Elqueeness

“Oh my, what are you guys chatting so happily ab….”

“It’s nothing… Huck!! I.. Iale? ”

“ !!! ”

As if she was hypnotized, she stared blankly at Undine. The longer she stared, the stronger the sinister feeling I felt emanating from her so I immediately tried to send Undine back to the Spirit World. However, at that moment, Trom-Well noticed the complexity of the situation and cried out.

“Stop! El! You can’t send Undine back!”

“Huh? M.. Matthew?”

Startled from the sudden cry, the eyes of the nearby party darted toward us.

Annoyed at how boring the day had been, their eyes seemed to ask, ‘What is it;’ however, when they saw how Iale was staring at Undine and me, who was sweating profusely, their face hardened into stone as if they had seen a ghost. The first person to come to his senses was Harol, who was always busy arguing with Iale.

“Damn it! Who showed that witch something cute?! Oh God~ You’re all crazy!!”

“L.. Look at how strangely her eyes are shining~ It’s too late! Hey, someone stop her!”

“Do you take me for a lunatic? You know what happens to anyone who tries to stop her when she turns into that!”

Matey who looked alarmed and Sherry who looked terrified stared blankly, not knowing how to react. Even though Hosane’s face was apathetic as usual, I could see the droplets of cold sweat running down his forehead.

I then realized that the problem was a bit more severe than I had imagined.

“Hehehe”…. With a terrifying laugh, Iale’s eyes flashed a strange light as she unfolded her whip.

“Ehheeeheeeheeeheee.. Here, little child. Won’t you come closer?? Let this older sis take care of you~~”
“Huck.. Iale?”

“Hohoho~ All the cute things in the world, COME AT ME!!! HERE!!! Don’t hesitate and come on~~~”

“Aargh! Iale, calm down!”

Her obsession was so frightening that Undine’s translucent face had turned deathly pale as she slowly stepped backwards.

I did not expect that she would feel fear towards anything other than the Spirit Kings.

With an absurd look, my back became wet from cold sweat as she began to eye us.

Now that I see her closely, her pupils have expanded so much that I could no longer see the whites of her eyes. In other words, she was not normal.

“H.. Hold on Iale!!”

“Euhahahahhaha~~ Disturb me and I’ll kill you all~~~ Kkyaaahahahah haha haha~~~!!!”

“hiiik!”

How could that be the laughter of a human?  Fortunately, her violence discontinued from then on. Trom-Well, who stealthy snuck behind her with a nervous look, knocked her out with a sudden strike to the head.

With a dull thud, her body fell like a log. Matthew quickly caught her falling body to prevent any more injuries. He quickly became the target of admiration and let out an awkward smile.
“Surprised? When this happens, I don’t have a choice. The quickest way to end this is to make them faint.”

“That’s right! Whenever she becomes deranged after seeing something cute, you can’t stop her even if you take away the target. Rather, if you do that, she becomes even more demented.

Her eyes, you saw that? Ah~ It’s been so long since I’ve seen it that I still get the shivers.”

“Ha…ha…ha, ha…”

As the culprits, what else can we say? After resuming the journey, Isana and I had our heads down, unable to speak a word due to the shame. It felt like I’ve suddenly become a criminal.

The time it took for Iale to recover her senses was an hour from then. It happened to be around dinner time when the march was halted, so examining her wasn’t a problem.

Together with a groan and Trom-Well massaging her neck, she blankly stared at her surroundings and the mercenaries who were busy readying themselves for the meal. As if she remembered what happened, she burst out into a half-baked laugh and awkwardly scratched her head.

“Are you really going to laugh? When are you planning to fix that disease of yours?”

“Shut up. This is a conditioned reflex, not a disease. Anyways, it’s not a disease you can cure with medicine.”

“Keoheok.. Then are you planning to live the rest of your life like that? That’s too bad. You won’t be able to have a child after marriage.”

With a mischievous smile, Harol looked as if he was having the time of his life by finally having a chance to taunt Iale. However, Iale had no reaction to his mockery.

“It’s not your child that I’m planning to have, so what’s the interest?”

“Gagh… Cough cough! This witch!!  Where the hell did that come from?!”

“Gosh? Isn’t that why you were so concerned? I thought I noticed something~”

“W…What?!?! Did you get a new illness?!”

Why does he always try when he is the one that gets victimized? By now, I have gotten used to these quarrels. Trom-Well looked slightly apologetic.

“I tried to hit as softly as I could. It must have hurt more than I thought. Did I miscalculate?”

“Who knows? You still hit her with enough force to have her faint, so she must still feel some pain. Should I heal her?”

“No, El. You have yet to receive the Priest’s Stigma. You’ll bring trouble if you can heal even without the acknowledgement of a God. It’s better to go to the priest for help.”

“Which priest?”

Who’s that? When I stared questionably at him, Trom-Well looked towards a stopped carriage.

There were company members gathered around for dinner and among them was a man adorned in white clothes.

Ah, him. I remembered the incident several days ago when he healed several mercenaries who had been injured from the Orc ambush.

With ink black hair that fell to his shoulders, his eyes were so squinty that it was hard to tell whether he had his eyes closed or not.

Rather than the aura of a Priest, he fits the image of a scholar more perfectly.

