Chapter 131 – Star Fall (14)

– Soygaybar : Damn, I’m drooling right now.

– Jokass : That’s one hell of a lineup. Just how many Hero Units are there?

– takealook : Looking at how Bacchus Yulen, Demon Palace Tiana, and The Pioneer that f**ker is here, it looks like all of the Hero Units from the Three Nations of Ergel are here, The blue haired woman next to them, that’s the Great Spirit Alicia right?

– Highwaynachoman : Yep it’s her. All of the Good, Neutral type Hero Units around the Rodrick region are here. What a sight man.

– Noru_is_druig : Hey, that guy playing with his dagger in the corner over there, isn’t he Furry the Jack? It looks like him

– takealook : LOLLL what’s that furry doing here

– Soygaybar : ‘I do not feel pleasure killing living beings without fur on their back and stomach. So do not worry everyone.’ <- Actual quote from him LMAOOOO

– Speedwagon : Total of five Knight Commanders from the 5 major churches Mercy, Light, Fertility, Wisdom, and Courage. Five official Warriors from each church. Three Warriors from the Three Nations of Ergel. One greenie spirit, and one furry. Get up already. Got to check the other Hero Units in the back.

– Noru_is_druig : Get a lot of ss yall. You can sell these.

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‘You gotta admit, this really is one hell of a view.’

Hot women here, hot men there.

Whoever he looked at, people of all races, ages, and genders you expected to see in a myth or legend were sitting around the massive circular table. These weren’t fill-in Warriors like me, but people who had achievements fitting their title as Warriors, and had their stories spread out to the world in the past years. Each of them probably had at least ten thousand Heroic Points. That number shows how many people consider them heroes. Even ugly faces would turn heroic with that much.

Ding—!

‘Huh?’

I checked just in case, but I didn’t even have a thousand Heroic Points yet. That’s only natural. Aside from the time I acted as a captain back in Turan, I was always fighting alone, in secret, or in the middle of enemy territory where nobody was looking. Nobody spreads any rumors about me, no matter how hard I work, so there’s no way my points would go up.

But I already have over 4300 Villain Points?

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– Soygaybar : Ref vid : Tobrune Mage Tower.avi [14,15,16- Aaaahhhhh! Don’t shake me! Aaagh! Aaaaaahhhh!!!!]

– Jokass : I almost forgot, that’s the first time you met that water mage you’re always with.

– takealook : it looks like he’s gotten pretty close with prof now, i wonder what’s gonna happen if he learns that he’s the same guy as the crimson mute. he even said he got a trauma of heights after that.

– professor : Hey, but I did that somewhat for the benefit of the majority, how can I have a higher Villain Point than most of the famous Evil type units?

– Jokass : For the benefit of the majority, you caused a tsunami in a city, destroyed a mage tower, traumatized a kind old mage, made the Reedflow Academy members homeless and gobbled up all of the looted valuables. Anyways, I’m innocent because it was for the greater good.

– Highwaynachoman : That’s not bold, it’s plain thievery.

==========

Villain Points were just what their name suggested they were. If Heroic Points displayed how much people considered me a hero, then the Villain Points displayed how much they considered me a villain.

He had a vague idea of what happened. The Crimson Mute that suddenly appeared to destroy Tobrune and disappeared. Even at this moment, the debris of the mage tower and void stone are still located at the center of Tobrune like a memorial, so it’s still probably reminding the people of the enemy called the Crimson Mute. While that was happening, the only news from the battlefield was negative, and the commoners and refugees that were kicked out of the capital would have moved to the relatively safer east, where Tobrune was, which would spread the rumor more, and since even the intelligence group of each nation was looking into the information regarding the Crimson Mute that destroyed Tobrune, his infamy would have become widespread.

‘Dadgummit. No wonder my body got bigger around the time I thought it would change.’

Whereas Heroic Points made its applicant look like a hero, with sparkling good looks and increased chances of heroic situations, Villain Points made them a villain. It made muscular characters bigger, more vicious and aggressive, receive the respect of people in the underworld, and have situations where they’d have a higher chance of surviving a trust fall off a cliff when attempting to escape.

‘That old child kidnapper cannibal player’s Villain Point was around 3700. How am I more of a villain than him? Even if it’s for the Crimson Mute, I’m still the villain!!!’

Damn it. No wonder that Gregory guy was already so certain even before he checked! Of course he’d be suspicious if I claimed that I’m the same Warrior as the others in front of me right now, looking like this monstrosity!

Comparing all of the handsome Hero Units that were standing in front of me, I couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged, no matter how much I tried not to. There were a lot more of them than he expected.

