Saint Brats

I was taken aback by the sudden reward.

No way, what…?

‘That ridiculous performance is the blessing of the Saintesses?’

A powerful blessing that was meant to be granted to only a single person.

The fact that that blessing came in the form of such a silly, ridiculous dance was shocking enough.

But what shocked me more… was the reward itself.

‘Wh-what is this?’

My divinity increased by 10.

Considering that Divine Light Garam was 5, it was clear how powerful the <Saintesses’> blessing was.

Additionally, I acquired a skill.

And it was of Epic grade.

Even this ability…

The acquired stats were impressive, but it significantly boosted my resistances.

‘Darkness resistance, sure…’

<Light Resistance> and…

It boosted <Demonic Energy Resistance>, known to be exclusive for great demons.

<Demonic Energy Resistance> was a truly rare stat.

I had only seen those two stats once while playing ‘GAL.’

‘[Wavelength of the Usurping Light]…?’

I had never heard of it.

Initially, <Holy Law> was a power that even Supervisors knew little about, so most people were clueless.

I just found out now that there was an Epic grade Holy Law.

“Shang~”
“~Shang.”
“……”

I stuck out my tongue and looked at the two kids making faces, checking the skill.

“…Crazy.”

For a moment, I wondered if I was seeing things wrong, so I rubbed my eyes.

‘…This is fucking insane.’

It was truly an incredible skill.

Usually, <Holy Law> is inherently selfish in power, so perhaps that’s why.

Except for rare exceptions like Divine Light Garam or Choi Mari, it wasn’t that powerful.

Probably a patch to maintain balance.

And since its nature is mostly specialized in support and recovery, there weren’t many that could be called offensive divine laws.

‘Perhaps Divine Light Garam’s [Judgment of Condemnation]…?’

But… this was just blatantly a broken skill.

If it merely inflicted damage, that would be one thing.

It dealt area damage centered on me, and even had a recovery function.

‘In essence, it means I’m half invincible while the skill is active, right?’

And the bonus? 2x damage to <Undead> and an extra 30% to <Demonic, Evil> types.

‘Both Demon and Evil are traits of <Demons, Villains>.’

If I had to nitpick, maybe the 200-meter radius wasn’t that wide…

And the 15-second duration with a 15-minute cooldown was a bit of a drawback, but…

That would naturally improve as I got stronger.

Besides, I already had [Rapid Recovery], which was a top-tier healing skill in itself.

‘If used together, I can just recover and resolve most critical injuries.’

I barely managed to control the corners of my mouth that were rising.

The saintly kids were whispering at my expression.

“Hehe, he likes it. Right?”
“He likes it. He likes it!”

Both were supposed to be 10 years old in the setting.
Their innocence perfectly matched their age.

The saintly kids were smiling and soon started circling around me, then made another mysterious hand signal.

“Saintess!”
“Saintess!”

Uh, um…
I wasn’t planning to ask, but…
Out of courtesy, I decided to ask once.

I was actually curious too…

“Excuse me, what is that pose?”
“Good question! It’s the victory pose!”
“It’s the victory pose!”
“Ah, I see…”

I laughed it off roughly.
I was wrong to try to understand children and their minds.
Well, they were the ones who gave this reward.
I was confident I could accept anything they did.

But then, unexpectedly.

As if there was more, Natsu, who was fiddling with a fake mustache, beckoned with a finger.

“Hoho, rejoice. There’s one more thing!”
“One more thing!”
“…One… more?”

Natsu and Yuri clapped their palms together.

An enormous sacred power burst out instantly.

Soon, the two raised their arms, lifting an iron mass that appeared in midair.

“He-he-he-heavy, it is!”
“It’s heavy!”

The saintly twins wobbled under its weight.
I hurriedly stepped in to receive the hunk of iron.

‘Uh?!’

This distinctive, cool yet heavy sensation.

It was undoubtedly… a good mace.

‘…Huh?’

Only then did I realize that it felt familiar somehow.

‘No way?’

I was sure of it.

It was used by Jing Daram…

…and it had successfully hit me in [Khan’s Maze].

‘When <Demonic Energy> completely disappears, it’s just ordinary white.’

“Ah…”

A sigh, close to regret, escaped my lips.

Sometimes it happens.

Aside from damage, irreversible traces are engraved on the weapon itself, degrading its original function.
Now, [Khan’s Mace] was in a typical such state.

‘So that’s why it had that perception-dampening ability… it was to protect civilians.’

But now, it had been twisted and used to let evil run wild—no wonder it had lost its divinity.

“Hmm, do you like it?”
“Do you like it?!”
“Ah, yes, well, this is…”
“The Order is giving this as a reward to express gratitude for your contributions! It’s a holy relic bestowed with the Saintesses’ permission, so be thankful!”
“Be thankful!”

I bowed my head once more at those words.

No matter what, [Khan’s Mace] was a bludgeon worthy of being called heroic-grade.

It seemed like I could use this in place of the rather featureless [Gravity Sword].

‘[Hammer of Judgment] is also a decent skill.’

A divine punishment technique that imbues a mace with intense light to form a giant hammer for striking.

Like the intrinsic skill [Holy Slash] of the [Saint’s Sword], it may not have special features, but purely in terms of offensive power, it was a stronger ability.

“Thank you.”
“Mm!”
“Mm!”

At my gratitude, the two placed their hands on their hips and smirked, ‘huh-huh~’.

Immediately, Natsu, who had a toy mustache, tilted her head as if she had forgotten something.

She shook her head left and right, as if trying to recall whatever it was.

“Saint?”
“Mm… Mm…”

Yuri, too, pondered alongside her, bumping heads with each other.

