Olivia reacted to Cale's pale face.
"Are you okay? Your face is so pale."
Cale immediately started to speak.
"My complexion isn't the issue."
"What do you mean it is not an issue?"
Olivia spoke with a stern look on her face.
"It is a big issue."
Her face then looked apologetic and pitiful.
"…It makes sense that you are tired after pushing yourself so hard the last few days. Please rest well. We will take care of the rest."
"Wait-"
'My face being pale really isn't the issue right now. What? A grand farewell party? I hate things like that!'
Cale thought that he needed to correct things and tell them his opinion.
"I am healthy."
He truly was.
His condition was the best it has ever been lately.
He did not cough up blood or faint. Furthermore, he even slept quite well in this place.
This was something the children averaging nine years old could confirm.
"Oh esteemed Purifier, for saying that you are healthy-"
Olivia tried to say something, but Cale ignored her. The person in front of him was going to be the new Empress, but he didn't care.
"I don't need a grand farewell party."
"...."
Olivia closed her mouth as soon as Cale spoke.
"…Haaa."
She then let out a deep sigh. She shook her head and addressed Durst.
"This is why I asked you to keep it a secret."
"…I guess so."
Cale's gaze headed toward Durst after hearing the old man's weak voice before he flinched.
"Seriously. The esteemed Purifier, my goodness. Ha!"
He was saying all sorts of things by himself before covering his eyes.
'What is up with him?'
Cale could not understand Durst's action but he had a mysterious sense of anxiety.
'Do I really need to take this old guy back with me?'
He had this weird feeling that it might even be better to have the God of Death traveling with him than this old priest.
"Oh, esteemed Purifier."
Cale looked away from Durst after hearing Olivia's voice and looked at her.
"Then please think of it this way."
"What do you mean?"
"The farewell party… It is for you, but it is also for us."
"…Mm."
Cale groaned.
"The farewell will start off multiple days of celebration. It might not be the time to do such a thing, but there is a need to inform people about the start of the world changing."
Cale wanted to say something.
'What does that have to do with me? Just have your celebration separately. I simply want to return quietly.'
Cale had also left quietly when leaving the Roan Kingdom to head here.
"We will not hear anything you have to say regarding the issue."
Olivia was saying that she was no longer going to listen to him.
She added on in a lonely tone.
"We need to do this so that you can enjoy yourself."
"Excuse me?"
"…It's nothing."
She shook her head and looked at Cale as if she didn't know what to do with this guy.
"You sound like someone who won't know how to enjoy money nor power even if you had it."
'What nonsense is this?'
Cale was in disbelief at this woman who was wrong, so so wrong, about him.
Durst chimed in at that moment. He seemed to be trying to change the topic. Cale tried to reject the farewell party once more after seeing Durst make eye contact with Cale to distract him, but…
What Durst said was something he needed to hear.
"It looks like we can take care of the issue of the jiangshis."
Durst smiled after seeing Cale's gaze focused on him.
"How so?"
"The Pope-nim was bestowed 'warmth' just now."
"Warmth?"
"Yes, sir. To be more specific, it is a divine item. Would you like to head to the temple? The Pope-nim said that she would need to show you in order to explain it."
"Mm."
He only had three days before they returned.
The jiangshis were the biggest reason he thought that it would be a tight schedule.
He had threatened Number 7 and the Empress to figure out how to deal with these jiangshis, but… he had a lot on his mind because he didn't think three days would be enough time to deal with it all.
The Imperial Palace's people wanted to bury the jiangshis and give them proper funerals, but that still left a lot of unresolved issues.
For example, they kept talking about how it would be better to have the funeral in their original appearances rather than as jiangshis.
"That sounds great. Let's go."
"Yes, sir, I will escort you right away."
Cale looked at Olivia before following Durst.
"I have delivered my thoughts on the matter."
"Yes, sir. Your humble and deeply considerate heart has been heard. I will just verbally accept your wishes."
"...."
Cale felt that nothing he said would get through to the Imperial Princess based on her response.
– Cale, let's just enjoy it.
He ignored the Super Rock's laughing voice.
He ignored Olivia's goodbye as well.
