I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 11

On the fourth day of the journey toward Banan’s sanctuary, Siol. Orma, who had been silently and steadfastly accompanying Van on his grand mission to save the world without a single word of complaint, finally voiced his dissatisfaction.

“…Let the world rot for all I care.”

“Hmm, this reaction came a bit later than I expected, sir.”

“Are you talking to me right now?”

I don’t exactly make a habit of talking to thin air… Instead of speaking his mind, Van merely rolled his eyes and shrugged. It wasn’t because the glare from Orma, who was gripping his horse’s reins tightly, was incredibly ominous. He just didn’t want to further provoke his god, considering the deity had already shown immense patience given his usual temperament.

In truth, Van also scanned the path ahead with a somewhat bleak gaze. Between the withered, skeletal trees past the road, he could sense awkward shadows and signs of a human presence.

“Two, three, four, five… There are more ambushers than I thought.”

“The sun is splitting the trees out here, so why aren’t those bastards dead? Maybe this whole thing isn’t actually a calamity after all.”

It was a rare moment where Van silently agreed with Orma’s sarcasm.

Barely two days after leaving the village, the pair had encountered a band of bandits. Able to move only at night when the sunlight completely vanished, the bandits had raided Orma and Van’s campsite, particularly coveting their expensive horses. Fortunately, Van, a light sleeper, woke up and drew his sword. However, the bandits ended up fleeing after failing to steal the horses, utterly bewildered as they stared back and forth between Van and Orma.

If anyone were to ask why they looked so bewildered…

“Van, go kill every single one of those bastards.”

“Well, sir, just because they’re following us a bit doesn’t mean we should kill them. I think you’re just sensitive because you haven’t been sleeping well.”

“….”

This was all because his god couldn’t fall asleep unless he held Van in his arms. The bandits had stumbled upon the scandalous sight of two grown men cuddling in their sleep, and while backing away in shock, they tripped over a rock and fell… Wait, so did Orma’s sleeping habit actually save their expensive horses?

…No, let’s just credit it to me being a light sleeper.

Van unconsciously shook his head lightly as the unpalatable thought lingered. Unable to last even a single day, Orma had bluntly confessed with an annoyed look that he could only sleep if he was by Van’s side. He had then irritably demanded to know what kind of bizarre trick Van had pulled on him.

Only then did Van realize the utility of the ‘Human Sleep Therapy’ skill he had obtained through a random skill ticket. To think it could even put a god’s physical body to sleep; considering it was Orma, it seemed like a good thing, but… waking up to find himself locked in a tight embrace to ensure he couldn’t escape was a bit embarrassing, to say the least.

Even so, realizing how desperately Orma needed sleep, Van chose to play dumb. Until now, it seemed Orma had given up, believing he could no longer sleep at all. Since a lack of sleep makes one listless and sharp-tempered, Van privately speculated that Orma’s pessimistic attitude stemmed entirely from sleep deprivation. In fact, whenever Orma woke up, he would slowly blink his slightly dazed golden eyes, and during those moments, he would usually accept whatever Van said without a fuss.

Anyway, the problem was that the bandits who witnessed that bizarre scene were still persistently targeting Van and Orma’s horses whenever they got a chance.

Ever since the onset of the calamity, almost no one traveled or moved around anymore—least of all merchants carrying goods in wagons. Consequently, the bandits would desperately pounce on anyone who could be robbed… and given that these horses were perfectly fine despite being exposed to the scorching sun, what an incredibly mouth-watering prey they must be. Though he couldn’t be certain, a horse bearing Orma’s pseudo-blessing was bound to be precious. Selling it in times like these might command an astronomical price.

“…Whatever the case, if you don’t do something about those guys right now, I’m going to kill them all.”

“Understood, mate. Calm down.”

In the past, he probably would have thrown spears in a fit of rage and slaughtered them all, right? Thinking to himself that this too was a positive effect of proper sleep, Van drew the sword hanging at his waist from its scabbard. Of course, he had no intention of shedding blood; his plan was simply to scare them off appropriately. Stepping down from his horse, he called out as if coaxing the people barely hiding behind the barren trees.

“Come on out. I can see you all clear as day.”

“….”

Though they gasped in panic, the bandits hesitantly revealed themselves. They were wrapped tightly in layers of clothing without a single patch of skin exposed, as if determined to completely shun the sunlight. With cloths wrapped around their mouths like masks, the sound of their labored panting was clearly audible, making it seem hard for them to even breathe. All Van could see were their frightened eyes and the worn-out daggers they could barely hold in their trembling hands.

