Chapter 25
“……!”
At the urgent shout, Tesilid’s eyes widened.
But unlike his surprised reaction, he didn’t even turn around—he quickly and precisely reached out.
And crushed the pierrot doll’s head.
Swallowing a sigh of relief, I finally said what I hadn’t been able to earlier.
“Anyway, this won’t end like this! Let’s get out.”
It was annoying to be played by the demon race’s tricks, but inside a dungeon, the best option was to follow the dungeon’s rules.
The current game was hide-and-seek. We had to hide.
I grabbed Tesilid’s wrist and started running down the hallway outside the audience hall. There were pierrot dolls in the corridor too, but since I led the way, breaking through was easy.
After shaking off the dolls to some extent, we reached a place where doors lined both sides like a guest room corridor.
We went into a random room and caught our breath.
“G-guest, huff, bedroom, huff, I think… huff huff.”
“Don’t force yourself to talk.”
Unlike me, Tesilid didn’t look tired at all.
[‘The Scale that Judges Souls’ mocks you, saying that even if your possession aptitude is S-rank, your stamina seems F-rank.]
At this rate, once I get home, I really need to start physical training—and open that Aura job-change package immediately.
I drank some water from my bag and calmed down a bit.
Meanwhile, Tesilid tried locking the door, but it didn’t work. As I looked around the bedroom, I spotted a wardrobe.
“There’s a latch inside that can fix one door in place. Let’s hide in here.”
“Good idea.”
The wardrobe was big, and since we were both ten-year-old children, there was more than enough space.
In case the dolls opened it, we pushed clothes against the unfixed door to camouflage it.
Once we shut the wardrobe, it became so dark inside I couldn’t even see my own hand. We held our breath.
Creeeak.
The sound of the wooden door opening echoed. There were no footsteps—so it must be a doll.
Tesilid prepared to attack if necessary. I just hoped it would pass quietly.
And after a moment—
“It’s gone.”
“Phew……”
At his words, I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“They might come back, so let’s stay hidden here.”
“Okay.”
As soon as he agreed, I rummaged through my satchel and took out a luminous stone.
I dimmed it to about candlelight and hung it on a hook. I needed light for what I was about to do.
“Let me see where you’re hurt.”
“I’m not.”
“I saw your shoulder earlier when you were fighting.”
“It just grazed me. It’s not even a wound—”
“Stop acting tough and listen.”
I turned Tesilid sideways and searched my satchel again.
“That bag is small, but how does so much come out of it…? Huh? A healing potion?”
“I made it. My dad’s an alchemist, so I learned from him.”
Tesilid looked surprised at my competence.
There was a black mark on his shoulder wound. Since alchemy naturally builds up some medical knowledge, I diagnosed it quickly.
“Like you said, the wound itself isn’t serious, but you’ve been poisoned by undead corpse toxin. If left alone, the area will rot. Can you detox it yourself with divine power?”
Tesilid made a troubled expression.
“I can’t. Not just me—none of the Stigma children can use healing, even after awakening divine power.”
That was the penalty from forced awakening. Even beginner divine power users could perform basic healing, but not the Stigma children.
No wonder Tesilid had been lamenting about finding a decent healer.
If he could heal, he’d heal, deal damage, and tank all by himself. This world really leaned toward overpowered protagonists.
I comforted him.
“Don’t feel down. I already knew—I just asked anyway.”
“……I’m not feeling down. And don’t ask if you already know.”
Even his sulky face was cute.
“Okay, okay. Anyway, don’t worry—I’ve got an antidote.”
“Seriously… why even ask then……”
Ignoring his muttering, I took out a detox potion and completely cured the corpse poison.
After putting away the empty bottles, I took something else out.
“Eat this.”
Tesilid’s eyes lit up at the sandwich wrapped in oiled paper and the glass bottle of milk.
He must have been starving—he got dragged into the dungeon on the way to the dining hall and then fought a battle.
It felt like his favorability toward me went up a bit.
“Can I really eat this?”
“Yeah, you’re hungry.”
“What about you? Let’s split it.”
“I already ate earlier. And I’ve got plenty more.”
I also took out macarons Bianca had given me. Tesilid flinched.
“That bag… it really doesn’t run out of things.”
