激情短篇少妇系列小说

Chapter 971: Altanus (8)

“The Grand Duchess of the Delia Empire and the Iron Knight, Leinburg, has arrived!”

\'You’ll never get as much attention as me, even if you’re a grand duchess or a queen.\'

My audience impact was so massive that I basically stole the show for this social gathering. A grand duchess, adorned with fancy ornaments and a neat-looking knight, entered the social gathering together, but they weren’t as impactful as me.

Out of courtesy, the crowd welcomed them, but the sight of the Saint of Light had already been carved in their heads.

I was the God of Sacrifice and Revival, so I was more elegant than the Grand Duchess and more charming than her knight.

It wasn’t because I was more important than them. Anyone could tell they were fancier and looked like people who would lead the continent, but titles weren’t everything.

‘We’re here to get to know each other.’

The Grand Duchess of the Delia Empire, the Iron Knight-whatever, and the noblemen… there were many amazing people here, but they were already pretty famous.

Of course, it seemed like they were meeting the believers of the Underground Temple for the first time, but people just couldn\'t help but become curious about me.

A random wandering priest whose name they had never heard before entered the social gathering with Father Draktaris, and he managed to grab everyone\'s attention as well.

In addition, I had a dignified demeanor that people had never seen before.

At this point, everyone shared the same curiosity as Draktaris toward me.

‘This is why people need to learn.’

This was why people had to learn the etiquette of a noble and royalty. Etiquette had long been carved into my body as the honorary cardinal of the Vatican.

My etiquette was different due to the difference in the era, but my unique etiquette and bearing had to be the reason why people were curious about me.

Real recognize real.

Even if I were to walk mindlessly, educated people would still identify many different things in me.

That was probably why people were cautious around me. They were wondering what kind of person I was, what kind of life I had been living all this while, and my "true" identity. They were more focused on me than that so-called mage marquis, and they gathered naturally around me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Father Lee Ki-Young.”

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you,” I greeted.

“If you don’t mind, can you give me some of your time?”

“Yes, of course,” I answered.

Of course, groups were formed around other people as well.

“Hahaha, I see.”

“Lady Lucifer will be pleased.”

“Hahahaha.”

However, the people in those groups were nothing more than side characters.

‘Whenever there are several groups in one place, the loudest one wins.’

I wasn’t talking about screaming frivolously.

People tend to join a friendly and lively group, and even if one were to try and look away from that group, one would find oneself stealing glances at that group.

The friendly group here was my group, and it was a gathering of educated and smart people. There were difficult conversations, but I had long gotten used to smiling and getting along with nobles.

I praised Lucifer’s greatness to the renowned priests, while I praised and blessed the houses of distant nobles with high self-esteem.

I gave them compliments that other nobles with high self-esteem wouldn’t give them. I made it seem like I was approachable, causing more people to gather around me.

When one person called someone over, another would call someone else, and so on.

“There’s someone I want to introduce you to, Father.”

“It’ll be an honor,” I said.

“I’m Bahan, a bishop. It’s nice to meet you,” Bahan introduced.

‘Yeah, you’re worthless.’

“It’s nice to meet you, Father Bahan. I heard a lot about you from Father Draktaris,” I said.

“You embarrass me. I don’t know what Father Draktaris told you, but I’m not anyone amazing, Father… Haha…” Bahan laughed.

There were a few worthless people here like him, but people like him usually had connections to important figures.

“Come to think of it, I heard that a radiant light spread in the private prayer rooms. Do you happen to be…” Bahan paused.

“...”

“Father Lee Ki-Young…” Bahan muttered.

“I’m a nobody, but I received Miss Lucifer’s blessing,” I said.

“Haha… so it was you… It’s been so long,” Bahan said.

I was even blessed.

An invisible territorial battle ensued in the middle of the gathering, but this wasn’t really important for the priests, as their goal was to look good in front of the sponsors here. On the other hand, the sponsors were on edge about this territorial battle because people like them couldn\'t live unless they were the protagonist.

That was why the Grand Duchess couldn\'t stop glancing over at me.

Her pride did not allow her to approach me first, but she was definitely curious about me as well. She was wondering why there were so many people around me, and why there was so much laughter around us.

And that was when I heard a loud voice.

“Why?!”

“...”

“...”

It was an event.

‘It’s been a while since I saw an event like this.’

It was an event that often happened in social gatherings.

I was talking about problematic people. They\'d show up sometimes and cause some trouble.

I had attended many social gatherings before, but I never really encountered that many troublesome people. A typical example of those troublesome people were arrogant pieces of trash rude to a lady or a rude drunkard kicking up a fuss.

A social gathering was a gathering of many people from all walks of life, so one or two participants were bound to cause some trouble.

The guards were supposed to stop troublesome people from kicking up a fuss, but those people were often influential or in power, which meant that the guards couldn\'t really do much about them.

