I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 31

“….”

Van stared blankly at Orma’s face for a long while. Well, it seemed his god had tried to scare him into being afraid of him… but he only felt pity for Orma. Somehow, those words felt like a sorrowful confession of how lonely he had been all this time, how much he had wanted to die. Without realizing it, Van raised his hand and gently brushed his face.

Ah, his hands were still damp, so that face—as beautiful as finely crafted porcelain—was slightly wet. Oops. It was water polluted by the seeds of calamity; he hadn’t thought it through. He had personally rammed his own body into the waterspouts just to keep them from touching his god in the slightest.

When Van hurriedly pulled his hand away, Orma’s eyebrows shot up instead. Just as he was about to open his mouth with a look of displeasure, Jaena spoke up first.

“D-Did Lord Banan brew the divine liquor?”

“…Yes.”

“Then….”

Then isn’t that strange? Jaena held back what he was about to say and forced his mouth shut. It was because Banan, who had been about to attack them again, slowly lowered her hands with a vacant gaze and turned her head.

Emotions gradually filled her previously expressionless face, and her doll-like, beautiful features began to contort bit by bit. He didn’t know what was causing her such agony, but at least to Van, it looked like Banan still had enough sanity left to listen to their conversation and think.

If so, wouldn’t it be worth trying to talk to her?

“Lady Banan.”

“….”

A hazy gaze landed on Van. Her expression still looked somewhat painful and uncomfortable, but she seemed to recognize that someone was calling her. Van slowly lowered his sword and stared intently at Banan.

When observing humans, one could roughly deduce what they were thinking or how they were feeling, but since she was a god, it was different…. Other than her expression contorting slightly, there was no other reaction, making it difficult to read her. The moment he made eye contact with Banan, her figure, which had been standing near the core of the waterway, momentarily blurred before reappearing as if rippling in a wave.

Right then, with a loud splash, a massive Vanellas surged upward.

“Uaaack!”

It was the largest Vanellas he had ever seen. Appearing while splashing water everywhere, it floated up into the sky just like it did before its transformation. Then, as if protecting the core of the waterway, it slowly circled around it, keeping a wary eye on Van’s group.

“…It seems she still has no intention of talking.”

From behind him, Orma’s voice echoed, giving voice to Van’s thoughts. Actually, seeing how he stood crookedly with a sneer, looking down at Van, it might have just reflected his own desire not to mingle words. But Van pretended not to hear and called out to Banan once more.

“Lady Banan.”

This time, there was a reaction. However, seeing how she only mouthed words and muttered with vacant eyes, it didn’t seem like she was conversing with him. Still, they couldn’t just keep confronting each other like this forever, so Van recalled Orma’s words from before they came here and spoke up.

“What happens if those birds filled with sunlight come here?”

“They will shed the shadow that contained the light through my authority.”

“What happens once they shed the shadow?”

“The fallen shadow will spill the light it gathered, and then an explosion might occur.”

“…Will this place burn?”

“It’s just sunlight anyway, so it won’t affect the core of the waterway.”

At Orma’s smooth, flowing answers, Van stole a glance at him. It seemed like the best method available while leaving aside Banan, who couldn’t snap out of it right now, but….

“Why?”

“Will it really be alright?”

“What will.”

Seeing how she guarded the core of the waterway while calling it ‘baby,’ Banan’s mind didn’t seem intact right now. It was as if she was confusing her memories from when she was human with the present.

In such a situation, the problem was that it was entirely unpredictable how Banan would react upon seeing the birds filled with sunlight. What if she grew wary of the birds and whipped up a waterspout to attack again? Just as Orma said, it was sunlight, not Muhwi’s fire, so it would be easily extinguished, but it was a matter that required more careful thought and action.

“For now, since Lady Banan might get agitated again upon seeing the birds, it would be best to lure her out of here and burn them.”

“How.”

How on earth are you going to lure out a god who has lost her mind and can’t even be reasoned with? Orma retorted with a displeased look. He wasn’t wrong, but Van still voiced the conclusion he had carefully reached.

“…I feel truly sorry for bringing this up to you, Lord Orma, but.”

“What are you trying to say now.”

“Seeing how she is trying to protect the core of the waterway right now, viewing it as a ‘baby,’ I think she might be confusing her memories from her human days with the present.”

“…So?”

“Do you have any items related to Lady Banan’s human days when she was your mother, Lord Orma?”

