LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 22
“Healing, blessing, courage.”
As Yo-hena shared blessings with her fellow heroes each time her divine power surged, she discreetly glanced at Arc through the eyes of her doppelganger.
…Why is he dancing?
Unintentionally, Yo-hena let out a chuckle at the ridiculous sight.
Well, he seems to be acting thoughtlessly and carefreely.
In the end, when you think about it, we’re all in this together.
Because it was for the growth and happiness of the heroes.
Yo-hena thought that perhaps that bizarre dance had its own meaning of encouragement.
She would never understand that body language, which was a complete amalgamation of pure malice and tea-bagging.
And.
‘What is that…?’
Yo-hena began to feel a slight sense of unease.
As the saint closest to the goddess.
Just as she recognized the first prophet and guided him to the heroes, Yo-hena could clearly see things that the other heroes could only sense.
The first prophet she met.
And soon, he left her.
Along with the gentle radiance that dwelled in his body, a halo floated above his head like a crown.
Like an angel from mythology.
And.
Arc’s body didn’t have the radiance, so she initially dismissed it.
However.
When Arc took off his hood and handed her the contract, faint remnants of a halo lingered around his head.
Surprisingly, when he put the hood back on, that presence disappeared.
So, she requested that he wear the hood as much as possible to prevent any issues that might arise later on.
She coordinated with the other heroes as well.
‘Ehh.’
A mischievous man who would remove his hood whenever there was a chance.
“Today, the stars are whispering. It should be a lucky day.”
While sighing as she thought of Arc, Yo-hena felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she quietly prayed.
Ultimate skill. ‘Whispers of the Stars and Goddess.’
As if the goddess had descended behind her, infinite divinity surged, and—
“Kya-haha, sticky-stick saint! Ju-goo-er!”
“Meow meow, woof!”
“Thank you, Yo-hena.”
Seeing her companions’ health gradually recover along with their renewed vigor, Yo-hena smiled.
“Tynia? Please come see me later.”
“Hyiiik…! Cancel, cancel!”
As she observed the momentum solidifying further.
She resumed her contemplation.
This time, her gaze shifted to Arc’s side.
To the prophet from another dimension, who wore a dejected and indignant expression.
Above his head—
There was no halo.
However, a gentle radiance accompanied him.
After several battles.
The other dimension’s prophet without a halo, and the other dimension’s prophet with both a halo and radiance could be encountered.
What could the difference possibly be?
She needed to reread the scriptures when she returned.
* * *
“Woof! Demon, stop right there!”
“Hyiiik…!”
During the break.
In the lounge of the Guild House.
I was absorbing the bizarre scene of Lumi chasing after Tynia’s tail, making meow sounds.
“Arc?”
As soon as she returned, Yo-hena, who had been wrapped up in intense reading in her room, began to bombard me with questions.
“…But there’s nothing related to that in the scriptures. I thought you might have some guesses, Arc. Do you feel anything?”
The passionate saint organized her doubts systematically and explained.
I completely understood the question and the situation.
Aha.
No wonder.
As I was watching them dancing merrily in a joyous jig.
There were some that fell backward, exclaiming, ‘Ihaahhh…!’ Their reactions were way too ‘human.’
Is she talking about that halo? That means they’ve logged in.
…The one that first exclaimed about the miserable fate likely had both a halo and radiance.
I’m not a true prophet.
That being said, I’m also not treated like a player, so I have a half-formed halo, and my app is a DEBUG app.
It must be something like that.
I intended to explain to Yo-hena as I understood it without any thoughts.
“Ah, that’s… ───, ──, ───.”
Hmm.
Here we go again.
“Is that so… knowledge that cannot be revealed to Yo-hena at this moment… Ah! Ouch! It really hurts…!”
Yo-hena repeatedly kicked my shins with her heel.
It seems I need to moderate my Japanese conversational style in this other world.
What other concept could work?
“I’m not joking; it’s really true…! Arkanoi… I can’t explain my knowledge—Aaah!”
A tutorial guidebook (according to the saint’s scriptures) struck my head.
For a moment, I saw stars.
It wasn’t a cartoonish exaggeration.
“Phew… Please use a calm and normal tone.”
“Yes.”
Yikes.
When the saint gets angry, it’s scary…
In any case, that was it.
In the past, when I first met Yo-hena, I struggled to fully express my thoughts about smartphones.
Earlier, when I tried to speak to those prophecy figures from another dimension, there were things I wanted to ask but couldn’t get the words out.
“I’m neither joking nor teasing; seriously, when I try to share that knowledge, it feels like something is caught in my throat.”
“Ahh, it must be a restriction…”
Speaking seriously, the saint finally came to understand.
Well.
