Ark - an extra long post to end the chapter. It's been a year since I last posted haha(sweats). Holidays have been hectic and my backlog of games is getting too long T_T. Feel free to enjoy and ignore my excuses.

 

Adder, whose whole entire world has been flipped over, is muttering to himself like a lunatic. He’s probably trying to process what he saw. That, or he’s vehemently denying it in his head.

Dionyss 「 What’s that guy’s deal? 」

Becca 「 He’s a… hitchhiker. A very unfortunate tag-along. 」

I force the conversation back and ignore Adder’s mental breakdown. After this I should erase his memory and force reboot his mind.

The man is having quite the bad day after all. Is this my fault? No, I’m overthinking it.

Dionyss 「 You’ve introduced yourselves so allow me to do so too. I’m Dionyss, a priestess that serves the royal family of Yorland, well, only in my spare time of course. 」

Becca 「 I’m Becca. A hero in my spare time as well. 」

Dionyss 「 Hero? So you’re the young one in the rumors? Weren’t you supposed to be a handsome lad? 」

Becca 「 The rumors are obviously exaggerated. In various places. 」

That rumor of me being a guy again? I heard it previously from Adder so I’m not taken aback this time. If she asks about whether I beat up kids, I’ll just keep insisting it’s all rumors.

Dionyss 「 Is that so? Still, I can see that you have the hero class so that’s irrefutable evidence. 」

Becca 「 You can see that? 」

Dionyss 「 As a priestess, I can naturally peek at one’s status. 」

Abaleyn 「 By the way, a normal priest requires a ceremonial altar to view statuses, and the person’s consent. Dionyss is a special case so don’t worry your head over it. 」

I heard this from Cheshyr a while back, how people usually visit temples and have a priest show their status. In this case the priest needs a special tool and a target’s consent to retrieve the status.

Granny Abaleyn explains that ordinary priests are incapable of spying on my status like Dionyss. Someone should inform her about privacy rights.

Becca 「 So Priestess Dionyss, how do you know Granny Abaleyn? 」

Dionyss 「 Sister Abby? Why, we’ve known each other since before this country was known as Yorland. Our meeting wasn’t so special, we just hit it off pretty well as beings with long lives. 」

Abaleyn 「 As I recall it, you were still pretty young, a little over a century old. You were quite headstrong back then, and challenged me to a fight the moment we met. 」

Dionyss 「 Did I? How embarrassing. I hardly remember it. 」

Dionyss scratches her red face in embarassment. Abaleyn leans closer to me and whispers in a quiet voice, so quiet that if I didn’t have enhanced senses I wouldn’t hear it.

Abaleyn 「 I thoroughly trounced her, of course. She doesn’t remember? That’s just baloney. 」

The old dragon lady shows her mischievous side in bringing up the priestess’ embarrassing defeat. The process was probably like this; they met and fought, and became close friends ever since.

Dionyss 「 How we met isn’t so important. It isn’t easy to find those of long lives that are easy to get along with, so we kept in touch. Over the millennia we grew close enough to become sisters. 」

Becca 「 So, what are you? I mean, you look human, but you’ve lived so long. 」

Dionyss 「 Like I said, I’m a priestess. I was born a normal human like any other. I know what you want to hear, and I can say is that my destiny changed on the eve of my 25th year as a human. 」

Dionyss tells a heroic tale that a bard might recount, about how there once was a Demon God that threatened all life on Arcoul. The heavens answered the prayers of the people and delivered a Hero.

This hero, like part of a game, collected a party of warriors, mages, and a priest, to confront the Demon God. They defeated it but the sinister demon died while cursing the hero.

This curse would ensure his descendants would suffer for all eternity, and that the curse could never be purified. To be specific, his children would all be born with demon blood in them, monstrous half-human half-demon hybrids.

Their demon inheritance would shame their heroic heritage and cause them to succumb to madness. Or at least it would have, if the hero’s priest didn’t sacrifice herself.

The priestess of the hero, Dionyss, absorbed the curse and transformed into something different. Something like a human-demon hybrid with godlike power.

She gained the immortality of the demon god through his curse leaving the hero’s descendants to live in peace. Those descendants eventually started a kingdom and left his lineage behind.

