I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 37

“…Your what?”

Utterly baffled, Van’s eyes went wide as he questioned him back. A check on what? And why on earth was he looking at him with that kind of gaze? Was running his fingers through his hair really that much of an injustice?

…Wait a minute. So it’s fine for him to sleep while hugging me tightly, but I’m not even allowed to touch his hair?

For a long while, the two just stared at each other, both looking silently dumbfounded. It was Orma who threw up the white flag first. Biting his lip and huffing, he ultimately got out of bed completely. Yet even then, his lips merely twitched as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to speak properly. In the end, Van, who had been blankly watching the spectacle, asked cautiously:

“Did you happen to wake up because it tickled, sir? I’m sorry. I won’t touch it from now on.”

“….”

He had said it assuming Orma was annoyed about being disturbed while sleeping, but Orma’s face crumpled even further. If it wasn’t that, then what on earth was making him act like this? Totally clueless as to the reason, Van just blinked with a bewildered expression. Looking at that face, which was past the point of naive and looked completely innocent, Orma let out a long sigh and spoke.

“…Forget it.”

Getting angry all by himself, and smoothing it over all by himself.

Orma behaved exactly like a black cat that used to occasionally show up in the secluded garden of the temple. The kind of black cat that would follow him around all day, crying in utter disappointment if he pulled his hand away thinking it disliked it, throwing a fit because it wasn’t being petted anymore…. Come to think of it, he really did resemble that cat. Ah, he hadn’t even been able to say a proper goodbye after feeding it for the last time…. The cat wasn’t still waiting for him, was it?

While impiously daring to compare his god to a stray cat, Van blankly looked up at Orma, who had approached him again with a fierce look on his face. However, just when Van thought Orma was going to nitpick again, the man unexpectedly reached out, grabbed Van’s shirt, and began roughly tearing it open. It was only after Van’s clothes were practically stripped off, exposing his skin, that a panicked Van hurriedly grabbed Orma’s arms to stop him.

“W-what are you doing all of a sudden, Lord Orma?!”

“I’m performing a check of my own.”

So what on earth are you checking? What does that even mean? Van writhed in sheer horror, but it was futile against Orma. Before long, his upper body was exposed, revealing a torso covered in an unfitting mess of colorful, dark bruises over pale skin and picture-perfect, well-defined muscles. Only after confirming the sight with his own eyes did Orma click his tongue and let go of the shirt he had been stripping off as if to rip it to shreds.

“I knew it. You kept groaning in your sleep yesterday.”

“That’s….”

It’s only natural that it hurts when you sleep while pinning me down like that, man…. Van stared back with deeply aggrieved, sorrowful eyes, but for the first time, his sorrowful-eyes attack didn’t work on Orma. Looking down at Van with a displeased face, Orma shook his head as if he found him incredibly frustrating.

“What is that water even worth for you to desperately block it with your body like that? What if you get hit by a waterspout? I’m a god; do you think it would kill me?”

“…Even the god Banan was charmed by it. The water was heavily polluted by the blue tears, so who knows what kind of effect it might have had on you, sir….”

He meant that it was far better than risking Orma losing his mind and killing both him and Jaena, but Orma scoffed and replied:

“I told you before. Worry about yourself.”

“But….”

“What, does the seed of calamity just magically bypass you alone?”

“Of course that wouldn’t be the case, but still, wouldn’t it be better than it affecting Mr. Jaena and the other citizens of Siol?”

“Is that so? Because if things go south, you can just die and resurrect, and that’s it?”

“….”

It wasn’t a lie, and that was indeed his plan, but he felt like he shouldn’t ask what the issue with that was. As Van instinctively shut his mouth, Orma slowly raised his head and looked down at him. His eyes, flashing with golden light, were stern and cold.

“At least you have some tact. I thought you were going to ask, ‘What’s wrong with that?'”

“Umm….”

His sky-blue eyes darted away, evading the gaze in sheer embarrassment under the god’s scolding. Orma then lightly wiped a hand down his face as if nursing a headache and let out a faint sigh.

“Don’t rely on that too much. It’s easy to break.”

He omitted the words ‘like me,’ but Van understood the hidden meaning. Consequently, he was too stunned to offer any reaction, merely blinking his eyes blankly. Is Orma worrying about me right now? Is he scolding me, telling me not to die and not to treat my body so carelessly?

…Why?

“You should answer me, Van.”

“…Yes, I’ll be careful.”