"He is embarrassed."
After hearing Olivia's voice behind him and Durst laughing in front of him…
Cale had a thought on his mind.
'I just want to leave.'
He wanted to just go home right now.
He preferred Roan and people calling him Young Master Silver Shield over this.
No matter what, home was best.
Cale felt homesick for the first time in a long while.
* * *
However, Cale had to push aside his thoughts of home after meeting the Pope.
"Mm."
"Hoooo."
Sui Khan groaned while the ancient Dragon looked at the thing in the Pope's hand with curiosity.
"It looks like a heater."
"Yes, it does, oh great Dragon."
The Pope responded to Eruhaben before offering the divine item in her hands to Cale.
"Please take a look."
Cale took the divine item from the Pope's hands.
'It's a space heater.'
This divine item truly resembled a heater.
This very small heater was releasing white smoke and burning endlessly.
"I received this holy item from today's revelation. Oh, esteemed Purifier, it is not hot at all, don't you agree?"
"Yes, ma'am. I am holding the heater but it is not hot at all."
"As I expected."
The Pope pretended not to hear him calling it a heater before nodding her head and continuing to speak.
"This holy item was something only those at the Bishop level or higher could touch. Aside from them, a few priests who are famous for their sincerity were able to touch it."
"What about others?"
Cale looked at this heater that was made of something transparent like glass. It was shaped like a wood-burning stove but there was a fire burning inside despite having nothing to fuel it.
This fire was rose-gold in color, unlike a regular fire.
"Other people could not touch it. They would get burns from the intense heat the moment they touched it."
"I see. But how will this divine item take care of the jiangshis?"
"Smoke comes out as soon as you put the power of the Fire of Purification inside this item. Spreading the smoke makes a portion or all of the dead mana covering a jiangshi's body disappear, returning to its original natural state."
The Pope continued without any hesitation after receiving Cale's gaze.
"Basically, we can use the smoke of this holy item to get rid of the jiangshis."
Eruhaben chimed in.
"…It truly is a divine item. It is very fitting for the Fire of Purification."
Returning the jiangshis that were polluted by dead mana to their original state.
If the person could use the power of the Fire of Purification…
This heater could truly be considered a divine item with mysterious powers.
Sui Khan looked at the Pope and asked.
"Then is it usable in other ways as well? Aside from the jiangshis, aren't there still a lot of things in this world that need to return to their natural states?"
Cale looked at Sui Khan for a moment before looking at the Pope. He had been curious about this as well.
"No."
The Pope shook her head.
"It was only useful against the jiangshis. The power of this holy item did not reach anything else."
She then looked back toward Cale.
"Oh, esteemed purifier."
The Pope's voice sunk low. Her gaze was quite serious today. Her deep gaze was extremely tense.
'What is going on?'
The Pope spoke just as Cale was about to be confused at her demeanor.
"The Fire of Purification has requested a conversation."
"Ah."
The Pope slightly lowered her head as Cale let out a short gasp.
"We have emptied the central prayer room in the temple. You can have your conversation there."
"…That sounds great."
The Super Rock commented.
– What is to come has finally come.
The cheapskate commented as well.
– Definitely. Do you really think that the Fire of Purification is me?
Cale didn't respond to the ancient powers in his mind as he addressed the Pope.
"Can I go right now?"
"Yes, sir."
* * *
Screeeech-
The door opened and an empty area appeared in front of Cale.
"Please go in here."
Cale opened his mouth at the Pope's comment.
"Am I going in alone?"
"Yes, sir. You must go in alone."
Raon was thankfully not with him right now. Cale turned to look at Sui Khan and Eruhaben.
"I'll wait."
"Cale."
Sui Khan, who was next to Eruhaben who said that he would wait, debated something for a moment before speaking.
"Gods aren't that big of a deal."
Cale chuckled in response.
"I don't get scared because I am dealing with a god."
"Yeah, you are like that."
Sui Khan shrugged his shoulders and took a step back.
Cale stepped into the central prayer room without any hesitation nor second thoughts.
"I pray that you have a wonderful conversation."
With the Pope's comment…
Screeeeeech- boom.