Orma was left speechless by the bold request to let him know if there was such a thing. Well, he did have a feeling that Van had noticed the relationship between him and Banan. But he hadn’t expected him to say it so directly. Right now, not stop at that, Van was even looking at him with absolute certainty that he would have a ‘related item.’

Whenever those clear eyes, which seemed to contain the sky, were directed solely at him, strangely, he found himself unable to hide anything. Sneering, swearing, turning his head away, or even telling a lie became impossible.

These were all things he enjoyed doing when dealing with humans, so why was Van different? Because he was his apostle? What meaning did that even hold? In the end, I am neither a true god nor anything else….

Staring blankly at Van, Orma eventually raised his hand and pointed at the ring on Van’s hand.

“…That.”

“Do you mean this ring?”

No wonder Banan had smiled faintly yesterday upon seeing this ring.

But recalling Orma, who had told him to sell it off since it would be expensive, made Van realize once again just how deep the canyon of emotions Orma had built up truly was. Hadn’t he just tossed it somewhere among the mountains of treasure he accumulated, and then easily handed it over to a human who was blackmailing him?

Van recalled the past when he had said he wanted to keep this ring because it was pretty, thought to himself, ‘…I’m glad I didn’t sell it,’ and then looked back at Banan.

And fearlessly, stride by stride, he began to step closer.

From behind, he heard Jaena’s startled voice, “U-Uh? Sir Van! Where are you going! Is, is it really alright to leave him be like that? Lord Orma!” But Orma didn’t really move or restrain him, leaving him completely alone. However, his gaze remained fixed intently on Van. It seemed he intended to wait and see what on earth he was up to.

Banan didn’t show any particular reaction until Van arrived right in front of her. Only when he was a breath away from those unfocused, vacant golden eyes did Van drop to one knee and offer his reverence to the god.

“Lady Banan.”

Banan. The moment he called the god’s name, her golden eyes flashed. Slowly blinking her eyes open, she stared at the face of the human kneeling on one knee before her. At the sight of those sky-blue eyes that looked pure and unstained by a single speck, Banan’s lips parted slightly.

“…Speak.”

Did it help that Van called Banan’s name? Banan seemed to realize that she was not a mere human or a princess of a ruined kingdom, but a great god and a transcendent being revered by everyone.

He didn’t know what kind of effect the blue tears had to bewitch even a god, but for Van, it was a golden opportunity. He slipped off the ring he was wearing and respectfully offered it up in front of Banan. At the same time, a system window blinked into view.

[Would you like to offer a tribute to the god ‘Banan’? Yes / No]

Offering tributes to gods was a type of content that existed in the game as well. If you obtained a specific item and offered it to a specific god, a hidden quest hidden by the developers would open, or you could obtain rare items that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

Of course, Van had never properly offered a tribute to a god by looking up walkthroughs or anything. Even so, while searching about Orma on the game community, he had read a post saying, ‘I accidentally offered a low-grade olivine as a tribute to Muhwi, and I received a rare spear imbued with the power of fire.’

…Since olivine with gemstone value is called peridot, standing here now, Van understood why Muhwi had bestowed that gift. Whatever the case, Banan wouldn’t be able to just pass by this ring. It was her wedding ring, of all things.

Holding his breath and without giving any response to the system window, Van pushed the ring a little closer in front of Banan.

“…Ah.”

Finally, Banan also let out a soft gasp, as if recognizing what the ring Van was holding out was. And without hiding her trembling fingertips, she slowly reached her hand out toward the ring. The moment her hand finally brushed against the ring, Van stared intently at Banan with his usual expressionless face and activated his skill.

[Human Sleep Therapy (Rank B) is currently active!]

Even though it was just a brief touch of their fingertips, Banan weakly closed her eyes and collapsed right into Van. It didn’t matter if Jaena shrieked in surprise behind him, or if Orma hurriedly rushed over to him.

Supporting Banan with one arm as if embracing her, Van looked indifferently at the option asking if he wanted to offer the tribute, selected ‘No,’ and thought while holding the ring.

‘…Wow, this actually works.’

He had wondered if it only worked because Orma was a half-god, but it worked on a complete god like Banan too. He would be able to make excellent use of this in the future.

And as expected, was there really any need to return the ring to its owner? This was a gift his god had given him now…. Yeah, absolutely not.

Van slipped the ring back onto his hand, lifted Banan up, and flashed a bright smile at Orma, who had approached him.