In other words, the group itself would have to step up to resolve the issue.

Usually, the one who\'d step up to deal with that issue would become the star of the social gathering.

‘It’s great timing as well.’

It was time for men and women to hold hands and start dancing, but I couldn’t do that. Nobles from powerful families looked a bit disappointed, and it was understandable since they lived to show off their dancing skills to other people.

“Why aren’t you going to provide support?! You promised that the Underground Temple would provide support,” a woman shouted.

“I already told you many times that I cannot dispatch the Templars or the Holy Knights whenever I want. There’s not enough evidence!” the man argued.

“There’s plenty of evidence. You have to read the reports that the association has created. There are already hundreds of them,” the woman replied.

“An army was dispatched a year ago, but nothing happened. Have you ever thought about the resources we had to spend for that? Reports aren\'t enough. There’s a process to everything. I can’t dispatch them just because I want to,” the man said.

“It’s different this time. We… We all need to join forces,” the woman said.

“Tsk…”

“Everyone, please listen to me,” the woman declared.

‘I don’t think he’s drunk.’

“That’s enough,” the man told her.

“We all need to join forces…” the man argued.

A man and a woman were arguing in the distance.

They were talking about resources, so the woman had probably asked for the help of the Underground Temple’s armed forces, but it wasn’t approved.

The best thing to do was to meditate, and the others seemed to have thought of the same thing.

The hyenas of the social gathering moved forward to intervene, but…

“Please listen to me!” the woman shouted.

“Please stop this, Metel!” the man yelled.

I had to use a slightly different method to resolve this issue.

[Creating a Rare-rank Quest.]

[Go crazy like you’re having a seizure. (0/1)]

The woman looked confused.

[I’ll take care of your problem. (0/1)]

Our eyes met, and the woman cast a confused gaze at me.

[No one will listen to you. The people here aren’t interested in what you have to say, and your problem isn\'t really a problem in their minds. This social gathering was created for the sponsors who have been maintaining the Underground Temple. You really think they’ll provide support? Why not take my advice? I think I can help you. (0/1)]

The woman looked away from me and looked around. It seemed like she was sure that the voice was coming from somewhere else.

[I know about the threat you’re talking about, and I know the proper way to deal with it, so I won’t repeat myself. I’m not the one who has something to lose here. Go crazy like you’re having a seizure. (0/1)]

I had nothing to lose, and she had no other choice.

“Listen to me!” the woman roared and started going crazy. “This isn\'t the time to party like this!"

It seemed like she was being somewhat sincere.

“Calm down! Metel! This is not the place for this!” the man shouted.

“Why won’t you believe me?! Why?!” the woman yelled.

“I told you that we can’t help you! You have to bring clearer evidence, and we also have… many issues to consider. Don\'t do this here, okay? Go to the Magic Tower…”

The Magic Tower wasn\'t going to do anything. In fact, the reason she came to the Underground Temple was that she couldn’t convince them up there. It seemed that she had also received an invitation to this gathering.

“I’ll tell Saint Altanus myself! Let me meet her!” the woman demanded.

“Please keep calm!” the man begged.

“The continent is in danger, everyone!” the woman yelled.

“Take her away!” the man ordered.

“Let go of me!”

[You know what to do when there’s a flash of light, right? I believe you’re quick-witted enough to know what to do. (0/1)]

The situation was about to get ugly.

The hyenas of the social gathering seemed to have thought that there was no other way than to drag her out as they watched with their hands behind their backs.

Meanwhile, the guards exchanged glances.

This is where the protagonist ought to make his appearance.

I walked slowly just like I did earlier.

The onlookers moved to the side as if they were possessed by something, and I could finally see what was going on. I saw a furious woman with tears in her eyes, and I saw a man trying to suppress her with his cohorts.

“Please step aside," I said with a serious tone of voice and quietly unleashed a light.

A light that was starkly different from holy power spread out, and it enveloped the woman.

I didn’t want to say this with my own mouth, but it was a really radiant light.

Everyone’s jaw dropped as they looked at the light. The woman closed her eyes slowly, and the light seemed to calm her down as if it were a sedative. Of course, it didn’t have that kind of effect, but she clearly knew what I wanted her to do.

The light held her as she collapsed to the floor. The room became silent again and all the sponsors, including Draktaris, looked really surprised. They seemed intoxicated by the radiant light that they had just witnessed.

“Can you please provide us with a place to rest? I’ll look after her,” I requested.

The first day flew like that, but I wasn’t sad about it. It was actually better to leave amidst the praises and applause. I was sure everyone would talk about what happened just now, and in the end, today\'s events would help me greatly tomorrow.

However, I now had a problem to face.

I turned toward the actress who performed wonderfully.

[It’s because of the rift, right? (0/1)]

The woman before me was Max’s creator and my spiritual wife—Guardian of the Rift Metel.