Chapter 42: A Moment of Respite

Only after feeling the hand that had been moving as if stroking him move away did Paul cautiously open his closed eyes.

「As you met that person, the God of Death began to be known in this world again. There will be those who have felt the change. ‘Those who have been waiting’ for this moment for a very long time will help you.」

Mulling over those words, Paul nodded his head.

‘Do I have helpers now?’

「Of course, if the other gods find out about this, something will surely happen. Nevertheless, I…」

Rasis, who had been bowing, straightened up.

The cloth she was wearing fluttered with the clusters of light.

「I hope that ■■■ will regain his name.」

Soon, Rasis’s body began to turn into particles of light from the outside.

「When you leave this place, go and meet the ‘oldest one’. Of course, finding that person will be a very difficult task for you as you are now, but I believe you can do it.」

“Whoa, wait, wait a minute!”

The particles were disappearing quickly, as if crumbling or melting into the sunlight.

Seeing that, Paul shouted in a fluster.

“Please give me a little time to think! I can’t decide on something like this right away!”

That was right.

From Paul’s perspective, it was truly perplexing.

He had no intention of starting right away like this!

This wasn’t for him.

A new quest, a unique quest, that’s all fine.

But still, the start of a main quest that no one had discovered was too much of a burden, no matter how he thought about it!

「…If you say so, I have no choice. It is difficult for me to understand, but I will give you a brief respite. However, it would be best to make a decision as soon as possible. This matter, even if it is not you…」

With those words, the voice that had been echoing in his ears like an echo disappeared, and silence fell in the prayer room once again.

Ding!

At the notification sound that rang in the silence, Paul made a tearful face and sighed deeply.

[System: The content of the [King of the Forgotten] quest is updated!]

[System: Please check the rewards!]

[Do you want to stop recording?]

[Yes / No]

He listlessly raised his hand to stop the recording and pushed all the windows away.

Paul spun around in place, thinking.

Fortunately, he had bought some time, but… what on earth should he do?

The probability of him succeeding in this quest was remarkably low.

In fact, Paul had been thinking a little too casually.

Even if it was linked to the main quest, he thought it would be a sub-quest at most.

It was a miscalculation, if you will, that he hadn’t expected to be swept up in the flow so openly like this.

Paul tore at his hair and then glanced at Khan.

No matter how strong he was, could he really do well when his level was so low?

He would bet his hand that if someone interfered, he would be defeated without even being able to put up a fight.

Paul, who had stopped for a moment, quickened his pace again and circled the prayer room.

Watching him, Khan hesitated and then said.

“Paul, you are weak.”

“That’s right. I’m very, very weak. You’ve killed me 30 times, so you know better than anyone, right, Khan?”

“…”

Paul muttered as if complaining.

At those words, Khan, although it wasn’t his fault, felt a pang of guilt and shut his mouth.

“Hmph!”

From what Rasis had said at the end, he could well infer that there were many players aiming for this main quest.

Of course, that would be the case.

There were a few people around Paul who were crazy about main quests.

It was a story that didn’t even need to be asked.

And what about the rankers?

And what about the guilds they belonged to?

A quest that could shake the entire Arcana Continent, like a main quest, was a very good prey for them.

Since they were running ahead of everyone else, their content consumption was fast, so when something new appeared, they would not hesitate to use any means to be at the forefront.

…so said his friend.

“Ah! I don’t know!”

As he was agonizing over it for a long time.

Paul turned the mask he was wearing to the side and raised both hands.

Smack!

Soon, the sound of his cheeks being slapped echoed in the quiet prayer room.

Red handprints appeared on Paul’s pale cheeks.

Regardless, Paul clenched his fists and turned to Khan with a smile.

“Either way, even if I worry about it now, I still don’t know what the future holds! Just like how I’m talking to you right now, Khan! Ah, I don’t know~!”

Chattering playfully like that, Paul leaned his body against Khan’s chest.

“So, shall we put this off for a little while? Well, we probably don’t have as much time as we think… but it’ll work out somehow. And do you know what? I’m very lucky.”

