You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

"How did you summon your familiar?"

The one who asked this question was Yoo Han-ul.

And, as I had already expected this question, I was prepared to answer.

"It was a reward for my achievement from the last dungeon break. I just used it."

"An achievement reward? That's not something that happens often."

Han Jae-young, who had been watching with interest, interjected.

As he said, apart from level-related stat improvements, the system’s achievement rewards are not something common.

Most notably, the system doesn’t make the criteria for such rewards clear.

From what I assume, the system probably gives out items if a person does something beneficial for human survival, or when it determines that growth will benefit humanity’s survival in the future.

The system does not provide criteria for achievement rewards to prevent malicious use.
Who said that?

I, the former Demon King, understand human malice better than anyone.

Anyway, that’s not the important part.

"I think I got it because I fought the Shadow Ghosts with relatively low stats."

No matter what these two might think, if I say I received an achievement reward, they have no way to deny it.

"I think it was an achievement worthy of a reward. Don’t you think so?"

As I said this, I subtly lifted my sleeve on my wrist.

The bandages were still wrapped around it.

Although I had received a potion from Han Jae-young to treat my urgent wounds, the wounds from the Shadow Ghosts hadn’t healed easily.

Moreover, my stats were currently focused on mana, so my physical strength was quite low.

Yoo Han-ul squinted and examined my wound before taking out a potion from his inventory and handing it to me.@@novelbin@@

"Use this. Why are you still wrapped up in bandages?"

"If I overuse potions, my body’s natural healing power will decrease."

I didn’t want to weaken my already low physical stats further.

Han Jae-young let out a scoff as if it were ridiculous.

"Body’s natural healing power? Are you trying to be an S-rank knight or something? We mages find it more beneficial to remove bodily pain so that mental focus isn't disrupted."

"So, that’s why you couldn’t use any magic and just sat there when the dungeon break happened?"

"..."

I had definitely hit a nerve with that one.

While Han Jae-young was silent, Yoo Han-ul sighed.

"I was just curious, Da-on. Don’t be so defensive."

"I wasn’t being defensive."

Even as I responded, I felt a bit uncomfortable.

But from my perspective, I had no choice but to be cautious about Yoo Han-ul.

Ignoring their gazes, I focused my attention back on Leo.

Leo, having quickly scaled the drainpipe, was sitting on the roof with his neck stretched out, looking down below.

Can you see me? Can you see me? I’m up here!
Of course, I could.

Through Leo's shared vision, I looked down at the building from the rooftop.

The Chambit Guild's building had a well-like shape.

In the center of the empty building stood...

‘Disgustingly.’

A statue of a man, looking exactly like a cult leader, stood tall in the middle.

I asked Han Jae-young, who was looking at me with interest.

"Who’s the cult leader here?"

"The person’s name is Im Man-bok. He’s a creepy old balding man with not much time left. Why? Is he inside the building?"

"I’ve heard that Im Man-bok is currently ill."

"He’s not here, just his statue… yeah, that's right."

Seeing the statue of the balding old man, it was definitely the statue of the leader.

Yoo Han-ul frowned in disgust.

"Only a cult would have statues like this in every branch..."

"Exactly what I was thinking."

Leo, after confirming there were no special points on the roof, swiftly descended the building wall and landed in the garden. He then sneaked closer to inspect the leader’s statue, twitching his nose.

This place feels bad!
It wasn’t just the appearance of the statue that felt unsettling. Upon inspecting Leo’s senses, I could tell that the flow of mana around the statue wasn’t natural and seemed to be stagnant.

Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be a magic circle underneath the statue.

A mental magic type, no less.

‘Did they set up a charm-type magic around the statue?’

If they placed charm magic around the statue of that balding old man, that was disturbing enough.

But it made sense that the cult leader's statue would have such magic placed on it.

Leo lightly tapped the bottom of the statue.

Should I remove it? Should I remove it?
Since Leo, in his animal form, was simple-minded, mental magic didn’t affect him, which was fortunate.

Just then,

"Oh, look who’s here, a little kitten?"

A man, who seemed to be in his 40s, appeared and spotted Leo as he was about to leave the building and pass through the garden.

He had a thick envelope in his hand, and as soon as he saw Leo, he crouched down and gestured at the cat.

"Where did you come from? You shouldn’t be here. Come here."

"Grrr..."

What should we do?
"Just pretend to be a real cat."

"Meow!"

I’m not a cat!
Leo protested, but he didn’t reject my command. While still appearing to be a small black kitten, Leo stayed in place and stared at the man.

The man, having seemingly forgotten that he had just told the cat not to come inside, was delighted when Leo didn’t run away.

"Oh, you’re cute. Heh, my daughter wanted to get a cat…"

Not running away or avoiding his hands, but making eye contact seemed to make him reconsider his plans about getting a cat, as if he was already imagining it as a part of his family.

"Though, for a cat, your paws seem a bit big…"

Just then.

Leo’s fur stood on end.

Footsteps approached, and there was heavy, labored breathing.

The person who had just come out of the building and into the garden was the same executive who had greeted us earlier.

As soon as he saw the man, the executive suddenly shouted and kicked the man’s shin.

"Hey, what are you doing here!"

"Ah!"

Thud!

The man who was kicked to the ground kneeled instantly.

‘...He’s hitting a civilian like that?’

The executive’s stats didn’t seem particularly high, but he was definitely an awakened hunter. Even at C-rank, there would be a clear difference in physical abilities compared to an average person.

This was certainly an excessive display of violence against a civilian.

