NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 20.2
Realizing his shamelessness, Wilkes averted his gaze, embarrassed.
Unbelievable. The audacity.
“Well, at least we got one,” said Veronica, approaching with her blood-soaked priest robes. As she strapped her mace to her waist, she glanced behind her.
“Ugh… urgh…”
The cultists captured by the paladins were barely alive—only breathing, technically speaking. Observing the utterly broken figures, I pressed a hand to my forehead.
Ugh, seriously.
“Should we heal them?” asked General Leoden uneasily. I glanced at Veronica, but she avoided my gaze.
“As faithful followers of the Light, no priest will heal these wicked heretics.”
“Then I’ll do it. Heal.”
With a glow from my staff, one cultist’s condition improved slightly. Due to the Sage’s limitations, I couldn’t fully restore him, but at least his consciousness returned.
“Ugh…”
As the cultist twitched and opened his eyes, General Leoden grabbed him by the collar and barked, “Who are you, and what’s your purpose? And—”
“I already know that. Let me handle this. There’s something more important.”
“Mm…”
Recalling what I had seen in the game, I pushed the general back and grabbed the cultist.
“Is the Temple of the Moon complete? Judging by the summoning of the Pale Moon, it seems like it’s ready.”
“…H-How do you know about that?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Things were progressing faster than I anticipated. No need to waste more time here.
– CRACK!!
I smashed the cultist’s head with my staff and stood up.
“Alright! Treasure hunt time! I’ll suggest a 9-day, 10-night reward leave for General Leoden!”
At the mention of reward leave, the kingdom’s soldiers perked up. As expected, soldiers would do anything for some time off.
“Search their bodies for anything special.”
“Special, like what?”
“Codes, encrypted items, or maybe ring-shaped ornaments.”
“Sage! What about the adventurers?”
“Reward money!”
“Sounds good!”
Knights under General Leoden, paladins, and adventurers alike began rummaging through the bodies of the cultists and inspecting the battlefield.
While they busied themselves, I sat down on a nearby chair, tuning my lute. Once it was ready, I strummed the strings.
– Pling~ Pling~ Ding-ding~ Pling~
The music spread across the battlefield, easing the tension and stress built up from the fight. Exhausted soldiers relaxed, those mourning injured comrades shed tears, and the wounded found a moment of solace.
As I finished one song, I caught the gaze of three women standing nearby.
“What are you staring at?”
Claire, Leventia, and Evangeline.
Right before the battle with the Demon King, I had played this same melody to boost morale and dispel fear.
They might have gotten emotional listening to it, but I wasn’t one for sentimentality.
“I found it!”
Ignoring their stares, I continued playing. By the time I finished the third piece, a soldier ran up to me, holding something in his hands.
It was a palm-sized disk covered in strange symbols.
“Oh! Perfect! Jackpot!”
“Yahoo!!”
After signaling to General Leoden, I examined the disk closely. Just then, Claire cautiously approached and pointed to the artifact.
“What’s this?”
“It has nothing to do with you, so don’t worry about it.”
“What’s this?”
Veronica’s voice came from behind Claire. She turned to look, only to see Veronica approaching confidently, standing closer to me than Claire.
“Ancient holy text. Unfortunately, it’s beyond my ability to decipher,” Veronica remarked.
Did she fight her way to the position of cardinal or something? Shouldn’t a cardinal know how to interpret this?
Sighing, I glanced at her. “Evangeline is better with ancient holy texts. Should I ask her?”
Claire seized the opportunity and shouted eagerly, “I’ll do it!”
Veronica bit her lip as Claire moved closer, but I shook my head.
“Huh?”
“I can decipher it.”
One of a sage’s skills is decoding texts. As someone who can use every skill, I’ve naturally mastered this ability. No need to rely on Evangeline.
“R-Really?”
“Impressive. Deciphering ancient holy texts isn’t easy.”
“Nothing to it.”
As I toyed with the disk, its mechanism activated, and a white, pointed crystal emerged from within.
– Wooooooong…
A soft hum filled the air as a beam of light shot out from the crystal’s tip.
“What is that light?” Veronica asked, gripping her blood-soaked mace tightly.
“This light?” I said, pointing in the direction the beam indicated.
“It’s the headquarters of the White Moon Cult…”
“…and?”
“And the altar for summoning the Pale Moon, the Temple of the Moon.”
The place where this event would reach its climax.
“Hey, gather up!” I shouted.
The final battle of this event would take place in the Temple of the Moon, a dungeon where we’d face the Pale Moon itself. To enter, I needed to assemble a team.
Strong individuals began gathering around me—Claire, Leventia, Evangeline, Lark, Wilkes, General Leoden’s knights, Veronica, and the paladins.
Among them, I chose…
“Lark, Wilkes.”
“Huh? Really, Sage?! I knew it! We’re the perfect duo! Remember how well we worked in the last dungeon…”
“Me?”
“And since this bracelet doesn’t count toward the party limit, I can bring one more. The last member will be…”
Most players would choose a strong character at this point—someone like Claire, Leventia, or Evangeline, all objectively powerful.
But I’m no ordinary player.
“Veronica. Coming?”
“…Heh. Of course.”
Veronica smirked, stepping forward with confidence. Claire, visibly flustered, exclaimed, “W-Wait! Hyunwoo, why?! Why her?!”
“Why not?”
Building a party is the leader’s prerogative, after all.
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