Though he didn’t comprehend the reason behind it, he gave a compliant answer for now. Only then did Orma walk toward the bathroom with a satisfied smile. Whether he was truly that glad to leave Siol, his handsome face even looked refreshed. It was a complete stark contrast to the past few days, when he had fled to the bathroom in a hurried blur of irritation….

“Ah.”

Left completely alone on the bed, Van scratched his cheek as the meaning behind the ‘check’ Orma had mentioned finally dawned on him, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut.

…No way, it didn’t react just because I touched his hair a bit, did it? I was too stunned to look. If it did react, is that a good thing? Since it means he’s in a healthy state, it… it must be a good thing, right? Fortunately, it means his human functions are still being maintained….

“…Holy shit.”

Unlike his inner rationalizations, the sheer embarrassment welling up made Van bury his face in both hands, automatically muttering a curse under his breath.

“Good morning, Lord Van!”

“Did you sleep well too, Mr. Jaena?”

“Mm, I did have a nightmare yesterday where I grew an extra set of arms and legs, but fortunately, I am perfectly fine!”

Had the prospect of being polluted by the blue tears been that terrifying? However, judging by how Jaena’s expression still remained serious, it seemed Jaena had no idea Orma had completely purified them yesterday. Watching the scene unfold, Orma crooked the corner of his mouth and spoke:

“An extra set? If they’re going to multiply, wouldn’t it be better to grow two of each? That way you’d have balance and could at least crawl around.”

“Ugh, uuuuugh….”

“You might even be able to scale walls like a bug. What’s wrong? You used to sparkle your eyes and pester me saying you wanted to try whatever I was doing, but I guess you draw the line at that, huh?”

A clear liquid welled up in Jaena’s large, tearful eyes. Keeping his mouth tightly shut, Jaena shook his head rapidly. He really finds teasing Jaena amusing… Van quietly watched the display, and only when Jaena was truly on the verge of panicking and shedding tears did he scoop Jaena up into his arms, comforting him in a calm voice.

“Mr. Jaena, that won’t happen. Lord Orma completely purified everything yesterday.”

“Whimper… He, he purified us? When did that happen?”

“Van, what are you doing right now? Do you really think he’s a little kid? Holding and coddling a guy who’s well past his years like that, it’s gross.”

Granted, Jaena was older than Van, but looking at his antics and outward appearance, it was easy to naturally forget Jaena’s actual age. Besides, after being the one to make him cry like this, how could he complain about coddling…. Van patted Jaena’s back with a troubled face and said:

“You went through the trouble of purifying him, yet all you do is tease him. Mr. Jaena, do you remember getting hit by the black rain Lord Orma brought down yesterday?”

“I remember. The… shadows cast by the birds fell into the waterway, gathered together, floated up, and then the black rain fell. But was… was that a purification?”

His wide-open eyes sparkled as if he had never even cried. Finding that sight cute, Van smiled faintly, prompting Orma to snap his mouth shut. He then snatched Jaena by the scruff of his neck straight out of Van’s embrace and said:

“Yeah, so you’re not growing any extra limbs. Get away from him. Stop constantly clinging to him like a creep and start acting your age.”

“Ah!”

“Ah, by the way, Lord Orma. Were the other people of Siol purified as well?”

“Well, I suppose they were. If you want to call the property of changing things at will ‘pollution,’ then I left a power in the waterway that locks things in place to prevent them from changing. Won’t that water spread through the waterways anyway?”

Despite sounding indifferent and acting as if it were a chore, he diligently answered every single question. Sensing it was the perfect opportunity, Van casually asked what he had been curious about.

“Locking in place? You mean maintaining their state, right? Yesterday, you mentioned that if you put your mind to it, you could even make me live forever.”

“…You believed that? It doesn’t work to that extent, obviously. And even if it did, I wouldn’t do it for you.”

“I know. To make a human live forever, it would take something like the ‘divine liquor’ after all.”

“….”

At any rate, it was clear that Orma was not simply a god who governed darkness. Then again, considering Banan alone was a god governing water, wind, abundance, and love, it was only natural that darkness wasn’t Orma’s sole source of power.

Van nodded with a serious face. While Orma was badgering… or rather, threatening Jaena by saying, “If you forget your age and hug Van like a child one more time, I’ll grow four more limbs on you,” Van quickly finished his meal and stood up.

To leave Siol, they first needed to dispose of the gems and purchase the items necessary for the journey. If they dragged their feet and had to stay in Siol for another day, there was no telling what kind of fit Orma would throw.

By the way, where should I rent a wagon from? Times like this make me miss not having an in-game inventory feature….

As he was quietly pondering, something caught Van’s eye.