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Chapter 97

After breakfast, the holy knight was performing his after meal prayer . I asked him about his religion .



He gladly told me about his religion .

However, he casually skipped the parts about holy spells or holy power .

He seemed hesitant to tell me about them because they were directly related to combat .

I didn’t want to insist on having him tell me everything . Instead, I asked about his religion in general .

 

The holy knight said the god he believed in was God of Balance .

Instead of asking about the God of Balance and his religious organization’s complicated philosophies, I asked about the religion’s common knowledge .

 

In Urphan Continent, which was the setting of the 16th Floor stage, people believed in many gods . On the contrary, only the people of holy temples worshiped just one god .

Also, he said that it was a common practice for people to pray to a specific god depending on the situation .

He said that because holy knights and priests believe in one specific god, they are able to use holy spells by borrowing the god’s holy power .

 

Uniquely enough, there were priests and holy knights who did not belong to any particular religious organizations .

In this world, it seemed that the relationship between the believers and the gods were more important than the organizations and the gods .

The holy knight said there are many great holy knights who never even walked up to the door of a religious organization’s building . He also said there are priests who never once read the bibles of their churches and just run meditation temples or care centers for elders or children .

 

He said the religious organizations do not doubt the people’s faith .

It was because the people would not be able to reach the gods if they lacked faith .

I found it intriguing .

 

All these were very new to me .

I was just as intrigued when I heard the knight’s story yesterday, but I was reminded yet again that this place was a different world and not Earth .

 

While explaining about the religions, the holy knight said something else .

 

“It looks like you really don’t know anything . I honestly thought you might have been a holy knight or a priest who does not belong to any particular religious organization . ”

 

Was there anything about my behavior that were becoming of a religious man?

I asked why the holy knight thought so .

 

“It’s nothing unusual . I thought I felt a trace of holy power from your mana . Perhaps I was mistaken . ”

 

Now that I think about it, the Master Monk from the 13th Floor told me about this .

The priests could feel the holy energy from others’ mana, and it serves as identification among the priests .

 

“You probably did feel holy power . I am not a priest, but I am going through the trial to become an apostle . I possess Power Skills as well . ”

“An apostle! You also possess Power Skills! Are you talking about the power of a God?”

 

The holy knight was excited to hear what I just said . He drew the holy symbol with his hand .

 

“If you really are an apostle of a God, then I can understand your incredible power . The Priestess of Ausoli, the one who worships the God of Sun, is said to be an apostle of the god . Considering the amazing exploits she achieved, I am not so surprised by your strength . ”

 

The knight snuck into the conversation and said that .

Could this Priestess be someone who completed the trial and became an apostle or could it be that she is still in middle of the trial?

I should ask the holy knight about the Priestess’s history later .

 

“Excuse me, but may I ask about the god you believe in?”

 

God, huh…



I guess I can mention either the God of Adventure or God of Slowness .

He said priests only worshipped one god, so he will be confused if I mention both .

 

Let’s see…

Who should I mention as the one I believe?

 

[God of Slowness is desperately trying to look casual while watching you . ]

[God of Adventure is looking at you with high expectations . ]

 

They are responding right away .

Let’s think about this first .

 

Considering the characteristics of the God of Adventure, many people might know about this god in this world .

If there are many religious organizations about the God of Adventure spread across the continent of this world, I will look suspicious for not knowing about them if I tell the holy knight that I worship the God of Adventure .

On the contrary, I don’t think the God of Slowness is well known .

When Kiri Kiri explained about God of Slowness, she said being an apostle for the God of Slowness is not something a human being should do .

Also, when I talked to the Master Monk at the 13th Floor, he said he never heard of the God of Slowness .

It’s anecdotal information, but they all indicate that the God of Slowness is not well known .

I responded, hoping that the God of Slowness in the Urphan continent .

 

“I believe in God of Slowness . ”

“Um… I have not heard of this god…”

“I have not heard of this god either . I know most of the hundred gods of the continent, but this is the first time for me to hear about the God of Slowness . ”

 

This is good .

As I thought, God of Slowness is a manor god who is not well known among the people .

 

“The God of Slowness values perseverance and patience . Most of the believers are isolated deep in the mountains, so our god is not well known . We don’t know much about the outside world either . ”

“I see . I can understand why you don’t know much about the outside world . Did you come here after receiving a divine message? Perhaps you are here as a part of your trial to become an apostle . ”

“Well, it is something like that . ”

 

I haphazardly muttered .

