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Chapter 147: Kalosia (1)

“Uh, um.”

Ketal nodded his head.

“There were no issues.”

“Wow!”

“He said there were no issues!”

“Thank goodness!”

The believers cheered noisily at Ketal’s words.

Relief was evident on their faces.

They were genuinely happy that Ketal was staying without any problems.

Ketal looked at the believers with a peculiar expression.

At that moment, a child timidly approached Ketal from the crowd.

“Um, Lord Ketal. Can you accept this?”

The child extended a small statue with trembling hands.

A small statue made of wood.

It looked very clumsy, as if made by unskilled hands.

Upon closer inspection, the statue resembled Ketal.

“Is this a sculpture of me?”

“Yes, yes…”

The child nodded, squeezing his eyes shut.

Ketal accepted the statue.

“It looks like you made it yourself. Thank you. It’s very well made.”

“Oh…”

The child’s face lit up with joy in an instant.

Watching this, the believers cried out with admiration.

“Wow!”

“He accepted the statue!”

“As expected of Lord Ketal! He’s so kind!”

Excessive praise followed.

Ketal, with a reluctant expression, tucked the statue into his chest.

‘It’s a good thing I didn’t come out earlier.’

Initially, Ketal helped with the restoration of the holy land.

With his immense power, he could do the work of dozens of people alone, which was a great help.

However, once things were on track, he stopped helping with the restoration.

The reason was precisely because of these reactions.

The believers showed immense interest in Ketal.

When he appeared, they would abandon their tasks and rush to him.

It actually hindered the work, so he couldn’t help.

‘It’s burdensome.’

The feelings the believers showed towards Ketal were not just simple reverence or gratitude for a benefactor.

It was more akin to faith or worship.

The reason for these feelings was simple.

Moved by the sight of Ketal accepting the statue, one believer exclaimed with a face full of emotion.

“How kind of him to consider the child’s feelings! As expected of the one chosen by Lord Kalosia!”

After all the battles were over.

The believers of the holy land asked about how the battles unfolded.

Rakza explained everything to them.

As a result, the believers learned about what Ketal had done.

Ketal had single-handedly destroyed an altar intended to turn this land into a sanctuary of darkness.

In the process, he broke through the defenses of a superhuman-level dark mage alone.

He had faced and defeated a demon that had overwhelmed both Shadrenes and Rakza and broken the holy barrier of the scriptures.

That demon was not an ordinary one.

It was the demon Rubitra of the Demonic Lines.

Two hundred years ago, it had descended upon this world and single-handedly destroyed an entire church, a being so powerful that even the believers knew of its great evil.

Ketal had faced this demon alone and emerged victorious.

To defeat a demon with the power to destroy a church alone was an incredible feat worthy of being recorded in history.

If it weren’t for Ketal, the holy land would have been destroyed.

But if that were all, there would be no reason for such worshipful feelings.

They might respect and praise him, but they wouldn’t observe his every move like this.

The decisive reason for these feelings was different.

It was because Kalosia had directly bestowed grace upon Ketal.

A god had granted grace directly to a non-believer.

That was literally a miraculous event.

All these factors combined led to the current very, very high evaluation of Ketal.

To the extent that some claimed Ketal was an incarnation of Kalosia.

They said Kalosia had descended in the body of a barbarian to help them, the poor souls on the brink of destruction by evil.

Some believers made such claims.

Of course, that assertion was only by a few.

But the fact that such talk of a human being an incarnation of a god existed at all was proof of the current sentiment.

“Uh, I’d appreciate it if you could make way.”

“Ah!”

“Yes, we’ll move!”

“How rude of us to block Lord Ketal’s path!”

The believers swiftly moved aside.

A path formed through the crowd.

Ketal walked with a reluctant expression.

Even as he walked, admiring glances continued to pierce him.

Those stares were, to be honest, quite burdensome.

As Ketal walked through the path formed by the crowd, he saw a familiar face.

He greeted them with delight.

“Oh, Heize.”

“Ah.”

Heize greeted Ketal calmly.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Ketal.”

“You still call me Mr. Ketal.”

“Haha… Well, we’ve known each other for a while.”

Heize let out a laugh.

She already knew about Ketal’s power and what kind of being he was.

The fact that he had received the grace of Kalosia was certainly surprising, but it wasn’t a reason to change her attitude.

“I’m glad. Honestly, their gazes are a bit overwhelming.”

Ketal sighed in relief, to which Heize responded with a surprised look.

“Really?”

It was quite unexpected for this barbarian to feel such burden.

“I’m human too, you know. It’s my first time facing such emotions.”

In the white snowfields, there were followers who looked up to him, but they showed trust and belief, not feelings akin to worship.

While it wasn’t a bad feeling, it was indeed burdensome.

Heize’ eyes softened at his reply.

“…Right.”

This barbarian wasn’t some strange monster.

He was human, just like her, albeit different.

Heize, having collected her thoughts, bowed her head.

“Once again, thank you. Thank you very much for saving us.”

Ketal’s values were different.

They were certainly quite different from theirs.

But Ketal had helped them.

He fought evil at the risk of his life and was even acknowledged by Kalosia.

She wasn’t foolish enough to reject someone in such a situation.

Instead, she felt ashamed of herself.