Khan looked at the man who was leaning against his chest and whispering as if telling a secret.

“…Yes. Let’s do that.”

Facing the grayish-white eyes that were curved like a crescent moon and held a smile, the only thing he could say was ‘let’s do that’, just like that day.

Click.

It was when the two were like that for a moment.

The door in the inner part of the prayer room opened with a sound.

Through the open door, the cardinal they had met a little while ago appeared again.

Eclie paused for a moment at the sight of the two embracing in a corner of the prayer room, and then soon smiled benevolently and gestured.

“This way for a moment. I will relay the words that Rasis-nim left.”

“Yes~!”

Paul quickly readjusted his mask and answered.

***

「Hello!」

As Paul followed Eclie into the room, something clung to his mask.

When he glanced at it, they were translucent spirits.

The small room was full of spirits.

A gentle breeze blew with whispering voices.

「Hmm! The smell of grass!」

「No, is it the smell of flowers?」

「Anyway, nice to meet you, child of the World Tree!」

「Hmm, it also smells of fire!」

Every time the spirits moved, a gentle breeze blew even though the window was closed.

Paul’s robe fluttered, and his long hair swayed.

Watching the wind that swirled around Paul, Eclie smiled as if he were troubled.

“Oh my, the wind is so noisy, it seems they’re still here.”

“There are wind spirits here?”

He said, pointing at the flying spirits with his hand.

“Huhu, I am not a spirit master, so unfortunately, I cannot see their forms. When the wind blows even though the window is closed, I just know that they have come.”

As such, in <Arcana Chronicles>, the people who could see spirits were fixed.

In the case of a race close to nature like Paul, they could see them 100% of the time, while humans were divided into those who could and those who couldn’t.

However, in the case of players, they could see the existence of spirits in a very faint, shimmering form.

At first, even this was not visible, but when the [Spirit Master] class first appeared in <Arcana Chronicles>, there were so many inquiries that it was changed.

“That’s right, since you’re an elf, you would know well. The fact that wind spirits are chatterboxes.”

“Haha, right? They’re talking about a lot of things right now.”

Paul said, gently pushing away the spirits that were clinging to his face.

At that gesture, the spirits giggled and fled, then came back, but they were surprised and ran away when they saw Khan entering the room.

「It smells of death!」

「’Death’ has really come to the surface!」

「Oh, my mouth is itching!」

As the wind spirits flew around distractedly, the curtains fluttered, and the documents piled on the desk were scattered.

The moment the flower vase on the table was about to fall over, Eclie caught it with a familiar gesture.

He smiled benevolently and invited the two to sit down.

At that, the two sat down.

In here, not only wind spirits but also other small spirits were sitting here and there, chattering.

“I don’t know if you know, Paul-nim. The moment you and that person escaped the dungeon, this fact was made known to some of the gods.”

「I, I actually told them yesterday!」

「Me too! I was right next to you!」

As if in response to those words, the spirits who were huddled together in the empty space on the bookshelf, watching this way, whispered.

「Shhh! They said it’s still a secret!」

「But! We’re naturally light-lipped!」

「The cat can only meow, so the humans won’t understand anyway!」

Watching that, Paul let out a small sigh.

‘Those troublemakers.’

“It seems the spirits have said something again.”

“They said they told a cat.”

“Haha! Well, well. I’ll have to pray that that cat isn’t a beastman who follows the god of war. Soon, the wind will carry the rumor and spread this story all over the continent.

For now, it’s quiet because Rasis-nim has diverted their attention. But this won’t last long either.”

“I suppose so…”

At that moment, Khan, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth.

“I heard there were those who were waiting for me.”

“…Do you want to know? What I can tell you is only a very small part.”

“Speak. There is no harm in knowing.”

In the midst of this, Paul wondered for a moment if he should point out to Khan that he should use honorifics to an older adult.

But he soon thought that Khan was probably older, so he shut his mouth and ate the snacks on the table.