 

[God of Slowness is flexing . ]

[God of Adventure is disappointed . ]

[God of Slowness is making fun of someone . ]

[God of Adventure is rushing out of someone’s room . ]

 

* * *

 

“That is…! I am sorry, but my swordsmanship is… not something I can teach to an outsider…”

 

It seemed there was some secrecy involved in his swordsmanship .

That’s disappointing .

 

“Will you tell me after receiving a beating?”

“No . I’ll just tell you . ”

 

The knight panicked and responded promptly .



Afterwards, he started explaining .

 

You should have done that from the start .

The mercenary looked dumbfounded, doubting if this man was really a knight . However, both the knight and I ignored the mercenary .

It’s good, so it is all good .

 

Eyes sparkling, the knight began his passionate lecture about his swordsmanship .

Starting with the basics, he explained while including his personal preferences and experiences .

 

It was a passionate lecture that grew from a small desire to avoid getting beat up and his strong desire to bladder mouth .

 

I didn’t know what was the average swordsmanship level of this world . However, I could easily tell that the contents of the knight’s lecture were definitely not on an amateur level .

 

He didn’t just talk about the basic swordsmanship . He also explained the meanings of the movements, their applications, and methods which were high level information .

Now, he was explaining in detail about things that I didn’t even ask . Looking at the man, the mercenary’s face was completely .

He was thinking, ‘didn’t you say it is a secret?’

 

Although the mercenary and the adventurer found the knight’s behavior to be ridiculous for a while, they eventually joined me and actively listened to the man’s lecture .

It was an extraordinarily high-quality lecture .

 

“We should have asked you to tell us about your swordsmanship sooner . ”

 

Compared to some random story he told us about some master craftsman of dining utensils starting a family with a widow from some family, this is far more useful and educational .


 

I wondered if this man was born to be a storyteller who ended up becoming a knight instead . Anyway, I think he would be perfect as a swordsmanship teacher .

He explained things in detail interestingly, so it was easy to understand .

Because he was also a skilled swordsman, he explained the moves by executing them in front of us, so his lectures were even more effective .

 

I think I should have a duel with him later and have him teach me all of his moves .

Judging from the knight’s attitude, I don’t think he will say no .

 

“Explain the move you used yesterday too . The one where you focused your mana to the sword . ”

“Yes!”

 

Before long, he was selling off his super move, which could be considered as the life itself of a knight .

However, it seemed the man had forgotten his words earlier about his swordsmanship being a secret to outsiders . He was only focused on explaining the technique .

 

“Isn’t the Empire going to come after us if we hear this?”

“Who is going to know that we know if we keep our mouths shut?”

 

I calmed the mercenary who was concerned about this and directed my focus at the knight again .

It seemed the mercenary was also interested in hearing the explanation, so he didn’t try to trip up the knight .

Meanwhile, the knight seemed unaware that he was leaking a critical information . He started explaining excitedly .

 

“The key is efficiently concentrating mana on to the sword . ”

 

From what I have observed, it seemed like you gave away the efficiency to your family’s dog .

 

“Even with all of the mana focused on the sword, it is a difficult feat to achieve visible formation with it . So, you need to minimize the waste and efficiently pour in mana to the sword . First, if you look at the wrist area… You know all about the mana circuit’s pathways, right?”

“No . I don’t know about that very well . I only know about the heart and left shoulder areas . ”

 

The adventurer said he didn’t know much about it, so the knight kindly explained the mana circuit pathways .

 

It was very interesting .

The pathways that the knight described were not the conventional ones .

The pathways through the wrist and palm completely different .

 

In addition to the mana circuit pathways, the knight also explained the methods for using the technique .

After hearing the explanations, I brought out a great sword and tried it out . My mana waste definitely streamlined, to a greater degree than I thought .

I think it will be useful when operating a smaller amount of mana in addition to pouring great amount of mana to the sword .

 

[You acquired Mana Circuit Lv . 16]

 

Wow…

 

“Sir Apostle… I think what the knight just described was a secret royal mana utilization technique . If it becomes known that we heard it, not just that knight, but all of us will be hunted down and executed . ”

 

That would be bad .

Who is going to know if the group keeps their mouth shut? However, that knight is probably be able to keep this a secret .

He will run his mouth off somewhere and tell people that he told us about the secret technique .

 

Of course, I don’t give a damn .

I ignored the mercenary and continued to ask the knight .

