Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 87

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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 87

But Meriel seemed to truly think so as she clasped her hands together and prayed.

Perhaps it was a prayer to the First Saint whose face she didn’t even know.

The High Priests would pray at any time. They said that whenever they did so, they felt their lacking divine power replenish.

I carefully asked Meriel a question.

“By any chance, can you control the weather with divine power? Like making it rain on a clear day, or conversely, stopping pouring rain.”

Whether it was the incident in Mia’s Forest or during the fire in Dainil Village, there was something common.

Rain would fall and then stop again at just the right time.

The culprit seemed to be this Sacred Relic.

“Hmm… I think I heard it was the First Saint’s ability.”

Meriel pondered for a moment, then said she would find books for me if I wanted.

“Ah! The Hero probably knows about it too. He borrowed books about Sacred Relics before.”

“Ah, that does seem likely.”

When we entered Mia’s Forest, didn’t he say he trusted the Sacred Relic and went inside?

I pondered with a “hmm” and asked.

“Do you think I might have divine power too?”

At my hopeful question, Meriel took my hand again.

Meriel, who was holding my right hand wrapped in both of hers as if praying, soon made a puzzled expression.

“It seems like you have it, but I can’t see it clearly.”

Meriel held my hand again as if to check once more.

For a moment, white light emerged and floated around Meriel, but it immediately scattered into thin air.

Meriel tilted her head again and said.

“This is strange. Usually, you either have divine power or you don’t… It feels like the space where divine power should be is oddly empty. Have you recently used a lot of divine power all at once?”

“I didn’t even know I had divine power?”

“For now, let’s monitor your progress and check again when your divine power replenishes.”

“I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”

I nodded and said.

“I was happy to see Iberis again too.”

Looking at Meriel’s bright smile, I unconsciously felt like I was being purified.

The saying about not being able to spit on a smiling face must have been made for Meriel.

I bowed my head and tried to go outside.

Then I felt a heavy sensation behind me and turned around.

Innocent, downward-slanting eyes sparkled as they looked up at me.

Just as I thought she might be trying to see me off, she whispered softly in my ear.

“If there’s ever a chance later, I’d like to have a deep conversation with Iberis.”

“Wh-what kind of conversation?”

“Actually, I only confessed my preferences to Iberis… Strangely, I felt like Iberis would keep my secrets well.”

…No, wouldn’t anyone keep secrets?

After all, if you went around talking about how the most beloved High Priest in the Temple likes muscular men, you’d be treated like a madman.

I planned to take this fact to my grave.

I just hoped Meriel wouldn’t tell her preferences to someone loose-lipped.

“Actually, I worried about it a bit after that… My grandmother scolded me terribly. She said what kind of outrageous preference was that for a High Priest.”

Certainly, individual preferences should be respected, but her position as a High Priest was problematic.

“So I was thinking of just quitting being a High Priest.”

“That’s absolutely not allowed!”

Without our Meriel, there would be no value in coming to the Temple!

The only place I could breathe in the Temple was near Meriel.

I didn’t want to get close to the Elderly High Priest who always wore a sly smile. I couldn’t predict what danger someone who hid their true intentions and approached you might put you in later.

And the other High Priests would look back and forth between me and Adam with expectant eyes.

This was burdensome in a different way.

And Meriel was…

‘No, until she confessed her preferences, she was a very good refuge…’

Now it didn’t seem like it.

Meriel’s face brightened as if she knew I would say that.

“I’m glad I didn’t quit being a High Priest! Actually, I did bring it up to the Elderly High Priest at first… He said that if I quit my position as High Priest, Iberis would be lonely.”

“…Ah. Me?”

Now the Elderly High Priest is even selling me out? Oh my, sell everything. Sell it all! Sell Adam too, sell the Hero’s tales, sell me too!

I understand not wanting to lose a promising, divine power-overflowing, benevolent High Priest, but why specifically me?

I’m not even that close to her.

“By any chance, Meriel… don’t you have any close friends in the Temple?”

Oops, was that too direct? But seeing how she was excessively telling me secret stories(?) and showing obsessive behavior, I suddenly had that thought.

At my direct question, she covered her face with her sleeves as if embarrassed, then slowly nodded.

“So, can I think of Iberis as my friend?”

“Yes… sure.”

This is strange.

Surely Meriel should be a friend candidate for Adam… Why did she become my friend?

But I can’t pair Adam with Meriel.

He’s too far from Meriel’s preferences.

Knowing how firmly she deals with people who aren’t her type, I couldn’t bear to watch gentle, fragile Adam’s heart get hurt.

Eventually, when I reluctantly nodded, seeing happy Meriel made me desperately realize the necessity of white lies.

“I’m so happy…!”

…Well, if you’re happy, that’s fine.

Sorry, but I originally had no intention of coming back to the Temple, and now I have even less.

I didn’t bother adding anything more.

* * *

Whether it was because of the Emperor’s gift with terrible taste, or because of some unknown incident from before, Adam’s nightmares became more frequent.

For the Demon King’s Castle to have bad energy, Ben and I slept so comfortably that we could sleep soundly even if someone carried us away.

‘Instead of taking me to the Temple because he was worried about my body, shouldn’t he have been the one to receive purification rituals?’

However, even though Adam didn’t look well, he absolutely refused to receive purification rituals.

‘Ah, could it be because of the Demon King’s curse?’

Was he afraid that divine power might attack him, similar to how the Sacred Relic sometimes rejected him?

Still, there were times when my Sacred Relic suppressed demonic energy, so it didn’t seem completely unhelpful.

‘The problem is when the reaction of divine power rejecting Adam is visible to the naked eye…’

The Hero chosen by God being attacked while receiving purification rituals.

‘His legitimacy would really be questioned. Especially at this point when the Demon King is dead and the Hero’s usefulness has disappeared.’

Like this, another secret to hide from the Temple was created.

God’s whereabouts after abandoning the Hero, and the demonic energy trying to devour him at any time due to the Demon King’s curse.

‘If even one of these is discovered, how would the Elderly High Priest react?’

The Elderly High Priest always smiled and welcomed Adam, treating him like his own son, but someone with no blood relation couldn’t really think of him as a real child.

‘I’ve experienced it too.’

When even real parents abandon their own children frequently, I hoped Adam would never know how merciless people could be when there’s no blood relation.

‘Before boasting about divine power in the Temple, they should fix Adam’s nightmares and insomnia.’

My trust in the Temple dropped slightly!

Would something change if at least Meriel was nearby?

But since I still didn’t know why Adam was wary of the Temple, I couldn’t bring up the topic of receiving treatment from her.

It didn’t seem like he was avoiding them because of the risk of them discovering traces of the Demon King.

‘Rather, he only openly disliked the Elderly High Priest.’

Then did the Elderly High Priest discover some secret?

A secret that would be troublesome enough to be fatal if revealed.

In any case, even after visiting the Temple, there was no improvement in Adam’s nightmares.

I had developed a habit of checking in front of his room before going to bed because I always felt sorry for Adam, who never slept properly.

‘The light is off.’

It seemed like he was sleeping properly today.

I didn’t hear any strange sounds from inside either. I turned around satisfactorily, about to head to my room.

“Oh, you scared me!”

I was startled by a large figure that appeared behind me without any sign of presence.

He caught the candlestick I almost dropped and supported me with one arm as I was about to fall.

“Why are you moving around without a candle! You scared me.”

“I was trying to enter my room, but I couldn’t because Eve was there.”

“…Ahem. How long have you been there?”

I felt embarrassed like a child caught with a secret and cleared my throat awkwardly.

“Well, around the time Eve was blocking my door and pressing her ear against it?”

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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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