The beaming smile that he constantly wore on his face made it hard to read what was in his mind, but overall, he seemed like a generous fellow.

“If I ask, would he help without cost?”

Trom-Well simply shrugged.

“Probably. I think that’s his goal anyways.”

“Huh?”

His goal is to treat people for free?

From what I know, Priests generally charge a heavy fee whenever they are forced to use Sacred Power.

People who possess the power of the Gods are few in number and they often lack in volume.

They are restricted by their limits in how frequently they can heal, so being overly merciful is difficult for these people.

But now, Trom-Well tells me that there is a Priest who wants to give free treatment. When I looked back at the man with admiration, Trom-Well gave me an answer that I did not expect in the slightest.

“He is a Priest of Elwien.”

“Eh?”

“That Priest. He is Elwien’s priest. Because he’s not wearing the Seal of his Temple, it may be difficult for others to differentiate which God he serves; however, on his wrist is Elwien’s stigma.”

“R..Really?”

Surprised to hear such news, I frantically stared at the Priest’s wrist, hoping to find the spot that Trom-Well was designating. I then saw a small picture of a Snake coiled around a Scale that was colored as if it was bleached.

“That’s Elwien’s stigma?”

“Yes. The balanced scale represents unbiased judgement where the judge favors neither side and treats all equally. The reason why the snake is coiled completely around the scale is because no one can escape God’s Judgement.

For the God of Punishment, it’s fitting for Elwien.

Seeing how it’s imprinted on the wrist, he has must have a high rank. The location of the Stigma determines your rank while size and color determines power.

If it’s located in areas where it is easy to see, that means their status is high.”

Hoh, so even the location has a meaning? Intrigued, I continued to stare at the Priest.

The Priest, who was joyously laughing while locked in a conversation with the merchants, turned back with a strange expression as if he felt my gaze.

!! Our eyes met. What was even more flustering was that after asking for consent, he began to walk over towards my direction.

Consequently, I ended up inviting a guest I never had any intention to meet.

Not showing even the slightest hesitation, his lips curled into a polite smile and introduced himself in a kind voice.

“You are part of the Champagne Mercenaries, am I correct? This one is called Kaite, and I will be accompanying you on this trip.”

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you, I am El.”

“The pleasure is all mine. It felt like you were staring at me for a while, is there a problem?”

“Yes? Ah, no, it’s nothing like that.”

I was unable to steel my heart, so I panicked with every question he asked. Accordingly, I couldn’t think of anything to say either so I gave him a kind smile.

“Truthfully, we were debating which God you serve. So you were Elwien’s priest. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Oh? How did you..”

As if he was surprised, his eyes widened so much that I could actually see them, but he didn’t seem displeased. Relieved that he didn’t carry any suspicion, I pointed at his wrist.

“I saw it, the Stigma imprinted on your wrist.”

“You saw it at that distance? Your kinetic vision must be exceptional. And you even recognized it with a single glance when the average person can’t even recognize what it is.”

“Ah.. I am deeply related with Elwien, so..”

“You are Elwien’s priest as well? Then I am truly happy to meet you. Residents of Soltere Empire believe in the God Yuil, so it’s rare to find Elwien’s priest here.”

Seeing how he jumped into conclusions too quickly, I could only clumsily smile.

Thus Trom-Well, who was a neutral spectator so far, decided to add in a few more lines. “Once we get to Kalmore, he plans to go to the temple to hear the voice of God.

El is actually in the middle of training.”

“Oh really? Do you mind if I ask you for your age?”

“I am 17.”

Kaite’s expression, which was one of excitement, suddenly changed into one of suspicion.

Starting from my feet and all the way to the top of my hand, he nodded while muttering to himself.

“It looks like you’ve passed through formal training. I could feel a clean and rich aura from you. But I’m not sure how things will work out. Most people who are allowed to hear the voice of God are usually 10 years and under. A 17 year old…”

“10 and under? Can you not receive the Stigma after that?”

“That is usually the case. It is around that age when people are the purest, which makes it easier for them to get close to god.

When I first heard his voice, I was 2.

The younger one’s age is, the greater possibility it is for them to receive a higher rank as a Priest, with the highest ranked priest being born with the Stigma.”

“Then would such people not require any training?”

“The direction and material is different, but they still require the same type of training. Those who receive the Stigma early must train to temper their hearts in order to control their powers. Once their souls become strong enough and master the Art of Healing, they go on a pilgrimage. Once they start, they go on a Pilgrimage across the world. I was 15 when I first embarked and I have been travelling for 4 years now.”

“Then Kaite..”

“Just call me Kai. You’ll find it more comfortable.”

“Ah, yes. Then Kai, you are 19 years old and in the middle of a pilgrimage?”

He nodded yes. The reason why he is travelling with the merchant convoy was that while travelling along, he was requested by the merchant convoy for help. He agreed since there was no reason to refuse.

In exchange for food and transportation, he agreed to heal any of the wounded.

He also added in to bring anyone who was injured or sick to him.

“It is more advantageous for me when people are hurt. I might get punished for thinking in this manner, but it adds meaning to this pilgrimage.”

“Then do you mind checking one of our members? Although it’s not severe, she did receive a heavy blow to the back.”

“Oh my, how did that happen?”

“Ahaha. We had no choice. Haha..”