 

“I agree that the mana circuit utilization is very creative and efficient . However, don’t you think this technique is too difficult to use in a real combat? The opponent would either run away or attack you while you prepare the technique . Also, instead of focusing such huge amount of mana to the sword, it would be better to use it by spreading your mana into the surrounding . ”

“What are you talking about, Sir Apostle? This technique is incredibly useful in real combat . Most small fries bow down when it is used once . Also, it is really stylish . Don’t you think it would be great to exhibit your power to the higher ups?”

“I agree . This technique is used more often than other complicated swordplay . Its power is proven too . The position of a knight within the Order of Knights changes depending on the mastery of this technique . ”

 

Ah, so it is for just showing off one’s power and looking stylish .

For knights, who are not warriors, I guess it would be useful .

Actually, how many people would be living their lives like I do, always being in middle of deadly battles?

The technique is probably extremely useful for knights who reached high levels like this man .

It could be used to convince the opponent to surrender . It was also stylish and powerful . I think it is the most important skill to have for the knights .

It would be useful to show off in front of the nobilities and for ceremonies .

Also, knights would have subordinates or comrades with them at all times, so they don’t have to worry about being attacked while preparing the technique .

I understood what it was for .

 

The knight’s swordsmanship lectures continued through the lunch and even the dinner time . The lectures were very useful .

In particular, the mana pathways he described were unnatural paths . This was a priceless information .

In the past, I never once thought about making the mana flow through paths outside their designated passages .

 

There was a lot to learn from the swordsmanship itself as well .

I learned swordsmanship from swinging the sword in battle for survival and roughly improved based on the spear techniques I learned from Idy .

The depth of my knowledge in swordsmanship was completely different from the swordsmanship of the knight which was taught, used and improved upon through many generations for decades . It was incomparable .

I think it will be very helpful just to think about the meaning of individual movements of the techniques and studying them .

Thanks to the knight, now I have a lot of homework to do .

 

I brought out dinner from the dimensional bag .

There was someone missing in the dinner table, so I looked around . The holy knight was healing the mage who was lying on the ground .

If the mage does not wake up tonight, I think I should use the Elixir .

I don’t know about the other people, but I have so much I want to hear from the mage .

 

“That man sure have a good heart . ”

 

The mercenary said that . I turned to look at him .

 

“You know . During the battle yesterday, that mage used his magic even though the holy knight was within the effective area . Despite this, that man is taking such a good care of the mage . I think it is odd, so…”

 

I think so too .

When the mage shot the fireball at me, the holy knight was inside the area of effect, and he was utterly defenseless on the ground .

If I just avoided the fireball, the holy knight would have burned to crisp and died .

 

Afterwards, after raising the barrier, he didn’t give a damn about the adventurer and the knight who were collapsed on the ground outside of the barrier . The mage just continued to recite the spell to prepare the next magic which would have killed everyone outside the barrier .

 

Um…

Personally, I am most suspicious of the mage . He might be the doppelganger .

He did everything so far to fight me, but ultimately, he put not only my life but others’ lives in danger as well .

The doppelganger’s goal is to kill as much people in this dungeon as much as possible before being discovered . His behaviors so far align with that goal .

 

Still, I cannot be certain if he is the doppelganger either .

 

The knight over there is holding the adventurer hostage to his blather mouthing . I think the knight is suspicious too .

No, he is very suspicious .

I’m so suspicious of him that I would say in a calm voice ‘I knew you were the doppelganger’ if the knight revealed himself to be the doppelganger later .

 

As for the adventurer… I just don’t like this bastard . He looks like the doppelganger just because I hate him .

 

I cannot exclude the mercenary either .

Whenever anyone showed suspicious behaviors, he whispered to me about it .

Also, the mercenary was inside the barrier . He was closely acquainted with the adventurer, yet that didn’t stop him from deciding to sacrifice the adventurer .

 

The holy knight seemed to be the most unlikely character to be the doppelganger . He is maintaining conventional behaviors and benevolent attitude . However, I have some doubts about this man as well .

 

Um…

 

Well, it is probably all right if I think about this later .

I still have six days left .

My priority is gathering information, not finding the doppelganger .

 

I organized my thoughts and approached the holy knight and the mage at the corner .

I was about to tell the holy knight that the dinner was ready . However, I noticed something strange .

 

Sitting on the ground, the holy knight had his hand on the mage’s stomach and was using the holy power . The mage was laying down, limp .

The problem was the mage .

I didn’t notice this before . The mage had long hair… and the curves of the body protruding under the clothing…

 

“A woman?”





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