I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 33

They say that when you are completely dumbfounded, words fail you. Orma simply stared blankly at Banan, who was whispering something right into Van’s ear. She was whispering so softly that no matter how much he perked up his ears, he couldn’t hear a thing, and in the midst of it all, Van was tilting his head toward Banan with a serious face, patiently listening to her.

“…What the.”

Since when had she snapped out of it? In fact, hadn’t she been acting from the very beginning? Right, Banan wasn’t Van’s god, so she wouldn’t just helplessly fall asleep at Van’s touch like he did.

Orma’s teeth clenched on their own, and his gaze grew fierce. Seriously, those gods are all the same. Nothing about them is sincere. They are incredibly fickle, and when they find something they want, they don’t care what means they use. Is she eyeing my apostle now?

It wasn’t that he was particularly immersed in the roles of god and apostle, but if she was eyeing ‘something belonging to Orma,’ that was a different story. Especially if that someone was a god like Banan.

Perhaps sensing the ominous gaze a moment too late, Van, who had been listening to the whisper, turned his eyes toward Orma. However, the first one to speak and act was Banan.

“You may set me down now.”

Her coy yet elegant demeanor, as if she had never shown a pathetic side of herself, was utterly staggering. The moment Van politely let Banan down, Orma snatched Van’s wrist, pulling him behind his back as if hiding him, and spoke with a sneer.

“Is playing with humans really that amusing? Amusing enough to show off such a disgraceful sight?”

“How could it be.”

At Banan’s light tone and response, Orma ultimately turned his head away, deciding it was best to just stop talking.

As if gauging the atmosphere, Van was staring at him with an awkward smile. At any rate, since Van had taken that water under tremendous pressure with his own body, he was bound to have bruises somewhere, even if he looked fine on the outside. Just as Orma was about to suggest they leave quickly so he could check Van’s body back at the inn, Banan spoke up.

“You said you hated it so much, yet have you finally decided to become a god?”

“….”

Lord Orma is being so well-behaved, so why is Lady Banan picking a fight again…. Holding onto his slightly disheartened feelings, Van tugged at Orma’s sleeve as if telling him not to pay attention to Banan’s words. However, before he could offer any response, Banan continued in a voice as light as the wind, almost like singing.

“It’s not as if you don’t know that the more you use that power, the closer you step toward becoming the very god you hated to be.”

Was it a warning, or was she prophesying that it would happen? Either way, they were words meant to shake Orma, but he completely ignored them and spoke only while looking at Van.

“Whether it’s a calamity or whatever, it’s done now, right? Let’s leave first thing tomorrow.”

“Ah, yes. Then tomorrow, I suppose we can liquidate the jewels, use the money to procure food and travel supplies, and then leave Siol.”

“Didn’t you sell them before?”

“…The value of the jewels is so outstanding that even a single one can be exchanged for an enormous amount of gold bars. It was far too much for me to carry alone.”

“So you came back empty-handed? Wow, seriously, just how much could it possibly be….”

“I told you, it was enough to require a cart.”

Banan, who had been quietly listening to the bickering between the grumbling Orma and the calmly responding Van, smiled faintly. It was a gentle smile, as if she were watching young children playing house, but Orma, who had his back turned to her, didn’t see it. Just then, Van, standing opposite her, stole a glance at Banan.

[A divine gift has arrived!

‘Banan’ has bestowed a blessing upon your ring.

Congratulations! You have acquired Mermaid’s Breath (Rank A)!

▷ Mermaid’s Breath (Rank A): While wearing the blessed item, you can breathe freely even in water. Furthermore, you can share your breath with a target who cannot breathe.]

Out of nowhere, a system message appeared indicating that Banan had bestowed a blessing.

Startled, Van looked back and forth between the ring and Banan. Something like a faint water bubble appeared around the ring and quickly vanished, but as if confirming that the blessing was indeed real, a refreshing sensation completely different from before emanated from the ring.

When Van flinched, Banan shook her head slightly as if telling him not to say anything to Orma, and then dissolved into water droplets, disappearing like the Little Mermaid in a fairy tale.

It feels a bit… like I’ve come to a bizarre fairy tale world. Van thought to himself, blinking his eyes with a blank face. Although she vanished without a single sound or presence, Orma must have felt something, as he stared at the spot where the vanished Banan had been before opening his mouth with a sigh.

“You can lose that ring if you want. Even if you actually gave it to Banan, I wouldn’t have cared much, so don’t do anything strange with it next time.”

“Um… are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

Well, I don’t think Banan would agree with that…. Rather than meekly answering that he understood, Van darted his eyes around slightly to avoid giving a straight answer.

