Chapter 124: Momentary Respite.

Chapter 124: Momentary Respite.

Divine Quest Option #1: Destroy the Onnikai Leader residing inside the Ruins of the Fenrirs Eclipse and purify the remaining onnikais

Quest Giver: Origin Goddess of Light, Healing, Miracles and Kinship, Aurena

Description: Aurena here, just to inform you, Hestia, you will receive two divine Quest and you may choose which one you will fulfil. So, I would ask you to read the Quest details properly before you accept, alright?

Anyway, so my Divine Quest will revolve around the destruction of the onnikai inside that alchemical tool, or catalyst, on the pedestal. Although I have nothing against the onnikai, I do consider it too much of a threat to the surrounding regions with its potential to become a dungeon core. Hestia, you havent experienced seeing an actual dungeon core yet, so I wont overwhelm you with this information now. This isnt the intention of this Quest description, after all.

So, your task is easy break the orb and destroy the onnikai inside of it at all costs. Through the destruction of their leader, all the other onnikai can be easily purified and turned back into spirits with your companions help. This should secure the safety of the ruin and the village nearby, although the problem of the high mana concentration in the surrounding area must be solved separately.

Rewards: +1 additional [Idol] song slot, [Venerated Saintess] proficiency gain, +1 level

Divine Quest Option #2: Aid Silva Fleurette Breezeflower in performing the Rite of the Fading Winds on the Onnikai Leader residing inside the Ruins of the Fenrirs Eclipse and free the onnikais from their torment

Quest Giver: Origin Goddess of Winds, Celebrations and Travels, Zephira

Description: Good Morning, Champion of Aurena and Otherwordler Reincarnator to our World, Hestia Atsuko. It is thrilling to finally meet you, although, through text. My name is Zephira and I am currently sending you this Quest through Goddess Aurenas help. I would like you to consider my proposal.

I have witnessed most of what was said through Silvas and Tasiannas eyes, so I have a general understanding of what is going on. I wish to give these onnikais a proper rest through the Rite of the Fading Winds. Silva, as a faemancer and wind elf, should know more about it. Through this process, the onnikai inside the ruins can find peace from the suffering they have felt.

Please, Hestia, allow me to give these fallen faefolk some peace and rest.

Reward: A catalyst filled with both the concentrated mana of an onnikai and the blessing of Goddess of Winds

Once we took a short break after escaping the ruins, I gave Saori, Tasianna and Silva a rundown of the two divine Quests that I received from Aurena and Zephira. As the content of one of the Quests did involve Silvas participation, I had to inform her about it and subsequently about my status as a champion of Aurena. How else was I supposed to tell her I got a divine Quest from Aurena and Zephira, huh? Nevertheless, I did leave the whole otherworlder part out. No need to divulge that and make it even more complicated.

It is a great honor to meet a champion of an Origin Goddess. Princess Hestia, it is an honor, Silva bowed.

You dont have to act this formal. Even your current way of speaking to me is a bit tiresome.

Of course, I understand, but I am simply acting appropriately in front of a person granted with a royalty and champion status. Please, forgive me.

From how Silva has been treating me up until now, I guess its just part of her personality, similar to her rather high pride in her country, Saelariel. If she doesnt want to change her way of speaking aside from that one moment in the ruins, then lets just leave it alone. Even Ellaine and Tasianna found it too inappropriate to drop the lady part when they addressed me.

So, which of the Quests will you take? Goddess Aurenas seems very, very tempting by increasing two of your unique skills and increasing your level by one, which is extremely beneficial for you, Saori commented, still massaging her head from the migraine.

Well, it cant be said that I wasnt inclined to take Aurenas Quest. Honestly, anything that can give me another [Idol] song slot would be reward enough. [Exhaustion] is a very debilitating debuff that can cripple you in the worst moment during a fight; however, with the power of [The Will to Fight and Survive], the risk was gone.

If one of my [Idol] songs could produce such a powerful effect, then wouldnt it be better to gain more slots? That way I can tailor songs to different situations to grant advantages to myself and my allies. In addition, this is an additional slot that gets added to my maximum. Its a freebie.

Although they probably werent doing it on purpose, Tasiannas and Silvas expectant eyes were drilling holes into me as they waited for my answer. No need to worry, Tasianna. You know I keep my promises. There will be no deviation to the plan we will prioritize the purification of the onnikai. I will take Goddess Zephiras divine Quest.

You have chosen [Divine Quest Option #2]. With the blessing of your championed God, may you be successful in your Quest!

It was the obvious choice here. Yes, it is a shame about the Quest rewards from Aurena, but promises must be kept no matter what, and I always keep my promises.

Naturally, as it was the correct choice to do, everyone nodded their heads in acknowledgment. Saori might have pointed at the better rewards of the first Quest option but her smile was telling me I madethe right choice. Tasiannas and Silvas elation was obvious enough.

He wryly laughed as he answered, Well, they are our lords soldiers. The seneschal said the castle might get attacked if we leave too many soldiers around the village, so he declined the chiefs wish. Well, we still have a lot of able-bodied militia and guardsmen thanks to the Lady Priestess white grace, so I dont think we should complain that much.

Considering you guys were having trouble with that small raid group, I think you should be more assertive with getting reinforcement! I kept this thought to myself, as saying it would probably do nothing for the villages situation.