The Yorliss royal family are the descendants of that hero, and the reason why Dionyss sticks by them as a sort of aunt.

The tale depicts Dionyss as a selfless soul who continues to look after the kingdom of her dear hero. The holy priestess cursed by a Demon God, her body immortal and no longer pure.

Dionyss 「 Actually, I messed up when I absorbed the demon king’s curse. I was supposed to extract the curse and then seal it away. I messed up and the curse stuck to me like a nasty cold, and in the process my body became similar to the Demon God’s. 」

That means the curse still persists inside her body, but she seems fine on the outside. Maybe her holy powers are suppressing it so she remains human on the outside.

Dionyss 「 Luckily, this body stays healthy and young forever, so I can drink all I want without worries. 」

Maybe this woman was a noble priestess a long time ago, but now she’s just enjoying the benefits of her immortal body. I guess it’s only natural if you give a drunkard a liver that can never go bad.

Dionyss 「 But enough about my story, let’s talk about the whole reason I invited Abby here. I assume you’ve heard about the princess’ wedding? 」

The capital Verbeau’s strict security is just a consequence of the royal wedding. In natural progression the capital is receiving plenty of visitors. It seems Dionyss invited Abaleyn for the wedding.

Dionyss 「 That little girl is now old enough to get married and start her own family. 」

The priestess and dragon god reminisce and appear sagelike, with a bit of wistful reluctance. I can’t begin to understand the centuries long years they’ve endured.

Abaleyn 「 The little princess was only a wee girl when I last saw her. How time flies. What’s the husband like? 」

Dionyss 「 I’ve kept myself out of the loop on purpose to not adversely affect the kingdom’s succession. But I do know someone who’s more in the know. 」

Dionyss pulls a small silver bell out of her sleeve and rings it. A clear gentle ring echoes out in the garden and soon a lady in church garbs appears from a near door.

This lady seems like a proper lady of the faith, but she has white wraps covering her eyes. Is it by choice or religious duty? Otherwise, there might be something wrong with her eyes.

Dionyss 「 This is lady Velphia. She is the Oracle of the Church who assists the royal family and serves me. She has talent in prophecy and communion with the heavens. 」

The blindfolded lady in clean white clothes is the Oracle of this world’s church. This is the first time I see a prophetic in person. The Vile Brotherhood on Earth supposedly has an Oracle like this lady.

I wonder if there’s any differences in them or if their professions are that similar. Velphia greets Dionyss and Abaleyn. Her gaze, at least that’s what I assume it is, hard to tell with her blindfold on, sweeps over us.

She greets us cordially and Dionyss introduces us in short before going into her questions.

Dionyss 「 Young Velphia, tell us about the princess’ groom to be. You helped in coordinating the wedding after all. 」

Velphia 「 Certainly. The princess is about to marry his highness Prince Derrick. Prince Derrick is the last remaining member and heir to the royal family of Neroctis. He was believed dead since he was a child, but has reappeared recently like a storm to create a legend. 」

The Oracle Velphia describes Prince Derrick of Neroctis like a prince charming in a fairy tale. His family was ruined by conspirators of neighboring kingdoms and he fled into hiding. Prince Derrick has grown up and returned in a storm.

His journey to the Yorland kingdom reminds me of a hero’s adventure as he foils evil plans and saves some pretty damsels. Those same girls make up his party and now he has arrived in the capital to propose to the princess.

Velphia 「 I examined his status and I can say with certainty that he is the fabled hero of the prophecy. The hero’s appearance brings good fortune to the wedding and the Yorliss royal family will prosper for generations. 」

The Oracle’s face is flushed in excitement as she describes his handsome face. But none of that matters to me as I catch her mention of his hero’s status.

Becca 「 Prince Derrick is the hero?! 」

Velphia 「 Yes. Early last month I received a prophecy from the goddess that the hero would appear to bring peace to these lands. I’ve personally confirmed that his status holds the coveted Hero class. 」

I’m rendered speechless as Priestess Dionyss and Granny Abaleyn spare me a glance.

The hero of the Oracle’s prophecy wasn’t me, but this Prince Derrick? It’s no wonder the rumors say the hero is a young man.

He holds the Hero class, and no one has ever heard of two heroes appearing in the same generation.

I feel like I’ve been hoodwinked.

END OF CHAPTER 12