They didn’t exactly seem like people with the stomach for banditry. Perhaps they were slash-and-burn farmers driven to the edge by the calamity? Van spoke again, his tone softer than before.

“By now, you must realize you can’t steal our horses, so why do you keep following us?”

“Th-those horses… where did you get them?”

“The horses? We bought them from a village nearby.”

“Liar! There’s no way a backwater village like that would sell horses that can withstand the sun of the calamity!”

If they were going to be so stubbornly disbelief-ridden, why did they even ask? While exasperated, Van understood what they meant.

But even so, it wasn’t as if he could boast, ‘My god standing right back there personally coated them… Pretty cool, right?’ Just as he was pondering how to fabricate an excuse so no innocent person would get hurt—

[A Hidden Quest has arrived!]

With a clear, cheerful chime, a system message flashed into view. As Van reflexively rolled his eyes toward the system message, the system automatically displayed the quest details.

[A golden opportunity to raise your low Divine Faith!

Hidden Quest: Evangelize to the bandits in front of you and turn them into believers of your god.

Convert Believers (0/3)

Reward: Divine Faith +10, Faith Gauge +5

*Caution: However, if a believer is killed by the god or their apostle, the corresponding reward will not be granted.]

He had no idea why such a quest was popping up, but Van’s eyes were drawn more to the Faith Gauge than the Divine Faith reward.

…Giving 5 points just for increasing the number of believers to three? When my own death only gave 1 point?

For reference, this was Van’s current status:

[Current Status: Apostle of ‘Orma’ / Divine Faith: 3 (Your god’s influence is minuscule.)

Faith Level: 1

Faith Gauge: 5/10

▷ Divine Favor +1

▷ Divine Mercy +1

▷ Death by Divine Punishment +1

▷ Death by Divine Punishment +1

▷ Crystal of Faith +1]

In the meantime, the Faith Gauge had filled up by 2 points. Deducing from the contents, ‘Divine Mercy’ seemed to refer to Orma sparing the inn employee, and ‘Divine Favor’ was…

…Him holding me to sleep every night?

Phrased that way, it sounded rather scandalous, but either way, it made sense if he viewed himself as a sort of human sleep pillow. Regardless, it was intolerable that his own death was treated with less value than a single believer, but that didn’t mean he was going to reject the quest. If he received the quest reward, the Faith Gauge would fill up and his Faith Level would rise; he was curious to see what would happen then. Since this was a game world, he might receive some special skill related to Orma, so he wanted to achieve it as soon as possible.

Of course, the caution clause required care… but since there was no way he would kill the bandits, wouldn’t it be fine as long as he kept a tight leash on his god? Having quickly sorted his thoughts, Van offered a slight smile to the wary bandits and spoke.

“As expected, you don’t believe me easily. But it seems this conversation will take some time, and won’t standing out here in the sun be difficult for you?”

“…Are you saying you’ll tell us the secret about those horses?”

“Well, of course, I have something I want in return, but you’ll understand once you’ve heard my full explanation.”

The bandits hesitated, whispering quietly among themselves. After exchanging a few brief words that could hardly be called a meeting, they cautiously lowered their weapons and pointed in a certain direction.

“There’s a small cave if you go over that way. How about we go there to talk?”

“Sounds good.”

At his swift reply, the awkward bandits began to walk ahead as if guiding the way. Smiling brightly, Van approached Orma, who was waiting for him with a displeased expression.

“Did you drive them away? They won’t follow us anymore, right? If they follow us again, this time I’ll truly—”

“Ah, actually, I need to talk with them a bit more. For now, we have to follow them. There’s a cave nearby, and we agreed to speak there.”

“What?”

Orma’s eyes sharpened as his brows shot upward. Before his god could throw another tantrum and shout, ‘I’m going to kill those humans! Let everyone die and rot!’ Van quickly offered a sweet smile and spoke first.

“I’m planning to evangelize to them so they believe in you, sir. I feel like something very good will happen if I do.”

“…Hah.”

Utterly dumbfounded, Orma could only open and close his mouth repeatedly for a long while. What sudden evangelism? Didn’t I say I don’t care about gods or anything like that? Just going to Siol is exhausting enough to kill me… A barrage of such thoughts crossed his mind simultaneously, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice them.

Seeing those sky-like eyes curve beautifully as Van beamed with delight over whatever pleasant thoughts he was having, the desire not to ruin that smile suppressed all of Orma’s other complaints. And Orma, more than anything, found himself incredibly frustrated by how he was constantly left speechless by that face.