CH 3

“Are you going to the library today?”

Rita asked as usual while slicing the wheat bread in half. 

Eden answered by standing up from her seat and the plate was quickly emptied.

“Yes.”

After admiring Rita’s skills, Eden smiled brightly and headed to the library.

From the day after realizing that Eden being here was not a momentary mistake or a dream, she visited the library in the temple every day.

“Are you studying again?”

At the same time, a colleague who was passing by near Eden looked at her and called her.

Eden smiled and replied skillfully.

“I’m still lacking in many ways.”

“You’re awesome. Good luck then!”

“Yes. Thank you.”

As soon as her colleague left,  the library became quiet. Eden took a deep breath and opened the book. She read it carefully and because of the thickness, she realized that the bookmark she had put was still at the very beginning of the book.

“……”

Eden slowly read it, and tried to forget how thick it was.

This temple, which worships Hamune as a god, was made up of legends and tales close to fantasy, like all religious temples, so it was not boring when she considered it to be a novel.

However, there was another reason why Eden was holding on to this book for several days.

“At this point, I need to proceed with my plan…”

Because the banquet was just three days away, she was starting to get a little antsy about it. Eden grumbled to herself for a while before changing her mind and shaking her head.

“No, I’m going to pray. Only a sincere heart can receive grace.”

Please help me, my lord.

When Eden was reading again and prayed…

Ting!

In Eden’s ear, the long-awaited, refreshing sound of notification was heard. Eden lifted her head and looked at the window that appeared in front of her.

[【★】Main quest accomplished! : Your strength has gone up to 20! Choose your reward.

<Prophecy/Item/Ability>]

“Aha! Yes!”

Eden was so excited she forgot she was at a library and spoke loudly before looking around.

Fortunately, there were only a couple of people in the large library. They only glanced at Eden and then went back to whatever they were doing.

“Hmmmm…”

Eden gazed at them for a moment before returning her gaze to the window in front of her.

It was as expected. 

After we get the rewards, the stake will keep getting higher and higher.

‘But of course, the higher it is, the better the rewards will be.’

And what she was aiming for was the reward, not her stats.

Eden’s eyes twinkled when she saw the three options.

This was the same as in <The Last Kingmaker>. 

The three rewards came with every task, and the player had to choose one of them and proceed with the game with it as a weapon.

The prophecy would give us hints or scenes that would happen later.

Items were given at random, and the items were always useful, even though they looked useless at the moment.

Abilities could raise our desired stat, and how much it could be raised depends on the difficulty of the quest.

All three were great, but Eden had already decided on it.

Eden’s gaze turned to the word ‘item’.

“…….”

Eden was making some guesses.

‘If this character is a real hidden character, a similar item must come out.’

Eden held her breath slowly and moved her hand to gently press the word ‘item’ floating in the air. Surprisingly, the word ‘item’ flashed after she touched it and a new window appeared above it.

[You have selected an item as a reward. Item ‘XXXXX’ will be given to the player.]

Eden’s breath stopped even before reading the notification window. Immediately, she felt her pockets become heavy.

“No way…….”

She’ll receive it immediately?

“Haha…….”

She was about to burst into laughter, but from the moment she got into the game, nothing surprised her anymore. It is a world where system windows could float in the air.

Eden put her hand into her pocket without hesitation, and slowly pulled out the object she was holding.

“…….”

Eden’s eyes gleamed brightly when she checked the object.

After obtaining the item, it was entirely up to the player.

Eden went straight to Priest Mobrin to volunteer for the Founding Day Banquet. 

Fortunately, attending the banquet was not too difficult.

Since it was only once a year and it was a sacred banquet to celebrate the founding day of the empire, the pope could attend the banquet, and some apprentice priests were also able to accompany them for experience.

Eden offered a secret deal to Herna, an apprentice priest chosen as his companion.

“I’ll clean the pope’s office for two months!”

After much deliberation, Herna accepted Eden’s offer, and Eden was given the opportunity to participate in the banquet.

And finally, it was the day of the battle.

Since the temple and the imperial palace were not far from each other, the priests rode carriages to the imperial palace, Eden also went with them to the banquet hall of the imperial palace where the first episode began.

“Wow…….”

Eden could not help but admire the imperial palace through the window of the carriage.

She was well aware of the setting that Hesmoro was the largest and most powerful empire on the continent, but she had no chance to realize it because she was confined to the temple for a month.

However, this large, splendid and dignified view of the imperial palace explained it all.

In addition, the capital that celebrates the founding day was in a festive mood, so the surrounding area of ​​the Imperial Palace, as well as the inside of the Imperial Palace, were splendid and majestic.

‘It didn’t feel like a game.’

The priests followed the pope into the banquet hall. When the pope entered, everyone in the crowd stopped talking and became solemn all at once.

Eden followed at the very end and glanced at the nobles who were polite as if they were receiving God’s grace.

Since there is a state religion and there are monsters that could only be killed with divine power, it was clear that the pope’s power was no less than that of the imperial family.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor.”

Pope Sarman, who walked down the long carpet and reached in front of the emperor, bowed his head politely and greeted the emperor.

Eden stood in a line with the priests, and only then saw Sarman’s face.

Sarman was so busy that it was the first time she had seen his face while staying in the same temple.

Of course, he was not a stranger to her as she had encountered the illustration of the Pope a few times through the game, but it was interesting to see the character who became a real person.

“…….”

He’s the pope, but Sarman was young. She doesn’t know how old he was, but he looked like he was barely over 30.

Even so, as a person who was trusted by the people of the Empire, he acted gentle and firm, so that people could trust him.

Moreover, as all the illustrations boasted a great quality, Sarman was also a very handsome man.

‘If a side character is this handsome, imagine the main characters…’

Eden glanced at Sarman’s purple hair. The long purple hair seemed to make him even more mysterious.

In addition, even the dark purple eyes match him perfectly.

“I will do my best to protect the empire from those monsters. I will pray so that the emperor will protect us. I will do my best to help Your Majesty.”

Watching him, Eden suddenly remembered why the Pope was not considered a threat to the throne.

Is it necessary to keep neutrality as a pope?

“This year, as always, I have received the blessing of the Pope, so Hesmoro will be a prosperous empire again this year.”

The emperor smiled contentedly. The emperor was gray-haired, but he was still dignified.

Eden looked at the emperor curiously. Goosebumps rose from the back of her neck once again as she could see the illustration come to life.

Then Eden remembered why she had come here and looked around.

“…….”

The wide banquet hall was full of familiar faces. At the very front of the banquet hall was the first prince, Kiris Deckland, who she had tried to make as an emperor but failed.

After that, there was also the second prince, Patrian Deckland, who was included in the option.

And…….

“Ahh…….”

Eden sighed briefly. Finally, she had found one of the main characters.

The person had an expressionless face with light brown hair and green eyes.

Contrary to his innocent and neat facial features, the man with an expressionless face is the youngest chancellor of the empire.

Eden thought that he was like an iron wall that couldn’t be moved, and he was exactly like the illustration.

She didn’t think he would react even when someone stabbed him.

“How am I going to convince him…?”