“Father Claise was attacked while he was on his way to ask the other churches for help? That means the enemy is watching our every move,” I said.
“Indeed,” Rosalia replied. “For now, let’s search the area. There’s no telling where that man is.”
“You need not look far, for I am right here!”
Right as we entered the courtyard to leave, we bumped into a man. There was no way we’d mistake him—it was Darkness, clad in his tattered black robe. Rosalia stepped in front and brandished her spear, which Darkness reacted to by drawing his twin swords.
“Sorry, but I must put a stop to your evil…” He looked at me, then his expression froze. “Wait, is that not a Divine Beast on your shoulder?! Aren’t you Apostles of the Hades Church?”
“What? You’re the one with the Hades Church!” I said. “You’ve been kidnapping the orphans here, right?”
“Royce, this might be a trap to get us to lower our guards.” Rosalia, as usual, kept calm. “Stay vigilant.”
But then, as a sign that he meant no harm, Darkness raised both arms.
Was he surrendering? However, he could also use magic, so I wasn’t about to let my guard down, just like Rosalia had said.
“Wait, wait,” he implored, indicating something on his chest. “Look at my crest. My name is Darkness. I’ve come here from the capital after receiving intel that this church was actually a slave market that sold orphans. I’m an investigator. If you two aren’t Apostles of the Hades Church, then there’s no reason for us to fight!”
I squinted at him. “Is that the crest of the royal family?”
“Royce, what should we do?” Rosalia kept her weapon at the ready as she waited for me to make the final call. She must’ve been through some real trials when she was an adventurer. “It’s possible that it’s a fake, but…”
This was the perfect time to put my unique skill set to use.
“Don’t worry,” I told her. “Leave this to me. Darkness, can you show me that crest for a second?”
“But of course. Right, I forgot. You possess the Appraisal skill. That’s how you knew my name!” Darkness said. He nodded his head, impressed with me.
I decided not to point out that he’d actually introduced himself to us earlier and gently took his hand while I pretended to look at his crest.
As usual, his status popped up.
Darkness
Occupation: The Sixth of the Twelve Apostles of Zeus
Loyalty to Oneself: 100
Strength: 90
Magic Power: 85
Crafts: 90
Skills:
Wind Magic Lv 4
Fire Magic Lv 4
Sword Skills Lv 4
Concealment Skills Lv 3
Unique Skills:
Blessing of the Twelve Apostles: A skill bestowed upon only those recognized by Zeus as one of the twelve strongest individuals in the church. Zeus’s blessing enhances all stats.
Heretic Counter: Negative status effects from heretics have no effect. Strength against heretics gets a +10.
Negative Status Effects:
Chuunibyou: Makes others suspicious through one’s own actions and deeds.
Dual Wielding: He does not have an aptitude for dual wielding but does so anyway because it looks cool. Weaker than when he uses a single sword.
As he is the sixth of the Twelve Apostles, he is actually quite talented and important, but because he thinks being mysterious is cool, he usually does not reveal his true identity to others.
Hah! Are you kidding me?! This dope is one of the Twelve Apostles of Zeus? Wait, now that I think about it, according to the production materials, one of the Twelve Apostles dies during the event that leads Astesia to fall to the darkness. Are you telling me it’s this guy?
I was genuinely shocked by this turn of events, but what I now knew for sure was that Darkness wasn’t our enemy.
“Rosalia, he’s really not a member of the Hades Church. He’s on our side. In fact, he’s actually—”
“Young man, it’s poor manners to reveal a hero’s true identity,” Darkness said, cutting me off. He had a weirdly smug look on his face, so Rosalia was still wary of him.
Or not? Actually, as soon as she heard my words, she lowered her weapon. “Understood. If you say he is our ally, then he must be.”
“Oho, I can tell she trusts you!” said Darkness. “On the other hand, perhaps this is the result of my powerful aura. Everyone usually finds it suspicious. This is the first time anyone has ever found it trustworthy! Ha ha ha!”
Bro, the reason people find you suspicious is because of the weird way you behave…
“If you’re not our enemy,” I asked him, “why did you attack Father Claise?”
“Hm? I haven’t fought with anyone besides you two. I’m only here to investigate, after all. I’ve been avoiding combat as much as possible.” He then looked at us and winked pompously. “In your case, you seemed like you might be a nuisance, so I wanted to encourage you to exit stage left to avoid interfering with my activities.”
“Wh-what?!”
Both Rosalia and I simultaneously choked at his words. I mean, Father Claise was attacked by someone, right? I was starting to get a really bad feeling about all of this.
As we stood there bewildered, Darkness shot us a question.
“More importantly, has there been anyone around you acting strangely? One of the heretics is capable of changing their appearance freely. It’s possible that they’re disguising themselves as someone else.”
I suddenly recalled what Astesia had told me earlier: “At the moment, the children still hate me, but the father has become slightly kinder toward me.”
“Rosalia, it’s Father Claise!” I shouted. “The enemy might be disguising himself as the reverend father! What’s he doing right now?!”
“Um, he’s looking after the children in my stead.”
“He might have noticed my presence and is planning on kidnapping the last of the children before fleeing! We must hurry!”
We hastily broke into a sprint. The children weren’t the only ones in danger—Astesia was as well. She already felt so cornered and stressed that she broke down in front of me, a complete stranger. That might mean that she was in the same mindset as when she fell to Hades in the game. Perhaps this was the triggering event?
I didn’t want to see her suffer right when she had regained her ability to smile.