NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 19.2
“How could I forget?” she said softly.
“Really?”
“It was the first battle of my life where despair was so overwhelming, and yet we found hope in the light. A fight like that… I’ll never forget it, not even when I eventually return to the Light.”
I gave Veronica a faint smile in return as I placed the stir-fried sausage and vegetables onto her tray.
She looked down at the food and smiled again, a rare expression from someone who rarely displayed warmth in the game.
Was she always this cheerful?
I couldn’t recall a single moment in the game where Veronica smiled like this.
“You remembered,” she said, looking at the food on her tray, piled high with bell peppers and other vegetables.
To anyone else, it might have looked like I was teasing her by giving her a tray full of vegetables, but Veronica’s expression was one of genuine satisfaction.
“I remembered that you like vegetables more than meat. I am a Sage, after all—my memory’s sharp.”
“Ha, that’s true,” she said with a graceful nod, refraining from further conversation since there were others waiting in line.
As she stepped aside with a polite bow, the next person in line was none other than Lark.
“Hey, Sage! The Cardinal didn’t get any sausages, right? Can I have hers? C’mon, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Hey! Those are mine!” another adventurer, Wilkers, chimed in. “Sage, you’re giving me extra, right? I mean, we’re close, aren’t we? You know I like sausages more than veggies! Come on, just a few more sausages—skip the veggies!”
Seriously?
They were trying to pick out only the sausages from the stir-fry?
And since when were we “close”?
Once dinner was over, I joined the leatherworking crew.
Taking every opportunity to complete these tasks was essential for unlocking achievements.
As always, the soldiers insisted I didn’t need to help, but I ignored them and they eventually made space for me.
“Skinning monster hides isn’t an easy job, Sage. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
With a sharp knife honed on a whetstone, I started skinning a one-eyed ox monster. I wasn’t a master leatherworker, but most of the workers here were soldiers, so I was better skilled than they were.
As I finished skinning the first hide and reached for a second monster, a voice called out.
“So, this is where you were.”
It was Veronica.
I had expected her to be praying with the paladins at this hour. Instead, she approached just as I plunged my knife into the neck of a five-horned stag monster.
Squelch.
Dark blood oozed out, staining my leather apron. Watching this, Veronica lifted the Divine Mark hanging around her neck.
“Light, cleanse the darkness.”
A faint holy aura emanated, purifying the dark energy lingering in the monster’s blood and easing the tension among the workers.
Their faces relaxed, and Veronica, observing the grim state of the battlefield, frowned.
“This camp’s conditions are worse than I expected. The Church sent priests and paladins, but it seems insufficient.”
“There’s too much ground to cover.”
“You could handle it, couldn’t you? You can use divine power too.”
“True, and I do it when I can.”
“Still the same as ever,” she said with a faint smile.
Her words caused some of the workers to stare at her, entranced by her presence. But a sharp glance from me sent them scrambling back to their tasks.
“So? Did you need something?”
“Something to say… hmm.”
She idly fiddled with her Divine Mark before shrugging.
“You’re still on bad terms with the Hero’s Party, I see.”
“Yep. Why? Got a problem with that?”
“Are they giving you trouble?”
“Not really.”
Sure, Claire occasionally approached me, and Leventia and Evangeline tried to talk sometimes, but I avoided them whenever possible.
It seemed like Veronica was concerned about my interactions with them, but honestly, her worry was unnecessary.
“Do I look like someone who’d let others push me around?”
“You’re a bit too soft-hearted. If you joined the Inquisition, we’d toughen you up properly.”
“Pass.”
I turned my attention back to the monster corpses. As I skinned the hide of a lion-bodied crocodile-headed beast, Veronica sighed softly.
“My earlier offer still stands. Are you sure you don’t want to join the Inquisition?”
“Still not interested.”
“I see.”
Her tone carried a hint of disappointment, but I ignored it, focusing instead on my work.
Feeling her gaze linger on me, I looked up. She hesitated, biting her lip, before asking,
“…Have you considered working with the Hero’s Party again?”
The Hero’s Party?
“Nope.”
“…Good.”
“Why ‘good’? Is there some rivalry between the Church and the Hero’s Party? Are you playing some power game?”
There were no quests, events, or achievements suggesting such a conflict.
Veronica chuckled softly.
“Nothing like that. It’s just…”
She took a step back, her expression turning serious.
For a moment, it seemed like she was about to say something important.
“…No, this isn’t the place for such talk. Why don’t we discuss it over tea in my tent?”
“Tea, huh? Alright. Let me finish here first, then I’ll join you.”
With this monster being the last of the day’s work, I quickly finished skinning it before removing my blood stained apron.
“You really made a cardinal wait. That’s quite something.”
“If you don’t like it, you could’ve left.”
“Still as blunt as ever. Let’s go—”
Just as Veronica stood from where she’d been crouching near the skinning area, an explosion echoed from the far end of the camp.
BOOM!
Screams followed the deafening sound.
Without hesitation, I threw off my apron and ran toward the source. Veronica gripped her mace tightly and followed close behind.
The Pale Moon event’s fourth stage had begun: the White Moon Church’s invasion.
“Looks like tea will have to wait—whoa!”
I nearly jumped in surprise.
Veronica’s beautiful face was twisted into an expression of pure rage.
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