How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 43

I knew what power Zain was talking about.

'The power of healing.'

He had seen me use the 'Heal' skill on my body in Shalom's castle, so that's why he said that.

"Isn't that power something you shouldn't use carelessly? Of course, I won't tell anyone or anything like that."

In the dark forest, where there was no one to hear us, Zain lowered his voice and spoke. I nodded. He was right.

Currently, only the high-ranking officials of Diego Faith could directly use the power of healing in the continent.

The alchemists' healing potions had a similar effect, but they were a skill of mixing herbs, not a real healing power.

The Diego Faith knew this fact well, so they used this power to do various things. Especially, since they monopolized the power of healing.

'But, the healing power of Diego Faith is incomplete either.'

The healing power of Diego Faith was not a perfect healing power. On the surface, it seemed to perfectly cure anyone, but there was a wicked god's energy in that power.

Diego Faith used this wicked god's energy to control people. Of course, the range of control varied depending on the amount of energy embedded inside the body.

In any case, Diego Faith's officials killed or dragged all those who were born with real healing power to Diego Faith's headquarters and absorbed the power to be their own.

Half of the high-ranking officials of Diego Faith were such people.

Of course, there were other healing powers besides Diego Faith's power in the original work. However, it was only the minority and not as much as Diego Faith. Diego Faith often fought to take away the healing power from Kyros Faith. Every time it happened, Terdius would stop them.

'The problem is that we are the minority right now.'

The situation was different from the original work. I was the only one who had the healing power in Kyros Faith. Fortunately, that fact was not known externally.

If it became known that I had the real healing power, Diego Faith would try to restrain, eliminate, or pull me to their side.

It was a great fortune to discover that I could apply my power to potions. Although it seemed to reduce the effect a little, compared to using the healing skill directly, it would still be better than any alchemist's healing potion.

'It's good that I have a healing skill, but I was a little surprised at first because there was no healing skill in the original work.'

I gathered my thoughts and opened my mouth,

"Don't worry about that. I'm aware of it."

"Still, don't use it in front of people."

Zain looked sincerely worried. As if to reassure him, I smiled at him and then took out a small glass bottle from my inventory. As I used the healing skill on the glass bottle, a small light entered the bottle and soon changed into a potion.

"Is that what you gave Yuri?"

Zain's eyes widened.

"Yeah. I found out that I could use my power like this. So I'm not going to use that power directly in front of people, but make potions like this and use them."

I talked as if to tell him not to worry, then threw him a potion. He caught it with both hands and his eyes sparkled.

"Keep it. You never know what might happen. It might not heal a big wound, but it'll be useful."

According to the description of the healing skill, its effect increased proportionally to the skill level, so it would be useful for any kind of injury. Zain looked moved as if his eyes turned moist.

"Master...!"

Why does he look so annoying?

"I'm so grateful that you made such a potion for me that is no different from an alchemist's top-grade potion...!"

He looked like he was about to rush into me right away. Somehow, I didn't like that, so I lay down on my robe.

"Don't be shy."

I closed my eyes as I heard Zain's laughter ring with his voice.

---

The next day.

Zain and I took turns keeping watch at night. I slept well whenever I fell asleep, so I didn't feel tired.

We cleaned up the bonfire and got on our horses again. The forest continued all the way to Beon.

We started moving at dawn and galloped for several hours until we reached near Beon, when the sun rose above our heads.

Beon was a small village. It had fewer buildings than Rovel and fewer people.

Zain and I didn't bother to stop by and headed straight for Beon Mountain through a nearby roadside.

It would have been nice to stop by the village and do some missionary work, but we didn't have time for that right now. It would be better to finish our business at Beon Mountain as soon as possible.

The huge mountain behind Beon was so high that it couldn't be seen at a glance. It was one of the most rugged mountains in the Empire, with its height and slope.

"Wow, how are we going to climb this?"

Zain asked with a nervous face as we arrived at the foot of the mountain.

"We have to climb it somehow."

He pouted his lips as if he didn't like my answer and tied his horse to a stake.

While he was doing that, I looked around for a long and sturdy wooden stick. Fortunately, I found two that I could carry.

'These should be useful.'

I handed one of the sticks to Zain.

"It'll be easier if you have this."

He sighed deeply as he took the stick from me.

I fastened my robe tightly and took off my hood. Then, I started climbing. Zain followed me up to the mountain.

Beon Mountain had no trails for climbers because there were hardly any people who climbed it.

The only place where I stepped on was a path where there were some footprints.

But it was only a path with some footprints, not a well-maintained one. There were rocks and trees in the way, making it uncomfortable.

