Debuff Master

Chapter 677

The Constantine Holy Empire was still in confusion while Siegfried was spending quality time with his family in the Proatine Kingdom. The Constantine Holy Empire’s scholars spent days and nights trying to decipher the divine revelation from the Nameless God, but it was impossible for them to find out its true meaning.

The reason was that most of the veteran theology scholars had sided with the pope in the previous civil war, so there were not that many experienced scholars among them.

Thus, the theology scholars in the empire were all clean and righteous, but they did not have the ability to decipher the divine revelation.

“I believe we should request help from the other churches.”

In the end, Saintess Janette had no other choice but to seek assistance from other religious organizations.

They relayed the divine revelation to various other churches, but none of them could decipher its meaning. The reason was that the divine revelation from the Nameless God was far too vague for them to decipher.

Moreover, the content of the divine revelation was simply far too baffling for the theologians to decipher. Most of them gave up deciphering it out of sheer disbelief after hearing that the savior who would save the world from Heaven’s wrath was a despicable and greedy individual.

How could the hero who would save the world be despicable and greedy? This was something that made no sense at all, and some were even skeptical that it was a divine revelation to begin with.

It was then.

Saintess Janette received a call from the leader of the Church of Martial God, Archbishop Agith.

“Hello, Archbishop. What is it that you wish to discuss?”

— It is regarding the divine revelation you have received recently.

Agith looked quite serious through the communication crystal.

— I believe I have some clues regarding it.

“Are you certain?”

— Yes.

“What is it?”

— That is…

Agith hesitated for a second before he proceeded.

— We have received a similar divine revelation in the past.

“Really?!”

— Yes.

“Oh my god…”

— The Church of Martial God tried hard to decipher the divine revelation we received, but it was too difficult for us. As you are aware, our theologians are not the brightest…”

“That is…”

Saintess Janette found it hard to respond. Everyone knew that the theologians of the Church of Martial God were just really a bunch of muscle brains.

The Church of Martial God believed that honing their combat skills and building muscles was the best form of worship, so even their theologians really could not be bothered to study theology and what not despite being scholars.

Ironically, the Archbishop of the Church of Martial God was blatantly saying that his own clergymen were dumb, but Saintess Janette could not agree to that out of courtesy despite her thinking the same.

— Haha! Everyone knows about us.

“Right…”

— Anyway, we have reached one conclusion after studying the divine revelation for a long time.

“What is the conclusion you reached?”

— The immoral ones mentioned in the divine revelation are… the various churches.

“The various churches?”

— I am talking about the different religions spread across the continent.

“But why would they be immoral…?” Saintess Janette asked, baffled by the accusation.

Archbishop Agith shrugged in response.

— It’s because of their past…

“Pardon me?”

— I'm talking about the sins committed by not only us but by the religions on the continent as well. The divine revelation is warning us that the heavens will exact vengeance for what we have done.

Archbishop Agith proceeded to explain what happened in the past on the Nurburg Continent and the history of the religious wars waged. This was an event that had been erased from both history and the minds of the people.

***

Siegfried spent a lot of time together with Brunhilde and the now-grown Verdandi.

Verdandi grew up to be a cute, kind, polite, and caring young girl.

“Uncle Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Please have some of these. Hehe!”

Verdandi was having dinner when she grabbed a handful of almonds with her tiny hands and placed them on Hamchi’s plate.

“She’s so kind.”

“Our daughter is a very nice girl.”

Both Siegfried and Brunhilde were pleased by her actions, and they could not help but smile from ear to ear.

Just as they finished eating dinner…

“Father.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of people are Adventurers?”

“They are…”

Siegfried was rendered speechless by her question.

How was he supposed to explain this? He could not really think of a way to explain what an Adventurer is, as he himself was an Adventurer while his daughter was an NPC.

It was then.

“An Adventurer is someone who came from another world to our world,” Brunhilde answered in his stead.

“Just like Father?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… So Father’s hometown isn’t this world?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Then… What if Father can no longer come to our world?” Verdandi asked, looking worried.

It was then.

‘Ah…’ Siegfried almost burst into tears at her question.

Has the thing he dreaded the most finally come?

BNW was so realistic to the point that it could be considered as another world, but it was still just a virtual reality game at the end of the day. A game was bound to shut down at one point, and this would cause severe anguish to the gamers who were invested in it.

Siegfried was no exception.

Verdandi’s question just now reminded him once again that this precious moment was nothing but fleeting, and it would disappear one day.

“That will not happen. Your father goes to his hometown from time to time, but he will always return to us.” Brunhilde said with a smile.

“Really?”

“Of course. He will never leave us.”

Those words were the decisive factor that made Siegfried regret playing BNW for the first time—no, he regretted getting close to an NPC rather than playing the game.

‘I shouldn’t do this to them…’ Siegfried could not help but feel bad after hearing just how much Brunhilde trusted him. He would not have this dilemma or guilt if he had just played the game like any other gamer.

“Father,” Verdandi called out to him, looking up at him with her beautiful round eyes. Then, she asked, “You will stay with us, right? You will stay with Verdandi forever, right?”