Besides, since it was now a ring blessed by Banan, he had absolutely no intention of easily giving it away to someone else. If nothing else, the ability to breathe underwater was quite useful. After all, wasn’t it a much more helpful blessing than something like skin care….

When Van merely kept fiddling with the ring without giving a straight answer that he would do so, Orma scanned Van from head to toe with a displeased face before speaking.

“Now that I think about it, what did Banan say to you earlier?”

“She asked if this ring was the ring she knew.”

“And?”

“I replied that it was, but she didn’t say much after that.”

“….”

At the plain words, Orma wore a complex and subtle expression. Was he recalling a memory, or something that should be called a nightmare? Either way, it couldn’t be very pleasant.

Van stared at the sky where the twilight was now settling and offered his hand first.

“Shall we head back now?”

A gentle breeze blew past. The breeze blew softly and ticklishly until Orma, who had been staring intently at Van, slowly nodded and took his hand. It was a wind that felt like spring rather than winter.

“Oh! You’re back! Hey, pour some drinks over here too!”

As soon as they returned to the inn, the innkeeper welcomed Van’s group with a delighted face. His joyful and excited expression resembled that of the other people in Siol, but it was ambiguous to assume he was this happy simply because the waterways of Siol were full of water. After all, he looked much happier than he did this morning….

Van was fiddling with his clothes, which were completely soaked, but the innkeeper didn’t mind at all. He guided them to an empty table and handed a drink to both Van and Orma. In the midst of this, perhaps because he still treated Jaena like a child, Jaena’s face crumpled as he received a sweet juice.

Van watched the scene blankly, hesitating before finally opening his mouth to ask.

“Did something good happen? Is it because the water returned to the waterway?”

“Ah, there’s that too! Since the water returned to Siol, doesn’t that mean Lord Banan has recovered her power? No matter what anyone says, everyone was worried about our god.”

“I see.”

“But the reason I’m handing out drinks right now is because of the solar eclipse!”

“A solar eclipse…?”

“Didn’t you see it? A solar eclipse occurred earlier! It was definitely a divine authority shown by the god.”

Ah…. It seemed all the people of Siol had witnessed the divine power Orma had unleashed earlier. Van stole a glance at Orma, who was pulling his hood down even deeper, and smiled. The innkeeper didn’t notice Orma at all and continued to speak with a beaming smile.

“Black birds appeared in dense numbers, blotting out the sun and creating an eclipse—it was a truly bizarre yet magnificent sight. It’s a real shame you missed it.”

“Ah, I think I caught a glimpse of it.”

“You saw it! Isn’t it truly amazing? What’s even more surprising is that it’s 7 PM right now! It’s definitely because of that solar eclipse. You know how rare it is for the sun to set on time these days.”

Certainly, rather than the eclipse, ‘the sun setting on time’ felt like a much greater miracle. Since water had returned to Siol’s waterways and there was an eclipse as well, it was worth considering a good omen. Even if it was a special occurrence just for today, looking forward to ‘tomorrow’ was an essential condition for humans to staunchly survive through a calamity.

As Van nodded and sipped his drink, the innkeeper headed toward another customer who had just entered the inn, telling them he could give them more drinks so to let him know if they ran short. Only then did it grow quiet, and Van, after hesitating, offered a drink to Orma, who was just staring blankly at the cup placed before him.

“Give it a try. Is it difficult for you to drink alcohol as well? It’s cleaner than I expected.”

“….”

When he carefully extended the cup, Orma, who usually declined with a scowling face saying he was fine, took the cup for some reason. He then watched Jaena run over to the innkeeper with a dissatisfied face, yelling, “I’m an adult too, so give me alcohol!”, let out a chuckle, and slowly began to take a sip.

Orma, who rarely consumed food, let alone water, was drinking alcohol! Just as Van’s eyes sparkled and he was about to order some other food to try his luck during this window, Orma spoke up first.

“How did you find out about the relationship between Banan and me?”

“….”

At the question asked without any preamble, Van inadvertently gasped, letting out a sharp breath. Despite that, Orma asked again calmly without any change in his expression.

“It’s fine, I won’t get mad. It was that guy Gale, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Why bother asking him about me? You could have just asked me.”

At the words spoken with a slight frown, Van merely rolled his eyes. Look at your own face; you threw such a fit just at the mention of Banan’s name, so how could I have asked you… Of course, he only thought that. Since he wasn’t entirely tactless, he quietly kept his mouth shut, but just as he was about to apologize, Orma smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

And then, he slowly began to bring up a certain story.

A story about a day that was shoved into a corner of his memory—a day he wanted to forget, but could never truly erase.