She felt she had not properly judged Ketal’s worth due to her preconceptions.

She confessed as if in repentance.

“To be honest, I was a bit afraid of you, Mr. Ketal.”

“Hmm? Is that so?”

“Yes. But not anymore. I’m sorry, Mr. Ketal. I dared to judge you with my flawed perspective.”

“Hmm. That’s unexpected, but it doesn’t matter. Human relationships are always like that, aren’t they? It’s enough if the misunderstanding is cleared up.”

Ketal brushed it off lightly.

He accepted Heize’ confession without much ado.

His attitude was closer to that of a saint than a strange monster.

‘Naplas’ judgment was correct.’

In the end, Naplas’ judgment was right over her own.

Ketal chuckled.

“Don’t be burdened. You are my friend. I cannot ignore a friend’s peril.”

Heize smiled with a somewhat relieved expression.

A bit of the weight on her mind was lifted.

‘But… I wish there could be something done about those gazes.’

The believers were quietly watching the conversation between Heize and Ketal.

They were looking at Heize with admiration.

Those gazes regarded her as a remarkable person who had brought and enlightened Ketal.

Her stomach churned.

She worried it might become chronic.

After finishing his conversation with Heize, Ketal passed through the crowd and arrived at the church.

Inside, the saint of Kalosia, Shadrenes, was waiting.

“You’ve arrived? I could tell from the commotion outside.”

“Such gazes are a first for me. It’s quite burdensome.”

“Understandable. It’s not just because of what you’ve done… Being chosen by Lord Kalosia is something worth such reactions.”

“Is it really that rare?”

“Yes?”

Shadrenes looked at him as if he had stated the obvious.

“It’s extremely rare for a god to bestow grace upon an outsider, not a believer. There are only a few instances across all the world’s religions.”

Gods typically only show interest in their own believers.

In rare cases, they might take interest in outsiders, but even then, it’s usually just advice or revelation.

Cases where they directly bestow grace, like with Ketal, are exceedingly rare.

Even if you combine all the records of the various religions, such cases are extremely few.

Such a miracle happened with Ketal.

Naturally, the believers’ perspectives would change.

“I see. I hope it calms down over time.”

“Hmm… I’m not so sure.”

Shadrenes trailed off.

What Ketal had shown was truly miraculous strength and events.

Rather than calming down, his esteem was likely to rise even higher.

Time often exaggerates past events.

‘What is this person?’

Shadrenes swallowed hard.

Ketal asked.

“So, how is your body now?”

“Ah. Yes. I’m much better now.”

Shadrenes nodded.

The battle with the demon had exhausted all her divine power.

She had even pushed the holy scripture to its limits, leaving her in a state of collapse.

Now, after a week, she had recovered to some extent.

Shadrenes quietly expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you very much. If it weren’t for you, we would have disappeared into history. It’s hard now, but… if you wait a little, we will prepare the greatest reward we can give.”

“I didn’t help expecting a reward, so don’t feel burdened.”

Ketal said leisurely. Shadrenes smiled.

“Thank you.”

After a brief conversation, Ketal left.

Shadrenes, left alone, gazed at the closed door.

‘…Who exactly is this person?’

The final strike from Rubitra.

That demonic energy surely had the power to pierce the sanctum itself.

Ketal had taken a direct hit from that strike.

Yet, his body bore no wounds.

There was only a single red mark that would fade with time.

It could be said that he had single-handedly overwhelmed the demon Rubitra.

Although he could defeat it with the grace of Kalosia, that was only because Ketal couldn’t fully harness the mystical powers, not because he lacked strength.

What kind of being is this barbarian?

After pondering for a moment, Shadrenes made a decision.

She stood up from her seat and knelt before the statue of Kalosia in the center of the church.

‘Lord Kalosia bestowed grace upon Mr. Ketal.’

Shadrenes heard a voice tinged with laughter.

It was undoubtedly the voice of Kalosia.

Kalosia seemed to know something about this barbarian.

So, Shadrenes decided to pray and ask Kalosia directly.

She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.

Divine energy began to slowly envelop her body.

A great celestial being and a small earthly being began to connect.

* * *

“Hmm.”

The next day.

Ketal was lounging in bed.

He didn’t need to sleep, but with nothing else to do, he was trying to force himself to sleep.

But he was reaching his limit.

“I’m bored…”

He didn’t want to go outside because the attention was too overwhelming.

He had things to discuss with Rakza, but Rakza was still undergoing treatment as his injuries were worse than Shadrenes’.

There was nothing for him to do.

As Ketal stared blankly at the ceiling, he heard hurried footsteps.

They were urgent, with no hint of leisure.

The footsteps were approaching his lodgings.

Soon, there was a rough knock on the door.

“Ketal!”

“Shadrenes?”

Ketal opened the door with a puzzled expression.

There stood Shadrenes, her face glistening with sweat as if she had run non-stop.

Ketal asked with a curious look.

“What’s wrong?”

Shadrenes was the saint of Kalosia.

She held the highest position in the church.

It was strange for her to run like this.

“Th-th-the…”

She stuttered, unable to finish her sentence.

Ketal waited silently.

Shadrenes managed to compose herself and shouted.

Ketal’s eyes widened.

“Lord Kalosia wishes to see you!”