‘A normal player would have met at least three to at most seven Hero Units on average in a game, but there are over thirty of them just here. Not to mention, the ones here are only the ones that are under the official title of ‘Warrior’. There are a good number of stealth-based Hero Units that don’t appear in public matters like this, and there are some rogue Hero Units that don’t want to be restricted to an organization. If it’s a rough ratio of 1 to 1, then there’s an estimated number of 60 Hero Units in just Kingsland alone right now. This is probably the first time this many Hero Units have been in a single city in GG history. Records like this are nice as a streamer.’

Although it is a problem that all of those heroes are glaring laser beams through me.

Ah, I want to go take a potty break. It felt like my heart was shriveling up from the aura everyone was subtly letting out. Their eyes moved along the end of the right arm I was raising up, which had grown back to about my wrist now.

In this tense moment where everyone had their hands on their items, it was an old man who had been quietly observing the situation who spoke up first.

“How… incredibly remarkable. Paladin Gregorio? What is this situation?”

“Archbishop, sir! This malicious wretch… he dared to infiltrate our holy abode in an attempt to corrupt our church little by—”

“Mmm… I see. I do, in fact, remember his face. I believe it was… Warrior Professor, who has recently taken an oath to enlighten this world…”

My mind jumped back into action. The Archbishop. A face he remembered. Knows my name too. And mentioned that right now. The conclusion?

.

.

.

.

Ding ding ding ding!

‘The Archbishop made the first move to save me! Thank you, Archbishop! Ro Haram is the best!’

The higher ranks of the church must all be sly foxes like Senadis, because he scratched just the place he was itching the most. He can’t waste such a good opportunity that was given to him.

Instead of talking, Professor kneeled down on the spot and took out the Chamber Maid’s head from his inventory.

“May the light always shine on your path, Archbishop, sir. Under the judgment that the mission to assassinate the Queen was impossible, we have completed the task of scouting and assassinating the target under church orders and have just returned.”

Thud, rolllll.

The half-human, half-plant head rolled towards the center of the table. Looking at the human-like head rolling around was quite grotesque, but nobody said anything since there was not a single person in this room that hadn’t chopped off less than three digits worth of heads, whether that was people or monsters.

The Archbishop, characterized by his plain priest robe and white beard that came down to his bellybutton, quietly stared at the head, then, as if to give the others time to think about it, slowly stood up from his seat.

“Latura, Ro Haram. Well done, Warrior Professor.”

“Archbishop! I’ve confirmed it myself! There is another being that whispers within this man’s soul—”

“Paladin Gregorio, I always appreciate your contribution to the church. However… have I not told you repeatedly? One who stares directly into the light becomes blinded by it and will no longer be able to contain that light again. Please try to broaden the spectrum of your thinking. Or at least attempt to respect the others that are working hard for the church.”

“But… mmmm.”

It looked like the paladin had more to say, but instead quietly prostrated himself in response to the Archbishop’s unwavering gaze.

Clap clap clap clap!

“I was planning to catch up on some lost sleep when I heard this was a meeting arranged by the Light’s Order, but what a pleasant opening event! I’m a little touched, Saint Norman.”

“Hahah, to know that Saint Maria from Fertility has enjoyed it, it is all my honor. Light is everywhere, yet cannot be chased by the eye. There is, at times, a difference in opinion among the believers like this.”

“I will leave if all we are going to do is have small talk. There is no time to waste.”

“Now then, since you said that, why don’t we start? Everyone is here, and the one that we had been waiting for has now arrived.”

While I was questioning who the ‘one they had been waiting for’ was, the Archbishop lit up a small light at the tip of his hands and floated it up to the middle of the room to light it up. As it lit up its surroundings, the light concentrated on the Chamber Maid’s head like a spotlight.

“First of all, everyone should know, but in case there are those who do not, we shall start with the emergency that humanity is facing at the moment.”

When the Archbishop opened his mouth, the man in gray armor who said he didn’t have time spoke up.

“Paladin Captain Karbrick from the Church of Mercy. I will keep this church. Our church has requested assistance from all churches ever since our saintess has been captured and has repeated over and over how powerful and intelligent a being that white mute was. However, aside from Rodrick, most kingdoms refused, demanding an absurd amount of compensation, and other churches acted as if this was not their matter to attend, and it was instead our incompetency that made it happen. The result of this is the current situation. The birth of an Evil God. It was only after Rodrick was in danger and the enemy was already prepared for battle that the other nations started to prepare for this war. It is already much too late, but before it gets any later, we must pour all of the strength that humanity has to stop them. A minimal defense force? Courtly order of Knights? How do the borders of kingdoms matter in the face of the end of humanity?”

Bang!

Unable to contain his anger, the paladin slammed his hand down on the table.

“That’s a little hurtful, don’t you think? Your side has also refused to offer help when the Church of Fertility was about to collapse from the attack of the Undead due to holy law.”

“Then are you claiming that you did not help us in our revenge?! Even after hearing that the Saintess was taken by the enemy!”