'I miss the hiking I did in my previous life.'

I clenched the wooden stick in my hand and shut my mouth as I climbed the mountain.

About an hour after we started climbing,

"Huh, huff."

A non-human-like breathing sound came from Zain who was walking behind me.

"Haa, haah."

At least my breathing was closer to a human's breathing.

---My first child, are you okay?

'No. I feel like I'm going to die.'

I answered honestly to Kyros' question that held worries.

Kyros had been watching me ever since I came to this world. Now that he had one more believer, he also watched over the temple and Bayers village.

So sometimes, his voice didn't reach me. It had been a few hours since Kyros spoke to me. Well, if I called him in my mind, he would answer right away, but I rarely did that.

---You seemed to have trained a lot when you were at home, but you still look tired.

'Yes. You would know why it's hard if you tried walking yourself. Do you want to try?'

The slope of Beon Mountain became steeper as we climbed, so we had to move almost on all fours. Because of that, I felt exhausted quickly even though we didn't walk much.

---Hmm, I don't want to do that.

Ugh, how annoying. I was about to snap at Kyros when I smelled something bad. It was similar to the smell of rotting.

Zain, who was walking next to me, must have felt it too, as our eyes met. We quickly moved without saying anything.

The slope ended and a sheer cliff came into view. Below it, there was a road connected to the one we had walked on. A flat road without a slope. There were orc and goblin corpses on it.

The corpses were infested with bugs and crows, and they were clearly decayed.

"Ugh."

Zain saw the scene and gagged. He had no problem collecting fangs from dark wolf corpses before, but he seemed to have no immunity to rotten monster corpses and their stench.

Of course, I was in a similar situation. The smell was so bad that I had to cover my nose with my hand.

Fortunately, the road was flat, so walking was easier, but I couldn't help frowning.

The state of the corpses... It's strange. The orcs and goblins had their other parts intact, but only their heads were cut off.

"I knew that orcs and goblins were fighting here, but they wouldn't fight so neatly."

Zain wiped his mouth and came next to me. He was obviously feeling sick. I kept some distance from him and answered.

"Yeah. Judging by the clean cuts, it's not the crude weapons they use, but someone who sliced them with a sword in one stroke."

Because I was still covering my nose, I sounded nasal. Then, Zain followed suit.

"It seems like someone with considerable skill. Could it be as I suspected..."

Maybe it was really the apostle of Diego Faith who was here.

I furrowed my brows. I didn't understand it when Zain first reported it to me, and I still don't understand it now.

There was no sign of Diego Faith's apostle in Beon Mountain in the original work.

...Could this be a hidden route like in Cartel Forest?

Damn. I bit my lip.

---

It wasn't certain that the apostle of Diego Faith was around here. But the skill of cutting the monsters was flawless.

That meant that even if it wasn't Diego Faith's apostle, it was someone with great skill.

There were also some skilled people who came here for the rumor of the treasure in Beon Mountain.

But they couldn't find the treasure.

"Ugh."

Zain and I passed by the monster corpses and continued walking. The monster corpses were not only on that road but everywhere, so we couldn't take our hands off our noses.

After walking for a while, a forked path appeared in front of us. Both roads were covered with dense trees, but there was a difference.

The slope. The right road was flat without a slope, and the left road had a steep slope. It was as steep as before we entered the flat road.

Zain looked at me and subtly said,

"It would be better to go this way, right?"

He just wanted to go to the flat road. I shook my head at him.

"We're going this way."

"No, why?! Why do we have to go the hard way when we have a flat road?!"

Zain whined loudly. I ignored him and passed by him.

"Stop talking and follow me."

Zain, realizing that it was useless, shut his mouth and followed me.

While climbing the slope, we were lucky enough to be able to take our hands off our noses. There seemed to be no monsters around here. That was a relief.

---But, my little bird, do you know what the treasure is here?

Kyros' voice came as I walked for a long time while trying to control my rough breathing. He might have felt awkward because he was quiet or he was really curious.

But, I couldn't tell him what the treasure was.

'I don't know.'

Actually, I do know. It's something I really need right now. To prepare for the incident that will happen in the continent in a few months, and to survive after that. But it doesn't make sense for Revelof, who has only lived in his territory until now, to know what the inside of a treasure that even Kyros doesn't know.

'Usually, you have to overcome hardships to find treasures like this. So maybe... there's something amazing here.'

When I played HSAW, I always visited Beon Mountain. At first, I didn't even know there was a quest in Beon Mountain, but I found out about it as I explored various routes.

There was a hidden quest in Beon Mountain.