The executive pointed a finger at the man lying on the floor with an angry expression, completely different from the friendly smile he had when greeting us.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you playing with a cat? You should have come running when I told you! Didn’t I say the documents were urgent?"

"Eh? No, I was just told to sort out the ex-employee’s details... ah, no! I’m sorry!"

"Hey, use your sense! Do I have to teach you how to hold chopsticks too? Hurry up and bring it!"

"Y-Yes, here it is. The resignation papers for Im Jae-hwan. It also includes the evaluation from the interview and the salary details..."

The executive grabbed the envelope and hastily flipped through the documents.

"Nothing problematic, right?"

"Yes, everything’s fine. No issues. His attendance was perfect, and he always attended the seminars and tithed regularly."

After hearing the conversation between the two through Leo, I checked again with Han Jae-young.

"Do you know someone named Im Jae-hwan?"

"That’s the name of the person who triggered the first dungeon break."

I clicked my tongue.

That confirmed that Im Jae-hwan was affiliated with the Chambit Guild.

Leo was still watching the interaction between the executive and the man from his vantage point.

"Is there no record of him in our intranet?"

"Yes? Oh, yes. We were told to store everything manually, so there’s no record on the computer. That’s why it took so long to find..."

"Got it. Damn, why the hell are they coming here looking for someone who’s already dead, like Im Jae-hwan? We’re only three days away from our New Year event, and we’re busy as hell."

The fact that Im Jae-hwan was dead was definitely known.

While the executive was flipping through the documents in frustration, the man cautiously asked.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"What?"

"Did you say... this Im Jae-hwan passed away?"

At the man’s cautious question, the executive quickly turned his head.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Well... he seemed like a very loyal person to our church. And now that he’s passed away, I just thought maybe we should do something, like a memorial prayer..."

"Why are you asking me about that? He’s been gone for a long time. It’s not our responsibility."

"Well, he only left recently... ugh!"

Thud!

The executive slapped the man’s cheek hard.

It was a sound so loud it could have been heard across the room. Even Leo stood up sharply.

The man, who wasn’t small in stature, was almost thrown off by the executive’s punch.

The executive sneered at the fallen man.

"I never liked him anyway. This guy really has no sense. You think this is something you should say to me?"

I frowned.

‘This is a bit much.’

The man may have spoken out of turn.

But at least he didn’t deserve to be hit like that.

"Should I just... throw him out?"

"S-Sorry! I’m sorry!"

But instead of protesting or fighting back, the man desperately clung to the executive’s ankle.

"I was careless! I’ll do better from now on. Please?"

The desperation in his demeanor was almost questionable. Was this job really worth begging for like that?

The executive clicked his tongue.

"You should be thankful your daughter’s a good match. Tsk, you ruined my mood. Don’t show up in front of me again today."

The executive, still in a bad mood, grabbed the documents and walked away.

Once the executive was out of sight, the man got up from the floor and started looking around.

"...Nabi, are you still there?"

Leo, who had already hidden behind the statue when the executive arrived, didn’t bother to respond. The man called out to Leo a few times with his swollen face, then sighed deeply.

"Aish, I shouldn’t have interfered. But... for my daughter’s sake..."

The man trudged back the way he came.

Leo stealthily followed him.

Just as the man was about to enter another building...

Thud!

Look! Look!
Leo tapped something with his paw just beyond our view.

There was clearly a transparent wall where there should have been nothing.

A barrier preventing intruders.

And as soon as Leo made contact with it, he crouched down and assumed a defensive posture.

I could vividly feel how alert Leo was, beyond just physical distance.

There, hidden almost invisibly in the thick and transparent wall, was a faint thread of magic.

Familiar scent.
Leo didn’t hide his rising animosity.

I closed my eyes, then opened them again.

When I cut off the shared vision with Leo, Yoo Han-ul quietly warned me.

"I hear footsteps. Da-on, put that down."

"Eh?"

I realized I was holding the pamphlet the executive had handed me earlier, unconsciously.

‘We’ve entered the age of myth...’

The phrase written in large letters on the crumpled pamphlet.

It was what the cult leader had used in his speech, right?

It was the kind of thing that would make a person’s death seem like a noble mission, packaged into something righteous.

I’ve long understood the concept that sometimes, to be noble, one must sacrifice.

Not just understood, but it had become tiresome.

And now, the magic Leo had sensed, coming from someone familiar...

Click!

The door opened.

The executive rushed in.

He looked like a completely ordinary person, unlike the man who had been beating civilians just a while ago.

"I’m sorry for being late. It took longer to find everything because we store everything manually."

"Aha, is that so? But you arrived faster than I expected."

Han Jae-young smiled as he took the envelope from the executive’s hand.

The executive laughed, either understanding or not, as he chuckled.

"Well, to put it simply, this person did once belong to our church. He was a guild member too. But he resigned quite some time ago."

"I see..."

As Han Jae-young flipped through the documents, the executive continued.

"In fact, this is personal information, and technically it’s guild property, so we’re not obliged to cooperate. But of course, it's only natural to assist our S-rank hunters, who always work hard for national prestige and security."

He’s joking, right? I could sue him for a privacy violation.

"Yes, yes. Thank you."

"...But actually, we’re outside the visiting hours for external visitors today, and everything’s a bit chaotic right now. So, if you have more questions, maybe you can come back another day..."

"But we’re not just outsiders."

I started waving the pamphlet I had been holding in front of the executive.

"I found some parts of it rather inspiring."

"Eh... really?"

The executive looked at me with an incredulous expression, so I smiled broadly.

"Would it be possible for me to attend the doctrine class listed here?"