“Yeah. It’s a subspace storage. A dungeon item.”
Tesilid quietly began eating. It was obvious he was surprised by the taste after the first bite, and that he was trying to savor it slowly.
After eating nothing but bland church meals, tasting something made by a disciple of Chef Peysha must’ve felt like a whole new world.
This felt like we were hiding in a bunker during a zombie apocalypse.
Not entirely wrong, considering we were being chased by undead.
When half the sandwich had disappeared into Tesilid’s stomach, he spoke—despite seeming like he was just following formal dining etiquette.
“Hey.”
“Hmm? What?”
“Your name.”
“Oh, mine?”
I thought we were finally exchanging names, but—
“No. How do you know my name?”
“Ah.”
“You called it earlier. When the pierrot doll aimed at my back.”
—Tesilid, behind you!
Ah, right. I had shouted it in a hurry.
[‘The Inspector of Fate Disclosure’ widens its eyes.]
It looked tense, worried I might say something like “I know because I read the book,” which would disrupt the world’s logic.
Of course, I had no intention of such a careless revelation—but I didn’t want to make up lies either.
“Hmm… is it really that important that I know your name?”
“No. There are more important things. Like how you recognized the pierrot dolls as Grim Reapers, why they don’t attack you, your alchemy skill being good enough to identify and cure mid-level undead poison, or how you possess items that should only appear in at least an A-rank dungeon.”
“That’s… a lot.”
“There’s still the most important one.”
“What is it?”
“Even if you reveal the ‘duty of rules,’ your divine power doesn’t decrease. Why?”
Wait—what? Really?
The rules of the Seven Virtues and Seven Sins don’t apply to me?
“Even now. You said two taboo words, but your divine power didn’t change.”
The taboo words here meant “rules” and “duty.”
“That doesn’t mean your divine power doesn’t increase when you do good deeds. It does. But it doesn’t decrease.”
Wow. That’s insane.
The passive ability that usually drags the protagonist into frustrating situations… doesn’t apply to me.
I only get the benefits of good deeds, without the penalties of sins.
[‘The Cynic Who Balances Equilibrium’ suggests this is overpowered.]
[‘The Voice That Builds the World’ says it’s natural for an S-rank possessor.]
[‘The Scale that Judges Souls’ bites its lip, wishing it had made you its follower.]
What a convenient situation. Maybe I can avoid some of the usual frustration.
While I was thinking, Tesilid pressed me.
“What exactly are you?”
“It’s a very important secret, so I can’t just tell anyone. But if you tell me your secret, I’ll tell you mine. Fair trade. Equivalent exchange. What do you think?”
“……”
The kind-hearted protagonist seemed to understand.
He himself was bound by the secret of the “rules of the Seven Virtues and Seven Sins,” so he probably realized he wasn’t in a position to interrogate others.
“Hard, right? Everyone has secrets they can’t tell, Tesilid.”
“……”
“I understand being cautious. So let me make one thing clear.”
“What?”
“I’m really on your side.”
“……”
Silence returned. After a while, Tesilid looked down at the sandwich in his hand and concluded:
“Well… seeing that you’re fine even while wearing a holy relic, you’re probably not on the side of evil.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“So… what’s your name?”
“Ailet Rodelline. You can call me Ailet.”
Tesilid hesitated slightly before speaking.
“Thank you, Ailet. For healing me, and for the food.”
“You’re welcome.”
Like praising a well-mannered child, I handed him a packaged macaron.
He awkwardly accepted it, clearly not used to receiving things. That was cute too.
After eating, we had a brief strategy discussion.
“Ailet, do you have more potions?”
“A lot. We’re going to defeat the boss, right?”
“Yeah. That’s the only way to escape the dungeon. We’ll regroup with the others and draw out the boss. But you’re not a Three-Power Awakened, so it’s dangerous for you—”
“I’m coming too. There are many types of potions, so I need to be there to give you what you need.”
“That’s true, but… will you be okay?”
“If you fail, everyone here—including me—dies anyway. Better to do something than just hide and wait to die.”
Tesilid fell silent, solemn.
He looked at me like I was some brave civilian steeling myself before the final battle of the apocalypse.
No—that’s not it, Tesilid.
