I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 20

Van mentally designated the bandits as “monsters” like those from the game and began his hunt. Orma, thoroughly amused, went from merely clapping his hands to drawing his golden spear to get a satisfying workout of his own, ultimately plundering a massive container of water from the bandits as a trophy. Thanks to that, Jaena was able to refreshingly quench his thirst without any more whining until they finally reached Siol.

…Was this a good thing?

“This is Siol, the sanctuary of the god Banan. After quite a journey, I’m glad we arrived safely.”

“….”

Orma’s face, which had been full of delight while massacring the bandit pack, instantly turned gloomy. Van recalled how Orma had flinched in disgust the moment ‘Banan’ was mentioned. As expected, something had clearly happened between Orma and the gods, which was why he loathed them so intensely.

“Hmm, wasn’t Siol supposed to be a city of water, brother? I heard there are waterways surrounding the city, and you can travel and tour around by taking boats through them.”

The waterways were completely empty, devoid of a single drop of water. Only the shriveled, dried-up moss barely offered proof that water had once brimmed here. Van had thought about it while looking at the cracked, desolate paths on their way, but it seemed the situation in Siol was not doing well either.

However, even if he were to vigorously shout, ‘Now then, shall we purify the calamity with your power to save the world, sir?!’ to Orma—who looked as though his energy had been completely drained the moment they arrived—it wouldn’t work at all…

Deliberating for a moment, Van decided to first find an inn suitable for staying a few days. He also needed to properly dispose of the ornaments and gemstones brought from the sky island to buy the items needed for their trip. It seemed easier to let the utterly unmotivated Orma and the noisy Jaena rest at the inn while he moved around alone.

Quickly formulating his plan, Van immediately headed toward a highly visible inn. Though the sign was rather worn, the building was large and clean, making it look quite nice… yet once they stepped inside, it was hollow and practically deserted.

“Welcome!”

Perhaps because guests were scarce, the innkeeper’s eyes sparkled the moment he spotted Van’s group, and he immediately belted out a booming greeting. When someone greets you this intensely, it makes it rather awkward to turn around and walk back out, saying, ‘Actually, I entered the wrong place.’…

In the end, Van carefully pulled back his hood to reveal his face and began ordering. Regardless of whether the innkeeper stood there with his mouth agape staring at his face or not, Van rapidly rattled off the things he had in mind.

“A total of three people, and we plan to stay for about a week. Please prepare meals for only two people for lunch and dinner, and as for the bed, we need one large double bed. Please prepare bathwater for three people, and if you have any cold ale, please bring it along with… are you listening to me?”

“Huh? Ah, yes, yes! Haha, my apologies. It’s just been a while since we’ve had guests staying for such a long period as a family.”

A family? Van tilted his head in confusion, then glanced over at Jaena, who was busily looking around the inn. Ah, I see. He must think Jaena is my younger brother based on his appearance.

“The kid is quite cute. Ah, you mentioned you needed a double bed, right? I suppose the child still needs to sleep with you!”

“….”

That’s offensive. That person is a proper twenty-five-year-old beastkin youth who is older than me… and the one who needs to sleep with someone to actually fall asleep is this tall man over here…. Suppressing the urge to say all that, Van merely nodded vaguely with a glazed look in his eyes.

Seeing that he had landed a big fish after a long time, the innkeeper hummed to himself as he filled out the order slip. Van handed over a few gold coins to settle the payment without even properly reading the bill the innkeeper held out.

“Well then, you two go ahead and rest at the inn first. I’ll take a quick look around Siol and be back.”

“…Alone?”

Orma, who had been quiet until now, asked back as if thoroughly displeased by Van’s statement that he would go alone.

“Yes.”

“I’m going too.”

“I’ll be back shortly, so please rest. I’m just going to dispose of the jewels and look into what exactly happened to Siol anyway, so there’s really nothing for you to worry about, sir.”

Such as visiting the sanctuary alone, for instance. No matter how much Van shared a pair of earrings with Orma to utilize a portion of his power, his faith level was still low, meaning there wasn’t much he could actually do with it anyway. Since he was a mere human, he couldn’t solve anything regarding the calamity either. At any rate, because he needed to restore Orma’s collapsed motivation before they visited the sanctuary together, this trip was truly just a light stroll.

Orma stared at Van for a long while with a listless face, before ultimately nodding his head.

“Come back quickly.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And if some strange woman talks to you on the street, ignore her.”

“…Hmm? Yes, sir.”

“This guy is noisy, so you can’t take long. I’ll die.”