“We merely followed past examples.”

“Terra Maria!! Do not forget that we have left our ‘mercy’ in the North! Even as a Saintess, we have a limit to permitting such blasphemy!”

It was already pretty rocky from the start, but it has only been a few minutes since the meeting started, and all of the pent-up grudges and anger have exploded.

‘I knew this would happen. Why would you bring them all to one place? Nothing’s going to get done, and everyone’s just going to yell out what they want.’

They’re fighting over something petty right now, but one’s a Paladin Captain and another’s a Saintess. I know how strong a captain is thanks to that dumbo just now, and the Priestess is on the same level, so they’re probably just as strong.

Aughh, I don’t want to budge in. I just want to deliver the messenger’s letter to Charlotte or Senadis and go back. I just want to live in peace with people on my level…

“May I speak a word~?”

But unlike my despairing internal thoughts, my mouth was already collecting the attention of everyone in this tense situation with a calm voice that didn’t fit in.

The Warrior meeting that started just as I logged in. This wasn’t a coincidence. Even if I didn’t come here on my own, someone would have come to get me.

‘It’s an important turning point that’s going to determine the direction of my gameplay. The meeting room was currently full of the heads that commanded all of the combat groups that were in Kingsland right now. The game’s system designed it so the Player is here at just the right time. To use my words and use these guys to the best of my abilities!’

Of course, a normal player wouldn’t have swung open the doors, asking to save them with an arm chopped off. Although I stopped that crazy paladin thanks to that, my current impression was…

[A weak, useless clown that is not fit for a Warrior.]

Basically, I didn’t have any say in the matter.

And as if reminding me of that fact, the Paladin of Mercy growled at me while glaring me down with his eyes seeping with anger.

“This is not a place such a thing like you have a say in… Thinking of the Light’s assistance when our Priestess was kidnapped, I will tolerate it just once, so know your place…”

“My place, my space, whatever. If we’re here to talk about that, why would the Light have provided a round table like this? We should have just gotten a hundred meter-long table and sat everyone down by rank. Is there a separate ranking I don’t know of? Knight of No Mercy’s in tenth, Fertility around that too, and me? I’m all the way at the end. Oh how petty—”

Clanggg!

Plop.

“Oh my. Apologies. Defense spells aren’t my specialty.”

“Ah, well. It’s fine. My neck’s still in one piece. Thank you for the help.”

“Don’t mention it. It is merely appreciation for taking our side. And I woke up too.”

A blur of light suddenly passed by, and the right hand he had been waving around for dramatic effect flew away, and the blade of the paladin was right in front of my throat, blocked by a white curtain.

“…I believe I said I would tolerate it only once!”

“Aren’t you the one who said we don’t have time? We’d still be late getting this meeting over with as fast as possible and getting ready for the battle, and you’re here swinging your sword at the ally?”

“That’s—!”

Bang!

“What’s your point? Look! The Light prepared a meeting! And they collected all of the commanders who were leading the reinforcements! While you guys were out in the west getting your asses kicked, I was the one that went into the middle of enemy territory to get information, so isn’t the first thing you should obviously ask be, ‘Have you seen our Priestess?’ Did you just give up?”

“How— How dare you mock me?!!”

Damn it. I can’t even breathe. When the Knight of No Mercy stood up with a threatening aura, he followed by standing up as well. I can’t back off now. Stronger! Like I have something to say!

I threw my severed right hand at the Paladin of Mercy, Karbrick, like I was requesting a duel.

“Try me. I’ll get chopped up by you hundreds or thousands of times if it means this situation gets solved. If you don’t want to, then just shut your mouth, sit down, and chill the hell out. If there’s only a bunch of numbskulls that don’t know what it means for the Warrior that the Light’s Order appointed is going to say at the meeting that the Light’s Order arranged right after coming back from the enemy territory, then I’ll just consider this meeting a waste of time and throw hands with you.”

“Eurh… arghhhhh!”

Clang!

Karbrick, who had been swinging at him in a materialized form of his swelling anger, then swung the sword right down in front of him. With the sword that pierced through the table and into the stone flooring in front, the paladin sat back down.

“…Looks like you weren’t that dumb.”

I did almost pee myself a little, but that set up the right environment for me to talk in. The other Warriors that had been looking disinterestedly were now watching expectantly, and the Archbishop was nodding at me with a pleased expression. I don’t know why that grandpa is being so supportive of me.

Well, it’s a plus for me if he’s so apparently supportive.

Looking at the light strobe the Archbishop shone on himself, Professor opened his mouth.

“Now we’re talking. Nice to meet you. I’m the Warrior from the Light’s Order, Professor.”

A few Warriors clapped, and others watched with crossed arms.

Now, I needed to move these guys to my liking.