I wasn’t particularly concerned about it.
I can’t deny that I can’t return to reality at this point.
Following cliché progressions—
Couldn’t climbing the tower be the trigger for returning to reality?
After all, the concept itself is ‘a tower that grants wishes.’
“It’s okay; I’m really enjoying myself right now.”
About 98% of that is genuine.
Building houses, cooking, doing the dishes, earning money to give allowances, investing all the resources into growth, sometimes offering complete psychological counseling…
……
Isn’t that just being a maid?
Still.
Watching our hero’s expressions fill me with joy.
Is there a better paradise than this?
This is paradise.
Girl streamers? VTubers? Cosplay?
I see it in 3D.
Paradise! Paradise!
The only downside is that it’s slightly wholesome……
Of course, I’m human too.
Sometimes, about 2% of the longing for the modern world overflows.
“Ah, I want to drink cola…”
“Woof?”
When I occasionally drown in nostalgia for modern inventions, I pet Lumi’s head.
“Meow meow~”
Hmm.
It feels like my brain is melting.
Tuh-duh-da…!
Uu… Rabu-ii…
* * *
With a bump on my head, I melted the stamina I hadn’t melted before—
No, I re-entered the tower for the noble mission of climbing the tower.
However.
There was a serious problem.
8th floor. Zone 1.
No traps.
The only existing monster was—
“Gwaawww… Squeeze…”
A level 8 ‘sick near-death cockatrice.’
Normally, this would be a section where orc warriors and orc shamans would screech and squabble.
No way.
[8th Floor of the Tower of Wishes – Orc Village Zone 1 Clear!]
Zone 2.
Level 9. A hungry squirrel that hasn’t eaten for three days.
In Zone 3 as well.
Level 2. A very melancholy puppy that has been castrated.
“Yip… Yip….”
Lumi barked very sadly.
…Could it be that she sympathized?
It was personally very unfortunate, but.
I also sent the peanut-less dog on its way to the afterlife.
What can be done? The living must live.
And in Zone 4 as well.
Seeing a level 6 ‘fresh eel just caught’ flopping about on the ground and dying on its own.
“Tynia, could you possibly call Elise?”
I was angry.
“Get your owner out here!
Why are you running this business like this!”
As I filed the complaint.
“Oh my, are you already missing me? Are you prepared to accept me back?”
Swirling.
From the front, the crimson haze gathered and transformed into Elise’s form.
Wow!
Milk cake!
…That’s great, but the important matter at hand, no, I mean it is important, but anyway, the important task isn’t about milk but a matter of a higher dimension.
“Elise, what are you trying to do right now?”
“Yes…?”
I needed to be direct.
“Stop dicking around and quickly revert the monsters back to their original forms. I can’t farm like this. Also, let’s not set traps; just let a ton of monsters spawn. Make sure there are some nutritious ones.”
“Yes, yes…?”
“You said you’d surrender, right? Oh, by the way, isn’t hunting monsters a bit tedious? Can’t you just pile up items and loot everywhere?”
“W-Well, that’s against the regulations…”
“Really? There’s a regulation like that? You’re a demon with no flexibility. Anyway, this is severely impacting our business, so please restore things as soon as possible. If possible, please select only the ones that are packed with materials.”
“Yes, yes… ♡”
Why is there a heart attached to her words?
Then Elise disappeared again into thin air.
[8th Floor of the Tower of Wishes – Orc Village Zone 4 Clear!]
As the eel died naturally (suffocating), the clear popup also appeared.
“Let’s wait a bit and then move on to Zone 5. If I’ve said this much, they should understand…? Hm? Is there a problem?”
Heroes?
Why are you looking at me like that?
I’m a bit scared…
Yo-hena approached me with firm steps.
“Arc? Can we talk for a moment?”
“Eh?”
And she grabbed me and started dragging me away.
This feels ominous…!
I can’t shake her off; her strength utterly surpasses mine…!
Lumi, save me!
“Meow….”
Why are you looking at me with such a pathetic expression…?
Tynia?
“The owner who is more demonic than a demon…”
Why are you shaking your head and averting your gaze…?
Saha….
“Yo-hena, please give him a good scolding.”
Saha…! Even you…!
I looked at Ari with my last hope, but.
“Arc? No use trying to look at me with those puppy eyes, let’s just quietly listen to the sermon?”
Everything crumbled to dust.
That day.
“──Therefore, calling out the name of the demon freely within the tower is forbidden, and negotiating with the demon that appears is clearly an inappropriate act. Moreover, the tower’s purpose is not to mine loot but rather a sacred journey to climb to the top floor; therefore, do not place excessive materialistic meanings above all else….”
I was ‘educated’ for a long two hours.
Knowledge increased.