The door closed.
"Hmm."
Cale looked around.
This temple was a temporary setup in the Empire's capital; something that was not hidden but visible to everyone.
Of course, it was not announced to the public because it still needed maintenance.
"Oh, I get to see this again."
This central prayer room was completely empty except for one item.
At the center of the prayer room…
There was an extremely high platform with a fire on top of it.
This was the fire Cale had seen in the room with the priests greeting him as the purifier when he first arrived in this world.
That fire was stationed here now.
"Is this thing going to talk?"
Although Cale slowly approached the fire, there was no hesitation in his steps.
The fire was fluctuating but silent.
Cale stood in front of the platform and slightly raised his head toward the fire that was located slightly higher than him.
"Why are you silent despite wanting to chat?"
It was at that moment.
Craaaackle-
The fire fluctuated.
– Huh?
– Ah?
– Mm?
The Super Rock, cheapskate, and even the Sound of the Wind…
The moment the ancient powers sounded confused…
"Ah, come on."
Cale frowned.
He heard a voice that was oddly similar to the cheapskate's voice in his mind.
– I want to chat with just you. I ask for your understanding.
'Fuck.'
"But there's no need-"
Cale could not finish his sentence.
Everything was slowly going dark.
Basically, he was slowly losing consciousness.
'Fuck! I didn't even faint when I used my powers! But I'm fainting to talk to this stupid Fire of Purification?!'
Cale was in disbelief, but could only helplessly watch as everything turned dark.
'Ah, seriously.'
Cale's whole world turned dark.
Cale shouted with annoyance at that moment.
"Fuck, you damn god!"
"Sorry."
'Hmm?'
Cale opened his eyes.
"Where is this place?"
The whole area was black.
A red liquid that resembled lava was flowing through the cracked and dried black land.
It was hard to even find a single blade of grass or tree in this place.
The sky was the color of ash. He could not feel nor see the sun at all.
It was at that moment.
"This is my friend's neighborhood."
A calm voice reached Cale's ears.
He turned his head. He started speaking with an unsettled look on his face.
"…Are you the god?"
"Yeah."
There was a dog wagging his tail at Cale's feet and looking up at him.
The puppy that was the size of Cale's arm was covered in fur that was a mix of red and gold.
This puppy with short legs looked quite chunky, potentially because of its fur.
The tail which was as voluptuous as its fat body was wagging without stopping.
"I wanted to chat with just you. I didn't want the ancient powers to hear."
The voice still sounded calm.
However, the puppy's tail was starting to wag faster as if it could not control it.
"…You are the Fire of Purification?"
"Yeah. There are some circumstances outside of my control that are making me appear in front of you like this, but I am still a god."
Wag wag.
The tail was wagging.
"I called you because I wanted to see your face. You understand, right?"
Wag wag.
It felt as if the tail would fly off by itself like a propeller.
"…Uh… yeah..."
Cale responded with a baffled look.
"Haha, you are understanding!"
The puppy's tail started to wag even more with excitement.
"Ahem. I'm sorry for meeting you in a shabby place like this. I'm currently running, no, currently avoiding the gaze of an existence. My friend's territory here is the best place to avoid gazes."
The puppy's voice was still calm.
It was the calmest and god-like voice Cale had heard compared to all of the gods he had spoken to until now.
"Ah! My friend wants to see you as well, but he is quite shy so it will probably be difficult."
Cale said the thought that suddenly came to his mind.
"You are the Fire of Destruction, right?"
Cale could see the puppy smile at that moment.
The puppy's tail was still wagging as he responded.
A voice that was similar to the cheapskate in tone but more refined flowed out.
"Se. Cret!" (TL: Secret in two syllables if you are like the PR and had no idea what this was trying to say)
'Ah.'
Cale became certain at that moment.
'This is annoying.'
Gods really were annoying.
The puppy saw the look on Cale's face and urgently continued to speak.
"Ahem, hem. Cale, I plan on letting you borrow that divine item!"
"…Divine item?"
Cale's gaze headed toward the Fire of Purification in his current puppy form.
—
Translator's Comments
PUPPYYYYYYYY!