“Ah, I remembered!”
“I remembered!”
“I forgot the most important proposal!”
“I forgot!”

Soon, a bewildering statement reached my ears.

“Yu Seha!”
“Yes?”
“Join the <Order>!”
“…What?”

Both of them grasped my hands, their expressions excited.

“Become a great knight who protects us!”
“Become!”
“…A knight?”

I knew what a knight was.

Knights of the Order who protected high-ranking figures like bishops or saints.

Both were asking me to become it.

I subtly turned my gaze towards Divine Light Garam.

When I’d spoken with her, there had been no mention of anything like this.

Divine Light Garam was muttering “What…?” in confusion.

Judging by her reaction, it seemed she didn’t know about this either.

“…Saintess? You didn’t mention anything like that when we talked.”
“Um… right! Actually, I was told not to mention it.”
“…By whom?”
“The bishops! Ah! I made a mistake. They told me to mention it only when alone with Yu Seha.”

Natsu explained, “Divine Light Garam is too nagging, so they said not to tell her and just make the suggestion!”

Divine Light Garam’s complexion instantly hardened.

Not understanding the situation, I frowned at the following words.

“The <Bishops> said to persuade Yu Seha with our cuteness and innocence. That if he joined the <Order>, it would be a good way to overcome difficult situations. They said we could do it.”

“…Damn old folks.“

A low curse escaped Divine Light Garam’s lips, inaudible to the two.

I could roughly understand the situation unfolding right now.

As mentioned earlier, the current <Order> was teetering under various scandals.

No matter how large a faction they had, being hit this hard would inevitably cause internal divisions.

What was needed now was someone who could easily shift the focus.

‘In other words, a hero.’

The <Bishops> probably planned to recruit me and use it for a major publicity campaign to change the atmosphere.

And they likely saw me as a promising talent.

It was certainly a reasonable thought.

And now, these kids were just happy without knowing any ulterior motives.

“Join us and play with us every day!”
“Play!”
“We’ll even let you ride on an airplane!”
“Yeah!”

The saintesses just smiled brightly.

It was a smile that slightly reminded me of our Meowi.

The difference was that Meowi was purely innocent.

Not a naive adult.

The two were just children who couldn’t tell right from wrong.

‘That’s probably why they were easily used by those mole-like bishops…’

I paused for a moment.

Originally, I planned to calmly devise a plan later, but I decided to change my mind.

‘I should give a hint to Divine Light Gram tonight.’

An uncharacteristically hasty decision for me.
Divine Light Garam would surely find it strange.
She’d probably ask me how I knew.
Maybe even get angry.

But just a moment ago, she was expressing disdain towards the <Bishops>.

Considering the bond we’d built recently, she would seriously investigate if I told her there was a traitor among them without criticizing me.

Decisively…

‘I don’t want to regret it.’

Since the main story I knew had already deviated to some extent, there was no guarantee that future events would proceed as expected.

If there was even a slight possibility…
I was thinking of taking some risks and stepping forward.

‘Alright…’

I considered telling Choi Mari as well…

―Meep?! Meep! Meep, meep! Meeeeeeep!!!

Hmm.

I decided to forget it because she didn’t seem very reliable.

Anyway, I looked back at the two kids.

‘What should I say to them…?’

Of course, I had no intention of joining the Order…

I didn’t want to hurt their innocence if possible.

“Alright.”

I smiled and placed my hand on their heads.

A scent like well-dried herbs wafted from their small crowns, even smaller than Meowi’s.

“I-it’s ticklish!”
“Ticklish!”
“I’m sorry, Saintesses. It seems I won’t be able to join the <Order>.”
“Huh?!”
“…?! Eeek!?”

Perhaps they didn’t expect to be rejected.

Natsu was shocked.

Even Yuri, who was confused and tilting her head, looked at Natsu and was belatedly shocked.

Soon, Natsu’s eyes started to waver.

“D-do you dislike us?”
“…Dislike us?”
“No, it’s just… there are still many enemies I must defeat.”

If I join the <Order>, my chances to catch those bad guys will decrease significantly.

“Also, it will become difficult to protect my people.”
“…Ugh. I don’t really understand.”
“Don’t understand.”

Natsu paused for a moment.
Soon, she looked up at me.

“Still… is it something you must do?”
“Is it?”
“…Yes, it is something I must do.”
“…Alright! But if we meet later, you have to play with us, okay? Hide and seek, pretend play, even airplanes!”
“I-I also want to play b-brawl with you!”
“Yes, I’ll play with you as much as you want. I promise.”

It was right after I made a pinky promise with the two of them.

Suddenly, I turned my gaze to the sound of footsteps.

Divine Light Garam also naturally turned her head.

Tap, tap.

Soon, a familiar voice came from the person who appeared.

It was a unique, melodious, and enchanting voice, like rolling jade beads.

“That’s right. Yu Seha is a man with many things to do. He can’t afford to be caught up in the Order and waste his time, can he?”

Flowing white hair. A pure white suit as immaculate as the hair, without a speck of dust.

A woman holding an antique staff that magicians might use.

Her long ears and blood-red eyes shimmered.

“Wh-what? Why are you here?!”
“Why here?!”

The saintess seemed to recognize her and stepped back, growling with hostility.

“It’s been a while. Twins chosen by the great god. Nevertheless, how foolish you are. How do you intend to contain a great dragon in a small ditch?”

“D-ditch?”
“Uh…?”
“…It seems my words were too difficult.”

The woman gave a bitter smile and turned her gaze to me.

She smiled brightly.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Yu Seha.”

Guild Master Su Ok-bin.
Or Vice President.

It was truly a reunion after a long time..