Orma spoke while pointing a finger at the bright-eyed Jaena as if he were a complete nuisance. …As far as Jaena was concerned, Orma’s words were mostly accurate, so Van simply nodded.

“Once you get back…”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s go straight to sleep. I want to sleep.”

“…Understood.”

“I can’t fall asleep unless I’m holding you.”

If you speak that loudly and openly, the guest sitting right next to us is going to glance over, sir… Before Orma could say anything further, Van offered a swift bow of his head in farewell and hurriedly dashed out of the inn before any more eyes could gather on them.

The moment he stepped outside the building, the intensely blazing sunlight momentarily blinded his eyes. Van paused under the shade for a brief moment, pondering where he should go first.

First, I need to find a jeweler… Since all the water in the canals has dried up, the usual modes of transportation are completely blocked, meaning I might have to take a longer detour than normal. I told him I’d be back quickly, so what if it takes too long? Should I just focus on disposing of the jewels today?

Siol was barely maintaining its title as a beautiful and prosperous city of water through a few rare fountains where water still remained. Seeing how large parasols—clearly set up as a temporary measure—were desperately blocking the sunlight heading toward the fountains, it seemed even this place hadn’t completely escaped the influence of the calamity. Naturally, since the area around the fountains was cool, people unable to endure the stifling heat had crowded around them…

Should I go over there and ask if there’s a jeweler nearby? Thinking along those lines, Van walked forward and carefully called out to the first person who caught his eye.

“Excuse me…”

The person who turned around was a refreshing, beautiful woman whose looks startled even Van. Her bright, light-toned mint hair fluttered and scattered abundantly in the slight breeze, and her eye color—which perfectly matched the peridot embedded in the ring Orma had slipped onto his finger—gave off a strangely familiar feeling. Furthermore, her beaming, smiling face looked completely innocent, as if she knew absolutely nothing of the terror brought by the calamity. Momentarily dazed by her appearance, Van quickly snapped out of it and spoke.

“Excuse me, but could I ask you for directions?”

“Hello, sweet child.”

“…Pardon, a child?”

The response that came back was an unexpected one that wasn’t among Van’s anticipated answers. At most, he had expected something like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m a traveler myself,’ or ‘Directions? If it’s a place I know, I’ll tell you.’ But… sweet child? Unable to hide his bewilderment, Van hesitated.

“To be called a child… aren’t I a bit too big for that?”

“Is that so? Everyone looks young to me.”

The woman saying such things looked to be around the exact same age as Van. Van somehow got an inkling that he had caught himself in a bad situation with a thoroughly bizarre person. Could she be someone who was mentally unwell? Ah, I should have asked someone else…

Then, as if noticing Van’s thoughts, the woman tossed out a strange question with a beaming smile.

“By the way, where is Orma?”

Orma. The moment the name of his god emerged, Van’s eyes went wide. No, wait. Now that he looked closely, a gentle breeze was softly swirling only around this woman. Her appearance alone was remarkably refreshing and clean, to a degree that was on an entirely different dimension from the humans standing under the stinging sunlight with sweat-drenched, irritated faces. Realizing the existence before his eyes was anything but ordinary, Van glanced around before asking in a low whisper.

“Could you perhaps be… the god Banan?”

“Ahaha!”

What was so funny? The woman—no, Banan—let out a clear laugh and began circling around Van. After observing him so thoroughly from head to toe that it was almost embarrassing, she clapped her hands in delight.

“My, Orma really surprises me! When did he grow up so much to bring along such a pretty lover?”

“…Pardon? I’m not his lover, I’m the apostle who serves sir Orma…”

“It’s practically the same thing!”

No, it’s completely different! Van rapidly shook his head, but it didn’t get through to Banan at all.

“I know Orma very well, and you are exactly his type. I’d believe it even if someone told me you popped right out of that boy’s head!”

“….”

Let’s drop it, there’s nothing to be gained from arguing with a god. Ah, could this perhaps be why Orma had told him to ignore any strange women who tried to talk to him on the street? Furthermore, he felt like he could understand a little bit why Orma disliked the god Banan so much… Watching Van’s face, which had instantly grown gloomy just like his god’s, with immense amusement, Banan spoke with a look of regret.

“I must be going now. What a shame. Sweet child, won’t you visit the sanctuary tomorrow together with Orma? I shall grant you a blessing.”

“A blessing…?”

“Yes. Ah, if Orma throws a tantrum because he doesn’t want to meet me, just tell him about the conversation we had today.”

He’ll come flying over with fire in his eyes! Swallowing her regret at the thought of meeting her cherished acquaintance after a long time, Banan slowly blinked her sparkling, peridot-colored eyes and vanished from before Van’s sight in an instant.