“Yes, I will,” Siegfried replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, he was dying inside while forcing himself to smile as if there was nothing wrong with him.

***

On that same evening, Siegfried sat on the ledge of the highest spire in the castle all alone.

“This is troubling…” he muttered.

“What’s troubling, owner punk? Kyu?”

“Ack?! Hey! Where the hell did you come from?!” Siegfried screamed and almost fell over the ledge when Hamchi popped out of nowhere. Then, he stabilized himself and asked, “When did you get here?”

“I arrived just now. But you seemed to be thinking about something that you didn’t notice my arrival. Kyu!”

“Oh, you did?”

“What’s with the long face? Is something troubling you? Kyu?”

“It’s none of your business, punk.”

Siegfried did not want to tell Hamchi about his troubles. Hamchi was a character in the game as well, which meant that he was not an ideal figure for him to share how he felt.

“There’s no point even if I tell—”

“Are you worried that you will not be able to come to this world one day?”

“Huh? H-How did you know?”

Siegfried was surprised that Hamchi could see right through him.

“Kyu? I can obviously tell what you’re thinking, owner punk.”

“Really?”

“That’s what you fear the most. You don’t want to lose people that you care about. Kyu!”

“Well, I guess you’re right. But what can I do? We have to say goodbye to those we love one day,” Siegfried said with a shrug. He did not bother denying or hiding how he felt to Hamchi.

“Kyu?”

“Things happen in life, and we, Adventurers, have no idea when we would be prevented from coming to this world.”

“Kyu? When will that day be?”

“Who knows?”

“Kyu?”

“I have no idea when, but that day will come.”

“Kyu…”

“So the only thing I can do is do my best while I’m still here. Besides, it’s not like all of us can live happily ever after for centuries, right?”

“Owner punk… You’re quite the sentimental type of guy.”

“Are you picking a fight, punk?”

“Hamchi will do my best while you’re still here. Kyu!”

“Haha… You punk,” Siegfried said with a laugh, patting Hamchi’s head. Then, he said, “Forget about what I said. Let’s go to sleep.”

“Kyu? Alright!”

“See you tomorrow,” Siegfried said with a smile and logged out from the game.

***

The next morning, Siegfried had breakfast with his family and sat down with Michele to discuss various things regarding the kingdom’s affairs.

“What should we do about the Imperial Royal Academy, sire?” Michele asked.

“The Imperial Royal Academy?”

“I believe the new semester will start in a few months.”

“So?”

“We have to submit Her Highness’ application now so that she can enroll in it.”

“Don’t you think it’s too early?” Siegfried grimaced and said. Then, he argued, “I know she grew up suddenly, but she’s still only one year old. We can afford to send her after a few years, no?”

“Your Majesty has a point but… Her Highness is growing at a scary pace.”

“I know. But what does that have to do with this?”

“I believe she will no longer be a child in a year or two, and she will enter her teenage years three years after that.”

“So what about it?”

“The Imperial Royal Academy was established to educate royalty during their early years. Most would enroll at eight years old and graduate at eighteen. Based on Her Highness’ current growth speed, I believe this is the best time for her to enroll.”

“Come on, I know she looks older, but she’s still a kid. I don’t want to push her so hard when she’s still young.”

“That is the fate of those who carry royal blood in them.”

“No, forget about it. I’m not sending her.”

Siegfried made it clear that he had no plans to send Verdandi to another country just to study. She was only a year old, so how could he send her to a foreign land just to enroll in an academy?

Who knows what kind of hardships she would face at the Imperial Royal Academy?

“Hmm… As you wish, sire,” Michele said with a nod. Then, he added, “But I hope that Your Majesty will agree to send Her Highness should she wish to pursue her studies.”

“That will be up to Verdandi.”

“Her Highness will most likely prefer to go. Her desire for knowledge far exceeds others, and she has even brought up numerous times that she would like to study,” Michele said confidently.

“R-Really?”

“Her Highness is currently reading through two to three books a day in our royal library. She’s not just reading them; she fully understands them, and she has even memorized them.”

“What?!”

“At this rate, she will most likely hope to study at the Imperial Royal Academy in a few months.”

“T-That’s really amazing…”

“Her Highness is not only a genius but a High Elf that is only born once in a thousand years.”

“N-No! That means she’s going to be smarter than me?!” Siegfried screamed.

“That is only natural—” Michele was about to agree with what Siegfried said, but he decided not to say anything else about it. Instead, he said in a serious voice, “That is not what is important right now.”

“Huh?”

“I implore Your Majesty to be more mindful of your actions from now on.”

“What did you say? What about my actions?! Do you wanna fight?!”

“No, sire. I fear that Her Highness would watch and learn from Your Majesty’s recklessness.”

“Hey, what did I do?! What’s there to be scared about? Are you looking down on me, punk?!”

“Not at all, Your Majesty,” Michele said as respectfully as possible, but he was dying from frustration deep inside. Then, he explained, “How do you think Her Highness will react if she hears about the bad rumors swirling around Your Majesty?”

“T-That is…!” Siegfried gasped, rendered speechless.