was hard to believe had gone through a rough life, his upturned eyes that looked mean-spirited, and even the gentle expressions he made to hide those eyes.

Also, I loved his clear golden eyes. Being completely filled with me in them gave me a sense of fulfillment.

“The way your eyes sparkle every time you look at me is also incredibly pretty…”

I said with a bright smile.

“It would be prettier if you didn’t deflect and spoke directly. So why don’t you like it?”

Then Adam, who had been obviously changing the subject, hesitated for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“I hate it when people who don’t remember me act friendly.”

“…”

I froze with my smiling expression intact.

‘People who act friendly…’

That’s… me, isn’t it? Do you hate me too? Is that why you tried so hard to drive me away?

I could finally understand his attitude of pushing me away at first.

I was struck by a great shock.

So that’s why he could coldly drive me away even after we wrote the contract.

My face turned even paler as I recalled everything I had done to Adam.

‘At this point, wasn’t it fortunate that he drove me away so gently?’

If I had been in Adam’s position, I would have chased him away while sprinkling salt. I would have even put up a “No Adam” sign at the Demon King’s Castle gate…

“…ve. Eve. Iberis!”

“Huh?”

“Were you listening to me?”

“Yes? …Yes! Well, I’m tired so I’ll go to bed first!”

Adam’s gaze pierced my back as I fled to my room, afraid of being driven away again.

However, lost in other thoughts, I couldn’t notice that gaze.

* * *

“The place you wanted to go yesterday was the Temple?”

Having bad memories with the Temple, I openly showed my displeasure. However, Adam smiled and said:

“I knew you weren’t listening properly.”

Because I had fled to my room like escaping yesterday, I had completely forgotten about the destination Adam mentioned.

‘I’m uncomfortable here.’

However, unlike me, the Sacred Relic trembled finely as if it had its own consciousness.

It seemed overjoyed to have returned to its home.

‘Should I just leave it here and go?’

Knowing it would be my loss, I decided to keep it just as a thought. As soon as I thought about abandoning it, the Sacred Relic’s vibration stopped as if by magic.

It really seemed to have its own consciousness.

“Didn’t your face turn pale yesterday? Even if you seem fine now, it could explode later. It would be good to go to the Temple since it helps not only with wounds but also mental cultivation.”

Meanwhile, Adam did his best to make me understand.

‘What’s gotten into the Hero who hated the Temple so much…’

“…Sigh.”

I let out a deep sigh.

Where did the Hero go who coldly told his injured comrade that spitting on wounds would heal them?

I looked at Adam with an annoyed expression as he extended his hand to me as soon as I got off the carriage.

Now he skillfully escorted me.

Before I knew it, I had also become accustomed to receiving his kindness.

When I got off the carriage, the High Priests welcomed him in confusion.

Did he come without any notice?

Looking over the hastily lined-up High Priests, I didn’t see the cunning Elderly High Priest.

He probably came to the Temple without saying a word to avoid meeting him on purpose.

The most elderly High Priest approached him with cold sweat and asked:

“Hero, was there perhaps some problem?”

“No, I’m fine. Is there perhaps a High Priest who has time?”

“Yes, of course! We must fulfill any request from the Hero!”

The elderly High Priest gladly accepted his words.

When the High Priest gestured to a young apprentice High Priest, he quickly headed somewhere.

However, before the apprentice High Priest sent by the High Priest could return, someone else appeared.

“It’s been a while since you came, Hero.”

The uninvited Elderly High Priest appeared, as if he had nothing to do.

He must have secretly received word from one of the High Priests and hurried over.

“I came before too, so saying it’s been a while seems premature.”

“Haha, my desire to see the Hero was so intense that I must have mistaken it for a long-awaited meeting.”

Unlike the Elderly High Priest who laughed heartily with thick skin, Adam looked tired.

I hoped he would regret bringing me to the Temple right now.

‘Why walk into a trap with your own hands?’

Especially a pit where the cunning Elderly High Priest was waiting.

However, Adam calmly continued speaking.

“Iberis seems to be hurt, so I wanted to have her receive the Temple’s purification ritual.”

“Ah, I see! I’ll call High Priest Meriel right away.”

“I receive the Elderly High Priest’s boundless grace.”

Meriel was definitely a favored High Priest even within the Temple.

Is it okay to assign such a High Priest just to me?

The other High Priests lined up behind seemed to think similarly, as the surroundings stirred.

However, as soon as the Elderly High Priest turned around, it became quiet as if they had glue on their mouths.

“Miss Iberis, please come this way.”

“Ah, yes!”

Then a High Priest approached me to take me to Meriel.

I followed him into an independent room in the Temple.

There, Meriel was already waiting, having received word in advance.

She was praying with her hands clasped together before a statue of God, which could be found in every building of the Temple.

That sight overlapped with Adam’s appearance on that rainy day.

Remembering Adam praying in the basement without a single proper statue of God made my mood sink.

Just then, a gentle voice broke through my thoughts from right in front of me.

“Would you give me your hand?”

It was Meriel, who had approached at some point.

When I smiled brightly at her after meeting her for the first time in a while, she smiled back at me.

“Wow…”

A bright light lingered on our clasped hands.

It was a sacred-looking white light.

This must be divine power or something like that, right?

“The ring around your neck is a Sacred Relic, isn’t it? It seems happy to have found its master.”

“High Priest Meriel, can you understand the ring’s feelings too?”

To my joking words, Meriel spoke in a firm tone.

However, contrary to her tone, she smiled brightly as if pleased.

“Not exactly, but I feel like if you have a faithful heart, you can understand the feelings of objects too.”

She was saying something that sounded incredibly cult-like without any concern.

“Of course, my grandmother doesn’t believe in divine power either, but I believe that all inanimate objects have hearts too.”

“…I see.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say that she should probably listen to her grandmother’s words.

At this rate, she seemed likely to fall for some scammer selling rocks on the street, claiming they were rocks with hearts, and donate all her wealth.

‘How could such a Sacred Relic have consciousness.’

However, Meriel seemed to know a lot about Sacred Relics, befitting a High Priest who received abundant favor from the Temple.

“High Priest Meriel, do you know anything about Sacred Relics?”

“Well, the ring that Iberis is currently carrying is a Sacred Relic that the First Saint always kept on her person. High Priests sometimes refer to Sacred Relics as part of the Saint herself. So I believe it would be happier being with Iberis than quietly sitting in a Temple room.”

Thinking of it as part of a person made me feel uneasy.

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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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