Once we reached the village chiefs house, he invited us inside. After his wife offered us some juice and fresh bread, our party gave the guard captain and the village chief a summary of what happened inside the ruins and what we still have to do. Unprepared, the guard captain and village chief paled as they listened to how large the horde of enemies was that we found as we ventured down into the ruins. They never would have guessed it would be this many.

Whether it was natural or not, the two also didnt have much of an idea of what an onnikai was, so we had to explain to them why these faefolk were attacking the village specifically.

But that doesnt make sense. Our village respects nature, as it is part of our life. We-We dont even have any access to any mana-fueled items, so how could we do anything to these creatures? We did them no harm! The village chief was clearly frustrated when he heard the onnikai were attacking the village on the sole premise of revenge on humans.

Considering he wasnt present during the War for the Faefolk, I guess I could understand why he would consider this situation unreasonable. For the normal person, this attack would look more like a one-sided aggression from the onnikais side. They lost neighbors and guardsmen due to the attack and they didnt do anything to provoke this ire.

Sir, I have a question, Saori began. There was a rumor that we heard before we accepted the Quest, that the alchemy guild had something to do with the ruins about a year ago. Could you give us some information on that time? Maybe it has something to do with what is happening to the village now.

A year ago? the village chief raised a brow as he contemplated, before remembering. Ahh, thats correct! A year ago, the guild master of the alchemy guild led an expedition into the depths of the ruins, but they never really said for what reason. I didnt think much about it at that time, since our Lord gave his permission and the alchemy guild has been buying off the herbs and mushrooms our lasses have been gathering nearby the giant forest. Young miss, you arent saying that this might have something to do with them, right?

Ah, I apologize if I made you worried. It was just a consideration due to the timing of this whole event. The alchemy guild did something inside the ruins and now an enraged onnikai is seeking to topple the village. It is simple speculation without any proof. Although she didnt have any evidence for her guess, those words still placed a seed of distrust within the guard captain and village chief.

Honestly, I want to believe Saoris speculation. That orb on the pedestal is too suspicious to me that I have to question who placed it there.

Ahh, Lady Priestess, that reminds me. Could I possibly ask you to give our village a sermon, in consideration of what just happened yesterday? We were beyond grateful for your timely rescue that saved many of our neighbors and brave guardsmen, but a few families still had to grieve for their lost relatives, the village chief said. I am sure these few families would be eternally grateful if you could bring the Goddesss blessing on these dire times. Of course, if it isnt too much work.

Ahh, yes, my duty as a priestess of Aurena. Wait, I am an actual priestess now! This is kinda my dutyright? Ahh, whatever, casting a [Prayer] is as easy as snapping my fingers and my Mana has been regenerating since I exited the ruins, so this isnt too much of a problem.

I agreed to the joyous village chiefs wish. The guard captain, having received orders from the village chief, excused himself and began alerting the village about the upcoming sermon. As my party hasnt had any breakfast yet, the village chiefs sweet wife gladly prepared some slices of smoked game, cheese, and other farming goods as thanks for our help. As I had a feeling she wouldnt take no for an answer, I just shut my mouth and enjoyed the free food.

After a while, the sermon started in an open area. Unlike Carine Village, which had a whole area reserved for religious worship, Rashan Village was smaller, so we had to take whatever area was large enough to accommodate all the villagers.

Looking at the villagers faces, some were smiling like surprised kids as they were already in a praying pose, while others looked more serious and were praying more fervently. Some even cried.

As I understood that everybody came here for [Prayer], I immediately began without any short talk. I didnt know anything about how to properly give out a sermon, as I never attended one of the temples during my whole time in Firwood, but I dont think anybody can complain that Im doing this wrong. They asked me to do one, so Ill give them a Hestias special.

Unlike the [Prayer] that I performed in the ruins, this one was completely stylized. The spell is supposed to invoke religious favor during prayer, so singing the lyrics and having the villagers follow my words during the whole sermon was part of the play. Its supposed to soothe peoples minds, so skipping this probably wouldnt please anybody in attendance.

Once the giant white magic circle was filled with mana and the song was done, I cast [Prayer].

[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

The villagers erupted into cheer after it was done, praising Aurena and thanking her for sending me to them in their time of need. You know, religious stuff. I quickly excused myself from them and asked the village chief if my party could borrow a room for the night, as we wished to have some time to clean up and plan for tomorrows ruin delve. As most houses were occupied, he could only offer us a house that belonged to one of the perished guardsmen. We accepted.

The house was small, as it was only for a single person, but it was still large enough for all three of us to settle down and take a shower after what happened inside the ruin. Until dinner time, we took this chance just to rest and chill, while occasionally talking about the fight ahead and what we needed to prepare, tool-wise.

As Silva didnt send us any messages, we just figured that tonight would be a quiet evening and went to sleep, right up until we were woken up in the middle of the night by Igniculous. We immediately got ready and sneaked out of the village under the guise of the night as the little light elemental guided us to Silva.

There, she showed us numerous onnikais wandering outside the ruins, roaming in groups as they gathered close to the village. The giant onnikai beast was nowhere to be seen, so they probably werent planning to attack now, but it still was ominous to watch them just linger around like the zombies they were.

Tsk, theyll endanger the village at this point even after we enter the ruins. We need to do something about this first.

The second phase of this Quest begins now.